12 March 2011

Psalm 30, 32; Deut. 7:17-26; Titus 3:1-15; John 1:43-51

When they are afraid of other nations they are to remember what the Lord did for them against the greatest nation on earth at the time. Their history is the most unlikely history of all and their God is the most extraordinary of all. Surely Paul was thinking of these things when he wrote in Romans 8, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” The people of God have retreated from engagement with the world in spite of the fact that our God is the creator of all that is and in spite of the fact that we need have no fear, even of death, since He has overcome death. The Israelites were to press forward no matter how imposing their enemies, until the land was conquered and they possessed all that was promised to them.

Nathanael is amazed at the fact that Jesus saw him under the fig tree when he knows that Jesus couldn’t literally have seen him. He is so amazed he is willing to confess Jesus as the Son of God, the King of Israel. Jesus’ response hearkens back to Israel himself, nee Jacob, and his vision of the angels ascending and descending the ladder to heaven. It is an interesting metaphor and in fact is an exact metaphor. Nathanael and the others did see heaven opened and if they didn’t literally see angels, they saw the effect in the resurrection and ascension. Jesus came down to earth and was raised up into the heavens.

Paul speaks to Titus of “works” on four different occasions in these fifteen verses. The people of God are to be devoted to good works not because we were or are saved by works but because of the transformation of our nature and our character by the work Jesus has done for us and in us. It is not enough to know the truth, it needs to have a positive effect on our life as well. We are to be prepared for good works, devoted to good works so that we can be used by God when He needs us. We are, like the Israelites, to meditate on all the Lord has done for us that we might be prepared to do whatever He asks of us, no matter the cost. It should be our joy to serve when He calls.

The world behind me, the cross before me;
The world behind me, the cross before me;
The world behind me, the cross before me;
No turning back, no turning back.