Psalm 38; Dan. 5:1-12; 1 John 5:1-12; Luke 4:38-44
Belshazzar has replaced his father Nebuchadnezzar as king in Babylon and now is proving himself to be more typical of a second generation plutocrat who received his kingdom and its attendant wealth as an inheritance. He is having a banquet and has all the usual sycophants present and the banquet becomes bacchanalia. In the midst of this party he requests that the things taken from the temple in Jerusalem, the things which had been set apart for the service of Yahweh, be brought and used for wine vessels. The people there appreciated the vessels but then offered worship to the gods for them. A disembodied hand writes a cryptic message on the wall and again the magicians of Babylon are stumped and there is one, the queen, who remembers Daniel and summons him. In our tradition we set things apart, we consecrate them for use in our worship and when we do we are careful not to use them for other things. We do the same with people when we ordain them, we set them apart for God’s service. We have to be careful not to worship things, or what they are made of or who made them, but it is appropriate to offer things to God in this way for His use and to treat them differently for that reason.
As it was the Sabbath, the people didn’t begin coming to Simon’s house until after sundown, they were obedient to the restrictions of Sabbath concerning travel and healing, but afterwards they began to bring those who needed healing. Jesus, however, healed Simon’s mother-in-law prior to this time. This day has always been set aside in Judaism as special and kept differently from the other days of the week, it is a day consecrated to the Lord, a day of rest commanded by the Lord. What is the work of Sabbath? It is to worship the creator of all that is and to appreciate Him. Jesus was the Son of God, just as the demons proclaimed, and He was set apart for a purpose, a particular function but the way in which He would continue to do the work He was given was to get apart alone in a desolate place where He could commune with the Father and receive His marching orders. He was able to do the Father’s will rather than man’s because He was here to serve only the Father.
Belief in Jesus consecrates the believer, it sets her apart. The sign that we are set apart is the love we have for God and for one another. Faith truly sets us apart in this life, it is through faith that we “overcome the world.” What does it mean to overcome the world? It means that we have no further fear of the world, we know that Jesus has overcome death and the grave and that life after death is possible so we no longer fear the enemy of death. In the garden, temptation led to sin led to death and in a garden Jesus faced temptation down, did not sin, and in another garden came to life again (remember Mary thought Jesus was the gardener). Jesus overcoming temptation and living and dying without sin is our hope of overcoming the world and not only our hope but our assurance. He successfully completed the work for which He was set apart and we have life because of His completed work and our faith in His blood shed for us. Let us live as those consecrated to the Lord for His purposes just as Jesus did.
O tell of His might, O sing of His grace,
Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space,
His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,
And dark is His path on the wings of the storm.
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