Peter Misselbrook's Blog
Apr 20 2019 - 1 Samuel 2:12-36 – Eli's family rejected

Eli the priest was responsible for the worship at the Tabernacle but seems to have delegated much of the day-to-day work to his sons whom he expected to succeed him in the work. But his sons, Hophni and Phineas, were intent on serving themselves rather than the Lord – and serving themselves rather than those who came to worship. They took by force the best parts of the animals brought for sacrifice and slept with the women who helped with the work of the Tabernacle. Their conduct seems to have been modelled more on that of the priests of Baal than the Law of God.

Such conduct shows contempt not only for the sacrifices that were being offered to the Lord but contempt for the Lord himself. Remember our readings in the book of Judges relating the history of Israel immediately before this point. Disobedience towards the Lord and compromise over worship brought trouble time and again upon Israel. Did Eli's sons really think that God was like the idol gods of the nations round about? Did they think that he could see nothing and would do nothing, ignoring their disobedience and immorality?

And what of Eli? He rebuked his sons for their wickedness but they took no notice of his words. He was the high priest of Israel, commissioned to serve God on behalf of the people, but he seems to have been a weak man who felt he could do nothing to curb the conduct of his sons except utter ineffective rebukes. Did he really think that Israel would prosper when they took over from him? The whole situation was inviting God, the Holy one of Israel, to take action.

Meanwhile, Samuel "continued to grow in stature and in favour with the LORD and with men" (1 Samuel 2:26. Compare what is written of Jesus in Luke 2:52).

The Lord sent a prophet to Eli to tell him that because of the behaviour of his sons, judgment will fall upon his whole family; "Those who honour me I will honour, but those who despise me will be disdained" (2:30). It is telling that the judgment is pronounced against Eli; he is held responsible for the conduct of his sons. The sign that God will fulfil all that he has spoken will be that Hophni and Phineas will die on the same day.

But God's purpose will not be defeated; his enigmatic promise through his prophet is, "I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his house, and he will minister before my anointed one always" (2:35). This prophecy clearly speaks of Samuel and of Israel's coming king – the Lord's anointed. But it also points beyond them. Ultimately, God's faithful priest and his anointed – his Messiah – are one and the same; Jesus Christ is our faithful and righteous High Priest who offered himself as a sacrifice for our sins and lives for ever to build the house(hold) of God. He is God's anointed King not only over Israel but over all the earth.

Holy Father, even though you have given us a heart to serve you, we recognise that we are often led astray by our own desires and do what we want rather than what you have commanded. Forgive us those times when we have shown contempt for you. Thank you for the perfect obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you that the punishment our sins deserved fell in all its force on him. Thank you that he is our Great High Priest who ever lives to intercede for us. Thank you that he is the Christ, your anointed one, whose kingdom shall increase and never end. Help us by your Spirit so to follow him that we may grow in grace and rejoice in favour before you and before a watching world.

6go6ckt5b8|00005AC6389D|Blog|Body|527F0AF8-EF06-4843-83DC-F75E398640A4

Apr 20 2020 - 1 Corinthians 15:29-58 – Not in vain

We asked yesterday, why anyone would hope for an exhausted body to be raised from the dead? Why hope to return to the kind of life we gladly left behind?

Paul makes it clear that resurrection is not the same as resuscitation. The resurrected body is very different from the body that is left behind at death; it is like Christ’s risen body. “The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Corinthians 15: 42-44). When Paul speaks here of a “spiritual body” he does not mean an immaterial body, any more than the resurrected body of Jesus was immaterial. Paul speaks of a body – a life – entirely and fully animated by the Spirit of God.

It is only when the graves have given up their dead that “death will be swallowed up in victory”. Until that day, death still reigns over the bodies of those whom we have lost and who now “sleep in Jesus.” In that day, when all things are made new, our resurrection bodies shall share in the glory of the new creation.

As Tom Wright puts it in his wonderful book, The Way of the Lord, “At the end of his long argument [in 1 Corinthians 15], Paul does not conclude by saying 'so therefore we can be assured of life after death'. He says, rather, 'be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, since you know that, in the Lord, your labour is not in vain'.”

The resurrection of Jesus Christ not only shapes and guarantees our future, it also directs and empowers present action. We are to live towards resurrection. Through the labour of our minds and hands and voices we are to anticipate the age to come. We are to work to make ourselves now more of what we shall be then – we are to grow in likeness to Christ. We are to work to make the fellowship of God’s people now more as it shall be then – a colony of heaven on earth. We are to work to make society now more as it shall be then – a society marked by justice, peace and mutual blessing. We are to work to make the very fabric of creation now more as it shall be then – resurrection demands creation care. Resurrection brings hope to a groaning world and that hope takes the form of a foretaste of the age to come. What we do now counts for eternity. We do not simply dream dreams of what shall be, we seek to make the vision a reality – even though we know that it cannot be fully what it shall be until he appears.

I have mentioned before the wristband I wear bearing the single word “Risen.” It is a reminder to me that Christ is risen from the dead and that I share already in his resurrection life. It is a reminder to me to live that life in all that I think and say and do. I wear it when I am working. I wear it at home. I wear when I am exercising and even when I am in the shower. I wear it when watching TV or when talking to friends. I wear it while at the computer and when browsing the internet. I wear it at church. I wear it when gardening. I wear it when shopping. I wear it on holiday. I wear it in bed. Every part and aspect of my life is to be lived as one who is raised with Christ, who is to live the resurrection life and is to be an advocate for resurrection.

Risen Lord Jesus, help us to celebrate your resurrection by living resurrection lives. Strengthen us by your Spirit that we may labour to bring more of what shall be into the 'now' of our daily lives, knowing that in you our labour is not in vain.

6go6ckt5b8|00005AC6389D|Blog|Body|474E5955-1C2C-4AD8-87BD-92C68F3F7DFA

Peter Misselbrook