I've never considered myself to be a math whiz but I do have a general understanding of how numbers work. For example, 2+2=4... unless you've been tortured and brainwashed by Big Brother, and your power of independent thought has been broken to the point that if you were told that 2+2=5, you enthusiastically agree. (If you were thoroughly baffled by that reference, you need to read 1984 by George Orwell!) I just felt the need to preface my post with this explanation because I'm sure you're wondering why I would infer that 3 is greater in value than 30. Welp, I'm so glad you asked!
Jesus Christ came to Earth for a divine purpose and His mission, which He ultimately chose to accept, was essentially suicide. That was a bitter pill for anyone to swallow, and even God in human form required preparation for it. Jesus spent 30 years growing, learning and living as one of us before He officially began His Father's business [Luke 3:23]. Not much is shared in the Bible about His life between childhood and 30, but whatever happened during that 'buffering period' was necessary for Him to become the Jesus that would literally save the world.
Once He was baptized--or effectively ordained--Jesus' ministry did not stop until He rose from the grave and ascended to heaven. It is taught that a span of 3 years separated His baptism and His crucifixion, and in that time He changed the course of history. Jesus walked on the path of His purpose by preaching, performing miracles and making disciples. In a mere 3 years, He revolutionized the way people approached and encountered God and each other by cancelling "the law" and replacing it with grace. Jesus forged a new path to God through faith and love--NOT works and rituals. He did more in those 3 years than could have been done in all of the time before His life and after His death... but only when it was His time.
God's concept of time, space, math and science are above and beyond what our crummy human minds can comprehend. He orchestrated exactly when Christ's birth, death and resurrection would take place, and not a moment too soon or too late. In His omnipotence, He surmised that 3 would be greater than 30. That 3 decades would be the appropriate incubation period for Jesus to unleash 3 years of awesomesauce the likes of which the universe had never witnessed. God made it so that His son lived and learned among Earthlings for 30 years so that Jesus could make His 3 years of ministry real and relevant to those whom He was dying to save.
Tomorrow is Resurrection Sunday--the day we recognize as that which Jesus basically told sin, death and hell to kick rocks. As we celebrate that our Redeemer lives, let's pause to think about the path that His life took while on Earth... that even His life was subject to God's divine timing. This is especially applicable if, like me, you are confused/anxious about why certain things in your life seem to be taking SO long to happen. It's an appropriate reminder to us all that God's ways and thoughts are higher than ours, and He will let us off our chains when the His time is right.
Happy Easter!
pVI
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