30 January 2010
Psalm 55; Gen. 18:1-16; Heb. 10:26-39; John 6:16-27

Moses is the perfect example of hospitality. He rushes to meet any need his guest might have and urges his servants to do the same. It isn’t clear that he knows who he is entertaining, but he does everything in his power on behalf of his guests. The time has finally come for the child to be born. After years of waiting for the fulfillment of the promise, the announcement is made and Sara has no faith left for such things, believing them to be nonsense. The question she is asked is one we would do well always to consider, “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?” It is easy to give up hope and to believe we are past our time of usefulness or our moment is passed, but the truth is that God is never done with us if we continue to make ourselves available to Him.

Jesus appears to His disciples on the lake and they are terrified but He speaks words of comfort. The crowds look for Him in anticipation and when they find Him the words He speaks are not welcoming or comforting, they are cynical. There is revelation in the encounter with the disciples, He is Lord of the wind and the sea. In the encounter with the crowd, they want what they want, more food. They are happy with the program of feeding them and Jesus is telling them that this is simply a sign pointing to who He is, not an end in itself. We tend to like the ends when they match our desires and have no real interest in moving forward. Jesus is calling them to see beyond the sign to that which it points, who He is.

Several days ago we noted that the old covenant sacrifices were not for willful sins and here the writer begins by talking about willfully persisting in sin after we have known the truth about Jesus. The sin of which he is talking seems to specifically relate to rejecting Jesus and His sacrifice. The antidote to wavering faith is to remind them of what God has already done while calling them ahead to perseverance and endurance to receive the reward. The life of faith is never done, there is always more to reveal, more to know about Him. We never retire from following Jesus and growing in Him.

Cast your burden on the LORD,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.