Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Nov 11 2019 - Ezra 6 – Completion of the temple

In our last reading from Ezra, Tattenai, governor of the whole area south of the river Euphrates, had written a letter to Darius, King of Persia, asking for a search to be made in the imperial archives to see whether King Cyrus had said that the Jews who were returning from exile in Babylon had permission to rebuild their temple. In these days of email we may be used to getting speedy replies to our letters, but it must have taken a while for the letter to arrive in Babylon, the archives to be searched and a responding letter to find its way back to Jerusalem. It must have proved an anxious wait for all those eager to see the temple finished.

The search ordered by Darius soon turned up the record of the decree made by Cyrus, and it was clear that Cyrus had not only permitted the temple to be rebuilt but had ordered that the costs should be met from his royal treasury. As Zerubbabel had told Tattenai, Cyrus had also ordered the return of all the articles of gold and silver taken from the temple in Jerusalem and carried off to Babylon. This order was then repeated by Darius who told Tattenai not to interfere with the rebuilding but rather to pay every expense from the royal revenues and from the revenues collected from his region. Moreover, he was to provide them with all that they needed to offer the sacrifices to the Lord demanded by their law. Lastly, Darius commands that anyone who hinders their work should be put to a rather unpleasant death. So we read:

The elders of the Jews continued to build and prosper under the preaching of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah, a descendant of Iddo. They finished building the temple according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus, Darius and Artaxerxes, kings of Persia. (v. 14)

The temple was then dedicated to the worship of the Lord, with the accompaniment of lavish sacrifices (though by no means as many as when Solomon dedicated the first temple).

Now that the temple had been restored, the cycle of annual feasts could be resumed. On the fourteenth day of the first month, the exiles celebrated the Passover. It must have been quite a feast for, as they remembered and celebrated how the Lord had rescued them from slavery in Egypt many years ago, they would have been dramatically aware of the way in which he had now brought them back from exile and restored them to the land he had promised their ancestors.

Nor was it the returning exiles alone who joyfully celebrated this Passover. We read in verse 21, "The Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbours in order to seek the Lord, the God of Israel." Those rebuilding the temple had earlier refused help from their non-Jewish neighbours, being suspicious of their motives. Some of those neighbours have now been so impressed by the zeal of the Jews and their confidence in the Lord their God that they abandoned the idolatrous practices that were common among them to seek the Lord. Their conversion might even have been encouraged by the favour the Jews had been shown by their imperial rulers. Whatever their motives, these seekers were now gladly incorporated into the fellowship of God's people and joined in celebrations of the saving God of Israel acknowledging that, even if their ancestors had not been brought out of slavery in Egypt, they at least had been brought out of slavery to idols to acknowledge and serve the living God.

Father God, we thank you that you are the sovereign God who moves the hearts of unbelieving (or scarce-believing) rulers to do your will. Enable us to know that you are the same God today who will allow no plot or device to defeat your purpose of building your kingdom and bringing glory to your name. May our lives bear joyful witness to your saving goodness and be used to draw others to join the fellowship of your people and own that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Nov 11 2020 - John 7:53-8:20 – Go … and leave your life of sin

John 7:53-8:11 presents us with some interesting issues. The earliest manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not include these verses at all. A few manuscripts include this passage, with some variations, after John 7:36, John 21:25 or even Luke 24:53. Is the passage genuine?

The story has the ring of truth. It reflects the character of the Lord Jesus that we see portrayed elsewhere in the Gospels and contrasts starkly with the strong discipline that developed in the church during the first few centuries – it is unlikely to have been ‘made up’. It may well have circulated as an isolated story of Jesus before eventually being incorporated into John’s Gospel. Let’s see how it fits within John’s message.

John tells us that Jesus came not to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved. This is certainly illustrated in the account of the woman taken in adultery. The Jewish leaders sought to undermine Jesus’ authority with the people by forcing him either to contradict the Law of Moses or to condemn this woman. Jesus responded by saying that someone without sin should throw the first stone at her. At this, all of the accusers slipped away and Jesus was left alone with the woman. None of that crowd had the moral right to condemn the woman: Jesus alone had that right for he was the only one without sin. He refused to condemn her, saying rather that she should go on her way but leave her life of sin (John 8:11).

Jesus’ refusal to condemn does not mean he turns a blind eye to our wrongdoing. On the contrary, Jesus offers costly forgiveness – it took him to the cross. And with the offer of such forgiveness he calls us to live a new life; “Go now and leave your life of sin”.

This theme is picked up in the verses that now follow this story. Jesus speaks of himself as the light of the world – he is the light that shines in the darkness. It’s a light that gives us no place to hide – it shows us up for who and what we are – and yet it does not condemn; Jesus says, “I pass judgment on no one” (8:15). He draws us out of the darkness to walk in the light of his presence.

Jesus says that those who follow him will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life. He reveals something of the light and beauty of the world to come, a world that will be filled with the light of the glory of God and of the Lamb. Something of the character of that world also marks the lives of those who follow him. More than that, it will shine from their lives; they also are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14), for they have the light of life.

To follow Jesus is to walk as he walked. Our lives are to be marked by the compassion that characterised his life; avoiding harsh and quick judgments upon others while never condoning wrongdoing. We need to learn the habits of those who walk in the light of Christ.

Heavenly Father, I bless you for the light that has come into the world in the Lord Jesus. Help me to walk in the light as I follow him. Help me to leave behind all that displeases you, whether obvious wrongdoing like that of the woman taken in adultery, or the smug self-righteousness of the Pharisees. Fill me with the light of the presence of the living Saviour. May his Spirit shine through me to draw others out of darkness into light.

Peter Misselbrook