Top 10 Events from Salvation History I Wish I Could’ve Witnessed

Posted by in Scripture | 7 comments

With all the election stuff going on, and in my own life the renovation of a house these next few months and the beginning of the annual birthday season tomorrow (my wife, kids, and I all have birthdays within a one month span), it’s getting just a tad bit stressful. At Andrew’s suggestion, here’s a fun post that’s actually on-topic for once.

Top 10 Events from Salvation History I Wish I Could’ve Witnessed

  1. The Creation of the World – Sure, it would be cool to watch the Big Bang – if you’re into that kind of thing – but the real treat would be to watch the formation of earth. I figure if the 6 day creationists are right, then it’s like one ginormous time-elapsed image. Everything moving so fast that the whole thing is a bit blurry as God went around solving the tohu wabohu problem. Hard not to appreciate it. Of course, there is that whole problem with the 6th day. For modesty’s sake, I’d have to look away and fast forward to the part where they have the fig leaves on.
  2. The Destruction of Babel – I imagine this was more epic than any major apocalyptic blockbuster. (Blockbuster is an ironic choice of words. Bricks are kinda like blocks, right?) Of course, just when the destruction was complete and the dust settled, the people would’ve started realizing that they couldn’t coordinate a response. I wonder what that must have been like. Did everyone think all the others had suddenly become drunk? “I’m the only one making any sense around here! Guess I’m the designated driver.”
  3. The Plagues on Egypt – Some people might see this as a morbid choice, but you have to admit, it would be an awfully amazing thing to witness. The drama of the first nine plagues in the Bible is fantastic because you figuratively have all these Egyptian gods dying, all beginning with Moses stabbing the Nile with his staff and making it bleed and ending with the sun god, Ra, not showing up to work three days in a row. (Imagine Knut and Apis sitting around the water cooler: “Do you think maybe we should check on him?”) The tenth plague, though, is the most dramatic, and truly heartbreaking. We’re told a few verses later (Exodus 12:36) that the Egyptians were well disposed toward the Israelites, so we get the impression that their first-born sons died mostly due to Pharaoh’s stubbornness, rather than the Egyptians’. The evil of one man can cause the death of many, even if he never intended it. Yet, it is also a show of God’s justice, as it brings full circle the consequences of the previous Pharaoh’s genocide.
  4. The Exodus – Come for the previews, stay for the movie. I don’t see how anyone could overlook the Exodus after watching the Plagues. To see water stand up, defying gravity’s pull downward and forward, as you walk through on dry land? Amazing. I particularly like the portrayal of this scene in the King of Egypt: in the dark of night, a nation goes forth from slavery, lit by a pillar of fire and the light of candles, silent at the sight of the monsters of the deep swimming alongside them in vertical pools. It must have been a truly beautiful demonstration of God’s power.

  5. "This Ba'al?" "Uh...sure."

    Elijah on Mt. Carmel – Maybe it’s because I’m a guy, but you’ve got to appreciate the guts Elijah showed when he challenged the priests of the pagan god Ba’al to a worshiping match. Ba’al’s priests went at it all day trying to make their god send fire from the heavens to consume their sacrifice. What did Elijah do? He walks up, waters down all the wood to make it flame-retardant, rinses and repeats a few times, and then prays. Instantly, fire consumes his sacrifice. At the same time he’s being gutsy, he’s being humble. He’s not trying to show off what a great pray-er he is. He’s giving God the opportunity to show off what a great God He is. Awesome.
  6. The Nativity – I have to cut off the Old Testament sights out of fairness to the New Testament. Much shorter, the NT doesn’t give us as many miracles as the OT, but what it lacks in number, it makes up for in pure awesomeness. The first great sight of the New Testament I’d like to see would be the Nativity. There are a few considerations. First, there’s the simple beauty of the timing, around the darkest day of the year, in the cold of winter, when seasonal depression starts setting in (perhaps that’s the appeal of O Come, O Come Emmanuel to this melancholic), the Light from Light comes from the Father to enter our human world. Second, there’s the proclamation to the shepherds. Myriads of angel choirs singing praise to God over a baby born in a manger? The wondrous paradox! Third, there’s that whole virgo in partu thing, which is just miraculous enough to keep doubters doubting for centuries.
  7. The Transfiguration – I had a near tie here between the Transfiguration and the Institution of the Holy Eucharist, but I broke it with the consideration that in the Institution Narrative, the Apostles still receive what appears to be bread. It wouldn’t be as miraculous a sight, though it was a miraculous event unparalleled. Since I wouldn’t see as much as I’d like, I opted for the Transfiguration. Imagine being able to see Christ’s divinity shining through His humanity as He spoke with Moses and Elijah. Amazing. Side considerations: Maybe I could smack St. Peter upside the head for offering to set up tents (worst timing ever). More importantly, maybe I could ask Elijah for advice on how to be more gutsy.
  8. The Crucifixion – This, of course, would be an incredibly sad sight to see, especially when He is laid in his mother’s arms. Don’t believe me? Bouguereau’s Pieta should change that.
  9. The Resurrection – Of course, if you see the crucifixion, you have to stick around for the Resurrection. If you don’t, you might be on the Road to Emmaus. I’m not talking about meeting Christ after the Resurrection, though. I’m talking about being in the tomb when it happened. There are no witnesses but God and angels, but I figure it must have been brighter than even the Transfiguration (perhaps that’s why there were no witnesses with eyeballs).
  10. St. John’s Visions – Last but not least, I wish I could have seen exactly what St. John saw that inspired him to write the Book of Revelation. Artistically depicted, I bet it would look more like Hieronymus Bosch than Rembrandt. That’s a sight to see.

What about you? What would make your top 10 list?

7 Comments

  1. Deacon Tom / October 25, 2012

    1. The Garden of Paradise – “Was it an apple, a pear, an orange . . .?”
    2. The Great Flood – “Where did that ark end up after all?”
    3. Red Sea – Second best special effects after Creation itself!
    4. Burning Bush – “Just how were those tablets made and etched?”
    5. Jonah – I gotta see the size of that fish!
    6. Birth of Christ – So that I can finally know the correct way to assemble my Nativity scene this year!
    7. FInding of Jesus up until His baptism – “The Lost Chapters!”
    8. Wedding Feast at Cana – The best wine EVER!
    9. When Jesus saved the woman from being stoned – “What DID He write on the ground?”
    10. The Ordination of the First Class of Deacons! – There probably wasn’t an available seat in the place!
    Honorable Mentions:
    11. When the Jewish Carpenter had to teach the burly fishermen how to fish! “Throw the net on the other side where the fish are you knuckleheads!”
    12. The Last Supper – C’mon. The Holy Eucharist and the Holy Priesthood at one event? This is a no-brainer!

  2. Gregg the Obscure / October 25, 2012

    Without diminishing other reponses, I can’t believe no one mentioned:
    Pentecost;
    The Transfiguration;
    Isaiah’s vision of the cherubim;
    converion of St. Paul;
    Jesus on the road to Emmaus.

  3. Howard / October 25, 2012

    Let me add
    1. Enoch Translated
    2. The Flood (from the Ark!)
    3. Lot’s Wife Turned to Salt (well, I wouldn’t really want to be that close)
    4. Fall of Jericho
    5. David vs. Goliath
    6. Elijah Carried to Heaven
    7. Jesus Feeding of the Multitude (either one)
    8. Jesus Walking on the Water

  4. Seth / October 25, 2012

    The birth, life, and death of Seth.

  5. Gabriel / October 25, 2012

    Pentecost!!! Come on, you chose Old Testament stuff over Pentecost??

  6. Bender / October 27, 2012

    Of course, it should be noted that with many of these events, we ARE witnesses to them. We are made present at these happenings, transported back in time as it were so as to really be there, by the transcendent power of the eternal Holy Spirit in and through the Mass, even if our physical brains and worldly-bound intellects do not comprehend how we could transcend time and space in this manner. Still, we are there at the birth of Jesus, at the Last Supper, at His Crucifixion and Resurrection and Ascension, at the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, by our communion (being one with) with the Lord and the saints.

    Still, the point is valid, to be able to see these events with the eyes of our heads, in addition to the eyes of our hearts, would be rather astounding. But to limit our understanding and experience to that which we can see with the eyes of our heads would probably be to miss the point — after all, most of the people who were historically present at these events did not understand and got little benefit from them. Besides, we’ll just have to be patient and wait until we enter eternity to see them ourselves.

    There are some events in Salvation History (and human history generally) which are not recorded in scripture, but that does not mean that they did not happen. It would be interesting to see those events in action, such as the day-to-day life of Jesus between the ages of 12 and 30.

    I recently read in book by Thomas à Kempis about how he believes that the person that Jesus first appeared to after His Resurrection was not Mary Magdalene but Mary His Mother. Or perhaps if He did not appear explicitly to her, she otherwise knew through the Holy Spirit the exact moment that He rose (in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, he envisions the same thing happening when Jesus is arrested and Mary suddenly wakes up to ask the question from the Seder, “why is this night different from all other nights?”). That would be interesting to see, as would the Annunciation (and visits to others by angels). But aside from seeing them in person, if you were to depict them on film, how to do so convincingly? How do you show the transcendent, the other-worldly, the bigger-than-life?

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