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Episodes
Saturday Nov 12, 2016
Saturday Nov 12, 2016
Part 75 - John 18:10
Malchus
There wa a brief clash of swords – which must have been a dangerous business in the dark. As a result one of the temple servants loses a bit of his ear. We read, “Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)” This leads to the rebuke by Jesus of Peter who was acting, true to his usual nature, with unwanted impetuosity.
Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me.”
The most extraordinary thing about that statement is that John has told us what the name of the wounded man was. Very few people, except the apostles and a few of the closest women to the group, are named by John or any of the other Gospel-writers. John names some apostles, some women, Nicodemus, Lazarus and Joseph of Arimathea. Elsewhere we hear about blind Bartholomew but that is about it. Why then do we know the name of Malchus?
There would seem to be only two possibilities:
1) John, or the person who may have told him all about what happened that night, knew his name because they were obviously closely acquainted with the members of the senior households;
2) Malchus was a well known person later in the story of the early church, and although he must have been distinctly old by the time John was writing was sufficiently important to merit this mention.
Of these only the second would seem at all likely. Why would John mention the name if Malchus was only a servant in the governor’s household 40 or 50 years earlier? He would be of no importance to John’s original readers and the fact that Jesus healed his ear was only one of many such healings. No! It is a safe guess that Malchus became a Christian and of sufficient stature in the very early church to be mentioned by name. What are we to make of that?
Two things come to mind: first, that no one is excluded from the fellowship of the Kingdom and therefore of the church. They weren’t in those early days and they should not be now. There can be problems in some cultures, where if any stranger comes into a church meeting there is always a concern that they may be a spy sent in to see who is involved. It is impossible to set down any guidelines as to what should be done in such cases. The people involved can only use their best wisdom in what they do – but they must be careful not to exclude any genuine person.
The second thing is this: it is you and I who must ensure that no one is excluded who should not be. It is a difficult trap - the closer the fellowship in a particular meeting of the Lord’s people the easier it is to overlook the stranger, the incomer, the new convert. It is so easy to let them stand round the edges of the group while all the close friends talk together in a close knit huddle. Only by having some whose duty it is to lookout for such people is it possible to make sure that all are drawn into the centre of the fellowship. Watch out for it in your church. It will be surprising – and good – if you cannot see it happening.
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Friday Nov 11, 2016
Friday Nov 11, 2016
Partakers Friday Prayers!
11th November 2016
We pray together and when Christians pray together, from different nations, different churches and different denominations - that reveals Church unity! Come! Let us pray together!
Why do we do this? For this reason:
“At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month the guns fell silent on the Western Front, to bring to an end the First World War. Our nation and commonwealth has recalled that moment through our Armistice and Remembrance events down the decades, decades during which the men and women of our armed services have continued to pay the ultimate sacrifice."
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Monday Nov 07, 2016
Monday Nov 07, 2016
Monday Think Spot
7 November 2016
Tomorrow is the Presidential election in the United States of America! Most of us in the western world would be aware of that! So today I thought we would look at what the Bible has to say about Government? Are you ready? Come on in!
Daniel 4:25, Daniel reminds King Nebuchadnezzar that “the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.”
After you have heard this, you may like to ask yourself the following questions:
Q1. In what way can I influence and encourage my government
Q2. How can I help my government authorities to protect, punish and promote?
Q3. When was the last time I actively prayed for those in authority over me, whether Christian or secular?
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Saturday Nov 05, 2016
Saturday Nov 05, 2016
Gems in the Gospel of John
Part 74 - John 18:5
The man in the garden
It is impossible to tell how much of this was done by prior arrangement between Jesus and Judas. Perhaps Jesus had quietly made it completely clear to Judas that they were going to follow their usual practice of walking in the garden in the cool of the evening even although the city was in a somewhat dangerous tumult and he was the centre of the problem.
Anyway, when they got there the posse turned up, as expected, and Jesus asked who they were after - as if he didn’t know!
The answer they got surprised them. “I am he” as the NIV has it. Basically ‘I AM’, once again the Old Testament name for God. ‘ego eimi’ in the Greek.
Seven times John has told us about an occasion when Jesus said of himself ‘I am, something’, or as the scholars say ‘I am - with a predicate’. Six times he has told us that Jesus said of himself plain ‘I AM’, even if it was not always clear that it meant any more than ‘it’s me’. On this the last and most significant occasion when Jesus says those two words it was quite clear to the arresting posse what he meant. They ‘fell to the ground’’. They immediately recognized, even in the dark only illuminated by flaring torches, that here was someone very special indeed. Part of the Triune God, of the Trinity, stood in front of them - though of course they would have had no idea that that was the true situation. It is a mighty puzzle how they managed to recover themselves so that they could arrest him. (I wonder whether they actually tied his hands together or anything until they had to do so when they met the top people in Jerusalem.)
The message for us is crystal clear. This was God. God the Son was on his way to his great sacrifice for our sins - for yours and for mine. The world would never be the same again. To that point men and women had had no satisfactory and satisfying way out of their inability to live good decent and upright lives. All had been clouded by their inability to do so. Now as Jesus led them out of the garden (I am sure he must have walked in front, leading the way!) the great process that would change all mankind’s situation was beginning. The personification of God in this world of ours was about to present himself as a sacrifice for sin – yours and mine. Praise be!
You can now purchase our Partakers books including Roger's latest -
The Puzzle of Living - A fresh look at the story of Job!
Please do click or tap here to visit our Amazon site!
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Friday Nov 04, 2016
Friday Nov 04, 2016
Partakers Friday Prayers!
4th November 2016
We pray together and when Christians pray together, from different nations, different churches and different denominations - that reveals Church unity! Come! Let us pray together!
For we ask these things O Father God, through the name of Your Son, Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us. Amen
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