The Bravado of the BOSS

You know there is a saying heard at times throughout the sports world that goes something like this: "Never let your mouth write a check that your..." well you finish it. This past Monday night in my hometown of Foxboro MA, the New England Patriots schooled the New York Jets! It was a beautiful game, one that will haunt Rex Ryan I am sure for the rest of the season.

Mr. Ryan spent the better part of a week and a half writing checks, only to find that when it came time to cash them the account was empty. Sad really, because (as much as this pains me to say) the Jets are a fine football team. However, as D.L. Moody once said: "When a man thinks he has got a good deal of strength, and is self-confident, you may look for his downfall." The Jets left Foxboro humiliated, not humble, but humiliated. All because someone made it very clear that the Patriots were going to meet up with the new Kings of the East.

I was reading through John's gospel this morning and saw that Jesus wrote a lot of checks too.
"The woman said, 'I know that Messiah (called Christ) is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.' Then Jesus declared, 'I who speak to you am he.'" [John 4:25-26]
"You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." [John 5:39-40]
"Then Jesus declared,'I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." [John 6:35]

I could go on and on and on but those scriptures paint a very good picture of a man who thinks extremly high of himself. The difference with Jesus is he backed up everything he said with miracle after miracle and a proclamation of victory over death itself. If Jesus were not LORD everyone of these claims would be checks written against an empty account. Had Jesus not risen from the dead, we would have a very arrogant man with empty boasts.

Jesus filled the account with miracles and healings and prophetic words, giving validation to his claims of being the bread of life, the Messiah and the fulfillment of the Scriptures.

The fundemental difference between Rex Ryan (and all of us who boast) and Jesus of Nazareth is this: We think we have the strength and power, Jesus KNEW he had it, and he proved it time and again.

I'll take the bravado of my BOSS any day, cuz when he walked out of that grave on the third day, Salvation came to mankind and validation of every word he ever spoke was secured!