Prestidigitation From The Bunker Day 58

Abracadabra, and Uncle Bob opened his hand to reveal a folded wad of twenty dollar bills. Too bad I had picked the other hand. It was empty. Uncle Bob wasn’t really our uncle, but the military made for an odd assortment of family members. Uncle Bob was in charge of the NCO club on base, and my father and he had struck up a friendship. Uncle Bob would come over to the house and prestidigitate for us boys. We were always wide eyed and Uncle Bob always walked away a little poorer; of his own design, of course. The height of His gamesmanship was the night he manipulated the games so that we all ended up winning a trip to Six Flags over Texas. He was generous to a fault, and the best fake uncle we ever had.

I have always wanted to be a prestidigitator. The hat and cloak hide the marvels of Magic. Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called "The Pledge". The magician shows you something ordinary (the pledge). Then he takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary (the turn). Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part called "The Prestige.” The prestige is the moment when the magic happens, when wonderment becomes awe.

God is not a prestidigitator, because He doesn’t engage in illusion. He is, however, involved in a mystery, one that has been in the works before the creation of man. At the exact moment of His will He made His mystery known, and is now a beacon of light to all who would stand in awe and wonder.

 Ephesians 1:7-10, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

Let’s put it into the language of the prestidigitator:

The Pledge. God takes something ordinary, and in this case the human body. He wraps it around his nature and the two become one. He exhibits His son for all the world to see. He is fully man and fully God, but that’s not the mystery.

The Turn. His son stirs a jealous reaction among the Jews and is handed over to the Romans to be crucified. The turn is his death. Jesus had promised the coming of the kingdom. He had promised a renewal of mankind. He had promised. Now it was all lost, and his body was laid in a tomb.

The Prestige! When the disciples’ future turned dark, when their anticipation waned, and when all their hope was forgotten the reveal happened — the tomb was empty! Jesus rose from the dead and His followers stood in awe and wonder.

Nothing remained secret, the mystery was made known, and in fact we are told to spread the word. 1 Timothy 3:16, “Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world,
taken up in glory.” Now that is a mystery worth knowing. I’m just saying.

From The Bunker Day 58