31 January 2010
Psalm 24, 29; Gen. 18:16-33; Gal. 5:13-25; Mark 8:22-30
God reveals His judgment against Sodom, but not before He sees for Himself. The same basic thing happens in Genesis 11 when the Lord comes to see the work of the people of Babel. He doesn’t judge sin from afar or take anyone’s word for it. He visited Sodom before His judgment was done. Abraham cares for his nephew and has experience of Sodom himself and yet he intercedes on behalf of this wicked city. We see the same in Moses who intercedes on behalf of the people who have worshipped the golden calf and we clearly see it in Jesus who, in spite of the crucifixion, continues to intercede on behalf of those who crucified Him in order that some might be saved.
Jesus opens the eyes of the blind man at Bethsaida and then the eyes of His disciples. The two stories are parallels. The disciples are seeing as the man first saw, not clearly, and this question at Caesarea Philippi is Jesus’ check-up on their vision. He first asks what others are saying about him and then what the disciples themselves believe. The opinion of the others matters only little, it is the disciples whose vision needs to be clear. The same is true today, the church needs to have leaders who have clear vision and understanding about Jesus. Our clergy and lay leadership needs to be clear on who He is in order for the church to fulfill the mission it has been given. The problems in “the church” relate specifically to this issue, many leaders have not been at all certain that Jesus is the Messiah.
It is interesting how often the church devolves into the things Paul describes as the flesh, and it frequently has to do with keeping the first thing the first thing. We need to be focused on Jesus and Him alone. When we lose our focus and make it something like growth or leadership or any other good thing, we tend to fall into these fleshly issues. Those are not bad things but they are not the main thing. Keeping a focus on Jesus is to do as He commanded, abiding in Him and that abiding in Him will re-order our desires and we will see the fruit of the Spirit.
May the LORD give strength to his people!
May the LORD bless his people with peace!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
30 January 2010
Psalm 55; Gen. 18:1-16; Heb. 10:26-39; John 6:16-27
Moses is the perfect example of hospitality. He rushes to meet any need his guest might have and urges his servants to do the same. It isn’t clear that he knows who he is entertaining, but he does everything in his power on behalf of his guests. The time has finally come for the child to be born. After years of waiting for the fulfillment of the promise, the announcement is made and Sara has no faith left for such things, believing them to be nonsense. The question she is asked is one we would do well always to consider, “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?” It is easy to give up hope and to believe we are past our time of usefulness or our moment is passed, but the truth is that God is never done with us if we continue to make ourselves available to Him.
Jesus appears to His disciples on the lake and they are terrified but He speaks words of comfort. The crowds look for Him in anticipation and when they find Him the words He speaks are not welcoming or comforting, they are cynical. There is revelation in the encounter with the disciples, He is Lord of the wind and the sea. In the encounter with the crowd, they want what they want, more food. They are happy with the program of feeding them and Jesus is telling them that this is simply a sign pointing to who He is, not an end in itself. We tend to like the ends when they match our desires and have no real interest in moving forward. Jesus is calling them to see beyond the sign to that which it points, who He is.
Several days ago we noted that the old covenant sacrifices were not for willful sins and here the writer begins by talking about willfully persisting in sin after we have known the truth about Jesus. The sin of which he is talking seems to specifically relate to rejecting Jesus and His sacrifice. The antidote to wavering faith is to remind them of what God has already done while calling them ahead to perseverance and endurance to receive the reward. The life of faith is never done, there is always more to reveal, more to know about Him. We never retire from following Jesus and growing in Him.
Cast your burden on the LORD,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
Psalm 55; Gen. 18:1-16; Heb. 10:26-39; John 6:16-27
Moses is the perfect example of hospitality. He rushes to meet any need his guest might have and urges his servants to do the same. It isn’t clear that he knows who he is entertaining, but he does everything in his power on behalf of his guests. The time has finally come for the child to be born. After years of waiting for the fulfillment of the promise, the announcement is made and Sara has no faith left for such things, believing them to be nonsense. The question she is asked is one we would do well always to consider, “Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?” It is easy to give up hope and to believe we are past our time of usefulness or our moment is passed, but the truth is that God is never done with us if we continue to make ourselves available to Him.
Jesus appears to His disciples on the lake and they are terrified but He speaks words of comfort. The crowds look for Him in anticipation and when they find Him the words He speaks are not welcoming or comforting, they are cynical. There is revelation in the encounter with the disciples, He is Lord of the wind and the sea. In the encounter with the crowd, they want what they want, more food. They are happy with the program of feeding them and Jesus is telling them that this is simply a sign pointing to who He is, not an end in itself. We tend to like the ends when they match our desires and have no real interest in moving forward. Jesus is calling them to see beyond the sign to that which it points, who He is.
Several days ago we noted that the old covenant sacrifices were not for willful sins and here the writer begins by talking about willfully persisting in sin after we have known the truth about Jesus. The sin of which he is talking seems to specifically relate to rejecting Jesus and His sacrifice. The antidote to wavering faith is to remind them of what God has already done while calling them ahead to perseverance and endurance to receive the reward. The life of faith is never done, there is always more to reveal, more to know about Him. We never retire from following Jesus and growing in Him.
Cast your burden on the LORD,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
Friday, January 29, 2010
29 January 2010
Psalm 40, 54; Gen. 17:15-27; Heb. 10:11-25; John 6:1-15
Abraham is obedient to the covenant provisions in faith. His intercession on behalf of Ishmael speaks well of the man and God hears that intercession and makes promises concerning the fruitfulness of Ishmael but the covenant will be with and through the son with Sarah. This is the first time God has spoken of Sarah as the vessel through which the child will come, and Abraham sees the folly of this idea and laughs. Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist had such an encounter with God and heard a word that he could not believe either.
Philip doesn’t answer questions any better than the paralytic in John 5. Jesus asks where they can get food for the multitude and Philip doesn’t answer that question because in his mind that isn’t the primary question. His concern is where the money to buy such a feast would come from. Some commentators, disbelieving in miracles in their rationalism, have said that what really happened here is that Jesus’ faith in offering the little food the boy had spurred the crowd to share what they had and so everyone had enough to eat. That makes no sense of the rest of the story. The people saw the sign and began to say, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.’ As the passage ends Jesus sees they are going to make Him king for this sign and withdraws. Could teaching people to share issue forth in these reactions?
The writer ends his argument about Jesus being superior to anything else with the point that Jesus has entered into the rest of God by sitting down at the right hand of the Father after His work was done while earthly priests continue to stand as their work is not done. As he finishes the argument, we find the word, therefore. Since the foregoing is true, it has to have a meaning for us. The implications begin with approaching the throne with confidence, holding fast to the confession, provoking one another to good deeds and continuing to meet together. Our faith in Him is meant to provide us with the strength and hope to live anew and to have community with others who hold the faith. He is our hope, our strength and our confidence. Do we have the faith William Carey spoke of in attempting great things for God and expecting great things from God?
May all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
say continually, "Great is the LORD!"
Psalm 40, 54; Gen. 17:15-27; Heb. 10:11-25; John 6:1-15
Abraham is obedient to the covenant provisions in faith. His intercession on behalf of Ishmael speaks well of the man and God hears that intercession and makes promises concerning the fruitfulness of Ishmael but the covenant will be with and through the son with Sarah. This is the first time God has spoken of Sarah as the vessel through which the child will come, and Abraham sees the folly of this idea and laughs. Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist had such an encounter with God and heard a word that he could not believe either.
Philip doesn’t answer questions any better than the paralytic in John 5. Jesus asks where they can get food for the multitude and Philip doesn’t answer that question because in his mind that isn’t the primary question. His concern is where the money to buy such a feast would come from. Some commentators, disbelieving in miracles in their rationalism, have said that what really happened here is that Jesus’ faith in offering the little food the boy had spurred the crowd to share what they had and so everyone had enough to eat. That makes no sense of the rest of the story. The people saw the sign and began to say, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.’ As the passage ends Jesus sees they are going to make Him king for this sign and withdraws. Could teaching people to share issue forth in these reactions?
The writer ends his argument about Jesus being superior to anything else with the point that Jesus has entered into the rest of God by sitting down at the right hand of the Father after His work was done while earthly priests continue to stand as their work is not done. As he finishes the argument, we find the word, therefore. Since the foregoing is true, it has to have a meaning for us. The implications begin with approaching the throne with confidence, holding fast to the confession, provoking one another to good deeds and continuing to meet together. Our faith in Him is meant to provide us with the strength and hope to live anew and to have community with others who hold the faith. He is our hope, our strength and our confidence. Do we have the faith William Carey spoke of in attempting great things for God and expecting great things from God?
May all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
say continually, "Great is the LORD!"
Thursday, January 28, 2010
28 January 2010
Psalm 50; Gen. 16:15-17:14; Heb. 10:1-10; John 5:30-47
Yet another announcement of the covenant, after Ishmael. The covenant is not with Ishmael whatever they may have thought. This announcement is more prestigious than ever before, speaking of kings and the covenant as everlasting, which has some implications for what kind of God stands behind this covenant. Up to now Abram hasn’t actually come into possession of anything that was promised. He doesn’t own land and he doesn’t have a child of his own and here he stands at 99. He has some right to question whether God is able to do what He promised but we don’t see that here. The God who makes this covenant has to be able to make it possible for the couple to have a child at a very advanced age, give the territory of the nations to their descendants and make a covenant in perpetuity. That requires not only a powerful God but one who actually involves Himself in the affairs of earth and also one who is Himself everlasting. Finally, there is a condition on the covenant, circumcision. Until now there has been no need of such a provision, as there was no one except Abram in the covenant. It might be a bit graphic to say this but it is interesting that the mark of the covenant is in a private part and also in the procreative organ. The mark is not a public thing and the covenant is continued through the multiplication that is enabled through God’s blessing.
Jesus speaks of the testimonies that attest to Him, the Father’s testimony, John’s testimony, and the testimony of the works He has done. He also equates belief in Himself with believing or knowing the Father. Finally, the word of God testifies to Him and yet those who claim to have the word don’t come to Him, their hearts don’t receive or perceive the truth about Jesus. In the end, Jesus says that the failure of those who have the word of God to believe in Him means that they do not actually believe the word, their connection with God is gone.
The old system required a continuous offering of sacrifices but now the old covenant has been done away with in one man who said, “I have come to do your will” and has fulfilled it. Jesus is the only one who ever lived who did so without sin and in complete obedience to the will of God. That one life, laid down in sacrifice, itself in obedience to the Father, fulfills the covenant on behalf of all humankind. The perfect image of God has not only shown us the way, but has done all these things in order that those of us who believe in Him should receive with Him the inheritance of life. The old covenant has been fulfilled and therefore nullified for those who believe in Him. The mark of the new covenant is the Spirit of God within us.
The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation of God!"
O Lord, show thy mercy upon us;
And grant us thy salvation.
Psalm 50; Gen. 16:15-17:14; Heb. 10:1-10; John 5:30-47
Yet another announcement of the covenant, after Ishmael. The covenant is not with Ishmael whatever they may have thought. This announcement is more prestigious than ever before, speaking of kings and the covenant as everlasting, which has some implications for what kind of God stands behind this covenant. Up to now Abram hasn’t actually come into possession of anything that was promised. He doesn’t own land and he doesn’t have a child of his own and here he stands at 99. He has some right to question whether God is able to do what He promised but we don’t see that here. The God who makes this covenant has to be able to make it possible for the couple to have a child at a very advanced age, give the territory of the nations to their descendants and make a covenant in perpetuity. That requires not only a powerful God but one who actually involves Himself in the affairs of earth and also one who is Himself everlasting. Finally, there is a condition on the covenant, circumcision. Until now there has been no need of such a provision, as there was no one except Abram in the covenant. It might be a bit graphic to say this but it is interesting that the mark of the covenant is in a private part and also in the procreative organ. The mark is not a public thing and the covenant is continued through the multiplication that is enabled through God’s blessing.
Jesus speaks of the testimonies that attest to Him, the Father’s testimony, John’s testimony, and the testimony of the works He has done. He also equates belief in Himself with believing or knowing the Father. Finally, the word of God testifies to Him and yet those who claim to have the word don’t come to Him, their hearts don’t receive or perceive the truth about Jesus. In the end, Jesus says that the failure of those who have the word of God to believe in Him means that they do not actually believe the word, their connection with God is gone.
The old system required a continuous offering of sacrifices but now the old covenant has been done away with in one man who said, “I have come to do your will” and has fulfilled it. Jesus is the only one who ever lived who did so without sin and in complete obedience to the will of God. That one life, laid down in sacrifice, itself in obedience to the Father, fulfills the covenant on behalf of all humankind. The perfect image of God has not only shown us the way, but has done all these things in order that those of us who believe in Him should receive with Him the inheritance of life. The old covenant has been fulfilled and therefore nullified for those who believe in Him. The mark of the new covenant is the Spirit of God within us.
The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation of God!"
O Lord, show thy mercy upon us;
And grant us thy salvation.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
27 January 2010
Psalm 119:49-72; Gen. 16:1-14; Heb. 9:15-28; John 5:19-29
Abram and Sarai decide to take matters into their own hands rather than trusting God and it causes enormous problems not just for them but for us as well. They have given up on God, one chapter after the covenant ceremony. We don’t know how much time has elapsed between the chapters. The first problem is that now there is a division in the family. The slave girl, Hagar, now looks down on Sarai because she has become pregnant. The implication is that clearly the problem in having this child lies with Sarai and not Abram, the Lord isn’t blessing her. This is a complicated business with Sarai’s mistreatment of Hagar and Hagar running away. The Lord cares enough about her to find her and comfort her, revealing Himself to her in the form of the angel of the Lord. His promise is to multiply her offspring and yet the word bless is not here and the description of Ishmael is less than flattering. This, recall, is the line through whom the modern day Islamists trace themselves.
Jesus reveals Himself powerfully through these claims. It would be difficult to imagine hearing these words and not being completely offended by them. He is indeed claiming to be one with the Father, privileged status among all who have ever lived. He is unique in being sent by the Father and the Father will reveal Himself more completely in and through Jesus than in any other way. Here Jesus speaks of having life in Himself, having judgment committed to Him, and that believing in Him is the key to eternal life. That the dead also will receive life in Jesus would have made plain that His claims were complete.
The Hebrews passage begins with basic teaching on covenants and ends with Jesus being the mediator of the only covenant that matters. The old covenant was simply a sketch of the heavenly one and therefore animal sacrifice was sufficient to gain entrance. In heaven, however, greater sacrifice is required. The tabernacle and temple were constructed of materials that expressed the holiness of God the further you went into them. The materials in the holy place were more precious than in the court and the materials in the holy of holies were the most precious of all. The heavenly courts are more precious still and it is into these that Jesus has gone and purchased access for us. His sacrifice was sufficient for all time and the writer assures us that He will come again to save us. The firstborn son of God will save those who come after, not at enmity with them as was Ishmael.
You have dealt well with your servant,
O LORD, according to your word.
Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
for I believe in your commandments.
Psalm 119:49-72; Gen. 16:1-14; Heb. 9:15-28; John 5:19-29
Abram and Sarai decide to take matters into their own hands rather than trusting God and it causes enormous problems not just for them but for us as well. They have given up on God, one chapter after the covenant ceremony. We don’t know how much time has elapsed between the chapters. The first problem is that now there is a division in the family. The slave girl, Hagar, now looks down on Sarai because she has become pregnant. The implication is that clearly the problem in having this child lies with Sarai and not Abram, the Lord isn’t blessing her. This is a complicated business with Sarai’s mistreatment of Hagar and Hagar running away. The Lord cares enough about her to find her and comfort her, revealing Himself to her in the form of the angel of the Lord. His promise is to multiply her offspring and yet the word bless is not here and the description of Ishmael is less than flattering. This, recall, is the line through whom the modern day Islamists trace themselves.
Jesus reveals Himself powerfully through these claims. It would be difficult to imagine hearing these words and not being completely offended by them. He is indeed claiming to be one with the Father, privileged status among all who have ever lived. He is unique in being sent by the Father and the Father will reveal Himself more completely in and through Jesus than in any other way. Here Jesus speaks of having life in Himself, having judgment committed to Him, and that believing in Him is the key to eternal life. That the dead also will receive life in Jesus would have made plain that His claims were complete.
The Hebrews passage begins with basic teaching on covenants and ends with Jesus being the mediator of the only covenant that matters. The old covenant was simply a sketch of the heavenly one and therefore animal sacrifice was sufficient to gain entrance. In heaven, however, greater sacrifice is required. The tabernacle and temple were constructed of materials that expressed the holiness of God the further you went into them. The materials in the holy place were more precious than in the court and the materials in the holy of holies were the most precious of all. The heavenly courts are more precious still and it is into these that Jesus has gone and purchased access for us. His sacrifice was sufficient for all time and the writer assures us that He will come again to save us. The firstborn son of God will save those who come after, not at enmity with them as was Ishmael.
You have dealt well with your servant,
O LORD, according to your word.
Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
for I believe in your commandments.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
26 January 2010
Psalm 45; Gen. 15:1-21; Heb. 9:1-14; John 5:1-18
Abram has seen great things from the Lord and has experienced His blessing, has heard that blessing pronounced by another, and yet the word of the Lord comes and says, “Fear not.” Abram expresses his fear in that no child has been born to him and this inheritance will go to one who is not his own child. The Lord’s answer is that he will have a son of his own and the comfort Abram was given was to gaze upon the stars and be assured that his offspring would be even greater than these. This time the Lord makes the covenant official in a strange but familiar covenant ceremony. In the midst of the ceremony, the word of the Lord comes to Abram prophetically as well, concerning the enslavement of the people in Egypt. (For some reason the Episcopal lectionary leaves out this part, vv. 12-16) After this word, the smoking pot comes and passes through the animal carcasses. In a typical covenant cutting ceremony, both parties to the covenant would have passed between the animals. The implication was, let it be done to me as it has been to these if I fail to live up to my covenant obligations. Abram, however, is not asked to take this step, only the Lord swears on His life.
“Do you want to be healed?” sounds like a simple question but this man answers like most of us would in his circumstance. Apparently there was a belief that if you were able to get into the pool when the water was disturbed then you would be healed by the angel who had disturbed the water. This man, in answer to Jesus’ question, decides to explain why he hasn’t been healed. Jesus doesn’t want to hang out and help him get in the pool, He is offering healing now. He doesn’t just heal him though, He also tells the man to take up his mat and go home. The problem is, it is the Sabbath and carrying your bed on the Sabbath is considered labor so the man is breaking a commandment in the eyes of the religious establishment. They have missed the amazing part, the healing, and focused on the mat. God is among them and they do not know Him.
An important distinction is made in this Hebrews passage, the high priest went into the holy of holies once a year to make atonement “for the sins committed unintentionally by the people.” Unintentionally committed sins is the important part. There was no atonement sacrifice for sins committed intentionally, that was the point of the goat being set free at Yom Kippur. If the goat didn’t return, their intentional sins had been forgiven. There are two different things at work there and we need to preserve some sense of the expectation of righteousness by keeping ourselves from intentional sins. Jesus has made atonement for all our sins and we have been delivered from the law, but as we read yesterday, that same law is written in our hearts, not just the letter of the law but the spirit of the law as well. We are responsible for life lived according to the commandments of God and intentional or willful sin is a great sin against God. Our lives are to be devoted to His will, not our own.
Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;
you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Psalm 45; Gen. 15:1-21; Heb. 9:1-14; John 5:1-18
Abram has seen great things from the Lord and has experienced His blessing, has heard that blessing pronounced by another, and yet the word of the Lord comes and says, “Fear not.” Abram expresses his fear in that no child has been born to him and this inheritance will go to one who is not his own child. The Lord’s answer is that he will have a son of his own and the comfort Abram was given was to gaze upon the stars and be assured that his offspring would be even greater than these. This time the Lord makes the covenant official in a strange but familiar covenant ceremony. In the midst of the ceremony, the word of the Lord comes to Abram prophetically as well, concerning the enslavement of the people in Egypt. (For some reason the Episcopal lectionary leaves out this part, vv. 12-16) After this word, the smoking pot comes and passes through the animal carcasses. In a typical covenant cutting ceremony, both parties to the covenant would have passed between the animals. The implication was, let it be done to me as it has been to these if I fail to live up to my covenant obligations. Abram, however, is not asked to take this step, only the Lord swears on His life.
“Do you want to be healed?” sounds like a simple question but this man answers like most of us would in his circumstance. Apparently there was a belief that if you were able to get into the pool when the water was disturbed then you would be healed by the angel who had disturbed the water. This man, in answer to Jesus’ question, decides to explain why he hasn’t been healed. Jesus doesn’t want to hang out and help him get in the pool, He is offering healing now. He doesn’t just heal him though, He also tells the man to take up his mat and go home. The problem is, it is the Sabbath and carrying your bed on the Sabbath is considered labor so the man is breaking a commandment in the eyes of the religious establishment. They have missed the amazing part, the healing, and focused on the mat. God is among them and they do not know Him.
An important distinction is made in this Hebrews passage, the high priest went into the holy of holies once a year to make atonement “for the sins committed unintentionally by the people.” Unintentionally committed sins is the important part. There was no atonement sacrifice for sins committed intentionally, that was the point of the goat being set free at Yom Kippur. If the goat didn’t return, their intentional sins had been forgiven. There are two different things at work there and we need to preserve some sense of the expectation of righteousness by keeping ourselves from intentional sins. Jesus has made atonement for all our sins and we have been delivered from the law, but as we read yesterday, that same law is written in our hearts, not just the letter of the law but the spirit of the law as well. We are responsible for life lived according to the commandments of God and intentional or willful sin is a great sin against God. Our lives are to be devoted to His will, not our own.
Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;
you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Monday, January 25, 2010
25 January 2010
Psalm 41, 52; Gen. 14:1-24; Heb. 8:1-13; John 4:43-54
Abram is forced by circumstances to mount a force, a private army, and rescue Lot. It is a sign that Abram has become an important personage in the area and that God has blessed him. He is able to bring out a force of 318 men who have been “born in his house” to make this rescue. His wealth must be substantial if this many have been born within his house and yet none of these are his own children. We meet in this passage the king of Salem, Melchizedek, who comes and pronounces blessing over Abram and Abram’s God, maker of heaven and earth. Just who is this king and priest to whom Abram gives tithes? This is his only appearance in the Bible but he comes out from Jeru-salem, the city of the Lord at a much later time. Abram refuses any tribute from the king of Sodom and insists that he will not be in any way beholden to him. Abram surely knew the kind of people he was dealing with here and we see in his dealings with these two men that he made a distinction.
It is likely that the royal official is not a Jew and yet Jesus performs this healing on his behalf. His first response to the request is to call faith into question, but the verbs here are plural verbs, “Unless y’all see signs and wonders, y’all won’t believe” (My own vernacular translation). John has told us that the people of Galilee welcomed Jesus because of what they had seen Him do in Jerusalem, so we know that the signs mattered. This man, however, believes first, going at the command of Jesus in the belief that his son would be healed. Our faith must be first in the person of Jesus and the signs simply confirm what we already believe. If faith is dependent on signs, what happens when we don’t see what we hope for in this life?
There is a bit of the philosophy of Plato in this passage. The earthly tent and temple for worship are copies of the heavenly ideal and Jesus, in his priesthood is the ideal priest, of which the earthly priesthood is not exactly a copy. These priests are not like Jesus in that they offer animal sacrifices continually, Jesus, perfection in Himself, offers His sacrifice of Himself, once for all. In the new covenant there is no new priesthood, that is done away with in the giving of the Spirit and the writing of the laws in our hearts. We all “know” the Lord. It doesn’t mean we don’t need one another and we don’t need instruction, we simply don’t need a mediator between us and God, we all have Jesus who intercedes on our behalf. The work of the priest in the old covenant was, in essence, that of mediator and intercessor, offering sacrifices as a form of intercession. The idea is something like, I, the priest, have found this offering acceptable which tells me that this person understands their sin and the price for reconciliation and I now offer it to you on their behalf, please find it acceptable as I have. In the new covenant, there is no need for priestly intercession, we all have access to God through the one mediator, intercessor and priest, Jesus.
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; Gen. 14:1-24; Heb. 8:1-13; John 4:43-54
Abram is forced by circumstances to mount a force, a private army, and rescue Lot. It is a sign that Abram has become an important personage in the area and that God has blessed him. He is able to bring out a force of 318 men who have been “born in his house” to make this rescue. His wealth must be substantial if this many have been born within his house and yet none of these are his own children. We meet in this passage the king of Salem, Melchizedek, who comes and pronounces blessing over Abram and Abram’s God, maker of heaven and earth. Just who is this king and priest to whom Abram gives tithes? This is his only appearance in the Bible but he comes out from Jeru-salem, the city of the Lord at a much later time. Abram refuses any tribute from the king of Sodom and insists that he will not be in any way beholden to him. Abram surely knew the kind of people he was dealing with here and we see in his dealings with these two men that he made a distinction.
It is likely that the royal official is not a Jew and yet Jesus performs this healing on his behalf. His first response to the request is to call faith into question, but the verbs here are plural verbs, “Unless y’all see signs and wonders, y’all won’t believe” (My own vernacular translation). John has told us that the people of Galilee welcomed Jesus because of what they had seen Him do in Jerusalem, so we know that the signs mattered. This man, however, believes first, going at the command of Jesus in the belief that his son would be healed. Our faith must be first in the person of Jesus and the signs simply confirm what we already believe. If faith is dependent on signs, what happens when we don’t see what we hope for in this life?
There is a bit of the philosophy of Plato in this passage. The earthly tent and temple for worship are copies of the heavenly ideal and Jesus, in his priesthood is the ideal priest, of which the earthly priesthood is not exactly a copy. These priests are not like Jesus in that they offer animal sacrifices continually, Jesus, perfection in Himself, offers His sacrifice of Himself, once for all. In the new covenant there is no new priesthood, that is done away with in the giving of the Spirit and the writing of the laws in our hearts. We all “know” the Lord. It doesn’t mean we don’t need one another and we don’t need instruction, we simply don’t need a mediator between us and God, we all have Jesus who intercedes on our behalf. The work of the priest in the old covenant was, in essence, that of mediator and intercessor, offering sacrifices as a form of intercession. The idea is something like, I, the priest, have found this offering acceptable which tells me that this person understands their sin and the price for reconciliation and I now offer it to you on their behalf, please find it acceptable as I have. In the new covenant, there is no need for priestly intercession, we all have access to God through the one mediator, intercessor and priest, Jesus.
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.
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