Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Nov 5 2019 - Isaiah 66 – Warning and hope

In his opening chapter, Isaiah brought a word of judgment from "the Holy One of Israel" upon a people who were oppressing one another and riding roughshod over widows and the fatherless and whose rulers were leaders in corruption. The Lord said that he had no time for their worship; when they brought animals for sacrifice into the temple this was a mere "trampling of my courts" (1:12). God hates a show of religion joined to self-centred and ungodly living. It was because of the faithlessness of this people that they were taken off into captivity in Babylon and both the temple and Jerusalem were destroyed.

Now we have come to the last chapter of this great book of prophecy and, having endured many years of exile, the Israelites are looking forward to going home, looking forward to rebuilding the temple and resuming worship in Jerusalem.

But the book ends with words of warning echoing those with which it began. God's people must not become so preoccupied with the outward show of religion that they forget that God calls them to lives of humble and generous obedience.

Concerning the rebuilding of the temple, the Lord says:

Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.
Where is the house you will build for me?
    Where will my resting-place be? (66:1)

These words echo those used by Solomon in his prayer at the dedication of the first temple (see 1 Kings 8:27). Solomon recognised that the living God could not be contained in a house made by human hands. The temple was a symbol of the way in which the Great Creator of all things humbled himself to dwell amongst human beings – a symbol that found its fulfilment in the Lord Jesus Christ. God is not looking for "acts" of worship but for a people who will reflect his own holy character and who will worship him in spirit and in truth:

These are the ones I look on with favour:
    those who are humble and contrite in spirit,
    and who tremble at my word. (66:2)

Those returning to rebuild Jerusalem and its temple need to take this message to heart. A failure to understand these things led to their exile. They need to avoid a repetition of their sins with their return. Levitical worship without a trembling heart is an abomination to God (v. 3).

The Lord promises those who tremble at his word, that though they may be hated and despised by others (v. 5), he will bless them and multiply their numbers in a remarkable way: "I … am about to come and gather the people of all nations and languages, and they will come and see my glory" (v. 18). The Lord will send some of his people as heralds into the surrounding nations, to places where the Lord is not yet known, to "proclaim my glory among the nations" (v. 19). So God's kingdom will reach to the ends of the earth and all the world see and acknowledge the glory of the Lord.

One can readily see how these words of prophecy find their focus and fulfilment in the Lord Jesus, and the apostle Paul seems to have understood his own ministry as a fulfilment of these prophecies (see the echo of Isaiah 66:19 in Romans 15:20-21). But the mission of God in Christ remains incomplete. The Lord is still calling his people to tell the good news of Jesus Christ to those who have not yet heard of him. Will we, like Isaiah, respond by saying, "Here am I. Send me!"?

Father in heaven, we want your kingdom to come and your will to be done on earth as in heaven. Help us by your Spirit to glorify you by lives which reflect the glorious life of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Help us to show and tell the world of him.

Nov 5 2020 - John 5:25-47 – The focus of all the Scriptures

As we read yesterday, Jesus healed an invalid on the Sabbath, enabling him to walk and sending him on his way, carrying his mat. This provoked the anger of the Jewish leaders who accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath. Jesus' response is to tell them that they have failed to understand who he is. He is the Son who does only what his Father has sent him to do. The Father has given him power to give life to the dead and to judge the world. His power to give life has been made visible in a lame man walking. His power to judge will be seen when those who oppose him one day stand before him in judgment.

Jesus has little respect for these Jewish leaders who claim to be experts in the Scriptures but who reject him. They search the Scriptures thinking that if they can only master them and catalogue all their detailed requirements they will have life. But they will not come to him who alone can give life. These Scriptures, says Jesus, all testify of me. If you don’t see that, then all of your studious reading is nothing more than a misreading (John 5:39-40).

It is not that every passage of Scripture is a direct prophecy concerning Jesus – though there are many such prophecies. It is rather that the Bible recounts the gracious promises and purpose of God, and that Jesus is the one in whom this purpose is realised and these promises fulfilled. The many threads that make up the tapestry of Scripture converge upon him. What a tragedy that many of those who claimed to treasure these promises and longed for their fulfilment rejected the one in whom they are fulfilled – the one in whom all the promises of God receive their ‘Yes!’ and ‘Amen!’

The warning Jesus gives to these Jewish leaders reminds us that we also need to learn to read the Scriptures correctly. We need eyes to see the Mission of God that runs through all the pages of Scripture and that finds its focus and fulfilment in the Mission of Jesus. We need to understand the Scriptures by knowing Jesus; not some Jesus of our own concocting but this very Jesus who is brought to us in the gospels.

It is this Jesus who claims that his voice will one day summon the dead from their graves. But he also claims that the transition from death to life does not have to wait until that last day. Those who listen to his teaching and who believe that he truly is the one God has sent to be Saviour of the world – those who trust in him and follow him – have already crossed over from death to life. For them, it is as if the coming Day of Judgment is already history; it’s a done deal.

And not only judgment day but also resurrection day. Jesus has life in himself and gives life to all who come to him. The life of the age to come has broken into our world in him. We who possess life in him become part of God’s big story. We become part of the Mission of God in Jesus as we learn of him, follow him, have life in him and bring that life – life in all its fullness – to a dying world.

Father God, we thank you that all of Scripture finds its focus and fulfilment in Jesus Christ, the word made flesh. We thank you that he is at the centre of your purpose to bring life to a dying world and healing to a broken world. Thank you that the story of Scripture is our story and that you are fulfilling your purposes through us as we are empowered by the Spirit of the risen Saviour. Help us to understand your Word, live your Word and speak your Word that many others may be embraced by your saving purposes in the Lord Jesus.

Peter Misselbrook