“Who Made You a Prince and Judge Over Us?” (Exodus 2:14 - cf Acts 7:27,35)

Who Made You a Prince and Judge Over Us?

Sunday, March 27, 2022

Our critical question from the Bible for this week comes from the opening chapters of Exodus. Like the telling of the Jesus’ story, Moses’ birth story and has a note about growing up, but almost immediately we find Moses, like Jesus, involved in public ministry. Moses, an outsider, like Jesus, tries to stand up for his people, and he is rebuffed with this question: “Who made you a prince and judge over us?” (Exodus 2:14). It’s almost as though they could have quoted the yet unwritten verse from John: “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (John 1:11 ESV), speaking, of course, not of Moses, but of Jesus. The same pattern has been repeated against many people called to be instruments of God, and rejected by people they sought to serve.

The same line was experienced by the character of last week’s post, Joseph. In telling the dreams to his brothers, they said, “Are you indeed to reign over us?” (Gen 37:8). There seems to be a consistent tendency throughout human history to resist those who would be instruments of salvation.

The key application, though, is not our response to Joseph in Genesis, or Moses in Exodus, but to Jesus, revealed to us in the Gospels and preached to us in the Epistles. Many have heard; some have believed into this Jesus, but the issue of our submission to this Jesus is a constant question and battle for each of us.

Jesus is, to be sure, our “never failing friend,” as the old chorus goes. But do you relate to Jesus as your Prince, your King, and submit to His rule? He is your Judge, the text says, and therefore we are accountable to Him for every thought and action. To Him. Not to the neighbors or the tribe, or the party. “Are you really going to reign over us?”, the text says. Yes,” Jesus shall reign” (from the hymn), and He will indeed reign over you and me, if not now, then later; if not willingly, then unwillingly. Are we taking this seriously?

We are now approaching Resurrection Day. We will pass through pondering on the betrayal of Jesus, and then His suffering, and then His death. This is not just a tragic story like so many others tragic stories. This is the pivot point of all history. It is the defeat of darkness and the introduction of light. It is the defeat of death and the introduction of life. Jesus is the fulcrum at which our lives are changed, by which we are saved. And it cannot be a mere, polite acknowledgment. It must be an absolute submission and allegiance. Can we honestly sing “Take the world, but give me Jesus,” as the chorus goes?