16 July 2010
Psalm 31; Joshua 4:19-5:1,10-15; Rom. 12:9-21; Matt. 26:17-25

The kings and peoples who are in the land promised to the Israelites hear of the crossing of the Jordan and their hearts fail within them for they acknowledge that the Lord has done a great thing. Rahab told the spies that when her people heard of the drying up of the Red Sea they had become fearful of the people. After forty years in the wilderness, they have come into the land and on Passover they enjoy the fruit of the land for the first time and the manna is no more, it was daily bread for the journey, never intended to sustain them lo these many years. Joshua meets the commander of the Lord’s army who instructs him that, just as at Mount Sinai, this is holy ground, the Lord is here.

This meal in the upper room is the last of the old Passover celebrations and the first of the new Passover celebrations. Jesus is doing a work that is greater than the first night of Passover when the Israelites were spared the plague of the firstborn. God’s first and only Son would die on behalf of all who would believe God, just as the Israelites would live through faith in the blood of the lamb on the doorpost. The betrayal of Judas is prophesied and Judas knows that Jesus knows. The beginning of the end is at hand.

After 11 chapters of theology, Paul moves through doxology into practical theology, putting into motion what you believe. Paul believed and practiced that the Christian faith was transformational, the way we think about life should play itself out in particular ways. Some of those changes don’t look remarkably different from the rest of the world we inhabit but that is partly due to the influence the Gospel has already had on our world to make these things normative. Things like not thinking too highly of yourself and associating with those who occupy a lower worldly status were not part of Paul’s culture. Many of the things Paul speaks about here remain difficult for us and outside of cultural expectations such as blessing those who persecute you and leaving vengeance to the Lord. All these reflect ways of living and being that Paul would expect from Christians whose worldview had been transformed to a Christian worldview.

Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord.