"For Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the gospel--not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power" (I Cor. 1:17). Did you ever feel a conflict between what your logical human mind tells you and what your faith tells you?  It must not be a new problem. The words of the Bible are truth; and the words of the Bible are also a grand epic in the tradition of of the classics.  In fact, good writing was not unknown in early times.  The Epic of Gilgamesh is the first known written epic from ancient Mesopotamia. Written on clay tablets, it tells of a man's quest for immortality, a great, destructive flood from which one man was saved, and a serpent who stole the plant which could give eternal life. Sound familiar? Homer the Greek wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey, and Virgil wrote the Aeneid years before the coming of Christ.  Literary tradition existed in cultures unaffected by biblical history. The Jews in the time of Christ also had their academic traditions, stemming from the writings of Moses and the prophets. As Peter wrote, he told his readers that his testimony was not only based on what he had seen and heard and experienced, but also on what they already accepted through their literary traditions.

"My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? . . . But I am a worm and not a man, they hurl insults, shaking their heads: 'He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let Him deliver him since he delights in Him.' . . . Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me. I am poured out like water, all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and feet. I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing . . ." (Psalm 22); "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this" (Isaiah 9:6-7); "Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him striken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth" (Isaiah 53:4-7); "'The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will raise up to David a righteous branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is right in the land. In His days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety" (Jer. 23:5); "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times" (Micah 5:2).  All these prophesies and more would have been quite familiar to the educated minds of Israel at the time of the coming of Christ. So Peter is able to appeal to the "logical" and "educated" minds of his day, as well as to the simple who receive by faith.

"We did not follow cleverly invented stories [like Gilgamesh, or the Aeneid, Iliad or Odyssey] when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.' We ourselves heard this voice that came out from heaven when we were with Him on the sacred mountain (the Mount of Transfiguration: Matthew 17:1-13). And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophesy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophesy never had its origin in the will of the man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter1:16-21).  In other words, "You have this writing that you believe in that your prophets wrote, and which you believe came by the Spirit of God. Keep on believing in its truth and hear what we have seen with our own eyes, and the Holy Spirit will enlighten you to all that has taken place."

Have you ever seen cartoon figures that all of a sudden understand something, and a light bulb appears over their heads? The same thing happens when our intellectual knowledge of the word of God becomes real faith. At first we are unable to understand and are in spiritual darkness. Then the Holy Spirit comes and "flips the switch," and we do understand and are in the light. And that faith is our "light shining in a dark place." It reminds me of the Phial of Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings. Galadriel made a gift of the phial to Frodo as he left Lothlorien saying, "May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out." When Frodo got lost in the tunnel and was being pursued by the giant spider Shelob, the light from the Phial of Galadriel was able to help him ward off the monster, and save him from death.  Frodo didn't know in advance what was going to happen, but because he went equipped with the light, he was protected.  We don't always understand the word of God or how it might apply to our lives, but when we carry it with us, written upon our minds and our hearts, and wait for the Holy Spirit to "flip the switch," we are forearmed agianst any trials and wickedness that may come our way as "the morning star rises in our hearts."

God first appealed to the minds of men through the prophets. He then appealed to the hearts of men, through Jesus who first loved us, and whom we love. "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David and the bright Morning Star" (Rev. 22:16). And so, we witness to others from the mind and from the heart, like Paul who wrote to the Corinthians, "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on man's wisdom, but on God's power. We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. However, it is written: 'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him'--but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God" (I Cor. 2:4-10). And we know that as we dedicate ourselves to the intellectual study of God's word, which is truth as well as a literary masterpiece, that the Holy Spirit will come to "flip the switch," and the permanent light of the Morning Star will rise in our hearts to enlighten us in all things.

Holy Spirit, please "flip on the light switch" in me and guide me into Your truth as it pertains to all that I encounter today and every day, that I may live more equipped to glorify You and to reach out to others in Your Name. Amen