Under His feet

And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. – Ephesians 1.22-23

He has put all things under His feet. That’s an interesting phrase and we westerners can basically understand its meaning, but we don’t get the full meaning of it to those who first heard it.

In that eastern culture the foot is the ultimate symbol of authority. You have to very careful about what you do with your feet in those societies. You never point your foot at a person. When someone threw a shoe at President Bush it was a terrible insult. When Khrushchev pounded the podium at the UN with the shoe the west chuckled while the east was in shock at his brazenness. The foot says ‘I am over you.’

So when we read that ‘Jesus put all things under His feet’ any Jewish readers would have know the full impact of what they read. They claim is that everything is subject to Jesus’ authority, and that’s exactly what he means.

Indeed today Jesus has put everything under His authority. While this broken world goes on its way we can be assured that one day Jesus is going to exert that authority.

Then why doesn’t He do it now? The answer is pretty clear – He wants all men to be saved. Eternity is more important that here and now. One day it will be done. One day Jesus will come in His authority and judge the world, but then it will be too late for the world’s chance for eternity will be over.

All things are under His feet. We must rest in that assurance.