Percy’s Random Ramblings

33 Wednesday, 01/25/2012

33 is just a number. To some it’s the number on a sports jersey. To others, it might hold other significance.

To me, as of about 7 PM tonight, it will be my age. It’s the year that, once again, my life forever changes as Sarah and I welcome our child into our lives. It’s a major milestone in my life. It will be a year that I will always remember. Even so, there’s one bit of significance around the number 33 that keeps coming to the forefront of my mind – it’s how old Jesus was when he died.

That one thought has overshadowed a lot of others the past few days. I look at my life so far, and I’ve gone through some pretty major changes and milestones – graduating High School and then college, getting that first job, buying a home, figuring out what I want to to professionally, getting married, getting baptized, and now preparing for the arrival of the next generation of my family. I’ve done a lot, experienced a lot, and had a pretty great life overall. But, if this were my last year on Earth, I don’t think I feel like I’ve had enough time to do everything that I want to do.

And, maybe that’s the problem. I have my own plans, but one of the reasons that Jesus had so much of an impact on history is that He turned over His plans to God. Now, being God, I’m assuming He knew what the outcome would be. But, that doesn’t mean that the part of Him that was human didn’t want to follow a different plan. That’s evident when He asks God to “take this cup from me“. In the end, though, He knew that God’s plan was better than His own, and submitted Himself to it.

Whatever you believe, Jesus changed the world while only living on this Earth for 33 years. I’m here, 2000 years afterwards, reading about His actions, and studying what He did and who He was. Now, having reached that age myself, and looking back, I don’t know how He had the will power to go through with a plan He knew would end in His death.

That’s just been something weighing on my mind as of late.