Thursday, March 9, 2023

 

Thursday, March 9, 2023


Psalm 22:1-22

Genesis 44:18-34

Luke 13:10-21


Observance: Sister Emma SSA, superior of the Society of the Sacred Advent, Queensland (d. 1939)


“For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”


Shall we take this familiar quote from Jesus and apply it to ourselves? Is the true depth of the words of our Lord in this passage simply in a wise teaching; a true-ism we should be trying to appropriate? I’m certain we all have heard sermons along those lines.


Let us instead look to see how this statement actually reveals the glory of Jesus Christ, beginning with the portion of Psalm 22 we have been given. This Psalm is a direct prophecy about Jesus’ crucifixion: that much is obvious simply from reading about how His clothes have been gambled for (and this is why Jesus quoted the first verse when He hung on the cross). But note the curious line about “bulls of Bashan”. When Jesus was crucified, not only were humans gloating over His apparent defeat, but so were the forces of spiritual darkness. The bulls of Bashan were some of the lesser deities who, after having been given care over different nations on earth, later rebelled against God, following that first rebel, Satan. (Remember the golden calf in Exodus? Or Baal, represented by a cow or bull?)


Earthly authorities thought that they had sorted out the Jesus “problem” by nailing Him to a cross. His spiritual enemies thought they had finally usurped the Lord God Almighty by sending Him to the place of the dead.


In this one sentence, Jesus is telling His listeners how the battle between good and evil will turn out: the rebels, spiritual and material, who reject God’s authority and exalt themselves in God’s place, will be humbled. The only begotten Son, the Word made flesh has – by humbling Himself in the incarnation and then on the cross – been exalted.


With all this in mind, let’s follow the footsteps of our Master, who for our sake, humbled Himself unto death – even death on a cross; and how humbling ourselves for the sake of God’s interests and opinions is how we can bring Him more glory.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Monday, September 12, 2022

  Monday, September 12, 2022 Psalm 33 Habakkuk 1:1-11 Ephesians 1:1-14 In Christ we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. The lectionary has taken us from the beloved disciple to one of the most beloved of Paul's epistles: Ephesians. Paul must have loved this church very much: we get a sense of his fondness for them and their shared sense of purpose and worship just from the introduction. In what is likely just an introduction to a letter in the style of the ancient Roman world, Paul has managed to squeeze in the entire, wondrous story of God's work of redemption. Paul has framed it the way it ought to be framed: in a pastoral, encouraging tone. He has three main points here (remember, Paul proceeds logically to build up an argument, unlike John who circles around his main point). First: God intended to save us before the world was formed. Think back to the first l
Read more

“Short time or long – I pray to God not only you but all who are listening become like I am, except for these chains.”

  Monday, September 11, 2023 Psalms 28; 29 1 Kings 7:51-8:21 Acts 26:19-32 Observance: Deiniol, bishop (d. 384) “ Short time or long – I pray to God not only you but all who are listening become like I am, except for these chains.” The great many blessings of being under the protection of the blood of the Lamb fill our hearts with joy and peace. To have the Almighty Creator of the universe, the One who sits above the flood, filling the temple of our being with the cloud of His presence is what it truly means to be human. Every day is filled with adventure; every night turns to the rest of the victor. Certainly there are chains: sometimes they are physical chains, the suffering of being a Christian among people who do not love the Lord. Sometimes they are spiritual; the attacks of the powers of the air who try to distract us from the One we love. But they always fall away. Our Rock of Ages always frees us; always brings us out of the pit of despair. A won
Read more

Monday, September 19

  Monday, September 19 Psalm 45 Nahum 1:15-2:9 Ephesians 4:17-28 ...be renewed in the spirit of your minds... It is far too easy to read some of these Pauline lists of virtues and vices and feel like we have gone back to the dark days before the Reformation. The idea that if we behave ourselves then we can call ourselves “good people” is pagan, not Christian. Paul feels very strongly about how Christians behave, he “affirms and insists” upon it. But it is because of what has already happened that we should mind our step, not because of where we are going. Christ's resurrection is many things, but one aspect relevant for Paul's teaching this morning is that it demonstrates to us the radical new reality in which we now live. We too have passed (spiritually) from death to life; therefore, we experience a “renewal of our minds”. Instead of treading water until we die, we live lives. Everything now makes sense: God has spoken, so we have logic. God made us in His im
Read more