Peter Misselbrook's Blog
Jan 4 2020 - Luke 2:1-35 – A light to the nations

When Jesus was born, Luke tells us, there was no space for Mary and Joseph in the main part of the house where they had come to stay in Bethlehem; they had to sleep with the animals and make do with a manger as a cot for their new-born son. The news of Jesus birth was announced to shepherds, men treated as outcasts by the religious leaders of their society because of their inability to keep Jewish regulations such as the Sabbath. These were the first to come and see this remarkable child. From the first moments of his life Jesus identified with the poor and with outcasts. They often saw something of God's glory in him when the religious authorities rejected him.

Mary's baby boy was circumcised a week after his birth, in accordance with Jewish law and was called Jesus, the name given him by God and revealed through angels. He is the one through whom God will act to save his people. Later, the child is taken to the temple to be consecrated to the Lord.

Yesterday we looked at Zechariah's song in which he spoke of the mercy of God displayed in the coming Saviour in terms of the rising sun shining from heaven on those living in darkness (Luke 1:78-79). Today, we focus on a similar theme from the song of Simeon.

Simeon was a godly man who longed for the day when God would return to dwell in glory among his people; "He was waiting for the consolation of Israel" (2:25). God had revealed to him that he would not die before he saw the promised Messiah. Prompted by the Spirit of God, Simeon went up to the temple at the very time that Joseph and Mary had come to present Mary's firstborn to the Lord. Simeon took the young child in his arms and praised God:

Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
   you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
  which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
   and the glory of your people Israel. (2:29-32)

God had called Israel to be a light to the nations (Gentiles). Israel had failed to live up to its calling. Rather, God's name was being blasphemed among the nations because of the conduct of his people (see Romans 2:24, quoting Isaiah 52:5; cf. Romans 2:19). Simeon longs for the day when the light of God's revelation will shine out from Israel into the entire world. And now he holds in his arms the one through whom this will be accomplished. This child will succeed where Israel has failed. He will take upon himself the calling of Israel; he will be the glory of Israel. He will be the light of the world; the one through whom the whole world will come to see and to know the living God. In him, God has visited his people Israel and is accomplishing his purpose that through the descendants of Abraham all nations on earth will be blessed.

Jesus took upon himself the calling of Israel – to be a light to the nations. But this was a costly calling. Simeon tells Mary, "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too" (2:34-35). His ministry will be one of judgment and of salvation. Many will oppose him and by their attitude to him, the character of their own hearts will be revealed. He will suffer a fate which will tear apart the heart of his mother Mary.

Simeon and Anna see beyond the sweet Christmas baby to the reality of the Christ who has come to suffer judgment and bring salvation. Jesus calls us to follow him; to carry on the costly work of bringing the light of God's salvation to a resistant world.

"Thanks be to thee, my Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits thou hast given me, for all the pains and insults thou hast borne for me. O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother, may I know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly and follow thee more nearly, day by day." (Prayer of Richard, Bishop of Winchester, 1197-1253)

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Jan 4 2019 - Genesis 2:4-25 – The Garden of God

Our grandchildren love playing with plastic toy binoculars we have in our toy box. They look through them one way round and we seem to be far away from them but they can take in the large picture of our surroundings. Then they turn them round the other way and we seem to zoom forward and to be right in front of them. The game amuses them. Perhaps you have played in a similar, if more serious, way with a zoom lens on your camera enabling you to get a close up picture of something interesting.

In Genesis chapter two the zoom lens of Scripture is used to take us from the big perspective to see the fingerwork of God's creation. Man is formed by God from the dust of the earth – made of clay – before God breathes into him the breath of life. We are part of the very stuff of creation, but our life comes from God himself and we live in and through him; he is the source of our life.

But it is not good for the man to be alone. God's creation of all that he has made is an act of his love; we who are made in his image are made to love and be loved, to embrace and be embraced; we were made for relationship.

In the homely language of Genesis 2, all of the animals come to see Adam and he names them. They do not fear him, they trust him and submit to his kingly care – the lion with the lamb; the bear with the young deer. But none of these can offer Adam the heart-companionship he craves.

So Adam is put into a deep sleep and God makes the first woman from one of his ribs. Adam delights in this new gift of God, bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh. This is one with whom he can share the life God has given and from the embrace of their love new life will be created. Matthew Henry, an old commentator on the Bible wrote, "Women were created from the rib of man to be beside him, not from his head to top him, nor from his feet to be trampled by him, but from under his arm to be protected by him, near to his heart to be loved by him."

God planted a garden in Eden. It is his garden, the Garden of God (cf. Genesis 13:10; Ezekiel 28:13; 31:8-9), planted for those he has made in his image so that they might enjoy it with him and tend for him. It is filled with fruitful trees, among which is the Tree of Life. It is a place of life and abundance, reflecting the character of its owner.

A river flows through the garden, separating into four streams which flow out of the garden to give life to the surrounding world. God himself is the source of life for all creation – a picture picked up later in Ezekiel's vision of the Temple (Ezekiel 47), Jesus' words about the gift of the Spirit (John 7:38-39), and finally in John's vision of the new creation (Revelation 22).

This is the beautiful picture painted of the world in Genesis two, a picture that fills us with longing for a lost world – a longing for its renewal.

Father God, you are the source of life and love; help me to live in you and love as you love. Thank you for the heart-companion you have given me and with whom I share the life and love you have given. Thank you for family and friends and for the riches and blessing of human companionship. May your life flow through us and from us to renew a dry and dusty world.

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Peter Misselbrook