Big Deal
March 8, 2010 by aubrey
Filed under Devotionals
When I meet someone who is clearly an important person, whether due to his or her extraordinary position or abilities or influence, I think of that person as a “big” person, a big man or woman. You know what I mean by that: an individual large not in physical size but in significance. There’s a Greek word that the New Testament uses for such a person: hikanos, which is sometimes translated “worthy”.
In modern parlance, it describes someone who is a “big deal”.
Matthew, in his Gospel account, introduces two such souls: one a prophet the other a soldier, one a Jew the other a Gentile.
THE PROPHET: John the Baptist. You know that he was a very big deal. He was and is famous in his own right; the first prophet to appear in 400 years and the herald of the long-awaited Messiah, John was a great man. Jesus Himself declared him the greatest of the Old Testament prophets.
THE SOLDIER: A Roman centurion in Capernaum. A man who enjoyed both political standing and financial means, he was, according to the local Jewish leaders, a man who loved the nation of Israel and had personally paid for their synagogue. They considered him a “worthy” man, a big deal, and Jesus Himself would declare that this centurion had the most extraordinary faith. (See Luke 7:3-5)
Matthew says that these men had something in common. As big as they were, neither thought of himself that way. In fact, they both said the same thing about themselves, using the word hikanos. John said of Jesus, “I am not big enough to carry His sandals.” (4:16) The centurion said to Jesus, “I am not big enough for You to enter my house.” (8:8) Were these great men just being modest, or did they know something about Jesus that the rest of us do not?
John said that he was not big enough to carry Jesus’ sandals; in Mark 1:7 he said he wasn’t big enough to even untie them! How big is Jesus if the colossal (spiritually speaking) John the Baptist was not big enough to untie His shoes, much less lug them around? We sometimes talk of a person who has very “big shoes”, shoes too big for another person to fill. Jesus’ shoes are so big because He is so big. The centurion said that he was not big enough for Jesus to enter his house. It wasn’t that Jesus wasn’t welcome. It was just that Jesus was far too tall and His shoulders way too broad (spiritually speaking) for the Lord to get through the door frame or fit under his roof!
You see, both of these men knew their place because they knew Jesus’ place; they knew their size because they knew Jesus’ size.
The cure to pride is humility, and the secret to humility is Jesus. A person may be 7 feet tall and weigh 300 pounds; he may be worth a billion dollars and win a Nobel prize; he may even be elect
ed President of the greatest nation on the earth because people think him such a big deal. But if a man or woman ever sees Jesus – I mean really sees Jesus like John the Baptist and the Roman centurion – he will know Who the big deal is; he will know Who is truly Worthy. AAJ
ed President of the greatest nation on the earth because people think him such a big deal. But if a man or woman ever sees Jesus – I mean really sees Jesus like John the Baptist and the Roman centurion – he will know Who the big deal is; he will know Who is truly Worthy. AAJ
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