Psalm 30, 32; Ezra 4:,1-24; Philemon 1-25; Matt. 12:33-42
The new king, Artaxerxes, was convinced that the Jews who were rebuilding both the temple and the wall were up to no good. The charge is that they are rebuilding with the approval and support of the king but their aim is to ultimately have their own kingdom, not under his authority. He is encouraged to check out the history of this people and this place and discover that they are treacherous and difficult to manage, always rebelling. The Lord wouldn’t completely disagree would he? As the king finds out, the men who report these things to him were not exaggerating their historical claims and the people are made to stop the work on the temple for about two years until a new king came to power.
These are the scariest words in the Bible, “on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak.” Guard your lips is good advice for all. Jesus speaks to those who have just said that the healing of the man with the withered hand in the synagogue has been done by the power of satan. His words are anything but careless here and he speaks of the sign of Jonah who was in the belly of the fish for three days before being restored to life. Jesus says that the queen of Sheba will judge these people for she believed based on the wisdom of Solomon and these now see and hear greater things than Solomon could do and they do not believe.
Onesimus had the lowest status one could imagine. A runaway slave had absolutely no protection under the law and could be treated completely without mercy if a bounty hunter or anyone for that matter, found him out. Paul here sends him back to his owner and asks for mercy and stands as surety for the man, one of the most truly loving things we see in Scripture. (Onesimus, by the way, means useful so there is a play on words in the parenthetic in verse 11.) Paul asks that Philemon receive his slave back without punishment and in fact, if restitution is required Paul will pay it himself. Paul has identified with this slave at a level that is truly striking culturally. No one in that culture ever sought to identify with those perceived as lower in class and status than themselves yet Paul has truly lived into his own theology that there is neither slave nor free, Jew nor Greek. The Gospel requires us to stand with our brothers and sisters in the Lord regardless of status and be willing to extend ourselves on their behalf.
There’s not a plant or flower below, but makes Thy glories known,
And clouds arise, and tempests blow, by order from Thy throne;
While all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care;
And everywhere that we can be, Thou, God art present there.
No comments:
Post a Comment