Peter Misselbrook's Blog
Feb 11 2020 - Luke 21:29-22:13 – My words will not pass away

There are few things so unappetising and indigestible as to have to eat your own words. You have made some grand statement of what you will do and, in the end, you fail to do it. You have taken great joy in setting someone right on a particular point only to find out that they were right all along and you were quite wrong. You have been caught out. Your words have been shown to be mere hot air.

Given our propensity to get tripped up by our own words, what kind of person would dare to say, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away”? None but Jesus (Luke 21:33). He can say such things because he is the Word incarnate. He is the one through whom all things were created at the beginning. He is the one by whom all things are sustained. He is the one who can command the wind and waves and they obey him. He is the one who can give sight to the blind, heal the sick and raise the dead by a simple word. He is the one who taught like no other; his words carry weight and authority. His word preceded the formation of heavens and earth and it will outlast this present creation.

Jesus speaks these words to assure the disciples that his kingdom will come. They will soon see him dragged off to trial and crucifixion; but his kingdom will come. They can do nothing to him that he has not foreseen and spoken of often. Indeed, Jesus says, “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees.  As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place” (21:29-32). The very things that they will witness in the next few days will lay the foundation of his kingdom that will never pass away.

Soon they will hear his word of command to take the good news concerning him into all the world and, as they obey, they will face opposition, beatings and death – but his kingdom must come. This small Jewish sect will capture the attention of the Mediterranean world as thousands come to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord – for his kingdom must come. The Gospel will be preached in every nation and people from every race and language will acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord – for his kingdom must come.

And one day, this present heavens and earth will pass away. At the power of his word, the word through which they were created, they will be rolled up and thrown aside to be replaced by a new heavens and a new earth, and every knee shall bow to him and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father – for his kingdom shall come.

There is power in the words of Jesus because there is power in the person of Jesus. He is the word made flesh. His words accomplish his purpose. His declaration of the kingdom gives flesh to the kingdom, it brings it into being, it substantiates the kingdom; “No one ever spoke like this man.”

Living God, I marvel at the words of the Lord Jesus. His words have given me life. Help me to hear his words and to know their continuing power at work in my life. Through the Spirit of the risen Saviour may these words become enfleshed in me and repeated in everything I say and do. So may your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

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Feb 11 2019 - Exodus 2:1-25 – A false start for Moses

Pharaoh was intent on decimating the Israelites and had ordered that every male child born to an Israelite woman should be thrown into the river.

Amram and Jochebed received the gift of a healthy baby boy. Jochebed knew that she could not keep him hidden from the Egyptian terror squads, so she hit upon a plan. She would comply with the letter of Pharaoh's law while doing all she could to preserve the boy's life. She made him a watertight basket of woven reeds and placed him in the river, sending his older sister, Miriam, to watch what would happen.

Pharaoh's daughter, coming to the river to bathe, finds the baby, takes pity on him and decides to keep him. Miriam offers to find someone to nurse the baby who is promptly handed back to his mother, but now with the protection and payment of the royal court. Once the child is weaned, he is handed back to Pharaoh's daughter who names him 'Moses' and brings him up as her own son.

This remarkable story, like that of Joseph, shows that God is at work through even the darkest pages of history to save his people and fulfil his own purposes. The very means that Pharaoh has chosen for the destruction of Israel – throwing baby boys into the river – is the means used of God to preserve the life of the one who will lead Israel out of captivity.

Moses grew up in Pharaoh's household and was educated as an Egyptian prince, but he never forgot that he was an Israelite. One day he decided to go and see how his people were being treated. He saw an Egyptian foreman beating an Israelite slave and in anger he killed the Egyptian. The next day he saw two Israelites fighting. His attempt at mediation was rebuffed with the words, "Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?" 

Moses' hope to relieve the suffering of his people backfired. The news of what Moses had done soon got back to the palace and Pharaoh determined to put him to death. Moses had to flee for his life to the land of Midian.

Through an act of kindness, Moses is received by the family of a priest in Midian. Reuel (also known as Jethro) gives Moses his daughter Zipporah to be his wife and together they have a son whom Moses names Gershom, 'alien', as an expression of the fact that he is now living in a foreign land.

Moses may have made a complete hash of trying to alleviate the suffering of his people. He may think that he has had to abandon them to their fate, but God has other ideas. As the years pass, the Pharaoh who had sought Moses' life dies, but the Israelites continue to be ill-treated slaves in Egypt. Their cries are heard by God who is determined to fulfil his promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He had told Abraham that his descendants would become slaves to another nation but that he would set them free and bring them back to the Promised Land (Genesis 15:13-19). He had told Jacob not to be afraid of going down into Egypt; God would make them into a great nation and would then bring them back to the land he had promised to give them (Genesis 46:2-4). The time of fulfilment is about to arrive.

Father God, help me to learn this clear lesson that I can trust you in all circumstances. You will use even those things that seem to threaten me to accomplish your good purposes. Yet I confess that all too often I make a hash of things when I come up with my own plans and seek to do things in my own way and by my own power. Help me to see that your plans are so much better than mine and that I am powerless compared with you. Enable me to discern your plans and to be used of you in what you are doing in the world rather going my own way.

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Peter Misselbrook