5 October 2010
Psalm 121, 122, 123; Micah 1:1-9; Acts 23:12-24; Luke 7:1-17

It isn’t usually a winsome thing to say, as Micah does, “Hear, you peoples, all of you; hearken, O earth, and all that is in it; and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.” You know that his prophecy isn’t likely to lift you up on eagles wings when those are the first words he writes after he tells you who he is. Verse 5 says that the sins of Israel and Judah are their places of worship. The problem is that the worship of the people has not been given to Yahweh alone and for this apostasy great judgment is coming upon them, utter ruin. He is speaking before the fall of the northern kingdom in 722BC. His prophecy is not one of hopeful promise of return, only of judgment on Israel for its idolatry.

In the story of the centurion we see the appeal of the Jewish people to Jesus based on the worthiness of the centurion to receive healing and that worthiness is predicated on two things, he loves the nation and he built the synagogue. This man is clearly a gentile yet the Jews believe him to be worthy of Jesus healing his servant. The man, however, has no sense of worthiness at all, “I am not worthy that you should come under my roof.” This represents a level of humility that is almost unimaginable in this society. That a Roman centurion would demur in such fashion before an itinerant Jewish rabbi is unthinkable yet this man recognizes Jesus as more than simply a teacher, He recognizes Him as a commander of great import, one who is able to command sickness and it will obey as his men obey his commands. His worthiness is based on his faith in Jesus, nowhere in Israel has Jesus seen such faith. Not for the reasons the Jews advance does Jesus heal the servant, but for the faith that is properly placed in Jesus. The miracles continue in the rising to life of the son of the widow in Nain and the word began to spread about Jesus.

A plot against the life of Paul is exposed and foiled. They are so angry with him for his teaching to the Gentiles and the perception of his teaching against the law that they are obsessed with ending this nonsense. A vow is taken by forty men to neither eat nor drink until Paul is dead. Fortunately, providentially, the plot became known to the son of Paul’s sister (can 40 people possibly keep a secret) whom the Lord uses to save Paul’s life from these schemers. The Lord had promised Paul would give testimony in Rome and therefore the plans of men would not prevent that from happening.

To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
Behold, as the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
till he has mercy upon us.