ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Tokonaki Ma’asi 11, 2023

בכור Firstborn

'OLOPO ‘OU

EXODUS 13:1-2

THE LORD SAID TO MOSES, "CONSECRATE TO ME ALL THE FIRSTBORN. WHATEVER IS THE FIRST TO OPEN THE WOMB AMONG THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, BOTH OF MAN AND OF BEAST, IS MINE."

‘EKISOTO 13:1-2

PEA folofola ‘a Sihova kia Mōsese ‘o pehē, Fakatāpui ma‘aku ‘a e ‘uluaki tama tangata kotoa pē: 2 ‘ilonga ‘a e ‘olopo‘ou ‘i ha‘a ‘Isileli, ‘i he tangata mo e manu, ‘e ‘o‘oku ia.

God flips cultural norms upside down. Although a b'kor ("firstborn") was the heir of a double portion and the beginning of a man's strength (Deut. 21:17), the Lord repeatedly handpicked the younger brother. He chose Abel over Cain, Jacob over Esau, Judah over Reuben, Ephraim over Manasseh, David over his brothers. The b'kor was still important to him-indeed, it belonged to him-but the Lord prefers to do things backward. The b'kor may be the beginning of a man's strength, but God, from the beginning, "chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong" (1 Cor. 1:27).

Christ is, on the one hand, the "firstborn of all creation" (Col. 1:15), "firstborn from the dead" (v. 18), and the founder of "the assembly of the firstborn" (Heb. 12:23). But on the other hand, he is the second-born Adam. As Paul writes, "The first man Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit" (1 Cor. 15:45). Jesus, this "younger Adam," the head of a new humanity, is the last in the long line of younger brothers. Our Father, through the Messiah's shameful death in mortal weakness, bequeaths to us the inheritance of unending life.

Christ, our Brother, watch over us and keep us as members of your beloved family.