12 May 2010
Psalm 119:97-120; Lev. 26:27-42; Eph. 1:1-10; Matt. 22:41-46

Reading this passage from Leviticus you get the impression the Lord knew His people would break covenant and turn away from Him. Of course He knew that and He told them what would happen when they were unfaithful. They would be able to look to the word and see that all that befell them had been promised in advance and that the Lord was faithful and true to His Word. They could also know that this judgment wasn’t final but was contingent on their willingness to acknowledge the fault was their own, that God was righteous in His judgment and that there was hope if they truly repented, turned away from the direction they were headed and began to follow Him again. The same promise holds true for us today, if we confess our sins, acknowledge Him as the righteous judge and turn around in life to follow Him, He will forgive our sins and watch over our lives for blessing.

The question seems simple and straightforward, “Whose son is Messiah?” The easy and scriptural answer is David. Jesus, however, questions their ability to interpret Scripture with this question. There is an important principle at work here in interpretation, it all runs through Jesus. We can’t literally find Him in all the words of the Bible, some of it really has nothing to do with Him at all in any direct way, but when we search for ultimate truth as, for instance, in the identification of Messiah, we must take Him into account. They would have no way of knowing that Jesus was pointing to the virgin birth here, He was a son of David in the sense that Joseph was from the tribe of David, Judah, but Joseph wasn’t truly His father in the biological sense. He uses Himself as the interpretive key for the passage but only indirectly in this instance. His wisdom is higher than ours.

The sovereignty of God is here taught by Paul to the Ephesians. All the work of redemption belongs to Him. The pronouns in Ephesians 1 tell us everything. Notice how the words “he”, “his” and “him” are used in this passage. He blessed, He chose, He destined, He lavished grace upon us, He has made known to us the mystery of his will. We are His children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood. Is there any room for pride? There is only room for praise and thanksgiving to the One who has done all these things. We have received grace, mercy and love, are we not filled with gratitude and joy?

Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies,
for it is ever with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for your testimonies are my meditation.
I understand more than the aged,
for I keep your precepts.