Jesus himself opens up the Scriptures, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms and connects the dots from the Old Testament to what happened at the events of his death and resurrection. When he does this, he gives the basis for what they need to do. I bring this up because it’s worth noting that the risen Jesus still cares about what’s in the Bible. And we should too. He could easily say, “Cast those old scrolls into the fire and listen to me. I’m the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms now.” But he doesn’t. The written words of Scripture, in their particular phrasing, in the original languages, rightly matter to Jesus. The history of Israel and God’s relationship to Israel matters to Jesus.

I do want to say that I’ve been enjoying watching yard work videos. Far more than I can say I’ve been enjoying yard work. In these videos, a guy gets his weed whacker and his lawn mower and finds some abandoned property and fixes it up. And it’s sped up! Like 3 or 4 times the normal speed. It’s amazingly satisfying. It is offering a different view of humanity’s relationship to nature. One where the whole job gets done in 90 seconds instead of 3 hours. It’s kind of a reversal of the cursing of the ground that happened at the Fall. And I think it’s a good picture of the hope we find in the prophet Joel, who sets the stage with war and famine.

From the hopeful moment in the garden after the fall, where we’re told the serpent’s head will be struck, crushed; to the picture of life after the end of all things in the book of Revelation, new creation is a bold and hopeful thing to set your imagination on. It’s the ridiculous idea that failures everywhere daydream about. What if God were to hit the reset button? What if, to paraphrase J.R.R. Tolkien, everything sad is going to come untrue?