Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Oct 3 2019 - Ezekiel 47:1-12 – The river of life

In Ezekiel's continuing vision of the new temple, he sees a stream of water that appears to originate from the altar and flow out from the temple. But it’s a stream like none you have seen before. It is a supernatural stream that, without any other source, gets deeper as it flows on further and spreads out wider. It’s a stream of water that brings life where previously there was only death. The waters flow into the Arabah, i.e. into the Jordan valley and then down to the Dead Sea. Its streams are teaming with life and the banks of the river are populated by trees that bear fruit that is good to eat and is available all year round. The leaves of these trees are also good for healing. The once dead sea is now full of fish and fishermen ply their trade upon it as they did in Lake Galilee.

This is Paradise restored and the earth renewed, with its streams of living water flowing out into the surrounding regions, with its swarms of living creatures, with its trees laden with fruit and all hurts healed. It is a picture that is again picked up at the end of the book of Revelation where John writes:

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.  (Revelation 22:1-5)

In John's vision the picture of blessing brought by this river has expanded beyond the confines of Israel; "the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations." Here is the fulfilment of the promise made long ago to Abraham that "All peoples on earth will be blessed through you." 

And all of this find's its fulfilment in Jesus who spoke of himself as the source of living water. During the festival of Tabernacles, water from the pool of Siloam was poured out in the temple, celebrating God's provision in the wilderness but also anticipating the abundant gift of living water that would flow from the temple and from Jerusalem when the kingdom of God would come. Against this background Jesus addressed the crowd saying:

"Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. (John 7:37-39)

Jesus is the new temple that Ezekiel saw in a vision. His atoning death, of which the temple altar was a symbol, is the source of our life. His cross has become the Tree of Life from which we may now take and eat and live for ever. He is the one who was given for the healing of the nations. It is in him that all nations on earth shall be blessed for it is from him that streams of grace flow out to bring life to the world. Ascended into heaven, he is the one who has poured out his life-giving Spirit on a dying world.

But Jesus says, "Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them." The life-giving streams flow not only to those who believe in him; Jesus' mission to bring life to a dying world is accomplished through them. This, then, is also our calling. We are to flood the world with the transforming life and power of Jesus. We are to capture the vision and to be the people into whom, through whom and from whom the blessing of God pours into a needy world.

Living God, we praise you for the life that flows to us through our Saviour's death and resurrection. By your Spirit fill us with that overflowing life and empower us to be disciples who bring your life and healing to a sick and dying world. May we be used of you to flood the nations with your grace and mercy, bringing in your kingdom and making all things new.

Oct 3 2020 - Matthew 27:32-66 – Forsaken

Yesterday, we saw how Jesus was mocked by the Roman soldiers who had charge of him before he was led out to his crucifixion. That mockery continued as he hung dying upon the cross. Passers-by mocked him over whom the charge was written, “This is the King of the Jews.” Those crucified with him cursed him as they hung beside him. And the Jewish leaders mocked him saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself.” They did not see the irony in their own words; it was because he was determined to save others that he would not save himself.

There were thousands of crucifixions in Judea in the first century, but none was like this one. The sun refused to shine at mid-day and there was darkness over the land all afternoon as Jesus hung there dying. The created world seemed to lose its vitality as the one through whom all things were made was destroyed. And then, Jesus "cried out in a loud voice, 'Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?' (which means 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?')." (Matthew 27:46). Jesus feels himself to be forsaken, abandoned by God, for he feels himself to be under the judgment of God. At the cross, God himself shares in the brokenness of a broken world that it might be healed.

Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:4-6)

Jesus suffered in our place. He bore the weight of our iniquity and was pierced for our transgressions. He suffered the punishment which our sins deserved; he felt himself to be "punished by God, stricken by him and afflicted." It is our iniquity that separated Jesus from the Father and that caused him to feel forsaken. He endured all of this for us that we might never be forsaken; that we might be reconciled to God. He was broken that we might be healed.

As Jesus died, the curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. This curtain separated the dwelling place of God in the holy of holies from the parts of the temple where the worshipers would meet. Jesus' separation from the Father meant that this curtain of separation was ripped open. It was as if God himself burst out of the confines of the most holy place to embrace a world of people who had been far away from him – to embrace not only the Jewish worshipers within the temple area but Gentiles also who could only stand far off, outside. It is through this one last sacrifice for sin that God and man are reconciled; nothing can ever again separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Father God, I stand in wonder at the cross. There are mysteries here that I cannot fully understand. But I do see clearly the greatness of your love for me. You loved the world so much that you did not spare your own Son. There was nothing you would not do to embrace me in your love. Help me by your Spirit to love you in return with a love that consumes every fibre of my being. Help me also to love others with the costly love you have lavished on me in the Lord Jesus – to break down barriers through your reconciling love, to forgive as I have been forgiven and to make the love of Jesus visible.

Peter Misselbrook