Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Nov 7 2019 - Ezra 2:68-4:5 – Rebuilding the temple

Today's reading gives us an account of how the work of rebuilding the temple began. Those who had returned from exile, carrying with them the money contributed by their Babylonian neighbours, added gifts of their own to fund the work. During the first seven months, those who had returned settled again in their own towns and villages. This would have involved repairs being made to their own homes or even building new homes. It would have involved preparing the land for sowing and harvest so that they could feed themselves again from the land God had given them. At the end of the seven months the people came together in Jerusalem to commence the work of rebuilding the temple.

The first part of the temple to be rebuilt was the altar so that the people could again offer sacrifices to the God of Israel. Their rebellion against God had led to their exile from the land. Now, their sacrifices were an acknowledgement of their sin and of their need of cleansing and forgiveness. Without such sacrifices they felt unable to approach God in worship.

It was another two years before the foundations of the temple were complete. The priests, Levites and people met to celebrate the occasion by singing that the Lord is good; his love towards Israel endures for ever. There were great shouts of celebration from the people but these were mingled with the sound of weeping by the older people who remembered Solomon's temple before it was destroyed. They seem to have doubted that the new temple would be any match for the glory of the former temple (see Haggai 2:3).

This combined sound of loud praise and weeping drew the attention of others who had been living in the area before the Israelites returned. They came to ask Zerubbabel, who seems to have been project manager for the rebuilding, if they could help to build the temple of the Lord. These were not Israelites but foreigners whom the King of Assyria had moved into the land of Judah as part of his policy of breaking up nations by mixing up their peoples. They claimed that they had been sacrificing to Israel's God while the inhabitants of Judah had been in Babylon. Their claims were evidently viewed with suspicion and their desire to help was seriously doubted for Ezra calls them "the enemies of Judah and Benjamin". So their help was refused and, instead of helping, they now set about doing all that they could to hinder the work.

Jesus' death as the Lamb of God is the perfect sacrifice that takes away the sin of the world. His shed blood secures our forgiveness and cleansing and enables us to approach the living God with confidence, knowing that we will not be turned away. His life, death and resurrection is the only foundation for the life of his people. It is upon this foundation that the living God is building his church made of living stones – of men and women who have been freed from sin and given eternal life in Christ. This glorious temple of God's redeemed people in whom and among whom God dwells by his Spirit, is a temple far more glorious than that built by Solomon despite its abundance of gold and precious stones.

We who were once counted enemies of God have not been kept at a distance; we have been reconciled to God in Christ and have been embraced as part of his family. We have now been recruited into the great task of building this temple until every last living stone is put into place with shouts of praise and unmixed rejoicing. The Lord Jesus calls each of his disciples to build with care and to take care that we never do anything to damage this glorious temple or the least of its stones, for every one is precious to God (see 1 Corinthians 3:10-17).

Living God, help me to devote myself to the work of building your kingdom, strengthening and adding to the fellowship of your people. Keep me from discouraging and damaging any of those for whom the Lord Jesus shed his precious blood. May we, your people, reflect your glory as you dwell amongst us in the power of your Spirit, and may many others from every background and nation be drawn to Christ and so join us in this most precious work.

Nov 7 2020 - John 6:22-40 – The bread of life

One of the most remarkable signs that Jesus performed was the feeding of the 5,000. Certainly it made a deep impression on the first disciples for it is one of the few incidents that is recorded in all four of the gospels. One of the details that always amazes me is that after feeding the crowds with five small barley loaves and two fish, the disciples collected up 12 baskets full of the remnants of the feast. There was more food left over than had been available at the beginning!

In John’s Gospel, this remarkable miracle is immediately followed by a section of teaching in which Jesus speaks of himself as the bread of life. The crowds who had been fed came seeking Jesus again on the following day. They were looking for more free food. Jesus tells them not to pursue food that perishes but the food that remains for eternal life; they are to believe in the one that God has sent into the world (John 6:29).

Jesus then draws a parallel between himself and the manna which God provided for the Israelites in the wilderness after he had rescued them from Egypt. Both are bread sent down from heaven by God, but the manna quickly went rotten. Jesus is the bread of life; he not only possesses eternal life, he gives that life to all who believe in him and will raise them up on the last day. He gives resurrection life.

Just as the Israelites in the desert needed to gather manna daily to meet each day’s need, so we need to feed on Christ daily that we may live in him and continually draw our life and strength from him. Fellowship with him is vital to our wellbeing; we need to treasure the words of his mouth more than our daily bread (see Job 23:12). The crowds demanded, “Sir, always give us this bread” (6:34), but they would not feed on him as the bread of life. Their cry should also be our plea; a plea to feed continually on him.

Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts,
Thou fount of life, thou light of men,
From the best bliss that earth imparts,
We turn unfilled to thee again.

Thy truth unchanged hath ever stood;
Thou savest those that on thee call;
To them that seek thee thou art good,
To them that find thee all in all.

We taste thee, O thou living bread,
And long to feast upon thee still;
We drink of thee, the fountainhead,
And thirst our souls from thee to fill.

John makes it clear that the feeding of the 5,000 was intended as a sign. Jesus intended it as a pointer to himself; he is the one who gives life and gives it in abundance. He is not merely adequate for our needs, there is always more, more left over than there was at the beginning! What we have tasted of him is but the first course: the best is yet to come. The fullness of life that we will possess in him when we are raised up on the last day exceeds all present imagination.

Father God, we praise you that you have given us even more wonderful food than the manna – the bread of angels that rained from heaven. Spirit of God, increase my hunger for the Lord Jesus that I may seek him daily, even moment by moment. Lord Jesus, bread of heaven, feed me now and evermore. So may I enjoy life in you now and the fullness of resurrection life in the age to come. Help me to point a hungry world to the bread that truly satisfies that they also may have life.

Peter Misselbrook