10 August 2010
Psalm 97, 99; Judges 13:1-15; Acts 5:27-42; John 3:22-36

The angelic visitation is to the woman, not to her husband, and his words are addressed to her. There are some clear parallels to Mary’s situation in that the man is a secondary issue to the angel. This woman, known to us only as the wife of Manoah, is told that after forty years of Philistine rule, she is to bear the deliverer of Israel and she must be careful about what she eats and drinks while she carries this son. The nazirite vow extends to the womb, a clear implication about life in the eyes of God and when it begins. When she tells her husband he wants to meet this man who has promised his wife that she will have a son and God hears Manoah’s request. The angel seems uninterested in Manoah, his only statement on the issue is that the woman must be careful to obey all he has commanded her. Manoah seems to be not only confused about the events but also overwhelmed by them and desires the angel to stay a bit longer. In this patriarchal society it would certainly have been unusual for a man to have spoken with his wife, given her a prophecy that she would have a child and then told her to observe the Nazirite vow as well.

John’s disciples begin to question what is going on with Jesus. They don’t understand how one who was baptized by John is now becoming greater than John himself. John’s answer is that it is a question of origins. All through the Gospel we see debates over Jesus that focus on His presumed origin: Nazareth, a Galileean, and once is even accused of being a Samaritan, we know his father and mother, etc. John, however, sees the truth, that Jesus is from above, He is sent out from the Father in heaven. It has been John’s joy to see Jesus and to testify to Him. John was one of the most incredible men who ever lived, willing and able to be less so that Jesus could become greater.

The only thing the council seem to hear is that Peter is blaming them for the death of Jesus, “You wish to bring this man’s blood on us.” The truth is that Peter is indeed trying to bring Jesus’ blood on them, in order that they might be saved. The life of a person is in the blood, and it was the blood of the sacrifice spilled on the altar that signified the reality that the animal had given its life for the sin of the worshipper. In Jesus, it is indeed his blood, the symbol of His life poured out, that ensures that we have life. In our worship we symbolically drink the blood of Christ in the form of wine and when we do so we take in the life of Christ. The council, however, refuse to believe the message and instead punish the messengers after Gamaliel has persuaded them not to kill them and be guilty of shedding more blood.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.