Working through some readings in an attempt to finish my essay on the doctrine of revelation and came across this …
To meet Christ is to meet God. In this encounter God is at the same time concealed. I encounter my wife. She is disclosed yet concealed to me. I encounter God in Christ. God is disclosed and at the same time concealed to me. It cannot be otherwise. I cannot bring God out of the closet on Sundays and adore God according to my will any more than I can bring my wife out of the house and adore her according to my will. To know God is to know Jesus. It is to be called into a relationship. Jesus commanded a young man, ‘‘Follow me.’’ The young man said, ‘‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’’ Jesus—refusing to be shoved aside like some lucky charm or trinket of good fortune—replies, ‘‘Let the dead bury their own dead’’ (Lk 9:59–60).
God will not be shoved aside. God in Jesus demands to be treated as a living autonomous subject. God will not be manipulated, handled, or treated like some cute child asking for attention.
Preaching Christ Crucified: Luther and the Revelation of God By David C. Ratke
Dialog: A Journal of Theology, Volume 43, Number 4, Winter 2004
