1 December 2010
Psalm 119-1.24; Isaiah 2.1-11; 1 Thess 2.13-20; Luke 20.19-26

What a glorious vision Isaiah has here of the nations streaming to Jerusalem to know the Lord. As I write, I have a friend who is preparing to do just that, to travel to Israel not only to see the sights but primarily to be taught, that she may know the Lord by being where He called home. The nations do stream to Jerusalem in search of an encounter, in search of deeper knowledge of the Lord, how He lived, where He taught, what were the images He saw that became His teaching points. Even still, a greater day awaits for the new Jerusalem when the nations stream there to be in the presence of the Lord, bringing “their glory” into the city, streaming to worship Him where there is no temple, only His presence.
As they could find no reason to bring Jesus to trial they attempted to trick Him into denying the civil authority of Caesar. The issue they chose was taxes, did Caesar have the right to demand tribute from the Jews. Their question was did Jesus recognize civil authority of the Roman government or was He an insurrectionist. What He did was brilliant. The coin would have had an image of Caesar on it and Jesus says that since it has his image on it then it must belong to Caesar. He exposed them for what they were, lovers of money. The subtle message sent was that they/we created in the image of God and we are to render unto God our lives as they belong to Him.

Paul sees the firstfruits of the harvest prophesied in Isaiah in the missionary advance of the Gospel. What a privilege and what a bittersweet joy this must have been for Paul. He has known what it means to persecute the church of Jesus, to reject Him and what it means to be saved by Him as well. As he worked to spread the Gospel he encountered the same persecution he once practiced towards the church and he encourages the Thessalonians to persevere in this difficult time. As the Jews have rejected Christ, Paul sees now that they are experiencing God’s wrath. We know from Romans that Paul does not rejoice fully in this truth, He believes that the Jews continue to play an important part in God’s plan of redemption, that we are living in the time between God’s deliverance of the nation from Exodus to the end of days, this is the time for the Gentiles to come into the covenant and kingdom. Today is a day to thank God for that mercy.

Deal bountifully with your servant,
that I may live and keep your word.
Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law.
I am a sojourner on the earth;
hide not your commandments from me!