Cleaning up someone else’s mess is usually a thankless job. Repairmen and mechanics hate working on something that a do-it-yourselfer has mangled. Grandparents go the extra mile taking custody of a child when the parents don’t do the job. Pastors warily step into a pulpit after a predecessor’s scandal. We didn’t break it, but someone has to fix it.
Jesus didn’t break the relationship with God, but Jesus had to fix it. Jesus had to clean up the mess left behind by the people of God. God led our spiritual ancestors out of Egypt through the Exodus. Freedom! A new start! God led them in the wilderness by pillars of fire and smoke. Presence! Power! Then after getting them safely on their way and meeting their needs for water and food, God tested them. God tested Israel to see if they would obey a simple command. Behind following the simple command was the question of whether they trusted God. God would provide enough food for only one day at a time. Would they trust God enough to live day by day?
They were supposed to trust God because they were to be God’s messengers to the world. Israel had a mission. They were to bless all the families of the world.1 If you know the story of Exodus, you know that the people of God did not trust. They complained. They begged to go back to Egypt to serve as slaves again. When Moses came down the mountain with the Ten Commandments, the people were partying around the golden calf. They didn’t trust, and so they couldn’t bless.
Jesus has to fix this broken relationship. Jesus h
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