24 June 2010
Psalm 102; Num. 20:1-13; Rom. 5:12-21; Matt. 20:29-34

Moses blows it. He was commanded to take the staff but to speak to the rock and he chose to strike the rock and also take some of the credit for the water, “shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” We, you can now bring water from a rock? It seems a small thing for which to be disqualified but God’s rule for Messiahs is one strike and you’re out. Jesus never failed to point to the Father in all that He did. He always taught that He only spoke what He heard and did what He saw. He taught that whatever He did was actually the Father working through Him, He was an agent not a cause. Moses here allows his frustration to get the better of him. God alone will be their deliverer and we must do things God’s way. Moses will one day be gone and if they have put their trust in Him who will take the mantle of leadership? Their trust must always be in God and His presence and provision.

They are moving towards Jerusalem and Jesus’ date with His destiny and yet along the way there are those who have heard of Him and are waiting for Him. The blind men in Jericho refuse to be kept silent when He is their only hope and their plea is for mercy. Are they begging or do they want something more? Jesus has to ask what they want before He acts on their behalf. The words Matthew chooses here cause us to wonder if the blindness was a result of sin. They ask for mercy and Jesus is moved with compassion and finally we are told that they “regained” their sight. Their spiritual eyes are already open, they recognized Jesus from what they had heard of Him and now they see Him as the one through whom they have received back their sight, what a wonderful first thing to see!

The abundant grace of God is beyond our comprehension. Paul sees the reality that because of one man’s sin (nice of him to blame Adam but not Eve – but it was Adam who had been given the command) we all lost what would have been and death entered the picture. Death isn’t simply physical death but, more significantly, the loss of eternal life in the presence of God. We are not punished for the sin of Adam but sin became part of both human nature as inheritance and also spoiled creation so that there is no going back to the original state, now nothing cooperates with us as intended which means we have to use strength and cunning to make our way in the world, leading to other sin. We can no longer trust one another because of sin and we can no longer easily gain our daily bread because the ground is cursed and there is enmity between us and creation. Our sins are evident and the basis for God’s judgment on us as persons rather than us as humanity. In Jesus, a man lived righteously all the days of his life, and that man’s righteousness is accounted to us through faith in His blood. Death is the penalty for sin and life is the gift for faith. How can we ever take credit for anything in this life?

Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you endure;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You change them like clothing, and they pass away;
but you are the same, and your years have no end.