Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Jan 14 2020 - Luke 7:11-35 – Justifying God

In the passage that we have been reading this morning, the Greek verb meaning “to justify” is used twice. In the first instance it is used of tax collectors and sinners who “justified God” (Luke 7:29) – though it is translated in the NIV saying they, "acknowledged that God's way was right". What an extraordinary phrase. What does it mean? I am reminded of Paradise Lost in which Milton says that his purpose is “to justify the ways of God to man”. He wrote his great work to demonstrate the justice of God.

The meaning is similar and yet somewhat different in Luke 7:29. Jesus declares that the crowds, including tax collectors, who were baptised by John “justified God”. That is to say that they declared God to be righteous, just or true. They recognised the truth of God in the preaching of John and the justice of God in John’s declaration of their need to repent and be baptised. By way of contrast, says Jesus, the Pharisees and teachers of the law rejected the purpose of God in rejecting John. When we hear and receive God’s word, we “justify God”, we recognise him to be in the right. When we ignore God’s word, we set ourselves in opposition to his purposes.

The second occurrence of this verb is in 7:35 where Jesus says that “wisdom is justified [proved right] by all her children”. I suggest that this rather enigmatic phrase means that those who believe the word of God preached to them recognise the wisdom of God (declare the truth – the rightness – of his wisdom) in what they have heard. More than that, they become wisdom’s children; they themselves become wise by responding to the wisdom of God. The wisdom of God is not an abstract idea, it is to be made visible – shown to be wise – in the lives of those who have embraced it.

Whatever we may take this verb to mean in other parts of the New Testament, here it clearly means to “reckon as right” rather than to “make right.” And in this sense, it is not only the case that God, in his grace, justifies sinners, it is also true that sinners, in believing, justify God. Day by day, moment by moment, we justify God by living in response to his word. The responsive heart and transformed life are a poem written by the Spirit of God by which he justifies his ways to ‘man’.

We see this supremely in the Lord Jesus himself. John was in prison and must have been aware that he might never be set free. He had begun to ask whether Jesus whom he had heralded was truly the Messiah. If Jesus had come to set the captives free, why was he, John, still in prison? So he sent two of his disciples to challenge Jesus.

Jesus sends them back to John with the words, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them” (7:22). The things that Jesus said and did were a living demonstration of who he was. They “justified God” – showed the righteousness and compassion of God to a world full of questions. They demonstrated the strange wisdom of God that would find its ultimate demonstration in the cross. “Blessed”, says Jesus, “is the one who is not offended by me” (7:23).

The character of God is seen shining through the life, words and actions of the Lord Jesus. He is moved with compassion over the plight of the widow who has just lost her son – "his heart went out to her" (7:13). He calls us not only to recognise the wisdom, justice, compassion and grace of God displayed in his life but to reflect that character in our own lives.

Lord Jesus, you came to justify the ways of God to man, to show us the righteousness, wisdom and love of God. Help me to trust you not only when all is going well, but also in the dark days when I do not understand what you are doing; help me to trust you and follow you. By the power of your Spirit within me may all I say and think and do this day justify you and declare the rightness, goodness and beauty of your ways to a watching world.

Jan 14 2019 - Genesis 12:1-20 – The call of Abram

The call of Abram is God's response to Babel. From all the scattered people of the earth, God calls one man into special relationship with him.

Abram is called to leave his country and his family to follow the call of God into an inheritance that he cannot yet see. Those who try to secure a future for themselves – like those at Babel – will lose it. Those who leave their own security to follow the call of God will receive an inheritance that can never be lost.

In addition to the promise of a land, God promises to make from Abram a great nation – a people who will be God's own possession. Secondly, he promises to make Abram's name great – Abram does not need to strive to make a name for himself. Thirdly, God promises not only to bless Abram but also to make him a blessing; in him all nations on earth shall be blessed. The history of scattering and of disunity will be reversed as God, through his promises and saving power reaches out to people of all nations and makes of them one new people of God.

God's promises to Abraham are not only his response to Babel, they are his response to the sin that entered the world through Adam. Rebellion caused separation from God, but God's call of Abram anticipates a people who will at last live in fellowship with him. Rebellion brings exclusion from the Garden of God, but God promises Abram a land (the cosmos! Romans 4:13), in which he will enjoy all the blessings of God. The rebellion of one man (one couple), brings misery upon the whole human race, but the blessing of this one man will bring blessing to all nations.

So these promises of God shape the rest of the drama of Scripture.

Famine in the land of Canaan drove Abram and Sarai into Egypt. Afraid of the Egyptians, Abram passed off Sarai as his sister and Pharaoh, king of Egypt, took her into his palace, intending to make her one of his harem. But the Lord sent plagues on Pharaoh's household. Pharaoh learnt the hard way that Sarai was Abram's wife and was quick to expel this couple from his land.

Abram had been called to follow God and to trust that God would fulfil all the promises he had made him. Through him God planned to bring blessing to all peoples of the earth. But Abram's faithlessness brought God's judgment upon others rather than his blessing.

This picture is repeated time and time again through the pages of Scripture. God's purpose for Israel, the descendants of Abram, is that they should be a light to the nations – a people through whom all nations on earth shall be blessed. But Israel's unfaithfulness leads to God's name being blasphemed among the nations (Romans 2:24).

God will need to raise up another from within Israel who will be a light to the nations and who will bring God's salvation to the ends of the earth (Isaiah 49:6). Only than shall it be said,

Where He displays his healing power
Death and the curse are known no more;
In him the tribes of Adam boast
more blessings than their father lost.

Lord God, in Christ you have made me an heir to the promises made to Abram. Help me always to trust in you and faithfully follow the Lord Jesus Christ, so that I may know your blessing and be a blessing to those whose lives I touch. Help me to keep your name holy; may it never be blasphemed because of the things I say and do.

Peter Misselbrook