Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Oct 4 2019 - Isaiah 40 – Comfort for God's people

In August we spent a number of days in the first half of Isaiah where the prophet warned Jerusalem and Judah that their idolatry and lack of concern for the needy was inviting God's judgment. That judgment has now fallen; the city of Jerusalem has been destroyed by the Babylonians and the people have been taken off into captivity. From chapter 40 onwards the scene has changed as God addresses those who have been exiled from the Promised Land with words of encouragement as he declares his love for his wayward people and his determination to save and restore them.

Chapter 40 begins with God telling his prophet or messenger to go and proclaim words of comfort to his people. Note how God uses the words, "my people" and "your God" (v.1). He has not abandoned them, nor has he torn up the covenant he made with Abraham long ago. These are still his people and he is still their God. Note also that God tells his messenger to "speak tenderly" to Jerusalem. This is the voice of the lover to the one he loves. These are indeed words of comfort.

God reassures his people that their sin has been paid for (v. 2). We should not read this to mean that the suffering of God's people in exile was sufficient to wash away their sins. This verse points us forward to Isaiah 53 which has more to say about the one who has borne the sin and judgment of God's people. All that they need to know at this stage is that their debt has been fully discharged.

Secondly, God wants his people to know that a path is being prepared for them to return from exile (vv. 3-5). Babylon to Jerusalem was no easy journey, particularly for families travelling with children. God declares he will prepare a highway for them – a motorway in contemporary terms. Mountains will be levelled and valleys filled in and rough places made smooth so that God himself can come and lead his people out of captivity and into the Promised Land as he did in the days of the Exodus. God will do this to display not only his love and saving grace but also his glory (v. 5).

God promises his presence will be with his people (vv. 6-11). The people may be all too aware of their own weakness (vv. 6-7), but God's word, promises and purpose are unshakeable and sure. The messenger is told to run ahead and proclaim the good news to Jerusalem and to the cities of Judah shouting that God is coming, leading his people back home like a shepherd with his sheep:

He tends his flock like a shepherd: he gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. (v.11)

What a tender picture of God's care for his people – individual care for those in need.

The chapter ends with a wonderful picture of the incomparable power of the living God (vv. 25-31). The Israelites were filled with all manner of fears concerning their return. But God assures them:

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint. (vv. 29-31)

We also are on a journey towards the inheritance that God has promised us. Our Saviour has paid the price for our sins and has gone before us. He is now leading us on into the inheritance he has prepared for us. He is the Good Shepherd who will ensure that none of his sheep are lost on the way or fall through wounds or lack of strength. Our safe arrival in glory is dependent not on our own strength but on his almighty power. Read this chapter again and take to heart its words of comfort and reassurance. Put your trust in the one who has power to do more than we ask or imagine.

Lord, we thank you for this lovely chapter of your word and for all the promises and words of reassurance it contains. Help us to lift our eyes from ourselves and our weakness and to fix them on our wonderful Saviour and his almighty power. Help us to encourage others to trust in him.

Oct 4 2020 - Matthew 28:1-20 – Risen

After Jesus had been baptised by John, he was in a deserted area for forty days, at the end of which he was tempted by the devil. In the last of those temptations the devil had shown Jesus all the kingdoms of this world and had promised to give them to him if only he would worship him. Jesus rejected the temptation with the words, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” (Matthew 4:10). Jesus had faithfully served the purpose of the Father, even to the point of dying upon the cross. Now he had been raised from the dead and has been given the place of supreme authority over the whole universe; “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matthew 28:18). All the kingdoms of the world are his and shall be his. They are gained not through self-service, but through humble obedience to the Father.

He made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death –
even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.  (Philippians 2:7-11)

It is to this end – that all might acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord – that Jesus now commands his disciples, "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (28:18-20).

The primary verb in this command is not "go", but "make disciples". Jesus commands us to make disciples of people from every nation, from all backgrounds and cultures. We are not simply to seek converts but are to make disciples; we are to bring others to recognise that Jesus Christ is Lord and to teach them how to follow him and live for him. We can only do this as we ourselves live as disciples of the Lord Jesus – as we seek to obey all that he has commanded. Thankfully, we have not been called to do this on our own. Jesus has promised to be with us every step of the way. It is only as he is with us by his Spirit and is working in us to transform us into his likeness that we can be used by him to transform the lives of others. We cannot sell what we do not have.

This is the end of Matthew’s Gospel, but it is far from being the end of the story. Jesus took his followers back to Galilee that they might resume the life of discipleship and take up again the ministry he had thrust them into when he had been with them. It is the beginning of a new phase in the great story of God’s redeeming work – and we are now part of this story.

Risen Saviour, I call you Lord; may this be more than mere words. Help me to live by every word that you have spoken. And by your Spirit, fill me with your resurrection life so that through a life that radiates something of your presence and through words that speak of you, others may acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord and join me in a life of glad discipleship.

Peter Misselbrook