“And he said, ‘Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?’” (Gen 16:8, NIV)

It sounds like a pretty innocuous question to someone who’s running away, but then again God doesn’t seem to ask innocuous questions (at least, not in the Bible)!  Fast forward more than a thousand years, to shortly before the crucifixion, and in John’s gospel we read this:

“Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal… and began to wash his disciples’ feet…” (Jn 13:3-5, NIV)

If this were one of my English homework assignments, I’d be asked to ‘compare and contrast’ these two situations.  Well, not wanting to waste all the hours spent doing inane English essays, here goes…

Hagar was pregnant with the baby who, at the time, looked certain to be the eventual heir to Abraham and his whole household.  Because of that, she became arrogant, looking down on Sarah who was barren.  She forgot her place as a servant (where she had come from).  And when asked by the angel of the Lord as to where she was going, she replied that she was just running away – which I suppose is another way of saying, “I don’t know!”  Interestingly, the angel of the Lord tells Hagar two things: firstly, to return and submit to her mistress, Sarah – which is where she came from, literally and figuratively; and secondly, that her descendants would so increase that they would be too numerous to count (Gen 16:10) – which was her future, where she was going.

Jesus illustrated the opposite of Hagar.  He knew where he had come from and where he was going, and instead of being arrogant he humbled himself and proceeded to wash his disciples’ feet.  Instead of running away from the crucifixion that was at hand, he faced it head on.

There’s something amazing about knowing where we come from, and where we’re going.  And it affects our whole journey.

– Joey