Hebrews 2:8
…and put everything under His feet.
One of the most oppressing (and saddening) facts that I have learned while here in India is the way the caste system works. Of course, it is no longer a legal system, but it is in the hearts of the people here and so it functions in a unwritten rule kind of way.
Basically there are five specific groups that follow the body from top to bottom: the head, which is the priests and leaders; the shoulders, which represents the strength of the nation which is it’s military and soldiers; the belly, which is the role the factory workers play; and the feet, which represents the poor and the ones who perform very menial tasks. Now, if you do your math right, you see only 4 mentioned there.
The fifth group are the ones we are helping during our trip. They are the slum dwellers, and in the caste system they are below the feet and are basically seen as sub-human. In fact, the main beef that Hinduism has with the Christian faith is that it places value on the individual and causes them to want to better themselves, thereby disrupting the system. Interesting, isn’t it?
I thought of this passage from Hebrews and pictured this giant foot of Jesus crushing this caste system and putting everyone – not just the slum dwellers – under His feet. He doesn’t do it to belittle us at all, but rather to show us that we all are on the same level, and that we need Him to be the Lord and King of our lives. The slum dwellers here understand that, and readily see their need of Him. But the higher the level in the system, the harder it is to see the need they have of Christ. Often it takes the big feet of Jesus to open our hearts to how needy we really are.
Of course, the quickest way down is to bow, and I would gladly choose that route to the bottom of Jesus’ feet over the one described in this verse!
How about you?
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