Some things are a matter of opinion. Some things are a matter of fact.
On the taste factor, for example, I was brought up to enjoy the game football. As in the proper game football. The one played here in England where the spherical object best described as a ball is primarily struck with the foot. I can’t imagine anyone thinking there are alternatives to that concept of football. (Smirk)
In any case, in football the point is to score goals and at one time I was told that the greatest scorer of goals was Alan Shearer. I saw some of his games and indeed understood why he was so lauded as a great goalscorer. However at some point I was introduced to the football brilliance of a Brazillian striker called Ronaldo. (Not to be confused with a very good Portuguese player called Cristiano Ronaldo.) Good though Shearer was – and he would establish himself as the top goalscorer in the history of the modern Premier League concept – Ronaldo was greater as proven at the highest level – the World Cup – where he would hold the record for the most goals scored. It was not just the number of goals, it was the sheer brilliance of him on the pitch in the role he was given.
Shearer was great, Ronaldo was greater.
Understandably, though, some would see that as a matter of opinion. (Great opinion, sure, but opinion nonetheless.)
Recently a few of us were considering the reign of King Solomon. The first eleven chapters of 1 Kings covers his reign. For 10 of those 11 chapters Solomon establishes himself as a great king.
He doesn’t push himself forward to be the king, he allows his father to put him on the throne. He pays careful attention to the instructions of his father and clinically ensures there are no possible threats to his rule once his father dies. Once that is done, in his first divine encounter, he asks for discernment to rule well and as a result gets that and a lot more. He sets up right relations with friends of his father to fulfil the wish of his father to build the temple to the Lord. This temple is magnificent and he also builds some other outstanding works of architecture including his home and law court to surround the temple. Over the years he establishes himself as a man of great wisdom and his rule sees the country’s economic greater than it ever was previously. His reputation of greatness spreads worldwide.
He was a great king.
Centuries later, though, the son of a carpenter would emerge in the area who would have the audacity to say to those who would listen that something greater than Solomon was among them. It would be considered an outrageously egomaniacal claim to make, if it wasn’t true. It would be a statement of lunacy to swiftly dismiss, if it wasn’t true. This is not a Shearer vs Ronaldo matter of taste. Anyone making the kind of claims to be greater than Solomon has to come real good and come with a matter of fact.
Indeed anyone considering such a claim would agree that if it was a fact then such an individual would be well worth following. Such an individual would be well worth investing a great deal of time learning from and pursuing. Such an individual would be a monarch of such greatness that would surely go beyond the borders of a particular nation.
As it happens, people heard his words, saw his works and some were convinced that he was not offering a matter of taste, but a matter of fact. Speaking of facts, when it mattered most at the end, this man did something greater than Solomon. Where Solomon’s heart in the end turned from God in disobedience and faithlessness to follow detestable, abominable and worthless idols, this man was obedient and faithful to the point of the cross. Where one died in the lap of luxury but away from the heart of God, the other died naked, beaten and nailed to cross between two thieves. But because He is greater one day every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
That’s not a matter of opinion.
(Photo by Hugo Fergusson on Unsplash)
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 