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Episodes
Wednesday Dec 09, 2015
Wednesday Dec 09, 2015
3. Shepherds, first on the Scene
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Hi there! This is Jim Harris with the third talk in our series, Travelling Towards Christmas. Having previously discussed Mary and Joseph, this time we’ll have a look at the shepherds, who apparently were the first people to see the new-born Son of God, the one we now describe as ‘Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ,’ This would be a good moment to read Luke 2:1-20, for that’s where we find their story.1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to his own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. The Shepherds and the Angels 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Shepherds were not sophisticated middle-class people. They were down-to-earth, rugged, hard working men, who tended and took care of flocks of sheep, mostly belonging to rich people. Some of them had a special role in looking after the flocks that produced lambs for the Temple sacrifices at Jerusalem. It’s known that these were pastured on the fields surrounding Bethlehem, because of it was close to Jerusalem.
With that in mind, consider the fact that Jesus was to become ‘The lamb of who takes away the sin of the world!’ (John 1:29) Isn’t that remarkable? But there’s something else, too. Jerusalem was King David’s city but Bethlehem was his home town. That’s why Joseph had to travel to register there, ‘because he belonged to the house and line of David.’ (verse 4)
With these ideas in mind it’s good to reread verses 8-11 again. It all comes together into what we can only think of as God’s superb plan for introducing His Son to the world.. These shepherds may have been ordinary people, representing the rank and file of human kind, but they were very privileged people too. That night out in the fields, unexpectedly, the curtain between heaven and earth was drawn back sufficiently for God’s messengers to be seen and heard. ‘An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.’
Then a little later we read, ‘Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel.’ The message they brought was ‘Good news of great joy to all the people’ – the Saviour had been born in Bethlehem. It was made pretty clear to them that they were to bear witness to this tremendous event by visiting the Baby, then passing on the good news to others. What does all this say to us, as we approach Christmas by crossing Shepherds Fields?
First of all, that Jesus is for all people. Good news of his birth was entrusted to what a poet has called ‘a few farm workers!’ News of his resurrection was entrusted to a woman with a dubious history, Mary Magdalene. Jesus is for everyone, whatever their social rank or moral background. He’s the Saviour – he specialises in forgiving the past and creating a new future for all who put their faith in him.
Then, they did what was required of them. They went off immediately to find the Baby and confirm what the angel had said. They were eager to do what God wanted from them, which is a mark of true faith. Mind you, if we’d been among them, I think the excitement of heaven breaking through in the encounter with the angels and in the birth of God’s Son, would have sent us hurrying down to Bethlehem as well.
Then, they told everyone what had happened. They witnessed to others about their experience and the message they’d heard. Another mark of genuine faith is that we become so thrilled with what’s happened to us, that we simply overflow. We tell everyone about it. That’s what happened with Jesus’ disciples about thirty three years after this. They just couldn’t stop telling everyone the good news that Jesus was risen from the dead.
Finally, the shepherds glorified and praised God for all the things they’d seen and heard. They did not draw attention to themselves. They did not entertain a ‘special status’ mentality because God had chosen them for this important role in the nativity. It’s a mark of true spirituality that all glory goes to God for the experiences he grants us.
We sign off with another question for you to consider. Verse 19 reads, ‘Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.’ The question is simply, ‘Will I give some time this Christmas to pondering its significance for me?’
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Tuesday Dec 08, 2015
Tuesday Dec 08, 2015
Travelling Towards Christmas
2. Joseph, betrothed to Mary
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Hello again. This is the second talk given by Jim Harris in our series, ‘Travelling Towards Christmas.’ It’s about Joseph, betrothed to Mary. We meet and learn about Joseph in both Matthew’s and Luke’s accounts of the birth of Jesus. He is the quiet man in the story but also a spiritual person who wished to live his life and make his decisions in accordance with God’s will. Please read Matthew 1:18-25.This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the me Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us"). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Jewish society at that time had an arrangement for approaching marriage called ‘betrothal’. It was a kind of engagement period, in which the prospective bride and groom lived under the same roof but did not consummate the relationship sexually. That was reserved for their wedding day. Mary was pledged in this way to be married to Joseph. It is likely that he was older than Mary, as there is no mention of him during Jesus’ adult ministry. Perhaps he’d died before Jesus reached the age of thirty, which was when he went public. Joseph’s role was secondary to Mary’s; nevertheless it was an important one. It was also a dangerous role he had to fulfil.
First of all, there was the possibility of public rejection and the stigma of Mary’s pregnancy during the betrothal period. Then there was the need to travel for registering at Bethlehem, followed by the flight into Egypt when king Herod went on the rampage at the suggestion of a ‘King of the Jews’ being born. Finally, there was all the caring and providing for the family’s welfare once back safely in Nazareth, a town that had its own social problems.
Sometimes he is called the ‘caretaker father of Jesus’, given the responsibility of protecting and providing for God’s Son, for as long as was necessary. Joseph had some fine spiritual qualities and the one we’ll look at now is that of ‘sensitivity’.
In the first place he was sensitive to Mary’s needs. He’d heard her side of the story but, even so, felt it necessary to divorce Mary because of apparently improper behaviour. But he didn’t want to expose her to public disgrace being, as Matthew puts it, ‘a righteous man’. Being righteous can sometimes carry a hard edge to it, but not with Joseph. With him, it carried a sensitive understanding of Mary’s situation. That may suggest that he wanted to believe her story but had no way of verifying it.
Whatever, Joseph was clearly sensitive to Mary’s needs. He was not consumed with the selfish and self-justifying attitudes that characterise so much marital and pre-marital discord in our day. Then, he was sensitive towards receiving and responding to God’s messengers and, beyond that, to the Lord himself. When Gabriel came in a dream and confirmed what Mary had told him, he did not hesitate to accept and her and her condition, respecting the situation fully so that there would be no interference with what God was bringing to pass. His sensitivity is described in this way, ‘He took Mary home as his wife but had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.’
It is interesting that most of Joseph’s guidance came through dreams. Clearly that was right for him in God’s will, but the only certain way to know God’s will for our lives is to be familiar with the teaching of Scripture, letting experience confirm it in practice. We must be sensitive to God speaking through his Word.
Finally, he was sensitive to the situation in which he, too, was placed and wanted to do only what was right in God’s eyes. He didn’t let the world around him squeeze him into its shape. His actions were not dictated by other people’s view of what constituted right conduct. Quite the reverse; Joseph took decisive action as a man of faith and principle. He did what the Lord wanted. We should admire Joseph and follow his sensitive example. Here’s another question to think about as we travel towards Christmas.
Are my attitudes and actions shaped by the world I live in or by the ‘living and enduring word of God.’ (1 Peter 1:23)
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Monday Dec 07, 2015
Monday Dec 07, 2015
Travelling Toward Christmas
1. Mary, the Mother of Jesus
Hello. My name is Jim Harris. I’ve been asked by Dave to provide some talks taking us towards Christmas Day. He’s also asked me to introduce myself so you know where I’m coming from. I’m a retired Christian Pastor, Evangelist and Teacher, having spent about 31 years in full time ministry.
In the run up to Christmas it is inevitable that we begin to think about the characters involved in the original events surrounding the birth of Jesus. Where better to start than with Mary, to whom was given the great privilege and awesome responsibility of carrying and giving birth to God’s Son, the Messiah. Please read Luke chapter 1, verses 26-30. In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.
Mary was probably a teenager when she received the visit from the angel Gabriel to tell her that the Lord had chosen her for this very special purpose. Hearing his greeting she was greatly troubled. Meeting an angel isn’t exactly an everyday experience. But there was something deeper disturbing her peace of mind – the content of his greeting. ‘You who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ That set her on her guard. Whatever was coming next? Gabriel sensed her fear and told her she need not be afraid. He was bringing good news not bad. The time had come for God to send his Son into the world; to be born as every human being has to be born so that, in due course, he would become the Saviour that the world needed. Hence the name they were to give the child –Jesus - which means ‘God saves’.
Just imagine the mounting excitement in Mary as he went on with his message. That was every godly Jewish woman’s dream; to be chosen to be the mother of the Messiah. It all sounds very cut-and-dried, when we read ‘You will be with child and give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus.’ Despite the way it sounds, God wasn’t forcing Mary into this role, but he knew her heart well enough to realise he’d get a good response.
We have an insight into how she thought and felt about God in the song recorded by Luke in verses 46-55. She knew the Old Testament Scriptures well and used them as a basis for her outpouring of praise and thanksgiving. Mary was a spiritual woman, however young she might have been. She loved God and wanted the best for his people, which isn’t a bad description of spirituality.
But – life is full of buts – there was just one not-so-little practical problem. She was a virgin and, as Matthew’s account tells us, she was betrothed to be married to Joseph. Virginity up until the time of marriage was essential for the marriage to be recognised as legitmate in that society. That could be a huge problem for Mary; how could it be overcome? Conception would occur through the power of the Holy Spirit, said the angel, then, ‘Look what’s happened to your cousin Elizabeth; that’s a miracle for sure!’ Now for the punch line, ‘Nothing is impossible with God.’ Which takes us right back to the start, ‘The Lord is with you.’
That’s the key; God will take care of every detail, so don’t be afraid, however big the ask might seem to you. God is in control. I can imagine Mary sinking to her knees, or even prostrating herself on the floor. in an act of worship, as she responded with the simple but whole-hearted words, ‘I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.’ Mary was unique, but the message for us is the same, ‘Nothing is impossible with God’.
The Christmas story has been wrapped up in romance and fantasy by our commercial world, but we mustn’t let that blind us to the truth inside, that God is looking to us for a response of love and submission to his will, so that He can do great things in and through us. That’s not a cheap advertising slogan like so much that’s about at the moment. No, it’s more like a serious challenge to a costly commitment but, ‘He’s worth it!’ Here’s a question to think about as we travel towards Christmas. What will it mean for me, if I follow Mary’s example and accept God’s will for my life?
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Saturday Dec 05, 2015
Saturday Dec 05, 2015
Part 14 - John 3:16
Together or apart
Yet it raises several questions often overlooked. The first is that it refers to the ‘world’ not the individual, as the following verses continue to do. (It is not clear whether these verses are the words of Jesus or the comments of John. The latest NIV finishes the Jesus quote at the end of verse 15 so considering the following verses to be the comments of John. Other versions put the end of what Jesus said in different places.)
It was the nature of God that he was love (1 John 4: 8 says simply “God is love”). He could do no other than love the world that he had created. It is, and was, his essential nature to do so. He loved, and loves, this world. ‘World’ in this gospel means primarily the world of men and women, the human world, the world that had hated Jesus disciples (John 17: 14). It also means secondarily the whole wonderful world in which we live, the creation that Paul says is to be “liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.” (Romans 8: 21).
That is hard to understand! God gave his Son for the world and yet it is still full of evil. People are still prepared to blow others up in suicide bombings or massacre them with guns and we do not know what horrors they may yet unleash on each other. We may wish that he had placed tighter controls on mankind but such is the power of his love he has left us with the freedom to make decisions, to love him and each other, or to hate those who do not agree with us. That is a fundamental part of the power of the love of our God.
But there is another side to the power of his love. We may choose to believe in Jesus, who he was and is, what he accomplished by his life and on the Cross and all that he has gained for us. That is here described as ‘not perishing’ but having eternal life. This is the New Life from above that Jesus promised Nicodemus. It is not just a life that starts when we die and then goes on for ever. It is the ‘life of the ages’ that starts as we move into the New Life from above. Not a slight variation on our past life that starts when we are ‘born again’ but a life that continues for the rest of our time on earth and then goes on beyond this earth and our present concerns.
In human practical terms it is a new life with a deep and rewarding focus, with a purpose it did not have before, with a sense of solidarity with the Lord’s people it did not have before and a promise of ‘not perishing’.
That is no fewer than 4 things. Let me repeat them: a new focus to life with Jesus, a new sense of purpose in serving and honouring him, a new circle of friends in the Lord’s people and eternal life, that is a new quality of life in this world and a future afterwards.
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Friday Dec 04, 2015
Friday Dec 04, 2015
Partakers Friday Prayers!
4th December 2015
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!
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Nativity Hymn / Prayer of Ephraim the Syrian.
The feast day of your birth resembles You, Lord
Because it brings joy to all humanity.
Old people and infants alike enjoy your day.
Your day is celebrated from generation to generation.
Kings and emperors may pass away,
And the festivals to commemorate them soon lapse.
But your festival will be remembered until the end of time.
Your day is a means and a pledge of peace.
At Your birth heaven and earth were reconciled,
Since you came from heaven to earth on that day
You forgave our sins and wiped away our guilt.
You gave us so many gifts on the day of your birth:
A treasure chest of spiritual medicines for the sick;
Spiritual light for the blind;
The cup of salvation for the thirsty;
The bread of life for the hungry.
In the winter when trees are bare,
You give us the most succulent spiritual fruit.
In the frost when the earth is barren,
You bring new hope to our souls.
In December when seeds are hidden in the soil,
The staff of life springs forth from the virgin womb.
Amen
A hymn / prayer of Ephraim the Syrian (AD 306-373)
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Wednesday Dec 02, 2015
Wednesday Dec 02, 2015
Christmas 2015 - Ancient Voices
1. Isaac the Syrian
(6th/7th century)
This Christmas night bestowed peace on the whole world;
So let no one threaten;
This is the night of the Most Gentle One - Let no one be cruel;
This is the night of the Humble One - Let no one be proud.
Now is the day of joy - Let us not revenge;
Now is the day of Good Will - Let us not be mean.
In this Day of Peace - Let us not be conquered by anger.
Today the Bountiful impoverished Himself for our sake;
So, rich one, invite the poor to your table.
Today we receive a Gift for which we did not ask;
So let us give alms to those who implore and beg us.
This present Day cast open the heavenly doors to our prayers;
Let us open our door to those who ask our forgiveness.
Today the Divine Being took upon Himself the seal of our humanity,
In order for humanity to be decorated by the Seal of Divinity.
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Monday Nov 30, 2015
Monday Nov 30, 2015
Think Spot 30th November 2016
God… Church… You…
Does God meet with us and do you recognise and sense His presence or absence in your church when He is not there?
You answer “Of course He is there”.. Isn't He everywhere? So He surely must be there in our church buildings. He is omnipresent.
Permit me to ask you a further question? Who do you really expect to show up on Sundays? Your close friends? Your pastor? deacons, elders, the worship group.? Of course you do. Now listen carefully. Do you expect to meet with God? . Is His presence recognisably known and felt as you meet in worship? Do you expect to sense His presence with you? Do you know what it feels like to sense His presence?
When the sermon begins do you expect God to carry the words into your hearts and minds. Do you find yourself drinking in every word. Do you recognise when He does show up and maybe when it doesn't happen.? Do you know the difference between a sermon that brings you closer to God and one that doesn't and why?
Do the words and music in your worship really truly glorify God? Ot may be you feel someone hasn't got things quite right and the songs chosen that Sunday are not conducive or helpful to worship. Your heart is heavy and burdened and its not because of sins you are stubbornly holding on to. You feel as if God is many miles away.
You have been standing for many minutes as the song leader takes you yet again for the 20th time over the same words. You do not feel inspired. Instead words are coming into your minds like “Oh no not again I must sit down”. You sit down but the situation is still not good as you now are saying “when will this end. I want to go home.”
I am afraid this kind of situation is not rare. But why? Where is the sensitivity of the Lord's absence in worship? Have we settled for something far less than recognising when God is surely with us in worship? When we know His presence with us. Moses once said “Lord if your presence does not go with us we will not go up hence.” Yes I know that was an occasion when sin was in the camp and God wanted that sin dealt with before He privileged Israel with that wonderful sense of His presence once more. I think that God's people are settling for far less than the best in many church fellowships.
Sometimes it is a fact the songs do not glorify God but man. A service can become so man centred. Even the sermon can be produced in such a manner that all the people see is the preacher.
I am not talking about conjuring the Lord up in your minds but truly experiencing a sense of His presence which can be beautifully awesome or so close to us when we feel we cannot leave the building.
Is it not true that God can come down in a time of worship and surprise us in a beautiful manner especially when the attention is on His Son, His death, resurrection and sovereignty. When the music is enjoyable. Doesn't The Holy Spirit long for us to worship the Son and doesn't He encourage it?
On one occasion I was in a meeting away from my home fellowship and it was such a meeting as I have been describing, but on this occasion the pastor was sensitive to realising something was wrong in the worship time.
He asked the fellowship if the Lord was letting anyone know what the problem was. We were in a prayerful attitude when I sensed the Lord speaking into my heart and mind “They are worshipping me with their lips but their hearts are far from Me”
Now I was a visitor to that church what was I to do? I was a little fearful to repeat that verse of Scripture but I plucked up courage and moved quietly towards the pastor leading the worship. With many ears listening in the quietness I whispered those words to the pastor. Suddenly the whole meeting was engulfed in tears as those words hit home.
It was a sermon in itself. Hearts were not sensing the presence of God as worshipping hearts were far from Him. Repentance took place that evening and the whole atmosphere changed dramatically and God's presence returned to that meeting and it was a privilege to be there and enjoy God's presence with us.
We need to be tuned in to sensing God's presence not just in church worship as we gather with others but singly on our own in our own homes and out and about. I am no one special but I am learning more of what it does mean to practice and sense the presence of God. I am on the way. My heart thirsts for God. How about you? I believe God is looking for the thirsty.
Joys Prayer
Gracious Lord , our Heavenly Father,
we can have our minds full of all kinds of thoughts when we come to worship with God's people. Events later to be held that day . Perhaps particular People are on our minds, we are meeting up with later that day. Sports meetings and results etc.
May be our minds are even on sins we do not want to let go with. We are simply going through the motions of worship.
Lord forgive us and cleanse us through Jesus precious blood and give us worshipful hearts and the desire to get as close to You as is possible. Give us a stronger thirst for You.
Lord how can you enjoy our worship when Jesus is not at the very centre of our lives. Lord draw near and renew us in our minds and hearts and do that necessary work in us that we need please. Help us to be totally honest with You in our prayers and if we are prayer less forgive and renew us.
In Jesus Name! Amen
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Saturday Nov 28, 2015
Saturday Nov 28, 2015
Part 13 - John 3:3
Again or Above
Both translations go on to say that Nicodemus picked up the ‘again’ possibility and proceeded to comment on that. That would seem to suggest that he thought Jesus meant ‘again’ but he was a clever man and may simply have understood instantly that there are deeper problems with the ‘above’ option and carefully avoided it.
Exactly the same thing is true in our culture. To be ‘born again’ can mean nothing more than to return after a gap to something you used to do and enjoy. So you might be a ‘born again rock-climber’ if you return to that sport after giving it up on getting married and starting a family; but now they are grown up and you don’t feel the same deep responsibility for them so you return to that sometimes dangerous sport. But you cannot play any such tricks on the phrase ‘born from above’.
What did Jesus mean by what he said? Including what did he mean by talking about ‘seeing, or entering, the kingdom of God’?
It is a matter of dimensions. You may be stuck in two dimensions if you think only of being born again. The phrase can mean no more than I have decided to follow Jesus, or I have decided I am a Christian. But if you bring the third dimension into it things are quite different. If you are born from above you have clearly been touched by those who come from ’above’, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. In only a few verses down the page we shall read that Jesus said he was talking about heavenly things, and only a verse or two further and he is talking about how he will be ‘lifted up’. He will be lifted up on the Cross, which will take him out of our two-dimensional world into a greater world of three dimensions. And when we are born again from above we are being touched by the glory of the Cross; by its potent effect in carrying away our sin and broken relationship with the Father; by the way in which it released the Holy Spirit to encourage and empower us provided we are one of those who want to enter the ‘kingdom of God’.
That kingdom is not a place in any sort of worldly sense. It is a sphere of influence where the Triune God, God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit rule. You may live in one of the many countries of this world, divided up as they are by the whim of men, the results of history, by many a reason long forgotten by almost everybody. It doesn’t matter how big, how small, how rich or how poor your country may be and how much you have to participate in it for good or ill. You can be a citizen of heaven a member of the kingdom of God. WOW!
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Saturday Nov 14, 2015
Saturday Nov 14, 2015
Part 12 - John 2:13-25
Revising the Temple
“When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”
Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
They replied, “It has taken forty- six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.”
It causes even more puzzlement amongst the experts than the first story of this chapter. Clearing the Temple is recorded in all 4 Gospels but in the other 3 it occurs near the end of Jesus’ ministry where here it seems to be at the beginning. Or has John put it here because he wants us to read and hear the rest of his book with this in the background? I think he has. If a squad of Roman soldiers or temple guards allowed something like this to happen for a second time they would be in very serious trouble. The Philippian jailer was thinking of killing himself as the less painful option when He thought Paul and Silas had escaped from his prison. If Jesus had cleared the Temple early on He would have been a marked man every time He went to Jerusalem subsequently. No, again John has chosen a surprising passage for his introduction to the life of Jesus. Why? What did he mean by doing so?
The Temple was the very centre of Jewish life. Everyone who was able to visited it at least once a year as we are told Jesus and his family did for the Feast of Passover (Luke 4). They thought of God being there more than anywhere else. He had led the Israelites through the wilderness at the Exodus in a tent and then a tabernacle. He had been present in the Temple when Solomon dedicated it. Only later, when things went badly wrong in the life of the nation, had He ceased to be there visibly (Ezek 10). There was no visible proof that He was there in Herod’s temple but they still reckoned it was the place to be as often as possible.
John records: “When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts He found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So He made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves He said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market.”
It looks as though He was annoyed by the way the merchants had set up a bazaar inside the outer courts. But there is much more to what He did than that. Mark is most helpful. He says that as Jesus and His disciples were approaching Jerusalem they saw a fig tree and Jesus went up to it to get some figs. A curious thing to do as it was not the right time of the year for it to have fruit on it. Then, even more surprisingly, Jesus curses the tree. They go down into the city, Jesus clears the temple, and they come back to find the tree had withered. What is going on and why?
Mark has put one story, the clearing of the temple, inside another, the death of the fig-tree. He does this sort of thing with stories quite often and clearly relates the two stories, one of them explaining the other. In this case He is saying the temple is done, finished, it is withered, it is dead. And, indeed, just 40 years later it was, pulled down and destroyed by the Romans at the sack of Jerusalem. That had already happened when John wrote this Gospel.
So what was to happen now? Answer, from Jesus: “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” Which they don’t understand. They say, “It has taken forty- six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?”
John knows what the whole event means. He tells us, “the temple He had spoken of was His body. “
The Temple is done, gone, even if it hasn’t fallen down yet. But God is still with them, and with us, in the person of Jesus.
In fact, there is still more to come in the later teaching of the church. Paul says, “we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.’”
That is you, assuming you have set out to follow Jesus, and me. Where is God these days? He is in you and me, and nowhere else in any special sense in the whole wide world. WOW!
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Friday Nov 13, 2015
Friday Nov 13, 2015
Partakers Friday Prayers!
13th November 2015
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!
Order of Prayer Service
Opening Prayer
1 John 1:8-10
Confession
Lord's Prayer
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Prayers for those facing challenging situation
Prayers for those grieving & in despair
Prayers for those imprisoned
Prayers for Churches Worldwide
Prayers for the world
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Time for your own prayers
The Creed
Benediction
Closing Prayer
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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