7 September 2010
Psalm 45; Job 29:1-20; Acts 14:1-18; John 10:31-42
Job’s final defense argument begins as though he were a lawyer in the present day. He opens with a statement of how things used to be in order that we might know the heights from which he has fallen. When he occupied the place of honor, he used it to serve others, not himself. It was a wonderful life. If you want to make your case for restoration, it is important that you show to what you want to be restored. It seems certain that Job was indeed not only a blameless man but also a good man, but this recitation seems a bit over the top, as all memories are.
Clearly, Jesus’ accusers are in a quandary. He has either committed blasphemy with his claim or He is who He says He is. There is no question about what His claim is, they would not make the accusation or pick up stones unless He claimed to be God. He was not misunderstood and here we see that He invites them to examine His claims in light of the available evidence for its veracity. Those who came to the other side of the Jordan to see Him were those who believed, almost like a mini-Exodus from the Land to Him. Their statement re John not having done a sign indicates the test applied to a prophet, He needed to have either done something to authenticate himself or for his prophecy to have come true, Jesus’ signs authenticate John’s prophecy concerning Him.
In both Iconium and Lystra the Lord used signs and wonders to confirm the message of Paul and Barnabas. At Iconium the Jews did what they could to discredit their message among the Gentiles and eventually they were forced to leave there to escape the plot against them. Paul’s healing of the lame man at Lystra brings us to one of the more humorous scenes in the book of the Acts with the people prepared to offer sacrifices to the ones who effectuated the healing. Paul, who didn’t speak Lycaonian, doesn’t realize what they have ascribed to him until they are ready to worship the two apostles. His argument is from lesser to greater, something wonderful was done through him but he points to the one who created all things and who is sovereign over all things. Jesus did even more wonderful things and the people wouldn’t believe in Him and while He pointed always to the Father, He never denied His unity with the Father, not an argument from greater to lesser but unity.
Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
6 September 2010
Psalm 41, 52; Job 32:1-10, 19, 33:1, 19-28; Acts 13:44-52; John 10:19-30
Elihu, the youngest of the group, suddenly appears and is ready to vent his spleen both at Job and Job’s “friends.” His main complaint is that they have impugned the integrity of God. Job has become God’s accuser and these others have failed to speak adequately in God’s defense. He begins by saying that he has held his tongue out of deference for their age and wisdom but now must speak because he has not heard wisdom. He furthers his argument not by accusing Job of sin in his life but by reminding them all that sometimes pain is, in the words of CS Lewis, God’s megaphone to get our attention so that He might speak to us. He also speaks of something no one has yet mentioned, God’s mercy. They have seen only retributive justice, God punishes for sin and then relents when we confess and repent. Elihu, however, notes God’s mercy is a way of allowing us to rejoice in having back our lives.
Jesus’ answer to his questioners and critics is plain, make up your minds based on the evidence of your eyes. What have you seen? They judge His words or claims to equality with the Father in being the Good Shepherd as though they had been given no signs to judge them by but some recall the giving of sight to the blind and remind the rest. When they ask Him plainly He answers them plainly but not in the words they have chosen. His claim to being one with the Father is plain as to His identity and the works He has done have not been done by others, particularly the miracle in John 9, but they continue to disbelieve. Belief is a difficult thing and requires the Holy Spirit to come to a settled conclusion in which we can stand.
You knew they would turn on Paul in the end and Paul shakes the dust off his shoes and determines to from now on simply go to the Gentiles, his God-given mission field. The passage he quotes is from Isaiah 49, but no one really thought of the Gentiles as being on God’s radar screen in any direct kind of way. Why should they be prepared to hear the Gospel given that they had no experience of God? It is truly a novel idea to go to them and begin to preach and yet the reaction is extraordinary, “when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.” Immediately there began a persecution of Paul and Barnabas by the Jews and drove them out of the city. If they rejected Paul’s message it would certainly have been objectionable to them that the Gentiles now claimed to accept the Jewish Messiah and be part of God’s covenant and blessed people because of Him.
I am like a green olive tree
in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
forever and ever.
I will thank you forever,
because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, for it is good,
in the presence of the godly.
Psalm 41, 52; Job 32:1-10, 19, 33:1, 19-28; Acts 13:44-52; John 10:19-30
Elihu, the youngest of the group, suddenly appears and is ready to vent his spleen both at Job and Job’s “friends.” His main complaint is that they have impugned the integrity of God. Job has become God’s accuser and these others have failed to speak adequately in God’s defense. He begins by saying that he has held his tongue out of deference for their age and wisdom but now must speak because he has not heard wisdom. He furthers his argument not by accusing Job of sin in his life but by reminding them all that sometimes pain is, in the words of CS Lewis, God’s megaphone to get our attention so that He might speak to us. He also speaks of something no one has yet mentioned, God’s mercy. They have seen only retributive justice, God punishes for sin and then relents when we confess and repent. Elihu, however, notes God’s mercy is a way of allowing us to rejoice in having back our lives.
Jesus’ answer to his questioners and critics is plain, make up your minds based on the evidence of your eyes. What have you seen? They judge His words or claims to equality with the Father in being the Good Shepherd as though they had been given no signs to judge them by but some recall the giving of sight to the blind and remind the rest. When they ask Him plainly He answers them plainly but not in the words they have chosen. His claim to being one with the Father is plain as to His identity and the works He has done have not been done by others, particularly the miracle in John 9, but they continue to disbelieve. Belief is a difficult thing and requires the Holy Spirit to come to a settled conclusion in which we can stand.
You knew they would turn on Paul in the end and Paul shakes the dust off his shoes and determines to from now on simply go to the Gentiles, his God-given mission field. The passage he quotes is from Isaiah 49, but no one really thought of the Gentiles as being on God’s radar screen in any direct kind of way. Why should they be prepared to hear the Gospel given that they had no experience of God? It is truly a novel idea to go to them and begin to preach and yet the reaction is extraordinary, “when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.” Immediately there began a persecution of Paul and Barnabas by the Jews and drove them out of the city. If they rejected Paul’s message it would certainly have been objectionable to them that the Gentiles now claimed to accept the Jewish Messiah and be part of God’s covenant and blessed people because of Him.
I am like a green olive tree
in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God
forever and ever.
I will thank you forever,
because you have done it.
I will wait for your name, for it is good,
in the presence of the godly.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
5 September 2010
Psalm 63, 98; Job 25:1-6, 27:1-6; Rev 14:1-7, 13; Matt 5:13-20
Bildad’s argument is sound, God’s holiness is greater than anything of which mankind is capable. It is no good for Job to claim purity in his life because God’s holiness won’t allow any stain at all. Where he goes off the rails is in describing man as a maggot and a worm. We are created in the image of God and He seeks relationship with us, made us uniquely with that intention. Job refuses to yield his innocence simply because Bildad and the others say he must be guilty. Job believes God is just while at the same time believes God is denying him justice on a personal level, he is appealing to God against God. He acknowledges God is sovereign and his appeal is to God alone while at the same time accusing God of injustice in his situation. Have you ever felt that way?
In the Gospel we are told what our work on earth is, being salt and light. Often we hide ourselves from the world by remaining completely apart from it in spite of Jesus’ own witness of living a very public life among sinners, both religious and otherwise. If the world never sees another way, how can they know there is another way and how can they give glory to a God about whom they never hear? Jesus’ standard for righteousness is higher than we can imagine. “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees” is an impossible task and everyone there would have known that, most especially the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus’ righteousness, however, exceeds theirs and if we put our faith and trust in Him then we have His righteousness imputed to us as if it were our own.
John sees the heavenly host of the Lamb, 144,000 of them in array singing a new song. They are the firstfruits of those redeemed from the earth, those who have resisted the beast and who now serve the Lamb. The angel speaks to all those who live, to fear God and give Him glory as his judgment has come. Do we understand that we should indeed fear God’s judgment, that none of us is able to be declared innocent but for his mercy in Jesus? Finally, the Spirit (a voice from heaven) speaks and declares the blessedness of the dead, a passage we use in Anglican funerals to describe those who have completed their toil on this earth.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
Psalm 63, 98; Job 25:1-6, 27:1-6; Rev 14:1-7, 13; Matt 5:13-20
Bildad’s argument is sound, God’s holiness is greater than anything of which mankind is capable. It is no good for Job to claim purity in his life because God’s holiness won’t allow any stain at all. Where he goes off the rails is in describing man as a maggot and a worm. We are created in the image of God and He seeks relationship with us, made us uniquely with that intention. Job refuses to yield his innocence simply because Bildad and the others say he must be guilty. Job believes God is just while at the same time believes God is denying him justice on a personal level, he is appealing to God against God. He acknowledges God is sovereign and his appeal is to God alone while at the same time accusing God of injustice in his situation. Have you ever felt that way?
In the Gospel we are told what our work on earth is, being salt and light. Often we hide ourselves from the world by remaining completely apart from it in spite of Jesus’ own witness of living a very public life among sinners, both religious and otherwise. If the world never sees another way, how can they know there is another way and how can they give glory to a God about whom they never hear? Jesus’ standard for righteousness is higher than we can imagine. “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees” is an impossible task and everyone there would have known that, most especially the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus’ righteousness, however, exceeds theirs and if we put our faith and trust in Him then we have His righteousness imputed to us as if it were our own.
John sees the heavenly host of the Lamb, 144,000 of them in array singing a new song. They are the firstfruits of those redeemed from the earth, those who have resisted the beast and who now serve the Lamb. The angel speaks to all those who live, to fear God and give Him glory as his judgment has come. Do we understand that we should indeed fear God’s judgment, that none of us is able to be declared innocent but for his mercy in Jesus? Finally, the Spirit (a voice from heaven) speaks and declares the blessedness of the dead, a passage we use in Anglican funerals to describe those who have completed their toil on this earth.
Because your steadfast love is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
So I will bless you as long as I live;
in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
when I remember you upon my bed,
and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
for you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
4 September 2010
Psalm 30, 32; Job 22:1-4,21-23:7; Acts 13:26-43; John 10:1-18
Eliphaz brings nothing new to the party, urging Job to confess his sins, agreeing with God, so that all this can end. The final scene in the movie Braveheart has a time when the torturer leans in and whispers to William Wallace that if he will simply renounce his past, confess his sins and beg for mercy this will all end, there will be no more torture and he will have the death that is coming anyway. Wallace refuses the lifeline because his integrity is too important. Job does the same. How can he confess what he has not done? They are not speaking for God, they are spouting theology that is based in untruth about this situation and about suffering. Job turns to say I am not arguing with flesh and blood, I am arguing with the Almighty and I want a hearing.
Those “shepherds” who have come before are not truly shepherds, they are simply hired men, people doing a job. A shepherd cares for the sheep as a flock but also as individuals. We see the perfect shepherd in Psalm 23 from the perspective of the sheep. In Ezekiel and Zechariah God accuses the shepherds of not caring for the flock just as Jesus does here. The Lord has promised that ultimately He will throw out those bad shepherds and come and shepherd the flock Himself, the Great Shepherd. Here, Jesus says I am that shepherd, the Lord Himself, come to shepherd His people. He speaks also prophetically of His impending death, we are moving inexorably towards the great showdown with the false shepherds, the hired hands who care not for the people but for the pride and prestige that comes with position.
Paul’s proclamation of the resurrection and salvation of Jesus initially gets a glad reception here, they urge him to return next Sabbath and tell more about this Jesus. Speaking to a Jewish audience, he connects Jesus to the promises of Scriptures and as the fulfillment of the history of Israel. He will preach very differently in the Areopagus to a Gentile audience. Here we see the pattern for Jesus’ own ministry among His people, they hear with glad hearts the gracious words he speaks and their hearts are longing for more but there are always the birds circling nearby who come to take away the seed and keep it from taking root and producing fruit. You know they are there and there will be a change soon in this story.
Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
Psalm 30, 32; Job 22:1-4,21-23:7; Acts 13:26-43; John 10:1-18
Eliphaz brings nothing new to the party, urging Job to confess his sins, agreeing with God, so that all this can end. The final scene in the movie Braveheart has a time when the torturer leans in and whispers to William Wallace that if he will simply renounce his past, confess his sins and beg for mercy this will all end, there will be no more torture and he will have the death that is coming anyway. Wallace refuses the lifeline because his integrity is too important. Job does the same. How can he confess what he has not done? They are not speaking for God, they are spouting theology that is based in untruth about this situation and about suffering. Job turns to say I am not arguing with flesh and blood, I am arguing with the Almighty and I want a hearing.
Those “shepherds” who have come before are not truly shepherds, they are simply hired men, people doing a job. A shepherd cares for the sheep as a flock but also as individuals. We see the perfect shepherd in Psalm 23 from the perspective of the sheep. In Ezekiel and Zechariah God accuses the shepherds of not caring for the flock just as Jesus does here. The Lord has promised that ultimately He will throw out those bad shepherds and come and shepherd the flock Himself, the Great Shepherd. Here, Jesus says I am that shepherd, the Lord Himself, come to shepherd His people. He speaks also prophetically of His impending death, we are moving inexorably towards the great showdown with the false shepherds, the hired hands who care not for the people but for the pride and prestige that comes with position.
Paul’s proclamation of the resurrection and salvation of Jesus initially gets a glad reception here, they urge him to return next Sabbath and tell more about this Jesus. Speaking to a Jewish audience, he connects Jesus to the promises of Scriptures and as the fulfillment of the history of Israel. He will preach very differently in the Areopagus to a Gentile audience. Here we see the pattern for Jesus’ own ministry among His people, they hear with glad hearts the gracious words he speaks and their hearts are longing for more but there are always the birds circling nearby who come to take away the seed and keep it from taking root and producing fruit. You know they are there and there will be a change soon in this story.
Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
Friday, September 3, 2010
3 September 2010
Psalm 31; Job 19:1-7,14-27; Acts 13:13-25; John 9:18-41
Job’s cry to his friends is that they have piled on. If God has done this justly surely his friends should have comforted him and not accused him. He has not sinned against them in any way to bring this on, he owes them neither apology nor accounting, their role is not to be accuser but rather comforter and they have failed. There is a place for speaking the truth in love but never for speaking speculation in judgment. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. In ministry I have seen and heard this same thing from people who want to figure out the reason for someone’s suffering. When I have suffered grievously I have done the same, begged God to show me what sin this is punishment for. Job continues to believe in the redeemer, the one who will speak for him and proclaim his innocence. His faith is such that these accusations and this pain demand someone to stand with him and say it isn’t fair and it isn’t punishment for his sins.
The scene with the man born blind becomes comical. The parents are afraid of being ostracized from the community if they say that Jesus is the cause of their son’s healing and so simply say they have no responsibility for him, he is of age, ask him. The Pharisees continue to ask the man how he was healed in spite of the fact that everyone has to have heard the truth at least once by now so the man becomes sarcastic with them. Their only response is again to question where Jesus comes from and, although he was born blind and had been for many years, it is clear to the man that Jesus comes from God simply because of this miraculous healing. Blindness isn’t restricted to physical sight, sometimes there is a spiritual blindness as well.
It was customary in the synagogues to ask a visitor, particularly a teacher, if he wanted to share any message and here Paul and his companions are asked if they have a word for the congregation. Paul begins by reciting Jewish redemption history in outline form through David and then leaps immediately to Jesus. Could anyone have imagined what he was up to prior to that sudden twist of “Of this man’s posterity God has brought to Israel a Saviour, Jesus”? He makes a thousand year leap in time and then proclaims that Messiah has come in this Jesus, and everyone would have known which Jesus he meant. The redeemer for whom Job was hoping had come and Paul could do nothing other than proclaim Him in line with David, the one through whom Messiah was to come. Is there any doubt this won’t end well in Pisidian Antioch?
Love the Lord, all you his saints.
The Lord preserves the faithful,
but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord.
Psalm 31; Job 19:1-7,14-27; Acts 13:13-25; John 9:18-41
Job’s cry to his friends is that they have piled on. If God has done this justly surely his friends should have comforted him and not accused him. He has not sinned against them in any way to bring this on, he owes them neither apology nor accounting, their role is not to be accuser but rather comforter and they have failed. There is a place for speaking the truth in love but never for speaking speculation in judgment. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. In ministry I have seen and heard this same thing from people who want to figure out the reason for someone’s suffering. When I have suffered grievously I have done the same, begged God to show me what sin this is punishment for. Job continues to believe in the redeemer, the one who will speak for him and proclaim his innocence. His faith is such that these accusations and this pain demand someone to stand with him and say it isn’t fair and it isn’t punishment for his sins.
The scene with the man born blind becomes comical. The parents are afraid of being ostracized from the community if they say that Jesus is the cause of their son’s healing and so simply say they have no responsibility for him, he is of age, ask him. The Pharisees continue to ask the man how he was healed in spite of the fact that everyone has to have heard the truth at least once by now so the man becomes sarcastic with them. Their only response is again to question where Jesus comes from and, although he was born blind and had been for many years, it is clear to the man that Jesus comes from God simply because of this miraculous healing. Blindness isn’t restricted to physical sight, sometimes there is a spiritual blindness as well.
It was customary in the synagogues to ask a visitor, particularly a teacher, if he wanted to share any message and here Paul and his companions are asked if they have a word for the congregation. Paul begins by reciting Jewish redemption history in outline form through David and then leaps immediately to Jesus. Could anyone have imagined what he was up to prior to that sudden twist of “Of this man’s posterity God has brought to Israel a Saviour, Jesus”? He makes a thousand year leap in time and then proclaims that Messiah has come in this Jesus, and everyone would have known which Jesus he meant. The redeemer for whom Job was hoping had come and Paul could do nothing other than proclaim Him in line with David, the one through whom Messiah was to come. Is there any doubt this won’t end well in Pisidian Antioch?
Love the Lord, all you his saints.
The Lord preserves the faithful,
but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
2 September 2010
Psalm 37:1-18; Job 16:16-22,17:1,13-16; Acts 13:1-12; John 9:1-17
Job sees that here there is no hope for him, his only hope, his only true friend and advocate is in heaven. Alone in the world, among friends who have become not friends and advocates but accusers before God, the role of Satan, Job’s hope continues to be in God. Although he is crying out to God about the unfairness of the situation and sees his misery as God-inflicted, he remains steadfast in his belief that there is some explanation for this and that it is not sin. He is, however, losing the hope that his “friends” will see his vindication as his death seems to be imminent. We have an accuser whose delight it is to point to our sin in anticipation of the judgment of God that has been pronounced from of old, in Jesus we have an advocate with the Father whose testimony is His own blood on our behalf. We cannot maintain our innocence as Job is able to do, but we always plead the blood of the innocent victim, Jesus.
The disciples are looking for answers to suffering in the same place Job’s friends looked, “Who sinned?” The issue here isn’t sin, it is that God’s glory might be displayed in this healing. We like a tidy cause and effect world that makes sense to us and here we see that it only makes sense in light of the work of God. The defect was a work of God just as the healing was a work of God. The blind man could have asked Jesus to explain why he was chosen to bear this burden but he does not. The Pharisees are concerned not with the healing of a man born blind but the method Jesus used, the making of mud was prohibited as work on the Sabbath. The man was also forced to work to wash the mud off his eyes. The man’s eyes are opened to see and confess Jesus but the eyes of the others are closed because they are only looking for sin not righteousness.
Paul and Barnabbas are sent out on mission by the church at Antioch. They immediately encounter opposition in the form of the magician Elymas at Cyprus. For his sin of opposing the Gospel, Paul asks that he be struck blind, just as Paul himself had been, as a sign to the proconsul of the power of God. This man had “powers” that made him important to the official and here the power of God is proven to be greater than whatever power worked through the magician. In the Gospel lesson we see God using the healing of blindness as a sign and here we see Him causing blindness as a sign. In all things we see the sovereignty of God.
The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
he is their refuge in the time of trouble.
The Lord helps them and rescues them;
he rescues them from the wicked, and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
Psalm 37:1-18; Job 16:16-22,17:1,13-16; Acts 13:1-12; John 9:1-17
Job sees that here there is no hope for him, his only hope, his only true friend and advocate is in heaven. Alone in the world, among friends who have become not friends and advocates but accusers before God, the role of Satan, Job’s hope continues to be in God. Although he is crying out to God about the unfairness of the situation and sees his misery as God-inflicted, he remains steadfast in his belief that there is some explanation for this and that it is not sin. He is, however, losing the hope that his “friends” will see his vindication as his death seems to be imminent. We have an accuser whose delight it is to point to our sin in anticipation of the judgment of God that has been pronounced from of old, in Jesus we have an advocate with the Father whose testimony is His own blood on our behalf. We cannot maintain our innocence as Job is able to do, but we always plead the blood of the innocent victim, Jesus.
The disciples are looking for answers to suffering in the same place Job’s friends looked, “Who sinned?” The issue here isn’t sin, it is that God’s glory might be displayed in this healing. We like a tidy cause and effect world that makes sense to us and here we see that it only makes sense in light of the work of God. The defect was a work of God just as the healing was a work of God. The blind man could have asked Jesus to explain why he was chosen to bear this burden but he does not. The Pharisees are concerned not with the healing of a man born blind but the method Jesus used, the making of mud was prohibited as work on the Sabbath. The man was also forced to work to wash the mud off his eyes. The man’s eyes are opened to see and confess Jesus but the eyes of the others are closed because they are only looking for sin not righteousness.
Paul and Barnabbas are sent out on mission by the church at Antioch. They immediately encounter opposition in the form of the magician Elymas at Cyprus. For his sin of opposing the Gospel, Paul asks that he be struck blind, just as Paul himself had been, as a sign to the proconsul of the power of God. This man had “powers” that made him important to the official and here the power of God is proven to be greater than whatever power worked through the magician. In the Gospel lesson we see God using the healing of blindness as a sign and here we see Him causing blindness as a sign. In all things we see the sovereignty of God.
The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
he is their refuge in the time of trouble.
The Lord helps them and rescues them;
he rescues them from the wicked, and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
1 September 2010
Psalm 38; Job 12:1,14:1-22; Acts 12:18-25; John 8:47-59
“Look, I only get one life, why do you have to make it miserable?” That is Job’s prayer/complaint. It is a painful thing to know that this is your one shot at this life and it is filled with misery and pain. This isn’t how it was supposed to be, but we brought sin into the world and now we have to live with it. Job says that even a tree that has been cut down to the stump still has a chance to produce new life, but we, once we are gone, have no other life. In Judaism, especially very early Judaism, there was no thought of life beyond this life, you simply went to Sheol, the place of the dead. We have the understanding that there is life after death and we have that understanding for two basic reasons, Jesus taught it and then showed it with the resurrection. It doesn’t explain pain and suffering, but it does allow us to understand justice in a different way because we can see the long view of eternity v. temporality. Suffering can be redemptive and purposeful if we allow God to have our suffering for His purposes (see Joni Eareckson Tada).
The conversation turns on the understanding and meaning of the word “death.” What does it mean to die? It was the promise made in the Garden in Genesis 2, “…but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." Satan told Eve, you shall not surely die. Upon eating the fruit they did not die, so was Satan correct and God a liar? Death has a different meaning in God’s economy, it means something more like separation from Him. Life apart from Him is like death rather than life. In Jesus, we have the possibility of life restored to us, both now by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and then more perfectly in eternal life. The thing that must be dealt with in order to accomplish that is sin. If there is no sin then there is the possibility of life. Believing in Jesus as the only sinless man, the willing victim for sin, who takes on Himself all our sin, its shame and its punishment before God the Father, yields forgiveness of sins, imputed righteousness, and new life. Apart from that belief, there is only death, even if it seems like life to us because we have never truly tasted life.
Herod believed his own hype. He believed that he was able to receive the glory and honor that was accorded him. Here it seems Herod is willing to receive worship as one of the gods in mortal form. The people of Tyre and Sidon were willing to ascribe such to him in order to win his favor and break the blockade of food to their cities. Herod’s willingness to receive this worship was the cause of his demise. He had killed James the brother of John and imprisoned Peter but it was this sin of presumption that brought God’s judgment against Herod. At that point, there was no hope for the man if he thought he was God. His only hope was to be shown that he was not.
Do not forsake me, O Lord;
O my God, do not be far from me;
make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation.
Psalm 38; Job 12:1,14:1-22; Acts 12:18-25; John 8:47-59
“Look, I only get one life, why do you have to make it miserable?” That is Job’s prayer/complaint. It is a painful thing to know that this is your one shot at this life and it is filled with misery and pain. This isn’t how it was supposed to be, but we brought sin into the world and now we have to live with it. Job says that even a tree that has been cut down to the stump still has a chance to produce new life, but we, once we are gone, have no other life. In Judaism, especially very early Judaism, there was no thought of life beyond this life, you simply went to Sheol, the place of the dead. We have the understanding that there is life after death and we have that understanding for two basic reasons, Jesus taught it and then showed it with the resurrection. It doesn’t explain pain and suffering, but it does allow us to understand justice in a different way because we can see the long view of eternity v. temporality. Suffering can be redemptive and purposeful if we allow God to have our suffering for His purposes (see Joni Eareckson Tada).
The conversation turns on the understanding and meaning of the word “death.” What does it mean to die? It was the promise made in the Garden in Genesis 2, “…but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." Satan told Eve, you shall not surely die. Upon eating the fruit they did not die, so was Satan correct and God a liar? Death has a different meaning in God’s economy, it means something more like separation from Him. Life apart from Him is like death rather than life. In Jesus, we have the possibility of life restored to us, both now by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and then more perfectly in eternal life. The thing that must be dealt with in order to accomplish that is sin. If there is no sin then there is the possibility of life. Believing in Jesus as the only sinless man, the willing victim for sin, who takes on Himself all our sin, its shame and its punishment before God the Father, yields forgiveness of sins, imputed righteousness, and new life. Apart from that belief, there is only death, even if it seems like life to us because we have never truly tasted life.
Herod believed his own hype. He believed that he was able to receive the glory and honor that was accorded him. Here it seems Herod is willing to receive worship as one of the gods in mortal form. The people of Tyre and Sidon were willing to ascribe such to him in order to win his favor and break the blockade of food to their cities. Herod’s willingness to receive this worship was the cause of his demise. He had killed James the brother of John and imprisoned Peter but it was this sin of presumption that brought God’s judgment against Herod. At that point, there was no hope for the man if he thought he was God. His only hope was to be shown that he was not.
Do not forsake me, O Lord;
O my God, do not be far from me;
make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation.
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