God's Proximity

Jim:

Genesis 11:1-9
I love the image of God presented in verse 5: “The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built.” The inquisitive nature of God and God’s willingness to get close to humanity seem more important to the writers of this material than God’s omnipotence and sovereignty. In other words, it is less important to say that God knew what humanity was up to than to say that God was curious and attentive to what humanity was up to. I think we can get too wrapped up in God’s transcendence over humanity that we overlook God’s willing proximity to humanity. Similar images of God can be found in Genesis 3:8 where God enjoys a walk in the Garden of Eden (and even calls out to Adam and Even, “Where are you?”), and in Genesis 18 where God shares a meal with Abraham by the oaks of Mamre (and engages in a form of haggling with Abraham who argues on behalf of any righteous citizens of Sodom in v. 22ff). It is important to remember that God has not chosen to remain apart from humanity, but draws near to us and engages with us with divine interest.

John 4:1-15
Jesus, too, shares proximity with everyday folks, even a Samaritan woman, who would have been considered well beneath the attention of a Jewish man at that time. But Jesus engaged her in conversation. Her question in verse 12, “Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well…?” is humorous when we know who Jesus is—that he is certainly greater than Jacob. But it again forces us to realize God’s transcendent sovereignty is not always the point. Sometimes God willingly humbles the divine self, even appearing to be less significant than a particular human in order to communicate with us. Eventually Jesus will die a humiliating death, thus making absolutely clear the lengths to which God will go to bring salvation to God’s people.