“…and be ready for the third day; for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.”
Exodus 19:11 (NAB)
God came down a few times in scripture, and throughout Old Testament scripture He is called the Most High. David used this name for God in many psalms he wrote.
“thou alone, whose name is the Lord,
art the Most High over all the earth.”
(Psalm 83:18)
The Most High God told Moses to prepare the people and He will come down after three days to give them His commandments. When God came down on that third day, Moses went up to the highest point of Mount Sinai, while the people waited at the foot of the mountain. They heard the sounds of thunder, saw a dense cloud of smoke, with flashes of lightning, all happening on the top of that holy mountain.
On that third day, the presence of the Most High came down with many awesome and dramatic signs. This is probably where that name for God came from, commonly used in Jewish culture.
Over 1400 years later, the Most High God came down again, only that time He came to overshadow a virgin’s womb, with His presence.
For the first and only time, the Most High God came down to take on human flesh. Instead of coming to a holy mountain, He came to Mary’s womb instead. An angel who appeared to her, used that same name of God. He told Mary that her son “will be great and will be called Son of the Most High…” (Luke 1:32)
When Jesus finished His mission, and died on the cross, He was lying in a tomb until the third day, when God came down again. Just as He came down to Mount Sinai on the third day, He also came down to that tomb on the third day. This time He came down with a blast of resurrection power and He raised His incarnate son from the dead.
A day is coming, when the son of the Most High God will come down one more time, at His second coming. No one describes this coming down event, better than Paul, as he wrote to the Thessalonians:
“For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, console one another with these words.”
(1 Thessalonians 4:15-18)
This is to be our consolation in all we go through in this life, we have the hope within us, when Jesus will come down once again. We wait for His second coming, when He will raise all those who died with this hope. We who are alive, will be caught up at once, to meet Him in the air.
Of all the few times that God came down to this world, and after all the glory, the drama, clouds of smoke, thunder and earthquakes, when He came down to Bethlehem, to be incarnated as a baby, it was different than all His other times. God came down in Bethlehem and appeared to the world in a quiet, discreet way, with all humility.
On that holy night, Jesus was born to humble, unknown parents, and while angels rejoiced, most people never recognized Him as the son of the Most High. Mary’s baby embodied the fullness of divine love, grace and mercy. He grew up as a man who expressed the unlimited mercy of His Father in heaven, in everything He said and did. Jesus revealed the great worth of our souls from the perspective of a Most High God. He did it through His birth all the way to to His resurrection, and He did it all for us.
Lord, we praise and glorify you, the Son of the Most High God. Thank you for coming so far down to lift us up, and doing it in the fulness of humility. Help us all to rise up ever closer to you, with joy over the gift of our salvation. Amen