Thank you, Mr. Ortberg

It's amazing at what a 3rd reading of a book will do for you.

As I prepare my heart for Easter (we also prepared our hearts for Christmas too!), I've been focusing and meditating on Bible verses having to do with the price Jesus paid to save little ol' me.  In addition, a 3rd read of John Ortberg's book, Who Is This Man? revealed stuff I missed before and had to share it.

Did you know there are no stories of a higher-status person washing the fee of a lower-status person?  We never read of a rabbi washing his diciples' feet, except this rabbi, who, by the way, said he was the Messiah.  (Jesus also washed Judas' feet just moments before Judas left the upper room to pay a visit to the Sanhedrin)

Within a few hours, Jesus would be arrested, convicted, and executed as a criminal.

The next time I go into a restaurant, I'll ask myself, "Who, in God's eyes, are the great ones?"  Betcha it's the servers, bus-ers, and waitstaff.

I never realized it before, but Paul was beaten to a pulp in Phillipi before he told his accusers he was a Roman citizen.  Why didn't he claim to be a Roman and avoid the whole painful ordeal?  Ortberg states that Paul knew that the Christians (as they were called) would suffer for their faith.  Paul could have avoided the beating, but he knew "lower-status" persons (the Christians and many of whom were not even considered citizens) would not be able to pull out the get-out-of-jail card.  Paul humbled himself and took his licks.

Just a few pages earlier, Ortberg explains what status was in the Roman culture, laying out the hierarchy of the elites.  Funny, those in togas had the highest stature, showing all with their flowing robes that they were above others; walking past the slaves and lowly ones of society.  To earn status, there was always a climb up the ladder, to gain more, even having higher status if one owned and used horses for transportation.

In the corporate world today, I noticed the suits and ties; the "game faces" and competitive stares - and wondered, have we really improved since the days of the Roman Empire?