10 April 2011

Psalm 118; Jer. 23:16-32; 1 Cor. 9:19-27; Mark 8:31-9:1

The prophets are speaking lies and they were apparently not simply telling their dreams but interpreting them as well so that the people were deceived. The Word of God is pre-eminent in all things, not the dreams of prophets and it is important that the words God gives be faithfully handled. Prophecy is a difficult thing to get right. Too often there is a problem with a prophetic word coming from the wishes of the prophet either to bless or to curse. Apparently the prophets in the time of Jeremiah were saying all was well when clearly this was not the case. Assurances of God’s blessing, especially in times of prosperity, keep us from careful and biblical analysis of our dreams and desires and we need to be careful to measure our lives always by the standards of God in His Word rather than by how materially blessed we may be.

Peter gets a stinging rebuke from Jesus. Peter wanted a different messiah, an earthly one, whose kingdom would mean something tangible for Peter himself in the here and now. Jesus’ rebuke is based on this desire or dream of Peter’s and He instead promises that the kingdom Peter must seek is not one of worldly wealth and acclaim but rather one that looks like a man carrying his own cross to his death at the hands of the world. Jesus says we must die to all our dreams of ease and comfort in the world in order to follow Him, we cannot allow the allure of earthly things to keep us from heavenly delights. It is the most important decision we will ever make and we must make it again and again in our lives. Jesus was constantly presented with the temptation to have a popular ministry, one that attracted more and more people to Him yet He obeyed not the voice of the crowd but the voice of the Father and in doing so won the acclaim of heaven and eternal life for us.

Paul is willing to do whatever is necessary to reach people, giving up his own preferences and getting out of his comfort zone. This man was raised a Pharisee which taught him to set himself apart from the common man by virtue of his righteousness and to set himself apart from the Gentiles because he was among the chosen. Here Paul says that he is willing to do whatever he needs to do in order to identify with every man if that is required to share the Gospel with them. All distinctions based on race or ethnicity have been done away with in Jesus and all that matters is the mission. He has not become irreligious or unrighteous, however, he continues to discipline himself for the work. He has, however, given up on religion as the primary means of knowing God and the self-righteousness that once characterized his life because he has seen them as hollow things that are not the primary things.

The Church’s one foundation
Is Jesus Christ her Lord,
She is His new creation
By water and the Word.
From heaven He came and sought her
To be His holy bride;
With His own blood He bought her
And for her life He died.