where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 6:20
Having lived in many different places, I’ve had to drive in lots of different kinds of weather. And while I’ve driven through a hurricane, nothing compares with driving in the snow. All you have to do is be distracted for just a minute any you’ll wind up in a ditch on the side of the road. Or just turn the steering wheel a little too fast and you’ll be part of a giant pileup that backs traffic up for miles.
When it comes to driving in the snow, and for that matter just living, I like to follow the example of people who are successful. People that seem to be on the path of arriving at their destination safely and on time. So, when it comes to driving in the snow, my Number One strategy is to get behind a snowplow.
Snowplows are big and heavy trucks. Sometimes they even have chains on their wheels so they can get through ice and snow without any trouble. All of this so they can deliver a great big one-two punch against snow piling up on the road.
With that big steel blade on the front, it just tosses snow and slush off the road.
It also spreads salt or sand from the back, melting snow into harmless water.
It’s so important to get behind a snowplow that I’ll even risk speeding up in the snow if I see one in front of me. I’ll also slow down to a craw just to let a snowplow pass by. With the snowplow in my sights, I’ll then slide in behind them and relax. That is, relax as much as I can.
Yes, this is how I think about the idea that Jesus is our snowplow. He’s our forerunner. Or at least this is how I think about it in my brain. When the writer calls Jesus our forerunner, he’s saying these same things that are also true about snowplows.
Jesus is greater than us and our problems.
Jesus has more power than we do.
He also has a lot more experience in handling them.
Nothing’s going to stop Jesus.
Nothing’s going to push Jesus off course.
His rightful place is right in front of us.
Our rightful place is right behind him.
Now I get that the Hebrews who read this letter never heard of a snowplow, but they sure knew what a forerunner was. A forerunner is a person who goes before someone else. And why? Because their job is to prepare the way for the people who will be following them.
Snowplows never just go out just for fun. No way. Their job is to lower that great big steel blade and drive through their route. Their job is to spread salt or sand. Their purpose isn’t to drive around and look good. Keeping that blade up and not spreading sand or salt would be to miss the whole point of why they’re out on the road.
The same is true with Jesus. He didn’t come just to look good. Or to give nice speeches. Or to live in comfort and luxury. Or tell us how we could fix ourselves and our lives all by ourselves. No. Jesus came for a much bigger and important reason. He came to fix us and our biggest problem.
How true it is, and how I long that everyone should know it, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—and I was the greatest of them all.
1 Timothy 1:15 TLB
Some people don’t like to think about themselves as sinners. They think it’s too negative. It’s really old fashioned. It doesn’t do anything to make us feel any better when life gets tough. But with all respect, I think this important message is just what we so desperately need to hear.
When my doctor saw the test results that I had a very dangerous and deadly form of skin cancer, he didn’t put a Band-Aid on it. He didn’t tell me to take two extra-strength Advil® and call him in the morning. He didn’t tell me three jokes and then slapped me on the back. He didn’t tell me everything was fine.
No. He told me the truth. He carefully explained exactly how serious my problem was. He said that this wasn’t something that I could take care of myself. Pulling out my X-Acto® knife wasn’t an option. I needed help from someone else. Someone skilled at taking care of my deadly crisis.
This is exactly why God sent Jesus as our forerunner. He alone was going to offer the once-and-for-all sacrifice for all our sins. No more human priests to keep offering sacrifices over and over. No more us trying to get God’s attention and forgiveness through our sickly and weak efforts.
This right here is the whole point of this letter to the Hebrews. The whole point of life. We’re just so screwed up and powerless that we need someone to go ahead of us. To plow through the mess we’ve made of ourselves and to remake us into totally forgiven people. People who desire to do anything to please the God who loves us. To do anything to help the people around us. Now, that’s a snowplow worth following through the storms of this life. Jesus, our great forerunner.
Noodling Questions
Who are the snowplows in your life? The people you get behind and follow?
Give three examples of times that you tried to solve your own problems.
Why is Jesus the ultimate snowplow of life?
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