I’d like to claim for myself the English expression “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”, meaning: the older we get the harder it is to learn new things. This is true in many areas of life. Just think about trying to teach your granny to use the latest smart phone! And, I must admit, the world of technology around us develops so fast that it is hard to keep up. For an old dog like me, I think I may have just decided to let the younger generation get on with it, although I surprised myself during this lock-down era by learning to do worship services online, Zooming around on Sundays, Bible studies and meetings. Maybe old dogs can still do it…?
It made me think of what Jesus experienced during his earthly ministry. His message was new, refreshing, and different. He reached out to the poor, sick and lowly people, telling his disciples that the kingdom of God belongs to “children” who are willing to receive God’s love in child-like faith. Ordinary people loved Jesus’ teaching, but the learned “old dogs” of Judaism hated Him.
The biggest challenge He faced was trying to convince these “old dogs” that He was the Messiah, God’s Son, who came to die and be raised up in order to offer salvation to anyone in the world who believes in Him. They just could not get beyond their old dog understanding of a Jewish king on a throne in Jerusalem that would bless only Israel. And what Jesus came to do is precisely what we are celebrating this month during Easter. God’s Son, Jesus Christ, is the Saviour of the world, and He brought about salvation in a way that no-one could have predicted.
Easter is a good reminder of the basis of our faith, summarized by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 – “I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures…”
Let’s celebrate our Saviour and our salvation!
