Breaking the Pattern
1 Corinthians 10:11-13
These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
What are “these things” that begin our text? I’d like to make the case that they are patterns, patterns of behavior revealed in the Old Testament. Paul often uses the Hebrew scriptures to warn and correct his churches. In this case, he had just mentioned the exodus from Egypt as a baptism that formed Israel’s identity. He continues to explain that despite this, Israel repeatedly sinned and rebelled in the wilderness, the place of testing and temptation. The events in the wilderness were not just events, but repeated patterns. Scripture highlights this to warn us of our sinful condition.
On Sunday, our 11th & 12th grade Sunday school discussed the idea of design patterns in the Hebrew Bible. Design patterns tie stories together using similar wording, imagery, or themes to create expectation and suspense. They are God’s way of weaving his unified story together. Let me give you an example we used in class to highlight how stories warn us through repeated patterns.
Genesis 3:6-7
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Now take a look at how 2 Samuel presents David.
2 Samuel 11:2-5
One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was [very good of sight] (beautiful), and David sent someone to take her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home. The woman conceived and sent word to David, saying, “I am pregnant.”
Notice the pattern. To paraphrase Mark Twain, “History doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes.” David sees, he desires, he takes, and shame follows. It’s easy to look at the characters like David or Eve and say, “What were you thinking??” But in reality, we’re just like David when he’s confronted with his own pattern by the prophet Nathan.
2 Samuel 12:5-7
David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.” Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man!”
When we read the Bible carefully, it begins to read us. Patterns in scripture hold a mirror to our patterns of behavior. Thanks be to God that Jesus broke the pattern that plagues each of us in our sinful nature. When Jesus was tempted to take all he saw for himself, he subjected all things to his heavenly father and suffered the cross. But he doesn’t leave us on our own. Being united with Christ, we can affirm with Paul “When you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” We have the power of the one who broke the pattern in us.
Jesus, on the cross you broke the curse and gave us your Spirit to endure all things. Thank you for giving us a way out of our sinful patterns.
Amen