31 January 2011

31 January 2011

Psalm 56, 57; Isa. 51:17-23; Gal. 4:1-11; Mark 7:24-37

The Lord announces that the time has come for a new beginning. He affirms that what has happened is indeed attributable to His wrath against His people but that now He is coming to save. They need to know that this is not some random thing that has happened or that God has been defeated in this hour, this was His doing. It is important that they know this for two reasons, one is that they are accountable for it and two that they will know He is still on the throne. The sovereignty of God has not been challenged. The enemy who did this was used by the Lord as instruments of His wrath and He has seen the suffering of His people. Now they will see His salvation.

The Syrophoenician woman displays pluck, persistence and faith. She believes that Jesus can heal her daughter, it is only a question of whether or not He will. She has no claim to Him based in religion, her claim is based only in faith in Jesus to heal. She makes no pretense to worthiness, only to a need that Jesus is able to meet. She asks only for crumbs, acknowledging that He has plenty to spare. For this, she receives what she requests. The crowd at the Decapolis also sees an amazing thing, a man who was a deaf/mute is healed. The crowds are told not to tell anyone but they tell it all the more. Those who have experienced His touch cannot be deterred from telling it.

What does it mean to have been changed from slave to son? Can we truly imagine it in our society? The change in status is remarkable. It requires a complete change in attitude and outlook. Our understanding of the household in which we live is entirely different if we are a slave in the house instead of a child of the house. Paul uses that analogy in a way that should call the Galatians to the freedom available to them in Christ Jesus. Is the Spirit inside us crying “Abba, Father” or is legalism binding it and keeping it from knowing what it means to be Abba’s child?

When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.