Growing up, there was no Grade R. Even daycares weren’t that common. We ate, we played, we ate, we played and we slept. So it was no surprise that many of us burst into tears when we were pushed into a classroom. It felt like a cage for us.
Everything was unknown. The chairs were hard and our butts definitely weren’t used to sitting still for that long. We didn’t even know how to hold a crayon or what to use it for. And that smell almost suffocated us.
When I think about it now, I know that we were wild and that the master only had one purpose in mind and that was to tame us.
Fortunately, I like to do addition. Probably because the teacher used beautiful red apples to explain the concept to us. Holding a red apple, she took another from the bowl and asked, “If I have one apple and I take another from the bowl, how many apples do I have?” I was the first to shout out loud: “Two!” The teacher scolded me and said that he had to raise his hand before answering, but that didn’t diminish the great feeling of pride he had that I got the answer right.
He later also explained subtraction: “If I have two apples and I take one away, how many do I have left?” She let the other kids answer this one; I didn’t want to get in trouble again…
Over time, I realized that apples could be replaced by many other things. One sin plus one plus equals two sins. And if you do one more, add three and so on, until you end up with an uncountable pile of sins.
But the minus part doesn’t work like that, because when you have two sins, you can’t subtract one and end up with only one. The plus works very well and the group continues to grow. And there is nothing we can do about it.
Not even a small sin minus a big deed can make sin go away. And we know that the consequence of sin is death. The consequence of sin is that people miss out on eternal life and end up in eternal fire.
God knew this. He realized what a terrible situation people were in and that our sums will not work. Then the math teacher did new sums that don’t really make sense to people, because you see, our sums for a good deed that removes sin don’t work.
3… This Son perfectly reflects God, and is marked with the nature of God. He holds it all together by what he says: powerful words! After he finished the sacrifice for sins, the Son took his place of honor in the heights of heaven with God…
Jesus’ death on the cross washes away our sin. The sum: A lot of sin minus Jesus’ death on the cross equals no sin. The result: we can run through the gates of heaven.
So simple, but in a way that is far beyond our understanding. That’s why we simply believe…
Holy Scripture
Hebrews 1:1-4
Reflection
How’s your sin-sum?
What do the sums of Jesus do to you?
What do you do with Jesus sums?
Prayer
Father, I don’t always know how your sums work. Has no sense. But I have to take them at face value. Without your sums my sums are definitely meaningless. Thank you for your sums! Amen.