Pilgrim Processing

8 February 2012

2012-02-08T03:15:00.000-05:00

Psalm119:97-120; Gen.27:1-29; Rom.12:1-8; John8:12-20

“Obey my voice.” Thatwas the sin of Adam, obeying the voice of his wife, and here Rebekah encouragesJacob to obey her voice in perpetrating the deception to steal the blessing ofIsaac that is meant for Esau. Why doesshe do this considering that she had a word from the Lord that the elder wouldserve the younger. Rebekah and Jacob aredetermined to take matters into their own hands and procure the blessing andthey don’t care who gets hurt in the process. Again, as with the birthright, hunger plays a prominent role, Isaac ismotivated by his desire for the food that he loves that Esau provides. Jacob and his mother are motivated by greedand ambition. All are willing tosacrifice their principles and relationships to get what they desire. Isaac iswilling to take Jacob’s word for his identity because he has the feel of Esauand the smell of Esau and provides for his hunger like Esau. This deception can’t end well. Trusting the Lord would have been a farbetter path to take, it always is.

Can we trust our own judgment? These who question Jesus have evidence onwhich to base a sound judgment but they want Him to tell them with words who Heis. Would they believe Him if He didtell them? If they didn’t believe theworks He did or the authority with which He taught, there is little hope thatthey would have believed His claim to be Messiah. Jesus is the light of the world and in Himand by the power of the Spirit operating in us we will make right judgmentsbecause we will be judging not by the flesh. Remember David’s anointing by Samuel when the priest wanted to anointall David’s brothers and was admonished by the Lord for judging by sight? If we want to make right judgments we can’ttrust our senses any more than Isaac could trust his senses in our firstlesson. We have to learn to live by theSpirit.

Paul makes an incredibly important point here, that we areto be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We need to learn to think differently than we did before we met Jesusand knew the deeper truth about all things. In Jesus the veil is removed from our eyes and our minds and we are ableto make better judgments. We know thatthis world is a passing fancy and that the things to be truly valued and soughtare the eternal things. We are intendedto think differently from those who do not know the grand truth that Jesusreveals about the world. Our values areto be different, we are to be motivated and driven by the desire to see thekingdom of God come, His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. It all begins with understanding that Jesusand the promise of eternal life changes everything. The renewing of the mind is the first step totransformation of life.

You are my hidingplace and my shield;
I hope in your word.

Uphold me according toyour promise, that I may live,
and let me not be put to shame in my hope!
Hold me up, that I may be safe
and have regard for your statutes continually!

7 February 2012

2012-02-07T03:14:00.000-05:00

Psalm78:1-39; Gen.26:1-33; Heb.13:17-25; John7:53-8:11

(The lectionary leaves out verses 7-11 about the deceptionof Isaac and Rebekah concerning their relationship – perhaps the compilersthought this was not true but simply a retelling of the same type deceptionplayed out by Abraham and Sarah.)

The Lord renews the covenant with Isaac. He promises the same promises made to Abrahamand the basis is not anything Isaac has done or will do but “because Abrahamobeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and mylaws.” The covenant is predicated onlyon the faithfulness of God and the belief of Abraham, it is irrevocable due tounfaithfulness of the generations of Abraham. They may not enjoy the blessing of the covenant at a particular time dueto their unfaithfulness but the covenant itself continues in force as it isbased on something once done. Isaac wasobedient to the Lord’s command to remain in Gerar during the famine and hisobedience was greatly rewarded, he reaped a hundredfold harvest! Even after the envious people forced him tomove to the valley he continued to prosper in finding water. Finally, Abimelech recognizes that theprosperity of Isaac is due to the blessing of his God and determines tocovenant with Isaac for mutual peace and prosperity and they strike a covenantcomplete with oaths, a meal and terms. Wise move.

Where is the man with whom this woman was committingadultery? How did these happen to findher in the act of adultery? There aremany unanswered questions here in addition to what did Jesus write in thedirt. This passage is not found in theearliest manuscripts, it shows up first a couple hundred years after theearliest ones we have so there is certainly the question of why was it eitheroriginally omitted or why was it later added and widely accepted. Taking it at face value we have what seems tobe a straightforward issue of adultery which is punishable by death and theleaders want Jesus to give His approval. Did they have any real intention of stoning her to begin with? It seems clear from Jewish history that theyrarely carried out such punishments and in fact went to great lengths to avoiddoing so. Jesus is the only one amongthe crowd who could meet the test He proposed of being without sin to begin theproceedings and He chose not to exercise His right in the matter. He alone then can offer forgiveness but onspecific terms, that she “sin no more.” Obviously He found her guilty of the sin but offered forgiveness ratherthan condemnation.

Does anyone much think of obeying and submitting to ourleaders in church? I rarely, if ever,think in such terms within the local parish setting. I certainly submit to and obey (more or less)my bishops but at the local level we see much movement in and out of churchesrather than obedience and submission to leaders. It is far more difficult for me to walk awayfrom denominational leadership than it is to walk away from the localchurch. Culturally we don’t see leadersin the same way the writer here does and yet we need to examine our culture andGod’s plan and design for the church to ensure we aren’t in rebellion to God’sauthority exercised through leaders. Thewriter also asks for prayers for the leadership to lead wisely and with goodconscience. Finally, the appeal is madeto the eternal covenant in Jesus’ blood. We are in many ways like Isaac, beneficiaries of what someone else hasonce done and we rest in the covenant already and forever established.

Give ear, O my people,to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!

We will not hide themfrom their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.

6 February 2012

2012-02-06T03:14:00.000-05:00

Psalm80; Gen.25:19-34; Heb.13:1-16; John7:37-52

Again we see the formulaic opening phrase, “These are thegenerations of…” Now we will hear thestory of Isaac, the narrative will change focus from Abraham to his son. Like Sarah, Rebekah is barren but her husbandIsaac prays for her and the Lord opens her womb. This time, there will be a double “blessing”,not one child but two. There will,however, be difficulty in this blessing, they will struggle with one anotherfor much of their lives. The parentslove is divided between the boys, never a good thing. The word of the Lord was sure concerning theboys, the elder would serve the younger. What would their lives have looked like if Rebekah and Jacob had trustedthat word? Instead, we see Esau sellinghis birthright because he is hungry. That Jacob was unwilling to provide for his brother’s hunger revealssomething of his character and desires as well. Esau’s hunger is immediate while Jacob’s hunger is for the inheritanceand is willing to wait for gratification.

On the last day of the feast the liturgy involves pouringout water as a symbol of their trust in the Lord to provide. In the wilderness water was a scarce commoditybut now in the land they trusted the Lord to provide the rains regularly so thepouring out of water was a sign that they had no fear concerning thisprovision. During this liturgy Jesus“cried out” an offer to believe in Him to receive living waters of the Spiritmuch like the promise He offered the woman at the well. When He hears them speaking of His comingfrom Galilee after all they have seen and heard you have to believe He wantedto bang His head against the wall and tell them the story of His birth inBethlehem but He doesn’t set that record straight. The guards are making a right judgment butthe leaders are only interested in where Jesus lives. Nicodemus, who has had a private audiencewith Jesus, knows there is something more, he is haunted by the words Jesusspoke to him that night, he knows there is more to life than the material andthat there is more spirit than flesh in Jesus’ words. He is thirsty for the right things.

The writer sees that our biggest problem is our desires. Hewarns against sexual immorality, the love of money, and other desires of theflesh. Much of the “strange teaching”that leads us astray simply appeals to our fleshly desires. Today we are offered the promise of healthand wealth, that we can have everything we want in this life and that isproclaimed as the Word of the Lord. TheGospel offer is to take up our cross and follow Jesus, blessed are you who arepersecuted, when you are slandered, that we will be hated just has He washated, to seek first the kingdom of God rather than concerning ourselvesprimarily with things of earth. Do wesell our own birthright as children of God for a mess of pottage to satisfy ourhungers? Do we concern ourselves morewith physical thirst and neglect the spiritual thirst?

But let your hand beon the man of your right hand,

the son of man whom you have made strong foryourself!

Then we shall not turnback from you;

give us life, and we will call upon yourname!

Restore us, O LORD Godof hosts!

Let your face shine, that we may be saved!

5 February 2012

2012-02-05T03:13:00.000-05:00

Psalm93, 96; Gen.24:50-67; 2Tim. 2:14-21; Mark10:13-22

Laban and his father Bethuel have heard the story of theservant of Abraham and his prayer and have believed that the will of God isbeing done so they offer no personal opinion on the matter of Rebekah beinggiven to the son of Abraham. Afterreceiving gifts, however, the next morning Laban and his mother desire theservant to remain with them ten days, not an unreasonable request that they beallowed to say goodbye to Rebekah who will likely not come back to themagain. Rebekah, however, is willing togo immediately. Isaac is smitten. In fact, this is the first time we are toldthat someone loves his wife. The firsttime the word love appears in Scripture is in Genesis 22, when God tellsAbraham to take his son, Isaac, whom he loves, and sacrifice him (soundfamiliar – the only son, the beloved, is to be sacrificed).

Jesus loved the rich young man. He looked at him and loved him. The young man knew in his heart that helacked something, he wanted to know how to get the inheritance of eternallife. He was apparently a religious man,affirming that he had kept the commandments from his youth. In spite of his religious observances hestill felt that he was not quite there and Jesus saw it when He looked at him,there was something in his life more important than obtaining what he sought,his wealth. This is the only time we seeJesus offering someone an opportunity to follow Him and being rejected. The cost to follow Jesus here is clear, therenunciation of every other attachment. Rebekah was willing to go immediately, the rich young man, not so much.

“The Lord knows who are His.” Could there be anything more wonderful thanto know you are the Lord’s? To be His isto be beloved by Him, loved enough that He sent His only Son to die foryou. If we begin from that point ofview, that He died for us, we will do all in our power to follow where He leadsand to live for Him. As we have beengiven this great and undeserved gift, let us lay aside all those things thatwould hold us back from chasing after Him. What is it in your life that holds you back from wholeheartedlyfollowing after Jesus? What compellingvision is there in your life that keeps you from pursuing His vision? Are you willing to be like Rebekah, whoapparently wasn’t poor herself as she had a retinue of women who went with her,to go when called? Are you interestedlike the rich young man but unwilling to leave behind all you have to receive allHe offers?

Oh sing to the LORD anew song;
   sing to the LORD, all the earth!
Sing to the LORD, bless his name;
   tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
   his marvelous works among all the peoples!
For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised;
   he is to be feared above all gods.

4 February 2012

2012-02-04T03:17:00.000-05:00

Psalm75, 76; Gen.24:28-38,49-51; Heb.12:12-29; John7:14-36

The servant is so excited he recounts the story over andover. The piece that is missing from thereading is one more re-telling of the story. We first meet a character who will be important in the life of Isaac’sson here, Laban. We can see a bit ofLaban’s character in this first meeting. At first he seems genuinely hospitable, a true gentleman but what we seeis that his hospitality is based on what he sees, the ring and bracelets hissister is suddenly wearing. His interestis definitely heightened when he hears how financially blessed is the master ofthis servant, his own kinsman. Laban iswith his father, Bethuel, here so he is not the one ultimately in control ofthe situation, the decision concerning Rebekah lies with his father.

In the middle of the festival Jesus appears and beginsteaching. The people marvel at Histeaching because He never studied. Hedidn’t need to, He is the exposition of God’s Word. Jesus calls the people to account for notfollowing or knowing the Law by saying that they circumcise children on theSabbath so how is it wrong to heal on the Sabbath. All work is not alike. Everyone is confused by Jesus. They don’t know what He means by Histeachings and His sayings because no one truly could have imagined that He wasliterally from heaven and what would happen next would not be the end ofthings. They want a Messiah but theywant Him on their own terms, Jesus breaks past their understanding of the Wordin a way that leaves them puzzled because their understanding is toosmall. We are called to not be dazzledby the signs but by Jesus Himself.

If you keep in mind that the audience of the letter to theHebrews is a group of people who are looking backwards towards restoring theold covenant it is easier to follow the path of the logic. Esau had sold his birthright for a mess ofpottage and once his strength was restored he had great regret. We cannot sell our birthright as children ofGod in Christ Jesus for a mess of pottage by returning to self-justificationthrough sacrifice. In His teaching Jesustaught us to raise the bar on sin so high that no amount of sacrifice would bepossible to atone for it all. Lustfulthoughts equate to adultery, hatred is murder, we have to love our enemies,etc. The author refers to Exodus 19 whenhe writes beginning in verse 18 of this passage. The better word than the blood of Abel is“Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing” as opposed toAbel’s blood crying out for vengeance. Moses and the angels were the mediators of the old covenant, Jesus aloneis the mediator of the new covenant which is celebrated by the angels. What wehave been given but do not see is far greater than what the old covenant gave,a land flowing with milk and honey. Weneed to stop being like Laban and move beyond being impressed by the things wesee in the flesh and think and live as spiritually-driven people.

We give thanks to you,O God;
we give thanks, for your name is near.
We recount your wondrous deeds.

3 February 2012

2012-02-03T03:16:00.000-05:00

Psalm69; Gen.24:1-27; Heb.12:3-11; John7:1-13

Have you ever had an experience like this? It is always amazing that when we areuncertain about something that we pray and go forward with great trepidationand then see the Lord moving in amazing ways to answer the prayers exactly aswe prayed them. Our problem is that mostof the time we move out with certainty about things when we ought always to gowith uncertainty. We are too much incontrol most of the time in our lives, we leave very little room for the Lordto surprise us. Rarely do we get outsideour comfort zone of control and routine to allow God to delight us by leadingour prayers to coincide with what He is doing. The servant of Abraham is asked to do something about which he knowsnothing and can only see that this can go badly so He leans completely on Godfor success and his prayer is answered in every detail. How are some ways we can allow God tosurprise us today by getting out of our comfort zone? How about making everything we do today inour jobs, family, whatever, a possible way for God to allow us to share withothers about Him?

The feast of booths was a joyous time of remembrance ofGod’s great provision. In the wildernessthey had no permanent dwellings and had no ability to grow crops to provide forthe nation so the Lord provided food for forty years. The feast of booths is a time when the people“get small”. They forsake their normaldwellings and construct small booths in which to live and remember the Lord’sgoodness to their ancestors. In this waythey all the more should appreciate the lavish goodness they now experience inthe Land. Jesus’ brothers don’t believein Him and their understanding is that Jesus wants to be somebody and the wayto do that is to be a public spectacle so they encourage Him to do so at the feast. Jesus speaks of His “time” in a way that theycannot understand because His time to be a public spectacle is an awful thing,not one that will be glorious in the eyes of the world. His response is similar to the one He gaveMary at the wedding. Ultimately Jesusgoes and hears the public debate on Him, He is becoming famous and infamous allat the same time, the court of public opinion is definitely mixed.

Does anyone enjoy the discipline of the Lord? We know that in order to become who we wantto be we have to discipline our lives in certain ways. If we want to be an athlete we find out whatit takes and then set to work becoming that instead of something else. If we want to become a business person we goto school and submit to the discipline of learning and understandingbusiness. Professions typically requirean internship of some sort to become fully licensed. Becoming like Jesus is a matter of disciplinebecause it requires us to change. Themain thing is to seek first the kingdom of God, realize that we need to stayclose to the Lord in prayer. We have torealize our comfort zones are dangerous places to be as we tend to control ourlives by the flesh and not the Spirit. Canwe truly live completely dependent on Him?

I will praise the nameof God with a song;
   I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
This will please the LORD more than an ox
   or a bull with horns and hoofs.
When the humble see it they will be glad;
   you who seek God, let your hearts revive.

2 February 2012

2012-02-02T03:16:00.000-05:00

Psalm71; Gen.23:1-20; Heb.11:32-12:2; John6:60-71

Why is this transaction worthy of inclusion in the Word ofGod? It seems an inconsequential detailin the life of Abraham but it has significance in at least two ways. Abraham could have received and accepted theland as a gift but chose instead to purchase it. In the same way, he had refused to allow theking of Sodom to enrich him in any way in chapter 14 after the battle thatrestored Sodom and rescued Lot, Abraham here will not receive anything fromanyone but God. It also tells us thatAbraham believed God that eventually His seed would possess this land and thatSarah’s remains would be cared for by their progeny. As it turns out several generations of thisfamily, the patriarchs, will be buried in this place. All this is to say that Abraham implicitlyand completely trusted the Lord in all things, whether he understood them ornot.

Jesus is speaking these words in the synagogue in Capernaum. The people to whom these particular words areaddressed are identified by John as “disciples.” These would be those who were outside thecircle of the twelve but who were nonetheless regulars in the crowd. They are willing to say that this is a hardsaying and question who can receive it. At the level of literal meaning it isindeed nigh onto impossible to receive this teaching. Jesus, however, says that it isn’t thefleshly, literal meaning that is at stake here but the spiritual level and thatit is not possible for them to accept it unless the Father through the actionof the Spirit draws someone to the teaching. Peter believes that, whatever Jesus’ words mean, they are words of lifeand no one else has these and they believe that He is the Holy One of God, theMessiah. Even with respect to these menJesus is the one who chose them, not the other way round, and one of them Hesays is “a devil.”

The first four verses of the Hebrews reading areinspirational in recalling the mighty works of God on behalf of and throughthose who had faith in Him. The nextthree verses remind us that God doesn’t always do great things for His people,sometimes they suffer terribly and there is no rescue or exaltation, novindication in this life. The summary judgmenton this is that the world wasn’t and isn’t worthy of them. Abraham had to make sense of his life withoutseeing the complete fulfillment of the promises made to him. It had to have been difficult for him to burySarah after so many years of waiting for fulfillment and to know that he wouldhave to die without seeing these things but continuing to believe his familywould indeed possess this land. We andthe disciples eat bread and drink wine in faith believing not only in theresurrection of Jesus but that we too will be resurrected due to His perfectsacrifice and our faith in Him. Let usthen run with patient endurance our own race in faith, inspired by those whohave gone before who wait for us at the finish line.

Even to old age andgray hairs,
   O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
   your power to all those to come.
Your righteousness, O God,
   reaches the high heavens.
You who have done great things,
   O God, who is like you?

1 February 2012

2012-02-01T03:15:00.000-05:00

Psalm72; Gen.22:1-18; Heb.11:23-31; John6:52-59

We aren’t sure how old Isaac is here. Some speculate that he is a boy while othersplace him as a young man. This passagealways makes me first want to say to God, “Leave that old man alone, hebelieved and followed for 25 years before You fulfilled Your promise to him,surely he has proven himself to You.” Heis never done with us, always calls us higher. We don’t get to retire from following Him. If we are willing to continue growing infaith, He will always take us further, reveal more of Himself to us. Here the Lord calls Abraham to do somethingincredible, sacrifice not only his son but the future, the fulfillment of thepromise. He immediately obeys, risingearly and heading out with everything he needed to do what he wascommanded. The writer of Hebrewsyesterday told us that Abraham believed Isaac would be resurrected from thedead, and based on the promise of God that through Isaac the promise wouldcome, Abraham had to have believed something similar. His faith is something to behold.

Now He has really pushed them too far. Is He talking about cannibalism here? Why does no one ask what in the world He istalking about? Clearly these things areprohibited activities for any Jew so surely He has either lost His mind or Heis talking symbolically but what would that symbol even mean to them? Think back to John’s proclamation of Jesusafter the baptism, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of theworld!” The Passover Lamb was eaten andwine drunk to celebrate the mercy of God in Egypt. Jesus will re-interpret the Passover feast inlight of His sacrifice on the cross, but this day they think they know what Heis on about and come to a wrong conclusion. Eating and drinking isn’t enough, it has to be coupled with faith.

Faith or fear? Thosewho live by faith shouldn’t allow their lives to be ruled by fear. If we are children of the One who created allthings, Who has overcome death and the grave, what have we to fear? We are called to see with eyes of faith and awillingness to do as both Abraham was willing to do, sacrifice everything atHis command and as Jesus did in laying down His life trusting in theresurrection. We are called to take upour cross and follow Him, called to lay down everything as Paul says, countingit all as rubbish, in order to obtain the promise of God. Fear is based on a value system that isskewed. Faith sees greater value in theeternal and longs for it no matter the cost. Let us overcome fear with faith.

Blessed be the LORD,the God of Israel,
   who alone does wondrous things.
Blessed be his glorious name forever;
   may the whole earth be filled with his glory!
            Amenand Amen!

31 January 2012

2012-01-31T03:14:00.000-05:00

Psalm61, 62; Gen.21:1-21; Heb.11:13-22; John6:41-51

The Lord visited as He said He would and did to Sarah whatHe promised. After waiting 25 years forthe fulfillment of the promise, the Lord delivered at the time He chose. Surely they had thought that by now theywould have several children but that was not God’s plan or promise. We don’t know what Ishmael was doing butlaughing is only one option here, making sport of is another. Sarah perceived a threat and Abraham wasforced to send both Hagar and his son away and God agreed. It is amazing that this little family scenein the middle of the desert could have such implications for our world today severalthousand years later.

Jesus claims to be from God. The people are pretty sure they know He is from Nazareth and that theyknow His parentage. If they do, how dothey explain what they have seen Him do? Sometimes what we think know isn’t true. Jesus promises that the one who believes has eternal life and that He isthe bread of life. They have proposedthat He do as Moses had done in providing food and Jesus speaks into that byreminding them that manna isn’t eternal, those who ate it perished. His final words in this passage are the dealbreakers, “And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is myflesh.”

Our attitude in faith is that there is a better day and abetter homeland awaiting us. The biggestobstacle is that we are all, at heart, materialists. We want what we see, not what we can’tsee. We can set goals but we need to beable to visualize the goal, what does it look like. We know what it means to be thinner, to bemuscular, to be wealthy, to have perfect spouses and perfect kids, but we havea hard time visualizing something better than the world we know. We can only see and know that world by eyesof faith. Faith calls us out of that materialistic mindset, enables us to takegreat risks through trust in Him who created and upholds all things. Faith sometimes looks irrational,wreckless. Faith should mean that wemake different choices than the world would make in a given circumstance, itshould mark us out and differentiate us from the world. It is people of faith who truly make akingdom difference.

For God alone, O mysoul, wait in silence,
   for my hope is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
   my fortress; I shall not be shaken.
On God rests my salvation and my glory;
   my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

30 January 2012

2012-01-30T03:14:00.000-05:00

Psalm56, 57; Gen.19:1-29; Heb.11:1-12; John6:27-40

Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. He is now a town elder, a respectedcitizen. He invites the men to stay withhim because he knows what kind of place and people are here but he is willingto live in the center of the town and have a prominent leadership positionthere. Lot has compromised greatly andbeen seduced by the world. The scenethat evening in Sodom is incredibly bizarre, almost like a horror movie as thepeople, every last one, come to Lot’s house and demand that he send out thesemen so that they may “know” them which is to say, have sexual relations withthem. Lot offers his virgin daughters toappease the crowd but they will have none of that offer. The men perform a miracle causing blindnessin the people of Sodom but so great is their desire that we are told “they worethemselves out groping for the door.” Whenthe angels tell him to get out of Sodom they have to seize Lot because helingered. What is wrong with thisman? Ultimately the cities are destroyedbut Lot is saved because of the prayers of Abraham.

The people who have followed Jesus and who, the day before,were prepared to receive Him as prophet and king, prove that they are in someways like the men of Sodom, only in it for gratification of their physicaldesires, in this case, nothing more than food. Jesus promises greater sustenance and they initially respond as thewoman at the well, “Sir, give us this bread always.” They, unlike the woman, are unwilling toaccept any substitute for material bread. They formed their opinion of Jesus based on his providing for theirmaterial desires and now are prepared to reject Him based on His failure toprovide according to their desires. I amthe bread of life begins to turn the conversation and He continues with thestatement “everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should haveeternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” This too, isreminiscent of what Jesus has already said, this time to Nicodemus concerningthe lifting up of the Son of Man as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent. That episode (Numbers 21) was also based onthe people’s rejection of God’s provision of what they called “worthlessfood.”

Understanding faith begins with believing that the universewas created by the word of God. Faith,the writer says, begins with Genesis 1. If we don’t begin to read the Bible through eyes of faith, we will havea difficult time from start to finish. If He is creator then we approach Him with the proper reverence andfear. If He has the power to create thenHe has the power to destroy, to uncreate. Creation by fiat is a show of greatness, the Bible begins with greatnessand moves us towards an understanding of God that He is both great and,thankfully, good. Because of sin, we areforced to know Him not by sight but by faith. Prior to sin, God walked among us. Sin created distance and now faith is key to walking with God. Faith restores a sense of awe and wonder tolife, keeps us from being satisfied with the mundane. Faith calls us upwards, so that we can liveas more than flesh, but by Spirit. Thepeople of Sodom, even Lot, and the folks that wanted more bread in the Gospellesson, needed to get a bigger picture, they needed to know God ascreator.

Be merciful to me, OGod, be merciful to me,
   for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
   till the storms of destruction pass by.
I cry out to God Most High,
   to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
He will send from heaven and save me;
   he will put to shame him who tramples on me.

Be exalted, O God,above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!

29 January 2012

2012-01-29T03:13:00.000-05:00

Psalm24, 29; Gen.18:16-33; Gal.5:13-25; Mark8:22-30

The men turned and went towards Sodom but Abraham stillstood before the LORD. What does thatmean? The three men were representativesof the Lord but they were not the Lord. Only the one who stayed behind was the Lord, a “Christophany”, apre-incarnational appearance of Jesus. Abrahamwas such an important person that the Lord revealed to Him the plans He had forSodom. Abraham pleads for Sodom andfinally bargains the Lord down to sparing the city if there are ten righteousmen found there. That is the basis forthe establishment of a synagogue in a place, ten Jewish men, otherwise the citymight be destroyed. What, however, didrighteous mean to Abraham in this era preceding the law?

Again we see a man brought to Jesus by a group of people andHis response is to take the person apart from everyone else to heal him. Recently we had the case of a deaf/mute manin a similar circumstance and Jesus took away by himself for the healing and hespit that time as well but that was to indicate the healing of the man’sspeech. This one is strange because thefirst time Jesus acts it only effectuates a partial healing. After the healing is complete, Jesusinstructs the man to not even enter the village. Can we assume there is some great evil thereas there is nowhere else in the Gospels where Jesus gives such a command? As the disciples pass through CaesareaPhilippi Jesus asks what they hear other people saying about Him and then whatthey believe about Him so far. Why wouldanyone believe that He was the reincarnation of either Elijah or John theBaptist? Peter gets it right, “You arethe Christ.” What he didn’t know wasthat he only understood a portion of what that meant.

Paul sees a war within us, a war between the Spirit of Godand the desires of the flesh. We areborn with a desire for self-gratification and yet the commandment of God is tolove others as we love ourselves. If wework out the implications of that tension, it means that we are to seek thebest for others. If, literally, everyonedid that, we would all have gratification without seeking it forourselves. Christian community is meantto be that kind of selfless love and that was expressed in the early days ofthe church where everyone had everything in common. The problem at Sodom is that there was noneof this kind of love, it was all complete self-interest. What we see in Jesus is true righteousness,loving others truly and completely, pouring out Himself, laying aside His owninterests for others. We need to be andhave the kind of community where such love is practiced. Let us seek the fruits of the Spirit in ourlives by living according to the Spirit.

The earth is theLORD's and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein

for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.

28 January 2012

2012-01-28T03:33:00.000-05:00

Psalm55; Gen.18:1-16; Heb.10:26-39; John6:16-27

We know that Abraham began to walk in faith by circumcisingthe males of his household, including Ishmael and the servants but did he trulybelieve that a child would be born to he and Sarah? He provides lavish hospitality to the threemen but does he know who they are? It isn’tclear that he knows this is God, interesting that He appears in the form ofthree men isn’t it? We are told that the“way of women had ceased to be with Sarah.” She no longer produces an egg which can be fertilized, she can’t getpregnant. Her reaction to the announcementis doubt and laughter as she hides just inside the tent and eavesdrops on theconversation. Had Abraham told her ofthe conversation we heard yesterday or did he keep it to himself rather thaneither getting Sarah’s hopes up or risking her scorn for what she might perceiveas foolishness? The words of the men toSarah, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” are remarkably similar to thosespoken to Mary that I mentioned yesterday.

Chapter 6 of John’s Gospel is full of the wrongquestions. Philip tells Jesus that Heasked the wrong question concerning the food for the crowd. The question wasn’t where to get the food itwas how to buy it. Here the crowd askswhen Jesus came across the lake and the real question, as the disciples know,is how he got across the lake. They seemto have kept that detail to themselves, probably scarcely believing it hadactually happened. Where Jesus hadcompassion on them the day before He now is skeptical about them. His words about not working for the food thatperishes is drawn from Isaiah 55, as is His promise. They have come for more food and were willingto work and sacrifice to get it but they are materialists, not seeing thatyesterday’s miracle was actually a sign. They wanted a king who would continually provide. Think back to the temptation that satan posedfirst, that Jesus provide bread for Himself and He refused by quoting “Man doesnot live by bread alone…” Here thetemptation is the same but based in His compassion for others. He loves them enough to say no and call themhigher.

These people to whom the letter is addressed formerly “joyfullyaccepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselveshad a better possession and an abiding one.” It seems that now they have doubted and decided that since Jesus hadn’treturned it made some sense to return to the old system just in case they hadbeen wrong about Jesus. Is ourconfidence in Jesus strong enough to endure and persevere in seeking to liveholy and righteous lives, to pursue our sanctification or do we have anopposite problem from these? Can webelieve so much in Jesus’ sacrifice and its efficacy that we no longer pursuerighteousness in our lives? We arecalled to pursue the promises of God that we might obtain them, not that wehave already attained them. Let usbelieve but in our believing let us pursue the promises now, not waiting untilafter the end of this life.

The soul that on Jesushas leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

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27 January 2012

2012-01-27T03:32:00.000-05:00

Psalm40, 54; Gen.17:15-27; Heb.10:11-25; John6:1-15

Abraham no longer believes that God can do what He promised,not through weakness on the part of God but on the part of Abraham andSarah. The Lord announces that Sarai’sname is to be changed from my princess to princess because she is to be theprincess of the nation, the matriarch. Thatis now too much for Abraham to consider possible, based on the inability of aman and woman of their age to bring forth life so he laughs at the idea. The child’s name is to be Isaac, orlaughter. The source of that laughterwill be two-fold, based in the laughter of his parents when the announcementwas made and their joy at the fulfillment of the promise. Abraham’s reaction was to plead that Ishmaelbe acceptable as the son of promise but God said no. The Lord appreciated Abraham’s prayer forIshmael but he would not be the son of the covenant. After the Lord departs why does Abraham haveIshmael circumcised in addition to all the other males? If circumcision is the sign of the covenantand God has said no to Ishmael’s being the son through whom covenant waspassed, why circumcise him?

No one believes anything can be done about the dilemma offeeding this multitude. Philip knows thereal question isn’t where to buy food, it is that there are simply too manypeople there that even if there were a place to buy it the amount of moneyrequired to purchase such a supply would cost more than a half-year’s wages soit wouldn’t make any difference. Jesus,however, is able to provide out of a very little that a boy had with him. He has them sit in an area where John saysthere was much grass, thinking of “He makes me lie down in green pastures”perhaps? Their belief is that this isthe Prophet (like Moses) who was to come into the world based on providing foodfor multitudes, just like Moses. Jesus’response is to withdraw from the crowds, most of us would bask in the adulation.

The priest offering sacrifices does so in faith that theyare acceptable for sin. Jesus’ sacrificecomes with the seal of the resurrection as proof of acceptability. We don’t hope our sins are forgiven, theresurrection tells us that they are if we repent. Confession is the first step in the processof reconciliation with God that starts when we sin and breach thecovenant. True confession, however,leads to repentance, what we have done is so terrible to us that we can’timagine going back to it. It begins withseeing things God’s way. We are in covenantwith Him and yet the relationship is ruptured due to sin and the only way toheal the rupture is to go back to that place and deal with it. We then move on together with a new desire tolive differently. Faith and hope gotogether in all things, for as the angel told Mary, all things are possible withGod.

Even down to old ageall My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.

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26 January 2012

2012-01-26T03:32:00.000-05:00

Psalm50; Gen.16:15-17:14; Heb.10:1-10; John5:30-47

Thirteen years passed from the end of Genesis 16 to thebeginning of Genesis 17, just about the same amount of time that elapsed sinceGenesis 12 when they started walking with God on this journey. It seems that Sarai had no more bright ideasabout how to solve the problem of a child in those years. Here, God re-announces the covenant ofchildren and land with the 99 year old Abram and changes his name to Abraham,father of many of many nations. What mustthe man have thought when he heard this again at his advanced age. Perhaps he simply heard, “Yada, yada, yada.” Did he even share this conversation with hiswife who was surely tired of hearing him talk about this whole idea and who hadgiven up on this promise? The onlyaddition here is the commandment regarding circumcision of children. Did Abraham continue to believe this wouldactually happen?

The leaders are saying, just tell us if you are theMessiah. Show us something that will letus know. Jesus offers various proofslike the works, the testimony of the Father, John the Baptist’s testimony,Scriptures, and Moses. In each case,Jesus says that they don’t listen to the witnesses for one reason oranother. In His words concerning theFather Jesus says they have never heard His voice or seen His form and that thewords don’t abide in them because if indeed the word was abiding in them theywould recognize Jesus, the embodiment of the Word of God. To say to a group of Jews that they don’tbelieve the words of Moses and the proof of that is that they don’t believeJesus would have been an incredible affront. Belief requires a step of choosing to believe based on the available evidenceand walking in that belief.

Does God desire sacrifice or holiness? Jesus came to do God’s will. The sacrifices offered for sin, bulls, goats,sheep, pigeons, etc. never produced a people who were holy. Jesus’ sacrifice makes possible somethingentirely new, a people for whom the law is internal because of the giving ofthe Holy Spirit. Our righteousness is toexceed that of the scribes and Pharisees because we know what righteousnessmeans at a different level. In the oldcovenant, circumcision was initiation into the covenant but then you were to betaught the law until you knew it well enough to pass it on to others. Jesus, however, said that knowing the wordsand knowing the author aren’t the same. Thelaw was to lead us to knowledge of God and to life according to that knowledgebut we settle for external observance and never truly grow into the likeness ofGod. Righteousness is something beyondkeeping the rules and regulations.

When through fierytrials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

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25 January 2012

2012-01-25T03:31:00.000-05:00

Psalm119:49-72; Gen.16:1-14; Heb.9:15-28; John5:19-29

Can you hear the echoes of Genesis 3 here? The serpent tempted Eve by closely parsingher knowledge of what God had said and here Sarai does what everyone does, tryto find a reason for the problem as if God would not tell them. We have to remember, though, that many yearshave passed since God first promised progeny, so it isn’t as though they haven’tbeen patient. Sarai works out a solutionthat is based in the serpent’s argument to Eve, “Did God really say…” Maybe it is only Abram who is to be involvedhere as father and she is the barrier to fulfillment. Who couldn’t see this wasn’t going to turnout well? Sarai accuses Hagar of acting “uppity”after the tryst and conception, what a surprise. Sarai treats Hagar so badly thereafter thatshe flees from her mistress. The Lord,however, sees her and sends her back to submit to Sarai but with a promise thather son will be the father of a multitude, unfortunately he won’t be a “good”man, nor will that nation.

Jesus’ promise regarding the resurrection of the dead isbased on who has done good and who has done evil. Again, do you hear the echo of Genesis 3 andthe knowledge of good and evil? What doesit mean to do good? Good is a work ofGod, all that He does is good. Truly thatis the only measure we have for good, is it what God intended. This ties back to Jesus’ claims regarding Hisown work, He only does what He sees the Father doing, nothing else. He does nothing of His own initiative, onlywhat the Father shows Him. If we woulddo good in this life we need to be a people deeply rooted in prayer and theWord of God. Abiding in Him is the onlyway we can know what good is and once we know what good is then we know thatanything else is at best not good. If weseek always to know and do good then we will never settle for anything less,much less evil.

The rich young man who approached Jesus asked a strangequestion, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The writer of Hebrews answers that question bybeginning where any question of inheritance must begin, with the death of theone who is giving the inheritance. He beginsby talking about the necessity of death even under the old covenant. Even in that covenant the death of an animalwas required to maintain the covenant from the side of mankind. To obtain the promised forgiveness required adeath, just as the mercy Adam and Eve received required the death of an animalto cover their nakedness. Again, wereturn to the Platonic philosophy of earthly things being copies of the idealin heaven and in so doing we realize that the sacrifices needed to maintain theearthly things are insufficient when we go higher to the ideal. Jesus’ sacrifice is sufficient to thetask. What does it mean though that Heappeared at the end of the ages? Remember that the stories of Genesis are introduced with the formula “Theseare the generations of…” Jesus is theend of the story of the old covenant stories and the beginning of somethingentirely new that will last through all eternity, therefore He indeed appearedat the end of the ages in that sense.

When through the deepwaters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

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24 January 2012

2012-01-24T03:31:00.000-05:00

Psalm45; Gen.15:1-11,17-21; Heb.9:1-14; John5:1-18

Abram’s faith in God to give a child to him and Sarai isgrowing weak through the passage of time. He isn’t rejecting God but has resigned himself to not having a childaccording to the promise. The Lord goesfurther than a promise by making this a covenant promise to Abram. The ceremonial aspects of the covenant wouldbe familiar to the original audience for this story. The animals would be killed and split in halfto form a walkway and this is called cutting the covenant. Both parties would pass between the piecesand the understanding would be that if I fail to keep my obligations concerningthe covenant let it be to me as it is to these animals, death. Notice, however, that Abram is neither askedto make a vow nor to pass through the pieces. God makes the promise and also takes the covenant vow to perform underthe promise. Ponder what it means that Jesusdied on the cross for our sins in light of His divine/human nature.

Jesus does a miraculous healing of a man who had beencrippled for 38 years and then adds a twist to the healing that gets Him introuble with the Jewish leaders. He couldsimply have healed the man but He didn’t, He also commanded the man to take uphis bed and walk. It would be quite anaccomplishment to walk, much less carry something after 38 years of disuse ofhis legs. The problem is that the man isnow carrying a burden on the Sabbath which is against the restrictions to do nowork. The leaders surely recognized theman as having been at the pool for nearly four decades but that isn’t what theysee, they only see a law-breaker and demand an explanation. The man passes the blame to Jesus who toldhim to do this but he doesn’t even know who Jesus is until He returns andinstructs the man to refrain from sin lest something worse happen to him. What is the man’s reaction, to go and tell theleaders exactly who healed him but the focus is that Jesus is the one whocaused him to sin. Wow! For the healing on the Sabbath theypersecuted Jesus, for his answer, “My Father is working until now, and I amworking”, they determined to kill him. They couldn’t see the truth, that He is equal to the Father. It ain’t blasphemy if you can back it up.

The covenant is better because the sacrifice is better. The writer walks through the temple andexplains that the old covenant only gives access to earthly things but the new covenantgives us access to heavenly things. Theold cannot perfect the conscience, it can only deal with outer things but thenew can deal with the inside of the cup, our souls, and can perfect us (not completely)in Him. We have been given a new heartand a new spirit. The former sacrificesonly deal with the flesh, Jesus’ sacrifice and the consequent giving of theSpirit, enable us to go from dead works to true service because our hearts areright, flesh and spirit reunited and working together for the glory ofGod. The old covenant was a wonderfulthing but the new is far surpassing. Hehas given His life that we might share His life.

Fear not, I am withthee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.

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23 January 2012

2012-01-23T03:30:00.000-05:00

Psalm41, 52; Gen.14:1-24; Heb.8:1-13; John4:43-54

Lot has moved from outside Sodom to dwelling in the cityitself. Apparently he was now wealthyenough that he no longer needed to be with his flocks and herds. We have already been told of the wickednessof Sodom so why has he moved into the city? In verse 13 we get a strange phrase, Abram the Hebrew, which meanssomething like “other side.” Abramdoesn’t live inside the places where conflict is occurring, he lives on theother side. He leads out his “trainedmen” to rescue Lot, these trained men would have been a private army of sorts,probably providing security for the nomadic family and their flocks andherds. Here we meet the mysteriousMelchizedek who receives tribute from Abram for what reasons we do notknow. The king of Sodom assumes thatAbram has done this for spoil but Abram wants nothing of Sodom’s wealth andfilthy lucre. He owes that wicked placenothing at all and nothing he has gained came from such a place.

It doesn’t seem the royal official lacked faith inJesus. He sought Him out and imploredHim to come heal his son who was at the point of death. Jesus accepts the man’s faith and then callshim to even greater faith by sending him away without accompanying him. The official goes at Jesus’ command in faiththat this will work. His faith is rewardedin the healing of his son. To whom thendoes Jesus address His remarks about signs and wonders? It would seem that this comment was aimed atthe Jewish people who were there and in this particular way of healing they seesomething else about Jesus, that He is not like a wonder worker, He need not bepresent for healing to occur. His powersare not limited by geography. Faith isrewarded.

Jesus is a better high priest because he ministers not in acopy of the heavenly place here on earth but in the heavenly place itself. There is a Platonic ideal concept in thispassage that tells us that the writer must have been stepped in Greekphilosophical thinking and must have assumed that his readers were aswell. In the new covenant, made possibleby the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the law is no longer external to God’speople. We have been given new heartsand the law is written there. He has put within us the desire to do as Hewills. As we are beneficiaries of abetter covenant, shouldn’t we be better people, people of greater faith, peoplewho are heavenly minded? Like Abram, weare dependent not on the world but on God alone. Like the royal official we are to walk infaith and not by sight. Jesus is greaterthan anything else we could hope for or imagine, He is able to work acrossspace and time in our lives today.

In every condition, insickness, in health;
In poverty’s vale, or abounding in wealth;
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, shall thy strength ever be.

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22 January 2012

2012-01-22T03:29:00.000-05:00

Psalm63, 98; Gen.13:2-18; Gal.2:1-10; Mark7:31-37

Abram is a generous man. He offered his nephew Lot first choice of grazing land in order to avoidcontinuing quarrels with their herdsmen that would surely become a moresignificant problem. The Lord hadblessed Abram and Lot and they had materially prospered. Lot chose the better portion but the Lordpromised to Abram that all he could see would be given to his descendants inthe future. This was the land that, fivehundred years later, would be described as flowing with milk and honey. The Lord also promised that Abram’sdescendants would be like dust they would be so numerous (remember that thiswas the problem that prompted Pharaoh to enslave the Israelites, they were becomingtoo numerous). Abram builds altars whereGod makes promises. He worships based onthe promise, not on the fulfillment of the promise. He believes God can and will do as Hepromises.

Jesus heals a deaf man with a speech impediment in a veryGentile, even pagan area. This is theonly time we see Jesus using this particular method to heal, fingers in theears and spitting. Why did he do thesethings and why, in this instance does he take the man away privately? It would seem that both the actions Jesusperforms indicate what will be healed. The ears and the mouth will be opened and sure enough that is what Heproclaims to effect the healing, “Be opened.” None of these things would havebeen necessary but they were signs of what he was going to do. The result is that the man receives not onlyhealing but wholeness. We can understandthat someone could immediately hear, healing the speech impediment immediatelyis quite another matter. Reproduction ofsounds never before heard is an acquired talent. The people recognize that something trulyremarkable has happened through Jesus, they are astonished. What else could they feel? Like the woman at the well, Jesus has gone tothe nations for a sign to all people.

Paul gives an accounting of the acceptance of his ministryby the apostolic band in Jerusalem. Hehas been gone from the city quite a long time and returned there not forvalidation but to meet with them. Paulis no particular respecter of persons, believing that, likewise, God is noteither. He speaks of those who seemed likepillars and those who seemed influential but this mattered not to him. He didn’t crave their acceptance, he simplyinformed them of his ministry. In someways we can see a comparison with Abram and Lot, the apostles had chosen toremain in the city and minister among the Jews and Paul had been chosen tolabor among the Gentiles and an itinerant ministry. He reports back to the Gentiles that those inJerusalem concur with his message and his ministry. Like Abram, God has given Paul an enormousterritory.

How firm a foundation,ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

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21 January 2012

2012-01-21T03:39:00.000-05:00

Psalm30, 32; Gen.12:9-13:1; Heb.7:18-28; John4:27-42

Abraham, like the Energizer bunny, just kept going. Why did he not settle in Canaan? Was it because of the Canaanites? When famine came, he went to Egypt andthought it best to have Sarai tell everyone she was his sister because she wasso beautiful. Abram was 75 years oldwhen he left Haran and Sarai was not a young woman but she must have beenuncommonly beautiful for the king indeed took her for a wife. We get a precursor of the plagues in Exodushere as Abraham prospers and the Egyptians suffer for the sake of wrongingAbraham. It is also fulfillment of thepromise of God concerning those nations who bless and curse Abraham. It is his fault for having lied and nottrusting God in the first place. It is interestingthough that it eventually comes to light somehow that Sarai is Abram’s wife andthey are sent away and they went back to the Negeb, the desert.

The disciples are surprised Jesus is talking with a womanbut no one asks what they are talking about. The woman leaves her water jar behind, the reason she had come, andtells the villagers about her encounter with this strange Jew who told hereverything about herself, without mentioning, “Oh, by the way, He claims to beMessiah”, but simply asking if it could be. As with the woman, Jesus speaks of spiritual food and the disciples,good materialists all, wonder where He got food. As Jesus sees these people coming to Him, Hetells the disciples are white for harvest. Think of the scene with all the town coming out in their robes to thewell and it would indeed look like a harvest coming to them and so it was. Many believed initially because of thisunlikely evangelist and then they saw, heard and believed for themselves. She was restored to community and her memoryof that well, formerly a place of pain and isolation, would forever be thatthis was the place Messiah revealed Himself to her. What a wonderful God, what a wonderfulSavior!

Jesus’ permanent priesthood makes the covenant better. If the priest is permanent, so is thecovenant. Permanent is better thantemporal, it is eternal. There is nevera lapse in His ministry and there is no successor, He is eternal. He is better than any priest could ever havebeen or ever could be because He is also the sacrifice and we know it wasacceptable to God, we don’t just have to take the priest’s word for it. We know that His sacrifice was acceptablebecause He was raised from the dead. Would you rather have Jesus or a guy who needs to offer sacrifices forhis own sin? Where have you failed tobelieve God for His promise and where is that place of pain in your life due tosin, yours or someone’s against you, where redemption is needed for you to moveon? He wants to redeem it if you will gothere with Him.

Souls of men! why willye scatter
Like a crowd of frightened sheep?
Foolish hearts! why will ye wander
From a love so true and deep?

It is God: His lovelooks mighty,
But is mightier than it seems;
’Tis our Father: and His fondness
Goes far out beyond our dreams.

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20 January 2012

2012-01-20T03:39:00.000-05:00

Psalm31; Gen.11:27-12:8; Heb.7:1-17; John4:16-26

So Abram’s father initially set out with Abram and Sarai andLot, his grandson, to go to Canaan but only got as far as a place called Haranwhich also happens to be Lot’s father, Terah’s son, Abram’s brother’s name andthey settled there. Why did they notcontinue to Canaan and why were they going there in the first place? The Lord called Abram to leave his family andhis country, everything familiar, everything that had caused them to settlethere, and go to a land He would show him and Abram left, albeit with Lot intow and, well, “and all their possessions that they had gathered, and thepeople that they had acquired in Haran.” He didn’t actually travel lightly did he? As he passed through Canaan he continued onuntil the Lord made a promise to him to give the land to his descendants. He continued on a bit from that place and builtan altar and worshipped or proclaimed concerning the Lord there in that paganland.

Jesus speaks into the woman’s life, naming her sin. He has already offered this sinful woman aprecious gift and now she knows that He made this offer even though He knewthese things about her, He led with grace. Her response is to change the subject, you say to worship there, weworship here where our fathers worshiped. Not exactly a smooth conversational transition. Jesus says where isn’t as important asmotivation but He also affirms that salvation comes from the Jews, the truthmatters, you people have it wrong, but He has been so gracious she can’t beoffended. Amazingly, shockingly, justafter we were told that Jesus knew what was in the hearts of men in Jerusalemso He didn’t entrust Himself to them, He reveals Himself in no uncertain termsto this woman. He knew what was in herheart too, He knew her life, He had just told her these things and to her Hefirst reveals Himself! Her heart wasn’trevealed by her life, there was something there that Jesus saw and chose her asthe one person to whom He says, “I AM he.”

The writer further compares Jesus to Melchizedek. Little or nothing is known of this man otherthan what we are told here. His namemeans righteousness and he is king of Salem which means peace (Shalom) so he isthe righteous king of peace. Sounds likea title that could be used by Jesus. Thewriter says that since Abraham paid tribute to this man in the form of a titheand the priests of Israel collect tithes and they are children of Abraham’sbrother Aaron, it could be imputed then that these men owe a tithe toMelchizedek to whom their ancestor paid tribute. In essence, this proves there is a greaterpriesthood than the Aaronic line and it is from this line Jesus is drawn, so Heis superior to them. The conclusion isthen that they should utterly reject the priestly sacrifices since they have agreater priest in Jesus. He isn’t justsuperior to Abraham, He is superior to the one to whom Abraham bowed intribute. Abraham bowed before only theLord all the days of his life, so this Melchizedek must have been the Lord’srepresentative and how Abraham knew that is a curiosity. We know, however, that Jesus alone is to beworshipped and adored. No other Name isgiven under heaven by which we might be saved. Worship is always the right response to God’s gracious promise.

If our love were butmore simple,
We should take Him at His word;
And our lives would be all sunshine
In the sweetness of our Lord.

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