The Lord not only commanded the created order in the
beginning but all along to serve His purposes.
The fire and water reference is to the plague of hail in Egypt, "There
was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy
hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation." In that same time of judgment for Egypt the
Israelites were safely in Goshen where none of this took place. We live in an age when even those who lead in
the church believe that the universe is a closed system, things always have a
scientific explanation and miracles are not possible, even for God. When we confess our faith in the words of the
Nicene Creed we proclaim that we have a different belief system, one that is
open to God's continuing activity for both judgment and mercy. The Creed is a statement of a worldview that
differs from the prevailing one in our society.
Jesus does work no less powerful among the Jews than He had
done among the Gerasenes and with about as much effect. The woman has been suffering from an issue of
blood for many years and surely everyone knew it. She couldn't go to worship because of the
condition, she had to keep her distance from others lest she cause them ritual
defilement, but here she takes a risk, commits a sin by breaking the law and
touching Jesus and in that act she is healed.
She believed in Him enough to act on her faith and received wholeness. No one seems to have cared very much, the
pressure was there to heal the daughter of the synagogue ruler who would not be
dissuaded from bringing Jesus to his home even though after contact with the
Gerasenes and this woman would have brought ritual defilement to his home. The higher issue was his daughter, if she died
none of the rest mattered. Jesus
restores her to life, death was not to rule this day, not in this house.
Does Paul mean to say that we should never eat meat or drink
wine if a brother objects to the practice?
No, absolutely not, it would set someone else's conscience and
conviction as your God, always asking them for permission to do anything at
all. We should, as a matter of love for
our brothers and sisters, refrain from such things in their presence and not make
our conscience or conviction their god either.
If he meant anything else it would create a tyranny of one over all, if
there were any objection to any conduct it would be prohibited for the
whole. If, however, a particular church
decides to prohibit something such as meat or alcohol, members should agree to
do so themselves. It does not, however,
mean we should not associate with those who disagree on such matters, but that
we should respect and love them enough to modify our conduct in their presence. We have freedom but we can choose to restrict
it in love for one another.
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