I wrote my first computer virus in 1993. I spent countless hours learning how to build it, and how to make it infect floppy disks that, when put in a computer, would make random, obnoxious kissing sounds. In a way, this makes me a hacker. (I blame my father for that; he is a hacker too.)
These days, hacker is a dark term in the computer world. But its original meaning refers to the skill of exploiting something to perform a functionality beyond its original design or intention. So the hacker isn’t the guy who fixes or repairs something. No, the hacker exploits the resource to gain access to an extra, unexpected functionality or feature.
While my father doesn’t hack computers, he does hack machines and equipment, and I grew up learning it too. So when I started using computers, it was only natural for me to want to hack them.
But the truth is that hacking isn’t easy, and the chances of failure are enormous. That’s probably why my parents weren’t very happy with my early hacking attempts. What happened to the blender?! Italo, come here!
The secret of good hacking is taking the time to deeply study and understand the target, and to keep studying it until it shows you its secrets. When you fully understand the inner workings of your target, you will know what needs to be changed in order to make it do something else without breaking.
Hacking isn’t just about machines or computers. It’s also about people, and that’s called social hacking: studying and learning about a person or group of people in order to discover opportunities to subtly influence them toward a behavior.
Whether the target is a machine, computer, or social group, a hacker’s actions will always make people ask: How did you do that? Why couldn’t we see it before?
In the Bible, I see a loving God who is willing to hack His own creation to bless us. God decides to break the rules He put in place, and He can do it while maintaining stability, making sure no functionality is broken. He performs a miracle because He loves us and wants to bless us.
So yes, God is my favorite hacker!
He breaks the laws of density to make an axe float. He breaks the laws of fluid to make a river stop in its tracks. He can make a cell regenerate and sickness disappear; He can make exhausted muscles start working again like new. He defies death to bring a person back to life. The list goes on and on.
God simply breaks the rules—without asking for authorization. No matter whether it’s a natural, physical, biological, or social rule, God is able to break it—hack it—because He loves us.
There are many examples of “hacking” in the Bible, every single one done to bless the people of God. And it still happens today: I’m sure that in your life you have seen how God performs the impossible, work a miracle—yes, a hack—just to bless you.
But too often we miss the amazing hacking God does for us. God blesses us and we just don’t recognize it; we become blind to His blessings.
The Bible has a great example of this situation. I like this story because it shows God’s amazing hacking skills. Pay attention, and you’ll see a combination of physical hacking and well-planned social hacking.
In John 9:1–16 we see Jesus healing a man born blind. When the religious leaders learn about the miracle, they get very angry because it was done on the Sabbath. They are so upset that their precious “rules” were broken that they ignore the miracle and expel the man from the synagogue—one of the most shameful punishments at that time.
All this was triggered by one thing: a hack by Jesus—an incredible miracle that had never happened before. Why would the religious leaders and scholars completely ignore this amazing feat? Just the miracle itself should have been more than enough evidence to make them surrender and follow Jesus.
I think this whole problem started with academic types. As a teacher myself, I can tell you this sounds like a typical “teacher move.” I’ve often heard teachers saying, with a joyous look on their face, “I know exactly how to make my class special!” If you hear a teacher or an academic saying that: run! Run away as fast you can. I’ve never heard a teacher follow that statement with something to make the students’ lives easy. On the contrary, it‘s usually some new trick to make the work more difficult, so the students feel “challenged” and the course becomes “special.”
I imagine that at some point, some master of the law—some teacher—attended a meeting and said happily, “I know how we can make Sabbath special!” Then he wrote a research paper about it, and other teachers joined the challenge and also wrote their own studies on “How to Make Sabbath Special.”
Perhaps these research papers found their way to the desk of some religious leader, an academic himself, who after reading them said, “I think this could become a law.” I imagine he presented it at meetings and forwarded it to multiple committees, until finally, in a big conference, it was voted: “Sabbath is so special that not even a miracle should be performed on it.”
Then years later, Jesus hacked nature itself to return vision to a blind man, thus breaking “the law.”
What surprises me is that even though God knew this was going to happen, even though this outcome could have been prevented, He still decided to let it happen.
In Luke 1:17 the angel explains the mission for John the Baptist. He says, “And he will prepare the way for the Lord.” Judging by that directive, it seems John was a complete failure, wasn’t he? Jesus was being attacked by the religious leaders because John did not properly prepare the way for the Lord.
To prevent this undesirable outcome, to properly prepare the way for the Lord, perhaps John should have been born into an important family of the ruling class. He should have attended a prestigious religious school, become a stellar student, and graduated with honors. His parents could have used their connections with religious leaders to get him jobs in key institutions to build a good professional profile. He could have gone on to get his masters and doctoral degree, and become a respected scholar. If he was smart, he would never have challenged anyone, and only supported the status quo. Slowly but surely, he could have climbed the ladder, until one day he was part of the top brass.
From there, he could have used his influence to pass an addendum to the law: “The only permissible work during Sabbath is a unique, legitimately divine miracle.”
Imagine that just days after John’s new law passes, Jesus performs a miracle on Sabbath. Some of the leaders become very angry and plan to launch an investigation. Then a man comes running, sweating, and waving a paper. It’s John—now a religious leader—and they stop to hear from him. John is too winded to talk, so he just hands them the newly approved addendum. They recognize the document, and have no choice but to dismiss the charges. Well played, John!
Then John finds Jesus and says, “Master, I prepared the way for you. They’re not going to charge you!”
This could have happened, but it didn’t. God didn’t want it this way. I believe God wanted to hack the situation Himself, so we could understand how important we are to Him.
Jesus purposely did the miracle on Sabbath, in order to demonstrate that when He wants to bless us with a miracle, He doesn’t stop to check our laws, policies, or pre-conceptions. The religious leaders at the time believed in the superiority of their laws. But Jesus knew the perfect way to show everyone how wrong they were. Jesus hacked the religious leaders to reveal their hidden functionality: hypocrisy.
In John 9:39 Jesus says, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” This message matches what we find in Revelation 3:17, when God addresses Laodicea: “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.“ God later advises them to buy “salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.”
God wants to bless us, and in doing so He will not consult you. He doesn’t check our policies, rules, guidelines, or agreements. He doesn’t wait to see the outcome of a meeting. God will not hesitate to hack anything when He wants to give us what is necessary to continue carrying out His mission on this earth.
So the question I have for you is: Are you seeing what God has already done for you? Are you recognizing it and receiving the blessings?
Or are you blind to it? Are you stuck in an argument about something that didn’t line up with your preconceptions or rules?
God has already given us exactly what we need. The only thing left to do is for us to open our eyes, see it, and be blessed.
Copyright© Italo Osorio 2020