In honor of National High-Five day, I feel it is my civic duty to let you in on a little secret... the origin of the High-Five.. I'll defer to Barney from How I Met Your Mother (a racier, funnier, version of "Friends") to educate you on the High-Five's rich 2000+ year history.
Barney: You can't call her, you have to wait three days to call a woman. That's the rule!
Ted: Barney, that rule is completely played out. Girls know exactly what you're doing. Hey I got a new rule, it's kind of crazy, it's called you like her, you call her
Barney: I'm sorry, can you repeat that? I don't speak "I never get girls" . Jesus waited THREE days to come back to life. It was perfect! If he had only waited ONE day, a lot of people wouldn't have even heard he died. They'd be all, "Hey Jesus, what up?" and Jesus would probably be like, "What up? I DIED yesterday!" and they'd be all, "Uhh, you look pretty alive to me, dude..." and then Jesus would have to explain how he was resurrected, and how it was a miracle, and the dude'd be like "Uhh okay, whatever you say, bro..." And he's not gonna come back on a SATURDAY. Everybody's busy, doing chores, workin' the loom, trimmin' the beard, NO. He waited the perfect number of days, THREE. Plus it's SUNDAY, so everyone's in church already, and they're all in there like "Oh no, Jesus is DEAD", and then BAM! He bursts in the back door, runnin' up the aisle, everyone's totally psyched, and FYI, that's when he invented the high five. That's why we wait three days to call a woman, because that's how long Jesus wants us to wait.... True story
So why did Jesus think it was appropriate to give a High-Five? According to today's standards, people dish out High-Fives when a person does something awesome... so let's see what things Jesus did that were awesome to merit a celebratory High-Five, mmm k?
Do Something Awesome #1- Set a World Record!
Up until the time of Jesus, ain't no body been able to live a perfect life... I mean shoot maybe peeps thought Noah was a "good" person because he listened to God and built and ark, or maybe peeps thought Moses was a "good" person because he helped release the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, or maybe peeps thought King David was legit because he defeated the scary/enormous "Goliath". WRONG. Noah got crunk (crazy + drunk) post chilling in the ark, Moses committed murder and later disobeyed God's instructions, and David committed adultery and aided the murder of some poor brah. So Jesus comes along and is all I'm going to be tempted in every way possible, yet still not sin, aka lead a perfect life!
"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.” Hebrews 4:15
"Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever. “ Hebrews 7:26-28
Do Something Awesome #2- Ends Cruelty to Animals! (PETA likes this)Before Jesus, life was pretty crappy. There were 100s of rules that Israelites were commanded to follow (including the 10 commandments). Additionally, the Israelites were told that breaking a rule, or “sinning”, could be punishable by death, AND the sinful act couldn’t be forgiven UNLESS there was the shedding of blood (i.e. sacrificing an innocent, unblemished animal). To complicate matters further, peeps didn’t have the luxury of talking to God whenever they wanted. In fact, only the appointed high priest was allowed to be in the presence of God (located in the Holy Place) ONCE per year to offer animal sacrifices for his own sins and the sins of the community (Hebrews 9: 1-10). So then, Jesus rolls up having lived a perfect life, and is all hey I’ll just thrown down my life as the ultimate sacrifice (i.e. allow peeps to crucify him on wrongful charges), in order to forgive everyone for ALL sins, once and for all. Oh and PS , me doing this will allow you to have a restored relationship with God and you can hablar con Dios anytime you like, 24-7!
“Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant. Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.” Hebrews 7:22-28
Do Something Awesome #3: - Raise Himself From the Dead, sans Magic!Jesus rose from the dead 3 days after he was crucified…if he didn’t we would have a dead savior and he would have been nothing more than a martyr. However, since Christ is living today, the sacrifice he made for us is legit and we can have the promise of eternal inheritance, i.e. heaven because of it. HOORAY!
“He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. “Hebrews 9:12-15
So there you have it! OH AND BTW, I couldn't find a mention of a "High-Five" in the Bible, so Barney may or may not have made that up. In any event, Happy Easter!
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