The new covenant is announced. Surely no one knew what this would look
like. How could God write the law on the
hearts of the people? It was written on
the tablets of stone the first time. The
indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a wondrous thing yet too often we only access
a small piece of what is on offer, the part that is belief in God. We fail to make full use of the Spirit in our
lives because we do not practice what Jesus told us to do, abiding through
prayer and obedience. The Spirit enables
us to “know the Lord.” There is an
intimacy in that statement, not simply knowledge about the Lord but knowing Him
as I know my friends, my family and even my spouse. Are we seeking that sort of intimate knowledge and
relationship with Him? To do so means we
have to beware Mr. Beaver’s words from The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
concerning Aslan, “Safe? …Who said anything about safe? 'Course
He's not safe. But He's good. He’s the
king I tell you.”
If Jesus wants to be taken seriously as a rabbi He needs to
hang out with the right people. Calling
Matthew to be a disciple would have been a radical decision. Matthew gave a party for his old tax
collector friends and invited Jesus and the disciples. As a disciple it had to be a strange and
inexplicable situation to be in the midst of these outcasts from Jewish
society. They surely hadn’t signed up
for this. Jesus says He has come to call
sinners and not the righteous. I imagine
all the disciples were even more confused by that statement. John’s disciples are curious why Jesus seems
out of step with accepted religious practice, feasting while the righteous
Pharisees are fasting. His answer is
enigmatic regarding the bridegroom being among them but surely He is announcing
that the old is passing away and the new, prophesied by Jeremiah, has
come. Knowing and following Jesus is
always risky business.
We are to be new creations but we still need to know how to
check our desires and actions. Paul
tells the Ephesians that walking worthy of the call of God has a particular
content and our lives are to have particular contours to them that distinguish
them from those who are not Christians.
A particular deception is that what we do in this flesh doesn’t really
matter because it is our soul that is saved.
You would think the incarnation and resurrection, the Gospel, would be a
simple response to the value and import of life in the flesh, but some continue
to teach a dualism of flesh and spirit.
Wisdom is not simply a mental exercise, it needs to work itself out in
life. If we truly know Him we will
imitate what we know.
Jesus, hail! enthroned
in glory, there forever to abide;
All the heavenly hosts adore Thee, seated at Thy Father’s side.
There for sinners Thou art pleading; there Thou dost our place prepare;
Thou for saints art interceding till in glory they appear.
All the heavenly hosts adore Thee, seated at Thy Father’s side.
There for sinners Thou art pleading; there Thou dost our place prepare;
Thou for saints art interceding till in glory they appear.
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