This brief passage exposes the internal turmoil that has to be faced when what your soul knows conflicts with what your rational, thinking, projecting mind has figured out. Maybe its left brain vs right brain, I'm not sure. But an especially difficult process is when your soul knows you have to take a step that (probably/possibly) leads to death, and your rational mind can see a way out to avoid this. Add to this the primal drive of fear, which floods you and takes you over.

Resolving this turmoil takes a bit of time & space. Prayer offers a way of doing it, especially when your soul is responding to God's call in the first place.

"Take it to the Lord in prayer" goes the old hymn. This is where you bring your soul close to, and enveloped by, God. You yield to, and trust, God. This is what prayer always is. This is what "the Lord's prayer" does. Did Jesus pray those words on this occasion? In effect, yes.

"Everything is possible for you" (v36). This is the cry of the overwhelmed soul. It is the way of calming the rational, projecting mind. It won't be satisfied by it, but it will give a moment's respite to let God strengthen the soul. "Yet not what I will, but what you will" (v36). This is the soul taking ground. But the whole process takes time, and you have to give it time. But not an infinite amount of time. By the time the internal tussle takes place at this intensity, its almost certain that time is very limited. It is the time limit that ensures an outcome. For Jesus, the outcome was victory for his soul. I call it soul, but Jesus portrays the problem as his spirit is willing but his body is weak (v38). His rational mind looks after his body, his spirit looks after his soul!

Mark 5:36 - The Carer’s Faith

13/12/2024

There are a number of incidents in the gospels where it is the faith of the person responsible for the sick person which seems important:

the Syrophonecian woman & her daughter
the centurion & his servant
the paralysed man let through the roof
the boy who fitted whose father said "help my unbelief"

and of course, this one.

Part of it is simply enabling it to happen - here the father might have sent Jesus home if he had not believed. But in some cases it is the faith alone that seems to facilitate the healing, as with the centurion and the Syrophonecian woman, since there is no direct contact with the sick person.

It would seem that when we deeply care for someone, our faith in God regarding them really does open a door to their healing. Maybe it is when we are in a sense responsible for them – their "carer" in modern parlance. When they are not in a position to act in faith themselves. Because it is always words or action that release the person.

Matthew 14:22-34 - A Strange Incident

14/12/2024

This is perhaps the strangest of all the unusual things Jesus does in the gospels. Unusually, it is Luke who leaves it out & John who puts it in. John adds two important details - that the people wanted to make him king, and that once Jesus climbed into the boat it immediately reached the shore.

Mark adds the detail that Jesus was going to pass them by, that is, he didn't walk straight to the boat but came alongside it at a short distance. Peter got out of the boat and walked across to Jesus, but began to sink. Jesus reached out his hand and Peter grabbed it. Then, they both climbed into the boat.

When the account says Jesus & then Peter walked on the water, it is describing what the witnesses saw (& did), as best they could. It was windy, so the surface would be choppy. The key thing is, Jesus was not wading through the water, or swimming in it, he was near the surface!

Jesus rebukes Peter for his lack of faith, asking as he did for Jesus's help. Peter did not think that he could do what Jesus did.

The wind died down once Jesus was in the boat, and it was after that that they proclaimed him the Son of God. The whole episode made as big an impression on them as the feeding of the 5000 earlier in the afternoon.

What can we learn from the two events? Surely it has to be that with faith in God more things are possible. You could say the whole bible is testimony to that. A corollary this is that we may not always understand how by faith it happened and we don't need to, because whatever process it was, it isn't necessarily repeatable. There is an explanation, and a rational one too, of both events, but it is not the point. Those who achieve things by faith do not do it by knowing how it is done, but by stepping out with God.

Luke 16: 9 – Using Your Wealth

15/12/2024

In the previous verse, Jesus accuses the “people of this world" of being shrewd because they use their wealth to build friendships. Is this a little unfair? When you're part of a community, you share. The dishonest steward shared what wasn’t his! But he got commended anyway. I think Jesus is saying - yes, your resources are not really your own but a gift of God to you, but definitely use them in this way, to build friends & community.

But this verse speaks of "eternal dwellings”. The understanding is that the one thing that survives into eternity is your connections to other people. The whole gospel seems to be fundamentally about this. This is why you need to resolve conflicts, you need to forgive, why you need to be reconciled before offering a gift to God (Matt 5:24). These are all about dealing with relationship blockers, but this verse, and the whole parable, is about relationship building. And the one thing that wealth is really good for is that.

I don't think its a matter of just giving money, though there is a place for that, but combining that money with your love & concern, your prayers, your time. I speak to myself here.

Luke 12:21 – Rich Towards God

16/12/2024

"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich towards God"

In the story, a man has a bumper crop & stores it up for himself rather than shares it with his community. Moreover, he has to expend a lot of effort building the bigger barns to hold it. His motive is to be able to take life easy, to eat drink be merry. He doesn't know that it is all a complete waste of time & effort since he is about to die. Jesus draws a contrast between storing things up for yourself and being rich towards God.

But what does that short phrase "rich towards God" actually mean? It seems to be the antithesis of greed. Jesus says in v15 "be on your guard against all kinds of greed". The kind he exposes in the story is keeping all the blessings of God for yourself, in order to rest & not work. Rather than focus on self, focus on the one who gave you the blessings. "Render to Caesar what is Ceasar's and to God what is God's" is Jesus' amazing insight. Tax & tithes are a recognition of the role your state and God has played in giving you what you have. You could add to this your family, your close friends and supporters - they have all made you what you are and enabled your success. The man's bumper crop did not come without effort from others.

But I'm being too heady here. Being rich towards God is a spiritual thing, an opening up of your life to a different world & a different experience of this world. It is from this place that it is easy & natural to share all you have & be generous with the money you do not really need, or the time you have available, or your spare energy, or your concern for those around you.

John 11:50 – Caiaphas’s Prophecy

17/12/2024

John explains how the Sanhedrin reach the conclusion that Jesus has to die. It comes from the high priest that year. If Jesus were to be allowed to continue, they would lose their place with the Romans as a nation, and of course the Sanhedrin would lose their power. In their thinking, they neatly group those two things together. So Jesus has to die for the sake of the nation. It doesn't particularly matter whether he's innocent or not. It's better that one (innocent) man dies than for the whole nation to perish.

The trial before Pilate proved them wrong about the Romans. Pilate did not see Jesus as a threat, as indeed he wasn't. To the contrary, his form of nationalism - the Kingdom of God - would have brought peace. Some individuals on the Sanhedrin (Joseph of Arimathea & Nicodemus) understood this, but the self-preserving thinking was too powerful for them to sway.

So Caiaphas the high priest lays the guiding principle for how they will deal with Jesus. He doesn't realize that he is part of a spiritual process that has the potential to totally transform the attitude of the nation towards sin & righteousness in a way that nothing they did ever could. This process judges the Jewish nationalism and self interest that drives both them and the whole culture, and makes the risen Jesus King anyway, through the work of the Holy Spirit (see John 16:10). So Caiaphas will see the answer to his prophecy, but he won't understand it, or take part in it himself.

Luke 16:19-31 – The Rich Man and the Beggar

18/12/2024

"Love your neighbour as yourself" is the punchy phrase tucked away somewhere in the law. Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan in response to the question "who is my neighbour?". But in this story, the man's neighbour was a beggar; homeless and completely destitute. Presumably he was at the rich man's gate in the hope of the rich man sharing at least his leftovers with him. But he completely ignored him.

The implication of the story is that he ends up in the place of torment because of this, and that the law and the prophets should have warned him about it. The other implication is that the beggar ends up at Abraham's side because he was a beggar, in some way. Neither of these fit too neatly into our theology.

But there is a rawness and a simplicity in this view. When Luke writes his short version of the Beatitudes in 6:20-23, he adds a converse set of verses - not "blessed" but "woe". If you are rich. your comfort is from riches; if you are well fed, you will feel hunger, when it comes, most acutely; if you laugh a lot, your time will come to weep. So, don't see the destitute as separate to you, see them as part of you. Be happy to share, and at the very least, make sure something goes to them. Don't allow your wealth to erode your compassionate heart.

Matthew 21 – Jesus Brings Things to a Head

19/12/2024

In these final chapters of Matthew's gospel, we read how Jesus brings everything to a head. He absolutely knows what the outcome will be, and has been working up to this week ever since the strange episode on the mountain where he meets with two men who Peter calls Moses & Elijah (chapter 12).

From the moment he borrows the donkey onwards, he fulfills his role as Messiah with a sharp clarity. He is already known as a prophet, but, as Matthew says, he chooses the donkey to make reference to the Messianic prophecy in Zechariah 9: 9.

Just to make it quite clear that he had a greater authority than the religous leaders, he exercised that authority by clearing out the temple area of all the (apparently dishonest) commercial activity that had developed to enable pilgrims to fulfill the obligations of the law. But he also exercised that authority by healing the blind and the lame who came to him. It was the combination of these two that made him difficult to oppose.

They wanted to dispute his authority so challenged Jesus to explain it. But Jesus would not and instead managed to challenge them as to why they had not taken notice of John the Baptist's call to repentance.

He told various parables that the leaders knew were referencing them - the son who said he would obey but didn't; the tenants who didn't give the landowner the fruit he asked for. Later on he gets very direct in his criticism. But all this serves to bring his ministry to a violent end, as he knew it would. The parable of the tenants should have been a warning to them, but they ignored it. And the kingdom of God was indeed given to people who produced its fruit (v43).

John 2:12-25 –John’s Very Different Account

20/12/2024

The clearing of the temple and the challenge to show the source of his authority comes right at the start of his ministry in John's gospel. It sets the scene for the antagonistic relationship with the religous authorities in Jerusalem (in chapter 7 and following). He even makes reference to being raised on the third day, which very much belongs to a later time.

In fact, the majority of the action in John's gospel happens in or near Jerusalem, whereas in the synoptic gospels he doesn't seem to even visit Jerusalem until his final week. And in John's gospel Jesus speaks in what can best be described as a metaphorical language, whereas in the synoptics he speaks mostly in parables. With these very different angles on the same person, you end up not knowing the actual events and words spoken.

You could just simplistically say they all somehow happened - that Jesus cleansed the temple twice, that he spoke in these different ways, that different gospels concentrated on different things. And this is clearly the case, but it seems naive to discount the style of the gospel writer and their desire to produce a coherent account that reads well and engages the reader from start to finish.

Mark 5:25-34 – Shalom

21/12/2024

"Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering" (v34). Healing, peace & freedom from suffering. Like breathing pure air. it is hard to appreciate these three until you don't have them, or any one of them. It was the first she desperately wanted because of her debilitating bleeding. which must have impacted every aspect of her life.

But she got more than just healing, and she needed more too. When we pray healing into someone's life, bringing them to God and commiting them to God's care, the primary thing we are bringing them is peace. It is from that sense of "shalom" that the healing comes.

But what about suffering? Something I have little experience of. It is your body & your subconscious mind's way of telling you something is wrong. But the whole point of "shalom" is that whatever is wrong, you are not alone in it. And with a change of perspective, you can learn to live with it, and in spite of it, apparently!

So, healing, peace & freedom from suffering are all important and a legacy of faith, but the greatest is peace, and the knowledge that "your life is hidden with Christ in God" (Col 3:3).

#OT Micah 5:1-5 – The Bethlehem Prophecy

22/12/2024

This is the passage that the chief priests and teachers of the law quote in Matt 2:6, in response to Herod asking where the Christ was to be born. It is therefore the prophecy that guided the wise men to the correct place, confirmed but not led by the star at that stage. Like so many Messianic prophecies, it is clearly intended to be fulfilled soon after the time of writing, yet it has a ring of deep future about it too.

Firstly, the Messiah's origins will be "of old, from ancient times" (v2). So there is a deep past involved, though no hint given as to what it is. Looking at Jesus, who came "not to abolish the Law & the Prophets but to fulfill them" (Matt 5:17) we do indeed find him reaching back to that primal calling on mankind to live in harmony with God in the garden of the earth.

Secondly, the phrase "until the time" has a sense of waiting and of another age. The promise is that Israel will not be abandoned until that time.

Thirdly, there is the completeness of the vision. His flock will live securely, his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth, and he will be their peace (v4,5). Reaching to the ends of the earth is not an overnight thing! And so the biblical scholars of Jesus' day were comfortable about reading the passage as speaking to their time, and we in turn are comfortable about considering the final vision still in the process of fulfillment. The passage proudly takes its place in the nine lessons and carols telling the story of Christmas, Not just because it did all happen in Bethlehem, but because that vision from so long ago still resonates today.

2 Timothy 1:7 – The Triangle

23/12/2024

"God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power, of love and of self-discipline".

All three of these go together, like an equilateral triangle. Each needs the other to function well. They are reflections of the atomic forces at the center of the material universe, the strong and the weak atomic forces holding everything together yet apart enough to maintain the individuality of the atomic particles. Love is the direction of the force, power is the strength behind it, but self-discipline is the constraint on those two, holding the power in check when necessary and ensuring the love is directed in the right way.

The opposite of this triangle is timidity. Where the love and self-discipline are unable to function because the power is lacking. The power is a gift of God, but needs fanning into flame (v6). The metaphor is clear. It needs to grow from a small beginning, though use, through living by the spirit throughout each day.

#OT Ezekiel 22: 1-16 – Idolatry

24/12/2024

Much of the earlier chapters concentrate on Israel's (and in particular Jerusalem's) idolatry. Idolatry takes the place of God & closes down a person's openness to God. It is therefore considered really bad. But the badness we would recognise today is everything that results from that, rather than the idolatry itself.

I don't think the bloodshed is necessarily a result - you can easily have idolatry without that. Here it simply goes with it, forming a potent combination. But definitely a result are some of the other things listed here. Treating father & mother with contempt, oppressing the vulnerable and those who don't belong, desecrating the Sabbaths & despising holy things, sexualising familial relationships, taking advantage of people's desperation and extorting excessive interest.

Ezekiel's message is that Babylon will effectively be the sword of God against them. They will be destroyed because of it. Once a nation loses its spiritual strength, it becomes vulnerable.

The problem is particularly in the leadership - the "princes of Israel”. When the leadership resorts to blood-shedding, the country's days are numbered. "A city divided against itself cannot stand". Justice is foundational to the longevity of any society. But so are close and solid familial relationships. And so is a sense of the sacred, and of the Sabbath.

Matt 11:11-13 – Christmas & the Kindom of God

25/12/2024

The problem with the prophetic message such as in yesterday's passage from Ezekel is that it provides a diagnosis whose only solution is death both of the individuals and the sovereignty of the nation. It is a warning of doomsday. The call to action is of repentance, but the problem is, repentance and then what?

Today we celebrate the birth of the Christ, and implicit in that is the new vision of the Kingdom of God. At the foundation of the kingdom of God is redemption, or the word more normally used, salvation – the internal awakening that leads to a restoration of relationships and a life yielded to God.

Like with the prophets, Jesus also presented a critique of the culture, but in his day it was the religous leadership rather than the "princes" that needed reforming. The kingdom of God is not about calling out sin so much as demonstrating its alternative. So on this misty & murky Christmas morning, we celebrate not just the birth of the Christ, but everything that means. And we look to the year ahead and pray for the kingdom of God to "forcefully advance", as we need it now as much as ever.

Luke I:42 – The Eternal Story

26/12/2024

"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear." These are words every mother needs to hear, and particularly a young mother, conceiving outside marriage with all the social stigma that came with that then, and even now, in this liberal age. But mothers can be alone and vulnerable for a whole host of reasons. Life's difficulties don't just stop when a woman conceives! Ill-health, financial problems, war, family problems. social problems of all sorts - these add to a woman's stress and cause her to wonder what world she is bringing her child into.

The Christmas story as told by Luke and Matthew is such a powerful story not least because it resonates with any mother, and particularly those whose life is complicated. It is a story of reversals, of blessing in adversity, of being held by God. And why not? What more sacred event is there than the birth of a child?

Mary held this amazing promise, but every child has promise, and every mother has hopes and dreams for her child. Every mother needs words of blessing over her and her baby, needs a sense of God's call on her motherhood, needs a high view of who her son or daughter will become, and keep this in mind as she raises them.

And its not just the mother who needs this. Later in this chapter, it is Zechariah who speaks prophetic words into his son's life. It is the combination of father and mother that shape the child. But at that time the men were the focus of society, and the prominent role played by Mary was a notable contrast to that.

It is for all these reasons I find Mary Wilson's poem "This Christmas Night" so moving. I imagine this wife of our future Prime Minister writing it soon after the birth of her own firstborn in December 1943:

How sweet and clear above the sounds of war

the clamorous bells are pealing their delight!

The angels sing of glory,

as they soar among the man-made stars,

this Christmas night.

And, once again, with spices and with gold,

three Kings are riding through the sparkling snow

to this poor lodging in the bitter cold

where Mary kneels within the lantern glow

to watch her Baby lying in the hay,

and think about the wonder of His birth;

And as He sleeps to hold his hands and pray

for peace to come upon this troubled earth.

Luke 22:7-8 – The Passover Controversy

27/12/2024

The day of Unleavened Bread arrives and Jesus tells his disciples to make preparation for the passover. We know from John's gospel and from other evidence that in Jerusalem the day Jesus died was the day of Unleavened Bread and that evening was the passover. So why do the synoptic gospels move it a day (or even two days) earlier?

The main and obvious reason is that the meal took the format of a passover meal, and Jesus was able to link the symbology of the meal with what was about to happen to him. So, they did indeed celebrate the passover in its new form. But Jesus could not be both present at this passover meal and be killed with the passover lambs, so it needed to be moved forward.

But this doesn't address the issue of why the synoptics so confidently say it was the day of Unleavened Bread. Sir Colin Humphries proposed they were observing a different calendar which measured the moon cycles slightly differently. Just like Christmas is observed on different days in different countries - except the moon cycles are a lot less ambiguous then the day of Christ's birth! Nevertheless, we know the Essenes used a very different calendar, so it did happen.

Or the synoptic gospel writers could simply have deduced it from the fact they ate the passover meal. Although not true for Jerusalem, it was true for them, since they presumably had to kill a lamb in order to prepare the meal. and presumably they also made unleavened bread to eat at the meal. So to all intents and purposes, it was indeed the day of unleavened bread.

This then causes them to describe the Saturday as a Sabbath (23:56), which of course it was. Is any of this misleading? I don't think so, it saves the account from the complexity of exploring detail that really doesn't need to be added. But the aspect that John's gospel gives us does add power to the symbology of the death of Christ and it all added to that compelling understanding the disciples reached so quickly after it all happened.

Luke 22:26-30 – Empowering Others

28/12/2024

"I am among you as one who serves". The Kingdom of God is all about empowering others. It is not top down, with the King or leaders lording over everyone. It is bottom-up, as is the whole of nature. Yet, as in nature the interactions between individuals form something greater and quite different from the individual parts, so the Kingdom of God is a real and valid entity. "I confer on you a Kingdom" (v29)

Jesus then goes on to speak of "sitting on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel." This is of course metaphorical, and they did this soon enough, on the coming day of Pentecost. Jesus' Father conferred a Kingdom on him, and he in turn continues this process, a fully natural process based on individuals serving are another, but also worshipping & learning together.

By the way, this is not religion, but God-powered community.

Is this really how the church is today? Maybe not, but it is the blueprint, and the further we get from it, the less the Kingdom of God it is and the more it is an organisation or an institution.

Luke 7:18-28 – John’s Expectations

29/12/2024

We know that John the Baptist was quite a fiery preacher, and he had a fiery expectation of the one who came after him (see Luke 3:17 - "burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire"). So when the reports of all Jesus was doing came to John - including raising the widows' son - John was a bit baffled. Where was the "winnowing fork" he had prophesied in 3:17? I think John was expecting someone like him but even more so. But Jesus wasn't at all like him.

So Jesus explains to John that all he is doing sums up to "good news to the poor", but that he preaches it as well as demonstrating it. Jesus isn't quite what John was expecting - he wasnt what anyone was expecting the messiah to be like-even though the Isaiah "servant" passages portrayed Jesus well. Jesus expresses the hope that John doesn't fall away on account of him (v 23).

Jesus honours John as among the greatest people to have ever lived, but then makes this enigmatic statement "the one who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he " (v28). Here, Jesus is challenging the common notion of greatness. You want to be great? Well, humble yourself like a child (see Luke 10:48) and enter the Kingdom of God - then you will inherit the earth (Matt 5:57) and eternal life (Matt 19:29) - but "many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first" (Matt 19:30). Greatness is not about self progression, but forming, with many others. the beautiful and life changing body of Chiat.

Galatians 1&2 – The Source of Paul’s Gospel

30/12/2024

"The gospel I preached I did not receive for any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. " (1:12)

Although the story of Paul's conversion is told three times over in Acts, there is no hint in any of the accounts that he received in words the gospel he then preached. The revelation was, I believe, not put into words at all. It was an experience. "Whatever was to any profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ " (Phil 3: 7) is how he describes his own transformation. This gospel centres around this experience of recognising the sovereignty of the risen Christ. It completely is about that, and he is indignant that anyone add circumcision or any other religous observance into it.

Can Paul honestly have received this gospel from those words "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting" (Acts 9: 5)? In Acts 9:20 we see he at once began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of, so yes, I believe he could have. "If you confess with your mouth 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. you will be saved" (Romans 10: 9) . That was his experience, and it is the experience that he passes on in his gospel.

Matthew 2:1 – The Magi (1)

31/12/2024

"Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked 'where is the one born king of the Jews?'"

Astrology is discredited as a science now, even though many people still read their horoscope, but at that time it was a given in some cultures that the stars conveyed information about what was happening on earth, and the task of the astrologer was to interpret it. If you believe that A causes B. you normally have B and are looking for A. But in the case of astrology, you have A and are looking for B, probably a small and spread effect. Hence the horoscopes! But scientific studies also do this - e. g. the effect of smoking on life expectancy (about 10 years on average, or 20 minutes per cigarette!)

But the effect the Magi were looking for was a very specific one, and it would be hard to say whether they thought A caused B or visa versa. Maybe causation is the wrong concept, correlation would be a better concept: A and B are connected and both caused by C. This is where the astrologers and the jewish world view could intersect, with the jews considering C being (ultimately) God.

However, the only person we know who took the astrologer's interpretation seriously was the non-jew Herod. Strangely, he thought he could foil everything by a widespread slaughter. He also happily mixed astrology & jewish prophecy as sources of knowledge. Or maybe he was just ruthless and fairly paranoid about someone usurping his power (which history confirms).

And so, the Magi are directed to Bethlehem and apparently the star appears again & somehow stops over the place where Jesus is. This sign is unambiguous enough for them to deliver their valuable gifts to Mary & Joseph, who actually needed them to sustain them while they avoided Herod.

This avoidance, both the Magi on their return journey and Joseph & Mary, was triggered by dreams. Once again, we might ask about A causing B (the dream). For the Magi, the A is not stated (they "were warned in a dream") but with Joseph A is understood to be God ( "an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream").

The point here is that the Magi and Joseph had different understandings of God, different world views, but the net effect of the Magi's world view is that Joseph & Mary gained both some valuable resources and a sense of destiny for their son. But not without the dreadful side effect of the death of Bethlehem's infants.

Did God send the Magi on their journey? I don't think so. A (the star) caused the trip to Jerusalem, and the Micah prophecy the onward trip to Bethlehem. The timing of it all happend to have the star stop over Joseph & Mary's house. And that is the mystery of God's action in this world - stories are created by timing - our own stories, everyone's stories. When timing aligns right, we receive a wonderful gift just when it is needed. When timing aligns wrong, we are the family who loses their infants on to a brutal ruler. From Jesus' sense of destiny came his ministry, and for that came the gospel of redemption.

Matt 2:11 – The Magi (2)

1/1/2025

So, after a very long journey, a visit to a king and then one last, short, journey, they simply worship a baby and deliver their valuable gifts. they gain absolutely nothing from the trip, no political capital (since they dont return to Herod), no useful information. Perhaps a tentative link with the new king through his parents. But they're not naive. They know how monachies work. they didn't find a baby born to Herod or his sons, so the new king would need to be a usurper.

Perhaps by the time they arrived they realised their mission had changed. No doubt it started out with political and discovery motivation, but now it was to deliver a message from the stars to this family & to support them on their lives ahead. And this is life indeed, we start out with all kinds of motivations, but in the end it is delivering what we know to the people who need to know it that will give us satisfaction and peace.

The Magi worshipped. He was just a baby, or perhaps a young child. What did they worship there? Not so much Jesus as he was, but the calling on his life and the source of that calling. The gifts were well chosen, very sensory and laden with meaning.

I can't help liking the Magi. They were intelligent, had guts & determination, humility & mixed all this with a willing heart and an open mind, and most of all. they were able to worship & recognise the source of all knowledge and life itself. They set a great example to modern mankind.

Luke 11:1-13 – The Answer to Prayer

2/1/2025

My understanding of this passage is that prayer is a daily realignment of perspective as the inevitable pressures of life try to distort it. An alignment to what actually matters, and it is what matters that constitutes "the Lord's prayer". We can be so goal orientated that we forget to pay attention to the fundamentals. Jesus encourages us to ask, seek, knock, and at first sight he is talking about prayer, but then at the end of the passage it is not answers to prayer that your Father in heaven gives, but the Holy Spirit.

So, in prayer we realign, we then ask, but the answer is the Holy Spirit. How is that any kind of answer?

It is every kind of answer, and the story of the midnight request for bread explains why. With a clear conscience, the man wakes his friend and asks for bread. His friend does not want to move and thinks they can wait until morning. But the man, with a clear conscience, persists, and in the end will get what he needs! He is well aware that he is putting his friend out, but he continues because his journeying friend is in need.

It is the Holy Spirit that enables us to be bold and ask, seek & knock, because it is from the Holy Spirit that we have a clear conscience and a godly perspective. The man in the story cares for both of his friends! It is in the context of that care that he asks, seeks, knocks.

All this is not to say that we cannot ask God to answer our prayer requests directly. but we need to remain open to our own role in the request being fulfilled, and that role will probably require a godly boldness!

Matthew 22:1-14 – The Celebration Invitation

3/1/2025

The main thrust of the parable is that "the Kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son" (v2). Yes, it is surprising that the guests couldn't be bothered to come, and shocking that the others killed his servants, and finally the good and bad are invited, whoever is around to hear the invitation. All this tends to draw our attention away from the central premise of the parable, that the invitation is to the wedding banquet of the king's son.

We are somewhat steered in our understanding of that by the imagery of Isaiah 54: 5 and Hosea 2:19 where Israel is likened to a wife, abandoned in Isaiah, and betrothed afresh in Hosea. But neither of these are as specific as an actual wedding feast. Of course, John picks up the theme in Rev 19: 7-9. "blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the lamb" but even Revelation does not really explore this - in fact in chapter 21 it is the new Jerusalem which is the bride, described as a physical structure. But in any case, Revelation was written long after this parable.

Jesus' listeners would have no trouble understanding the general imagery, but it is the specific imagery that is suprising. In the parable, the bride is not mentioned at all, and Israel rather than being the betrothed are simply the guests. All they have to do is turn up and enter into it. This is the invitation of God. Turn up and celebrate the son of the king.

But then there is a person who doesn't do the one thing required-to take the trouble to dress for the celebration, and he is physically thrown out into darkness and regret. This person has a ring of Judas about him - "friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes? " (v12).

It is the simplicity of the invitation that is the most shocking thing of all.

The Passover Controversy - Interpreting the Gospels

4/1/2025

I wrote a short while ago about the controversy in the gospels over exactly when the passover was. How you approach the gospels will determine what your conclusion is. I wrote with the benefit of external evidence (from the web!) John was correct and that the lambs were killed concurrent with Jesus' death. But this is not what the notes in my study bible say! Rather, they read John in a way that allows the Passover to be earlier.

To do this, they somewhat ignore the phrase in John 13:1 "it was just before the passover feast" merely mentioning that some believe this meal was not the passover because of it. They also say it is curious that John doesn't mention the Lord's supper, which it is. Then in John 18:28, where the jews did not enter the Roman governer's palace because they wanted to eat the Passover, they say this just refers to the whole period of the feast. Then, in John 19:31, when John mentions the impending special Sabbath, they say it is special because it falls at festival time, not because it is the passover meal.

Its true that John implies, rather than actually states, that Jesus becomes a passover lamb. He introduces the concept in 1:36 when John the Baptist says "Behold the lamb of God," and then leaves the reader to understand the meaning if they have a jewish understanding. Though John's gospel is not written for jewish readers.

My bible's note writers are swayed by the very definite statements in all 3 synoptic gospels that it was the Feast of Unleavened bread, versus the more subtle way John says it, which kind of allows this other understanding just described. But is this a fair burden to put on the gospel writers, that every word they write can in isolation be considered totally true? Yes, Luke writes "I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning" (1: 3) and expects to therefore give his readers certainty (Luke 1:47), but that is not the same as every single statement being true when taken out of context.

Rather, I would favour we just left the paradoxes alone. Sometimes the gospels contradict one another. Fine, lets not try to harmonise them thinking that somehow makes them more trustworthy. Paradoxes are everywhere in life, they simply indicate that our understanding is incomplete. Of course it is incomplete! But that doesn't make it useless. It is sufficient to take us on the next step of our personal journey, and that is all it needs to be.

Romans 8:1-4 – The Players in our Human Drama

5/1/2025

People who criticize religion like to put up a "strawman" that is easily demolished. But I have never came across a strawman of this.

We have these players in our human drama:

the law, which constrains individuals to act in a way that protects all the other individuals
the sinful nature, akin to the "ego" (or perhaps the same thing, I havent looked into it) which looks after our more immediate desires. The law is only moderately effective because of the sinful nature.
God, who judges mankind, but also desires to redeem mankind.
Jesus Christ, who did not live by the sinful nature at all. but nevertheless was condemned by the religous leaders and painfully executed.
the Spirit, which does not need the law because the Spirit is fundamentally love, which the bible speaks of us receiving. Though this passage simply speaks of it "living in you".

The sinful nature wants to feel ok about itself and will always find a way to do that. This allows it to remain in control. But given free reign, the sinful nature leads to death. Whereas living by the Spirit is life. Here, life is more than blood flowing through a body, it is an experience, what eastern religions call "consciousness". And death is its absence.

By believing in what Jesus did the sinful nature is silenced and the spirit of life is able to take control. But this is not necessarily a one-time thing, but an ongoing process throughout life, and praying, worshipping together and being exhorted through preaching and teaching are all part of that process.

#OT Psalm 121 – God’s Oversight

6/1/2025

"He will not let your foot slip" (v37). The sentiment of this psalm is similar to the one the devil quotes at Jesus in the wilderness (Psalm 91), where God will send his angels to ensure you don’t stub your toe, by lifting you up.

"My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth". We all know what the earth is, but what exactly is heaven? In popular parlance, its where people go when they die (if they are good), but that is not its meaning in the bible, except perhaps the phrase "spint returns to God". In the bible, it seems to refer to where God inhabits, but also God made it along with the earth. The suggestion is that it is non-material, at least in any earthly sense.

The psalm describes us facing the "hills "and wondering how we are to traverse them (well, that’s one understanding!). We do so with God's help, or more specifically, with God's oversight. So, does God manipulate the earth in order to achieve this oversight? Although it can appear like this, I think it is us he manipulates. "The Kingdom of God is within you". This is why its so important for us to be open to God. Why the Lord's prayer is so short - it simply puts us in that place where we can listen.

#OT Psalm 51 – David’s Inner Life

7/1/2025

We have many psalms of David rejoicing over deliverance, or struggling with hoped-for deliverance, but this psalm clearly speaks of his internal struggles, revealing much about his inner life. If he had not fallen so badly over Uriah & Bathsheba, we would know only as much of his inner life as all the other bible characters - very little. It is only in extreme struggles that a person's inner life even gets hinted at.

Yet we see from this psalm that David's power came from that inner life, and with it broken, he felt as vulnerable as Samson without his flowing hair. First and foremost, once brought to his attention by the prophet Nathan (2 Samuel 12), he is continually confronted by his sin, as elsewhere eg Psalm 25). As king he had the right to do what he did, but before God he did not (4) . Practically no other King would have felt like this, as king they could rule as they pleased. But David was anointed king under God, and in the long years of waiting for Saul's death, David learned to trust God and always honour him, whatever the temptation to act to hasten his rule.

He knows that God desires r honesty "truth in the inner parts " (v6), and from that he can learn wisdom from God. But once he is aware of his sin, he is struggling to receive that wisdom-but not as much as if he just ignored his sin. His sin would indeed block out the wisdom of God taking root.

In the Christian era we would be quick to proclaim God's forgiveness, but we do have to be careful about that. We need to be sure that people are honest with themselves, and feel the intenal burden of the sin being forgiven, and understand its severe implications.

We know what they are because David expresses his fears in verses 11 & 12. Firstly, to lose the presence of God in his internal life, or to put it in different language, for the spirit of God to be removed from him. Secondly, to lose the deep joy from his life. And then thirdly, to lose his internal motivation - "a willing spirit" - which keeps him going through all the trials of his life. And finally fouthly, to be unable to sing of God's righteousness, or even to praise God.

There is no triumphant proclamation of God's forgiveness over him, just a recognition that is for God to forgive and cleanse (v7) and for him to allow his spirit to be broken. Is it different in the christian era because of Christ's sacrifice? "You do not delight in sacrifice" (v16) but "a broken and contrite heart you will not despise" (v17). No, in this sense it is no different to David's time, except once we reach this point we can trust in Jesus and move on. But we do still need to reach that point of internal honesty, and go through the restoration, perhaps for the first time, of our internal life to come from the spirit of God within us.

John 7:37-39 – Flowing In and Flowing Out

8/1/2025

"Streams of living water will flow from within him". As if we needed help, John adds "by this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive". This is the same living water he offers the Samaritan woman in 4:10. But Jesus does not start with the living water flowing out, but flowing in. "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink".

There is something powerful about the analogy of being thirsty. Are people "thirsty" in this way today? For meaning, purpose, love, acceptance, for strength, for contentment. It is for us to demonstrate, as the loving water flows out of us, that these things can be found through believing in Jesus and receiving the Spirit.

Is this the same spirit that David speaks of in Psalm 51? It would seem so, though how can we say? Its just that belief in Jesus opens us to receiving. And it is worth mentioning that although the experience is one of receiving, Richard Rohr believes it is already there in us. This would explain why in Romans 8 Paul speaks of "living by the spirit," and his old self dying - a theme in all his writing.

Acts 2:1-2 – Ready for the Holy Spirit

9/1/2025

There is so much not said about what exactly was happening when this, and the other group Holy Spirit incident in chapter 13:1-2, occurred. The focus, naturally, is on the outcomes, not how it happened. We have all experienced times when something has happened when we are praying & worshipping and God speaks to us or deeply affects us - yet we are only doing what we always do. What is different?

The simplistic answer, as always, is God does it. Yet, there must be contributing factors.

In 1:13 it refers to "the room where they were staying". It seems all 11 (+1 when Matthias was appointed) were sharing the same room - quite natural for them after years of itinerant life on the road. And that they were constantly joined in prayer with the women & Jesus' family (v14). Given that Jesus taught them to pray so briefly, this must refer to the way in which they interacted together as well as worship. There were around 120 of them in total (v15). And they were expectant (v4-5) , expecting to be baptised with the Holy Spirit in a few days time.

So, Pentecost morning did not come out of the blue. They were deeply connected to one another, they were alert and open, and they were accustomed to prayer together. It seems that the same was true of the church in Antioch in chapter 13 when Paul & Barnabas are called to their itinerant work. We develop these habits together in order to be ready for those crucial moments when God steps in and calls us and changes us.

Mark 10: 35-40 – Can we?

10/1/2025

"We can" say the disciples enthusiastically, thinking a simple affirmative answer will secure their places beside Jesus in glory. Oh man! They didn't yet understand what "glory" meant, nor about the "cup" Jesus needed to drink or the" baptism" he was undergoing. And neither was Jesus inclined to enlighten them.

The worst of it was that they were so enthusiastic for all the wrong reasons, and here they were on their way to Jerusalem. They had heard what Jesus had said about what would happen there, but like so many men signing up to fight in a noble cause, they seem to have no idea what the reality would be.

But Jesus takes their affirmative at face value. It is after all a starting place. And even if they struggle though the events in Jerusalem, like Peter, their willingness in principle holds them fast. Yet those words are not the "be all and end all". Matt 21:28-32 tells the story of two sons, one said "I will" but didn't, the other "I will not" but did. It's what we actually do when the moment comes that matters, and we may struggle with that. But a decision now to act courageously then will go a long way.

Jesus does not criticize their motivation like the other disciples did, he runs with it. You want to become great? Well, you need to be the servant of all. I just like the way he harnesses the motivation that is there, but points it in the right direction.

Matthew 9:9-13 – The Spiritual Malaise

11/1/2025

Jesus was already well known for his authoratitive teaching (7:29), authoratitive healing (8:9), authoratative deliverance (8:16) (8:32) and even authority to declare that someone's sins are forgiven (9: 2). He had also rebuked the wind and waves (8:26), although this was just witnessed by his disciples in the boat with him.

This notoriety led people to want to follow him, which he warned against (8:20) and insisted on an instant response (8:22). It seemed to always be "ok, come right now". Never mind that there are things to sort out first, like the duty to care for a dead (or dying) father. He had the notoriety and charisma to demand this. As things were developing so fast, every moment was a "now" moment, so it made a lot of sense.

So when Matthew gets the call to follow, it was now or never. Hopefully he wasn't alone at the tax booth and left all that ready cash unattended! Presumably they already had met and it wasn't out of the blue, but I don't think this had to be the case. Jesus picks Matthew because of his personal qualities yes, but also & mainly because he is lost. He has chosen wealth at the expense of social isolation and compromised identity. "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?" (16:26). Matthew's malaise was not physical or demonic, but was deeper and hidden, and got no sympathy from anyone. Except Jesus.

Like all his disciples, the transformation might take a bit of time, but like Zacheus later on, his change of heart is instant when he realizes he has been accepted by the most socially desirable guy in town. He willingly leaves behind the money & security of it when the offer is there.

Our society makes a lot of fuss about money. but to go after it at the expense of relationships and the principles that go with who you are is a terrible choice. "Better a little with righteousness than much gain with injustice" (Prov 16: 8) is just one of many proverbs warning it is always better to take the path of integrity.

Tackling the deep, inner spiritual malaise is what Jesus is about. Not necessarily who you think you are - Matthew no doubts had great thoughts about the life he had chosen, people always do, but who you really are. It is in the encounter with Jesus and how you feel about the opportunity to follow him that you discover this.

Romans 8:28-39 – All Things for the Good

12/1/2025

This is a wonderfully deep and paradoxical passage. It starts with the declaration that God works all things for the good, and moves through to the point where "we face death all day long... as sheep to be slaughtered". That is not “good” as we would normally define it! Continually under the threat of death is one of the most difficult conditions to live in. So there is clearly here a different perspective and a different concept of "good".

Firstly, there is the calling of God on your life, and the developing love for God which comes with this. Fundamentally, this calling is to be like Jesus. Because of that calling, there is the sense that God foreknew us and predestined us, but from our point of view, we have free choice how to respond to that call. And in responding we are first justified - slate wiped clean - and as we live it out, glorified. As Jesus said "let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" (Matt 5:16).

And this is the paradox. Because God did not spare his own son (v32), but gave him up for us, being conformed to his likeness must have the same aspect to it. Yet, at the same time, God will graciously give us all things. Thank you for all you graciously give us!

Most of all, we have the love of Christ, which nothing can separate us from. Paul lists all that he has experienced and could experience and absolutely knows that nothing can separate him from that love. In it, he is being "conformed to the likeness of his Son", the most fundamental calling of all.

And so, it is the conviction that he has been and always will be held in that love which brings about his starting conviction that God works all things together for good. "Love never fails" - "these three remain: faith, hope and love, but the greatest is love" (1 Cor 13:8,13).

#OT 2 Chronicles 20 – When a Nation Prays

13/1/2025

King Jehoshaphat faced an overwhelmingly great army advancing from the East. He resolved to respond by enquiring of the Lord (v3), and in order to do that he proclaims a fast for all of Judah, and people from every town came together to seek help from the Lord.

The king then stands before the people in the temple, but he does not deliver a rousing speech, rather he puts their case before God, standing on the promise of God hearing and responding to their plea for help, and pleading their innocence in bringing about this attack.

It wasn't just leaders, or just men, or just adults. It was whole families (v13).

It was in this massive alignment of hearts and minds that, somehow, Jahaziel receives this extraordinary revelation that they would not need to fight. They would however need to take up their positions as if they were going to fight.

The next morning they all set out, encouraged with a message from the king to have faith in the prophetic message. He then takes the iniative and sets up men at the head of the army praising God "for the splendor of this holiness", and his enduring love. Just a real focus on the goodness of God.

And, according to verse 22, it was when the praise started that the Lord acted, and two of the armies fought against the third, and then against each other (v23). It was a disastrous case of confusion, miscommunication and poor co-ordination amongst the 3 members of the alliance against Judah.

Not only did they avoid facing a vast army, but they obtained a huge amount of plunder, taking 3 days to collect it all. And so the place of such great threat turned into a valley of Blessing.

The very best aspect of it all is that the fear of God came upon all the kingdoms around, and Jehosaphat's kingdom was at peace. It is the most amazing testimony to what can happen when a whole nation humbles itself and prays. As apparently happened in the second world war – but that’s another story.

Luke 24: 36-49 – The Resurrection Enigma

14/1/2025

Of all the resurrection appearances, this one is the most straightforward. They are all characterised by some doubt or restraint but this one, on the first evening, the least so. Here the doubt is that Jesus is not real, but rather a ghost (v37), in response to which he is really keen to demonstrate that he is flesh and bones. He is also keen to show he is Jesus, crucified, by showing his hands and his feet. John recounts the same encounter and a follow up a week later where Thomas puts his finger into the holes from the nails and the spear in his side (John 20:22). To finally put to rest any doubt, he eats with them.

It is the straightforwardness of the encounter that makes it the most perplexing. When Paul writes of the (general) resurrection in I Corinthians 15, he says "it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body" (v44). But Jesus' body seems natural in every way. Paul also equates Jesus' resurrection to everyone else's, having no time for those who think Jesus was a special case (v13). This is even more perplexing, since it is hard to conceive of any kind of process that could achieve this.

Paul had definitely been deeply affected by his experience on the road to Damascus, which he includes on the list of Jesus’ resurrection appearances in v8, the only one after Jesus' "ascension" in Acts 1. To him, it all added up ok, but to me it remains a massive puzzle.

Luke 5: 1-11 – the Realisation of Sinfulness

15/1/2025

Jesus borrows a boat. Well, not just a boat, a boat and a rower with it, who then becomes a captive listener with a front-row seat. Simon wasn’t one of the crowd listening to Jesus - he was busy washing his nets. But he couldn't help but listen now!

When Jesus finishes speaking, its time for a practical demonstration. I can imagine he'd been teaching "seek first his Kingdom & his righteousness and all these things will be given you as well" (Matt 6:33). Simon had spent all night but the fish had managed to keep away from the boat even though it was dark. Now it was broad daylight - but in the deep water it makes little difference. And breaking their normal fishing routine takes the fish by surprise!

But how was Jesus so confident? Perhaps he understood the fish, whereas the fisherman understood fishing. Or he simply lived by faith, and expected the world to work like this.

Whatever it was, Simon's reaction to the huge haul of fish was a sudden awareness of the difference between Jesus and him. Simon was not seeking either the Kingdon of God or his righteousness, which quite suddenly had become very real to him.

But in typical fashion, Jesus did not condemn Simon, and he certainly did not go away from him because he was sinful, as Simon had requested. That was the way of the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law, and sadly that was the only attitude Simon had come across until then.

"Don't be afraid". In Simon, it wasn't just a sense of unworthiness, but a fear of the power of God - even though that power had been for his good. But Jesus both reassures and calls him to follow him, and faced with that opportunity, he responds. It will be three years later, on the day of Pentecost, that Peter will truly fulfill Jesus' words spoken to him that day “I will make you a fisher of men”, and take 3000 people through exactly the same steps as he went through that morning on the lake.

Mark 14:3-11 – a Powerful Preparation

16/1/2025

Mark's version of this story is somewhat censored - in John's version, she pours the perfume on Jesus' feet and then wipes them with her hair. To be fair to Matthew & Mark, John may have borrowed that detail from a rather similar incident earlier on recounted by Luke in 7:38. But for her to do something so intimate in front of so many people must have taken both courage and passion.

Jesus receives the anointing neither as a woman's passion for him or as a terrible waste of resources, but as a preparation for what is to come. In the Luke incident, the woman is known as "sinful", and Jesus declares to her "your sins are forgiven", because she loved so much. But as she leaves he says "your faith has saved you, go in peace"(Luke 7:50). Faith and love invoke forgiveness and peace.

And so this beautiful act brings back the memory of that previous incident, and now mixed into it is the calling to suffer terribly and die a criminal's death. Now it will be Jesus' love and faith that will be tested to the extreme, but the result will be forgiveness and peace for all who accept it.

But Judas can see none of this. Rather, he is spooked by the talk of his burial. Does he not realize he is in effect bringing this about? Sadly not. He decides to cut his losses and make a bit of money as he does so. The contrast between the two men could not be greater.

John 5:33-40 – the Testimony of Deeds

17/1/2025

Jesus does not accept human testimony about himself or anyone else, but rather he looks to testimony regarding truth. This is what John did (v33), a lamp that burned and gave light, though I'm not sure if "enjoy" is quite the word for the feeling that his light gave! But it is the role of the prophet, to reveal what everyone else isn’t seeing.

John testified about Jesus, for what it was worth. But far weightier are the deeds Jesus did. These were hard to ignore - as Nicodemus said "we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no-one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him" (John 3: 2) . It wasn't so much the signs though, as the whole work he did, the fulfilling of Isaiah 61:1 which the other gospels state explicitly but here in John Jesus just says "the scriptures testify about me”!

In this passage Jesus is specifically addressing the jewish religious culture with its emphasis on diligently searching the scriptures, yet failing to realize where it points to the work that Jesus is doing. The scriptures, then and now, are not so much the embodiment of truth & life, but rather a window which allows you to see truth & life where it exists around you, or more importantly, within you.

#OT Isaiah 66: 22-24 – Rebellion as Cancer

18/1/2025

This is one of those passages that Richard Dawkins would relish, demonstrating how maverick and just horrible the God of the bible is. Firstly, insisting that all mankind bows down before him, then secondly relishing all the dead bodies of those who rebelled against him, and in particular relishing that all mankind finds them loathsome!

To help shift our perspective, it's useful to think of Yahweh not as a conquering emperor lording it over his empire, but as "mother earth" or Gaia, the collective identity of the entire world. We can then understand "rebellion" as a kind of cancer that ignores the need to co-operate with every other aspect of the ecosystem for its good, and just grows to suit itself. We can also understand bowing down before her as simply a recognition that we need to humble ourselves and yield ourselves to her demands for sustainability and preservation.

I am not the first to use the analogy of cancer - many have recognised the similarity. And I've never found anyone who feels sympathetic towards the tumour or anything but delight when it has gone.

Is it reasonable to see God as representing the whole of creation in this way? I would say the bible presents God more as representing humanity, but humanty in the context of the earth. The OT speaks often of the land being defiled by the evil that happens on it, and Paul speaks of creation waiting in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed (Rom 8:19). The point is that humanity needs to acknowledge its need to be accountable to a greater power than each individual, and that our calling is to live together well, co-operate well, and have love at the centre.

Matt 8: 1-4 – the Willing Restorer

19/1/2025

We cannot underestimate the problem that leprosy was. There was no cure for it, it was debilitating and, worst of all, it was highly contagious. It was this last aspect that, like all contagious diseases, adds social ostracisation to the pain of the illness. The concept of being made clean was a restoration of both the disease and the belonging.

Why on earth did this man think Jesus could make him clean? No-one could do that. But then again, Jesus already had a reputation for healing and deliverance. But where did the man's utter certainty come from? I can only think he recognised Jesus as more than a faith healer, but as someone who could restore lives - like the skilled repairers in the "Restoration Workshop " TV program!

But was he willing to do that? I think the leper knew the answer. The question was cleverly posed to acknowledge Jesus' power and authority and humbly ask him to act without actually grovelling. We could learn a lesson from him in how we ask for things!

However, what Jesus did was quite shocking - he reached out his hand and touched him. This reversed the normal flow! Rather than the disease transferring to Jesus, Jesus' power and authority flows into the man. Something happened immediately - not sure what or how that could be, but the cure was recognised as happening right then. And then finally, he is told to go show himself to the priest as written in the Law, in order to be accepted again - but most importantly, as a testimony to Jesus’ power & authority.

John 5:17-21 – the Work of God

20/1/2025

"My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working". When we observe Jesus' work of restoration, we realize that this restoration is, and always has been, the work of God amongst humanity. "For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. " (v21). He is not speaking of a future resurrection at this point, but rather the work of God in our inner lives. "Let the dead bury the dead" he tells a man who wants to bury his father before following him (Luke 9:60).

Not only did Jesus not invent this work, but he learn it from God, as a son learns from his father (v19). He is not talking about the work of God in history, the study of the scriptures, although that has obviously shaped Jesus (from the use he makes of them - as in Isaiah 61 in Luke 4) . But rather what he sees his Father doing - present tense - and Jesus does it too. And it is not that Jesus is super-observant, but rather that God shows him.

The concept of "the Kingdom of God" is the full expression of this work of God in restoration, and surely this is the work we are called to today?

Mark 1:32-38 – Re-centering

21/1/2025

It had been a full-on day, and now it was a full-on evening: "the whole town gathered at the door." He healed many and drove out demons from many. What Mark leaves out is that up to this time Jesus had only preached, culminating in the clash at the Nazareth synagogue described in Luke 4. So this full-on day was an incredibly exciting and revealing one.

Although he would be tired, Jesus gets up before dawn to get away from everyone, and pray. This is the process of re-centering which is so necessary when there's a lot going on. It is the purpose of this spiritual practice of mine of writing reflections, to start the day away from all that you have to deal with and listen, and be still.

"Be still and know that I am God" says Psalm 46. This is the process, to start the day still. Wherever you start prayer, you end it still. And from that place of stillness you can see clealy, with spiritual eyes.

On this occasion, this place of stillness enabled Jesus not to continue this highly effective and exciting ministry in Capernaum, but to move on. To go to the nearby villages, and to travel throughout the region visiting the synagogues - "that is why I have come" (v38). It is in that re-centred place of stillness that you are able to align your life to your purpose, and if necessary walk away from being reactive to all the exciting opportunities that present themselves.

Acts 3:1-10 – the Loss and the Gain

22/1/2025

This poor man had settled into a role as professional beggar. Quite possibly, most of the money he collected didn’t go to him. I remember being approached by a young boy in Hyderabad who had no tip to his tongue, who handed me a begging note. I hate to think why a part of his tongue was missing. How could I refuse him? And our beggar, being at the gate of the temple where people reckoned on giving anyway, was in prime position, the best patch of the whole city.

You wonder what his back-story was, being crippled from birth - did anyone really make any effort to get him walking as would happen in the UK today? But however he got here, being a cripple was both his profession and his identity.

Before this moment, we don't read of Peter or John healing anyone. They had seen Jesus do it so often. But there was something about this man, this moment, which triggered Peter's instinct. He didn't pray. he didn’t lay his hands on him, he just told him - commanded him - to walk, and reached out his hand and lifted him up. He didn’t even struggle, he jumped to his feet. In an instant his identity was changed and his profession lost. But at the same time, a whole new life lay ahead of him.

The instant strength was impressive, and he was totally elated. The most beautiful thing is that it was God he was praising, as it was in effect God who had released him, and he knew it.

The incident is a picture of the ministry that Peter & John were going to oversee as the church developed. It is also a picture of our calling today. It is so full of metaphors, but I will leave you, my reader, to figure those out.

John 21 – the Really Great Commission

23/1/2025

It seems in John's gospel that the disciples need a little help understanding their mission. In John there is no day of Pentecost and 3000 saved. Just a breathing on them for them to receive the Holy Spirit (20:22), and a commision to declare the forgiveness of sins over whoever they decide on.

So when they return to their old life of fishing, they need a bit of a nudge. Wouldn't it have been neat if John's gospel had also recorded the incident with the massive haul of fish when Peter & John were called to follow Jesus at the start? It seems it was that memory that made John realize who it was, though exactly how has to be left for us to work out. And around the fire, they knew it was Jesus, not because of his appearance but because of his manner.

So Peter is challenged over his choice to fish again. It's not a matter of duty or even calling, but of love. Peter has a satisfyingly large haul of fish. Is that what he loves? But if he loves Jesus, then he needs to "feed his lambs "and "look after his sheep". That is Peter's job in a nutshell. Not to head up a world-changing organisation, but to love Jesus and look after those who follow him.

Peter does ask about John’s future, but Jesus will not say. Peter's task is to follow Jesus, no matter what the consequence, whether it works out as he would like or whether it doesn't. To follow, to love, and to look after the others who do. It's a pretty straightforward commission, but at the very heart of it is love.

Mark 4:12 – Veiling the Message

24/1/2025

"otherwise they might turn and be forgiven". When Jesus is recorded as quoting scripture, it is very significant, and this is no exception. The passage he is quoting is from Isaiah 6 (v9-13), where Isaiah is cleansed with a burning coal and then told to curse the people with never understanding or perceiving, and in so doing harden their hearts, so they won’t turn and be healed. Significantly, Jesus replaces the word "healed" with "forgiven".

Jesus is the antithesis of the mass evangelist. He has a crowd and they are listening. He delivers a message that is as clear as mud. Not even the disciples understand it, with all their prior experience of Jesus. He does not finish with an appeal to follow him, in fact he mostly seems to deter people from doing that.

I think it is the turning that would be the problem to Jesus. We decry the "hell-fire & brimstone" preachers for scaring people into turning, and so we should, since Jesus never spoke like that (John the Baptist spoke like that, but the least in the Kingdon of heaven is greater than he). But then, what is a valid reason for someone to turn?

If I could summarize the gospels and Acts, it is encounter. Encounter with something transcendent and powerful. The encounter needs to be personal in some sense, not just as a spectator being entertained. Only then is someone's new faith personal too. But we can help facilitate that encounter by being open and transparent about the work of God in our own lives and reaching out with it.

Acts 11:19-26 – Give It a Go

25/1/2025

Why not? Why not speak to the Greeks about Jesus? I guess two main reasons - firstly, Jesus was the Jewish Christ, to bring about the restoration of Israel - always at the forefront of their minds - even though it didn't seem to actually be on Jesus' agenda (Acts 1: 6). Secondly, explaining about Jesus needed the back-story of the jewish scriptures, or so they imagined.

However, "the Lord's hand was with them " (v11). They had stumbled upon the truth that the risen Christ was actually for everyone, I guess by just giving it a go. The idea of reaching out to a people who you naturally would think would never become christian has inspired the mission movements of the past millenia. Never assume. Give it a go, wholeheartedly. There are so many inspiring stories, often of great personal danger & sacrifice.

The church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas, who saw the evidence of the grace of God. That's all he needed. If the men of Cyprus & Cyrene were effective with the Greeks, it seems Barnabas was even more so, not because he was an eloquent preacher but because his life, full of the Holy Spirit & faith, radiated Christ. And then he remembered Saul, and the commission he had received after the road to Damascus to go to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15). This was surely Saul's moment. Of course, it wasn't just a matter of giving him a phone call! So he started by going to Tarsus, and fortunately managed to find him.

Barnabas was one of those people who helped things happen in a bigger and fuller way - a catalyst, to use the chemical analogy. How? By being full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and most importantly, being ready to drop everything & go.

#OT Zechariah 8 – the City of Truth

26/1/2025

This chapter is what is described as a "Vision" - not a brief moment when your consciousness enters a dreamlike state, but a clear imagining of a possible future, a highly desirable future. For a people scattered around other nations, with the motherland in ruins, it was a future very different indeed to present reality.

It wasn't just imagination though. It was the word of the Lord to Zechariah. It is interesting to us because it describes what a restored country would look like. And it doesn't include sovereignty and self-determination. What it does describe is a culture based on Truth and Justice. Truth when one person speaks to another, truth when someone swears an oath, always truth. "The City of Truth" (v37).

The Vision goes on to describe the impact of this, and it is far reaching. People live to be old, and significantly they are not afraid to go out and participate in normal life. They are vulnerable and need a cane, but they are out there on the streets. And so are the children, playing freely with no-one worrying about them.

In this Vision, business works really well, agriculture works well, and because of this the economy thrives. Even the climate works well (v12), which suggests the whole ecosystem is working well.

The religous community festivals will be glad occasions. No-one wants evil for their neighbour, people love truth and peace.

The country has an international impact. Nations do not curse it, rather it is a blessing to them. People will travel there to seek the Lord Almighty, and will look for a jew to go with, because of their reputation for God being with them.

The amazing thing is, this latter part of the Vision seems to describe the day of Pentecost well. But the Vision didn't complete then because the truth and justice didn't complete, and there was too much to unhinge it. In the same way, today we have a lot of the Vision here in the UK, but not completely.

Revelation 11:15-18 – Those Who Destroy the Earth

27/1/2025

Over the years, many Christians have picked verses from Revelation and used them, or their imagery, in hymns (even though the book is clearly allegorical). However, the verses that begin this poem are particularly famous because of their use in the Hallelujah chorus of Handel's Messiah, and neatly and beautifully summarize the longed-for Kingdom of God thoughout the earth. Rather less used are the closing words; the judgement and destruction of those who destroy the earth. In Genesis 1:28 mankind is given a mandate to fill the earth and subdue it, to rule over all the animal kingdom, but mankind has gone way past subduing the earth, and is slowly but steadily destroying it.

What is surprising from these verses is that it is the prophets and saints who are clearly the ones who stood against this destruction. Surprising not in the sense that it seems right that they do, but in that this is not what we see today. It does not seem to be those who revere Christ's name who stand against the destruction, if anything it is they that seem less concerned.

Maybe it is because there are other important factors that are also important, in particular prosperity. Prosperity used to be associated with managing the land well for agriculture - "subduing" it. Now it is associated with economic growth, consumption of energy, one’s nation being competitive on the world stage. It is driven by consumerism. But whilst prosperity is definitely key to the biblical vision of humanity under Christ, it is not this form of prosperity.

This calls for great wisdom. The following chapters speak of dragons and beasts that excercise authority over people everywhere. We need to consider what these actually are today - since every age has its "beasts" - forces that bear down an humanity. And I fear that economic growth is one of them, and everything associated with it.

#OT Song of Songs 5:2-8 – Falling in Love

28/1/2025

My sister-in-law has fallen in love, but not with her husband. It is such a compelling and overwhelming emotion for her that she knowingly destroys everything she has built for the last 27 years, and causes anguish for all those close to her. It is not that she's hardened her heart towards them, its just that she cannot withstand the forces acting upon her. "Fallen" is the right metaphor, since she is helpless to stop what is happening.

This book of the Bible is an observation of being in love, and this passage describes how your lover's will transfers itself to you. She is in bed and cosy and doesn't want to get up. But her lover wants her and thrusts his had through the latch-opening, and that triggers this obsessive response, where on finding him gone she goes out into the night to look for him and ends up being beaten by the watchmen.

There is something beautiful about this passion, and it’s no wonder so many books and films are made about it, and songs sung about it. In fact, it is the same passion that can fill the heart of someone who grasps the significance of the cross.

But sadly, in the case of my dear sister-in-law, this passion is working against everything she holds dear. In a very similar passage in chapter 3 the “beloved” succeeds in finding her lover & brings him home. She ends with a warning "do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires" (3: 5) - until it is ready for the inevitable consequences. Like all passion, if the outcome is unwanted, then be so careful not to arouse it. Really, this is your best defence.

#OT Ezekiel 2 – Facing the Truth

29/1/2025

Humans are naturally optimistic about the uncertain future. Something will turn up. We'll find a solution. It will be alright on the night. Our right brain reassures our left brain. And there's a lot in this, as it is very easy to worry about particular things that have been brought to your attention. The time when we should not say these things is when we are doing something that will, if we face the truth, make the future worse. What will the “future you” think about the present you? It is a question I like to ask when I'm in a coaching conversation.

The problem is, we may not want to stop what we are doing. Worst of all, it may require everyone to stop for the inevitable consequence to be prevented. Or at least, the vast majority. In this case, the culture has to change. But how do you bring about that?

Then other factors come in. People want to think they are good and right. People don’t like to give up power. And they want to be successful. So if what you are doing is going to have a generally negative consequence, they won’t want to stop for personal reasons. So they convince themselves, and resist anyone who says they are wrong, or bad. That resistance extends to ensuring everyone else agrees with them, which ultimately means silencing the voice that convinces otherwise.

It is into this situation that God sends the prophet. Because every individual or nation deserves a warning. The prophet has instructions - to not be afraid, to speak the words of God and not to rebel like the culture rebels. The prophet needs to set the example as well as speak honest words.

And the honest words Ezekiel is given are lament, mourning and woe. It is not that Ezekiel is to be a prophet of doom, but a prophet of God.

#OT Judges 3:1-11 – the Paradox of Peace

30/1/2025

The narrative explains that the new generation needed to learn warfare in order to keep the cultural integrity of the new nation, and of course its sovereignty. But they chose the other way, that of peace and integration. It seemed a great idea. But all it actually achieved was to make them vulnerable to exploitation, and they became subject to the King of Aram. Caleb's nephew took a leadership role and was able to overpower the king of Aram, and gave peace for 40 years.

Peace and integration is indeed a great idea, but the lesson is that it must not come at the cost of your culture, your identity or indeed your national sovereignty. If it is eroding that, then you will end up losing everything.

The narrative explains that it is the Lord who sold them into the hands of the King of Aram, and the Lord who raised up Othniel to deliver them by becoming their judge. Interesting that judging was his primary role, and it was because of their dire situation that they accepted his judgement.

And so, the nation reforms, earns a reputation as able to defend itself and as a consequence enjoys peace. This is not just about warfare, but all the competition that is simply part of life.The stronger your defence, the less you need to use it- generally speaking. There are exceptions - sooner or later that strength will be tested. In the case of Israel, the peace lasts until a new generation that grows up in it neglects its spiritual heritage, and the cycle happens all over again.

It is 80 years since our nation experienced war. A whole generation that grew up in peace has almost passed through, and even newer generations run the country. But because of what we have done with that peace, our national state is deteriorating faster than ever, and sadly there will be dire consequences of that.

#OT Job 25:1-27:6 - Armchair Theology

31/1/2025

"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" would be a fair summary of Bildad in chapter 25, reiterated by Paul in Romans 3:23.

"If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us" would be John's response to Job in chapter 27 (1 John 1: 8).

Yet, at the end of Job's story, the Lord speaks of Bildad & the others that they "have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has" (Job 42: 8). So how come the apostles are agreeing with Bildad and joining in the voices trying to get the stubborn Job to admit his faults?

There is a mismatch between the "armchair" theology of Bildad and the deep unjust suffering that Job is enduring. Job has lost everything else - his wife. family, possessions, health & wellbeing - he is determined not to lose his integrity. The problem with agreeing he is a sinner would be that the armchair theologians would have crushed his soul, the final piece of his former life that is still there. It is one thing to quote Romans and I John to a proud, self-righteous person; it is quite another to someone who is in intense suffering.

There is also the issue of context. Romans 3 is about the grace of God and righteousness through faith. Job's arguments are around the accusation that he is suffering as a result of the sin in his life. In the context of that accusation, Job can be considered righteous.

Then finally, the need at that moment is to help Job through this terrible dark time. Yet Bildad is not doing that, as Job's cutting sarcasm in 26: 1 is expressing. Even if Job were in this state because of his hidden sin, this would not be the moment to be discussing it.

#OT Psalm 141 - Called to Leadership

1/2/2025

An honest prayer of David's, an offering to God just as the evening sacrifice & incense are offerings. I would say its contents are somewhat unexpected.

David has a “door to his lips” and he wants God to keep watch over it! To ensure he does not inadvertently get drawn into what is evil. It is too easily done. He can’t just keep himself aloof & separate (he is king and their leader), he has to be present - and he has to set the example. And as salt of the earth and the light of the world, so must we.

He wants to be rebuked by righteous men, even struck by them. This is the desire to be accountable, rather than the desire to be always right. It is not the natural approach of someone who aspires to leadership - so often driven by the desire not to be accountable. But then, David did not choose leadership, it chose him. We cannot and must not lead from our egos.

He prays against the deeds of the evidoers, and he prays they will learn from the words he speaks. Their schemes need to fail, and he prays for that. He prays to escape thier traps - and that they themselves would be caught in them – that the wicked fall into their own nets whilst he passes by in safety.

"But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign Lord, in you I take refuge". This is his secret of success, its not about him, his power or his greatness. Its not about his achievements or his happiness. It's about dwelling with & seeing clearly the One who called him to this role.

#OT Ezekiel 36:16-36 – the Route to Restoration

2/2/2025

The nation is all but demolished and its people scattered to other nations, forcefully removed from their homeland. The nations say that Yahweh is powerless to prevent this, but the prophets speak otherwise, that this is Yahweh's wrath because of the bloodshed and idolatry which took over the country. It little matters to the dominating countries around - the dreadful outcome is the same either way.

But it matters to Yahweh, because Israel was formed to be a testimony among the nations to the Lord of heaven & earth, and a blessing to them as a result - at least, once peace was established. And this complete failure to maintain this testimony cannot be the end of the story.

And so this amazing declaration to the scattered people of Israel. Firstly, they will return to the land. Secondly, they will be cleansed from all that sordid past and be able to make a fresh start with a clear conscience, and free of idols. Thirdly, they will have a new heart and a new spirit within them – replacing a heart of stone, hard & unresponsive, with a heart of flesh, alive & responsive. Fourthly, this new spirit will be the Spint of Yahweh and it will become natural to desire to follow Yahweh's decrees and take care to keep Yahweh's laws. In summary, there will be a complete restoration of the original calling of the nation. Considering the hopeless state of the people of Israel, the promise seems totally unrealistic. Yet it did happen, and we have the books of Nehemiah & Ezra to give us some idea how.

The starting place is in this passage - "be ashamed & disgraced for your conduct, O house of Israel " (v32). This is not imposed shame and disgrace, but self-recognition. If we cannot acknowledge our badness, then we cannot move on from it. This is true of individuals and also true of cultures and nations. Nehemiah 9 describes exactly how it happened.

And so, the ruined towns will be rebuilt, and prosperity will return. And it did.

#OT Jeremiah 38:1-4 – When Being Good for Morale is Bad

3/2/2025

Over these chapters, Jeremiah consistently delivers the message from God that the Babylonians will succeed in their attack on Jerusalem, and therefore they should surrender - and that if they do, they will live. Given his reputation as a prophet who tells it like it is, this doesn't go down well with the soldiers and the people of the city, who are suffering. In fact, it is completely demoralising.

The king hears the message directly and privately on multiple occasions. But what can he do? It is his job to lead into victory and protect, not to surrender and be at the mercy of a conquering power. What the King and people need to hear are the positive words of self-belief that would enable them to rise up and resist and win. Or better still, a word from God that will assure them of victory against the odds, as in Israel's history. So, Jeremiah's words fall on deaf ears and everyone wants to silence him.

The missing piece of advice is that they need to acknowledge that it is their own rejection of their God which has brought them to this place. This humility would give them the courage and self-respect to surrender. But that is just too upside down to even contemplate. Forced upon them it would feel like they were being crushed even more. But if it came from their own realisation, then they could do it with strength and peace. They needed to remember that ancient promise: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

This is so true of everyone, individuals and nations or other groups, who are facing a crushing defeat. If you humble yourself and acknowledge your own contribution towards the situation, you can surrender with self-integrity. But your natural drive towards self-preservation will resist this. So, it is important to always be in the habit of being open to God, and always be prepared to acknowledge your shadow side, and the role it may have played in getting you to this bad place.

#OT Ecclesiastes 5:8-20 – Being Wise about Money

4/2/2025

King Solomon's observations are deeply personal and you can tell that he himself has failed to transcend the meaninglessness that he became painfully aware of. In this passage he shows that in his administration poverty is caused by every layer of officials taking their cut. In our society, it is the shareholders of companies, or the government's taxes - though legislation tries to avoid the poor suffering with either. We have definitely improved a lot since Solomon’s time, at least in Europe. However, the foundational motive for so many is still money, and the warning of v10 still stands - if you go after it, you will never have enough.

He also observes the rise of consumerism - what benefit are all these things we buy? Well, a few are functional and really do improve our lives, but most fall into the category - "to feast our eyes on them" - or for others to do that & be impressed. We seem to forget we can't take it with us when we depart this life.

So, he concludes, its best of all just to labour, find satisfaction in it and be content with food & drink. And if you end up with wealth & possessions, treat them as a gift from God. In fact, to be able to do this and enjoy them is itself a gift from God!

When Jesus teaches on money, he builds on this foundation. But he adds a lot more. You cannot love both God and money. Give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's. Use your wealth to build a community of true friends. Give your money up if it is getting in the way of entering the Kingdom of God. Build your treasure in heaven. You do take something from your labour when you depart, but it is not material, it is spiritual. This is what King Solomon in all his wisdom never understood, but at least he stood back from all that consumes the hearts & minds of so many today and declared it for what it is - meaningless.

#OT 1 Kings 16:29-17:1 - The Prophet vs the King

5/2/2025

Here begins the conflict between Ahab the King and Elijah the prophet of Yahweh. Israel, the northerly of the two kingdoms (Jerusalem was in Judah, the southerly kingdom) was sliding far away from its calling and completely rejecting its spiritual foundations, thanks to a succession of kings who led the nation away from Yahweh. Ahab cemented this by marrying Jezebel, who seemed to take control of Ahab spiritually.

He builds a temple to Jezebel's god Baal and sets up an Asherah pole to the goddess Asherah, consort of Baal. In effect, he makes Baal worship the state religion.

For all the years since Joshua entered the land and destroyed Jericho, Jericho had never been properly restored with a wall and gates. In Joshua 6:26 he proclaims a curse on the person who does this and it had been left as a poignant reminder of how they came to be in the land. But now it is rebuilt, at the cost of two sons as Joshua had proclaimed, and this final reminder of their heritage removed. The transformation of the nation is complete and its destiny set.

However, there was a prophet of Yahweh in Israel. The Levitical priesthood had been abandoned long ago by Jeroboam (12:31), which began the downhill slide, but although Israel had abandoned Yahweh, Yahweh had not abandoned Israel.

Elijah's task became to prove that Baal was a fake god, and he began by proclaiming a drought in Israel - since Baal was the god of fertility and rain. It would only rain when Elijah proclaimed it would, since he is the servant of Yahweh, the true God of fertility and rain -the "Lord of heaven and earth".

This is not a clash of culture or religions fighting one another. This is simply a battle for the truth, a truth they were trying to eradicate in the rebuilding of Jericho, that Yahweh has a power that Baal does not have. Baal is powerful in appealing to what people seem to want in a religion, but Yahweh is not a human construct at all, but one who reveals himself, and is accessed by faith. Elijah would need a lot of that in the conflict that lay ahead.

#OT 1 Kings 17 - Living by Who’s Faith?

6/2/2025

Elijah literally lived by faith. He hears the word of the Lord and acts upon it. Firstly, he lives in a ravine and is fed by ravens, who are commanded by God to do so. They are of course the most intelligent of birds and would well understand the task they felt compelled to do. Secondly he goes to the heart of Jezebel's homeland and tells a poor widow, with just enough food for one meal, to feed him first. But he delivers his request with a promise from God that her supplies will not in fact run out, and they don’t (how they get topped up is never stated, it could be any number of ways). So now the three of them - Elijah, the widow and her son - are living by faith. Or to be exact, the widow and her son are living on Elijah's faith.

But its a simple, frugal, life and the son gets ill, and deteriorates to the point where he stops breathing. This time, there is no word from God regarding what to do. So Elijah takes him to his own personal space and lays him on his own bed, and cries out to God. He asks the question of God - "have you brought tragedy by causing him to die?". It's a question, not an accusation. Then he pleads with God as he brings the boy even more into his personal space by lying on him - three times. God responds and the boy lives.

I can't help but be struck by the degree of personal responsibility the man of God takes for the dying boy. And the widow's faith is interesting too. In verse 12, she says "as surely as the Lord your God lives". It's not that she doesn't believe in Yahweh, its just that she doesn’t think Yahweh is interested in her. If she wasn't convinced by her provisions never runing out (it seems she wasn’t), she is convinced by the healing of her son. But her faith was in Elijah's faith. It seems Elijah had no remit to extend his own faith to her. This is why the gospel that the apostle Paul grasped and committed his life to is so incredible - this life of faith is opened up to everyone.

#OT 1 Kings 18:1-15 - Hidden in Plain Sight

7/2/2025

The story unfolds. Yahweh had completely hidden Elijah, first of all in a place where not a single human ever saw him, and secondly right in amongst Jezebel's people with a poor widow - who would ever question a man, woman & boy living together? It turns out Ahab had looked for Elijah in every nation and kingdom, and made each kingdom swear they couldn't find him. But Elijah was in plain sight in the midst of his enemies.

Enemies, because we now discover Jezebel had set about killing the Yahweh's prophets, to such an extent that Obadiah had hidden a hundred of them and managed to supply them with food & water in spite of the famine being so severe. In fact, Obadiah was very conflicted. as he is in charge of the king's palace, and was presumably leading a double life, using his position & influence as best he could to oppose Jezebel's ruthless persecution.

However, Ahab had to look for Elijah no longer as he had been told to go and present himself to Ahab. Obadiah's fear of big accused of letting Elijah slip out of his hands shows how ruthless Ahab had also become. It seems Elijah had a reputation for just vanishing, carried off by the Spirit of Yahweh. But now that same Spirit was leading him right into Ahab's hands.

You can't help notice the contrast between one poor man with no power & no resources and the rich and powerful ruler of the nation, able to do as he pleased with all the resources of the nation at his disposal. But that isn’t the important contrast - Elijah was a servant of the Lord of heaven and earth and Ahab was becoming the servant of a dark & sinister force emanating from his deranged and dangerous wife Jezebel. This was becoming a true spiritual battle.

#OT 1 Kings 18:16-24 - The Stage is Set

8/2/2025

Elijah wasn't daft. He arranged with Obadiah to meet King Ahab somewhere where he could avoid being siezed by the king. From the King's perspective, it was Elijah who troubled Israel. Ahab didn’t know quite how, but somehow he held him to blame for the drought & consequent famine. Elijah holds the king & his predecessors accountable, for abandoning Yahweh's commands and generally bringing trouble on the country.

In verse 36 we learn that the whole sequence of events that Elijah proposes to the king was Yahweh's command to Elijah – none of it was in any way his idea. It was because of this Elijah proceeded with the utmost confidence.

It seems that Jezebel had collected a lot of prophets of Baal and of Asherah. Not only was she killing off Yahweh's prophets, but she was replacing them with her own equivalent. 850 prophets "eating at her table"!

It's amazing that Ahab agrees to Elijah's request for a showdown. Presumably he is thinking that 850 vs 1, with all the authority and force of the state on the side of the 850 - the outcome is pretty obvious, no matter what happens. What does he have to lose? And sure enough, when Elijah makes his rousing appeal to choose one way or the other, not a single person responds. No-one is going to choose Yahweh under those circumstances, yet there is something about Elijah's commitment & passion that is quite compelling. So the people say nothing.

Elijah proposes a contest between the gods, based on the god who answers by fire being the true God, and all the people think this is a great idea. I'm pretty sure Jezebel, Ahab and the 850 prophets didn't think it was a good idea at all, but they could hardly back down now

Before we move on to what actually happens, its worth reflecting on the amazing journey to get to this point, from Elijah being a hunted man and in hiding for several years, to him standing in front of both the prophets of Baal & the nation itself - and calling the shots too. It makes me think of those words of Jesus - "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you" (Matt 7:7) .

#OT 1 Kings 18:25-39 - The Great Showdown

9/2/2025

It seems the prophets of Baal had sincere beliefs – or else they just decided to act out their parts, and it wat only Jezebel who had the sincere beliefs. But to be sure, not one of them expected Elijah to fare any better, so they may as well at least show their passion and devotion. And so they shouted for Baal to respond and danced around the altar they had made. 850 men dancing and shouting would have been quite a spectacle and they did it all morning. Like waiting for a goal in a football match, or an overtake in Fl, it would have been the anticipation that kept everyone's attention. Would Baal answer? If so, Elijah wouldn’t then get his turn.

Elijah helped keep the day going by taunting the prophets. He seems to have the day under complete control. He was unarmed and outnumbered, yet he seemed to be able to call all the shots. I think Ahab was humoring him - let him have his moment and then, at the end, when no fire had come, Elijah is booed off for wasting everybody's time.

For whatever reason, the prophets of Baal respond to the taunts with great fervour. They slashed themselves until blood flowed. It was all getting quite serious, though it was their normal practice to do this. They clearly embraced the role of prophet wholeheartedly. The spectacle continued all afternoon, like the match going into extra time in the hope something would eventually happen! But eventually, Elijah calls time, the prophets fall silent and everyone's attention turns to Elijah.

Elijah rebuilds an altar that was there but ruined. He takes 12 stones and reminds them of their history as one nation of 12 tribes, not the very divided two nations they had become. He uses those stones to reform the altar, with tremendous symbolism.

Then Elijah does something that must have seemed quite counterintuitive. He drenches the wood, the meat and the ground with water. There is even a small trench to ensure the water stays on the ground. To the people, it would have seemed as if he was making it all the harder to light. Certainly, it left no doubt in anyone's mind that he had not surreptitiously lit the wood.

It seems there was a time set for the sacrifice, maybe the time the evening sacrifice was always done. Elijah was most publically restoring the commands of Yahweh. He prays a simple prayer asking Yahweh to answer so that the people will dearly know who is God, and that Yahweh is turning their hearts back again.

The fire does indeed fall and burns up everything. The people fall prostrate and acknowledge Yahweh as God. Will it be the turning point for the northern Kingdom of Israel, or will Jezebel just exert her power and enforce Baal worship even harder?

We can learn so much from this story about man-made religion and about hearing and serving the true God. But we must always remember that Elijah did not came up with any of this - he merely heard God very clearly, and he did this because he lived a life of obedience, no matter what he was asked to do. Like David before him he learnt his spiritual power through a life of trust.

#OT 1 Kings 18:40-46 - Seizing the Moment

10/2/2025

I'm pretty sure Jezebel was not there, probably it was a male-only gathering. Ahab was stunned like everyone else and decisively proved wrong and Elijah right, whether he liked it or not.

Elijah, who by now had taken full control of everything, told the people to sieze the 850 prophets and somehow had them all killed, which, given the power & influence of Jezebel, who was effectively their mistress, was the only option for dealing with them. The OT law did allow for this in Deuteronomy 13, nevertheless it would not have been easy for Elijah to command it. But it had to be done immediately, else it couldn’t be done at all.

Next, Elijah prophecies rain, heavy rain, at that. He says there is sound of heavy rain, but it's not anywhere hear him yet! This is the final test of Elijah's faith & authority for this event on Mount Carmel. On the basis of a single tiny cloud rising from the sea he tells Ahab to get a move on before the rain stops him! But the sky grows black and the wind and rain came and, still on adrenaline, Elijah races Ahab in his chariot all the way to Jezreel.

With hindsight we can see that the "fire from heaven" could well have been a famous "Bolt from the Blue" lightening strike, brought to that place by the relatively high conductivity of water, and so not catching one of the people instead! The heavy rain soon afterwards makes this all the more likely. But Elijah knew none of this, and he definitely did not know the likelihood of a lightening strike, or its likely timing or position. Yet he arranged the day with perfect timing and all his actions ensured the lightening hit the altar. This is such a powerful demonstration of really, truly, hearing God, and there have been others so many since, in the lives of countless men and women of faith.

#OT 1 Kings 19:1-9a - The Crash

11/2/2025

Quite what Elijah thought would happen in Jezreel I'm not sure, but presumably he hoped that with all the unequivocal evidence Ahab had been presented with, they would continue by dealing with the Baal temple and Asherah pole. But Jezebel would have none of that.

Did God speak about going to Jezreel? Or was Elijah just running an adrenaline? But with Jezebel's powerful threat, to stay would put himself at her mercy, and that he did not want to do. Ahab needed him to stand up to her, but Elijah did not think he could.

So he ran. First of all to the southernmost town, and then a further day into the desert. Then the adrenaline rush was truly over and he was totally exhausted. He felt bad about so much -maybe the bloodshed, maybe his lack of courage to face Jezebel, maybe because he had won the battle but lost the war. When you are tired it is hard to make a good assessment. Elijah was at a very low ebb.

Then, in the middle of a desert, someone brings him food and drink. Did Elijah not think to take some? Like Moses before him and Jesus after him, he seems to not make it a priority! And so not once but twice he sleeps, eats and drinks. In this situation people will sleep for 36 hours or so - like Grace's Uncle Joseph escaping from Germany in the war (a great story!).

Finally, Elijah (at a more sensible pace I suspect) makes his way to Horeb - to Sinai - where it all began with Moses. Could God not have spoken to him where he was? Well, he could have, but it seems he didn't. So Elijah keeps going, putting more and more distance between him and his (worried?) servant left in Bethsheba! To overcome the poison Jezebel, Elijah needed more than just a word from God. He needed a life changing shift of perspective. So he makes the pilgrimage to Horeb.

All credit to Elijah for laying every thing down and going after the power of God lacking in his life. Have we not got much to learn? Elijah, the prophet, who by faith won so great a victory, humbles himself and seeks God all over again. He had wanted to give up, but God in his mercy refreshed him and gave him the strength to continue.

#OT 1 Kings 19:9b-18 - The Gentle Whisper

12/2/2025

Having slept the night in a cave, Yahweh, who gave such a precise and powerful instruction for Mount Carmel, now asks Elijah what he's come to Horeb for. Its not that he doesn't know, but Elijah needs to articulate it. No more the bold and faith-filled prophet, Elijah is now filled with very real fear. He isn't going to be able to do another Mount Carmel. Yahweh will need to solve this one.

So Yahweh says to Elijah to stand in Yahweh's presence. There are then the three most powerful and destructive forces on earth - tornado, earthquake and fire - but Yahweh is not in those (despite the poetry in the Psalms that suggests so). Then, the gentle whisper, and in that gentle whisper Elijah hears Yahweh’s plans for dealing with Ahab & Jezebel. To make the plan happen, three men need to be appointed, two as kings - they are both ready to grasp the kingship, but they need the divine mandate to take the big step of a coup.

Elijah's ministry has not been as fruitless as he thought - there are still 7000 who haven't given in to the Baal worship, faithful in extreme pressure. But regardless, Elijah had been obedient, so the outcome was not actually up to him.

Which challenges us today. Are we listening for the voice of God, or are we just doing what we think will work? "Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labour in vain" (Psalm 122:1). Elijah has to learn to let that happen.

#OT 1 Kings 19:19-21 - Burning your Bridges (or plough)

13/2/2025

The other task Elijah is given is to annoint Elisha as his successor. This is not to say that Elijah is done for yet! That's the point of succession - it needs sorting well before time, to prepare the next person. So many in all kinds of leadership make themselves indespensible, but if our leadership is out of care rather than for an ego trip, then out of care we need to put succession in place.

Rather than waiting, Elijah gets on with it. He throws his cloak around Elisha when he is in the middle of ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen. No "lets meet over coffee", just straight and direct. Neither does it seem that Elijah even waited for a response, since Elisha has to run after Elijah.

Elijah gives him time to do a proper goodbye. It looks like Elisha did ploughing for his living since he killed his oxen and cooked them on the fire, fueled with his plough, to celebrate his new calling. Everyone had a feast and celebrated with him, and then he left with Elisha.

Again, there is a lesson here. When we no longer need something valuable, we could sell it and have the money, or we could share it with a person or persons in need. I'm not thinking of taking our junk to a charity shop, more about significant resources we have. More than that, if we are called by God to do something, then lets be careful not to encumber ourselves with anything we don't need! This was the rich man's problem in Luke 18:18-30, and Jesus observes "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God".

#OT 1 Kings 20:30b-43 - Passing Judgment on a King

14/2/2025

It turns out Elijah was not the only prophet left after all, and in his absence another prophet enables Ahab, against the odds, to defeat the king of Syria, Ben-Hadad, who had made him give up his silver & gold, wives & children. And now Ben-Hadad is defeated and in hiding. Amazingly, after all the oppression and bullying treatment he had given Ahab, Ahab says "he is my brother" and signs a peace treaty restoring relations to where they had been before the present conflict started.

This was pretty magnanimous of Ahab, and in victory not to return the punitive demands he himself was given but recognize the country’s brotherhood was very commendable. But one of the "sons of the prophets" (a religous community overseen by the prophets) had a word from Yahweh about it. The treaty was fine in principle, but allowing Ben-Hadad to live after all he had done was just naïve, and not what Yahweh had decreed at all. In fact, Yahweh had chosen a new king for Syria, which would have to wait now!

So the prophet traps the king in his own judgement, just as Nathan had done with King David in 2 Samuel 12. This, in fact, is how the judgement of God tends to work - in judging others, we judge ourselves. As Matthew 7:1-2 says “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

#OT 1 Kings 21:17-29 - The Undeserved Grace of God

15/2/2025

Ahab wanted Naboth's vineyard, but Naboth wouldn’t sell. Jezebel says she'll solve the problem and Ahab allows her access to his tools of authority to deal with it. So she gives the order for Naboth to be framed and stoned by the people, under the supervision of Ahab's officials. Technically, Ahab had nothing to do with it, but was God hoodwinked by Ahab? No, and Elijah is sent to proclaim judgement over Ahab. In a fairly equivalent situation with King David, Nathan the prophet, like the prophet in yesterday's story, got the king to proclaim judgment over lumself. But here Elijah is much more direct, and simply asks a rhetorical question. However, Elijah is careful to make clear it is God & not he who asks the question. And it is Ahab's own guilt that answers it.

It seems this time round it was Ahab who was hiding from Elijah! "You have found me, my enemy". But Elijah is not Ahab's enemy and for once he doesn't have to explain that. It is God Ahab is hiding from and God who is his enemy, and it is God who proclaims the dreadful judgement on the whole house of Ahab.

Ahab's response reminds me of James 2:19 "you believe in one God? Good. Even the demons believe that and shudder". Ahab definitely believed in Yahweh, in his judgement and power to carry it out, but not in his call to integrity as king of Israel. I've always thought the word "belief" doesn't quite capture the New Testament concept - as James is highlighting. The belief needed is one that produces deeds commensurate with that belief. Ahab, aided by Jezebel, produced no such deeds.

Nevertheless, when Ahab really does humble himself, and so publicly acknowledges the lordship of Yahweh over his life, the judgement is recinded. But is Yahweh not doing with Ahab exactly what Ahab did with Ben-Hadad in the previous chapter, and was condemned for it? Yes. So we see that its not showing grace to be Ben-Hadad that Ahab was condemned for, so much as doing so when he had been told not to. The victory had been gifted by Yahweh. but he had not carried out his part of it.

So, is God inconsistent in the way he shows grace? Maybe so, but it is part of the concept of grace that it is undeserved. So from a justice point of view. it will seem inconsistent. It is the big picture, the whole purposes of God, which determines when and where grace is shown. And it has been shown in Christ, and that grace extends to everyone who puts their trust in him.

#OT 2 Kings 9:14-26 - The Final Judgement on the House of Ahab

16/2/2025

When Elijah received the three instructions from the "gentle whisper" outside the cave on Horeb (1 Kings 19), he had carried out only one of them - the easy one - to anoint Elisha as his successor. The two future kings he did not anoint. In both cases he would have been instigating treason, so it was not a casual thing! The moment needed to be right. There is the calling and there is the moment. King David had to wait a long, long time. Do you have a calling on your life? It's moment will come.

In fact, Elijah never does annoint the two men. He simply annoints the man who will see it done. In 2 Kings 8:13 Elisha tells Hazael he will become king when Hazael is on an errand to enquire of Elisha on behalf of King Ben-Hadad who is ill. He does this with tears because he knows Hazael will give Israel a hard time.

And now the time has come to annoint Jehu. This is really dangerous - and he sends someone else! The prophet delivers the message and runs. But Jehu and the other commanders take the message very seriously and Jehu rides out and kills the king of Israel, and the king of Judah too, who happens to be with him.

Jehu is a ruthless and violent reformer, executing justice for all the evil Ahab, Jezebel and their son Joram had done. He does it with a lot of pleasure too. In the rest of the chapter, Jezebel comes to her prophecied end being eaten by dogs.

Is this the way of the kingdom of God? No. Jehu is not a man of God, but he does what needed to be done. The showdown on Mount Carmel should have been enough, but the Baal worship had too strong a hold for even that to have an impact. So, it all had to be destroyed.

It wasn't just Mount Carmel either - Joram witnessed his own miracle in the previous chapters as Elisha prophecies the lifting of the seige of Samaria, and its miraculous fulfilment. Its not as if there wasn't plenty of time and opportunity to respond to the grace of God on the nation. But it was squandered, and the time of judgement on the house of Ahab & Jezebel came.

#OT Psalm 16 - Resting Secure

17/2/2025

David is king of the whole nation, but the subjects he delights in are the “saints”. I wonder what percentage of the nation David considered falling into this category? Was his definition the previous verse (v2) "apart from you I have no good thing, you are my Lord"?

He goes onto observe that his life has been assigned by God and in that he has been made secure, and that he lives in a pleasant place. It's not that it was actually better or worse than elsewhere, so much as he delighted in it. He is simply finding beauty in it. The eyes of his body are good, and his whole body is flooded with light (Matthew 6).

He rests secure. Not just at night but in the future rest of death. God has made known to him the path of life, and that presence of God in his life now will become eternal pleasure in that eternal presence.

But he seems to step beyond this to something more specific about his body at death, and it is this that Peter picks up on on the day of Pentecost as pointing beyond himself to another Holy one. Verse 10 is an enigmatic statement - is it a principle, a vision or a metaphor? It spoke through the ages to Jesus, and then to Peter and the disciples as they made sense of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 - The Root of Deception

18/2/2025

In his first letter Paul seeks to reassure the new church in Thessalonica about Jesus’ return & the resurrection of the dead. There he gave some detail about how it would happen, here with the same great assurance he writes about why it isn't happening yet and what needs to happen first. We have no idea where he gets this insight from, except in 2 Thes 4:15 he mentions "the Lord's own word" - but as he never met Jesus, we don’t know what this word was or how it came to him. He had already said face to face what he was writing - it was in effect part of his message (v57). Paul was an eschatological preacher!

Not only did he foretell the future, but he also warns of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders and "every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing". It's not just the evil that deceives, God also sends them a powerful delusion so they believe the lie (v11). (This is reminiscent of the prophet Micaiah speaking to King Ahab in 1 Kings 22, where God sends a lying spirit into the mouths of the prophets to entice Ahab to attack. The irony of that story is that even though thus warned, Ahab still attacks and is killed.)

At the heart of this confusing theology is the clarifying statement "they perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved" (v10). The truth is there, but they don't like it and so are easily deceived. The "unpalletable truth" as it is often put. We cannot be saved until we face the truth.

But what is the truth, if there are so many convincing lies being told? The clue regarding the liar is in v4 - he opposes all that is called God and replaces it with himself. But unpicking lies is not easy, and if we're not careful we will turn into conspiracy theorists. Paul's veiled language about "the man of lawlessness "and "the one who now holds it back "and "the secret power of lawlessness" doesn’t help. It opens up an eschatological can of worms which are still wiggling 2000 years later. Cearly, the Thessalonians knew exactly what he was referring to (v5&6), Paul just didn’t need to, and didn’t want to, commit it to writing.

Revelation 13:11-18 - The Power of the Beast

19/2/2025

This is the end of two chapters about the dragon and the beast, both of whom have multiple heads and crowns, and refer to kings and kingdoms. As in Daniel 2, the kings are portrayed as concurrent in the imagery, but actually symbolise a sequence of rulers, as explained in 12:10. Thus Revelation is somewhat timeless, describing reoccuring events as if they happen at one particular time.

The beast, described here as coming from the earth, performed great and miraculous signs -fire from heaven, enabling an image to speak and also able to kill. It also controlled commerce and forced everyone to have a mark on their hand or forehead in order to buy anything. However, it did all this because the first beast (the kings) gave it authority to do so on their behalf. And it enforced the worship of the kings.

This new beast looks like a lamb but speaks like a dragon - it appears gentle and harmless, yet has a great power. There is a clue as to what it is, since the “number of its name” is 666. Well, there's nothing like a puzzle to get people speculating, and speculation has abounded. It's amazing how many ways of a arriving at 666 there are! So there are lots of candidates for this beast, and maybe all of them are it. Does it matter?

To me, the passage is a warning about excessive power of the ruling authority - a power that with the digital age is going to be easy to exercise. You can’t help notice that enabling an image to speak seems a reference to our current technology! Fire from heaven our current weaponry. And with such power comes great control, as we start to see in China. Be warned.

Mark 1:1- 8 - Preparing the Way

20/2/2025

"Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him"

But exactly how was what John did a preparation for Jesus? His (somewhat abbreviated) message was "someone is coming who will baptise you with the Holy Spirit." But a lot needed to happen before the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. The quote from Isaiah 40:3 at the start says "make straight paths for him". That is very metaphorical - John's job was to make Jesus’ job much more straightforward. But in what way?

I would like to propose that John created expectancy, without which Jesus could not have performed any miracles. Without the openness to God described in verse 5 as "confessing their sins they were baptised in the Jordan river", Jesus would have encountered the same response as he did in Nazareth where "he could not do any miracles except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them" (6:57). But rather than being Nazareth-like, the “harvest was plentiful" (Matt 9:37) and he was able to heal "every disease and sickness" (Matt 9:35).

We know John's preaching included the expectancy of judgement too - of God's decisive action into a fruitless culture (eg Matt 3:10, "the axe is at the tree"). This is important too, somehow the news is not good if grace isn’t contrasted to judgement. And the message of judgement needs to be somewhat separate from the message of grace, to allow for a place of realisation and confession. People flocked to hear John, so there was something compelling about his message, and it seems it was that he created this expectancy which we seem to lack in the UK today.

#OT Ecclesiastes 2 - A Life with Pupose

21/2/2025

This king was the ultimate achiever. Hugely successful career and pleasurable life, but retaining his wisdom (v9). Really, you couldn’t ask for anything more. But now it was mostly in the past, he is struggling to see any point in it. All that effort, yet where does it get him? He will only suffer the same fate as the fool. In amongst his relections, he has two insights which hold the key to a solution, yet he doesn't seem to have developed them in his own life.

Firstly, he must leave everything to someone who has not worked for it - a great misfortune (v21). And who knows whether they will be a wise man or a fool? (v19). He is speaking of his children here! How did he miss his children out of all his great projects? He built houses gardens. parks, with reservoirs, amassed slaves and a harem, but never thought to build a family. Neither did he seem to consider how to instill wisdom and good values into his children.

Neither does he mention building a great system of governance, or a prosperous country where everyone can gain wisdom through appropriate education, everyone has enough to eat, and everyone can find pleasure in life. He seems to have missed the whole point of his wisdom and wealth - to build community and pass every thing onto other people for their genuine good.

The second insight is that without God, who can eat or find enjoyment (v25)? To the one who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness (v26). He makes this as an observation of others rather than as his personal testimony. If he had made it his goal to please God, he would have found himself focussing on the people around him and of his country. More than this, he would have set a great example. A great & wise king or leader who plainly lives to please something greater than themselves sets an example that can't be missed. His father David achieved this so well.

Luke 19:11-27 - In the Absence of the King

22/2/2025

Jesus tells the story of a rather unusual procedure for appointing a king, unmissable to his listeners as referring to the Herods who ruled over his land. The most infamous, Herod the Great, not only killed his enemies but also most of his family. And the current Herod was despised, at least by Jesus and his disciples, for executing John for no other reason than that he told him the truth. It seems likely that the part about the 10 minas also had some basis in the practices of King Herod.

So why tell this story of a fairly unpopular and harsh king? The context is that they were with Zacchaeus, on the way to his house, and Zacchaeus had just declared he would give half his possessions to the poor, as well as compensating generously for any overcharging. Jesus commented "the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost " (v10). They were nearing Jerusalem, Jesus had said much about the Kingdom of God, that he had came to save what was lost, and they were all putting 2 and 2 together to make 4 as the saying goes. Jesus needed to help them understand it would not work like that. He would be gone and it would be for them to take what he had given them and put it to work.

But Jesus anticipated a time when he would return as King. He speaks of it in apocryphal language in Matthew 24 & 25. Did he imagine himself like the Herods? It was the only form of kingship they had experienced at that time. How much was the story a real one about the Herods and how much of it did Jesus add himself? But Jesus did not have any idea about the timing. "No-one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the son, but only the Father" (Matt 24:36). Even after the resurrection in Acts (1:7) he says "it is not for you to know the times and dates the Father has set by his own authority".

The point of the parable is to make the most of what you are given. But its not for your benefit! It is for the one who gave it to you, and you will give account for it. But the return as king - that is completely unknown, and will remain so until it actually happens. Our focus needs to be not on the return, but our putting our gifts to work!

Matthew 25:31-46 - Natural Compassion

23/2/2025

Whereas in Luke there is just one parable about being ready for Jesus' return - and even that is modelled on the Herod dynasty, not the greatest model for Jesus - in Matthew we have six! The Flood, the thief, the absent master, the lamps, the talents and finally this one, the sheep and the goats. This one feels more direct than the others. We already know from 24:51, that it is hypocrisy that is the truly damned human quality, but this story adds to it indifference.

The reason, according to the parable, if parable is the right term for it, is that to serve this king you need to care for your fellow humans. But it's more profound than "care and share" (our local primary school's mantra at one time), since those who carried out the king's wishes did not know it. To be exact, they didn't know the king did not distinguish their treatment of him and their treatment of their fellow men. Their compassion is completely natural.

Someone mentioned on the radio that self-realisation is the greatest goal of society, that each individual could find their true identity, hence their support for LGBT. According to this parable, it is not self-realisation but our connection to our fellow humans that is one true calling. What we realize, we realize together. We find our true identity in how we see others. And more than that, our service to God is bound up in our service to others. "He who wants to be great among you must be your servant " (Mark 10:43). And neither should we draw a boundary around who is in and who is out - the point of the story of the good Sarmariton is that compassion is natural and doesn’t need boundaries.

Mark 8:34-9:1 - Seeing the Kingdom of God

24/2/2025

Jesus finishes his severe and challenging words with an assurance that some will see the Kingdom of God came with power before they taste death. The phrasing suggests it is a long way off, but of course it isn't, it will begin in a few weeks or months at the day of Pentecost. But the Kingdom of God is not an itinerant preacher you go to see, it is something you need to experience for yourself and be a part of.

Its not just that that creates the delay for some of Jesus' listeners, the church would be spoken against & persecuted by the authorities, first the jewish and later on the Roman authorities. This would also prevent some from seeing and experiencing the Kingdon of God.

And so Jesus delivers his challenging words to prepare everyone for the persecution to come. To lose your life for Jesus and for the gospel is not a loss, rather it will save it. Conversely, you might gain the whole world but forfeit your soul. It is those who get their priorities right who will see the Kingdon of God coming with power.

Luke 10:1-11 - Sampling the Kingdom of God

25/2/2025

There are a number of unusual features about how the 72 were to set about this project. The previous chapter explains that Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem (9:51), knowing what would happen there. So time was limited and he couldn't visit every town and village along the way. Besides this, he needed to know that there were 72 who were experienced enough to build the Kingdom of God once he was gone. The experience was one to remember.

Firstly, they travelled light, carrying not even money. This was before the days of bank notes and credit cards, so money did have bulk. No bag or spare anything. They would be just as they are and rely on the hospitality of where they went to. There was a particular way of finding somewhere to stay - when invited into a house, they would say "Shalom" - peace to that house. If that peace rested on the man of the house. then they were to stay, else they moved on.

Secondly, they were to consider themselves as workers for that house and for that community. This is why it was so reasonable to stay for free. Their work? To heal the sick and to set a level of expectancy for the Kingdom of God. Yes, amazingly, this was not the Kingdom of God, simply a sample of what it would be like.

And this is why they needed to be so dependent. Because the household needed to experience the Kingdom of God not as receivers only (of healing) but as active participants, giving of their time and resources. They needed to give in order to grasp how it worked. And the 72 needed expectancy and acceptance in the town or village in order to do their wok of healing.

What if they don't find a man of peace to stay with? If no-one welcomes them, then they make a strange declaration to whoever is out on the streets, wiping off the dust from their feet against that town. But they still deliver the message - the Kingdon of God is near - but that town does it get the chance toexperience it.

#OT Psalm 75 - Cutting off their Horns?

26/2/2025

The bible is full of statements which seem out of place. In my study bible they get explained away by the writer of the footnotes along the lines of "it can't mean what it says, so it must mean...". But these reflections of mine are explorations not expositions, so my approach is always to take the statement at face value and try to understand what the writer might have been thinking when they wrote it.

This is a psalm of Asaph, a Levitical choirmaster, rather than a psalm of King David himself. How then is it that at the end he so confidently proclaims "I will cut off the horns of all the wicked"? This is hardly the talk of a choirmaster!

The psalm begins with a recognition that amongst God's wonderful deeds is the choice of time for judgement, when the earth and its people quake - probably more metaphorically than literally, the fall of Jericho was a bit of a one-off! Because of this the psalm warns the wicked not to "lift up their horns against heaven" and to curb their arrogant boasting. It goes on to explain that it is God who judges and exalts one person and brings down another, and suggests that the way this is done is through metaphorically offering mankind spiced wine, very intoxicating, which the wicked drink down to its very drugs:

It is in this content that we have the declaration "I will cut off the horns of all the wicked" (v10). Note, this is not about killing the wicked, but removing their ability to threaten. I can imagine every one joining in the psalm, so these words are in the mouths of all the people, and it is in fact a call to action. The metaphor is - when the wicked are somewhat out of action through drunkenness, cut off their horns!

That's the metaphor, but what is the reality? What would it mean to cut off the homs of a wicked person? I guess that is for us to figure out! Jesus has an interesting take on it - "do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also" (Matt 5:39). Perhaps it is not by resisting you remove their horns, so much as by not playing their game.

#OT Psalm 29 - A sense of the Power of God

27/2/2025

To the ancient mind, there could be nothing more evocative of the power of God than thunder, lightning and gales. Even now, understanding the weather systems as we do, the experience is pretty dramatic. And if God is a higher power, then for sure the weather system is a higher power that we have to take into account or suffer the consequences. And in the sense that it is ordained by God to water the earth, it is not unreasonable to associate it with the "creator of heaven and earth".

The psalm uses the word "ascribe" to make a link between God and this experience of natural power, to use something we see and experience to understand a power we don’t see and experience, only indirectly by its result - the strength given to his people and the blessing of peace (v11).

"Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength". The psalmist is wanting to enlarge our view of God, and uses this vivid imagery to do it. But his glory is not just in power, but in holiness; his nature and his calling on us. "The splendor of holiness" is a beautifully ambiguous phrase which could refer to God, or could refer to how God needs to be worshipped - "in spirit and in truth" as Jesus puts it in John 4:24. The famous hymn maintains this ambiguity and nicely paraphrases this verse, summarising the psalm:

"O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. Bow down before him, his glory proclaim."

#OT Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 - Successful Investment!

28/2/2025

The wise but cynical King Solomon strongly suggests an investment strategy which today would be called a "balanced portfolio” - diversify as much as you can.

Firstly, send your money abroad. In those days it meant ships to far off places. This is a geographical strategy! (v1) Not just one but seven or eight different places (v2). This guards against the risk of disaster in your own land.

Secondly, don't look too hard at the risks (v4). If you do, you'll never get started, and you’ll lose the opportunities completely. (This applies to jobs & marriage as well as to investment.) You never know the right time to invest and you never know the right time to cash in. You need to go for it.

Thirdly, don't rely on one source of success - cover yourself with at least two different ones. You don’t know which will succeed (v6).

Of course, its not just about money, its about how you invest in life. You don't know the future, what will work out and what won't. Looking back, you might say "I should have..." but that is not the point. When something succeeds, just be glad you put something into that. At the end of it all, you'll only regret the things you never did, not the things you had a go at.

One last word. In my NIV translation, verse 2 starts with the word "give". Giving is part of it all. In 2 Corinthians 9, Paul explains that giving is a kind of sowing, and the more generously you sow, the more generously you'll reap. Jesus tells the parable of the shrewd (but dishonest) manager. Many of life's investments are gifts, perhaps the most important ones.

#OT Psalm 42 - When Life goes Wrong

1/3/2025

Sometimes life works out really well and you feel the blessing of God on everything. But at other times, or perhaps for other people, things go really badly wrong. The "son of Korah" who wrote this psalm was in this second category, as were quite a lot of the psalm writers. It appears he had been taken captive and brought to another land. Until this moment he had a great life, being involved in temple worship, with the Levitical lifestyle, but now all that was gone.

He thirsts for God – or to be exact, for that experience of God in the music and praise of temple warship. Where can he go for that now? Nowhere. He needs to find God for himself. He needs to learn to hope in God and praise him alone (v5), in his own soul. But right now that soul is downcast, so far from home. So, from the depths of his soul's despair he cries out to the depths of God - "deep cries out to deep" (v7) .

This continual cry to God becomes his song. He is able to acknowledge Yahweh's love, but he still needs to experience it (v8). So, amongst all the taunts, and the pain and suffering in captivity, he sustains himself with putting his hope in God. He is not able to praise God yet, but looks forward to being able to again in the future.

This is the reality of a situation of pain & suffering, away from the support of praise, prayer and worship. You need to learn to know God in those moments - the "dark night of the soul", but it is difficult. All there is to sustain you through it is putting your hope in God, and in particular, hope that you will come through it and be able to praise God once again, even if that hope is beyond the grave.

So we should learn from Soloman's misstakes, and value those who came after us, not as appendices to our life story, but as the major chapters. And as for happiness. we should allow God to grant us that & pursue godliness instead, to settle into our calling and find peace and satisfaction in it. We need to seek first the Kingdom of God and let everything else be added to us.

#OT Daniel 12:1-4 – Daniel’s Vision of the Far Future

2/3/2025

More than any other, this passage is the archetype of the "end times" passages in the New Testament. Here, there is a time of distress unprecedented since the beginning of nations - in Matt 24:21 the distress is unprecedented since the beginning of the world and never to be equalled again. Here, Michael the great protector of Daniel's people will arise and everyone whose name is found written in the book will be delivered - in Matt 24:30,31 the son of Man gathers his elect from one end of the heavens to the other.

Then in verse 2 multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake to everlasting life or everlasting contempt. Paul picks this up in I Thessalonians 4:16 - the Lord himself, with the voice of the archangel, will come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise first. But it is John in Revelation 20 and 21 that develops this theme and gives us our graphic images of hell, and expands the concept of the book of life in 21:11-15.

It is also John in Revelation that develops the theme in v3 of the glorification of the saints. Here in Daniel it is about wisdom and leading others to righteousness, but in Revelation it is more about purity and faithfulness to Jesus under persecution. Paul picks up the metaphor of shining like stars in Philippians 2:15 as he urges them to do everything without complaining or arguing so that they might become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation.

Finally, in V4 Daniel is told to seal up the words until the time of the end, when many will travel widely to increase knowledge. In fact, it seems the words weren’t sealed up for that long, and they have been unsealed for a long time now, and knowledge has indeed greatly increased.

I really like the simplicity of Daniel's vision of the end times. It emphasizes wisdom and leading others to righteousness as the link to rising to eternal life. In fact, the whole book of Daniel exemplifies how this can be done. Yes, he remained pure and faithful though all the pressures and persecutions, but he also took, or was given, a role of great responsibility and influence, which he executed in a godly way. He didn’t need the details of 1 Thes 4 or Revelation to remain faithful, he loved wisdom and righteousness for its own sake, because it represented who he was, and in Christ we follow in his footsteps.

#OT Psalm 131 - David's Approach to Life & Worship

3/3/2025

This is both a song of ascents - a preparation for worship in the temple - and a psalm of King David. As the king of the two nations of Israel and Judah David would need to be pretty well informed - he wasn't like todays monarchs who delegated most responsibilities to the government and has no say in what goes on. So why does he say he doesn't concern himself with great matters?

Firstly, let’s consider the context, he is avoiding pride - a proud heart and haughty eyes. The “great matters” he is avoiding are those which would make him great rather than those that form part of his kingly duties..

Secondly, he knows his own boundaries. His very practical faith in God & exemplary kingship permeate the bible, but he is neither a priest or a theologian. To settle into what he is, he needs to know what he is not. There are things too wonderful for him that he must leave to others.

Thirdly, he wasn't always king. Once he was a shepherd boy. He became very good at that, able to defend the flock against the lion and the bear (I Samuel 17:34-35). Then he stepped up to face Goliath, after which he became an army officer. He became very good at that too. In fact "whatever Saul gave him to do, David did it so successfully that he gave him a high rank in the army" (I Samuel 18: 5). Then, he executed that so well that Saul became jealous (I Samuel 18:8). As each person on their way to the temple sings this psalm, it speaks to their aspirations and motivations. It says, "focus on the job in hand".

Verse 2 speaks to the attitude with which we need to have this focus. Not agitated and stressed, but with a stilled soul, content with the stage of life you are at. The metaphor is "like a weaned child with his mother”. Independent, but still under authority, knowing there is someone watching your back. Verse 3 urges everyone to put their hope in the LORD, both now and for evermore.

It is particularly important to have this stillness on entering worship. We can't help but feel the stress of a difficult, responsible, role, but there is a time to give it all to God and still your soul within you, to take time aside. It's good to do this every day, but very important when meeting with others for worship, so you can both give and receive, and so your heart is open to God moving within it.

#OT Malachi 4:1-6 - When Evil loses its Power and Control

4/3/2025

The Old Testament has quite a few visions of the "Day of the LORD" when arrogant and evil doing men and women will lose their power and control. Here the metaphor is burning up any root (with which they hold on) and every branch (with which they reach out). In contrast, for those who revere everything that the LORD stands for, the "sun of righteousness" will rise, like the dawn of a day, and its effect will be healing and joy. These will overcome the wicked, who will no longer have any power or strength.

What will bring this day? Well, “remember the law that God gave Moses at Horeb” - no surprise there. But that’s not all, there's a prophet “Elijah” with a specific task to do, just as the first Elijah prepared the ground for Elisha to make the big political moves annointing a new dynasty for not just Israel but Israel's adversary Aram. This new Elijah's task is to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers, and the hearts of the fathers to their children.

Why is this so important? One of those commands Moses received an Horeb was "honour your father and your mother so that you may live long, and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you" (Deuteronomy 5:16). Both long life and success are dependent on honoring your parents - you need to learn from their experience, but you also need to live for something bigger than just you. Your connections to your family are really important and bring a stability to your life.

But this Elijah needs to do a two-way job, because intergenerational rifts are caused by both the parents and the children. So in Ephesians 6: 4 Paul exhorts fathers not to exasperate their children! Healing those rifts is no easy task, and it is significant that in Luke 1 the angel makes reference to this passage when speaking to Zechariah about his unborn son John’s future ministry of repentance and baptism. Jesus confirms this “Elijah” role of John’s in Mark 9: 13. Such rifts are only healed when both generations recognise that need for repentance before God.

Luke 18:1- 8 – Praying for Justice

5/3/2025

In the gospels, Jesus makes some very strong statements about the power of prayer, and this story adds another dimension to all those. As the verse 1 summary suggests, the main purpose of the story is that we should always pray and not give up. But the actual moral of the story, rather than its spiritual metaphor, is that you may well get justice just by being annoyingly persistent. You can't help feeling Jesus is encouraging this approach as well!

A short while back in these reflections, we looked at the conflict between Elijah and Ahab, which begins in 1 Kings 16 and goes on for a number of chapters, and is finally finished by Elijah's successor Elisha in 2 Kings 9. We don't know how or when Elijah or Elisha prayed, but we do know they were open to God and carried out the words and actions given by them by God. If they did pray about their nation (and I'm sure they did) there was always that openness to taking an action themselves, and even confronting the king personally over his idolatry.

When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, he makes the express statement that God already knows what you need (Matthew 6: 8). You don’t need many words, but you do need to embed your requests in forgiveness (Matt 6: 14-15). Justice is not about personal revenge, but rather allowing us our daily bread and God’s Kingdom to come and God’s will to be done.

In verse 7 it seems that God has favourites - "justice for his chosen ones". I don't think that is the point here - rather that there is a tendency for the godly to be on the rough end of justice. There are many psalms which explore this theme. They all look to God for justice, and with a real earnestness too.

One of the worst aspects of injustice is the sense of powerlessness. Prayer and looking to God redresses this, and leaves the problem in the powerful and willing hands of God. Nevertheless, patience and perseverance may be needed, but never a loss of heart or faith.

#OT Ezekiel 7 – the Grace of God Expires

6/3/2025

This not an easy passage. The day of judgement has come and the grace of God has expired. "I will turn my face away from them" (v22). It is literally the end. For once, their silver and gold will not be able to save them, nor will their army. The disaster will come both from outside the country from invaders, and from inside through plague & famine.

This is the nation that was offered the promise on Mount Sinai "If you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession" (Ex 19: 5). That had not been true of them for a very long time, and now the end has finally come.

"I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices" is repeated 3 times (v3, 4, 8 and 9). But this is not judgement based on the commandments of God given on Mount Sinai. This is judgement based on their own standards. "I will deal with them according to their conduct, and by their own standards I will judge them" (v27). The judgement day arrives through disobedience, but the judgement is not on the basis of that disobedience.

In a similar way, sin is a transgression of the law of God, but that isn't why it is so bad. It is bad because directly or indirectly it causes harm to someone else or to the future you. "Love the Lord your God" is the greatest commandment and the second is like it "Love your neighbor as yourself". All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments (Matthew 22:37-40). Or, put a different way, "do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the law and the prophets" (Matthew 7:12). We are commanded to love God in order to love our fellow humans.

The saddest thing of all in the passage is that with this judgement will come the realisation "then they will know that I am the LORD" (v4, v27). It will be too late for this generation, that is made repeatedly clear, but this recognition will help a future generation understand and return to the land and start again.

#OT Isaiah 46:3-13 – The God who Saves

7/3/2025

Verse 3 is a reflection of the past “I have carried you” and verse 4 is a promise for the future “I will carry you”. Even to your old age and grey hairs. So the famous funeral poem "Footprints" does have a basis in the bible after all, except these verses suggest being carried is a whole-life thing, not just a bad-times thing.

The verses seem to speak as much of the nation as the individuals in it, which was very much conceived and birthed by God. They also seem to speak to any organisation that has a natural, God-given quality to it, like the homelessness charity Green Pastures which I am privileged to be a part of.

This sense of an all pervasive God is contrasted in verses 5 to 7 with idols of gold and silver. Anything beautiful or valuable which we get so attached to has the same problem - it cannot save us from our troubles. It is this that sets apart the God of the Bible, and the testimonies in there have continued ever since, right up to today where men and women who have been ruined by addictions are finding release though this same God at Green Pasture's training centre, Mattersey Hall.

This all pervasive God has a purpose that will stand (verse 10), and this purpose is brought about through a summons! Does that man from the far off land in verse 11 know they are being summonsed? Maybe not. But if we would like to be part of the purposes of God to save and rescue, we need to be open to the summons of God!

That rescue is of a particular nature. "I am bringing my righteousness near, it is not far away" (verse 13). The point is not so much that we escape our troubles, but rather that God leads us into righteousness. Jesus told a story of demons (addictions) leaving a man but later finding "the house swept clean" so returns with 7 more even worse. Righteousness is not being clean, righteousness is active, positive and life changing for those around us. It both fulfils our calling and the purposes of God in the world. This is what those at Mattersey Hall are discovering, and it is beautiful to see.

Acts 2:42-47 - Community

8/3/2025

When I started work down on the south coast, I looked for a church where people lived shared lives. There was a "community" church in the city, but I did not end up in it! Rather, I ended up where there were a lot of singles like me, and there were a good number of shared houses. I remember asking the youth leader where I could find a church that operated as described in this passage - I was firmly told I would not find one. After a couple of years I moved back to my family home in Birmingham and one day saw an advert for a Christian community. The idea was that a few vulnerable people could be supported by a larger number of more stable people living normal working (or studying) lives. It didn't work out well. The vulnerable people tended not to pay their rent, and one absconded with another resident and neither were seen again. In the end I started the process of buying my own community house, but before the sale had ever gone through, my ex-girlfriend came back into my life, and instead of a community we became a family!

The problem with the community described here is that the elements of it would seem cult-like today. A friend devoted 40 years of his life to such a community, which has finally been disbanded under allegations of "spiritual abuse". Once you give up your resources and give then to the community, you became dependent, and that over time can lead to unhealthy control.

We don’t however have to give up on community. Over the centuries there have been many attempts to reconcile the concept with the way the world works. The key elements are:

· no one in material need

· meeting together every day

· sharing food together

· glad and sincere hearts, praising God together

Of course, here in the UK we have a welfare state, the intention of which is that no-one should be in need of the basics of life. But people make bad choices and get into debt, made easy by the availability of credit. Worse still, they become addicted to drugs and alcohol which drains their money. And people want things they can't afford. Yet you can't have a community where some people want what the others have materially.

Not explicit in this passage is that the community needs a focus, a purpose for existing. "Save yourself from this wicked generation" Peter had declared on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:40). This community formed to facilitate this, but it would be hard to keep it going on this basis. It was fluid and expanding (v47) which was good, but to sustain it people would need to leave as well as join. In fact it happend naturally with persecution (Acts 8:1), but it needed to happen somehow.

For all these problems, communities are an amazing experience, and having just visited Mattersey Hall training centre which has 60 men and (a few) women who have come from addiction and homelessness, it is beautiful to see it work well. This passage does not give anything like a blueprint, it just gives some elements, but these need to be adjusted according to content. In particular, it is hard to sustain community, and much wisdom is needed to make a success of it.

Mark 4:1-20 - The Fruitful Word

9/3/2025

The famous parable of the sower needs no explanation as Jesus, unusually, does that for us. But it’s worth considering a few points.

Firstly, the farmer was not just scattering seed anywhere. He was in his field! The hope was that in spite of the imperfect ground, the birds flying and watching him and the competition from weeds, the seed would nevertheless grow and be fruitful. He believes in his seed to be strong enough. Without tools and machinery, and people or animals to use them, he just has to scatter the seed and hope.

Secondly, he shifts the focus from people to the word itself, like Richard Dawkins shifted attention to the role of the gene in his book "The Selfish Gene". There, Dawkins recast nature, from the gene's point of view, as a way for it to propagate and develop. Here, Jesus recasts humanity as a way for the word to propagate and develop!

Thirdly, in telling the parable, he is both challenging his listeners and setting expectations for himself and his disciples. You cannot know where the “good soil" is so you sow liberally. The same word, the same experience, can take hold in some people and not in others.

Fourthly, Jesus is pointing out that if the word takes root in you, it will naturally propagate. Well, maybe not naturally, it requires a bit of intentionality. "Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" (Matt 5:16). To ensure God gets the praise and not you is the intentional bit! That is where the word comes in. It is by sharing how God has transformed or empowered you that you plant the seed in someone else's life.

It's interesting that the Bible remains a best selling book, yet for many it gathers dust on a shelf! Considering how powerful it is, this is a great shame, but it’s only what Jesus anticipated. And not even all his disciples were equally fruitful. One had definitely had a visit from the birds, others are never heard much of, though I'm sure they remained faithful. Somehow, it was Peter and John who became the really fruitful ones. This is just the way it is, that's why Jesus chose 12 and not 3 disciples!

#OT Habakkuk 1:1- 6, 3:16-19 - the Wait of Faith

10/3/2025

The situation in Israel was bad - the law is paralysed and justice never prevails, the wicked hem in the righteous (verse 4) . Until we have lived in such an environment it is hard to imagine how impossible life becomes. So the godly people cry out for God to deal with it, because they cannot. We know from many contemporary examples that trying to establish justice in anarchy is very costly - it is so easy to threaten and kill judges and witnesses.

God's solution is totally shocking. The breakdown in national law is to be dealt with by a ruthless, violent empire. The rule of law will be imposed at the cost of loss of national sovereignty and people living in fear. So Habakkuk's attention then switches to when God will execute justice for those Babylonians! He gets no answer to when, but he is assured it awaits an appointed time, and though it linger, he should wait for it (2:3). Habakkuk then spends all of chapter 2 gloating over that future destruction of the Babylonians! But meanwhile, he and his fellow countrymen have a long wait -about 66 years in fact. It's just as well he got no answer about when.

And so the book ends with a commitment to rejoice in the LORD and be joyful in God his saviour, even though there is absolutely no reason to, even though he trembles with fear (3:16) and the land is desolate and unfruitful (3: 17). He looks to God to make him (in 3:19) as robust to his difficult environment as the deer is to the mountain crags. This is what it means for the"righteous to live by faith", which he adds into 2:4 almost as an aside to contrast the pride and evil desires of the Babylonians. And it is that short little aside that inspired the New Testament writers and later the protestant reformers to understand that faith is at the core of righteousness and not the other way round.

Hebrews 11 explores this faith that is "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11: 1) . It was not just Habakkuk who had this, there is an endless list in that chapter of people from the stories of the old Testament. "These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised" (Hebrews 1 1:39). It is this faith driven by hope that we are called to, and it is transformative.

#OT Amos 6:1-7 - a Time to Grieve

11/3/2025

"Woe to you who are complacent in Zion" Amos begins in this chapter. The country is doing OK and the people have a feeling of security from their success. They have nice stuff, good food, have time for creativity and music, drink plenty of wine and keep themselves young and beautiful with the finest lotions - sounds familiar?

But underneath this apparent prosperity the country is in a bad state. They have been led astray by false gods and have rejected the law of the LORD (2: 4) . They treat people as financial assets, trampling on the poor and denying justice to the oppressed. Father & son use the same girl. They take needed clothes as security for loans and take wine as fines (2:6-8). In essence, there is a two tier society, the haves and the have-nots, the exploiters and the exploited.

It's not that they aren't religous, they are. They bring sacrifices every morning, their tithes, their prescribed offerings - and boast about it too (4: 4-5). They worship with songs and musical instruments (5:23). Yet the LORD God Almighty says "I cannot stand your assemblies" (5:21). "But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never ending stream " (5:24).

The problem was that those who benefited from the prosperity did not grieve over the poor state of those who didn't. It’s only when we feel their loss that we will take personal action. "Grieve" is a strong word, but something strong is needed to kick us out of our comfortable complacency. To encourage us on our way, we are reminded we are not as secure as we think. We need a country with a lot of moral strength, a strong coherent identity, everyone pulling together, humble and open. Instead we have every man & woman for themselves. "The law of the LORD" is there to produce such a country and we ignore it at our peril.

1 John 1:1-2:2 - Living in Light

12/3/2025

John describes his experience of being a disciple of Jesus for 3 years as "the eternal life which was with the Father has appeared to us " (v2) or "the word of life" for short (v1). He is going to proclaim what he has seen and heard, but as we shall see, he isn't going to narrate the things Jesus said or did.

The first concept to be introduced is that "God is light". The metaphor is pretty clear - light reveals what everything is. We can hide what we are, what we think, but that is "walking in darkness" (v6). Who do we hide it from? Jesus said "if your eyes are good. your whole body is full of light." But if not, "the light within you is darkness, and how great is that darkness" (Matthew 6:22, 23). We hide it primarily from ourselves.

When we do this, we live a lie (v6). But if we live in the light we both join with God and one another. And all the bad stuff the light shows up? If we confess it, that gets forgiven and we can be "purified". But if we don't acknowledge it, if we deny it is there, then we make God out to be a liar!

Being "purified" is the way we live in the light with the bad stuff apparent. It is the process of removing it from us, the process of us letting it go. This is the second concept John introduces. Like the way dirt seems to return to things we clean, our bad stuff has a habit of returning. So "if anybody does sin" (2: 1) , Jesus Christ, who died for the sins of the whole world, is our defense before God. We never have to pretend the sin isn't there.

1 John 2:3-11 - the Litmus Tests

13/3/2025

John provides a “litmus test” for whether or not we know Christ. Matthew 7:21-24 lists prophecying, driving out demons and performing many miracles, all in Jesus' name, as things we might successfully do without knowing Christ. The test in that passage and here is obedience. "Every good tree produces good fruit" (Matthew 7:17). Knowing Christ is not a mystical experience alone, it deeply affects how you act. Your desire becomes to "walk as Jesus did" (v6), and do what he commands. A good collection of Jesus' commands are in Matthew 5-7 and they are absolutely life changing. And there is a feedback loop - the more you put them into practice, the better you know the one who spoke them.

The command of John's letter is not new. Nothing here is a new revelation, they and we know it all already (v7). But the world moves on, and the gospel message needs to be reiterated in a fresh way in each fresh context, and in that sense it is new (8). John is excited and optimistic - "the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining".

John introduces another litmus test. If you hate your "brother", you are still in the darkness. You cannot both forgive and hate, and forgiveness is key to walking as Jesus did. This is not to ignore what someone does, but to acknowledge it (and for them to as well), and forgive it. What about people who are not our "brother"? Jesus makes it pretty clear - everyone is your brother, even your enemies (Matthew 5:44).

1 John 2:15-17 - the World

14/3/2025

John loves making makes black-and-white statements which really need reflecting on. In this case, exactly what does he mean by "the world"? He gives quite a few clues.

Firstly, he provides a succinct list of “everything in the world". “The cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does" (v16). This is speaking of the socio-economic environment of John's day. It is not the environment that the Mosaic law would have created, but it is the environment the Romans created. Here in the UK. I’m not sure we’re that much different to the Romans - but at least we’re not much of a boasting nation!

Secondly, these things are not from God, but rather a man-made layer on top of what God has created. Once in place, they are self-propagating & self-sustaining. Capitalism and consumerism, ambition and wealth all go hand in hand to create the socio-economics we all live in.

Thirdly, if the love of the Father is in you, you will not love this world. It is not God's calling on you or anyone else. It creates addictions and dependencies, it creates strained relationships and it has little peace, joy or fulfillment for the vast majority. If you love others, you will not love it.

John's assessment of it is that it is passing away, in spite of its overwhelming strength. In one sense, this has to be true, but in another, it does keep on coming back. The Kingdom of God is its antithesis, and "the one who does the will of God lives for ever". Perhaps he is speaking of it passing away at death, or perhaps he is envisioning a future where the Kingdom of God becomes the permanent prevalent future. One way or another, it passes.

1 John 2:18-27 - the anti-Christs

15/3/2025

The early church all believed it was going to get worse before it gets better, and the concept of the antichrist (John) or the man of lawlessness (Paul) seems just to be assumed. But John wants to sharpen his reader's perception of the people who used to be a part of the church but have left it, and uses the word "antichrist" of them.

It is not so much a question of belief, but of annointing (v20). Your conviction that Jesus is the Christ derives from this. No-one who denies the Son has the Father (v23). However, John does not call these people mistaken, he calls them liars (v22). Is this reasonable?

Well, it is similar to the situation he describes in 1: 8. The difference is that there they deceive themselves, here they deceive others. They lie to others in the same way they lie to themselves. And it is this lie to themselves that is at the root of their antichrist stand.

It is dismantling this self-lie that is known as "repentance", and is what puts you in the place to grasp how it is that Jesus is the Christ, the promised one sent by God to transform the world. It is from that place the annointing comes. John urges his readers not to lose it by restoring the lie - "see what you have heard from the beginning remains in you" (v24).

It is that anointing that leads you into truth, it is a real anointing and it teaches you about all things. Well, all things that are within your reach! It is an amazing thought that with it we can learn everything God wants us to know. Without it we can learn a lot, for sure, but with it we turn that knowledge into wisdom.

1 John 2:28 , Matthew 24:29-36 - the Appearance of the Son of Man

16/3/2025

As I often write, you cannot miss that the New Testament writers all expected Christ to return within their lifetimes, exhorting their readers to be ready. In those days before his crucifixion, it would seem Jesus planted this expectation in them, but with the caveat that no-one knows exactly when it will happen. It is this caveat that has allowed the expectation to stretch over two millenia, with the last couple of centuries having an even more heighted expectation by some, even setting actual dates for it to happen. Yet this long wait does contradict 24:34 as well as the clear expectation of the first century church, so lets look at the different possibilities for what this passage refers to.

First, Jesus' listeners could have mistook what he said. Whatever he actually said was interpreted this way because of their in-built understanding that the Christ's main purpose is to restore the Kingdom of Israel (see Acts 1:6). Jesus was trying to get across that something rather opposite lay ahead, but that after these dreadful events the “Son of Man” would appear. The very veiled language he used for this got crystallised into his second coming because of their prior expectations.

It seems the dreadful events actually did happen in AD 70, so the next possibility is that whatever those words spoken by Jesus in 24:34 referred to also happened soon after that. John's letter was most likely written some time after this, so clearly this was not how the church after AD 70 understood it.

The third possibility is that it should have happened in their lifetime as Matthew 24:34 states, but for some reason it couldn't. In this case, maybe it never will, and the Kingdom of God will remain as it is now, something that only some people participate in.

The fourth possibility is that Jesus' words refer to the experience of death. We have so many very consistent NDE (near death experience) accounts that fit those words quite well. This might explain why Jesus used such strange terminology – “angels gathering the elect from one end of the heavens to the other" (Matt 24: 31).

The issue remains an enigma, and we have the complete spectrum from those who literally believe it is any day now, and live in that expectation, to those who just never think about it. But however you view it, that sense of wanting to remain confident and unashamed is powerfully present in us, because it reflects who we are, our very soul.

1 John 2:29-3:10 – Doing what is Right

17/3/2025

"Everyone who does what is right has been born of him" begins this passage. But there are two motivations for doing what is right. One is external forces - law, duty, what others would think. The other is internal forces - you would do what is right even in the absence of the external factors, and not because you have been conditioned but because you genuinely love. It is this latter motivation John is referring to.

More than this, you love because of the love lavished on us by God. Such is this love that we are called, and have indeed become, children of God. We don't really understand the implication of this (v2) except we shall be like Christ.

So, no-one who lives in Christ keeps on sinning, because Christ's whole purpose was to remove our sins. This costly sacrifice was made to bring us to this different place. John reiterates this -righteousness is determined by what you do; sin is of the devil and Christ's purpose was to destroy the devil's work. (We will leave what "the devil" refers to for another time!) So, doing what is right is the hallmark of the children of God, along with loving your "brother" (discussed in an earlier passage)-

All this is not to say we don't sin, because that love in us has to grow, but sin has become alien & we take no delight in it. We have to always be aware of it and confess it as John emphasizes in 1:8,9 at the very start of the letter. But we should never forget who we are, and always seek to respond to that love lavished on us.

1 John 3:11-20 - Love Overcomes

18/3/2025

Why do those people whose actions are evil have such an intense dislike of those whose are righteous? Because we are not able to separate what we do from what we are. We value acting according to "who we are", so rather than judging our actions we tend to justify ourselves. Instead, we need to assess our actions honestly and allow God to justify us. This is the message of 1:8,9, and this is what Cain didn't do. It's not that Abel challenged Cain, his actions challenged him.

John equates hating with murdering. Is this fair? Jesus did the same in Matt 5: 21&22 - and not even hate - just being angry is enough to be subject to judgement. What did he mean by this? When we are angry or hate, we bring judgement on ourselves because we are judging another - "for in the same way you judge others you will be judged" (Matt 7:2) . Anger is mostly about avoiding judging ourselves. If we make out the righteous are in some way bad, we can then feel good about ourselves.

John counteracts this by being very explicit about what good is, and about what love is, as demonstrated by Jesus. "We ought to lay down our lives for our brothers " (v16) - the very opposite of hate. We need to share with those in need. It is our actions that display our inner lives. It is by acting according to the love God has put in our hearts that we set our hearts at rest in his presence (v19).

This is why Paul quotes Proverbs 25:21&22 in Romans 12:19. "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." It is when we love those who hate us that they are forced to assess themselves.

1 John 3:21-24 – Inadequate Language

19/3/2025

Our main command is to believe in Christ and to love one another, all the rest came from this one (two?). Doing this takes you on a spiritual journey - a life-long one! This is hard to describe, John attempts it by saying we "live in God and he in us", but this really only gives a hint what it is about. Another attempt is that "God gives us his Spirit" - in his gospel John records Jesus as saying "streams of living water will flow from within him" when speaking of the Spirit (John 7:38). Again, the language is pretty inadequate.

The first verse of this short passage explains a bit about it. With our hearts open & the light shining in we are honest about what is there. If it needs confessing and dealing with, we follow 1:8,9. But if our hearts do not condemn us, we can, from that place, ask God for "anything", and receive it! This is not the blank cheque it might at first seem, because it ties in with obeying that command and doing what pleases God. In other words, it comes out of a relationship with God.

It would be easy to think of instances in our own lives or those of others when we did not receive something asked for, but this is not the point. It is the to-ing and fro-ing of request and answer that takes us on our journey and teaches and developes us.

1 John 4:1-6 – the Fully Human Christ

20/3/2025

John is writing towards the end of the century, and few people are left who remember Jesus first-hand. He has become a historical figure, and this allows people to start interpreting the known facts. Even John's memory is probably faded a bit. This gives the opportunity for some to start denying the church's understanding, and creating an understanding that is more suited to the rational human mind, or is more compatible with human passions.

However, John doesn’t refer to these various understandings, but rather to the spirit behind them. It is these spirits that need to be guarded against. Nevertheless, you can test the spirit by one basic aspect of the understanding proposed - has Jesus Christ come in the flesh?

Those who knew Jesus would say a resounding "yes", but few are around now. Why would anyone deny this? On the one hand, some would just want to dismiss the faith by saying it is all made up, a myth arising from the execution of a dissident. This is to deny that Jesus was the Christ, and is to be expected. But the inclusion of "in the flesh" suggests there is another understanding being propagated that somehow Jesus wasn't quite human.

The virgin birth, the miracles, the transfiguration & of course the resurrection all lend credence to this. So, why is this rather elevated view of Jesus "from the world” and why is this the spirit of the anti-christ at work? Because by distancing Jesus from your humanity, you excuse your human passions and you abstract salvation into a kind of status thing rather than a real transforming power. John's letter is just saying over and over again, our faith is about freedom from sin and living in love & obedience, this is the power of God in you. And this power is greater than the worldly passions that sit behind the anti-christ spirits.

In our "post-truth" culture we would do well to apply the same test. Maybe not precisely "Jesus Christ came in the flesh", but an understanding of Jesus that puts him fully human, neither mythical and non-existent, nor somehow God looking like a man. We cannot take Thomas's exclamation on seeing the holes in Jesus' hands in John 20:28 as an excuse for this. The NT phrase is always the Son of God. "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his nature" (Hebrews 1:3). “He is the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). "God the Son" means the human representation of God, and it is in this that the whole power of the cross lies.

Colossians 1:15-17 , John 1:1-3, 14, Proverbs 8:22-31 - Pre-Existence

21/3/2025

Both John and Paul wrestle with the paradox of Jesus being a real man, born as a baby and growing up, yet also being with God in the beginning of everything, and being the one through whom creation happens.

In Proverbs 8, this role is given to "wisdom". "I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began" (8:23). "Then I was the craftsman at his side, I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind" (8:30, 31). Wisdom is a completely human trait, yet "when there were no oceans, I was given birth" (8:24). How could wisdom be given birth before life ever existed? So, this paradox of pre-existence is already there in the Old Testament.

Whereas Proverbs speaks of "wisdom", John speaks of "the Word". Otherwise, it feels very similar. John adds that "in him was life, and that life was the light of men" (John 1: 4) . They recognize that what was pre-existent was of a different substance, but essentially the same. They don't understand what this is or how it works, but they are nevertheless convinced it is true.

Now we understand so much about how the world works, can we understand these concepts better? Does our understanding of evolution help with grasping how our eternal "wisdom" or "word" can be the means through which everything is created? And then, how finally that eternal word can become a man, part of that creation? I think it might do. This is where science & faith come together in the most exciting way. But it requires new perspectives on the evolutionary processes, on what made Jesus different and what is essentially different about those who live in him. And sadly, this is not the time or place to go into this.

1 John 4:7-21 – God is Love

22/3/2025

"God is love". The passage starts with love coming from God, but ends up with this simple & clear statement. Whoever loves has been born of God and knows God, because God is love (v7-8). Thus the purpose of our faith is to know that love (v10-11), and so know God. "I've never met such a loving bunch of people" wrote the journalist visiting the Green Pastures team in Southport. Not just to know love, but to love.

If we love one another God lives in us (v12). We're building up a picture here! God inhabits human relationships that are based on" agape" love. John is saying, God is that love.

John also says if anyone acknowledges Jesus as the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God (v15). This is not a passive acknowledgement like the shuddering demons of James 2:19, but an active acknowledgement - out loud and with a commitment to its implications. So, this confession is the route to love, because by making it God gives us his Spirit and so lives in us (v13).

John is also very clear that not loving is an indication of not knowing or loving God, there can be no distinction between loving God and loving your brother.

Finally, "perfect love drives out fear " (v18). This is the most astounding of all John's observations. Its not at all obvious why, but it is true. "Fear has to do with punishment” is all John says. Why should A loving you take away the fear of B punishing you? I don't think that's the love John means, though such love helps a lot. Its the love for B that takes away the fear. But it doesn't take away the pain. Perhaps not so much the love for B, but the love for everyone, friends and enemies alike. This is the final test John gives - "the one who fears is not made perfect in love" (v18).

1 John 5:1-12 – Not Burdensome

23/3/2025

At the end of the previous chapter, John wrote that "whoever loves God must also love his brother" (and throughout the whole letter!). Now he completes the circle by saying that we love the children of God by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, we love God by carrying out his commands. And guess what? The command is to believe in Christ and love one another. We need to believe in order to love, because it is our faith that overcomes the world. And unless we overcome the world, we will not love as we are called to do.

He has this lovely little phrase "and his commands are not burdensome" (v3). Why not? Because they are all to do with loving. Loving is hard (not the feeling, the actions) and affects every part of our lives, but with faith and knowing the love of God for us, it need not be a burden.

The final part of this passage is about the testimony of "the spirit, the water and the blood", which is the testimony God has given regarding his son, and "the three are in agreement." The only clue to this riddle is in v11 - "and this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his son". The testimony is about eternal life. I am reluctant to write my own interpretation of these three, they are there to be contemplated on! But I think John 1:29-34 might be helpful.

1 John 5:13-21 – Epilogue

24/3/2025

In his letter, John has been over the same ground again and again, bringing together freedom from sin and overcoming the world, with being loved by God and being in God, with loving our "brothers" and God being in us, with believing in the Son of God, Jesus Christ come in the flesh. All these things are wrapped up together and connected in different pairs with different ones being the evidence of the other! The whole package is what John summarises in v13 as "eternal life". And in case we forgot when he mentioned it in 3:22 he says again we can with confidence ask anything of God that is according to his will - according to this interconnected mesh of love & faith. This is what “the Lord's Prayer" exemplifies.

He asks us to pray when someone commits a sin, pray so God gives him/her life (v16). There are two ways sin can go - to be confessed and life returns, or to continue and ending in death. "After desire has conceived it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death" (James 1:15). It's a question of which way you point your life, towards God and life or towards sin and death. So we pray for those whose sin is just a horrible distraction from their life in God. "The one who was born of God keeps them safe and the evil one cannot harm them" (v18). Once again John is referring back to 1:9. The whole world is under the control of the evil one, but we have stepped outside of that control and have become instead children of God.

It's a really simple message. It is not theo-logical because the logical constructs keep on getting reversed! It is just the beautiful reality of the life we are given; and John wants us to confidently live in it.

Acts 15:1-21 – The Issue of Culture

25/3/2025

When people come to faith from a different culture to the one that gave birth to yours, how can you decide which elements of your culture are actually necessary? The filling of the Holy Spirit happens regardless, but for it to stick, and for people to grow in their faith & love, we need to be careful of all the things that hinder this. There is of course value in maintaining a culture that has taken centuries to establish itself, but to demand another culture to change is quite different.

In this passage the issue was circumcision, but this wasn't the only issue, as we know from Paul's letters and four other places in Acts where Paul runs into problems! It was the one that kind of represented all the others - the keeping of the Mosaic law. None of the disciples had been great at that before Jesus called them, and Peter's assessment was it was "a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear" (v10). But that wasn't what convinced Peter, it was of course the incident with Cornelius - the vision, the summons, the filling of the Holy Spirit, all described in Acts 10.

Paul & Barnabas described exactly the same thing (v12), all the signs and wonders amongst the Gentiles. But now they are faced with a dilemma - could they agree on this question of transferring culture?

Well, what was that culture for? It was to maintain a godly, faith-filled nation that upheld justice, faithfulness & mercy in balance, that maintained identity through families and clans. This new kingdom was not a geographical nation and was held together by love. The law it needed related to maintaining that in amongst an ungodly culture. In our current post-Christian culture we need to make similar difficult decisions, though the things James proposed might surprise us now.

After this, Peter became more traditional & Paul criticized him openly for that (Galatians 2:11), but there is room for both cultures in the church's practice. But it is confusing, and the Galatians were very confused! The traditional culture can be distracting, as it had proved to be by Jesus' day when the true purpose of it seemed to have been lost. At all times, we mustn’t lose our focus on what our faith is really about.

#OT 1 Kings 5 – The Peace Project

26/3/2025

Solomon prepares to build the temple that David would have liked to build, but God said No, the human resources of the country were prioritised to the army. Only when a stable peace existed on all sides was it appropriate. Besides, Solomon was a man of wisdom and peace, and it was better that the temple of the Name of the Lord should be built by him than his warrior father (not to mention the adultery and murder of Uriah).

The emphasis on it being a temple to the Name is important, since as Paul pointed out to the Athenians "the God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else" (Acts 17:24, 25).

In those days there was less dependence on the monetary system than now. People were taxed directly by giving one third of their time and energy to this state-run peace project, one month on and two months off. They also gave a certain proportion of their grain and oil in exchange for the timber, an arrangement that seemed to continue after the requirements of the temple were met (v11). It was testament to David's rule that the country could spare such resources.

Solomon had an interesting negotiating style - "I will pay you for your men whatever wages you set" (v6). Was this a blank cheque? Not really. What Solomon paid was a wage for the men, directly proportional to the number working, and the rate needed to be reasonable since the system was transparent. Solomon sent his own countrymen to "help" so he would know exactly what went on. But he fully acknowledged the skill of the men and implied he would pay a wage commensurate with that. However, when it come to it, the system relaxed somewhat - Hiram supplied Solomon "all the cedar and pine logs he wanted" and Solomon supplied a consistent quantity of com and oil. He couldn't have started with that arrangement, but once trust was built up, it made life a lot easier.

You can tell Hiram's pleasure at the initiative and style of this young king. David grew up with courage to fight in a country sunk in military conflict. Soloman grew up with wisdom for peace in a country with stability. Neither would have been appropriate for the other. "A time for war and a time for peace" is the final "time" phrase of Ecclesiastes 3, and Solomon did not get them muddled, unlike his son who was to follow him. He understood how to use the "peace dividend" wisely, to build a temple that would help bring unity and faith to the country, as well as a balanced treaty with his nearest neighbour.

1 Corinthians 9 – Supporting the Messenger

27/3/2025

Paul raises the thorny issue of how someone whose life mission is to save others earns their living. It doesn't seem appropriate to demand it of the person saved, yet it is wholly appropriate that they give something in recognition of what was done for them. And the saver has to live somehow.

The implication from v5&6 is that the other apostles are supported by their church. But they don't seem to be quite so itinerant as Paul & Barnabas, who are out on the road for many months and years, going great distances away from home. Most importantly, they stay long enough in each place to establish a church there, to the extent that it simply continues after they have moved on. To them, "saving" doesn't mean a moment of decision, it means creating a community, an instance of the Kingdom of God, where people love and are loved and encourage each other in worship and in faith, centered around the Lordship of Christ.

The gospel that produces this is not a product to be sold, even though it is the best product ever, it is a message to be delivered effectively. So he cannot ask for money. When Jesus sent out the 72 with the message "the Kingdom of God is near", they relied on hospitality. But Paul stays long enough to actually establish the Kingdom of God there, and hospitality would wear thin.

Paul argues, who labours for no share in the rewards of their labour? But of course, his labour is mission-driven and his real reward is the result of his mission, and for that it is indeed essential he doesn't charge (v18). In fact, the one who labours and receives nothing for it is the slave, and Paul finds himself a slave indeed. But not so much to God, but the people he is trying to convince, to win over, or as he puts it, to win.

Paul doesn't want to make use of his right to upkeep, and he is right. The Kingdom of God is an ecosystem, it is for others to support him. In his lifestyle, the only ones who can are those who he has moved on from, and the Corinthians need to see this and step up. But at no point does he actually say this! And in a similar way, when presented with need, we should step up without being asked.

John 5:1-18 – Get up and Walk!

28/3/2025

Jesus goes to Jerusalem for a jewish feast. He does this here and again in chapter 7. There is no mention of his disciples in either visit, and the other gospels don’t mention the visits, so maybe he went quietly with just Peter, James and John, to get a feel for the vibe of the place.

The pool at Bethesda had a very strange custom associated with it, which one enthusiastic copier of John's gospel decided to add explicitly (v4 - not included in the NIV), where only the first into the water after it was stirred could be healed. How did that arise? It tended to suggest - seeing the list of disabilities; blind, lame, paralysed - that the person least in need of healing would be the first in! But it presumably drew crowds and everyone there was able to beg from the religous tourists.

One man had settled into this life and been there for 38 years. Jesus was unimpressed. His question was clearly a challenge. When quizzed at the end of the passage about doing this on the Sabbath, Jesus says "my Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working" (v17). This is the challenge of God into the man's life. (It is the same challenge as our government in the UK is currently making to the recipients of an enhanced benefit we call "PIP" for incapacity to work due to mental health.) But really it is the challenge of God to us all, whatever it is that holds us back. "Get up and walk!"

But the man had no idea who Jesus was. I think he just responded to that very different approach. Here was someone who believed he could walk, and probably reached out his hand to help him. Something about speaking so directly and definitely, with genuine concern. In saying it, Jesus was relying on God to be at work in the man, enabling him to respond.

"Stop sinning" Jesus says when he meets him later. He had been wasting his God-given life, and it was time for a clean start. When Jesus says this to the people he releases (see 8: 11) he lets their conscience do the work, God at his work in them. These simple words spoken - "get up", "stop sinning" - are the triggers for God's work in us to come to fruition. Let’s be prepared to speak them too and have them spoken to us.

#OT Nehemiah 5 - Usury

29/3/2025

"Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our countrymen and though our sons are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery" (v5). Nehemiah had been appointed governor over the land of Judah in order to rebuild Jerusalem after the 70 year exile, and now there was a famine. Just like in Joseph's day, this put power into the hands of the ruling elite over those who earn their living from the land. First, they mortgaged their fields and vineyards for money to buy food, then once that money was gone, they had nothing left but their sons and daughters to sell into slavery. And on top of this, interest was charged on the money being lent.

This is the meaning of the word "usury". In a crisis, when you lend to someone out of your plenty, you should not take advantage of your strong bargaining position. No-one is suggesting you give out of your plenty to supply the other, just that you lend without taking their livelihood as security or even worse, taking their sons and daughters as "slaves" (ie. bonded labourers). Yes, you have the right to security for your loan, but given the balance of power, you should not insist on it. Neither should you insist on interest on the loan.

Jesus adds to this in Matthew 5:39-42. In verse 42 he says "give to the one who asks you and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you". Interestingly, he does not set this in the content of plenty and crisis. In the previous verses he gives examples where you are the one being taken advantage of, and even then he is saying don't let the one forcing you take what they consider is their right, rather go beyond it so you have in fact given to them and put them in your debt. Because a gift is a better debt them a formal transaction!

But going back to Nehemiah, as governor he has more than plenty for his own needs, so he gives to as many as he can. He waves his right to taxes. His job as governor is to have the power and control necessary to build the city of Jerusalem up, not to live in luxury. Those of us in power need to remember why we have been given these responsibilities!

Ephesians 4:1-6 – Over, Through and In All

30/3/2025

These words of Paul to the church he spent (relatively) so much time with but could no longer visit echo through the ages to today and the modern churches over which his writings have so much influence. I often wonder why they have been so neglected over the last few centuries.

Paul doesn't leave room for excuses. He uses phrases that have no wriggle room. "Be completely humble". "Make every effort ". "Bear with one another in love". To do this really does require love, real love! But the source of this patience is the common Spint of God whose fruit is patience. And we do belong to one body, and what cell on our body doesn't work towards the benefit of the whole body? What organ in the body doesn't work towards the health of the whole?

But it is the final verse that captivates me. One God and father of all, who is over all, through all and in all. We always struggle with language and such a phrase only gives an indication of the mysterious reality to which it refers. "Over" gives the sense of both a higher authority and a higher level of existence, in the same sense we are a higher level than the cells and organs of our bodies. "Through" gives the sense of God's purposes being worked out in all that happens. "In" recognises that this happens through the Spirit in us working in us. "All" is totally inclusive of everyone in the church family, spiritual or practical, inward looking or outward looking.

We might also expand our view of God beyond the "all" of the church to the "all" of the human race, or even to the "all" of creation itself. Whether Paul intended this wider understanding or not would make a great theological debate. But personally I believe it to be true in some sense that is hard for us to understand. At the very least we should view all of creation with some reverence as both participating in the purposes of God, and demonstrating in its own way the very nature of God - "for since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made" (Romans 1: 20).

#OT Joshua 5:13-14 – Looking in a Mirror

31/3/2025

This encounter reframes Joshua's view of the whole task set before him. Naturally, in his mind there was his people, and there were all the people who would resist them taking over the land. Joshua understood that the Lord had given them this land, and why (see Joshua 1) , but now he was here on the other side of the Jordan, recovered from the mass circumcision (!), the very next thing to be done was conquer a city that was tightly shut up and surrounded by impregnable walls. So Joshua uses the phrase "enemies”.

But the man is the commander of an army, like Joshua is. Joshua's head is full of the conquest that lies ahead, but now he is almost looking in a mirror at himself in his true role.

Very often, the commander of an army is serving the leader of the country, and they work as a team. In fact, it is quite dangerous when the two roles get merged into one and you have a military dictatorship. And there has been many a commander who has considered God on their side, but that is very definitely not what this situation is. The incident reminds Joshua that he is the servant of the Lord and needs to take his instruction. And Joshua responds accordingly, bowing before the man who is the true servant.

#OT Joshua 5:15 – Standing in a Holy Place

1/4/2025

"What message does my Lord have for his servant?" Joshua asks. He has understood that its not a question of him versus his enemies. He has also understood that he is the servant of the Lord, hence this question asking for some message. But he is not yet where he needs to be.

"The place where you are standing is holy". This has multiple meanings.

Firstly, it refers to Joshua's place as leader of Israel. Many people hanker for the role of leader because they are driven along by their ambition, the line of power and the prestige associated with it. But Joshua was appointed by God with a mandate to carefully obey all the law Moses gave him (1:7), and his power fell within that very tight remit. He is set apart for God, and the nation is set apart for God. This is indeed a holy place, and every christian leader needs to have that sense for themselves and those they lead.

Secondly, it refers to his role as commander of the armies of Israel. He has great material power to destroy people and places, but this is not his right. In fact, he is executing judgement on a people that has been brewing ever since the time of Abraham (see Gen 15:16), and this is indeed a holy task. To reinforce this, the message he receives is how Jericho will be given him without needing to break in.

Thirdly, it refers to the actual place he is standing, because it is the place of encounter. Joshua has already bowed down to the figure, but this is about much more. To encounter God and have that message directly into your life is the most precious and profound experience you can have in life. It is that sense of transcendence that Martin Luther King had the day before he was killed. It is where you get a sense of the holiness of God first hand. We need to take off our shoes and dwell intentionally and consciously in that moment.

#OT 1 Chronicles 22 – A Good Legacy

2/4/2025

The process of Solomon building the temple takes up two chapters in Kings (1 Kings 586) and I wrote about it there. But here in 1 and 2 Chronicles we have many chapters on it, and here it becomes apparent that it was essentially David's vision & design, and he made all the preparations for it, but it would be Solomon who had it built. David was prevented from building it because of all the blood he had shed (v8). But now the wars were coming to an end, and the opportunity for peace lay ahead. God had told David he will have a son who will be known for peace, and under him God will give the nation peace. It will be him who builds the temple, and it will therefore be a temple both representing peace and maintaining it too, forming a wise and peacable culture, thriving in its good relations with its neighbours.

But all that had happened some time before. What spurred David into action was the encounter at the threshing floor of Arunah, and he decided this would be the place of the temple, a place of mercy and grace, and a place of encounter.

And so, David gets everything ready for Solomon, including some massive financial resources. All he has to do is execute David's plan wisely. The temple will be the starting point of his reign.

This is a great example of succession planing and legacy leaving. You don't hand over everything complete, but you do hand it over set up to succeed. David had built a nation strong and at peace, and Solomon's task was to build on that peace. He almost succeeded, but he got distracted by his many women, and he failed to achieve the succession his father had made to him, when it was time for him to hand over.

So, a good legacy is not a finished job, but a contribution towards a bigger vision which others can take up. And like David, we should consider what legacy it is that we are leaving.

#OT 1 Chronicles 21 – Facing the Consequences of Pride

3/4/2025

This passage has some interesting theology! Satan rises up against the nation by inciting its leader to act out of pride. This action in one man then provokes God to slaughter a significant proportion of the nation, since the pride was over the size of the army.

There is an unnecessary controversy over the difference in reported number between here and the same story in 2 Samuel 24. In this more detailed version we get the number reported, explicitly stating that neither Levi nor Benjamin were included, whereas 2 Samuel 24 simply estimates how many able bodied men there were in total, not knowing (or caring) what the actual reported number was.

It seems David had his own personal seer, Gad. Gad gave David 3 choices - become vulnerable through a famine, lose to his enemies, or suffer a short, sharp plague. He takes the plague, as God knew he would, because he could do absolutely nothing about it and it would not tax his leadership, though David expresses it as prefering to fall into the mercy of God.

A man with a sword appears to David, something like the man who Joshua saw outside Jericho in Joshua 5. But it is Gad who the man speaks to with the message for David. The story has David humbling himself along with the elders and praying for mercy on the people and judgement on his own family only. According to verse 15, this was actually unnecessary.

And this is where the interesting theology comes in. God sends an angel to destroy Jerusalem, but as the angel was doing so, the Lord (Yahweh) saw it and tells the angel to withdraw his hand. I'm not even going to try to unpack that one!

So David not only follows the command to build an altar on that place, but buys the land and makes plans to build the temple there, but it cannot be he who actually does this, as God has forbidden it (22:8).

In this incident, we see David in all his flaws, but also the way he navigates them as a faithful servant of God.

#OT Jeremiah 18:11-18 – Dismissing the Prophetic Challenge

4/4/2025

Everybody likes to think they are ok and their actions are justified and right. This is why the job of the prophet is so hard and brings about conflict. Jeremiah is told to deliver the word of impending judgement from God, with a call to repent and reform their ways and actions (v11). But he is also told what response he will get! Of course, no-one is going to say the actual words of v12, this is what they will effectively say in their response as they dismiss the message. It is a great parody of every dismissal of the challenge to repent & reform that has been made throughout the ages. At the core of it is always a stubborn heart and the easy route of continuing with the current direction.

So Jeremiah is given the next part of his message, a picture that Israel's forgetting of the Lord is like the permanent snow of the highest mountain vanishing, or its cool waters drying up. Then another picture that they are stumbling in their ancient paths and also diverting to bypaths and roads not made up – “burning incense to vanity” as the King James translates the word - literally "to nothing". The people actually responded (v18) by assuring themselves that all is well in their religion - the priests are doing their job, the wise deliver their counsel & the prophets are speaking God’s word. Therefore, they decide to attack Jeremiah "with their tongues", though it develops into rather more than that, just as it did with Jesus when he followed the same path.

1 Corinthians 7:25-35 – Crisis and Singleness

5/4/2025

Paul's words were written in unstable times. Unstable for the christian church and unstable politically and socially, with Corinth captured by a culture where sexuality reigned. The church was planted into such an unstable situation.

The crisis actually presented opportunities, as they always do. Paul encourages them not to think long term, because "this world in its present form is passing away " (v29-32). Not to be engrossed in the aspects of their world that they use, or get too attached to things they buy. Not even to dwell in sadness or happiness (since everyone is experiencing it), and not even to build the future with your wife. What Paul describes is a state of emergency.

In these circumstances, marriage brings many troubles (v28), and the advice is not to enter it. Or, perhaps v28 is not reffering to the present crisis particularly, and is simply Paul's observation of (or perhaps experience of) marriage himself. He makes it clear in v25 that all this is a very personal view.

Verses 32-35 remind me of the night Grace & I first decided to get engaged. It just so happened that my bible reading for that evening was Matthew 19 where the disciples respond to Jesus' teaching on divorce by saying "in that case, it is better not to marry" (v10). Jesus's reply ends "others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it" (v12). That night I felt it was entirely my choice, but there would be consequences. This is exactly what Paul is saying - you are no longer free. In particular, you are not free to serve God as you might have done.

However, and it is a big however, that assumes that you are, like Paul, able to thrive in singleness. In particular, do you have control over your own will (v37)? This is a really important prerequisite for serving God in singleness (and in marriage too!), and it is also an ongoing fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:23).

So there are two considerations for the Corinthians - the present crisis and the pros and cons of singleness. For them, the two had come together. For us, we can separate them and understand the message for each.

1 Timothy 2:1-4 – Those in Authority

6/4/2025

Although Paul often stirred up controversy, none less so than in Ephesus (see Acts 19) where Timothy is now looking after the church they planted, Paul is actually a man of peace. This comes through very powerfully in all his writings. And although God works powerfully amongst persecution, it is best for the church for it to be able to live in a peaceful environment. So we should pray for all those in authority.

There are different aspects to this prayer. Firstly, particular & specific requests of God for things that would help or hinder peaceful and quiet lives. It is an encouragement to bring to God the issues that face the community we live in. Secondly, to pray for the people in authority themselves, to intercede for them, their work and their personal lives. And thirdly to be thankful to God for them and all they achieve in their work, focussing on successes as well as shortcomings. If only everyone in politics did this in their public debate, it would completely change the nature of politics!

But what is the connection between all this and God wanting all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth? It is Paul's reminder that this is not about a cosy little christian community being left alone, it is about creating an environment where that community can thrive and grow. It is also a big vision about who might be a part of it - including those kings and all those in authority who we pray for.

1 Timothy 6:20-21 – Beware of Knowledge!

15/4/2025

Paul has written a long letter to Timothy, who he has left in charge at Ephesus, just a young man but with a sincere faith. However, its a difficult task, and I think the letter would give him some authority to deal with all the tricky issues described in it. It is quite apparent that for a number of reasons, people of the church turn away, whilst others are throwing things into confusion. Pastoring a church and maintaining a healthy community of faith is hard work!

I wanted to tackle this final issue raised in the letter because we might think it concerns the knowledge about so much of the world that we have today, but this is absolutely not what Paul was referring to. He did not forsee Wikipedia, though he would have been aware of Daniel 12:4 speaking of "the time of the end" where "many will go here and there to increase knowledge". My footnotes suggest it was referring to the beginings of Gnosticism, which emphasized salvation by knowledge, but I’m not sure we need such a sophisticated interpretation.

Surely it is just that there is something compulsive about knowledge, which offers a feeling akin to the “hope of salvation” as we pursue a particular line of enquiry - including Bible knowledge. But it has problems - it can shift our focus from the living reality it is about, it can develop a pride in our great knowledge which inflates our ego and it can reinforce misconceptions if we don't consider the source of that knowledge, especially if we always look for it in confined ways (Social Media algorithms capitalize on this).

I think it is all these problems we have to be careful with. The letter to Timothy is intensly practical, because livng by faith is intensly practical! Knowledge is not a bad thing, but it needs to lead to wisdom as the Spirit takes it and turns it into practical use.

What if the knowledge seems to oppose faith? Is that a good reason to follow Paul's restriction on v20 to turn away from it? I don't think so. But you might need to spend time you don’t have understanding it. Ideas are often used as a spiritual force – “weaponised” - and they need to be stripped of that power before they can be considered properly.

Luke 21:37-38 , 19:41-48 – Jesus the Prophet

16/4/2025

During what we now commemorate as "Holy Week", Jesus spent the days, from early each morning, teaching in the temple about what is to come, about judgement on the religious authorities & on Jerusalem itself. But also warning all his disciples about what they will have to face.

He knows the response he will get, because the prophets recorded in the scriptures all got a negative response. It is human nature. No-one likes criticism, let alone judgement. So the outcome was inevitable.

But there was something way more extreme about Jesus than the prophets before him. As Peter pointed out on the day of Pentecost, he was a man accredited by God by miracles, wonders and signs (Acts 2:22). He was also a powerful spiritual teacher, getting to the heart of the call of God on the Jewish people and exposing the religious elites. He was a thoroughly righteous man, as the Centurion realised (23:47), who somehow always deflected praise towards God. So, to have him executed, and so painfully, and to revel in his humiliation and suffering, was so very, very bad. And at his death the curtain in the temple separating off the Holy of Holies tore into two under its own weight, symbolising the end of the inaccessible God protected by the religous elite, and opening up the way to the life we now live. For they had judged themselves.

Although it was a terrible experience for Jesus, it was a necessary process to become "both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). It was the very pouring out of himself that brought him to his rightful place.

Matthew 26:23-25 – Judas’s Warning

17/4/2025

Today is Maunday Thursday and tonight we have invited friends over for a Seder meal. There is lots to reflect on to commemorate that evening in Jesus' life - the foot washing, the new commandment, the bread and the wine, the spiritual battle in the garden, but in these particular verses we have Jesus declaring a stark warning to Judas.

Ever since Judas made the deal, on his own initiative, to betray Jesus for money, he had been in pretence mode, acting out a disciple but really just thinking about what the plan for the evening was likely to be and once he'd figured it, to think of a way of leaving to meet with the religous authorities. Jesus of course had seen right through this, and wanted not so much to stop him, but give him a last chance to put the brakes on.

He makes it clear to Judas that firstly, he is betraying a trusting friendship - "the one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me". Then secondly, if Judas thinks he is acting out of concern for Jesus' disruptive influence on the religious status quo, then "the Son of Man will go just as it is written about him" - there is no actual need for the betrayal. But if he is acting out of a chance to make some money whilst bringing about the inevitable, then he will make his life unbearable for himself.

What exactly did Jesus mean by "better for him if he had not been born”? In Ecclesiastes 4:3 Solomon writes that for those who live under oppression, the dead are happier than they, but better those who had not yet been born. I think Judas was about to put himself under an oppression far greater than that Solomon wrote about, and that he would see no way out of. 1 John 5:16 - "there is a sin that leads to death”.

But what about redemption? On the day of Pentecost Peter addresses the crowd "you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death" (Acts 2:23). If Judas had been there that morning, could he have been one of 3000 that responded?. In theory yes, but it is too big a gap to breach for him. After all, Paul agonized over his complicity with Stephen's death, calling himself the worst of sinners yet "I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief" (1 Timothy 1:8). But Judas had no such way of making sense of it. He knew it all and still did it.

Luke 23:1-25 – Bypassing Justice

18/4/2025

For the religious leaders, the problem of getting Jesus executed fell into two - the Sanhedrin and the Roman Governor. Because his only reason for being arrested was his destabilising influence, they had to prove to the Governor this was a civil problem rather than an establishment one.

22:71 shows how they managed the Sanhedrin on a technicality; as the Islamic courts in Pakistan have also found, it is relatively easy to uphold an accusation of blasphemy against anyone who has a different religous perspective. In Jesus' case, it was his personal identity as Son of God, which as John and Paul both point out, is what those who follow Jesus should also consider themselves (John 1:12, Romans 8:16). Jesus explained clearly what he meant by it e.g. John 10:38, that the Father is in him and he in the Father, but of course they are not interested in understanding, just condemning.

But Pilate is a completely different kind of hurdle. They try just lying about taxes. but Pilate is not interested in an opposition to taxes that the entire population shares. So they frame the Christ as a king, and that Pilate is obliged to investigate.

Just like the accusation of being Son of God, Jesus does not want to get into technicalities. It is not untrue to see the Christ as a king, though it is rarely stated like that, and when it is in Zechariah 9: 9, it is as a gentle person who proclaims peace to the nations. So Jesus does not disagree with the accusation, yet his demeanour shows Pilate all Pilate needs to know.

So finally the Sanhedrin resorts to mob pressure, and Pilate does not have it in him to resist, not because he has any residual doubts, but because he doesn't think it is worth a rebellion from his collaborators in rule just for one man's justice.

The Sanhedrin must have felt pleased with themselves. But just like Judas, they had two warnings they didn't listen to. First, that Jesus understood himself to be Son of God. And second, that he understood himself to be Christ. Given his spiritual impact & many miracles, you would have thought they would have taken note of both warnings. Instead, they heaped guilt on themselves and locked themselves into their way of thinking in order to avoid facing it.

Matthew 27:62-66 , Luke 23:56 – Resting in Obedience

19/4/2025

Luke 23:56 says the women who had watched all that had happened to Jesus' body went home and "rested according to the commandment". The chief priests and Pharisees did not rest at all, they were anxious about the body of Jesus disappearing, and sought Pilate's help.

And here we have the contrast between the old religion & the new. The old was about power and manipulation, the new is about surrender to God.

This contrast was not unique to Jesus, it happens time and time again. Integrity and obedience get thrown out under the pressure of leadership. This is why we learn so much from the life of David, who mostly held up well under pressure. It is the mark of genuine faith. And Jesus also demonstrated this, as we saw yesterday in the way he responds to his accusers.

Once you go down the route of control, you get in deeper & deeper, as happened here, when the tomb was indeed breached, not by a group of fishermen who were still bewildered and afraid, but by an ethereal figure, bold and powerful who single-handedly rolled the stone away.

Jesus' rising is strange & mysterious. What exactly was happening today, Easter Saturday, to enable all this to happen? And Matthew writes "an angel of the Lord came down from heaven" in 28:2, but that actually tells us nothing except the writer's understanding that there are angels who come from heaven & do things!

But the women's example to us of resting in obedience rather than striving to manipulate for an outcome is a powerful one and speaks into many of today's dilemmas.

John 20:10-18 – Grasping the Resurrection

20/4/2025

"I am returning to my Father and my Father, to my God and your God". He asked Mary not to hold onto him, because he wasn't really back, he was still gone, but in a different way to what she imagined.

Although we put concepts around it - "the resurrection", the "ascension", no-one has the slighest clue what has happened. Peter declares "it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him" (Acts 2:24), but on what basis does he say this?

I think I can answer it for Peter. He had been on the mountain - "the transfiguration". He had heard Jesus' constant predictions about what would happen (which he resisted), and he had experienced his personal failure exactly as Jesus had predicted it. So, now Jesus' body has gone, he realises it is only what Jesus said would happen. The missing piece for Peter was the “why?”. He was after all a fisherman, he knew exactly how the world works - but from that first massive catch he also knew that it seemed to work differently for Jesus.

At this point in the story "they still did not understand from the scriptures that Jesus had to rise from the dead" (v9). For Peter, it was understanding this that answered his "why?". Not so much Isaiah 53, but Psalm 16 "you will not let your Holy one see decay". This is how he made sense of all he experienced this day, because this is how Jesus had explained it to him.

But today, "why?" raises a different set of questions. It's like the explanation of the kettle boiling - is it the phase change of water into steam caused by the agitation of the molecules, or is it because I want a cup of tea?! Peter's “why?” got answered akin to my desire for tea, but the answer I would personally like is more at the molecule level. Sadly for me, there is no way of answering that. We can feel uncomfortable at the placeholder concepts - the transfiguration, the resurrection, the ascension - but what can we do about it? We can note that something happened, that Peter experienced it (along with Mary & the others), that he accepted it because the Scriptures suggested it, that it transformed his thinking which transformed his life and that he believed that it somehow indicated that he would also return to the Father, to his God, as Jesus had. It opened up a world view with God as the ultimate determiner of all that happens, and so he places his confidence there. And this is the essence of the whole Christian message, that we can and should place our confidence in the resurrection of the Son of God and the God who can bring it into being.

John 20:24-31 – Thank you, Smart Thomas

21/4/2025

John explains his philosophy in putting together his gospel in v31. He writes that they might have life in Jesus' name (ie. through Jesus). This is always at the forefront of his mind as he compiles it, and, as he says, he could have written lots of stuff, but he has chosen it carefully, and written the dialogs to bring out the points he wants to make. It’s more akin to a Hollywood life story than a "Dispatches" documentary, because it is indeed a story with all the classical elements. But the postscript in 21:24-25 assures us that the testimony is true, so unlike Hollywood which is typically "70% true"!

The episode with Thomas resonates strongly. Thomas was able to pin down the piece of evidence he needed to rule out the alternative explanations. The holes prevented someone else pretending they were Jesus, putting his hands into them proved both that they were real and that Jesus is really 100% physically there, not some kind of illusion.

Thomas had the opportunity to do this particular test and took it. Gideon tested a very unlikely word from God with a two-stage test which demonstrated the same clear thinking in Judges 6. The more outrageous the claim, the more carefully it needs testing. But it doesn't need testing by everyone. If that were the case, we wouldn't have science and technology today. But we do need a way of having confidence in other people's tests.

In science we get it from reproducability and peer review. If reproducibility is not possible, evidence for a scientific theory can be gathered in other ways, building up a picture, a body of evidence. The New Testament, building on the old Testament, gives us a multi-author body of evidence for the "life in Jesus' name" that was essentially the "theory" which they all lived by and experienced.

"Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed". In science, if we all had to see everything, we could never get to where we are today. Because the ultimate test of a scientific theory is whether it works - whether it explains what we observe, and whether it enables us to make useful predictions. The ultimate test of believing in Jesus as Lord is whether or not you do indeed experience the "life in his name", the "streams of living water which flow from within" (John 7:38), the Spirit of God within you.

John 21:17-22 – Our End is Part of Our Call

22/4/2025

Jesus reinstates Peter with the simple commands to take care of, and feed, his sheep. Not out of pride in his capability or his 3 years training, but out of his love for Jesus. Not so much Jesus the man, but Jesus the Son of God, Jesus crucified yet standing before him having shared breakfast together. He had failed once, now he was being entrusted with continuing the work of Jesus.

It gets worse - Jesus makes this veiled prophecy about Peter's final days. Which Peter understands well enough, because he asks about John. Jesus won’t be drawn. "If... what is that to you?" But the prophecy isn’t of doom, its of a long life of freedom and service, and to be honest, none of our final days are going to be much fun, and Jesus' description could apply to literally anyone facing their final few days, months or even years.

Paul followed a similar path to Peter. In Philippians he is quite upbeat about his end, just as Peter had been at the Last Supper. Writing Philippians under house arest but otherwise free, he writes that he wants the fellowship of sharing in Christ's sufferings. becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3: 10,11). But some time later Paul is imprisoned in a dungeon and in 2 Timothy 4:6 writes "I am already being poured out like drink offering, and the time has come for my departure". In v16 he mentions that at his first defense everyone deserted him. He did indeed share in Christ's sufferings. It is part & parcel of the call of God.

Ephesians 3:2-12 – Demonstrating the Manifold Wisdom of God

23/4/2025

After two millennia of Christianity, now associated with the West, and the Jews’ non-acceptance of Jesus (and persecution for that) it is hard for us to absorb what a revolutionary idea Paul carried. It was revealed to Peter in the events of Acts 10 and Paul on the road to Damascus. "This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus" (v6).

So, it is indeed the greatest of all tragedies that the one body failed to emerge properly, and that it developed into persecution, led by political leaders who saw Christianity as a political tool.

Paul became a sevant of this “gospel” (good news- amazing news in fact) by "the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power" (v7). Paul after all had been a persecutor of christians and had the blood of Stephen on his hands (aiding & abetting), so was always conscious that he did what he did by the grace of God and by the power of God. This power that had transformed him was what came through when he "preached the unsearchable riches of Christ."

But it is not about Paul - it is about the church which demonstrates the wisdom of the Kingdom of God - "the manifold wisdom of God" - to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. That is, it demonstrates it in an eternal, transcendent, way.

So, every church needs to weigh up whether it is indeed fulfilling this eternal purpose of God. This is the only metric worth having. It is not about growth per se, but about expressing the Kingdom of God in Christ. This becomes the theme of the second half of the letter to the Ephesians, to "live a life worthy of the calling you have received" (4: 1) .

Romans 8:22-27 – Groaning!

24/4/2025

Creation groans, we ourselves groan and the Spirit groans. Things around us are not as they should be, but we do not know what we ought to pray for. The Lord's prayer keeps it very simple "hallowed be thy name, thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. But what Paul describes here is somewhat different to speaking those simple words.

I've always thought that "intercedes for" means that we are the subject of the intercession. But the passage makes more sense if it means "intercedes in place of." If the Spirit takes creation's groaning and our groaning and intercedes appropriately. But what does it even mean for the Spint to intercede?

Perhaps we should just give it a go. Sit quietly, without thought or agenda, and let the Spirit of God within us rise up. Let's feel the weight of all that is not as it should be, but not speak our assessment of the solution, even the biblical solution, but just hold that weight before God.

How did that go? For me, something quite different happened - a different perspective on things arrived. Maybe this aptly describes that prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Spirit within intercedes for us in accordance with God's will, and we can get up and face things with a new and more God-centred determination.

#OT Daniel 8:13-27 – Forseeing the Exact Future

25/4/2025

Daniel has several experiences where a vision of the future and/or an interpretation of it are given him. They are controversial because of their astounding accuracy. This one pertains to Antiochus IV and the uprising of Judas Maccabeus in 165 B.C. and as verse 26 states, the 2,300 evenings and mornings is true. But the language of the book does not place it in the second century B.C., and it appears (elsewhere) to describe the Roman Empire which didn't arrive in Israel until the first century B.C. The prophecies of chapter 9 time well to Jesus. So what should we make of this?

Generally, the prophecies of the Jewish Scriptures (our Old Testament) seem to pertain to either both near and far events (like Isaiah 7: 14, now a standard part of our Christmas 9 lessons and carols), or future events in a high-level way only. The ones in the book of Daniel stand out as being both in the far future and very specific. If the book is genuinely from the time of the Babylonian exile, and not just a later book written in the language of several centuries before (forsooth, dost thou not think this possible?), then it raises big questions about the way the sovereignty of God works, or perhaps about time itself. Because either the future is tightly controlled, or simply Known, or perhaps in some way a combination of the two.

When we looked at Elijah on Mount Carmel in Kings 17, I observed that although the fire from heaven appeared to be an Act of God, it could equally well be a "bolt from the blue", that Elijah caught the timing of perfectly. We have all experienced perfect timing - sometimes for bad as well as good - and even kind of expect it if we are fulfilling God's purposes for us. We remember the times when this opened a door for us, making something barely possible happen. But maybe we tend to forget when it doesn't work out so well! In the book "the Heavenly Man", we have the examples of Brother Yun literally walking out of a high security prison simply because God told him to and every layer of security just opened to him - and then being recaptured because of him not listening to God at all. However, it is one thing for the near future to be known, quite another for the far future. For this there must be specific control – but that control might be simply through obedient and listening servants of God.

#OT Isaiah 55: 8-11 – God’s Word and God’s Higher Ways

26/4/2025

"My ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts them your thoughts." What does "higher" mean in this context? Isaiah likens it to the rain (and snow) that waters the earth, making it bud and flourish. Rain makes the whole ecosystem work, everything benefits, it is not selective. The suggestion is that "higher" means God works at a collective, system level. But what about God's thoughts? These too; in some sense God is a system-level entity. Of course, so are we - the body is an amazing system, producing what my branch of science calls "embedded intelligence". But somehow God is at a higher level than just an individual person.

The main purpose of the rain analogy is to capture how God works in the world, and this might help explain yesterday's question arising from Daniel 8 - does God control or is it that God simply knows what will happen? It is that God's word goes out, and accomplishes what God desires, the purpose for which it is sent.

You can see the whole biblical testimony as giving many examples of how this has worked in history. You might ask, how does God's word affect the world? Initially, in Genesis 1, it is a command to let light be made, the mysterious wave/particle duality we know as electromagnetic radiation, the main means by which the whole universe interconnects. From there a whole series of "let there be... " (and many that are missed out in Genesis 1) brings the world we now experience into being. However, the biblical testimony is not really about this, but rather the word of God directed to humans; to Noah, to Abraham, to Joseph, to Moses and Joshua, to Samuel, to David, to the prophets, to Nehemiah, to Daniel, and then in the person of Jesus. It is this that causes John in his prologue to say "the word was with God in the beginning, and through him all things were made", and then "the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us " (John 1:2,3,14).

So we can see, God works in the world through his word, which in this era of history is to us humans, and as the rain waters the earth and brings forth life, so does the word from God. For it to work in you, you need to be open to it, but even if you're not, it will affect you because its intention is to reach the whole of human society, and from there impact the whole ecosystem.

2 Timothy 3:15-16 , Romans 3:9-20 – Quoting Scripture

27/4/2025

Paul had a pragmatic view of the scriptures he had grown up on, the old Testament as we call it, that they make you "wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus". This is why he would spend time arguing from them, in particular that Jesus is the Christ that was promised in them.

In this passage in Romans Paul is wanting to make the point that Jews and Gentiles - all humanity -are under sin, and what that means, and his use of scripture gives a good picture of what he refers to in today’s verse as "teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness". I suspect from his training he knows the Psalms well, and most of these quotes seem to reference them, though he never troubles to give a reference so the reader can check them for themselves, like the Bereans did in Acts 12:11.

He begins with Psalm 14 (or 53, practically the same psalm). Does Psalm 14 say this? Kind of. Certainly not verbatim. But most importantly, in Psalm 14 the context is "the fool says in his heart, there is no God" (Psalm 14:1), which Paul conveniently misses out. In contrast to which it has "God is present in the company of the righteous " (Psalm 14: 5).

Verse 13 is from Psalm 5:9, and even more obviously them Psalm 14, this applies to the writer's enemies. The other quotes from Psalm 140:3, Psalm 10:7 and Psalm 36:1 are all describing the wicked. Verse 17 is from Isaiah 59 which complains that no-one is concerned about justice and "our offences are many in your sight " (Is 59: 12). This is the only passage quoted which unequivocally supports Paul's argument - though of course it did particularly refer to the society that Isaiah prophesied into. And it was the prophetic style to include everyone, including the godly writer, so as to leave no wiggle room.

Did any of the contexts quoted refer to Gentiles? Not really, but that is Paul's point, that the Jews should not think themselves squeaky clean. Do those scriptures support Pauls statement in v9? No. All they support is that someone being a Jew doesn't mean they can't be under sin.

But I don't think Paul is being logical here. He doesn't use the scriptures to support his argument, but rather to let them speak to his listeners/readers. It is not that they prove all have sinned, rather they ask of you as an individual - do you understand, do you really seek God? Are you clear of these accusations?

"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). It is by considering the scriptures God-breathed that they are able achieve this. To Paul, it didn't matter if he took them out of context or paraphrased them.

For myself, I do make the effort to quote verbatim and also give references, and I do my very best to use them in the context they were written. Christendom has too much history of the use of scripture to support bad practices, and we need to be careful how we handle scripture lest to make the same mistake.

#OT Psalm 138:1-5 – When Scripture is Personal

28/4/2025

The writer (perhaps David, though mention of the temple casts doubt on that) sings the praise of the Lord before the gods, by which he probably means the gods of the nations (e.g. Psalm 96:57) or the lesser gods mentioned in other Psalms (e.g. Psalm 82).

Above all things, the Lord has exalted his name and his Word, and the writer's prayer in v4 is that all the kings of the earth will praise the Lord when they hear "the words of his mouth". I wonder if the making of him bold and stout hearted is in order for this to happen, since they have to hear that word somehow.

Reading verse 4 reminds me of Jesus in Matthew 5:16 where he commands our light to shine before men that they will see our good deeds and praise our father in heaven. Its just that here it is not our good deeds but the words of the Lord. To me, both are surprising because they don’t resonate with today. Who praises God when they see someone's good deed? Which person in power would praise God when they heard his words?

The answer to that could be - when it is personal. Praise is a natural response to when something touches us. I reflected in yesterday's look at Romans 3 that Paul uses scripture there to speak into the hearts of his readers. I feel this psalm is an exortation to do that amongst our peers and those with power, and to be bold and stout-hearted about it.

#OT Zechariah 14 – Open Possibilities

29/4/2025

Unlike so much in the book of Zechariah which Jesus fulfilled, this chapter was not fulfilled. Given that there is a consistent Messianic theme through the prophets, it gives the Sanhedrin of Jesus day a good reason to reject him as Messiah.

Reading the chapter, the valley formed from the splitting of the mountain, the living water flowing both ways, the Lord the king over the whole earth, the flattening of the land south of Jerusalem, the plague like the one in Hezekiah s day (Isaiah 37), the plunder, the lack of rain for any people that don’t go up to worship in Jerusalem, the holiness of every common object in Jerusalem, and the purity of the worshipers - there is a lot to fulfill.

There is an obvious purpose to writing it - to encourage everyone to keep believing in what they are doing - rebuilding the temple & the city after returning from exile. A small step along the way to an extremely grand vision.

Some of it draws on biblical history - the plague, the droughts and famines, the unique day like in Joshua 10:14, the earthquake in the days of Uzziah. Some of it resonates with the topological changes of Isaiah 40:3-5. It definitely eminates from a fertile scriptural imagination, much like the book of Revelation does.

But in what sense should we take it as a foretelling of the future? Christians observe that some of Zechariah is fulfilled in Christ but some isn't, so logically, this is simply that which remains to be fulfilled, along with much other similar end-times vision. This gives plenty for end-timers to focus their attention on!

Jesus added to the end-time visions in Matthew 24. Some was fulfilled in that generation as predicted in 24:3-4, but not all, even though Jesus said it would be all. Jesus followed in the long line of prophets whose visions remain to happen. So can we say they definitely will happen? Will all written here in Zech 14 one day be fulfilled? Or is the future not accessible to us, and so we have to acknowledge that things written as encouragement may not happen as described?

I think the essential point is that history is full of remarkable turnarounds, and biblical history opens our eyes to the purposes of God in these. So whether or not these or any other end days prophecies ever come to pass, the possibility of them remains because God is sovereign and as Jeremiah 32:17 proclaims and Jesus affirms in Matthew 19:36, nothing is too hard for God - the possibilities are always open.

#OT Psalm 139:1-18 – David’s Internal Experience

30/4/2025

David writes about his internal experience of God. It is firstly that deep sense of being completely known, and at the same time hiding nothing - not from yourself or from God (v1-3) . Then, a sense of being held in place and directed - hemmed in "behind and before." A sense that there is a right way to go at any point in life.

These senses might fade, but it is not because of external factors. It doesn't matter where you are, or how things are going, whether you are in complete darkness, because of the sense that none of these make any difference to God

Why is this? Because we are made by God, "knit together" in our mother's womb is a beautiful way of picturing the hidden process of cells dividing and reconfiguring. The formation of our brains has been described as "an engineering project on a schedule"! "Your works are wonderful" (v14) is an understatement. The more we know, the more we stand in awe. "Fearfully and wonderfully made" is used as the title of my favorite book of all time - by a leprosy doctor, Paul Brand, describing the workings of the human body as an analogy of the body of Christ, the church.

Then there is the sense of life being preordained, laid out for you to live, each day for you to step into, like a book has been written and life is the enactment of it. "All of life's a stage" was Shakespeare's way of putting it. That your future is known and ordained (v16).

The sum total of all this is reflected in the closing verses of this first half of the Psalm - that God's thoughts are countless. God is not like a human with one thought at a time, but many all at the same time, the logical conclusion of this experience. As I often observe, God is at a higher level than us, just as the "me" David is reflecting on is at a higher level them the neurons in our brain.

And finally, whatever happens in our dreams - nightmares or all we long for - once we are awake again, back in the world, God is there with us. For me, this sense is not automatic, I need this process of morning reflections to reestablish it!

John 17:1- 5 -Completing our Work

1/5/2025

Authority is usually associated with capability, or else it is seized, driven by the desire for power. In the first case, it is to act on behalf of someone else, in the second on behalf of yourself.

In Jesus' case it was neither of these. The reason he had authority was to bring people to a knowledge of God, and thereby to give them eternal life. But in 3 years of ministry he was hardly going to achieve that, even though he worked hard and gave it 100%. Yet he says he has completed the work given him to do. And now he needs to take the final cup of suffering, now the work is done, to glorify him with the glory his "I" has had from before the beginning. Not the glory of a criminal's death, but the glory of death defeated.

All that was needed had been done. We tend to see the cross as Jesus' pinnacle, but we should not underestimate the importance of the work he had been given to do, to make God known, and make himself known.

Although he had an air of authority (see Matt 7:29), and seemed to in particular have authority over demons, his actual, practical, authority only extended as far as his disciples. It was them he was referring to when he says he "gave eternal life to all those you have given him". This was the full work he had, that was all that was needed. The baton had been passed on - the authority, the work, all the way through many generations to us today.

#OT Proverbs 8:22-31 – Wisdom, the Builder of Creation

2/5/2025

Genesis 1 declares that God speaks and creation comes into being, but it doesn’t describe how. This passage addresses that - it was done through wisdom. "I was the craftman at his side" (v 30). What kind of craftsman is wisdom? A very effective one it would seem.

One of my favorite books is "The Tau of Management”: a set of about 100 short meditations on management. "What is happening when nothing is happening?" it asks right at the start. This gets you to look not at how you want everything to work, but how it actually is working now; not so much the activities but the interconnections. If you don’t take account of these, then all your instructions to people will not achieve your goal.

In a similar way, wisdom builds creation through all the interconnections. But what exactly does "wisdom" mean in this contest? It usually refers to an understanding of "to achieve A you need to do B". And it is the same here.

Nature is not like our technology. We build through shaping components from uniform material and putting them together. Nature builds by reproducing molecular structures, which then fit together by themselves. We don't have much intuition about how you bring into being superbly complex systems like our bodies on that foundation. But God knew. At this point in time we cannot grasp what actually had to be done to direct a self-building process, and it is dangerous to use gaps in our knowledge as an argument for God's intention in it, since we really don’t know what happened. Complexity and irreducability are not good arguments.

The passage focuses on the establishment of the fundamentals. The oceans, mountains, springs, the weather system, the amount of water (the boundary of the sea). It is kind of implied that these are the things that had to be got right so the rest could then develop by itself, and there was a lot of rejoicing as it did so!

#OT 1 Chronicles 23: 2-5 - A Family Business

3/5/2025

The Levites were the civil servants of the theocracy-turned-monarchy that Israel had become under Saul and now David. They had their own resources, but not many, just town houses and pasture land and those towns, so depended also on the sacrifices for food, and tithes. The initial count of 38,000 probably increased when David reduced the qualifying age from the Mosaic 30 to a more pragmatic 20 (v27).

Of these, 6000 were officials and judges, and the remaining 32,000 looked after the temple. That's a lot! Can you imagine that many looking after one of our cathedrals? A quick google suggests that total staff and volunteers range from 500 to 1000 depending on size.

4000 were assigned gatekeepers, but 26:17-18 describes just 22 guard positions. Allowing a generous 5 shifts per 24 hours, there would still be a lot of people spare. Similarly there were 288 musicians (25:7) but 4000 assigned. They cast lots for the temple duties. The same kind of proportion was probably taken out of the 24,000 assigned to the temple generally, more commensurate with our biggest and most active cathedrals.

This vast over-assignment meant there could never be problems with "staff shortages", nor with "getting the right people". Good people were always available and were found from amongst the assigned families.

I do find it fascinating how a completely different society was organised. We just take for granted the way we do things today, but seeing another system altogether opens possible alternatives. A system developed before the days of education, where leaning was done in families, when all of society was really organised around families, and as we see in these following chapters, responsibilities were assigned through families. Now the concept of family is almost lost because it is no longer needed. We just concentrate on the nuclear family, though even that is now a temporary construction with the majority of teenagers (in the UK) not living with both parents. But there are still a few family businesses, the last vestiges of a society where family once counted for a lot. What we miss today is a reason for extended families to work together - if we could rediscover this, then all the other benefits of a family-based society might slowly return.

#OT Psalm 138:6-8 - Serenity

4/5/2025

Faith enables you to navigate the troubles of life. It does so in a way that doesn't pour fuel on the source of those troubles, or cause them to pass onto someone else.

Firstly, you relinquish your pride. You recognize that this world isn't about you. But you do have a part to play, and life is about discovering this and playing it well. Not for your benefit, but for the benefit of what you are a part of. This may be your family, your "tribe", your nation - but ultimately it is the LORD, who is over it all, the great "I am". Understanding this is fundamental.

Secondly, you don't try to solve all your troubles yourself. You keep walking in the midst of them and you trust in the confidence that "with your right hand you save me". It’s not for us to solve them, but for us to be faithful in them.

If a solution opens up, fine, but as the "serenity prayer" points out - wisdom is to know when a solution is available and when it isn't.

A particular problem is "the anger of my foes". The more you resist it, the worse the anger gets. So we don’t escalate it, we do what we can and allow the "I am" to do everything else. "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone" writes Paul in Romans 12:17-21, where he reminds us to let God be the one who repays.

Thirdly, whatever happens, it is about the "I am" fulfilling his purpose for me. In fact, "his purpose" is not in the Hebrew. So, whatever is fulfilled, it is the "I am" fulfilling it. This is not letting fate take its course though, this is resting in the arms of love - "your love, O Lord, endures for ever! Our plea to that fulfiller, that lover, is "do not abandon the works of your hands".

#OT Deuteronomy 8:1-5 – Learning to Live on Every Word from God

5/5/2025

Israel had spent 40 years in the desert because they didn't have the faith to enter the land that had been promised to their forefathers. The opportunty had been there, but they didn't take it. So Moses once again lays down the foundations of how they are to do it and how they are to be as a society, and at the centre of it is the faithfulness of God and his love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands (7: 9) . The time in the desert was their chance to collectively learn that "man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (v4).

It seems that after his baptism, Jesus entered the desert in order to learn the same thing (Matt 4: 4). Of course, he already knew it, but knowing it isn't the same as living it. You may have a gift, an ability; you may have resources that you can offer & you may have opportunity staring you in the face - but none of these are the fundamental requirements for your service to God.

How do you learn to live on every word from the mouth of God? Do you fast for 40 days like Jesus, or spend 40 years in a barren place like the Israelites in today's passage? Experiencing the discipline of God until you have learnt it seems to be the only way. So the question today is - "have you learnt it"? Or will you turn back for another tour of the wilderness?

#OT Numbers 35:9-34 – The Tag System’s Precursor

6/5/2025

I find the justice system in the newly forming nation interesting. It does not distinguish between intent to kill and intent to harm, the issue being whether there was any "malice aforethought", and this could be judged by the circumstances. But there had to be two witnesses to those two instances, and with good questioning (in isolation) it is usually possible to tell if one or both are lying (this was the problem in Jesus's trial before the Sanhedrin (Mark (4:56)).

What it does distinguish is between accident and intent to harm, and part of the judgement comes from whether someone was an enemy or not. So one could recklessly drop a stone from a height without looking - as long as the victim was not a target. That person is not a murderer and does not deserve the murderer's penalty.

The death penalty for murder was to be enacted by someone from the murdered person's family - "the avenger of blood". Given the murderer's family would probably do their best to protect them. this would not be an easy task, and had the danger of escalation, as in the tragic story in Judges 20 when the Benjamites would not surrender the murderers (20: 13) and so a tribal war began, just as it did between Israel and the Gaza Palestinians in 2023. But with good strategy, the person could be isolated and killed, and it gave the murderer a very tense life anticipating it.

The accidental killer, whether reckless or not, ended up being confined to a city of refuge. This is the interesting part of the system. It both protected them before the trial and after the accidental death judgement is passed. It is practical, offering protection from an avenger, but that would not be effective unless it had a punishment element to it, and this, like today’s prisons, is achieved by the person's life beins very restricted, in a new place and without much opportunity. I guess if they had a family, the family could choose to go with them.

However, they would not need to stay if the family of the victim forgave them, and they believed it. But given that the supposed forgiveness could be a ruse, I suspect they didn't take the chance.

So we have something like the tag system! But death through a moment of recklessness is punished much more severely in our society - 9 years in prison for a young mum trying to stop her friend overtaking her by putting her foot down. And the consequent taking of her children into care because of drunkenness in her partner and her father. Why could she not have a 9 year tag instead? Why destroy her family and use up expensive prison resource? We think of ourselves as more civilised than an ancient society like this, but how is this sentence more civilised?

A final twist is that the person is released on the death of the high priest. Why this? It's hard to say. but whatever the actual reason, it had the effect of the person having to plan to stay in the city of refuge indefinitely. It was not possible to plan for a life afterwards. Like Charles not being able to plan for his kingship! It was a life-changing punishment, but not a life-ruining one.

Philemon – True Consent

7/5/2025

Paul and Onesimus have reached the hard decision that neither really wanted to make that Onesimus needs to go back to his master. Paul had so many reasons why he should stay, and he goes through these in the letter.

Its not clear how Onesimus ended up with Paul, being a very valuable support to him imprisoned in chains. Not just in practical ways, but as a dear friend and brother. Clearly he shouldn't really have been there and could be in some trouble when returning (v18). All these are great reasons to stay.

Not just this, but Philemon kind of owed Paul. In fact, he owed "his very self", by which I suspect he means that without Paul, Philemon would not have the faith he now lives in. Onesimus was taking Philemon's place caring for Paul in prison.

In spite of all this, all these most excellent reasons Onesimus should continue with Paul, Paul had the feeling that the most important thing is to get Philemon's consent. Not that Paul believed in slavery, emphasizing that Onesimus should be treated as a dear brother.

Although clearly Paul was wanting Onesimus to stay, he wasn't prepared just to write asking for consent. If he did that, Philemon would feel obliged. Paul could even order Philemon to give consent (v8). But this wouldn’t be real consent. It needed to be a decision made out of love (9) . More than that it needed to be a completely free choice by Philemon.

So Paul tells Philemon to take Onesimus back for good. The letter is a masterful balance between genuinely returning Onesimus yet asking for him to stay. Paul is also concerned that Onesimus might be in trouble and wants to ensure Philemon treats him well.

It is a demonstration of what free will entails, and I think this is why we have it in the Bible. As Paul sends Onesimus to Philemon, so God blesses us in so many ways, and tells us to enjoy the blessings. But what he longs for, out of our free will, is for us to return the blessing back to him, which in practice means sharing it!

#OT Isaiah 53:7 - He Did Not Open his Mouth

8/5/2025

How much did this one verse in Isaiah determine Jesus' response to his accusers? In order to answer this, we need to look at the different situations of those accusations.

When Jesus was before the Sanhedin there was a lot of trouble with inconsistent witnesses. There were at least Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus who supported Jesus, so there should have been a good cross-questioning of the witnesses, hence the uncovering of their false testimony. But in Matthew 26: 61 he is successfully reported as saying “he would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days”, and there he made no answer because he did in fact say it (John 2:19) and further explanation wouldn't have helped. When asked specifically about being the Christ (Sanhedrin, Matt 26: 63) or a king (Pilate), Jesus answers affirmatively (e.g. Matt 27:11).

Luke adds in the detail of Jesus before Herod. Jesus had little respect for him, having executed John the Baptist on a drunken oath. There was no message he had for Herod that was going to help his situation. Neither could or would he be able to perform a miracle in such a faithless environment, as Herod was hoping (Luke 23: 8). So Jesus simply did not engage. Herod would not get the satisfaction of exercising his power over Jesus.

Finally, the chief priests and elders accused him before Pilate (Matt 27:12), to which Jesus amazed Pilate by making no answer (Matt 27: 14). The accusations were along the lines of inciting rebellion and subversion of the nation. Like all good lies, there was an element of truth in them, and Jesus could have made his case to distinguish the truth and the lies. But Pilate could already tell he was innocent of such charges and that there was no basis for them (Luke 23: 14). What would it have achieved for Jesus to get into a full explanation of the Kingdom of God before Pilate?

So, I would conclude that Jesus remained silent at these times because he read the situation well and was properly prepared for each one. His silence was the right course of action, and definitely not some kind of death wish prompted by Isaiah 53. What that verse probably did do was open up the option of silence to Jesus, and warn him that it could be the most appropriate response, as it indeed was.

Philipians 1:12-21 – To Live is Christ

9/5/2025

Paul is in chains. But rather than subduing the christians, his example has encouraged them to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. And the whole palace guard has now heard of Christ - and that someone is content to be in chains because of him. So, it really matters how we handle life and its troubles, because it is then that our faith is clearer and the one we trust in becomes more widely known.

The chains aren't Paul's only trouble. There are some who want his status as founder and overseer of the churches, and think they can do just as well as he. Whilst he is in chains, they work hard to take over his position. "Fine" says Paul, as long as Christ is preached he is going to rejoice.

He considers the chains temporary. He isn't worried by them, but patiently lives with them. He is being prayed for and the spint is helping him. His concern is not freedom but that at all times Christ will be exalted in his body. He has a quiet confidence about that, that he will continue to have sufficient courage for each day. And as long as he does, he has no shame.

So, he summarises his life as "for me to live is Christ" and we can see through these three aspects of his imprisonment what this actually means in practice. His bad circumstances, others taking over his status, the need to live each day courageously, the continual possibility of execution. He is content in all these as long as he has Christ.

#OT 2 Kings 6:8-23 – Dealing with Emnity

10/5/2025

I love the way my footnotes explain that the servant sees the "heavenly hosts gathering about Elisha" as if that somehow makes anything clearer! It's not as if this is a recurrent theme in the Bible, or that what Elisha's servant saw had ever been seen before, or since. And what were "chariots of fire "anyway? Elijah disappeared in one in 2 Kings 2:11, drawn by horses of fire, in a whirlwind (it really sounds like a harrier jump jet!). But now Elisha's servant sees them everywhere.

Then Elisha prays for blindness for the raiders. But it isn’t just blindness, its gullability! And they end up inside the King’s capital, surrounded by the King's army. The king thinks this is his moment to dispose of them, but that isn't God’s way, so he shows them great hospitality, as if they hadn't come on a raiding party at all.

In amongst the strange miracles of this chapter (which begin with iron floating in v6), it's easy to lose the message of the incident. Aram & Israel were enemies and Aram kept on raiding, but Elisha listened to God. Not just to warn the king of raids, but on how to solve the whole problem - through hospitality and mercy.

Maybe it was this incident the caused Proverbs 25:21-22 to be written, which Paul quotes in Romans 12 - along with the experience of the writer and countless others. Emnity is not solved through conflict, but through the opportunity to show mercy and hospitality. If we are offered that opportunity in the situations we face, we need to grab it with both hands!

Acts 8:26-40 – Start from a Question

11/5/2025

Philip gets prompted to go to a certain road, but before he even gets there a chariot comes past. Again, he gets prompted to chase it. The man is reading scripture out loud. But not just any scripture, Isaiah 53, and not just any verse but the verse we looked at a few days ago about the humilating, unjust death of the one on whom the Lord laid the iniquity of mankind.

"Was the prophet writing about himself or someone else?" asks the man. The whole of Isaiah 53 is written in the past tense, so its a fair question. It must have been inspired from somewhere, and Jesus was not the first unjust death in history. But in particular, the prophets at the time coming up to the exile did not have a great reception. Jesus considered himself at the end of a long line of persecuted prophets (e.g. Matthew 5:12).

But there is something paradoxical about Isaiah 53, and it’s this that gave Philip the opportunity to explain about the good news of Jesus. Because it is clearly about the death of a good man, yet it also speaks of him having a "portion among the great" and "he will see his offspring and prolong his days”. Underlying the whole chapter is the theme that it all happened to him on our behalf.

So, it was quite an easy job for Philip to explain about Jesus. I guess an evangelist is someone who can arrive at Jesus from any starting point, but this was an easy one. As was the demonstration of miraculous signs Philip performed earlier in Samaria (v6). You always need to start from the issue of the moment. You either take the current question, or you provoke a question though what you do, what you demonstrate.

3 John 1:1-4 – Be Faithful to Truth, Walk in Truth

12/5/2025

John likes to use the concept of truth as a power, or even as the power, behind the christian life. Yet truth is difficult to nail down, and is often best understood as two opposites held in tension. Proving that a statement is true is very different from understanding its significance, which requires the whole context.

The emphasis here is both faithfulness to the truth and walking in it. Being faithful to truth requires time and effort and it is much easier just to form an opinion and stick to it, or to let others do the thinking for you. It means working things through with others, listening to those who know more than you - not necessarily agreeing with their overall conclusions, but at least ascertaining the facts.

Walking in the truth is quite different. This is not about how much you know, but what you are prepared to act on. Its about your life demonstrating what you really believe. Most of all, its the truth about yourself. Because this is the hardest truth of all to face. It’s this truth that John emphasizes in his first letter - "if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). And it's this truth the Diotrephes in v9 is definitely not walking in.

But this truth needs to handled carefully. "Speaking the truth in love" is the way Paul puts it in Ephesians 4:15 and "a workman who correctly handles the word of truth" writing to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15. It is hard to face and needs to be faced in an environment of love and acceptance. Walking in the truth is a complete way of life.

#OT Deuteronomy 21:1-21 – Forming the Law

13/5/2025

You see the newly formed nation has lots of issues to deal with, and this chapter gives a small snapshot.

The first is unsolved murder. Grace & I are fans of the BBC show "New Tricks" which centres on a special police unit for revisiting unsolved murders, mostly a long time afterwards, when new evidence comes to light. The concern addressed in this ritual is that the community is protecting the murderer, and they are obliged to declare over the heifer that is killed that they were not complicit in the murder.The implication is that if they were, the Lord would hold them guilty. It is the priests, the sons of Levi, who decide all cases of dispute and assault, and they too are answerable to God. They may not be as astute as the team in "New Tricks," but they do share the strong sense of accountability in the Judgements they make, but to God rather than the police commissioner!

The second is the treatment of a captive woman. She may be captive, but that doesn't give any right to sexual relations. You must take her as your wife, and if it doesn’t work out, she is a free woman. Like the first situation, its not ideal, but it puts boundaries around treatment of captives. Note that in 20:13, this is resulting from the defeat of a city that chose to fight and the men are killed. Why are the women's nails cut and head shaved? My footnotes has various theories, but I think it is to cool off the man's desire and also to help the woman came to terms with the situation. Warfare was the normal process then for testing strength and resolve, and there were boundaries in it, as now.

The third and fourth relate to sons. To stick to the principle of the eldest son regardless of the man’s feelings for his mother, and to deal with a bad son by bringing him to the elders. Note that in the working out of God's promise to Abraham, Ishmael was not treated according to this rule - but his mother was not Abraham's wife. And neither was Esau treated according to this rule, but this was not the father's fault. Maybe it was because of these precedents that this rule was particularly needed. The eldest son has a double share, in the expectation he is best placed to make a success with the family's resources.

And what about that rebellious son? Would the parents really take him to be stoned by the town elders? The final verse gives away that this is very much a deterent! The law is designed to give parents the ultimate power over their children. but was it ever invoked? If it were, "all Israel will hear of it and be afraid". It’s hard to think of any circumstance where an enacting of it wouldn't be underpinned by another, unhealthy, motive.

Seeing how this ancient society grappled with all these issues and how it traded off the need for a good culture with the needs of the individual is always instructive. We can easily swing too far one way or the other if we try to do it purely with laws. It is the New Testament insistence on love, humility and forgiveness which adds in another dimension that would make all the difference.

Luke 12:49-53 - the Difficult but Necessary Reset

14/5/2025

Fire on the earth seems very bad to us, and it is becoming more and more of a serious problem in areas that become very hot & dry at certain times of year. But in the natural course of ecology, it’s a good thing. It provides a reset and removes plants that have become dominant to the detrement of everything else. Bigger events like volcanic eruptions and even large meteorite strikes provide a reset to animal species, and probably removed the dominant dinosours.

But of course, Jesus was speaking metaphorically. However, before we move on to the metaphor, we should note that from an ecological viewpoint, humans are the species that dominate to the detrement of anything else, and history tells us some kind of reset will come.

The reset that Jesus spoke of was presumably that of the jewish religious establishment, and the fire accompanies the Holy Spirit, promised by John the Baptist in 3:16. The two go together, the burning up of the old and dominant, and the replacement with the new. Elsewhere Jesus used the metaphor of new wine, new cloth (Matt 9: 12, 16) denoting the sense that it is not so much fundamentally different, but more a renewal of the original.

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit appears like tongues of fire, and Peter preaches a sermon that effectively exposes the actions of the religons authorities and the people's complicity in it. This is the fire. He shows through the resurrection that God accepts no excuse for this, and they are "cut to the heart " (Acts 2: 37). But into that burnt ground he promises the Spirit, and 3000 people respond.

The sad point that Jesus emphasizes in this passage is that not everyone will accept this reset, and it will divide close relationships within families. The problem is that it is not just a matter of accepting a new religion, but a new heart, as prophesied by Ezekiel 600 years earlier in the context of the return from exile (Ezekiel 11:19) - another massive reset for the faith of the nation. And this new heart - of “flesh rather than stone” as Ezekiel puts it - is such a personal thing that it can and will divide families, and from there society as a whole.

Fire is very disruptive and no-one really relishes the thought of a reset. Interestingly, the nation of Israel had a built-in reset - the year of Jubilee - which restored land back to the family it originally belonged to, like today's leasehold agreements. This was supposed to happen every 50 years. And the death of the high priest released everyone in the cities of refuge (see Numbers 35), another periodic reset. Currently, Donald Trump is instigating a reset in American relations, which he and his supporters consider a good and necessary thing. Resets are never pleasant, but are both needed and are quite natural.

#OT Nehemiah 3 – Restoring that Which is Broken

15/5/2025

The Bible has quite a few sections that are little more than a list of names of people of whom we know nothing, interspersed with the odd comment to break them up. At first, this chapter seems to be one of those, but reading it through from start to finish takes you around the wall of Jerusalem, starting & finishing at the sheep Gate and (apparently) moving in an anti-clockwise direction.

It was a massive undertaking to restore the wall, and what inspired the entire local community to come and do it was the sense that the hand of God was on the whole project (2:18). You get a real sense that everyone considered it important to be part of it - everyone except the nobles of Tekoa (v5) who were the exception that proved the rule. Otherwise, priests, rulers. even Shallun, ruler of half of Jerusalem, set to with his daughters, setting an example to everyone.

They weren't just building the wall, they were building community and pride in their shattered nation, and drawing themselves together with a sense of purpose. There's a lot to learn from it. Did they have the skills necessary to build the wall? They soon learnt, perhaps from each other.

Quite a few built the section opposite their houses. They could have done that any time before now, but what's the point in restoring one bit of a totally useless wall? Either you have a defensive wall or you don't - there's no half way.

It seems the high priest started the whole thing off (3:17). I really like the idea of the most unlikely person initiating the project - after him, who has an excuse not to play their part? There were some outstanding workers too - Baruch repaired zealously (v20), the Zanoah residents not only sorted the Valley Gate, but an astonishing 500 yards of wall as well. There's nothing like a bit of enthusiasm to spur everyone else along!

The gates were the most important defensive parts. and after the high priest's good example, they all got completely rebuilt. Shallun even built a roof on the Fountain Gate (v15) - there's nothing like adding a bit of panache to the work!

My favourite worker was Hananiah, who was a perfume maker. Yes, even the perfume maker got involved! Goldsmiths, merchants, the temple sevants, they were all there.

But it wasn't easy. the chapter makes it all sound plain sailing, but the following chapter shows how hard it was. As they reached half height, the threat from their enemies to come and destroy it meant they had to be armed the whole time. It became very dangerous and difficult.

The chapter is a tremendous lesson, and the wall of Jerusalem is a metaphor for restoring that which is broken. It all began when Nehemiah felt the sadness of the state of his home country and wept (1:37) and realized he had the opportunity to approach the king, and prayed.. This is where any great work must begin.

#OT Micah 2:1-2 - Home

16/5/2025

Homelessness is a lot more than just not having somewhere to sleep at night. In the way Israel was initially organised, home was the land your family had permanently. Of course, in an agrarian society, the land was the important resource. But that sense of settledness, of rootedness, enables you to invest in it and develop it.

In the 1980s here in the UK, the prime minister Margaret Thatcher wanted to give everyone in Britain a chance to own their own house, so arranged for people to buy their council houses at an easily affordable price. 40 years later we can see the effect of this. House prices have escalated, and there isn't enough council housing, so families have to rent privately. But this doesn't give a home in the biblical sense, as people cannot invest in their houses and may be moved on. In fact, the situation was more stable in the 80s before Mrs Thatcher began her reforms. The present government is changing the law to make no fault eviction illegal, except if they want to sell the house.

In this settled sense, "home" is more them just a house, its the community to which you belong. It's where you have invested your time and energy.. In this sense, your church may be home, or maybe your parent's house where you grew up is still your real home. It might also be where there are a lot of unresolved hurts from the past

In today's short passage, people have the power to sieze fields and houses. Maybe its because the rule of law has broken down. but more likely it is because they have the legal right. Why would they do this? They "covet "them - they don't need them, but maybe because of financial difficulties people have offered them as security. But if its legal, how can it be considered "evil"? Because it doesn't respect the person. And in v3 the Lord says that as a consequence, everything will be taken away. The sad thing is, every body then suffers. "This is not your resting place, it is defiled, ruined beyond all remedy" (v 10).

There is an even deeper sense of home though, and it is not a house, but a sense of belonging. You can feel that sense of belonging as you walk in the countryside. Its not just the land, but the nature all around us, the ecology we are a part of. The birds & the squirrels and everything else that we know is there even though we don't see them. We all belong to one another. And holding us all together is the maker & sustainer of the earth, this mystery we know as "God", who we have a powerful sense of belonging to and who dwells within us. It is in this moment, at peace with God and with the nature all around us, that we have our true home.

#OT Isaiah 39 – Safeguarding what is Precious

17/5/2025

After his miraculous recovery, Hezekiah receives a delegation from "a distant land". He is friendly and open and shows them everything. Everything that the nation possessed, everything normally hidden away. He didn’t consider the threat or the real motive for their visit, he was taken in by the empathy and the friendliness of the visit.

I had two visits in the early days of our family business, when we were crammed into the back room of someone else's office. They were two other companies in our industry, one a Japanese giant, one a startup like ours. They both, a couple of years apart, brought out copies of our product not too long afterwards. Both had been friendly and collaborative, but after the second one did this, it dawned on me that they were sizing us up.

It's natural to be proud of what you have accomplished, but its foolish to show it off, because someone more powerful than you will find it interesting. They will want what you have, and they will consider what kind of opponent you will be to get it from you.

This even works spiritually. "Do not give dogs what is sacred" warns Jesus in Matt 7:6. He speaks in parables to avoid revealing the secrets of the Kingdom of God (Luke 8: 10). He doesn't want converts, he wants disciples who will treat the Kingdom of God with the reverence it deserves.

In Acts 8:18,19 a sorcerer named Simon offers Peter & John money for the ability to lay hands on people and they receive the Holy Spirit. In this case, Simon gave himself away, but people who want the power may be more subtle than that. We must never be tempted to reduce our spiritual gifts to techniques, or allow there to be any shortcuts to true discipleship.

Philippians 1:21-27, 3:17-21 – Paul’s Alternate Views of His Future

18/5/2025

Paul seems to hold two alternative futures for his body and his life in it, which correspond to two futures for the church. In the earlier part of Philippians, he desires to "depart and be with Christ" (1:23), but concludes it is necessary for him to remain in his body for the church to continue with their progress in the faith. But whatever happens, whether he remains or departs, he urges them to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. He then spends quite some time exploring why and what this means, until he comes to our second passage.

In 1:28 he talked of those who oppose them, but here in this second passage I think his concern is for the church itself. In Acts 20:30 he warns the elders from Ephesus that people will arise from within the church and draw people away. He is all too painfully aware that some live as enemies of the cross of Christ - "their God is their stomach and they glory in their shame" (v19). What on earth are they doing in the church? They believe in Jesus, but it does not touch their lives. It is a problem that has been in the church from the beginning, and Jesus even anticipated it (Matt 13:25). But in that parable from Matt 13 there is a final day when it is all sorted, and Paul looks forward to the day when Jesus does this. And this is the second future, where he does not depart from his body but it is transformed to be like Jesus' glorious (resurrected) body.

These two futures have been held by christians ever since. They are both futures of which we know so very little. We not know what it means "to be with Christ" (1:23) having departed, or to be transformed as Jesus was. Both are hopes, realisations of our "citizenship in heaven" (3:20).

The important thing is that whilst we are here, in the body, we play our part. We are citizens of heaven living on earth, and we need to live like it.

Romans 3:21-26 – Recognising Sin for What It Is

19/5/2025

Paul draws on the Old Testament sacrificial system to explain how we, all of us, escape the punishment due to us as people who, through sin, fall short of the glory of God we are called to.

The problem with this is that is not obvious why, if everyone is implicated, it is necessary to punish, and also why a sacrifice of another living being achieves anything at all. Paul, being a jew well versed in the law, takes these as fundamentals. But to us at a distance to that, both seem very strange.

Paul refers to it as justice. But in what sense is the concept of atonement justice? No-one can be punished for another's misdemenours, and the Old Testament in several places afirms this (e.g. Deut 24:16). It doesn't matter if they are innocent - that just makes the concept worse.

You have to step back and consider what sin is and what are its effects. It is quite hard to define, but it has two elements – one is that it makes life worse for others or the even the “future you”, in order to satisfy a desire that could happily go unsatisfied, and the second is that that desire could have been met just as well by yielding to, and trusting, God. The problem with sin is not so much that it needs punishing, but that it needs to be recognised for what it is. I believe this is what the system of atonement was intended to achieve, and the slaughter of an innocent animal, or the sending of it into the desert to die, was supposed to be taken seriously. Even more so the passover lamb that was young & cuddly and lived with the family for a whole week before being killed.

But an animal didn't really quite achieve this. So the innocent son of God takes on himself the full brunt of human sin - the self interest of the religious establishment and the unnecessary cruelty of the forces of occupation, the blatant injustice of mob rule and the inability of rulers to stand up for justice. These are the elements of sin that create the bad world. And in the cross we see them all and understand that we are being offered a way out.

Romans 3:27-4:17 – By Faith

20/5/2025

The fundamental principle Paul argues for in chapter 4 is stated here in 3:27, that a person is justified by faith. This the key that unlocks the mysterious concept of atonement we looked at in the previous section yesterday. It is not the observing of the law - either the moral code or the purification and atonement rituals - that brings a person to where they are called to be, to the glory of God " (v23), but the trust in God that underpins them.

In chapter 4 Paul shows how it was Abraham's trust in the promises of God to him that made him righteous in the sight of God - the Genesis text even explicitly says it in Genesis 15:6. And that this was before any covenant or circumcision. So, Paul argues, faith comes first, so that the blessings of God are by grace (4:16) and not because they are deserved. And so there is absolutely no room for boasting about anything we have received from God (3:27) because it is all received by faith and that faith is available to everyone (3:29).

Paul might have continued that in the day of atonement in Leviticus 16 it’s by faith that unintentional sins are atoned for, and that at the Passover it was by faith that the eldest Israelite sons were spared. And so, it is by faith in Jesus's own sacrifice that we find redemption from the sin that took him there.

But what is strange is that if it is through faith that the whole idea of redemption and atonement works, then wouldn't other faith systems be equally valid that don't involve slaughtering animals or an innocent man being agonizingly executed? At the very least, weren't the animals enough? The answer of course is no, that's why the religious establishment of Jesus's day was in such a bad place. The systems of religious observance had lost their power and the "house of prayer" had become a commercial enterprise, and not a very honest one at that (Luke 19:46).

Romans 4:18-25 - Who Takes the Rap for Humanity’s Sin?

21/5/2025

After a somewhat idealised assessment of Abraham's journey of faith leading up to Isaac's birth, Paul ends chapter 4 with the statement "he was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification" (v25). From the very start, in Peter's sermon in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost, this was the christian understanding. The resurrection transformed a criminal's death into an acceptable sacrifice for those who put their trust in it.

I commented on 3:26 that justice does not allow one person to take the punishment of someone else's misdemeanours. On reflection, there is an exception to this - when it is not an individual who has committed them, but a group of people, especially when it is their collective culture that is responsible. In our present age, we go for the person at the top, whether or not they had anything to do with it, since in theory they had the authority to change it. The recent forced resignation of the Archbishop Justin Welby is a good example, but there are many.

It is certainly true that the sin of humanity is a cultural phenomenon, often referred to in the New Testament as "the world". So if justice demands that someone takes the rap for it, it would be someone who in some sense can be held responsible for it. We would like to point the finger at Satan, the accuser, but that would hedge the issue, as Job 1 points out. Ultimately, it is God who is responsible for the world he has created, with its free will that is free to choose sin.

It seems important to the New Testament writers that in some sense the world was created through the Christ (John 1:3. Colossians 1:16), and that he is the exact representation of God's being (Hebrews 1:3), sustaining all things. Because this enables him to take the rap for the collective sin of the world.

And so, the resurrection is crucial to complete the process, because it demonstrates who Jesus is, and the acceptability of his voluntary act.

Romans 5:1-8 – a Beautiful Life

22/5/2025

As a result of our faith in this enactment of justice we have peace with God, and we stand in the grace of God. What's more, we have a genuine hope of the glory of God for our lives, that we won't fall short of it (3:23) but that we would rise to our calling.

This grace of God is not about an easy life, but a beautiful life. Paul instantly refers to his and their sufferings, how the grace of God can use them to mould and shape them, whatever they are. Because knowing the grace of God in suffering first of all enables us to persevere. and perseverance is the beginning of character formation. Part of that formation is the fundamental role of hope in our lives - "love always hopes" Paul writes in 1 Corin 13.

What is that hope for? It is the glory of God in our lives (5v2). And we are not disappointed. As we persevere in love, the Holy Spirit works in us, supplying us with that love. And how? By making us aware of the love God has for us. How is that love demonstrated? In the cross. Its not just about the justice of God, but about the love of God, because in it God redeems the world.

Romans 6:1-11 – Something has to Die

23/5/2025

Paul moves on from justice to redemption. In principle, everyone could go on sinning & the grace of God would want to continue for each person, but why would anyone do that? Its an integral part of faith in Christ to be honest to ourselves and others about our own sin, and once we have done that, something needs to change. But how?

This is where the spiritual side of the cross comes in. The "old self" needs to die. With Paul it happened quickly, starting on the Damascus road and finishing with Ananias laying hands on him (Acts 9). This is the significance of being baptized into Christ, and as we rise from the water, we signify living a new life, freed from the power of sin over us.

This is the crux of the christian faith, the dying to the old self, dead to sin but alive to God in Christ (v11) .Yet we still live in the world, and its culture still bears down on us. What's more, we do keep on sinning, however dead to sin we may be in our spirits. This is what Paul is going to wrestle with in the next couple of chapters. But key to it is the way we think about ourselves. "Our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin" (v6). When we become aware of what's going on in us, we need to remember the sober reality that it was humanity's sin that crucified the son of God.

Romans 6:12-23 – a Compulsion to Love

24/5/2025

Paul expands on his framing of sin as slavery - or "addiction" would be our contemporary way of putting it. Recognizing addiction for what it is, and seeing clearly what its impact is, these are the keys to being released from it. There certainly is a part our wills can play, to avoid "offering ourselves" to our addictions. But willpower can only go so far. We need to actively and intentionally offer ourselves to God.

This results in becoming's “slaves to righteousness", feeling an inner compulsion towards acting justly even at personal expense. This comes about through obedience, but not to the law but to grace. Its not about obeying rules for living. but at all times being aware of the grace of God, which is the "form of teaching to which you were entrusted" (v17). Its this awareness that develops this compulsion towards love.

Addiction is a downward spiral towards death but the compulsion to love is an upward spiral towards eternal life and holiness. Holiness is the result of a life set apart for God, the collection of hundreds of everyday choices as we offer ourselves to righteousness, and in so doing we develop within us a different form of life, the gift of God through Jesus Christ.

Romans 7 - Addicted

25/5/2025

Paul is right, the law makes you aware of your sin, which would be good if you respond in humility like the tax collector in Jesus' illustration in Luke 18:13. But if you make a lot of effort to keep the law - as the Pharisees did - there is a feedback process which heightens your desire to break it. The key, that the founders of AA discovered, is that you can’t do it alone.

Paul calls it a war; body versus mind. His mind concurs with God's law, but his sinful nature, which he uses the term "body" for, is a slave to the law of sin – i.e. addicted. We are familiar with addiction to alcohol and drugs, not so familiar with being addicted to coveting! Yet, what is consumerism? What is retail therapy? Why do we spend so long on our phones? Is it really just to keep in touch with friends and family? You don't know you're addicted until you can't or mustn't do it, and that's when the war begins.

Who will rescue me from this body of death?" (v24). AA call it a "higher power". It is in reaching out to God, like the tax collector did in Luke 18, that we find some release. But Paul goes much further than that. He identifies with the suffering body of Christ the dying of his binding to the law as well as the dying of his sinful nature (v5), so that he and we might belong to Christ. Both sides of the war have gone, and they have been replaced.

Romans 8:1-17 – a Change of Internal Control

26/5/2025

The irony of the release from the law is that, with our minds controlled by the spirit, we fulfill the righteous requirements of the law anyway. Not the ceremonial & sacrifice-based parts of the law since those are now fulfilled in Jesus Christ, but the requirements for right-living. This is the "law of the spirit of life" (v2).

Paul explains the redemption process as a charge of internal control. The sinful nature/body (also translated "flesh" in other bible versions) stops controlling and so dies, and the spirit of God in us starts controlling. But this transition may not be so straightforward! We have to help ourselves make it - "by the Spirit, put to death the misdeeds of the body" (v13), this is our obligation, and we really need to live according to the Spint to do that.

The obligation is not out of fear for the consequences, but out of our new identity. We are God's children and heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. We call God "Father". We have the spirit of Christ in us and our spirit is alive, and most importantly, it is in control.

#OT Proverbs 26 – the Fool and their Ego

27/5/2025

It would be a good discipline when you learn a life lesson to try to encapsulate it into a proverb! This chapter focuses on the experience of trying to work with people whose egos are so big that they never learn, never do much or who are blind to the impact of what they do. Why are they like that? To be fair, it’s probably the way they were raised. But now they are adults it’s hard to do much about it. So the chapter characterises them, partly as a warning not to trust them, and partly as a warning not to be like them.

In our modern times with education for everyone, you would hope we no longer have "fools", but really, its not so much a question of knowledge as ego. "Wise in his own eyes" describes both the fool (v5) and the sluggard (v16), and is the most hopeless of all human characteristics (v12).

So, we are warned not to trust such people, not with conversation (v4,5) , errands (v6), their advice (v7, 9), commendation (v8), tasks (v10), to learn from mistakes (v11), Even Jesus, whose heart was always to redeem, warns not "to cast your pearls before swine" (Matt 7: 6). He teaches, but knows that many will not learn from him (Matt 7:26).

The chapter goes on to characterize the sluggard and various kinds of interference in other people's business, moving onto downright evil intent, disguised with deceitful speech, culminating in a lying tongue and flattering month.

It is hard to be hopeful about all such people, and it is so important to encourage parents to raise their kids with correction, and for our education system to help with this. Once we lose it, we are in danger of raising generations of fools, sluggards & meddlers. And we must always be aware that we ourselves can drift into all these if we don't remain humble & teachable.

1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5 – the Cross as a Stumbling Block

5/6/2025

"’Your thoughts are not my thoughts, neither are your ways my ways' declares the Lord" writes Isaiah in chapter 55, talking about God's "modus operandi" for salvation. It certainly turned out to be true with Christ, as you might expect, and Paul is desperately conscious of it.

However, cultures think differently to one another too. The Jews, being theistic, look for signs, miraculous signs, to demonstrate the veracity of a claim to truth. Whereas Greeks look to philosophy and deep thinking to make sense of things, akin to or modern educated "intelligencia". It’s not that Paul's message does not incorporate a miraculous sign or deep wisdom, the problem is that it incorporates the cross. Both Jews and Greeks struggle to get past the horror and indignity of it, and I suspect only live with crucifixion happening in their society by distancing themselves mentally from the poor creatures who suffer it. To accept Jesus on the cross as God's salvation meant something then that it no longer does today in our much less brutal Western Society.

So when Paul preaches to such a society, he cannot simply explain the cross, he has to visibly live it. It would have been good to have a description of exactly how he did this, but neither here nor Acts 18 does this. Only his preaching is mentioned, not how this or his life was "a demonstration of the Spirit's power " (2v4).

Today it is not the cross that is the stumbling block or foolishness, but perhaps the clash with LGBT values, or the safeguarding scandals, or the influence of the new atheists. Just as Paul did not back away from Christ crucified, we cannot back away from these issues. They need to be tackled, and with the Spirit's power. But there is still the fundamental issue that the cross has to be grasped, because it is the weakness of God, which is stronger than man's strength (1v25). Everyone has to be confronted with the cross in order to know the transforming power of God in them.

#OT Proverbs 22:1-16 – Chewing a Few Proverbs!

6/6/2025

The first proverb needs to be read with care. A good name is not an exalted or well known name, it is what it says, a Good Name. Esteemed not for some outstanding ability but simply honest and competent, reliable and with integrity. If people who are exalted or famous focussed on this, then they would avoid the insecurity of fame and fortune. Riches are no compensation for failure to simply be good.

Avoiding danger (v3) and the paths of the wicked (v5) is wise, but not so much as to become unaware of it. Many apparently dangerous things can be done in a safe way, and you have to be familiar with the paths of the wicked in order to avoid those paths.

Verse 6 & 15 need to be taken together, the carrot and the stick. But not to be too prescriptive, or too harsh. The "rod of discipline" is a metaphor for discipline itself, not an excuse to beat kids. But if the threat of the rod is removed altogether, discipline may fail altogether. Similarly "training in the way" is not a formal thing, but a subtle, pervasive directing of children all through their lives with you, strong at first and then broading as they find their identity.

And what about the Lord's wrath in v14? Under this wrath expect to fall into a deep pit - in this case adultery. The concept here, which Romans 1 expands on, is that the wrath of God falls on those who know God but instead of giving thanks to God become wise in their own eyes, and the way that wrath works is that God gives them over to their sinful desires. That is, the wrath of God works by giving people what their sinful desires ask for. In contrast, the grace of God works by rescuing us from them.

Verse 7 is an observation, not a mandate to the rich, and v16 is the warning that comes with it. Personally, in view of the values of the Kingdom of God, we would be well shot of the rich. But if we have to have unappointed rulers, "let them govern diligently" as Paul says (Romans 12:8). The final part of v16 is maybe a bit surprising - giving gifts to the rich. No reason this will lead to poverty that I can see, but it's a warning to us when someone poorer them us gives us a gift, to really appreciate it and the personal cost of it.

My last observation is on v10. It might seem harsh to "drive out" someone, but when someone has a toxic influence, this is completely necessary. Mockery is just undermining and destructive, and is the lowest form of criticism. However, driviing out is not the only way of dealing with it, even if it is the most effective!

Luke 21:5-36 – Prepare Yourself, not Your Defense

7/6/2025

Provoked by comments about the grandeur and beauty of the temple in Jerusalem (which I assume they had not seen before), Jesus uses the future destruction of the temple as a memorable warning about how they should handle the various difficult aspects of what will happen in their lifetime (v32).

The end (of the temple and of Jerusalem as they know it) will not come right away. There will be wars & revolutions, but these are not going to bring it. There will be people who claim to be prophets of Jesus saying "the time is near" - don't follow them (v8). Don’t live in anticipation of it, but do be aware that it will happen and that it is the time of punishment written about in the prophets, all over again (v22).

What is in the new time frame is persecution on account of the name of Jesus. "Make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves" (v14). I love the concept of being decisive about not worrying about a difficult upcoming event, on the basis that when the moment comes. Jesus will give you the words you need to say. In other words, don’t prepare your defense, prepare yourselves. It is the opposite of what you would naturally do - you would prepare your defense in order to prepare yourself and feel confident! For me in particular this would be extra difficult - I can never think of any thing on the spur of the moment! Will this strategy be successful? It is not about success, it is about being a witness (v13). Some will be put to death (v16), yet "not a hair of your head will perish" (v18), "by standing firm you will gain life" (v19). In other words, don't be afraid of any of it.

There is then the actual fall of Jerusalem, signs of various sorts, and Daniel 7:13 will be fulfilled and redemption is near. But it begins with the persecution and that is when the Kingdom of God is near -and that happens with the day of Pentecost, which we celebrate today!

Matthew 19:1-9 - Two Become One

8/6/2025

Jesus never quotes the OT scriptures without it being relevant, spiritual and personal. The phrase he adds to the Genesis 2:24 reference is "so they are no longer two. but one". Where else does Jesus speak of two being one? "That they may be one as we are one" in his final prayer in John 17:11.

When Jesus quotes the two verses from Genesis, he joins them together in a way they are not in the text - they are a whole chapter apart. "For this reason" in Gen 2:24 is referring to Eve being formed from Adam's rib. However, Jesus pays no attention to that line of reasoning (!) and instead reaches back to 1:27 where "God created man in his own image, male and female he created them". To Jesus, they become one because God is one and they are in the image of God.

But is the "one flesh" referring to the couple, or to the children they produce? Logically, its the children, but neither the Genesis context or this context suggest that. In fact, Jesus doesn't focus on the one flesh, but the complete oneness. This makes sense, as "one flesh" is clearly a metaphor for a life lived together and bearing children who in turn will leave and became a unit and repeat the process.

The crux of Jesus' statement on marriage is that it is God who has joined the man & woman together. Today, we would say it is love. But enduring marriage is a particular kind of love, not "in love" but a love that is from that image of God. Marriage is based on God's own love.

Jesus and the Father are one, Jesus prays his disciples may be similarly one, and a man & wife are one. Love is the glue that creates the oneness, but it is not the oneness itself. That forms when love does its work, a new entity out of two. A kind of spiritual oneness, though people don't need to be religious to form it. It is this that shouldn't be broken. It's there to provide a stable family, yes, but it is a real God-given creation and requires respect.

#OT Amos 9:8-15 – the Hopeful Vision

9/6/2025

Almost in the same breath, at the end of his book, Amos both proclaims the destruction of a kingdom and its re-establishment. In history, when a kingdom falls, it falls for ever and everything moves on - it is replaced and life continues differently. The concept of a kingdom being destroyed and then restored to its former glory just didn't exist. Yet this is the message that pervades all the prophets, and it began here with Amos speaking to the Northern Kingdom. Having this prophetic declaration of disaster and restoration would prove crucial to it actually coming about in the fullness of time, as Daniel, Nehemiah & Ezra demonstrate. Yet at the time of writing, the Northern Kingdom was doing really well and the prophesied doom seemed a long way from the present reality. But it was a strong warning about the emptiness of their religious practices and that this would have a consequence.

But is the prophetic declaration correct or is it wishful thinking? Verse 12 is a grand vision of the nation possessing their historical enemy's territory, and "all the nations that bear my name". It's a vision of a restored past, but the future doesn't work like that, it is always different. So "build it as it used to be" (v11) needs to be taken as a placeholder for the future reality, whatever it is.

And "never again to be uprooted" (v15) gives much assurance, but it is not going to be the case in the long sweep of the future. By Jesus' time, the Kingdom had had its day, and the vision and promises of the chapter would be fulfilled in a quite different way.

#OT Daniel 7:13-16, 27 – the True Meaning of the Vision of the Son of Man and the Ancient of Days

10/6/2025

Jesus references the first verse when asked directly by the High Priest at his trial if he is the Christ (Mark 14:62). The High Priest considers this blasphemy, but history has proved him wrong, and verse 14 is still true today. This is the mystery of the gospel, the strangest and most profound story ever told.

But then in verse 16, Daniel asks for the true meaning of all his visions, including verse 13, and is told the interpretation. In the final part of the interpretation, the power, sovereignty and greatness of all the kingdoms will be handed over to the saints, the "people of the Most High". The Most High's Kingdom will be an everlasting Kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.

So, the "one like a son of man approaching the Ancient of Days and given authority, glory and sovereign power" is interpreted as the kingdoms being handed over to the saints. The first is the symbolic version of the second. It is really easy to get muddled between the symbolic, high level understanding and the actual on-the-ground reality, especially when the visions get much more convoluted in the book of Revelation. Unlike here in Daniel, in Revelation we don't get the benefit of the clear interpretation. Whenever apocalyptic language is used, as in this chapter, we need to recognise it for what it is, a symbolic representation.

John 4:4-42 – Passing On the Living Water

11/6/2025

Jesus promises the woman at the well living water. She doesn't understand what it means, or even that Jesus is using a metaphor, but the idea of never being thirsty sounds good! Not having to make endless trips to the well in the heat of the day also sounds good, so she signs up for the living water. But how exactly does Jesus go about giving her the" living water" that is within him?

First, he shows her that he knows her yet is still talking to her. Maybe she has a reputation, or maybe Jesus just knew, the way he knew quite a lot of things, through listing to his Father. He doesn't need her putting on a good apperance for him.

Then, he establishes his authority, his spiritual authority - “we worship what we know" - but then his authority to minister beyond the Jews - "salvation is from the Jews". Then finally, his core message, and the means by which he passes on his living water - "God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth."

If you could summarise the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, this phrase would be it. Because worship is not about an act at the temple/mountain/church, but an orientation of your daily living, how you consider your place in the world. Being honest about yourself, what you have done, and that you need God's help to restore your relationships and your conscience, and in experiencing that help you will open yourself to the Spirit, working within you and flowing out of you.

John in this passage does not go into the detail of what Jesus said and did in these 2 days, but when he left them, they at least understood that it would be from Jesus that their salvation - their living water - would come.

#OT Isaiah 40:12-31 – a Biblical Worldview?

12/6/2025

One of our local chuches is hosting a meeting on “why a biblical worldview is important for young people today”. This passage seems to contain most of the elements of a biblical worldview, but we need to take care with it, because our understanding has changed since this was written.

It starts with the sheer scale of the earth and its immeasurability, and the knowledge that would be needed to form it all. This is the "beyondness" of God the creator. The nations are small and insignificant compared to this vast scale, and man's knowledge small compared to the mind of God. There is no image that can capture God, and certainly no idol can.

The passage goes on to situate God above the circle of the earth, such that people look like grasshoppers, and the heavens are like a canopy. He brings out the stars one by one, and because of his great power & strength, not one is missing. The implication is that this is a nightly process.

He influences the fortunes of princes & rulers, in particular bringing them to nothing, blowing on them so they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away. Conversely, he gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Those who hope in him will renew their strength and soar on wings like eagles.

Finally, the Lord is the everlasting God. He is the creator of the ends of the earth, and he will not grow tired and weary.

This is the worldview of the biblical writers around the time of the exile. However, since then mankind has learnt a lot. The sheer scale of the earth is not such a big issue, and we have a lot of insight into how it was formed. The field of astronomy has opened up the mind-boggling vastness of the "heavens”. We understand what the stars are, and we understand what the "circle of the earth" is. Most importantly, we understand the nature of physical matter and that at every scale, from the atom to the planet, everything consists of self-organizing parts.

But we also understand that the physical world is hierarchical. Each layer of the hierarchy, from atoms through to biological (organic) molecules, to cells, to organs. to plants, animals and humans, to societies and ecologies, everything operates according to the principles of its layer in the hierarchy. And we live at our own, human self, layer of it.

So, our understanding of the world has changed, but has our "view" changed? Is God still sovereign? Yes. Do those who hope in him still renew their strength? Yes. Does God still bring the rulers of the world to nothing? Yes. Is he still everlasting? Yes.

A biblical world view is not to adopt all the beliefs about the world of the biblical writers, which reflect the understanding they had at the time. It is to embrace the view that the bible consistently portrays about mankind, about God, about the values to live by, and about what salvation is and how it comes about, about sin and about living in the spirit, and about the Son of Man.

Matthew 13:36-43 – the End of Which Age?

13/6/2025

It is easy to read this passage as a literal description of some future moment related to the second coming, but I would like to take it as a symbolic description of events, as the vision of the Son of Man is in Daniel 7. In which case, the fiery furnace, the angels and the Son of Man are all symbolic.

Looking at it this way, the end of that age has already happened, and probably more ages have ended since then. You could go so far as to say, the end of an age is when this happens, when the things that cause sin, and those who do evil, are removed from the Son of Man's Kingdom, the church, the body of Chest.

What would cause this in real terms? Ironically, persecution probably would, but I don't think that fits the symbolic description here (though maybe it could). More, it is something like the episode described in Acts 5 with Ananias and Sapphira. It is that imminent sense of the judgement of God that today's passage seems to describe, the moment when no-one can get away with deceit or putting on a face anymore. In Acts 5 the effect was "no-one else dared join them" (5:13), but that didn't stop people coming to believe in Christ. In fact, the community was highly regarded - as today's passage says "the righteous will shine like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father " (v43).

The benefit of understanding the passage in these terns is that it is retrieved from the shelf of eschatology, and becomes relevant for now, and gives us a way of interpreting events, past and present.

Matthew 8:28-34 – It’s All About the Pigs

14/6/2025

Generally, the three synoptic gospels describe the events of Jesus's ministry in such a similar way that bible scholars posit that they all have a common source named "Q". But Matthew describes this incident quite differently to Mark and Luke, which are more or less the same as each other.

The most glaring difference is that here there are two men, whereas in Mark and Luke there is only one. This happens again at the end of chapter 20 when two men receive their sight rather than just the named Bartemaus of Mark and Luke. But with the blind men/man the story and dialogue is otherwise identical, and you get the feeling there that there were two men but only one name was known, so it was easier for Mark & Luke to concentrate on him! But here there isn't any easy explanation like that.

In Mark and Luke the focus of the story is the character portrait of one of the men, violent but also self-harming, breaking any chains put on hime but also crying out. And then, after the altercation with Jesus and the incident with the pigs, a totally transformed man, clothed and in his right mind (See Mark 5:1-17 or Luke 8:26-37). It's a powerful story, especially as these are not jews (the herd of pigs gives this away!), and it is one of the best stories of Jesus bringing about a complete transformation in someone.

But none of that here. Just two violent men, it doesn't even suggest it is the demons speaking, it reads as if the men think the Son of God is going to torture them for their violent behaviour. And so, the story becomes about the pigs, and the demons going into them and (presumably) causing them to, as a herd, rush down the steep bank and into the water.

I believe pigs are quite intelligent, one very good reason for not keeping them as livestock or killing them for meat. Nowhere else in scripture is there any suggestion of a demon-possessed animal but here. So what is it telling us? I'd like to suggest two things - that demonic possession is self-destructive and that it comes about from interactions with others. It's as if the pig herd is a basic demonstration of these two key factors. And as Jesus shows time and time again, the demon is removed by love and compassion and an authorative interaction with that love.

Romans 15:14-22 – Solid Foundations

15/6/2025

Paul's CV would make for interesting reading! Verses 16 to 21 would be the summary at the top. Since his call on the Damascus road and afterwards with Ananias, he has seen his whole work as a priestly duty. But not to perform some ritual, but to lead the Gentiles to obey God, by everything he says and does. Whatever we consider our calling, at the root of it is this, that through our actions and words, others yield their lives to the power of God so they might obey that primary command to love.

When I say actions, I mean actions of faith & obedience in us. It is through these that the power of the Spint will be evident.

Paul has a particular, personal, ambition to preach the good news where no-one has heard of Christ, so as not to build on another's foundation. Why not? I think it is so he can ensure really solid foundations. Yet as he writes to the Roman church (where he had never been), he fully admits that someone else had done a good job (v14). So maybe it is just that it his calling and gift to go to a "green field" and start from scratch.

That solid foundation is not a creed or a set of rules to live by. When he writes to the Corinthians he reflects that when he arrived there he resolved to know only Jesus Christ and him crucified - the weakness and power of God, that same power demonstrated in his own weakness, so their faith may rest on that power (I Corin 2: 1-4) . This is why the message of the cross was, and is, so powerful. Our strength is in our yielding to God.

#OT Ezekiel 33:27-33 – They Hear, but don’t put into Practice

16/6/2025

Ezekiel's words are very direct and uncomfortable, yet people do not avoid him. Everyone knows they are words from God, speaking to their (dire) situation. and they don’t hide from them (v30), they want to hear. And when they hear them, they express devotion (v31). And the words strongly speak to the need to turn away from their evil ways (v11, 26).

Yet, they don't put them into practice (v31, 32). Despite all the clear warnings. Why is that? It reminds me of Romans 7. There is another war going on, not the literal war being fought against Jerusalem (v21), but an internal war, being fought inside each person. They hear the warnings and agree, but their "hearts are greedy for unjust gain".

This was the scourge of Christendom too. People all attended church, but not so many put it into practice. Its not just the individuals who need to change, the culture needs to change. Yes, I know the individuals make up the culture, but individuals changing do not necessarily change the culture. The Kingdom of God happens when both the culture and individuals align to goodness. Or more to the point, when the culture causes individuals to align to goodness. This was the purpose of the Law, but by Ezekiel's time, it had been lost.

Planting a healthy church is all about establishing that culture, and Paul was very good at it, as we considered yesterday.

Acts 25:23-26:32 – Paul’s Defense

17/6/2025

In chapter 26 Paul presents his defense to the visiting King Agrippa and his wife Bernice, the high ranking (Roman?) officers and the leading men of Caesarea. It's a pretty eminent crowd and its Paul's chance to make his defense. Paul knows that it will not set him free, but it will affect what is written to Rome about him. He is also conscious that he will be a witness for Christ to these eminent men (and woman).

He presents himself not as a changed man, as he does when he writes his epistles to encourage the churches, but as a man who has found the fulfillment of the hope he, as a Pharisee, had always had. He positions his violent opponents as opposing his call to repentance rather than to his faith. And all he preaches, including that Jesus was raised from the dead, is nothing beyond what Moses and the prophets said would happen (26: 22). He is an enlightened Pharisee, rather than a man who considers all he used to have rubbish compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ (Philippians 3=8).

Nevertheless, even though Paul considers what he presents to be fair and reasonable, the governer proclaims Paul's great learning has driven him insane. But Paul keeps his focus on King Agrippa who is himself a jew and a believing are too (26: 22), and the King feels the power of Paul's argument.

It's an approach Paul seems to have consistently taken when visiting the synagogues in each city, to argue that Jesus is the Christ. Giving the reasons why this is the case would expose the gospel, but Paul has no chance to go into that here. But I can imagine that this chapter gives Paul's typical introduction to a community who has already heard of him and his reputation.

#OT Jeremiah 31:27-34 - the New Covenant Foreseen

18/6/2025

This is a very specific promise amongst all the promises given Israel & Judah during their final disasterous years before exile, and it describes a completely new covenant. In this covenant, rather than the nation being held accountable, the individual is held accountable (v30). Rather than the blessing and curse options of Deut 28 (they seem to have slid into the curse by then), the law will be part of everyone naturally, in their minds and on their hearts (v33). Rather than the continual adoption of the gods of the region, they will be faithful to Yahweh and be his people (v33). Rather than being taught to know God, they will all know God naturally, and this will happen because their sin will be forgiven (v34), and that barrier will have been removed. There is the sense that in this covenant, God will provide the means to keep it.

It is striking that on the day of Pentecost, when confronted with their complicity in Jesus's crucifixion and his being raised by God, they asked "brothers what shall we do?" (Acts 2: 37). The instruction was simple: "Repent and be baptised, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38). Repentance, forgiveness and the Holy Spirit are the modus operandi of this new covenant. Is it amazing that Peter instantly understood this on the morning of Pentecost! He must have been prepared in those few weeks leading up to it. I think a lot more happened in those weeks than we are told in Acts and the gospels! Everything had already been put in place by that Pentecost morning in Peter's mind – it just needed to happen & woosh, the new covenant spings to life!

Mark 15:6-20 – The Power of the Mob

19/6/2025

Pilate knew Jesus was there out of envy and so did the crowd - that much was obvious to every single person. He was so clearly innocent. Its not as if anyone in Jerusalem that week could have missed him creating chaos in the temple courts. Yes, he was guilty of challenging the commercialisation of worship, so perhaps the punters weren't sympathetic, but they could be in no doubt he wasn't a criminal, neither in Roman or Jewish eyes. So why did they shout for crucifixion?

Firstly, the priests tapped into Jewish nationalism by pressing for Barabbas. Whilst they themselves enjoyed a partnership with the Roman authorities, they were very happy to be on the side of insurrectionists for once. That bit was easy. But it was clear that Pilate wanted to release Jesus. Why did he even ask the crowd? Luke unpacks this in Luke 23:13-25. He, the govener, was intimidated by the force of the voice of the chief priests, the rulers and the people, who all appeared to want him crucified.

Jesus's horrible death was caused by the overwhelming strength of "mob rule". It overcame the normal sensibilities of tboth the rulers and the people, and Pilate as well. Yes, everyone there was complicit in it, but probably few if any of the rulers would have voted for it if asked by themselves anonymously, and certainly the people wouldn't have. And although this moment in time was an extreme example, the same phenomenon of a power imposing itself on individuals is actually going on all the time. I believe this is what Jesus calls "the prince of this world" in John 12:31. It is not the power of law or of beliefs and values, it is something much more subtle. And it is this negative, often violent, power that in that verse in John Jesus says will be judged and driven out.

So, it is beautiful and poignant that at the next great festival, the day of Pentecost, another power is at work. Once again the crowd are there, but this time they are repenting and receiving the Holy Spirit, and an unstopable community driven by a completely different kind of power is formed.

Acts 4:32-37 – the Accidental Commune

20/6/2025

When Peter stepped outside on the day of Pentecost. he had no thought of forming a commune! But it didn’t form from nowhere - he had lived for 3 years with a "common purse" and he had seen how it worked. Given we know they went hungry (eating grain from a field, not having enough bread), he had learnt the priorities implicit in that phrase "man shall not live by bread alone”. "Give us this day our daily bread" sumarised this approach, and it was not metaphorical. The deal was, we seek first the Kingdom, and what we need will be given to us.

So its not that Peter & the others formed a commune and one of the principles of the comune was that they should hold everything in common. It was simply the way of life they were used to and following Jesus it seemed natural. It wasn't because of a desire for equality but because it was the obvious way to support the mission of God.

However, for people like Barnabas to sell their fields to support the community was another level altogether. Property and land is security, and to sell it is to lose that security. Barnabas would have had a lot of confidence in the security provided by the community to do this.

Of course, it wasn't that cut and dry. No-one knew the future of it at that stage. Barnabas's security lay in the sense that whatever happened, and wherever he ended up, he would have all he needed if he put the Kingdom of God as his highest priority.

Barnabas set a great practical example, and my guess is that he got a lot of kudos for it. Annanias then commited a really bad deception. He pretended he had made more of a personal commitment, more of a trust in God, more of a sacrifice, than he really had. Why was this so bad? Why is pretence so damaging? The answer of course is that the Kingdom of God needs transparency because it is fundamentally about that. Being honest to yourself and others on the one had, and yourself and others accepting who you are on the other.

1 Corinthians 8 – the Overactive Conscience

21/6/2025

A few chapters on from this one, Paul writes "if I... can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge... but have not love, I am nothing" (13: 2). Paul includes in "knowledge" all the tenets of his faith. Knowledge is only good when it is applied in love, which is quite a challenge to us engineers. Is what we are designing and building an instrument of love?

So, Paul's knowledge tells him that an idol is nothing at all in the world. Not a god, not anything to pay attention to or be concerned about. It also tells him that food is not spiritual and it makes no difference what he eats to his spiritual life. And Paul likes to live by his beliefs & insights, even if it is controversial amongst the Jews. So his teaching is, eat and be thankful.

But his teaching is also to respect another's conscience. Oddly enough, to Paul a weak conscience is one that focuses on unnecessary things, not how most of us would think of it. By implication, a strong conscience is one that focuses on the necessary things. But by violating someone's weak conscience you risk destroying it all altogether.

This isn’t a matter of just making sure they dont see you or find out. You genuinely cut it out. Not because your conscience demands it, but out of love.

The issue for us today may not be food. In Romans 14 Paul covers the same basic topic in a broader way. The same sensitivity is needed whatever it is that bothers someone else's conscience.

Matthew 13:44-45 – the Treasure & the Pearl

22/6/2025

Given the incident with the rich young man in Matt 19:23, we might quickly conclude that these short parables are telling us we need to sell everything we have in order to have that "treasure in heaven". Writing this, I don't want to diminish that aspect, the need to swap our security in our wealth with our security in God. "You cannot serve both God and money” warns Jesus in Matt 6:24.

But somehow this straightforward interpretation doesn't quite fit the sense of finding something you have been looking for, wanting it but realizing you have no right to it, and then, because it is so much better than anything you already have, letting all that go in order to acquire it.

What does fit this? The thing that stands out for me is forgiveness. "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matt 6: 12). Jesus emphasizes that we need to forgive people their sins against us in order to be forgiven by our heavenly Father (Matt 6: 14-15). It is our hurts, resentments, anger and pride we have to let go in order to receive that forgiveness of our own sins. And once we have that pearl of great price, that treasure, the loss seems nothing at all.

Matthew 3:13-17 - Righteousness

23/6/2025

Jesus travelling (on foot) all the way to the Jordan to be baptised with John's baptism of repentance demonstrates a fundamental principle, that righteousness cannot be assessed of yourself by yourself. "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves" (1 John 1: 8) is as much a comment on the complexities of life as it is on the doctrine that all have sinned. Even King David, who was “a man after God’s own heart" was not at all without sin. His sin which had the greatest impact, counting his fighting men, was not even something that could be defined as a broken rale, or in some way disobedient to God. "Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults" writes David (perhaps) in Psalm 19:12. The whole day of Atonement in Leviticus 16 was for unintentional sin.

So, in today's short passage, it was not for Jesus, or even for John, to assess him as righteous. But in any case, righteousness is not so easily defined, and doesn’t need to be. The observation of Paul's in Romans 4 that Abraham's righteousness came through faith makes righteousness a mixture of faith & action. And so, when there was a chance for a baptism of repentance, Jesus took it, and something very powerful happened, which kicked off his career as an itinerant preacher, prophet and rabbi, leading to his ultimate sacrifice to "fulfill all righteousness ".

#OT Micah 4:1-4 – the Audacious Vision

24/6/2025

Given the evident state of affairs at the time, as described throughout the book, this vision is quite audacious. It is one thing for people from the nations to go to the temple in Jerusalem to learn and experience the faith of the jews (v2), it is quite another to have the role that the UN is for, to settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. This requires every nation to yield to the LORD, not just as individuals, but collectively as a nation.

The vision is that this is so effective and reliable that weapons are dismantled and used for agriculture, and no-one trains for war. Everyone is secure in their own place and no-one makes them afraid. The implication is that it is not just justice between nations, but justice within each nation as well.

The "teach us his ways so that we may walk in his paths" would need to be pervasive throughout the world. This is not a religion to be chosen amongst many, but an agreed truth.

History teaches us how problematic this vision is. Christian nation fights Christian nation. Queen Victoria famously tried to intermarry the nobility of Europe, but this did not prevent two world wars. It is not a lack of common faith that causes the problem, it is a lack of national accountability to an overall authority. The UN and international law is the best we have, but it is the christians in the USA that despise it the most.

And so we still look forward to this vision, and in traditional christianity the accountability and authority comes from establishment of the Christ in Jerusalem at his second coming. This neatly packages all the problems of the vision into one simple solution, though under the surface there are many complexities that need to be taken into account for it to work.

#OT Micah 4:1-4 (continued) – for the Greater Good

25/6/2025

A couple of weeks ago we looked at Daniel 7:27 as the interpretation of the apocalyptic vision of Daniel 7:13-14. The sovereignty, power and greatness of the "kingdoms under the whole heaven" will be handed over to the saints, the"people of the most High". So, the vision there in Daniel is that every Kingdom is ruled by genuine people of God. Because surely they would be able to tufill the vision of Micah 4 (and Isaiah 2).

Again, history tells us otherwise. But in history, every king, every church leader, every denomination leadership, have looked only to their own source of accountability and authority. The concept of the Messianic age is that the physical presence of the Messiah will centralise this for the "people of the most High" even though Daniel 7:27 doesn't suggest there is the physical presence.

The key to maintaining power - except by fear and force - is for the people of your country to be content. Contentment normally requires a sense that things are as good as they could be, and that other people are no better off than you. In this global age that is always going to be tricky! But an alternative, that has proven itself time and time again in crisis, is that they yield the desire for things to be better for them for the greater good of their family, community or nation.

This is why the way the early christians lived, as described in Acts 4, is so significant, and the way the churches supported each other in that first century with the Macedonians being pleased to give sacrificially to support the church in Jerusalem (Romans 15:26).

This alterative way is possible today, and it would be the key to both the visions of Daniel 7:27 and Micah 4: 1-4. It is the exchange of material wealth for "Shalom", which is ultimately what we are all wanting deep down.

#OT 2 Kings 4 – God’s Unusual Solutions

27/6/2025

The 4 miracles recorded in this chapter must have seemed remarkable to its readers over the centuries, building up Elisha's image as the most outstanding prophet. The first one is reminiscent of Elijah and widow of Zarepheth in 1 Kings 17, but on a bigger scale and quicker timescale. The second one is also very similar to Elijah and that widow's son at the end of 1 Kings 17, but here the son had been dead some time before Elisha gets to him. The final two are related to the famine and how Elisha miraculously solved it for the company of the prophets.

Then Jesus comes along with the wedding at Cana, Jairus's daughter, the widow of Nain and Lazarus, and the feeding of the 5000 and the 4000. Once again, as from Elijah to Elisha, its all on a bigger scale than it was with Elisha. It was these that gave credibility to his new way of understanding the scriptures and God as Father, and gave little excuse to those who opposed him.

Yet all these miracles spring out of need or compassion. Neither these nor any of Jesus's miracles were done as signs, they are simply a way out of difficulties that come from asking God and not even trying to understand how the solution actually happened. This is hard for me as the scientist, who always wants to know the "how". But there is nothing that gives a clue to the "how" either here in 2 Kings or in the gospels. So we have to rest in the key message, that is not in fact about the miracle, but about asking God for the way out of a predicament and to act on whatever solution is given you.

#OT Jeremiah 14 – National Health

28/6/2025

This chapter makes the connection between national sin and famine caused by drought that was kind of implied in the threatened curses of Deut 28:22-24, and Leviticus 26:19-20. These list many curses for disobedience to the covenant, and did not single out drought in any way. It seems to be more that certain droughts carry a message from God, a wake up call to something being wrong, as with King David in 2 Sam 21 or Elijah's word to Ahab in 1 Kings 17. The latter is most impressive as it predicts rather than interprets drought. But generally, drought is just included amongst other national challenges which are punishments/calls to repentance (eg Amos 4).

Of course, droughts are part of normal weather pattens in the region, and the lack of big rivers makes rainfall all the more important. It is a land of "milk and honey", but it has to be managed well, and that management needs to take "acts of God" into account. Society has to adapt when food is short, and has to work well together. Droughts are noticable when people suffer and most noticable when even the important people suffer. But when the country is functioning well, it can absorb the stress caused by drought.

But when other stressors are also there, then the county may not cope, as in the case here in today's chapter when the land is also under attack. There is also hint of plague, which again will have a worse effect when the nation is not functioning well.

National health is not the health of individuals (as in todays NHS!), but how well the country holds together and functions as a unit. This is what the OT law was designed to facilitate, and disobedience to it weakens the country. We might therefore ask, what is our own national health like?

2 Thessalonians 2:9-15 – the True Test

29/6/2025

Paul writes in a counterintuitive way. Firstly, the “lawless one"/Satan produces signs, wonders and miracles just like Moses, the prophets and Jesus himself did. This throws out the belief that "no-one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him" (Nicodemus to Jesus in John 3: 2). It also vindicates the rejection of the signs of Jesus by the rest of the religous leadership.

Secondly, these signs and "every kind of evil" (which Richard Rohr descites as "partial good") deceive not everyone, but "those who are perishing". Again, this is the argument used by the religous authorities when confronted by the healed blind man in John 9:28-34. Who was he, steeped in sin at birth, to lecture them, disciples of Moses?

Thirdly, they are perishing because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. Again, to the religous authorities, Moses had the truth and that's where salvation lay, and thinking this itinerant preacher from the north has the truth and not Moses is just stubbornness.

Forthly, and even more surprisingly, God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie. So, to the religous authorities, Jesus might even be sent by God to delude, and when the disciples spoke of seeing Jesus alive, they tried to oppose this outrageous claim.

So, we can see that so far, Paul's way of thinking is simply that of the religous group, the Pharisees, that he came from, and he did in front of Agrippa even claim that his Pharisee training led him to his current place (Acts 26:5-6).

But the last verse, v12, delineates those who believe the truth from those who delight in wickedness. This is a strange contrast, but Paul has "hit the nail on the head." Jesus saw the Pharisees were motivated by money, as a result of which they "devoured widows houses" and turned the temple into a "den of robbers". Which is the lie and which is the truth? You can tell by what people delight in. That is what the religous authorities missed. It is the truth about ourselves, about our group, that we have to face up to, rather than the doctrines that we hold.

This is why in v14 Paul says God called you to truth "through our gospel”. The truth is what the gospel calls you to - about yourself & your sin, but also about God's grace, about the transforming work of the Spirit, and the sharing in the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. These are not doctines to be argued over, but practical realities to be lived.

Matthew 16:53-17:23 – the Men on the Mountainside

30/6/2025

It's often interesting to compare the synoptic gospels, especially Matthew and Luke. There are plenty of differences in what is reported and when, but this long section is in both, as a whole unit. Peter's confession. Jesus's warning about his death in Jerusalem, the transfiguration not to be spoken about until he is raised, the boy with seizures, ending with yet another reference to his death.

You are left with the inevitable conclusion that the transfiguration is about that death that Jesus is facing. and being raised again, and Luke even explicitly states this (Luke 9:31). But it is a confusing passage taken literally. One moment Jesus is apparently speaking to Elijah and on the other referring to John the Baptist as Elijah. And in neither account is there any hint as to why they thought the two men were Moses & Elijah. Luke includes the detail that Peter, James & John were very sleepy & only saw the men once they were awake, which doesn't give confidence in their identification. Its not that scripture has any other instances of meeting people from the deep past, except perhaps for Saul bringing back Samuel through the witch of Endor which was considered a very bad thing for Saul to do (1 Samuel 28:3). A far simpler reading of the passage would suggest that the two men just happened to be called “Moses” and “Elijah”, the disciples heard them addresseed as such, and so referred to them as Moses and Elijah too!

According to Luke's account, the reason Peter James & John were sleepy is that Jesus was busy praying. Although the accounts imply they saw him being transfigured, it seems unlikely the disciples would fall asleep if they had actually seen this happen! I think they woke up to see it, and the two men as well. The description of Jesus, Moses and Elijah is very similar to the angel who rolled away the store in 28:3 and the two men at the tomb in Luke 24:3. Something was going on to prepare Jesus for the events in Jerusalem which involved a physical transformation, which the disciples who related this experience lag afterwards could not comprehend, and therefore find it impossible to describe. Consequently, we cannot comprehend it either, and neither are we intended to. But for sure, it was a physical preparation for what was to come. I wouldn't be surprised if turns out the same two men were those at the tomb on the day of resurrection.

#OT 1 Chronicles 19:1-20:3 – Picking a Fight

1/7/2025

What is going on here? David wants to express sympathy to the son of a man who, although by tradition an enemy, had shown kindness. He wanted to reciprocate that kindness with his son, and so keep the goodwill going.

But the nobles of the Ammonites were understandably suspicions. However pure the motive, it was a convenient moment to spy out the country. There was no Google Maps back then! The solution would have been simple enough - don't bring them into the royal city, honor them but show them as little as possible, escort them back out of the country, be hospitable but careful too. All good and normal diplomacy.

Instead, the new King Hanun decided to be insolent and childish. Did the nobles not warn him of the likely consequence? It seemed he wanted to pick a fight, and he used a lot of his resources to hire 32.000 chariots & charioteers. But he lost and the Arameans who were hired lost all their vassal territories to David. The following year Hanun lost his sovereignty, all his country's resources, and the residents of the royal city were put to forced labour.

This utter disaster was totally unnecessary, and caused so much suffling in the Ammonites, so much loss. Why did the nobles allow it? Was the glory and opportunity of war too much for good common sense? Or was it the fear of a powerful neighbour and traditional enemy? Was it raw pride, or perhaps the desire to avenge the past? A mix of all of these probably. For nations to live in peace, all these powerful factors need to be recognised and expressed - but not in war.

1 Corinthians 6:12-20 – Respecting your Body

2/7/2025

"Sinning against your body" is not an easy concept to grasp. We can understand sin as negatively impacting others due to a lack of trust in God. But your own body? And so long as you can manage the risk of disease, how is sexual immorality a sin against your body?

Firstly, there is the issue of addiction. Anything that hits the pleasure button, wanting more, is potentially going to form an addiction - and that is when you lose control over whether something is good for your body or not. So, "I will not be mastered by anything " (v12). But isn't it your body to ruin? Paul argues that you should not consider it so, rather that it is like a temple with the Holy Spirit within (v19). But also that your bodies are members of Christ himself (v15) - when Paul calls the church the "body of Christ” he is being literal.

Secondly, there is the issue that sex unites two people. It's not that I get united by a one-night stand or sex worker, but that I am violating the purpose of sex in dong it. My body is not here for this, just as it is not here to be ruined.

The upside is that if our body is the Lord's then we can rest in his care for it. We can pray for health and look for healing. And ultimately, that by his power God will raise us as he raised Jesus (v14).

Ephesians 2:14-22 – One New Man

3/7/2025

"One new man." No longer the jewish nation embodying the promises of God with other nations looking on, but now one new man, reconciled to God through the cross. Paul goes through a series of metaphors to explain what this means.

First of all, citizenship (v19a). Everyone is a citizen in the Kingdom of God, no-one is a foreigner in it. Secondly, all part of the same household (v19b) - not so useful a metaphor today as we don’t really have extended households shang life together under one head, but we can imagine the dynamics of it. Thirdly, a building (v20), with the apostles and prophets as foundations and Christ Jesus the cornerstone, the first stone laid. Fourthly, and finally, a temple. Where God dwells (v21-22).

Perhaps "metaphor" is the wrong word since they are a little more literal than that. Paul is trying to express the one new man and is drawing on the various examples of oneness to explain it. In fact v22 is not a metaphor at all. We are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

This is not the same as the "Living according to the Spirit" of Romans 8. It is in the togetherness that God lives, in a different way to in the individuals. This is the "one new man”, living in the "Shalom" (peace) of God.

Galatians 3:15-25 – the Law and its Fulfillment

4/7/2025

Paul argues why the law was temporary. The promise was made to Abraham, then when the time for the promise to be fulfilled had come, the law was given. But it didn't achieve its purpose alone, it required faith. "Trust and obey" as the hymn says, not just "obey". Why was King David so great? Because he mostly did both (perhaps the exceptions proved the rule). Faith was the foundation, the law was necessary for the formation of the nation & the fulfilment of the promise.

But the promise was bigger them Israel alone. "All peoples on earth shall be blessed through you" (Gen 12:3). Out of the nation comes the means for the next, final, part of the promise to be fulfilled, the part forseen by Jeremiah in 31:31. And Christ is the means by which it is fulfilled.

But its going to take a few more chapters to present the argument, because its not immediately obvious why the law would not be needed for this part of the promise as well. "It will be written on their hearts" says the Lord in Jeremiah 31:33. It's there, but instead of being external, it becomes internal. Paul will go on to contrast a slave versus a free person in chapter 4, but then reach the crux of the matter in chapter 5.

Galatians 3:26-4:7 – the Law as a Shaper

5/7/2025

Paul refers to the promise to Abraham often in his letters, captivated by the idea that Christ is the fulfillment of the promise, the occupation of the land being only the first step. And now, all peoples of the earth are blessed" (Gen 12:3) has came about because Jew and Greek, slave and free, male & female are all one in Christ Jesus, sons of God and heirs of the promise to Abraham.

So, what is the purpose of the law? Again, Paul touches on this often too. Just as a child is formed by the rules they live under until adults, Israel was formed by the law. The young child of the house lives little more free than the slave of the house. Ok, so its not true in modern Britain but it was in my childhood. It was no fun at all either- I spent my entire childhood longing to be an adult. Not because I wanted to rebel against the rules, but I wanted that sense of freedom.

And it is exactly that freedom that we, as sons of God, have before God. You can be free once you know who you are, but you need the rules to become that person.

It's a compelling argument, but it has a flaw. Whilst as Jews they may have been brought up in the law, if the law is no longer needed, what will shape the identity of people who have not grown up with the law? Paul refers to being "in slavery under the basic principles of the world" (4:3). He makes the assumption that everyone, whether jew or Greek, is constrained by the traditions of their culture, and he is happy and able to bring Jew and Greek alike to faith in Christ, bringing them from those constraints to freedom in Christ. The point is, that even if you had a very free upbringing, your environment and culture constrains you. And you exchange all this for Christ, no matter what it was, and being "clothed with Christ" (3:27) does not feel like constraint, but freedom.

Galatians 5:1-12 – the One Thing that Counts

6/7/2025

Paul is adamant that the covenant to Abraham, indicated by circumcision, is fulfilled in Christ. Is that not a good reason to be circumcised? In v3 he associates circumcision with the law, even though they are separated by hundreds of years - Abraham vs Moses. I suspect this is a practical association not a theological one. In practice, at that time, circumcision and the law were part and parcel of the same thing, and faith expressing itself through love (v6) is such a different form of religion.

Verse 7 indicates Paul's real concern with those who advocate circumcision - they are preventing them obeying the truth (of verse 6). In the previous chapter the problem was observing festivals and special days (4:10). Paul calls them "weak & miserable principles " (4:9)! Weak because they don't help with trusting God or loving others, miserable because they kind of substitute for it. And this is the issue that is making Paul so passionate here, these things provide a distraction. And its not limited to these things either. Church can form a distraction, housegroup can, festivals can. Everything needs to be tested against that one thing that counts in religion - faith (trust) expressing itself through love.

Galatians 5:12-26 – Living by the Spirit

7/7/2025

In the previous chapter Paul used the analogy of the heir to a household living under rules and discipline until they are old enough to live their own lives. This is the freedom we enter, free externally though now constrained by our identity. And that identity includes love, because we ourselves have known love.

But identity formation is a process, and in Christ we have a new angle to our identity - we are sons of God (3:26, 4:6). The practical side of this is the Spirit of God within us, forming us into somebody new. We need to live by that Spirit, rather than our sinful nature, if we are to love and enter into that identity as sons of God.

So, instead of our sinful nature battling against an external law, we can choose to live by the Spirit of God. This is what releases us from the law. It becomes written on our hearts. It is of a different nature to the law though, not a set of constraints but an inner drive to love.

But we need to choose to live by the Spint, else we end up in the list of v19-21, rather than the list of v23-24. And there is no room for pride or envy (v26), this is just not a part of it.

Galatians 5:19-23 – The Not-So-Obvious List

8/7/2025

The acts of the sinful nature were obvious to Paul, and also to his Galatian readers, so he thought. And indeed some of them would be "obvious " to christians today: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, drunkness and orgies, though less obvious than they would have been a generation ago. Witchcraft is more than an act, but a deliberate opposition to God. Idolatry too, though, in its broader sense of something replacing God as our centre, it can indeed be a simple result of our sinful nature. Then there are others we would recognize in others but may not be so ready to recognise in ourselves - selfish ambition, envy & jealousy, fits of rage and hatred. These can very easily be dressed up in religious language - "do I not hate those who hate you?" from David in the beautiful Psalm 139 (v21) seems to give such a mandate for religious hatred that Jesus had to specifically say "love your enemies" (Matt 5:44).

And then the final group - discord, dissensions and factions - just normal baptist durch life! The whole history of 500 years of reformation is aptly described in these three. But the irony of these features of the return to biblical faith seems to get lost! Apparently these acts of the sinful nature have completely lost their obviousness, and we need to let them challenge us at those moments when we face our disagreements.

Paul makes a stern warning about living like this. You won't inherit the Kingdom of God. He makes the same stern warning to the Corinthian church in 1 Cor 6:9, who were having lawsuits against each other. "Do not be deceived" he warns them. Any of these things here, or those listed in 1 Corin 6, will create a barrier to the formation of the Kingdom of God.

Galations 5:24-25 – Who we become

9/7/2025

In complete contrast to the previous list, Paul starts to list some fruit of living by the Spint. Most are to do with how we relate to one another, really the whole list, but particularly numbers 4-9 - patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Whereas 1-3 relate to who we become as people, and I'd like to just dwell on these.

Why would I include the first, love, as who we are, when clearly it’s to do with relating to others? Because our loving is nothing to do with the one being loved, and everything to do with us being loved. "We love because he first loved us " (I John 4:19). We recognize the love of God because we have experienced human love. But once we start responding to that love of God, the spirit develops it within us.

Again, joy is nothing to do with our circumstances. In fact, the Spirit will produce joy in us despite ourcircumstances, if we continue living by the Spirit in them. I think joy is the word that best describes the "streams of living water that flows from within" that Jesus promises in John 7:38.

And peace, also nothing to do with our circumstances. In my favourite verses Philippians 4:4-7, Paul encourages them, and us, to present our requests to God with thanksgiving whenever we are anxious about anything, and "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus". How? This is the work of the Spirit of God within us.

From these three, love joy & peace, the other fruits can and will develop. But only as we build the Kingdom of God - it is in the rubbing together that pebbles become smooth! We need to tackle the difficult process of living & sharing and so allow the Spirit to produce these fruit in us.

Acts 7:39-53 – Hearing the Prophet

10/7/2025

Stephen, through the wisdom and spirit by which he spoke (6:10), had annoyed the "Synagogue of the Freedmen", who stirred up enough people and elders to have him brought before the Sanhedrin. He could have made a similar speech to Paul's before King Agrippa in Acts 26, appealing to them all to recognize Jesus as Messiah, and for a while, as his story of the patriarchs unfolds, it looks like this is where he is going.

The history of the jewish nation told in the Old Testament scriptures is of a people who at times were faithful to Yahweh and at other times unfaithful. This culminated in the exile of first the northern kingdom and then the southern one, with prophets warning – foretelling the dreadful future that awaited them. At this point they had the choice of facing up to what they were doing and repenting, or shutting up the prophets. They chose the latter. To make matters worse, those scriptures included the story of Jonah who was sent to their enemies with a similar message, and their enemies did repent.

The massive irony of the Sanhedrin is that they knew all this, and of course considered themselves on the side of the prophets as they tried to maintain the nation's faithfulness to the law of Moses. But when they had to deal with the prophet Jesus who was preaching against them, they reacted the same way as the religious leadership at the time of the exile (see Amos 7:10 for example) - they had him silenced.

So Stephen did not appeal to them to recognize Jesus as Messiah. Instead, he held them to account for what they did with Jesus, and he, like Jesus before him, cast them into the same category as those who had persecuted the prophets in the scriptures. Considering Stephen was the one in the dock, they weren't going to accept this.

However, under Roman rule they didn't have the power to have Stephen killed, but the mob just did it anyway. The story is crucial for every generation of religious leadership of any sort. Leadership can always be challenged if it is leading out of self interest, and the warning here is to be ready to listen and accept the challenge. This is really hard, but it is the lesson we have to draw.

John 1:35-42 – Peter’s Backstory

11/7/2025

Reconciling John's gospel to the synoptics can be difficult, yet revealing. I tend to think of John's gospel as a screenplay, written with a bit of artistic license to make a good story, and that the synoptics tell it without this. After all, the compilers of John confess the underlying principle of putting it togethe r- "Jesus did many other miraculous signs that are not written in this book, but these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (20: 30,31). presumably the stories selected and the way they are woven together has this explicit purpose.

So, were these core disciples with John by the Jordan when they met Jesus and were called? Were some of them disciples of John? When Peter was called after that huge catch of fish and left his nets in Luke 5, had he already had this encounter with Jesus & the wedding in Cana? Had Andrew, at the very least, been baptised by John, and probably Peter as well? Is this passage the backstory that explains why the 4 of them were so ready to leave everything and follow Jesus in Luke 5?

This makes sense to me. Firstly, they had been influenced by John and his message of repentance, this would explain why Peter was so ready to confess that he was a sinful man (Luke 5:9). Secondly, they had heard John's testimony about Jesus being the Son of God (1:34), which had so much weight that Andrew told Peter he had found the Christ (1:41). Thirdly, Peter had already been prophesied over by Jesus, telling him he would be called the "rock". And fourthly, they had already seen his passion cleansing the temple and his miraculous provision at Cana (see chapter 2). When Peter and the others left their nets in Luke 5, this was no impulsive decision, it was the final step of a long call.

The truth is, all of our callings are in steps. We try to summarise it in our " testimony" but when that moment comes when we finally commit ourselves to following Jesus, there may have been many realisations and responses before that. If we are serious about that commitment, it needs to be a considered and solid one to really last.

Romans 16 – These Beautiful Saints

12/7/2025

In this last chapter of Romans, the letter becomes much more personal. In less than 10 years from now, the Roman church would be blamed for the great fire of Rome and these beautiful people will be sent to be eaten alive or torched on crosses, all because the unaccountable Nero decrees it. This is the authority to whom Paul encourages submission in chapter 13.

They are a mix of men and women, singles and couples, slaves, households & even a mother & son. This is not a hierarchical church, but a collection of servants, hard workers, risk takers, trail blazers, mother to all, tested and approved in Christ, and of course, all saints. And Paul has met them as they travelled the Roman Empire - they are people who get about!

What Paul is most worried about amongst these saints in Rome is not the persecution to come, but people who cause division by smooth talk and flattery. He encourages them just remain obedient to the teaching they've received. This isn’t a set of rules or doctrines, but the simple teaching of chapter 8 - live by the Spirit and put to death the deeds of the flesh. And be wise about what is good, and innocent abut what is evil.

Matthew 17:24-27 – the Money Fish

13/7/2025

This short story stands out in the Bible for many reasons. It is a personal conversation with Simon Peter in response to his defense of Jesus when asked if he pays the temple tax - everyone pays it, why wouldnt Jesus? Why not indeed? Well, Jesus comes up with a reason - that the sons of the King are exempt. Now, in worldly kingdoms this may be just because they can get away with it, or may be because they are recipients of the tax so what is the point in paying it, or it may be because they work for the good of the realm, perhaps in the army, and so pay with their time or even their lives. Perhaps it is this final reason that Jesus was thinking of?

The tax originates in Exodus 30: 13, and it is for the life of every person who escaped Egypt 20 years old and over. It is in effect a ransom payment. Everyone pays it, including all the priests. So the kings of the earth analogy is with God himself and not the religious rulers.

In making the analogy, Jesus is giving a high view not only of himself, but Peter too. This is the man to whom in the previous chapter he has said "I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven" (16:19). In other words, Peter is to be the son of the King, with the power and the responsibility that entails.

It would, as Jesus had said in v25, not be good to refuse to pay the temple tax for this reason, so it needed to be paid, but Jesus wanted to reinforce his point about Peter. So he sets in process a most remarkable chain of events.

I say chain of events, but this chain has one key difference to a normal chain - it is going to operate backwards. The fish is in the lake with a 4 drachma coin wedged in its month. Peter has to be in the right place at the right moment with the right line & bait for it to latch onto. Or, maybe, as yet the fish still has to somehow acquire the coin. The events are going to work backwards in a causal sense because each is being caused by God to achieve the desired outcome - to get the 4 drachma coin to Peter.

Firstly, the fish acquires the coin for its own reasons - maybe it saw it falling through the water from a fisherman's pocket, maybe it saw it glistening on the bottom, but for some reason it mistook it for food. Then, Peter chooses the time to fish for his own reasons, and the place for a separate reason. But in fact, each falls into place for Peter to catch the fish. It is to be a lesson to Peter that he will not forget concerning the sovereignty of God.

Or, maybe Peter never went. Maybe he thought it too wacky and had better and easier ways of finding the 4 drachmas, and so the incident stuck in his head for a completely different reason! The text doesn't actually say he did it, and if he hadn't gone you'd understand why this wasn't mentioned. But I think he did go, and it did happen, and it did help Peter understand who he was called to be, and God’s sovereignty in his life.

#OT Deuteronomy 15:1-11 – The Loan that’s really a Gift

14/7/2025

Loans to fellow Israelites were not loans in the sense we know them today. Reading this passage, they were gifts that could optionally be paid back. Nothing is said about paying back, only that the debt is cancelled on every seventh year.

We are not talking of loans to buy property, or to start a business, or any other kind of investment which expects a return which can be shared with the investor. We are talking about a poor man (v7), to lend him what he needs.

The closer they get to year 7, the less likely the money will be returned, and the more the loan becomes a certain gift. And whatever happens beyond year 7, even if he comes into a massive inheritance, he owes you nothing.

It is interesting to compare this system with modern social security. Firstly, the poor don’t have any right to support, the community has the responsibility to ensure there are no poor (v4) even though in practice there always will be (v11). Is that a paradox? Not really, you cannot stop the flow into poverty, but you can provide a flow out as well. Secondly, there is no system of taxing and redistribution from what is collected, the poor person has to ask, and yes, that is a bit humiliating, but isn't that the point? Thirdly, it’s not a set figure. "Give generously without a grudging heart" (v10). And fourthly, you are accountable to God rather than the state, and your reward is from God.

In Luke 6:35 Jesus adds another dimension to this - to do all this for your enemies in particular, expecting nothing back, but nevertheless making the loan. Again, your reward is from God.

Today we don’t have the seventh year, but we can lend freely when people are in need and not nag for the money to be returned. This is our calling towards our christian brothers and sisters - friends or enemies - and we should always do it without a second thought. And lending is better than a gift as it does retain respect and dignity, even if we suspect it is in practice a gift!

#OT Deuteronomy 14:22-29 - Tithing is Fun

15/7/2025

There are two very different set of instructions for tithing a tenth of all the agricultural produce -grain, grapes, oil and livestock - here and in Numbers 18:21-29, a long chapter all about the Levites. In that chapter the whole tithe goes to the Levites, but here it is more ambiguous.

It seems as if everyone sets aside a tenth, and at the end of the year one of two things happens. In year one and two, you and your whole household travel to place which carries the Name of the Lord (eventually Jerusalem, before that Shiloh), and have a feast there. Now, consuming a tenth of your year's produce in one go sounds tricky, but eating more than you really need is a very modern pastime, and in a much more frugal existence, a feast would have been a very special experience!

Nevertheless, a multiday feast to consume so much yourselves would be very unfair on the Levites who had very little land, so the suggestion in v27 is that you take local Levites with you, and they join in too.

But the third year you don’t do this, but store your tithe locally and it is for the Levites and anyone who doesn't belong to a household that provides for them. The implication of this (v28) combined with the instruction not to neglect the Levites, is that the Levites are provided for in an ad-hoc way. A shared responsibility, most of the time, but they have this store that is theirs by right.

So, we have these two very different approaches - Numbers 18 as a straight tax, and this passage as a festival two out of three years, shared with whoever travels with you, and a safety-net store on the third year, an act of giving in place of the festival.

There is something here that resonates with my wife's family, who used to share their Sunday lunch table with a host of mostly elderly people who lived alone. It requires everyone to be open-handed rather them a rigid system of taxes - it puts partying within the religious framework and turns a festival into a sharing time because there's such an abundance there. Its just a lot more human & community orientated than the straight tax!

Acts 18:24-28 - Learned and Effective

16/7/2025

Paul had paid only a short visit to Ephesus (v20), but left Priscilla & Aquilla there. Apollos then turns up and seems to carry on Paul's work there most effectively. He was" a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures" when he arrived. He knew about Jesus and personally had been baptised by John, but it would seem he was missing something since P&A "explained the way of God more adequately"! This proved effective as he moved on to a different place and there was very helpful to "those who by grace had believed”, not so much to teach them, but to refute the jews in public debate & prove from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

As a “learned man with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures" myself, Apollos's story speaks volumes to me. Firstly, he "spoke with great fervour" - he considered his message important, regardless of how it was received, and spoke with a passion, and a boldness, considering he was overturning tradition and not at all saying what people wanted to hear.

Secondly, he was open to learning more. He wasn't full of his own understanding and pushing that, but happy to be corrected and expanded. But he hadn't waited for this full understanding to get going, he took what he had and ran with it!

Thirdly, he wanted to spread the message elsewhere once he had spent enough time in Ephesus. So he moved on. But this time he wasn't acting alone, he went with the encouragement and support of his church, and with an introduction to the Christians where he was going.

And fourthly, he was a great help to the church not because he preached and taught in their gatherings, but because he debated publically with people who opposed them. He didn’t do this from force of personality, but from his learning. He was able to prove his message and not simply assert it. He spoke from a deep conviction of truth.

So, let us build up our knowledge in a way that feeds our passion; lets be teachable; find ways to get that message to those who most need it, and let it be founded demonstrateably on truth.

#OT 1 Samuel 18 – David’s Journey 1 – Saul Tries to Ruin David

17/7/2025

Young David had left his tending of the sheep and had ended up at the end of the day talking to the King, holding the head of the Philistine Goliath who had taunted Israel day after day. It was a big day in David's life, where he took the first step towards fulfilling the anointing to be king that the prophet Samuel had made in 16:13, and when the spirit of the Lord had come on him.

So David joins Saul's household, and Saul's son Jonathan loved David intensely, as himself. He became one in spirit with him verse 1 explains, and makes a covenant with David. It is an "agape" love, not the "philia" love of family who have grown up together or the "eros" sexual love of a gay relationship. The covenant isn’t anything but an expression of a bond that is already there, described so well as "one spirit."

Saul's younger daughter Michal was in love with David, and Saul thinks that the young couple would get so into each other that David would lose his edge in battle, and hopefully be killed by the Philistines, because Saul had quickly become very jealous of David. It is an odd way of thinking, made odder by asking David for 100 Philistine foreskins as a dowry.

In fact, Saul just made so many daft judgements. He sent David away to fight with a command of 1000 men thinking that would get him out of his life, but all it did was enhance David's reputation. Saul fully understood that the Lord was with David and not with himself, and was continually dismayed. Saul could have made his children and the whole country very happy by publically recognising this, but instead he festered in his jealousy, even throwing a spear at David in the middle of prophecying to David's harp playing. This is the power of jealousy, and it is dangerous when mixed with religious fervour, as when verse 10 enigmatiedy says "an evil spirit from God came forcefully upon Saul"!

#OT 1 Samuel 21:1-9, 22:9-23 – David’s Journey 2 – David Becomes Dangerous to Know

18/7/2025

When he needed guidance, Jesus spent all night on a mountainside (Luke 6:2) and prayed. But David heads for Nob and the priest to enquire of God on his behalf (22:15). He can't tell Ahimelech the truth, that he is running away from the king because he is determined to kill him, as that would make him complicit in his escape. But its hard to see that Ahimelech could have enquired of God without having a sense of David's real purpose.

David is also hungry! He continues the deception saying his men are waiting for him (although maybe he took some with him), and the priest gives him the Consecrated bread. David's justification is that "the men's things (bodies) are holy even on missions that arenot holy, and so it is appropriate to eat the consecrated bread. In particular, "women have been kept from us as usual whenever I set out” which was what Ahimelech was most worried about, though David has a broader picture of the consecration of their bodies on any dangerous mission. It is this consecration that sets the president for Jesus and his disciples to pick grain to eat on the Sabbath (Luke 6:3).

David asks the priest for a sword, and takes Goliath's sword away with him. But Saul's head shepherd was there "detained before the Lord," whether he saw the whole exchange with the priest or just deduced what was happening, he was the one who would get Ahimelech into trouble with Saul (22: 9) and was also the one who carried out the King’s terrible command to kill the priests, and he killed the inhabitants of Nob as well (22: 18).

So, for all his deception of the priest, David got him and the whole town killed. And he knew he was putting them in danger when he saw the head shepherd there (22:22). David had become a dangerous man to know.

#OT 1 Samuel 22:1-5 – David’s Journey 3 – David’s Family in Danger

19/7/2025

David collects about 400 discontents. Not exactly the fighting men he would have chosen, but they did all share a common desire to stay out of the way of Saul and the country's authorities. Saul too was playing a dangerous game forcing his best leader and army commander to become an outlaw.

But it wasn't just David who was in danger, his whole family were. If you want to control someone, you only have to capture someone they love. David's family quickly understood this and as soon as they found where he was went to him.

This was not an easy problem to solve. He couldn’t exactly take his father and mother with him. But his experience going to one of the Philistine's major towns at the end of the previous chapter showed him that not only was he the King's enemy, but he was also very much considered enemy of his enemies too.

He did have one possible way out, because although it was considered massively important for all Israelites to marry within their country folk, his great grandmother Ruth had come from Moab, and we read her story in the book named after her. Moab had been crushed by Saul in 14:47, so David's parents would be safe from Saul unless he wanted to launch a full scale campaign against Moab again. And David wasn't asking the king of Moab for himself to live in his territory, just his parents. If anything, Moab was safest from any potential switching sides back of David if his parents were under the King's control. So the plan worked well, and David was relieved to have his father's household safe.

It seems one of the discontents was considered a prophet. This is the first time Gad is mentioned as advising David, but it will be he who much later on will give David the choice between three bad punishments for his pride in counting his fighting men (see 2 Samuel 2 4:12).

David was a man of faith and courage, a strategist, a good leader and an astute army commander. But his strength in the future would lie in the team he put together, and the prophet Gad was the first member of that team. From this moment on he would be "David's seer", and David valued his godly insight, and didn't consider himself above godly advice from this man who heard God better than he did. And it would be Gad who would write the whole history of David's reign. having been with him from this early time of danger and uncertainty (see 1 Chronicles 29:29).

#OT 1 Samuel 23:7-13 – David’s Journey 4 – David Asks God What to Do

20/7/2025

David & his band of outlaws had just rescued Keilah from the Philistines, so you'd think they might be grateful, but David is not presumptious. So he decides to enquire of God! The son of the priest murdered/executed by Saul's head shepherd in 23:18 had joined David and kept the ephod with him, and the Urim and Thummim which were the means by which they got answers to yes/no questions concerning something that was risky. The words mean "curses and perfections" and the way they fell indicated which way it would go. In this case, they indicated the bad news that Saul would come and that the town would give them up.

Such a system was not unique to the Israelite priesthood. Although in a much later period, the greek Xenophon writes in his account "the Persian Expedition" how every day for a month they used the entrails of a sacrificed animal to determine whether to go and attack a vulnerable town in order to ransack it for provisions. They did this for a whole month and always got the answer "no", and finally gave up the idea.

We don't know how the Urim and Thummim were used, and I'm no expert on entrails reading, but I do wonder if its not 100% random! And it takes away the bias of the optimistic - or even faith-filled -leader towards "God will be with us and protect us". It also gives a reason to take the less courageous option, in this case to flee the town. So for all these reasons, the priestly Ephod with its Urim and Thummim were a great asset to David.

#OT 1 Samuel 23:14-29 – David’s Journey 5 – Saul Chases but Jonathan Reassures

21/7/2025

David lived under constant pressure from Saul looking for him, and it even gets quite comical at the end of this passage with Saul and his men on one side of the mountain and David and his men running away from him on the other side! "He'll be coming round the mountain when he comes" is a famous English folk song that springs to mind! But the writer of our account observes that "God did not give David into Saul's hands" (v14).

However, it seems that Jonathan, Saul's son, has no trouble finding David and goes to see him. He and David had such a bond between them that they had made a covenant with one another, which was well known to Saul and his officials (22:8). It's here that we learn the nature of the covenant -that in spite of Jonathan's indisputable claim to the throne, David will be king and Jonathan will be his second-in-command. Or perhaps this was an extension of the original covenant, as v18 suggests it was new at that time. Jonathan assured David that Saul would not lay a hand on him, and although Jonathan could not physically prevent Saul, that faith-filed, confident assurance must have meant a lot to David, coming from someone who knew the whole situation better than anyone. Little did they know that this would be the last time they met, not because David would die, but because Jonathan would (31:2). But it would leave a good and lasting memory of Jonathan with David.

Soon after this, David is betrayed by the Ziphites. People have so much to gain by betraying him and facilitating what must have seemed the inevitable. Saul has the gall to say "the Lord bless you for your concern for me " (v21). But in saying "concern for me" he betrays his thinking. It is not out of concern for his son Jonathan at all, as he made out back in 20:31. Jonathan neither wants nor expects the Kingdom. And it's certainly not about the good of the Kingdom either, because David has proved himself a good leader with God's favour. So its all about Saul and his name and legacy. Yet, he still continues to pursue David, and is so obsessed with this that he almost allowed the Philistines to raid his land.

#OT 1 Samuel 24 – David’s Journey 6 – David offers Saul Redemption

22/7/2025

God gives Saul into David's hands, but there are a lot of problems with the situation. Firstly, David and his men are trapped in the cave. The only way out is past Saul's 3000 men. Secondly, attacking a man whilst peeing is just cold-blooded murder, but if there was any conversation, let alone a fight, Saul's men would be in there like a shot. Thirdly, he was his father-in-law and Jonathan was his soul-mate. He owed Jonathan and Michal more than to kill their father in cold blood. But these were not the reasons he whispered to his men in the depths of the cave, but rather that Saul was God's anointed king, and he had no right whatsoever to raise his hand against him.

Verse 5 says David was conscience-stricken, but it doesn't say whether his conscience chastised him for letting Saul go, or for going up behind him and contemplating harming him! But it was a good example to his own men, who were after all all outlaws, to respect the anointing of God on a leader, which David also had had in 16:13.

As David stood behind Saul peeing, and as he ruled out harming Saul, the idea came to him to collect evidence he had let Saul go. When David had been anointed by Samuel, 16:13 says "the spirit of the Lord came on David in power". If ever there was evidence of the Spirit in David's life, this was it, because in his act he was offering Saul redemption from his envy-driven pursuit of David. A way out to prove beyond doubt that David was not a threat to him, and to save Saul from also killing the Lord's anointed.

But he does not let Saul get away with his evil treatment completely. He says "may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done me " (v12). In saying this he prods Saul's conscience, and it worked, big time. Saul wept in front of his men, and, at least for the moment, acknowledged the validity of David's annointing as King. It is a tremendous outcome, and so much better than David emerging from the cave with Saul's head in his hand Goliath-style and attempting to take control of Saul's 3000 men. If only the conflicts of our time could be resolved following David's godly and inspired example.

#OT 1 Samuel 26 – David’s Journey 7 – David’s Audacious Way of Dealing with Saul

23/7/2025

After a while, Saul forgets all about his change of heart towards David and pursues him once more. He knows he doesn’t need to, but does it anyway. Why? I guess he is encouraged to do so by the Ziphites, who are wanting the King's favour and definitely don't want David to be king after betraying him in chapter 24.

David goes to take a look at Saul's camp before dark and sees where Saul is lying and how he is guarded. Then, he decides to go back after dark and Abishai volunteers to go with him. The idea is audacious. Here is Saul come to find David and kill him, and here is David walking into his camp with just one man for protection.

Very courageous, yet is it as foolhardy as it first seems? They are the same people, they speak the same language, who would ever know in the dark who they were? As David is the last person they would expect to find there, who is gong to know they are not Saul's men?

Did David go with a plan? It's hard to say, but probably he had a very rough idea. The rest he would work out when he got there! But he couldn’t have anticipated that they would to a man be sound asleep. This time killing Saul with one thrust of the spear through his heart was a real possibility. Abishai knew exactly how to do that, and they could easily get away with it. But David was adamant that this would be wrong, and that the Lord will deal with Saul in his own time.

So once again David has a conversation with Saul at a distance, and Saul confesses his sin and says he will never try to harm David again. But David doesn't trust Saul and goes to live with the Philistines. After all, Saul had said all that before.

It's worth reflecting on Saul and David in this passage, which one am I like? It is the audacious, faith-filled but principled one that overcomes, not the one with power.

#OT 2 Samuel 5:1-5 – David’s Journey 8 – David fulfills his Annointing

24/7/2025

Saul might have said in 24:20, in front of his men, that David will be King and the Kingdom of Israel will be established in his hands, but David was going to have to fight for it. After over a year of raiding and leaving no man or woman alive (27:11) he got very used to spilling innocent blood. Then, he almost joins in battle against Saul and Jonathan, but gets sent back at the last moment (29:9) by the Philistine king, only to find his own wives and everything else taken in a raid. So he pursues and manages to defeat the Amalekite raiders and get everything back. But when an Amalekite tells him that Saul fell in the battle and at Saul's request he had killed him, David killed that man for so lightly killing the Lord's annointed (2 Samuel 1:14).

And so, after a while, David asks of God where to go in Judah and gets the answer Hebron, presumably still thanks to his priest Abiathar and the Urim and Thummim. And in Hebron David was announted king over Judah (2 Samuel 2:4) . But Saul's commander Abner had taken another of Saul's sons Ish-Bosheth and made him king over the rest of Israel (2 Samuel 2:9). So there began a war between David and the house of Saul. Yet, when some men killed Ish-Bosheth in his bed to please David and end the war, David had them killed for murdering an innocent man in his own bed (2 Samuel 4:11). And so, eventually, David become king our all Israel and Judah and the country is united (2 Samuel 5:3) .

So David walked an uneasy path of bloodshed, as was the tribal culture of his time. He showed no respect for his country's enemies, was happy to lie to them, raid them, kill innocent men & women. In contrast, he showed enormous respect for Saul and his house as the Lord's annointed King, even though he was also anointed king himself.

David had to work out that anointing patiently and in his very principled way. He did not grasp it from the house of Saul - he gave it all the time it needed. And in the end, 7½ years after he became King of Judah in Hebron, he is finally king over all Israel.

John 2:1-11 – The Wedding at Cana 1 – A Sign, but what Sign?

25/7/2025

This story is a sign, a miraculous sign, and in it Jesus reveals his glory. Moreover, because of it, his disciples put their faith in him. But how exactly does it reveal Jesus' glory? Glory is quite a theme in the chapters of John describing the last supper, and seems to refer to the cross & resurrection mainly. "Now is the son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him" (13:31). But how does this story in any way reveal this glory?

The story certainly reads as if Mary prompts Jesus to do something about the wine situation, Jesus is reluctant to respond because his time hadn't yet come, he tells the servants to fill the water jars, and the water turns into the most gorgeous wine.

So what exactly is the sign? Jesus talked about new wine going into new wineskins as an explanation for why his disciples don't fast. But that is only in Matthew (9:17) and not in John. But could it be that the sign is that Jesus is the new wine? Then again, at the last supper, though not in John, he takes the cup of wine and tells them all to drink of it as it is his blood of the covenant (Matt 26:28). Is the plentiful, beautiful, wine a sign for this? Jesus's blood "poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matt 26:28 again). Or is the wine a metaphor for the Holy Spirit since Paul likens drunkenness (and a lot of wine had already been consumed!) to being filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) - though also points out that drunkness leads to debauchery in that same verse! Or maybe Jesus just liked a party and free flowing wine makes a good party! But that would hardly show his glory.

"We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" writes John in the previous chapter (1:14). Whatever the sign is, it is to do with both grace and truth!

John 2:1-11 – The Wedding at Cana 2 – Jesus’s Time had Not Come

26/7/2025

The next puzzle in the passage is the initial interchange between Jesus and his mother. For all the prophecies recorded in Luke 2, for Jesus "growing in wisdom and stature” (Luke 2:52), Jesus' response to his mothers seemingly innocent statement seems out of place. Yes, he is called, annointed, to "preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour" (Luke 4: 18,19), but a friend of his mother's running out of wine doesn't seem to be a trigger for the start of that?

When did Jesus' time come? In 17:1, at the end of the last supper, Jesus prays "Father, the time has come." Only then was Jesus' time, when he would glorify the Father and the Father would glorify him. When Jesus says to his mother "my time has not yet come", he means it. His time really hasn't come (as is also emphasized in 7: 8, 7:30, 8:20).

Yet, there is a connection, in the mind of Jesus' mother, and in the mind of the gospel writer, between the wine situation and Jesus' ultimate mission on the cross. Perhaps that connection is physical transformation, that Mary believed that Jesus was able bring about transformation in a way that was unprecedented. This would add up with John's prologue emphasizing that "through him all things were made" (1:3). Maybe this is the link between the water, the wine and his glory.

John 2:1-11 – The Wedding at Cana 3 – What Actually was the Issue?

27/7/2025

I want to explore the possibility that it was not our kind of wine that was being served at the banquet. I don't know how big the wedding was, but we're talking about the equivalent of around 1000 bottles of wine! Is this really about them getting totally sloshed, or is it about people being thirsty and there being an issue with safe drinking water? Alcoholic drinks - wine and beer - have been a safe source of water for a very long time, and don't need to be strong to be safe.

If this were indeed the issue, and not that people were craving more alcohol, then the problem confronting Jesus, and that his mother turned to him for, was that of providing, safe, pleasant tasting, drink. This would better explain the large quantity that seemed to be needed. It would tie up with the conversation with the Samaritan woman in chapter 4, where physical thirst is used as a metaphor for a spiritual yearning. It would also resonate with the incident when the Israelites were wandering the wilderness and arrived somewhere apparently without water in Exodus 17, an incident made more prominent by being reflected on in Psalm 95:8.

In this case, maybe we need to think again about what the master of the banquet means by "the best." Maybe he is not referring to the quality and care of a brewing process, but rather to a drink he had not tasted before, with a great flavour.

We just don't know what Jesus did to the water in the jars. Out of them came a safe, pleasant tasting drink that meant the guests could stay and celebrate the marriage. His mother knew he was able to achieve this -why? Did Jesus do something he had done before at home?

Finally, it would make sense of why the disciples put their faith in him. Not because they would never be without alcohol at a party, but because they wouldnt thirst. They were about to give up control of their lives and trust someone else for their most basic of needs.

John 2:1-11 – The Wedding at Cana 4 – Acting Authoratively

28/7/2025

I wonder if I have missed the main clue of the passage - "do whatever he tells you" (v5). Up until now, Jesus had not used his wisdom and stature in an authoratitive way. He (presumably) had already spent his 40 days in the wilderness, he had spoken prophetic words to individuals who became his followers, something had happened at his baptism and John was telling people that he will baptise with the Holy Spirit (1:33), even that he is son of God (1: 34). But there is a big difference between this and him actually speaking out authoratively, even more so with acting authoratively. To do this takes an internal change, switching to a different mindset.

Of course, some people do this naturally - especially as the eldest brother as Jesus was. They are just used to giving orders to their siblings and being obeyed. They naturally take control, they have a high opinion of their own way of thinking. But I don't believe this was Jesus. He didn’t derive who he was from his position in his family, but from who he believed his Father was, and where he had come from (Luke 2:49, John 10: 36).

So, was that command to the servants Jesus stepping up or ducking out? Was he actually suggesting they just served water? Was the response from the master of the banquet a surprise to him too? If so, it had as profound an effect on him as on the disciples, because the next thing we read about is him clearing the temple. His time of exercising authority had begun.

John 2:1-11 – The Wedding at Cana 5 – A Final Possibility

29/7/2025

There is one more possibility to explore in this enigmatic story. Put yourself in the place of the master of the banquet. He was expecting a drink to be brought out sooner or later that didn't taste too good. The servants brought him a new drink, served as if it was wine, and it tasted pure and pleasant. His mouth was full of flavours from the banquet and the wine (that had run out). Could his reaction have been a genuine response to being served water?

I was at a 90th party recently. We had waited all afternoon for the buffet. There had been a bit of build up to it as the cuisine reflected the time our friend had spent on Cyprus. But there was only enough food each to make a plate the size of a starter! Now, some may have been happy about that, others quite unhappy, but publically the caterers were praised and no-one said a word about the quantity. No-one wanted to appear ungrateful or spoil the party.

In our story, people were thirsty and they were glad to be served drink. The master of the banquet seemed very happy, so they said nothing, not even to each other.

It's plausable, but how would this be a miraculous sign? We might compare it to the feeding of the 5000 and 4000. These clearly could be a combination of people sharing and everyone being satisfied with what they needed for the journey home. OK, it's a very different understanding of what happened to the idea of food multiplication, and it carries a different message. Not the abundance of God but the need to share and be satisfied in scarcity. Both are important messages, and all the accounts in all the gospels are (deliberately?) ambiguous as to which is the correct understanding, as if they are somehow both true simultaneously.

But this story doesn’t have that ambiguity - verse 9 states the water had been turned into wine. However we also have to remember that the gospel has been compiled from the original witness's writings (see 21:24), and its not unreasonable that the inclusion of this in verse 9 was the compiler clarifying what the master of the banquet was tasting.

Would you put your faith in a man who simply told the servants to serve some water? Sure, it solved the problem and the wedding celebrations continued. Sure, everyone had less of a hangover. I think it's possible it did have this impact on the disciples, but you could not call it a “miraculous sign”. But is that the compiler's commentary or the witness's statement?

In this series, I have explored different ways of understanding the story. They are all helpful, and I wouldn't like to judge which is better than another. Which best reveals the "grace and truth" in Jesus? Which best reveals the glory of the suffling servant? Which help you trust Jesus yourself? These are good criteria to judge by.

The Miracles of Jesus – What Exactly Constitutes a Miracle?

30/7/2025

The question arose yesterday of what would count as a miracle. If the Wedding at Cana had been saved by serving water but the master of the banquet declared it to be good wine, that would not be a miracle, it would just be a suggestion from Jesus that came off well. An unexpected solution to a problem - though the master's response to the water - would that not be a miracle?

It is the hallmark of all miracles that the mechanism by which it happened is not apparent. In almost all of Jesus’s miracles, there seems to be nothing but the declaration Jesus makes as the cause of it. But like a good magic trick, this doesn’t mean there isn’t a mechanism, only that the spectators missed it.

Sir Colin Humphries in his book "the Miracles of Exodus" argues that all 10 miracles performed by Moses had natural causes and explains what they were. This then leaves one remaining question - how was the timing of Moses' declaration of the miracles so perfect, that the declaration exactly preceded the natural event?

Although it seems quite a stretch for some of Jesus' miracles, with enough insight a similar "natural" explanation could probably be found. Does this negate the miracle? Personally I don't think so. The miracle is a combination of the amazingly good outcome and that the person performing it, Jesus in this case, themselves do not know the mechanism. Well, not consciously. Our subconscious minds are amazing, and with the Spirit of God in us too, who knows what is happening there.

Luke 7:11-17 – A Great Prophet

31/7/2025

For the widow, the death of the only remaining male in her household put her at the mercy of her extended family, if she had any. But I don’t think it was at this practical level that Jesus' heart went out to her - she had lost more than a source of financial support. So he calls her son back to life.

Before we became so medically sophisticated, apparently dead people did revive, and has happened in my lifetime too. The miracle is that Jesus, in full public view and in the middle of a funeral, tells the dead man to get up, and he does. How did Jesus know he could do that? Its no wonder Jesus was instantly recognised as a prophet.

But the incident was more significant than that. It referenced the incidents in Elijah's life (1 Kings 17) and Elisha's life (2 Kings 4) where they both raised the dead son of the widows who showed them hospitality. So when they said "a great prophet has appeared among us", they were almost certainly thinking in terms of Elijah and Elisha.

"God has come to help us " (v16) - this is a helpful slant on the role of a prophet, who's role is more normally to warn and deliver the judgement of God on a wayward king or nation. And they had King Herod & the Sanhedrin! But to understand that warning role as help is a pretty mature view of the role of a prophet.

And so Jesus' reputation explodes down south in Judea and not just in Galilee. That state of expectancy spreads to the whole country, all because of this one incident, where Jesus lays aside his potential embarrassment and out of compassion sticks his neck out and tells a dead man to get up.

Luke 1:1-4 , John 19:35, 20:30-31, 21:24 - How to write a Gospel

1/8/2025

Luke 1:1 suggests that way more than 4 people wrote accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus, that in fact many did. But only 4 have survived. There are of course the non-canonical gospels - Thomas, Mary etc - which for one reason or another have been considered unreliable, even if they have other merits.

All 4 gospels are compilations of eye witness testimony, even if only Luke and John explicitly state it. The "disciple who Jesus loved" seems to be the eye witness in John's gospel, and it would seem the gospel is named after him rather than the compilers (21:24 suggests there were more than one)-

Luke takes the eye witness testimony and writes an orderly account. A story has to flow in order to be readable and make sense.. I guess there are some interpretive choices to be made too - Luke's description of the woman wiping Jesus' feet with her hair is quite different to Matthew, Mark & John's, even though in most other respects it is John's gospel that is different to the other three.

Luke and John both state the guiding principle, the main motivation, for their accounts. This determines what goes in and what doesn't. For Luke it is so his reader has certainty about the things he has been taught, thanks to Luke's careful investigations. Luke’s intent is to write as accurate an account as he can. Whereas John and his Compiler's motive is that their readers would believe Jesus is the Christ, and by believing this have "life in his name”. They want a transformation in their readers - Luke wants to instill confidence in someone who has already believed. But John's compilers emphasize that John's testimony is true, that their role is selection and not editorial. However the content is clearly very different to the other gospels, and it portrays a rather different Jesus in its attempt to persuade that Jesus is the Christ.

We now rely on these testimonies for our own certainty. But like the most excellent Theophilus, our faith has come from other people mostly. But the gospels, and Bible generally, is important to ensure that communal faith is grounded in reality.

Mark 14:32-40 - Inner Conflict