Peter Misselbrook's Blog
Nov 27 2019 - Zechariah 8 – Promise of blessing for Jerusalem

In chapter 7 the Lord had warned his people against falling back into the insincere and half-hearted worship that had provoked the exile; he calls them to undivided devotion to him.

But God's word of warning is now followed by a word of promise. The Lord promises to return to dwell with his people in Jerusalem, "Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City, and the mountain of the Lord Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain" (v. 3). The Lord Almighty will do this because he is "very jealous for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her" (v.2).

We are reminded here that jealousy, at least in the way this term is used in the Bible, is not necessarily a negative term. The Lord is jealous for his people as a husband is jealous concerning his wife; he does not wish to share her with anyone else and is moved to anger when her affections stray towards others. This jealousy is an aspect of the love which wants to embrace and hold the one whom it loves. God's jealousy had turned to wrath when his people turned to other gods and he had sent them off into exile. But his is a faithful love; he cannot let his people go. So he promises to bring them back to their land and to dwell among them once more.

The Lord declares that he is going to bring back his scattered people "from the countries of the east and the west. I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God" (v. 7). So he commands them to get on with rebuilding the temple so that it will be ready for him to move into.

You will remember that Haggai had told the people that because they had neglected to rebuild God's house, they had suffered poor harvests and insecurity in the land. The Lord now repeats the promise made through Haggai that if they will only be diligent in completing the temple he will send them abundant harvests and will pour out his blessings upon them. Nor will these blessings be for them alone:

Just as you, Judah and Israel, have been a curse among the nations, so I will save you, and you will be a blessing. (v. 13)

When they are faithful to the Lord they will also be the source of blessing to the other nations around them – just as God had promised Abraham. The Lord urges his people not to be afraid and promises:

Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come, and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, “Let us go at once to entreat the Lord and seek the Lord Almighty. I myself am going.” And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord Almighty and to entreat him. … In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, “Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you." (vv. 20-23)

These promises point beyond anything that happened in the Old Testament era. They point forward to the Lord Jesus and the kingdom which he is building, a kingdom made up of people from every nation under heaven. They challenge us to be a people whose faithfulness to the Lord our God and to Jesus our Redeemer is only matched and exceeded by his manifest presence with us and his blessing poured out upon us. It challenges us to be a people whose lives attract others not just to us, but to the living God whose presence is seen among us (see 1 Corinthians 14:24-25). How are we living up to this challenge?

Living God, we pray that the power of the risen Lord Jesus and the presence of your Spirit amongst us may be evident even to those who do not yet share our faith in you. May they be drawn to you through us and confess, "God is really among you". May they be drawn to faith in you.

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Nov 27 2020 - John 18:28-19:16 – The King of the Jews

The first thing that drew my attention from this passage was the perverse behaviour of the Jewish authorities. They are deeply concerned about maintaining their own ceremonial purity (John 18:28), while intent upon bringing false charges against Jesus. They are determined to celebrate the Passover while plotting to destroy the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Are we entirely free from such conflicts?

But I want to focus on Pilate. It’s difficult to know what to make of him, whether to despise him or to pity him. He is a pragmatic Roman Governor, trying to keep the peace in a difficult territory among these strange and excitable people, the Jews. He knows that festivals can be times of raised expectations and fervour: the Jews were hoping for a king who would liberate them from the power of Rome. Now Jesus is brought before him by the Jewish leaders. They say that he is claiming to be such a king but they want him put to death.

In response to Pilate’s question Jesus declares, "My kingdom is not of this world" (18:36). This common translation is unfortunate. It has led many to suppose that the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ and the affairs of this world have nothing in common; we should long to be freed from this world and taken off to heaven.

That is not what Jesus is saying here, any more than it is his teaching elsewhere. Jesus is saying that his kingdom is not from this world, it is "from another place" (see the end of v. 36). Jesus' kingdom is heavenly in origin; it is the kingdom of God. But in Jesus, this kingdom is invading the world. God's purpose is to bring all things in heaven and earth under the dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ, for his will to be done on earth even as it is done in heaven. Jesus came from heaven to earth that the kingdom of heaven might fill the earth. And Pilate has been dragged into this invasion plan.

Pilate’s first strategy is to humiliate Jesus. He has him flogged, crowned with thorns and dressed in royal robes. Bloodied and exhausted he is paraded before the Jewish leaders and the accompanying mob with the words, “Behold the man.” Pilate wants them to see that this broken man is a threat neither to Rome nor to the Jews.

But his plan did not work. The crowds continue to scream for his death, telling Pilate that if he were to let Jesus go he would be no friend of Caesar for he will be releasing one who claims to be a rival king. Reluctantly, Pilate agrees to Jesus’ crucifixion, but he has one last card to play. Having failed to solve his problem by humiliating Jesus he now humiliates the Jews who had forced his hand. The sign nailed above Jesus on the cross reads, “Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews.” In effect, Pilate is now saying “Behold your king.”

We are to long for the day when the kingdom of this world shall become the kingdom of our God and of his Christ. And as we long for that day, we are to pray for that day and work for it with all our powers. "What is truth?" asked a world-weary Pilate. We are to show the world what is true and real by walking in the truth and speaking the truth to a world that wonders whether anything dependable, solid and good really exists.

Father in heaven, may your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Help me to live the life of your kingdom in every detail of my daily life. Help me to bring heaven to earth and to display the beauty and glory of your coming kingdom.

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Peter Misselbrook