Peter Misselbrook's Blog
Feb 16 2019 - Exodus 6:28-7:24 – Water turned into blood

Moses and Aaron again went to see Pharaoh at God's bidding. Moses was 80 years old at the time and Aaron was 83; God does not do retirement.

Aaron threw his staff on the ground before Pharaoh and it became a snake. Pharaoh was not impressed. He summoned his wise men and sorcerers and told them to do the same. Somehow they managed to make their staffs turn into snakes, but Aaron's staff/snake swallowed up theirs. What Pharaoh had intended as a counter-demonstration of his power had become a demonstration that the Lord is mightier than the gods of Egypt.

But this is only the opening skirmish. The real battle now begins.

The following day Moses and Aaron are sent to meet Pharaoh as he goes out to the river. The Lord had told Moses the words Aaron is to say to Pharaoh: "The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert. But until now you have not listened. This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water" (7:16-18). Aaron raised his staff over the waters of the Nile and struck them. The water was changed into blood, the fish in the river died, the water stank and no-one could drink it.

The passage ends with a wonderful touch. The court sorcerers manage to find a little fresh water. Maybe they fetched it from the palace cisterns. Then they changed that also into blood by their own powers. That must really have impressed Pharaoh – they added to the plague rather than bringing relief. They had robbed Pharaoh of the remaining fresh water from which he and his family might have satisfied their thirst.

It should have been clear to Pharaoh from the outset that he is no match for the God of Moses and Aaron – Yahweh, the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God who acts to fulfil his promises. But Pharaoh hardens his heart against the demands of God. He would find some way to get by; he would send out slaves to dig for water.

It is dangerous to harden one's heart against God and resist his purposes. Nor are such dangers confined to those who, like Pharaoh, do not know God. Jonah the prophet was well aware of the character of the God he served and yet sought to resist God's will and run away from God's call upon his life. His disobedience resulted in trouble for him and for those around him, though God was gracious in rescuing both him and them from disaster.

Have we sometimes hardened our hearts against the call of God upon our own lives? How is God speaking to you now through his word and by his Spirit? How are you responding?

Today, if only you would hear his voice,
‘Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah [the place of quarrelling],
    as you did that day at Massah [the place of testing] in the wilderness,
where your ancestors tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did. [Psalm 95:7b-9]

Almighty God, there is no power in all creation that can stand against your power, nor is anyone able to frustrate your purpose to bless those you have planned to save. Your power is gracious power and your grace is powerful grace. Keep me from having a heart that is hardened against you and your good purposes. Help me always to hear what you are saying to me and to respond quickly with a glad and willing heart.

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Feb 16 2020 - Luke 23:44-24:12 – The women who had followed him from Galilee

One of the striking features of today's reading is the role of the women in the story of Jesus' death and resurrection. The male disciples had fled when Jesus was arrested but the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance, watching while he died upon the cross. When the crowds dispersed to their homes, beating their breasts, it was these women who stayed and watched as Joseph of Arimathea took the body from the cross, wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid it in a new tomb which had been prepared for his own death. They noted where the body of Jesus had been placed before going to prepare spices and perfumes to disguise the smell of the body as it began to decay.

Having rested on the Sabbath, it was these same women who arrived at the tomb in the early hours of the morning on the first day of the week wondering how they would roll the stone from the tomb. None of the male disciples came early to the tomb. The women found that the stone had already been rolled away from its entrance. Two gleaming figures greeted them asking, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!" (Luke 24:5). These 'men' reminded the women of the things that Jesus had said while he was with them in Galilee, that "The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again" (24:7). Then the women remembered what Jesus had taught them. So they left the tomb to find the missing men and tell them all that they had seen and heard.

And what of the men? "They did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense" (24:11).

The Gospels are remarkable in the place they give to women as witnesses to the resurrection. They were written in an age when the testimony of women was given little weight. Perhaps for that very reason the women were able to stay in the vicinity of the cross and follow Joseph to the tomb without attracting attention. They were thought of as insignificant, perhaps hardly even noticed.

Their testimony to Jesus was and remains of the greatest significance. When many men still declaim loudly that the Christian message is nonsense, it is often the faithful testimony of women that demonstrates that Jesus Christ is alive and at work in the world. Women have formed the faithful backbone of the Christian community down the years even though their ministry often goes unrecognised.

The Church of England for many years resisted the appointment of women bishops. It seems to me that the episcopal form of church government has reflected peculiarly male concerns for positions of influence and power. Might a fresh appreciation of the spiritual gifting of women lead to different models for leadership within the community of the people of God?

Lord God, we give you thanks for faithful women. For Deborah, without whom Barak would not have defended the people of God; for Esther without whom the Israelites would have suffered genocide; for Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Mary the mother of James who witnessed the empty tomb and told the disciples that Jesus was raised from the dead; for Lydia in Philippi who supported Paul’s ministry and saw a church founded in the city; for Priscilla who was a noted gospel worker and helper of apostles; for many countless women down the years who have loved Jesus and served him faithfully and fruitfully. Help us to value each of your servants and to encourage them in the work you have given them to do.

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Peter Misselbrook