Archive for March 29th, 2009
The 11
What? Yep, they are called the eleven!
Doesn’t sound right does it? We’ve heard of a baker’s dozen (13) and we’ve heard of the twelve (apostles), but what in the world we do with the eleven?
Twice in Luke 24, as he is sharing the story of Jesus resurrection, Luke refers to the apostles as the eleven (Luke 24:9 & Luke 24:33). Ouch! We feel the deep wound in even saying the number 11. This number is a reminder of the night of failure – the night that Jesus’ closest three friends couldn’t stay awake with him in prayer (Peter, James, & John in Gethsemane), and Judas betrayed him, and Peter denied the him three times, and the rest of the twelve abandoned him to die alone. It is most clearly a reminder of Judas, the betrayal for thirty pieces of silver and the suicide in sorry for what he had done and how the apostles were left incomplete after the horrors of it all.
The term 11 reminds us of the flawed nature of our best intentions to never forsake the Lord. The number 11 is a reminder of our brokenness and incompleteness and failure. Even the mere thought of the number 11 is the jarring number reminder to us of the wounds in Jesus’ side and even deeper wounds in his heart. And, 11 reminds us that the account of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection does not sugar coat the unfaithfulness of the early church’s greatest heroes. So 11 reminds us to be humble about our biggest promises to the Lord.
The Bible is filled with all sorts of great numbers:
- 3 for divinity
- 4 for creation
- 7 for perfection
- 10 for greatness
- 12 for the twelve tribes of Israel, the people of God, and the apostles
- 40 years for the lifetime of a generation
- 1,000 for an exceedingly long time or large amount of something
But 11 is the perfect number for us.
- Flawed people , but remade by God’s grace
- Disciples carrying the scars of our own failures, but made whole by Jesus’ sacrifice
- Followers who are broken, but forgiven and called back to service
- Worshipers who are wounded, but being healed by the Savior’s touch
- People who can be crushed on their darkest Fridays, but for whom Sunday is coming
11!