Christ in Noah (3)

Closely linked with the Righteousness of Noah, which we considered in our previous post, was his Reputation. Let us examine this briefly:

Noah and Reputation

Noah was "perfect in his generations" (Gen 6.9), and the meaning of this is likely that he was blameless among his contemporaries.

No-one could point the finger at Noah. He was no hypocrite. He was a "preacher of righteousness" (2 Peter 2.5), and, as we have seen, before he ever preached righteousness he practiced it! His life matched his lip; his walk and his words were in perfect harmony.

In this again we see the sinless Saviour. Luke, who wrote both the Gospel that bears his name and the Acts of the Apostles, draws our attention to "all that Jesus began both to do and to teach" (Acts 1.1). If there had been the hairs-breadth of a difference between His morals and His message, His enemies would have found it and exploited it to the full, but while they tried hard, they could not. It was in the certain consciousness of this that the Lord challenged His opponents "Which of you convinceth me of sin?" (John 8.46), and it was because of this "they sought false witness against Him" (Matt 26.59).

The life of Christ was lived out in the open, under the gaze of men, and there was none who could throw mud that would stick. The scrutiny was intense and unsympathetic. If the scribes or Pharisees caught the wiff of a possibility of double standards, they were onto it like a bloodhound (ignoring their own hypocrisy), but they could find nothing of the sort in Him. Pilate, that shrewd, calculating, experienced judge of men must acknowledge that "I, having examined Him ... have found no fault in this man ...".  No skeleton hidden in any dark corner or cupboard could be found, nor will it ever be, for as Peter notes "He did no sin" (1 Peter 2.22).

Sadly, down through the centuries the cause of Christ has been hindered by the hypocrisy of Christians. It was Mahatma Ghandi who said "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ". Now, while Ghandi was far from an authority on the person of the Lord Jesus, and His understanding of Christ was fundamentally flawed, we can still apply the spirit of his criticism. Sadly as Christians we often are not as Christ-like as we should be. May the Lord help us to ensure that our lives have the same transparency and honesty as His did. 

"Give me a faithful heart, likeness to Thee.

That each departing day henceforth may see
Some work of love begun, some deed of kindness done,
Some wanderer sought and won, something for Thee"

(Saviour Thy Dying Love.  Sylvanus D Phelps)