Consistently Present

Posted by marchantdavenport on Aug 14, 2009 in Daily Bread | 5 comments

As you might know, I love languages. They allow us to express ideas and emotions, and thus the ability to communicate is essential to relationship. Because we were created to love our God and one another, we were also given the ability to speak – even if we’re speaking in our mind or through our hands. One of the amazing things about English is its scope. Over the centuries, it has taken in words from all over the world. It provides us with amazing precision, variety, and gradation of meaning with a wealth of synonyms. Sometimes, that shade of meaning is employed for merely for artistic purpose, but in other cases, it is extremely central to the idea. Whenever you’ve taken a language class (be it English or foreign), your teacher has likely emphasized verb tense agreement at some point. Consistency is key. We serve a consistent Lord.

In these verses, Jesus is implying Moses used present tense to highlight his point to the Sadducees. God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. If they were dead, then he would’ve said was. The action of living is on-going. Present/active tense is especially appropriate for infinity-spanning God. It shows that communication and relationship currently, now, at this present moment, point, and time, continue.

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” – Ephesians 2:4-5