Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Feb 12 2020 - Luke 22:14-34 – The new covenant in my blood

Our reading this morning focuses on the Last Supper which Jesus ate with his disciples before his betrayal, trial and crucifixion. It was a Passover meal and Jesus had longed to eat it with his disciples. In that meal they would remember together how God had saved their ancestors from slavery in Egypt. He had come down to rescue them; come down in judgment upon the Egyptians. And in that terrible night, they had been saved by the blood of the lamb. The blood of the slaughtered lamb had been painted round their doors and God had passed over them. There was a death in every house in Egypt that night: in the Egyptian households the death of the firstborn; in the Israelite households the death of a lamb.

Jesus took the elements of that Passover meal and showed how they receive a new focus in what he was about to do for them. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is the one through whose shed blood we are kept safe from the wrath of God. He is God come down to set us free. He is the one who calls us to follow him into the inheritance which God has for his people.

And so, in the paradox of this Last Supper, Jesus gives his disciples a simple means of remembering all that he has done for us through eating bread and drinking wine together. The slaughtered lamb has gone, to be replaced by the simple, daily bread. No further sacrifice is necessary; the work is finished. But the bread is to be a continual reminder of his body given for us – given to torment and death. The wine is to be the reminder of his blood poured out for us, that we might be forgiven.

When Jesus took the cup of wine at the end of that Passover meal, Luke records that Jesus said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you" (Luke 22:20). These words are wonderfully rich. Jesus speaks of the new covenant. It is more than a repetition of Passover, Exodus and Sinai for it surpasses all that has gone before. All that had been promised in the pages of the Hebrew Scriptures was now about to be fulfilled. God was about to make a new covenant with his people: a covenant which would never be broken; a covenant marked by the pouring out of his Spirit into the hearts of his people to lead them into obedience to him. All of this is about to be accomplished through the death of the Lord Jesus; through the pouring out of his blood.

A covenant is a solemn and binding agreement. Jesus' death – his shed blood – is the means by which God binds himself to us and by which we are bound to him with an indissoluble bond; it is the blood of the covenant. We who once were far off have been brought near; reconciled to God. We who were once not a people have become the people of God – family.

Thank You, Jesus, thank You, Jesus
Thank You, Lord, for loving me
Thank You, Jesus, thank You, Jesus
Thank You, Lord, for loving me

You went to Calvary
And there You died for me
Thank You, Lord, for loving me
You went to Calvary
And there You died for me
Thank You, Lord, for loving me

You rose up from the grave
To me new life You gave
Thank You, Lord, for loving me
You rose up from the grave
To me new life You gave
Thank You, Lord, for loving me

Feb 12 2019 - Exodus 3:1-22 – The burning bush

Moses had now been a shepherd for 40 years. Perhaps these many years were God's means of preparing him to become leader of his people. No time is wasted with God.

One day Moses' attention was drawn to a bush that was ablaze with fire but was not consumed. As he took a closer look he was stopped in his tracks as God spoke to him from within the bush. The burning bush is a picture of the God's glory – a glory that blazes but does not consume. Moses was told to take his sandals off his feet because the place where he is standing is holy ground – made holy by God's presence. The act is symbolic, Moses stands naked before the living God.

God says that he is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God who is faithful to his promises. He has seen the misery of his people, heard their cries, and his heart is moved at their suffering. He has come down to rescue them from the oppression of the Egyptians and to bring them into the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey. This must have filled Moses' heart with joy, until God adds, "So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt".

"Who am I", asks Moses, "that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" The answer is that he is the one whom God has chosen and prepared and whom God will use to do this task. Nor will he do it on his own; God will be with him in every step of the task. The proof of God's presence will be the success of the task; Moses will lead the people out of Egypt back to this very spot where they will worship God for his deliverance.

Many people think God is far away. Despite all of the injustice, pain and suffering in the world, God remains dispassionate and far off – he does nothing. Nothing could be further from the truth; God sees the suffering of his people, hears their cry and comes down to save. He did it at the time of the Exodus, and he did it supremely in the Lord Jesus Christ, the one in whom God came down to save his people.

Moses asked what he is to say to the leaders of the Israelites when they ask him who this God is who has sent him to rescue them from Egypt; what is this God's name? God declares that his name is "I am who I am" (or, "I will be what I will be"). He gives himself the name Yahweh (traditionally, but incorrectly, transcribed as Jehovah). What does this enigmatic name mean?

God is declaring far more than his self-existent and unchangeable nature. God declares his character in terms of his relationship with his people as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is the God of the covenant; God of the promises. This is his name forever – he is the covenant keeping God. He will be with his people and will fulfil all that he has promised to them. He will bring them out of slavery in Egypt into the land he has promised them. God's revealed name is his declaration that he will be to his people all that he has promised to be.

Yahweh God, faithful God, thank you that you are a covenant making and covenant keeping God. Thank you for the Lord Jesus in whom all your promises find their focus. Thank you that you are a God of compassion who has redeemed us in Christ, setting us free from slavery and making us free to serve you. Thank you that you are not far off but have come to be with us and to bring us into your holy presence. Teach me more of the glory of your grace revealed most fully in the Lord Jesus Christ. Help me also to see that you choose to work through me, weak though I am, to accomplish your purpose to bring blessing to the world.

Peter Misselbrook