Wednesday 13 March 2024

‘The terrible and marvellous consequences of rejection’ Mark 12:1-12


On time, many years ago, I was at the swimming pool with my friends.  I saw one of them and swam up behind him to push him down under the water.  I caught him unaware, particularly unaware because the person I dunked did not know me.  It was only someone who looked like my friend from the behind.  I had to apologise to the rather startled stranger.

Getting people’s identity confused can lead to funny situations (just ask Stephen Blevins, whose identical twin will be taking our harvest services next Sunday)!  It can also be dangerous.  Supposing you are driving down the M1 and you notice a flashing blue light on the car behind you but you think to yourself ‘no that’s not the police, that’s just a boy-racer with some fancy gadget attached to his roof.’  So you ignore the car, worse still you think you’ll give them a race!  You are going to be in big trouble aren’t you?[1] 

Last week we saw some men who did not recognise someone important.  They approached Jesus and asked, “By what authority are you doing these things? . . . And who gave you authority to do this?”  They did not recognise where Jesus’ authority came from because they did not recognise who he really was!  This lack of recognition is actually inexcusable.  In Mark’s Gospel not recognising Jesus as the Messiah is the result of a hardness of heart.  They had refused to face up to the fact here was the promised King, they had resisted his authority, and so they neither knew who this was nor where his authority came from.  Take note, ‘you will never the know power Jesus Christ in your own life unless you are prepared to submit to his authority.’[2]   

If you have refused to face up to who Jesus is, if you have resisted his authority over your life then these verses should make you feel uncomfortable.  For here Jesus tells the religious leaders of the terrible consequences, for them, of their rejection of him.  He also speaks of the wonderful consequence of their rejection of him—the stone the builders rejected has become the capstone, and it is marvellous in our eyes.  Mark wrote this letter to the church at Rome. To those who were Christians there, and to those who are Christians here, these verses contain a message of encouragement!

A tale of treason! (1-8)

At the end of last week’s passage we saw that Jesus refused to answer the religious leaders’ questions directly.  However, then he begins to speak to them in parables.  In this parable that we are examining he does tell them who he is and he also tells them of who they are!

They should recognise the background to this story immediately—it’s from our Old Testament reading, Isaiah 5 (verses 1-7).  There God owns a vineyard—that vineyard is his people Israel.  Sadly, this vineyard did not produce good grapes.  It had produced only bad fruit.  Rather than justice his people have produced bloodshed, rather than righteousness they have caused distress.  So the vineyard is going to be destroyed.

Jesus now adds some more details to the story. 

There are the tenants, the people who are to look after the vineyard—they are the religious leadership.  That is who Jesus is addressing (v.1) and at the end of the story they know that Jesus had spoken this parable against them (v. 12).

Then there are the many servants sent by the vineyard owner.  The tenants treat these shamefully—beating some killing others.  We can see this happen right throughout the history of the Old Testament.  God sent many prophets to Israel (how patient he was with them), yet the people – and in particular their leadership – rejected and mistreated them.

Finally, Jesus introduces himself into the story.  Surely if the vineyard owner sends his Son they will respect him!  However, the tenants think ‘here is the heir of this vineyard.  If we kill him then the vineyard will one day be ours.’[3]  Note what motivates the tenants rejection of the Son—self!  They will not give him what is due to him.  It is the same for us if we are resisting Jesus’ authority over our lives—we don’t want to be his loyal subjects, we want to run things our own way, we’re being selfish!

The tenants took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.  Jesus is describing what will happen at the end of the week: that Friday the tenants – those religious leaders – will have the Son killed.  It’s an act of treason against God, as they oppose his rightful authority in order to keep the authority over the people for themselves.

The religious leaders had asked Jesus ‘who gave you this authority?  Here is the answer—‘God did, I am sent by him, I am his Son.  What’s more, look at who you are!’ 

Jesus has a question for those religious leaders: What then will the owner of the vineyard do?  He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.  They will receive an awful punishment for their treason against God in killing his Son and the religious authority that they had over God’s people has been transferred to the twelve disciples—the tenants are killed and the responsibility for the vineyard has been given to others.

While the tenants in this passage are a specific group of people—the religious leadership, the warning has relevance to everyone who refuses to recognise who Jesus is.  If you will not submit to his claim over you then you are giving assent to what they have done.  You are saying to those tenants, ‘I agree with your treason for I too oppose Father’s authority and the Son’s authority over me.’  You can be sure that if you continue in your rebellion you will face an outcome similar to theirs.

When we share the gospel with people we are not just telling them that God can make their life better.  We are also warning them that God who lovingly offers each person his mercy and acceptance, is the God who will judge those who resist his authority by rejecting the authority of the Son. 

A new temple will replace the old—(10-11)

Now Jesus gives them another picture from the Old Testament—it’s from Psalm 118. 

“The stone the builders rejected

has become the capstone;

the Lord has done this,

and it is marvellous in our eyes.”

The picture is that of constructing the temple.  However, there is a problem—the builders have rejected the most important thing.  The stone that the builders rejected is the Jesus himself.  The temple should have been centred on him—its sacrifices anticipated his suffering cross, its worship should have looked forward to his coming, when he went into it he should have been welcomed as its focus.  Yet Jesus found it to be a place of empty godless religion and so it was going to be destroyed.

Jesus was the stone that the builders rejected but God does something marvellous this rejected stone—he builds a new temple. Not one made of stones and located in Jerusalem, but one that is a world-wide community of people centred on Christ.

The great dividing line in humanity is not between those who are religious and those who are not (these men were the religious authorities); it is not between those who pray and those who don’t (you can be sure that these guys prayed); it is not between those who read their Bible and the don’t (they were experts in the Scriptures).  The great dividing line in humanity is between those who reject Jesus and those who lives have him as their foundation.  Going to church, praying, and reading your Bible are all meaningless if you haven’t yet submitted your life to the authority of Jesus—if you haven’t become a loyal subject of the king.[4] 

Sometimes people want to be ‘church-goers’ but they don’t want to live for Jesus.  They want Christianity without Christ.  They miss the capstone!  For those of us who claim to be Christians, there can be the danger of forgetting that Christianity is Christ—that it is because of him that we are accepted by God and that it is because of him that we are joined together as church (part of his new temple).

What should be the reaction of Mark’s original readers in the church at Rome when they reflect upon the fact that Jesus, who was rejected by the temple authorities, has become the capstone of a living temple of which they are a part?  It is marvellous in our eyes.  They are to marvel!  What should be our reaction to the fact that that temple extends to us—that the gospel has being brought to this island and we have been given the opportunity to become one of Christ’s people?  We are to marvel!  The whole thing should be marvellous to us!

It should cause us to marvel.  We should think about it and think ‘wow!’ with a bigger ‘wow’ than we might think if we were standing looking at the Grand Canyon—this is more amazing!  It is marvellous and it gives us reason to celebrate.  This marvellous thing should cause more joy than any renovations to our home, a new car, or the holiday that we are looking forward to.  It’s simply the best things ever.  Even when life stinks and we may feel utterly down, there is something amazing that we can be glad about—we are a part of God’s new temple centred on Jesus, because of his rejection to a cross we have become one of his dearly loved people!

Conclusion:

It is a dangerous thing to refuse to recognise certain people!  It would not be good advice to tell a person in court to ignore the person with the wig and the robes—they might end up behind bars. It is a dangerous thing to refuse to recognise who Jesus is, resisting his authority.  The religious leaders who had confronted Jesus had done that. There opposition to him was treason against God and they would face a dreadful judgement for what they had done.  If you have refused to face up to who Jesus is, not submitted you life to the authority he claims over you consider this—in resisting him you give assent to the tenants treason and you will face a similar judgement.  In a couple of moments I am going to invite you to repent of your rebellion and to enthrone him as the rightful king of your life!

If you have submitted your life to him I want you to see that there is something marvellous in this passage.  What Jesus prophesied would happened did happen—the tenants did kill the Son, that Friday Jesus was crucified and buried.  But the stone that the builders rejected has become the capstone—the Lord has built a new temple, a living temple, of people who have come to Jesus.  After this sermon I am going to ask you to marvel at this—that he has made us a part of his temple centred on Christ; and during the week, even if things seem awful, try to take some time to marvel!

 

 

 

 

 



[1] Illustration idea adapted from Mark Meynell, Christ Church, Fullwood.

[2] Roger Simpson, preaching of Mark 11:27-33, at All Soul’s, Langham Place.

[3] Under specified circumstances an inheritance could be regards as ‘ownerless property’, which could be lawfully claimed by anyone, the prior right of ownership belonging to the claimant who comes first.  Lane (1974), The Gospel of Mark, Eerdmans. 

[4] Point adapted from Rupert Higgins, preaching at All Soul’s, Langham Place.

During the Methodist church’s conference last June one minister said the following during a discussion: ‘God has given us many religions, but only one world.’  His sentiment was sincere, he longs for harmony between differing people groups, but his theology was rubbish.  The religion of the temple had rejected Jesus and so was of no value—any religion that does not centre on him is worthless.

 

Wednesday 6 March 2024

Deuteronomy: ‘The One and Only

 


This book opens with God’s people in the wilderness preparing to enter the promised land—do you get a feeling deja-vous?  We’ve been here before—at the beginning of Numbers.  However in Numbers a whole generation of adults[2] failed to trust God and enter the land, so they died in the desert.  Now we are preparing for entry again.     

On the plains of Moab, by the river Jordan, Moses addresses them before he dies.  In three sermons he gives them God’s instructions.  He urges them not to blow it like their parent’s generation had, in the light of all that God had done they are to trust and obey.  

Sermon 1 ‘The One and Only’ (chapters 1:5-4):

The first and shortest sermon begins in chapter 1 verse 5.  In this Moses spends a lot of time reminding them of what has been happening during their time in the wilderness.  Despite the fact that God had preformed miraculous signs among them the people had refused to believe that he could conquer the inhabitants of Canaan.  So that generation did not enter the land.  ‘Just like you might send a disobedient child to his or her room, God sent a disobedient Israel into the desert to think over their “attitude problem”’[3].  God did however care for them in the wilderness (2:7), and strengthened them so that, after the period of discipline, the next generation could receive the Promised Land.[4]

Moses reminds them of these things to highlight what God is like.  To show them how God does things—so that they might know who it is that they are dealing with.  In chapter 4 comes the most important thing they are to know about God—he is ‘the One and Only’: . . . ‘the LORD is God; besides him there is no other’ (NIV) (4:35).  This is not only the central message of the first sermon—this is the central message of the whole book.      

Sermon 2 Part 1:  ‘God who takes the initiative’ (chapters 5-7):  

The second sermon, which begins in chapter 5, is the longest by far.  It has, however, a simple structure: after telling them more about the LORD, Moses focuses on how they should respond to him.  With this in mind we are going to divide the sermon in two.

It opens by reminding them that their relationship with God is the result of God’s initiative.  It was God who rescued them from Egypt (5:6)—and in so doing made them into a nation; and it was God who initiated a covenant with this new nation at Sinai (Horeb) (5:2).

As in Exodus, the Ten Commandments are introduced here with a reminder of what God has already done for them (5:6).  Their obedience to these commands is not what will save them.  God has already saved them!  Their obedience is to be their response to his salvation.

But why did God save them?  What prompted him to take the initiative?  Deuteronomy 7:6-9:

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God.  The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.  But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.  Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. (NIV)

Did God choose them because they were an impressive nation of people?  No!  Quite the opposite, they were insignificant.  He simply loved them because he loved them, and because he is the God who is faithful to his covenant promises.

When we think of our salvation we remember that God took the first step.  He rescued us from slavery—a second Exodus, on the cross freeing us from slavery to sin.  He has loved us even though we have done nothing to deserve that love.  Rom. 5:8 . . ‘God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us’ (NIV).  He did not set his love on us because we were impressive or faithful, we were weak and rebellious.  To the Christian he says, ‘I love you not because you are better, or wiser, or more attractive, or more impressive than anyone else.  I simply love you because in grace I choose to love you.  Nothing can separate you from my love.’

 

Sermon 2: Part 2, Response: ‘Trust and Obey’ (Chapters 6-28)

Ch. 6 tells us that there is really only one fundamental response that Israel should make to the LORD—to love him.  Verses 4-5, Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one [he is the one and only].  Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength’ (NIV).  They are to love him with every fibre of their being.

God has demonstrated his awesome love for them.  He has been committed to them through thick and thin.  Despite the stubbornness of his people he has stuck with them.  Yes, God disciplined them—he did it to wake them up to themselves.  He never stopped wanting the best for Israel.  That is biblical love.  It is essentially commitment.  Love is not just a warm, fuzzy feeling, although that may be a part of it.  Love is primarily a deliberate expression of loyalty.[5]

The remainder of the second sermon spells out the behaviour that is to demonstrate their love for the LORD.  Their love is to be shown in trust and obedience.

Israel’s first attempt to enter the Promised Land had ended in disaster because they had rebelled against God and refused to enter.  Moses points out that what they had been lacking was trust and obedience (see Duet. 9:23-24).  As a result they spent forty years in the wilderness.  Deuteronomy contains a great deal of instruction about how that wilderness experience should have taught them the importance of trust and obedience.

For example in chapter 8, Moses points to LORD’s provision of manna.  It should have taught them that God can be trusted.  Every day they had to trust God to feed them, and not once had he failed them.  Now as they prepared to enter the land they were to trust God, and once in the land—enjoying its luxuries, they were not to forget that everything comes from God.   

At the start of chp.11, Moses takes another lesson they should have learned from their time in the wilderness—a lesson to teach them the importance of obeying God.  Dathan and Abiram treated God with contempt and were literally swallowed up by the earth (see Numbers 16:1-35).  Through such events God reminds the people that obedience is important—as is spelt out in the rest of that chapter.

The rest of the second sermon is heavy going.  It contains lots of specific ways they are to obey God once in the Promised Land.  Their diversity reminds us that every aspect of life is relevant to God.  Some of them are extensions of the Ten Commandments, applying their principles for a new setting.  Many are designed to be a reminder of God’s absolute holiness.

But what about us, are we to follow all the commands that are given here?  We have looked at this already in our Bible overview.  The laws Moses gave to Israel were for the old covenant, not the new.  Christians are no longer under the law (e.g. Rom. 6:14). 

However, that does not mean that these verses are irrelevant.  When we read them we should look behind the law and consider what aspect of God’s character it is referring to.  For example, many of the laws relate to God’s concern for the needy—as we read them we remember that God is merciful. 

One last thing about obedience before we move on to the third sermon: Israel was to keep these laws out of love for God.  This was not supposed to be a dry, cold, legalism.  This was to be a labour of love.  In the same way, as Christians, we are to obey God out of love for him.  God has saved us, he has made us his people, and in response we ought to love him with thankful hearts.  And our love should be show itself in obedience.  As Jesus said, ‘If you love me you will obey my commands’ (John 14:15).

 

Sermon 3: ‘Happily ever after?’(Chapters 29-33):

As we reach the third and last sermon the unimaginable is about to happen—Moses is going to die.  He was the leader God used to bring them out of Egypt, who led them while they were in the wilderness.  In preparation for Moses’ death Joshua is endorsed as his successor (31:1-8), and the things that God had told Moses are written down (31:9-13).

In this last sermon Moses presents them with a choice.  It is a choice that all of Deuteronomy has been presenting to them.  Are they going to follow God when they enter the Promised Land?  It’s a choice between life and death; between God’s way and their own way. 

If they choose God’s way it will be like Eden all over again—they will be God’s people, in God’s place, enjoying God’s blessing.  If they choose to go their own way it will be like the Fall all over again. As Adam and Eve were removed from the garden, so they will be removed from the Promised Land (see chapter 28).

In the last chapters we see what Israel’s choice will be. Again they will choose not to follow him.  Continue reading through the Old Testament and you’ll see what happens.  We read of continued rebellion, idolatry, corrupt kings, and civil war until—in line with his warning in Deuteronomy—God tears Israel out of the Promised Land (first by sending the Assyrians and then the Babylonians to conquer and displace them—see 1 and 2 Kings).

So a book that began with such hope—a new generation about to enter the Promised Land, ends in disappointment—Israel will mess it up again!  It leaves us with questions: ‘what can be done to make a people who are obedient?’ ‘Is there any way that sin can finally be dealt with?’    

These questions point us to Jesus.  For on the cross Jesus broke the grip of sin in our lives.  On the cross Jesus opened up the way for us to be forgiven by God and become his obedient children.  Moreover, Jesus’ followers have the Spirit living within them, enabling us to put to death our sinful nature.[6]

 

Conclusion:

The LORD is the one and only.  Who or what else is there that should command our greatest loyalty?

The LORD is the gracious God, who rescued his people from slavery in Egypt.  Therefore Israel’s fundamental response to him is to be one of grateful love.  A love that was to be demonstrated by trusting him and obeying him!

The LORD has rescued us from something worse than slavery in Egypt—slavery to sin.  Therefore our fundamental response to him is to be one of grateful love.  A love demonstrated by trusting and obeying.  This is a response we can make because Jesus has given us a fresh start and a fresh heart!

 

 



[1] A lot of this sermon used material adapted from Bryson Smith, The One and Only.  Interactive Bible Study available from www.thegoodbook.co.uk

[2] With the exception of Joshua and Caleb.

[3] Bryson Smith, The One and Only, p. 13. 

[4] Bryson Smith, The One and Only, p. 16. 

[5] Bryson Smith, The One and Only, p. 33.

[6] Moses had seen that a radical work was necessary in the heart was needed (Duet. 30:1-10).

J. G. Millar, ‘Despite all that God has done for his people, they will surely disobey.  Moses however, goes on to anticipate the later prophetic discussions of the ‘new covenant’ [e.g. Jer. 31-34].  The grace which God has shown to Israel in the past will one day be surpassed by his provision of a lasting solution to the problem of human sin.  At the deepest level, the theology of Deuteronomy is a theology of grace, and thus anticipates the coming of Jesus to deal with the problem as human sin. In Alexander and Rosner (Ed.s), New Dictionary of Biblical Theology.

Wednesday 28 February 2024

Old Testament Overview: Numbers


By the time we come to Numbers God’s people have experienced some amazing things.  They have seen how God delivered them from Egypt.  They had walked through the parted sea and watched as God drowned their pursuers.  They had been fed manna in the wilderness.  They had been delivered from the Amalekites.

Now they are preparing to enter Canaan.  This should be an exciting time for them.  God has demonstrated that his power and his faithfulness, surely they will trust him and obey, taking the land that he has promised.  If only things worked out so well!

Preparation for entry: (Chapters 1-10)

On the first anniversary of the Exodus the Tabernacle was erected (Exodus 40:17), a fortnight later the Passover had been celebrated (Numbers 9:1-3), and a fortnight later again a census was taken.  Numbers takes its name from the censuses that are recorded in it.

We see this first census in chapter 1.  Note that this census is of all the men twenty years or over, who would be able to serve as soldiers.  This is preparation for war—the rabble that had emerged from Egypt is beginning to look like an impressive army.  Three weeks later the march begins.  The Tabernacle is dismantled and God marches before them in a pillar of cloud (Numbers 10:11-12).

How are things looking?  Things are looking good!

Entry Postponed: chapters 10-19

However, within hours of setting out the people start grumbling.  They complain about the conditions God was making them endure—especially with regards food and water.  They refuse to accept the leaders he has provided.  Most seriously, despite all the evidence of God’s power that they have witnessed as he delivered them from Egypt, they will not trust that he is able to bring them into the land.

Moses had sent out spies to explore the place.  They returned with fruit proving that it was indeed ‘a land flowing with milk and honey’, but the spies added that in their view the inhabitants were invincible (see chapter 13).  At this report the people wept.  Two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua, urged them not to disobey the LORD or fear the people of the land (14:5-9).  But it was no use, indeed the people talked of stoning them.

The people had treated the LORD with contempt, they had refused to believe in him despite the miraculous signs he had performed among them (14:11), and so God’s judgement fell upon them for their rebellion.  None of the adults of that generation, except for Caleb and Joshua, would enter the Promised Land.  For forty years they wondered in the wilderness, and there they died.

What has happened God’s promise?  In faithfulness to his promise he does not abandon it but, because of their unbelief, it is postponed.

Preparation for entry ‘again’: chapters 20-36

It would seem that by chapters 20 and 21 all the older and unbelieving generation had died.  The census of chapter 26 confirms this.  So at the end of Numbers we are again getting ready for entry into the land.  In preparation we see discussions on such things as inheritance issues—for when the people are settled, and the urgent question of who will succeed Moses and lead the people into the Promised Land is answered with the appointment of Joshua.  In these chapters God’s promises again come to the fore.  We see this in the story of Balaam.  

Balaam is hired by the king of Moab to curse the advancing Israelites, but Balaam finds he is unable to do anything but bless them, even quoting God’s promises to Abraham in the process.  Here is a pagan prophet incapable of nullifying God’s promise.  The Moabites, standing between Israel and Canaan, are not able to stop its fulfilment.

In both Matthew (4:1-11) and Luke (4:1-13) a parallel is seen between Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness and Israel’s forty years in the desert.  The temptations that Jesus faced were almost identical to those faced by Israel—relating to food, protection and idolatry.  But Jesus did not give in to the temptations.  He responds to the devil by quoting passages from Deuteronomy—passages that were dealing with Israel’s wilderness experience.  Jesus is the new Israel, where the old Israel failed.

Amongst John’s use of Numbers is the story of the bronze snake in the desert, recorded in Numbers 21:4-9.  Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, we read in John 3, so the Son of man must be lifted up (a reference to the cross and his exaltation), that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life (John 3:14-15).        

In the New Testament epistles (the letters) this time in the desert stands as a great warning to us.  As we have seen, despite being miraculously delivered from Egypt, and daily evidences of God providing for their needs, Israel refused to believe and rebelled against their Saviour.  God’s judgements against them are a warning for us.  In a passage that draws heavily from Numbers Paul writes, these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did’ (see 1 Corinthians 10:1-13).  Vaughan Roberts expands, ‘If we have faith in Christ, we too have been set free from slavery (to sin, not to Egypt) by a Passover sacrifice (of Jesus, not a lamb), and we have been set on a journey to the promised land (heaven, not Canaan).  We must make sure that we do not fall because of sin and unbelief, but that we keep trusting God until we reach the destination.’  


Conclusion:  

Balaam recognised that God is unchangeable declaring, ‘God is not man . . . that he should change his mind’ (23:19).  Because he is unchangeable the Bible is not just describing what God was like but what he is like (see Hebrews 13:8).

In Numbers our unchanging God is affirmed as holy.  What should be our response to a holy God?  The Apostle Peter tells us: . . . just as he who calls you is holy, so be holy in all you do (1 Peter 1:15).

And in Numbers we see God’s presence with his people—the ark and the moving cloud were images of God going with his people.  As Balaam declared, ‘. . . The LORD their God is with them . . .’ (23:21).  We thank him that through his Spirit he dwells within his people today (1 Cor. 3:16-17).  


Tuesday 16 January 2024

‘A full Christ is for empty sinners’ (2 Kings 4)

Is the Bible sexist?  You see, so often in the Bible it is women who are portrayed as having the faith that men lack.  Then there is the fact that God reveals His special care for people like widows.  Why are women so often shown in better light than men?

In the book of Hebrews, we read that by faith, ‘women received back their dead to life again’ (Hebrews 11:35).  It was women who exercised this extra-ordinary faith and received this amazing blessing.  There are two recorded raising of the dead in the Old Testament, both in the books of Kings and both to of the sons of widows.

I think it is because women are often more marginalised, and that marginalised people are quicker to cry to God for help.

In our reading we have three little stories that each show the faithfulness of God to people who are in desperation.

1.        Filling for the empty (1-7)

This widow goes to the prophet Elisha and explains that ‘the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves’.  In the ancient near east a person could be made a slave in order to pay off a debt.  In God’s mercy He regulated this practice in His law and put time limits on it.

All this woman has is a jar of oil.  Elisha tells her to gather empty jars from her neighbours.  She does so, and God fills those jars.  Her debts are paid, and they have oil to live off.

The great preacher Spurgeon comments on these verses saying, ‘a full Christ is for empty sinners only … it is not our emptiness, but our fullness that can hinder the outpouring of free grace.’  It is only empty vessels that get filled.

One of the reasons that people like widows show such faith in the Old Testament is because their situation made them vulnerable.  They knew that they needed help.  They knew that they needed God’s help.  It is only when we face up to our brokenness that we can grow in faith.

2.       Life for the desperate (8-37)

Then we come to a wealthy Shunamite woman.  Another woman who is aware of her need.  Another example of God’s provision.

She practices hospitality, which is something highly valued in the Bible.  Elisha tells her that God is going to give her a son.  The son comes, years go by, and then the son dies.  She lays the dead boy’s body out on the bed that she has for Elisha in her home.

One commentator says, ‘the woman lost her child but not her faith’ (Wiseman).

Now look at how the men in this story fail.  She doesn’t tell her husband that the boy is dead, presumably because he doesn’t share her strength of faith and might tell her not to bother Elisha.  Then there is Gehazi, Elisha’s servant, who tries to keep the woman from the prophet.  Even Elisha does not seem to know when his original plan fails.  But she says, ‘I am not leaving you’.  She seems to know better than Elisha what was needed.

This determined and persistent faith is often shown in how Christian mothers pray for their spiritually dead children.  In the fourth century a woman called Monica would not give up praying for her spiritually lost son, Augustine.  He was found by God and become one of the greatest Christian theologians of all time.

Do you notice her repeated response to people, ‘it is well’?  Commentators suggest that what she is doing is pushing enquires aside so that they don’t get in the way of her getting to Elisha.  But I wonder if these are also words of faith.  It is well, because God will make it well.  I was working on this text around the time I found out that my dad was not going to be allowed home from the hospital, but would have to go to a nursing home.  I felt that God was saying, ‘it is well’, it will turn out well.

The healing itself is a scene of shocking intimacy.  It might make us uncomfortable.  Men don’t do such closeness, unless of course if they are doing evil.  But this is not evil, this is pure.  To become a Christian involves an intimate relationship with Jesus.  Through the prophet God breathes life into the boy.  In a similar way God has breathed life into you, if you are alive in Him. 

Jesus says, ‘I am the resurrection and life, those who believe in me, though they die, yet shall they have life.’  Jesus raises the dead every day.  Spiritually dead people are raised to life.  Those who die in the Lord are raised to eternal life.  If you think that being made a Christian is any less dramatic that the physical raising of this young man, then you have not realised how spiritually dead and condemned sinful people are until Jesus changes us.

3.       Grace for the starving (38-44)

The final section of our reading shows God’s provision for starving people.  There is both the cleansing of contaminated food, and the multiplication of food.  Our minds might be brought to Jesus who feed both the four thousand and the five thousand.

Climax: Why are woman more spiritual than men?

Tim Keller says that people who have been shut out from power are more likely to get the gospel.  You see if you have power you are more tempted to be self-reliant.  If you can see your vulnerability and weakness you are more likely to look to God for help.  In the ancient near east, and in almost every society, women have been pushed down.  That place of merorganization has given them a spiritual advantage.

Sadly, male pride can be a great barrier to spiritual growth.  Many men want to portray an image of strength, and so avoid vulnerability.  Many marriages fail because the husband won’t admit they need help.  Many children feel isolated because their dad doesn’t know how to admit weakness. 

But whether you are a man or woman, if you want to come to faith, and grow in faith, then you need to come empty, persistent and desperate, and you will find that it is well.  ‘A full Christ is for empty sinners.’ 

Monday 8 January 2024

‘This year remember there is nowhere else to turn’ (Psalm 107)

 


‘This year remember there is nowhere else to turn’ (Psalm 107)

Martyn Lloyd-Jones criticised the language of ‘decision’.  He didn’t like how people claim to have made ‘a decision’ to follow Jesus.  It’s too soft.  It’s not desperate enough.  He writes, ‘A sinner does not ‘decide’ for Christ; a sinner ‘flies’ to Christ in utter helplessness and despair … the convicted sinner no more ‘decides’ for Christ than the poor drowning man ‘decides’ to take hold of that rope that is thrown to him and suddenly provides him with the only means of escape’ (Preachers and Preaching, 280).

In this psalm we see four groups of people cry out to God in their desperation: the lonely (4), the rebellious (11), the foolish (17) and the storm-tossed (23).

1.       The lonely

The lonely are in a wasteland.  They do not have a city.  They need other people.  We are not meant to live alone.

God in His great mercy puts the lonely in families (Ps. 68:6).  He brings us to Himself and He becomes our Father.  He brings us to His people and unites us with them.  We are on our way to a city—the New Jerusalem.

Do we think of our faith in simply private terms?  Do we think of it as a ‘personal’ relationship with God?  Christianity is not a solitary faith, it is to become part of a community.  If you keep other Christian’s at an arm’s length or you have no meaningful relationship with a church community then you are being immature, at best.

2.       The rebellious

In verse 11 we see those who have rebelled against God and come to painful awareness of their guilt.  Their conscience is tortured.  These verses are a little like Psalm 32, where King David had concealed his guilt after his affair with Bathsheba.  He only found relief when he acknowledged his wrong and confessed his guilt.  Then he experienced the joy of forgiveness.

The book of James tells us that we are to confess our sins to each other.  Why each other and not just God?  I think of three reasons: confessing our sins to each other humbles us, it also makes us accountable, and then, most importantly, it gives other Christians an opportunity to remind us of the gospel.  They can assure us that because of the cross, Jesus never turns away anyone who comes to Him.

3.       The fool

The fool (17) is a particular type of rebel.  Their behaviour has them on a path to death.  We might say that they have acted with a sense of self-destruction.  Tim Keller says that these people have become self-absorbed.  But God rescues us from ourselves and shows us how to live for Him.  He saves us from our own stupidity.  ‘Lord, show me how to live for you?’    

4.       The storm-tossed

The sea is a good picture of life.  Sometimes the waters are calm, often they are not.  Those who cry out, in verse 23, are in the middle of a storm, and they are scared.  Two things are noticeable.  Firstly, that the storm is under God’s control.  He sent it (25).  Our lives are never truly out of control when our trust is in Jesus.  Secondly, He speaks and stills the storm with a word.  Surely that brings our mind to the gospels where we see Jesus doing things that God does, because He is God the Son (e.g. Mark 4:35-39). 

You may be in the middle of a storm at the moment.  Jesus might come and still that storm.  We pray for deliverance.  Or, He might come and walk with is in that storm.

As you think about this psalm are you willing to admit that you are weak?  Do you see that in our loneliness we need God’s people, we need His family and that together we are traveling to a heavenly city?  Are you willing to admit that every day we let Him down, and every day we continue to receive His grace?  Can we see that our foolish choices have left us with many messes, but that He is willing to make our paths straight?  Will we look to Him, and trust Him, even when the storms in our lives make little sense to us?

Response

How are we to respond to the God who brings the lonely to a city, forgives our rebellions, sets our paths straight and still our storms?  This psalm begins by telling us, ‘Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, His love endures forever.  Let the redeemed tell their story.’ (1).  In fact, that command to give thanks come after each of the sections in this psalm (8, 15, 21 and 31).  Then the psalm finishes saying, ‘let the wise take heed and ponder’ (43).

We are the redeemed, if we trust in Christ.  That means that God paid a great price to free us for Himself.  We have reason to be glad.

We begin by pondering His goodness.  We ask God to let this fill us with gratitude.  Then it will become natural to speak to people about His kindness.


Monday 1 January 2024

‘I can see clearly now’ (Genesis 38)

 


I think most of us work off a system of comparative righteousness.  We try to justify ourselves by comparing ourselves with other people.  ‘I know it’s wrong, but everyone else does it.’  ‘There are people who are far worse than me.’  When we confess to someone, they might unhelpfully say, ‘sure, you are only human.’  A man confessed to his priest, and the priest replied, ‘I hear a whole lot worse, you’ll be fine.’

But we are measured by God’s standard, and He does not simply compare us to everybody else.  His standard is Jesus, and we all fall short.  When we compare ourselves to Him we see our need of forgiveness and grace.

1.       Judah sees and takes (1-11)

‘At that time, Judah left his brothers and went down to stay with a man of Adullam named Hirah’ (1).

This is not the first time we meet Judah.  When his mother Leah gave birth to Judah she praised God.  But Judah does not seem to share her faith.  When Jacob’s sons turned of Joseph it was Judah who suggests to sell him rather than kill him.  Was that mercy, or was that simply a desire for profit?

Judah is probably around sixteen or seventeen at the beginning of the chapter, and as happens many people that age he falls under the spell of bad influence.  He becomes like a Canaanite.

There is an interesting comparison between the brothers Joseph and Judah in these chapters.  While Joseph left the family involuntarily, being sold into slavery, Judah chooses to leave.  Presumably he was leaving his father and his father’s faith as well.

In verse 2 Judah literally ‘saw’ a Canaanite girl—someone who did not know God—and he took her.  There is an echo of Eden here.  Like Eve he sees, he wants and he takes.  Judah and his wife conceive and she gives birth to Er, then Oran and then Shelah.  Jacob takes a wife for Er, her name is Tamar, but Er is evil in the ‘sight’ of the LORD (7), and God puts Er to death.

There was a tradition that when a son died without having an heir the widow would become the wife of the nearest relative and the first son she would have would be considered the heir of the deceased.  But Onan realises that this would not be in his best interests, he wants the share of the inheritance that would go through Er, and so he withdraws before he ejaculates.  His unwillingness to provide a son for Er was evil in the ‘sight’ of the LORD (10), so God puts him to death.

Jacob tells Tamar to wait until Shelah is old enough to marry her.  But he has no intention of going through with this promise because he thinks that Tamar is the reason his sons died.  He is a superstitious man who will not face his own sin and the sin of his sons.  ‘I might not be walking with the LORD, but at least I am not like that Canaanite woman.’

2.       Judah sees and takes, again (12-23)

We have noticed that there is an emphasis of ‘sight’ and saw’ in this chapter.  Now Judah commits evil in a place called Enam, which means either ‘two springs’ or ‘two eyes.’  God sees what we do.

Tamar is desperate.  Shelah has grown up and she now knows that Judah has no intention of going through with his promise of having her marry him.  She is likely to be a childless widow, in a society where that would leave you desperate. 

She seems to know what sort of man Judah is—he is a man who will pay for sex.  He was going off to his sheepshearers.  He has been widowed.  She has a plan.

Lust, and any evil, has a way of making a fool of us.  He does not recognise Tamar, and thinks that she is a prostitute.  He offers her the price of a goat.  As a pledge he gives her his seal, staff and cloak—think wallet, driving licence and credit cards.

In the next chapter we see Joseph resisting the seduction of Potiphar’s wife.  There is a contrast.  Joseph is under great pressure and resists.  Judah very willingly gives in to lust.

3.       Judah has his eyes opened (24-32)

When Judah finds that Tamar is unmarried and pregnant he wants justice.  He calls for her to be burned.  How different he is from Joseph, not Joseph his brother but Joseph and Mary.  That Joseph seems to do everything to show mercy (Matthew 1:18).  Judah has no mercy!

God hates the sexism and double standards that Judah applies.  Look at Hosea (4:14), ‘I will not punish your daughters when they turn to prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, because the men themselves consort with harlots and sacrifice to shrine prostitutes—a people without understanding will come to ruin.’

Now Judah has his eyes opened.  Tamar proves that he is the father.  ‘She is more righteous than I am, since I did not give her my son Shelah’ (26).  Judah sees his guilt in an absolute sense.  He is no longer trying to justify himself.  When he compares he sees that others are more righteous than he is.  He would be happy to count himself among the chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). 

You are watching something you should not on your computer and someone walks in; someone exposes a lie that you have been telling; you are overheard saying horrible things about someone, what do you do?  You could make excuses, but you should simply hold your hands up and ask God to forgive you and change your heart.

Judah actually changes.  I looked up the meaning of this chapter on Google and one person explained that this chapter shows ‘how Judah began to transform from an egocentric person willing to sell his brother into slavery, into someone willing to become a slave in the place of his brother Benjamin.’  That certainly is part of this story.

Judah seems to have been reunited with his father and his father’s God.  When they reconnect with Joseph, who is now second in command in Egypt, Joseph tells them to go home but leave Benjamin.  They haven’t recognised Joseph yet.  Judah knows that Joseph and Benjamin were his father’s favourites.  He knows that his father will be heartbroken if anything happens Benjamin.  So, Judah offers himself as a guarantee in the place of Benjamin. 

He sees clearly now.  He has seen his own sin, and he responds to God’s mercy with mercy.

Climax (33-34)

This chapter ends with the unusual birth of two twins.  Tamar gives birth, and Perez is the eldest.  The line from Abraham to Judah to David to Jesus was under threat by Judah’s sin, but God has remained in control.  Tamar, this dodgy outsider is going to be an ancestor of the Christ.  God saw Tamar in her suffering and he cared.  He does not condone her actions, but in mercy he blessed her. 

God also saw Judah, self-centred and carnal, and brought him to his senses.

Can we see clearly now?  There was a line that goes through Judah to Jesus.  Jesus who comes to save his people from their sin.  A line of grace and mercy.  A message that can make bitter people kind.  So, we pray, ‘change my heart, O Lord.’