What Does It Have to Do with Me?

Thoughts from my reading in Whiter Than Snow: Meditations on Sin and Mercy by Paul David Tripp. The words from the meditation are in brown.

I really like the flow of this meditation and the chronology of Jesus’ life that it covers.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

So what does it have to do with me, this poverty child?

What does it have to do with me, this homeless birth in a busy town?
What does it have to do with me, these shepherds searching for angel-announced hope?
What does it have to do with me, this little boy wandering among the shavings of newly planed wood?
What does it have to do with me, these dirty feet from dusty paths of Middle Eastern villages?
What does it have to do with me, this unremarkable vagabond?
What does it have to do with me, this traveler with his motley pack of men?
What does it have to do with me, these weird sayings and mysterious stories?
What does it have to do with me, this healer man with crowds of broken citizens?
What does it have to do with me, these jealous leaders plotting evil?
What does it have to do with me, confusing predictions about a future unclear?
What does it have to do with me, these hungry crowds fed by a little boy's lunch?
What does it have to do with me, prostitutes and drunkards made to feel welcome?
What does it have to do with me, these courageous declarations while standing in the synagogue?
What does it have to do with me, this palm branch carpet processional?
What does it have to do with me, this private dinner in a rented room?
What does it have to do with me, this basin unused with proud men at the table?
What does it have to do with me, this dark garden echoing with painful prayer?
What does it have to do with me, these three asleep, with a friend in torment?
What does it have to do with me, this kiss of death with soldiers as witnesses?
What does it have to do with me, these trumped-up charges by jealous men?
What does it have to do with me, this bruised and bloody back?
What does it have to do with me, this crown of thorns with flowers removed?
What does it have to do with me, this Roman ruler washing his hands?
What does it have to do with me, this cross dragged outside of the city?
What does it have to do with me, this dirty, bloody man nailed to a tree?
What does it have to do with me, these criminal companions hung on either side?
What does it have to do with me, soldiers gambling for the clothes of the accused?
What does it have to do with me, sword to the side to finish him off?
What does it have to do with me, this scarred corpse placed in a borrowed crypt?
What does it have to do with me, these women surprised at the body gone?
What does it have to do with me, this story so removed, so long ago?
What does it have to do with me, this one wise and suffering man?
What does it have to do with me, Palestine graced, hope rejected?

What does it have to do with me?
This story is my story, each chapter is for me. This unattractive man of humble beginning and ignominious end is the Hope of the Universe. Mercy is what it has to do with me; it is what the sin struggle of my heart, like the heart of David, requires.

A question from the meditation:

If you saw the story of your life embedded in the big story of the Bible, what difference would it make in the way you think about and respond to life?

As I read this meditation over each day this week, many different areas stood out to me. I thought about the life of Jesus in a different way than I have before. What I see about the story of my life embedded in the Bible is that Jesus came and lived a very extraordinarily ordinary life. He walked the roads and lived with the people while accomplishing the work that allows my salvation.

It’s sad how many people are blind to what Jesus did for them. They may deny his existence or claim that Jesus did nothing extraordinary or view him as a good man and not see that the life Jesus lived was a life lived for them.

I see it and I rejoice with thankfulness.

Philip


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