Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Jan 9 2020 - Luke 4:31-5:11 – That is why I was sent

Jesus had been performing wonderful miracles of healing in Capernaum. First he had driven an unclean spirit out of a possessed man in the synagogue to the astonishment of all who saw it and heard what he said. They were amazed that Jesus’ words were words of authority; he could command evil spirits and they submitted to him. Jesus then healed Simon's mother-in-law of a fever, enabling her to serve him. Then, at nightfall, he had healed many who had been brought to see him – some perhaps brought from a distance now that the Sabbath was over.

In the morning, Jesus left the town for a deserted place where he could think and pray. People came from the town begging him to return and to stay with them, but Jesus replied, "I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent" (Luke 4:43). He will not allow the town of Capernaum to keep him just for their own blessing. His mission is much wider than this and he must be about the Father's business.

Are we sometimes keen to keep Jesus to ourselves? We greatly value the blessings he has brought us and we would dearly like nothing better than to bask in the comfort of them. We want to shut the rest of the world out and to enjoy time alone with Jesus. But Jesus will not permit it. He will not allow us to keep him for ourselves. He has others who must hear of him and others whom he purposes to bless. He is determined to go and get on with the job the Father has given him to do – and he plans that we should join him in the task.

As Jesus taught the crowds who gathered around him on the shore of the lake they pressed forward and would, perhaps, have driven him into the water. But Jesus got into Simon’s boat and taught them seated a few yards out from shore. When he had finished his teaching he told Simon to put out into deeper water and throw out his nets for a catch. Peter had fished all night and caught nothing; it was even less likely he will catch anything during the day. But because it is Jesus who has told him to fish, he does so. And the result is an enormous catch. Peter is amazed and, like the congregation in the synagogue, he realises that this man’s words have supernatural power. Peter, convicted of his own lack of faith, cries out, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8). But Jesus tells him “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people” (5:10).

The first disciples left their fishing to follow Jesus. They would not wait for the day when he would return to their village that he might bless them again. They heard his call to join him in proclaiming the good news of the kingdom to others – they heard his call to become fishers of people – and they followed him. They knew that Jesus’ words carried power and they trusted that, as he had enabled them to fill their nets to breaking point, so he would empower them to draw countless people into his kingdom.

This is why Jesus was sent, and this is why he has called us to follow him. He wants us to be his agents in drawing others into his kingdom. Are we ready to go beyond keeping Jesus to ourselves and to “cast out our nets” and draw others to him?

Lord Jesus, I am so aware of my own weakness and of the many ways in which I fall short of all that I should be; I am a sinful man. Help me to hear afresh your words to me today, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.” Fill me with your Spirit that my life and witness may draw others to you.

Jan 9 2019 - Genesis 6:1-22 – Judgment and grace

A few pages separate Genesis chapters 1 and 6, but what a contrast between the two passages. When God first made the world it reflected his own character and glory. God pronounced it to be good, very good. And on the seventh day God rested in satisfied enjoyment of all that he had made.

But now everything has changed. The earth is filled with violence and wickedness: "And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart" (Genesis 6:6). His spoilt world grieves the heart of God and he determines to do away with it. The God of the Scriptures is a God of passion: passionate love and concern for his creatures and particularly for humankind made in his image, made to share his heart.

And love can hurt. The heart of God is grieved over a world gone wrong. He is not grieved simply because his creation has been spoilt – like a child upset when their sandcastle is trodden on. No, he is grieved at a world that no longer returns his love: the grief of a deserted lover. Nor is his judgment an act of spite; it is, if we could but understand it, an act of kindness in putting an end to a world that has lost its way – putting an end to violence and wickedness.

And here we come across one of the wonderful "but"s of the Bible. God determined to blot out humankind from the face of the earth, "But Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord" (Genesis 6:8). My Hebrew teacher, Alec Motyer, used to say that when we read that "Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord" (KJV), we need to understand that grace found Noah. God's judgment is not utter destruction; in grace he determines to make a new world with Noah as a second Adam.

Noah is to build a great boat that will be the means of saving him, his family and representatives of all the creatures of the earth; they too are to have a new beginning.

Through the coming flood the world will be baptised: it will face judgment and the sentence of death; but out of it the earth will know resurrection – all things are made new, cleansed and recreated.

Noah, we read, "did all that God commanded him" – it's repeated, just in case we missed it the first time (6:22; 7:5). Just imagine if he had not done all that was required – if he had left the ark, this great boat, unfinished, or if he had failed to take the necessary food on board. The world is saved from utter destruction by the grace of God, but it is also through the obedience of this one man.

The passion in the heart of God that moves him to judgment and mercy finds its ultimate focus in the passion of the Christ – his ultimate baptism. This is where grief threatens to tear apart the heart of God and judgment falls on a world gone wrong. Our salvation has been secured through the grace of God and the obedience of one man upon whom God's favour rests – a man who did all that the Father asked of him. The terrible act in which judgment falls upon rebellious humanity is also the means by which we are brought safe to glory. Through the cross of Christ, the Last Adam, the Lord has secured a people for himself, a people recreated in his own image. Here is amazing love, amazing grace.

Lord God, how can I thank you for your saving grace? I praise you for the perfect obedience of my Saviour in whom I am brought through floods and flames into the life of the new creation. Help me to follow him and to live in obedience to all your commandments. Help me to reflect the image of your Son.

Peter Misselbrook