Lives that make a difference

One more story to tell - Portraits of Jesus

2008-03-20T23:27:00.002Z

It is not just the words themselves that have so much to say about hope in a despairing world.

What makes the words of the New Testament so powerful is that they arise from real life as real people grapple with what it means to follow Jesus in the real world.

It is not possible to identify who exactly wrote the words of the New Testament. What is apparent, however, that they were people who shared their faith in the life of the church. And they were real people. From a very early time the writings that have been collected in the New Testament have been linked with named people in the communities that made up the very first churches. Tell their stories, get a feel for the lives they lived and the struggles they had and the words of the New Testament start to come alive in sometimes unexpected ways.

These are people of faith, whose faith found its focus in Jesus Christ.

These are people who came together in a love for one another that bound them together in the life of the church, often in spite of the very real differences they had.

These are people who through the faith they professed and the love they shared discovered grounds for hope in an often despairing world.

These are the people behind the New Testament.

These are the ‘lives that make a difference’.

The hope they discovered can make a difference in our lives as we share their faith and seek to build all we do on the love that was so important to them.

There is, however, one more story to tell.

All these lives made a difference because these people recognised that there was one Life that had made all the difference to them and would make all the difference to the world as a whole. That life is the life of Jesus.

Portraits in a Picture Gallery

It is not always that sermons stick in the mind. One series of sermons I listened to has stuck in my mind ever since. It was a series of eight sermons preached in Mansfield College chapel, Oxford by George Caird, Principal of Mansfield and Dean Ireland’s Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture in the University of Oxford.

For a whole year he had been lecturing twice a week on New Testament theology. He brought the New Testament alive in his lectures by inviting us to imagine that we were attending a conference at which the main speakers would be the Apostles.

One would be invited to read a paper. Imaginatively George Caird would then explore a New Testament theme presented, for example, by John. He would then invited other apostolic writers from the New Testament to comment on John’s paper.

In that way he brought to life the community of apostolic writers who were behind the New Testament.

In the sermons that accompanied the lecture series he invited us into a Portrait Gallery. In that gallery were eight quite different portraits. AT first sight they were so different that they appeared to be of different people. Closer examination, however, revealed that they were eight portraits painted by different people of the same person.

Each sermon invited us to stand in front of the portrait painted by that writer of the New Testament.

In the course of eight weeks, George Caird built up a wonderful picture of the One whose Life had made such a difference to the lives behind the New Testament, Jesus.

Portraits of Jesus

As our course comes to an end that’s what I want to try to build up. Each of the writers we have looked at has presented us with a pen-portrait of Jesus. Each portrait is quite different. Yet, taken together the portraits present a wonderful picture of the One whose life can make such a difference to us all.

Peter – hope that’s rocky looks to Jesus, the living stone

In his speeches and in his letters Peter homes in on the cross and resurrection of Jesus. So often things went wrong for Peter. Impetuosity, thinking he knew better than Jesus about
what lay in store, denials, flight, abandonment. Peter had a rocky ride! Yet, each time Jesus gave Peter a new start. Three opportunities to respond to the denials by affirming his love of Jesus. In Peter’s story there is always something more beyond his failure to understand.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead …” 1 Peter 1:3

There is one superb picture of Jesus that meant so much to the one Jesus nick-named ‘the rock’: “Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by people yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifies acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 2:4-5.

Mark – down to earth hope looks to Jesus the man alongside us

In Mark, do we touch Peter’s reminiscences of the life of Jesus? Was he the one who ran away naked into the night in the Garden of Gethsemane? Was he the one in whose house the followers of Jesus meet to pray? Was he the one who let Paul down but was given a second chance in his missionary travels?

In Mark’s Gospel Jesus is a man of action. Few parables are included by Mark outside of Chapter 4. There is a breath-taking pace to the unfolding story of Jesus from the very beginning with that day in the life of the Jesus where the words ‘and’ and ‘immediately’ are so important!

A passion narrative with a prologue, the cross in Mark’s gospel is very much a gibbet. The place of the skull is very much the place of abandonment where Jesus touches humanity at its lowest point and cries out … ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Mark 15:34

Resurrection is hinted at … but it is left for us to live out that resurrection in our own lives as Jesus becomes real for us. For this is but ‘the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God’. Mark 1.1

James – hope through actions looks to Jesus the greatest example of all

James had little time for his brother Jesus during his life time. But his resurrection made all the difference. It was not long before he became a leader of the church in Jerusalem. What counted in Jesus for him more than anything else was putting the teaching into practice.

It’s no good having faith unless you put your faith into action. “Faith, by itself, if it has no works is dead.” James 2:17.

James echoes the sermon on the mount and takes seriously the challenge of Jesus at the end. Jesus said, “Everyone who hears these words of mine and acrts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.”

Indeed the wise man of the Old Testament who had built a house for God on the rock was Solomon. Now the presence of God was located not in a geographical location in Jersusalem but wherever people heard those words of Jesus and put them into practice.

This was the essence of it for James, the brother of Jesus. Put your faith into action and you let the presence of Jesus loose in the world.

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” James 1:27.

Hebrews – the way to hope looks to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of faith

The letter to the Hebrews is written to followers of Jesus whose roots are in Judaism, or for Christians who want to make sense of the Jewish roots of Jesus in the Hebrew Scriptures. He explores some of the great themes of the Hebrew Scriptures: God, priesthood, the temple, faith. And he finds the focus of all of those themes in Jesus.

Jesus is the great High Priest … but “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15

That’s the point for the writer to the Hebrews! Jesus is just like us! That’s what makes us able to relate to him so closely. If that’s the case we need to do something about it … “Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16.

Jesus is the one who has opened up a new way into the very presence of God … and it is away all of us can follow!

“since we have confidence to enter [the very presence of God] … by the new and living way … let us approach with faith, hold fast to our hope, and provoke one another to love.” Hebrews 10: 19-25.

Jesus is ‘the pioneer’ who has blazed a way into the presence of God. We can ‘run the race that is set before us … looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2.

Matthew – a handbook of hope for would-be disciples looks to Jesus the Teacher who is yet more than a Teacher who knows temptation and triumphs over it

Knowing the difference Jesus had made to him, a tax-collector, Matthew was all too aware of the way of life that Jesus mapped out for his followers to take. He brought together the teaching of Jesus outlining

what it takes to ‘live under God’s rule’ in the sermon on the mount (5-7),
the missionary challenge to ‘take God’s rule into the world’ (10),
what this ‘rule of God’ is like (13)
what it takes to live by this rule in the church (18)
what it takes to live under God’s rule to the very end (23-25)

Jesus is the Teacher who teaches with authority. “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times … but I say to you …” Matthew 5. This is the teaching that the followers of Jesus are to hand on as they ‘teach people to obey all that Jesus has commanded them (Matthew 28:18-20)

He is the teacher who is more than a teacher, who yet knows what it is like to be tempted.

The cross in Matthew is more than a place of execution. It is the place of the final temptation. “If you are the son of God …” had not only been the temptation Jesus faced at the start of the ministry (Matthew 4:1-11), it was also the temptation Jesus faced on the cross from ‘those who passed by’ from ‘the chief priests, the scribes and the elders’ and from the bandits crucified with him (Matthew 27:38-44)

It is for Matthew at the moment of his death that the ‘new and living way’ of Hebrews is opened up by Jesus. The one tempted as we are, resists temptation to the end, and gains access for us to the glory of God.

Paul – hope through suffering, hope for a better world looks to Jesus as Lord and Saviour

It was in meeting the risen Christ that Saul of Tarsus found new life for himself. That new life was nothing less than a new creation for him. A Jew and a Roman citizen his roots were firmly in Judaism and in the Gentile world of the Roman Empire.

What counted for him was that all who follow in the footsteps of Jesus were ‘in Christ Jesus’. Jesus shares with us in our sufferings and enables us to share with him in his glory. “In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith active in love.”

He was convinced that ‘nothing in all creation could separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8: 37-39.

He was convinced, “Jesus is Lord” and we are ‘the body of Christ’. That means that all distinctions disappear: “there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

More than a theory – that’s something Paul expects the churches and individuals to whom he writes to take to heart.

It is the God who said, Let light shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6

Luke – a healing hope looks to Jesus, Forgiver

Travelling companion of Paul, the beloved physician, Luke very much takes this picture of Jesus to heart.

Jesus is very much the healer who not only heals people who are sick but also heals people’s relationships too.

The cross is for Luke a place of healing where relationships are restored.

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34

John – Hope through Love looks to Jesus the Word of God, the Son of Man who means so much to us all

Word of God, Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, Teacher (Rabbi), Christ (Messiah) the one about whom Moses in the Law and whom the Prophets also wrote about, Son of God, King of Israel, Son of Man. By the end of chapter 1 there can be very little doubt that in the presence of Jesus we are in the presence of someone who is one of us and yet one with God – with his feet firmly on the ground but his head in the glory of heaven!

The great I AM is the bread of life, the light of the world, the one who bears witness concerning himself, the one from above, the gate, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way, the truth and the life, the true vine.

In Jesus we touch God, the God who is love (1 John 4:16), the God ‘who so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

That love is seen supremely on the cross where Jesus sees his mother and the beloved disciple, “Woman, here is your son.” “Here is your mother.” John 19:26-27. The cross for John is the place where Jesus’ humanity is seen, “I am thirsty” John 19:28, and where all is brought to its conclusion and all is accomplished as Jesus says, “It is finished” John 19:30.

This is the hour at which ‘The Son of Man’ is glorified (John 12:23 see also John 1:51)

Revelation – hope against hope looks to Jesus the first and the last

In the face of all adversity, John the divine, is sure that Jesus will never let any of us go. He is the One who is there at the beginning. He is the One who is there to the very end. He is the One who says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega” the One “who is, and who who as and who is to come. Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

We can be sure therefore, that whatever the end, and whenever it should come, God is with us in Jesus Christ. He will usher in a new heaven and a new earth, he will wipe every tear from our eyes. Death will be no more for the first things have passed away! Revelation 21:4.

Another John - Hope against Hope - The Book of Revelation

2008-03-09T19:56:00.003Z

It’s very easy to hope when everything is going well.But when everything goes pear-shaped what do you do then? Who do you turn to? Where can you go? One place people go to is the Bible.Surprising as it may seem it’s a book about people who as often as not struggled with hope.

Lives that make a difference

Peter let Jesus down so much; yet Jesus never stopped showing him his love and so he found hope.

Mark ran away in the garden, fell out with Paul and yet kept at it. Paul made things up, he was able to serve Peter: his hope was in a very down to earth Jesus, whose actions spoke louder than his words.

James couldn’t see what others saw in his brother Jesus … until the resurrection. It was in the risen Christ he found a very real hope that simply had to be put into action.

That anonymous writer to the Hebrews grappled with the Hebrew Scriptures and felt sure that Jesus had opened up a way to hope that anyone could follow.

Matthew felt the key to hope lay in the teaching of Jesus and he provided would-be disciples with what amounted to a handbook of hope.

It was in his encounter with the risen Christ that Paul found hope and that sense of hope grew stronger through all the sufferings he experienced. He had

He shared that sense of hope with Luke: it was the healing Jesus brought into the lives of hurting people that gave him grounds for hope.

There was something special for John in the presence of Christ and the love he embodied, a love that was of the very essence of God; that was the basis for hope in his experience.

We have sensed the way in which the books of the New Testaement have emerged from the life of the early church. The people behind the New Testament lived troubled lives and grappled with their faith. Through that struggle they discovered the reality of hope.

In their lives they faced immense pressures from what could be a very hostile world. That hostility erupted into outright persecution on many occasions.

We can be conscious of the hostility of the world around us to the faith we hold dear. That hostility can express itself in the apathy we are very conscious of in our own society. It can express itself in the persecution that we see only too frequently in the Middle East, in some parts of Africa, and in the Far East and China.

How can you retain your faith in the face of such hostility? How can you love when everything seems to be falling apart? What are the grounds for any kind of hope?

Grounds for Hope in a Hostile World – Revelation

The earliest Christian communities faced hostility … from the persecution of the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem at the very outset to the Neronian persecution in Rome and beyond, followers of Jesus Christ had to come to terms with the hostility of a world which could be harshly antagonistic to the way of Jesus Christ. One New Testament book was written in the face of that hostility, to shake those who belonged to the Christian community out of their lethargy and to give them heart and strength to face the difficult times they were experiencing.

It is the one book to have been given a very precise date less than a hundred years after it was reputedly written. Irenaeus, himself from Asia Minor and the friend of a friend of the John who wrote Revelation, says quite categorically that it was written during the persecution of Christians instigated by Domitian in about AD 95. There have been moments when critics have suggested a much later date, but for the most part, most introductions to the New Testament will date Revelation to the final decade of the first Century.

In his under-valued but fascinating exercise in historical detective work, J.A.T.Robinson argues very persuasively for a much earlier date during the Neronian persecution of the mid ‘60’s. The opening and the closing of the Book of Revelation make it clear that it is written from a particular situation of hardship by one who is exiled in Patmos - the seven letters to the churches of Asia Minor reflect knowledge of the particular circumstances, geographical location and customs of those different churches. Whether the letters are for the specific churches, or whether the book of Revelation is aimed at that group of churches, or whether the sevenfold churches are symbolic of the whole church wherever it faces difficulty and hostility, is difficult to be sure about. What is clear is the way in which the whole book provides a means of responding to hostility by the re-discovery of hope. The response is threefold …

· people belonging to a Christian community facing hostility need to strengthen their faith and be true to their calling as Christian people. The seven letters range over the whole spectrum of encouragement and challenge … taken together they are a call to Christian service and commitment in the face of hostility and complacency.

· people belonging to a Christian community need to look continually to the One who is head of the Church, to Jesus Christ. The Book of Revelation is a statement of a remarkable vision of Jesus Christ - as the book opens and as it unfolds the majesty of Jesus, his triumph over all manner of evil, and his ultimate glory provides people facing hostility with the surest possible grounds of hope.

· people belonging to a Christian community facing hostility need to feel sure of the presence of God in the present and the continuing presence of God with them in the future too … the completeness of God’s triumph over all that is evil is conveyed in visionary writing that defies precise understanding yet communicates the wonder of a faith that can withstand the horrors of a hostile world.

Interpreting Revelation

That John was writing to a specific situation is clear. That that specific situation is no longer apparent is also clear. That has led some to see the Book of Revelation as a literal prediction of events in the future; others have reacted against such a crude literalism to see it as essentially symbolic. Since the Twelfth Century writer, Joachim of Fiore, people have sought to interpret the whole sweep of history in the light of the Book of Revelation. “At various times people have seen Revelation as a veiled history of the world or of the church, placing themselves at the penultimate moment and identifying beast and harlot with current bogeys, whether emperor or pope, church or sect.” John Sweet in the Oxford Companion to the Bible concludes that “it is now clear that John wrote for a past situation and that to look for literal fulfilments in the events of our day is misguided.”
There have been almost as many interpretations of Revelation as there have been interpreters … in one sense this makes the book daunting. And it is no small surprise that even some of the greatest commentators like John Calvin have fought shy of tackling it!

An older generation of commentators doubted whether John’s claim to be a visionary could really be taken seriously. They believed that … apocalyptic was an artificial and purely literary affair …. Visions would not spontaneously arrange themselves in elaborately balanced groups of seven, nor would angelic choirs quote extensively from the Old Testament. In any case, many of the things John claims to have seen … are incapable of being visualised…. These objections will appear less impressive to a generation which has accepted surrealist art and has become familiar with the kaleidoscopic quality of dream imagery. G.B.Caird in his commentary on Revelation.

John Sweet notices a variety of structural patterns that have been discerned in the book … influenced by astrology, numerology, the world of drama (noticing that each of the seven cities had its theatre), the world of liturgy. He suggests, however, a structure that is determined by the text itself. “The clearest structural element is the four series of seven (letters, seals, trumpets, bowls). The background for this structure is the apocalyptic discourse of Jesus on the Mount of Olives (Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21,) of which John’s apocalypse may be seen as updating.

1-3 Seven letters warning against deception and lawlessness
Matthew 24:4,5,9-12

4-7 Seven seals on a heavenly scroll, opened by the Lamb
6 War, famine, plague
7 God’s servants sealed, 144,000
Matthew 24:6-8
birthpangs of a new age

8-14 Seven trumpets of warning
8-9 Disasters modelled on the plagues of Egypt
10-11 Counterpoint of witness - the little scroll
12-13 Victory in Heaven, disaster for earth - Antichrist and false prophets
14 144,000 over against worshippers of the beast. Judgement

Exodus 7-11
Matthew 24:15-24

15-22 Seven bowls of God’s final wrath
16 Disasters for the beast’s worshippers and city
17-18 Destruction of the whore - Babylon
19-20 Coming of Christ, the millennium, and the last judgment
21 Descent of the bride, New Jerusalem, in counterpoint with the fall of Babylon
22 The river of the water of life and the leaves of the tree for the healing of the nations

Exodus 7-11 again
Matthew 24:27-31
Genesis 1-3

A Christ-centred Reading of Revelation

One of the great insights of the Reformers in their interpretation of the Scriptures was the value of seeing Jesus Christ at the centre of the Scriptures. Not for them, however, an easy approach to the book of Revelation. Their fondness for the literal, historical interpretation of the Scriptures made it difficult to interpret Revelation. None the less, their emphasis on the centrality of Christ is perhaps a useful key to a reading of Revelation.

The opening words give the book its traditional title: “The revelation of Jesus Christ” - this Jesus is one who is filled with the glory of God and awesome (1:12-17) … yet at the same time he has a gentleness in his love for all people which allays all fear.

Jesus Christ who was dead but is now alive has the key to life itself - he can unlock its mystery, open its secret and enable those who follow him to have life themselves. (1:18-20) And he speaks to Church communities words of challenge, words of comfort and words of encouragement.

The completeness of God’s Spirit reaches out to the whole spectrum of church communities - it is a sevenfold Spirit for the seven churches - a comprehensive Spirit for the whole Church. The letters to the seven churches in 2 and 3 clearly reflect the situation of each of the churches - local knowledge leaps off the page. They range over the need of all churches - and they bring the word of Christ close to the heart of the churches.

We began our course seeing the way in which the Church community came into being in a particular place, in Jerusalem, and how the leaders of the church there had a message to proclaim which centred on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Here the Word of Christ is declared to the Churches and is no less powerful.
Don’t imagine that you have to understand every last detail of the visions that follow. Such a task would be impossible. The point of the writing is that the visions give a glimpse of a God whose glory is beyond all we can understand.

The vision opens in chapter 4 with a glimpse of the Glory of God … not so much a glimpse of the hereafter, more a glimpse of God as he really is. And that is not possible to describe - try painting an emerald rainbow! It’s a contradiction in terms! Here we sense the glory, and it is a remarkable glory.

Having caught a glimpse of the glory, John in his vision longs to see the meaning of it all … and there is a scroll which contains the secret to the universe, to life and to everything else (!). But there is no one there to open it. What tears John sheds at that realisation! They are tears that anyone who has struggled with the complexities of life will appreciate.

Then comes that wonderful message, that indeed the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David has conquered and is now able to open the scroll and reveal the secret.

He looks and what does he see? Not the mightiest of beasts, but the gentlest, a Lamb standing as if it had been slain - yet this is the one who is able to hand over the scroll and to open its seals. What rejoicing there is as the tears of despair become the cries of triumph!

The imagery is poetry at its most imaginative - filled with imagery that defies precise definition. This is the kind of writing that inspired C.S.Lewis to create a whole world for the Lion to live in, a Lion which at unexpected moments could become a lamb. Indeed one way to approach Revelation and appreciate the power of its imagery is to go through the door of the Wardrobe and enter into the Land of Narnia once more.

Always winter and never Christmas!

Aslan stood in the centre of a crowd of creatures who had grouped themselves round him in the shape of a half-moon.…. People who have not been in Narnia sometimes think that a thing cannot be good and terrible at the same time. If the children had ever thought so, they were cured of it now. For when they tried to look at Aslan’s face they just caught a glimpse of the golden mane and the great, royal, solemn, overwhelming eyes; and then they found they couldn’t look at him and went all trembly.

I expect you have seen someone put a lighted match to a bit of newspaper which is propped up in a grate against an unlit fire. And for a second nothing seems to have happened; and then you notice a tiny streak of flame creeping along the edge of the newspaper. It was like that now. For a second after Aslan had breathed upon him the stone lion looked just the same. Then a tiny streak of gold began to run along his white marble back - then it spread - then the colour seemed to lick all over him as the flame licks all over a bit of paper - then while his hindquarters were still obviously stone, the lion shook his mane and all the heavy, stone folds rippled into living hair.

As they went on they got the strangest impression that here at last the sky did really come down and join the earth - a blue wall, very bright, but real and solid: more like glass than anything else…. But between them and the foot of the sky there was something so white on the green grass that even with their eagles’ eyes they could hardly look at it They came on and saw that it was a Lamb.

“Come and have breakfast,” said the Lamb in its sweet milky voice.

Then they noticed for the first time that there was a fire lit on the grass and fish roasting on It. They sat down and ate the fish, hungry now for the first time for many days. And it was the most delicious food they had ever tasted.

“Please, Lamb, said Lucy, “is this the way to Aslan’s country?”

“Not for you,” said the Lamb. “For you the door into Aslan’s country is from your own world….There is a way into my country from all the worlds,” said the Lamb; but as he spoke his snowy white flushed into tawny gold and his size changed and he was Aslan himself, towering above them and scattering light from his mane.

C.S.Lewis, the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Here in Revelation we meet with the reality of a living Christ who has overcome death and opened up a way to understanding the world which takes seriously the victory of God over all manner of evil.

The visions continue, confronting the evils of the world until they reach their climax in chapters 21 and 22 with the vision of a new heaven and a new earth. Christ comes not just to bring individual salvation to individual believers, but also to transform and renew the whole world, the whole of God’s creation. Such is the community of people who belong to Jesus Christ, this ‘new Jerusalem’ that it reaches out into all the corners of the earth and draws people of all nations in.

There is no temple in this city. For now the presence of God is not located in a particular place but let loose in the new heaven and the new earth.

The water of life that courses through that community of God’s people is what sustains the tree of life as it bears fruit and as its leaves are for the healing of the nations.

Just as the water flows through the city of God, so too we need to allow the imagery of Revelation to flow over us, and bring us back time and time again to the one who is
at the heart of our faith, Jesus Christ himself. What an invitation it is to come to Christ and to discover life itself. “Let everyone who hears say, ‘Come’. And let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.”

One Life that makes a Difference

On our journey through the New Testament we have seen the way in which particular communities of the people of Christ have come into being and discovered themselves to be the People of God. They have shared the message of the faith and it has come alive in many different ways in many different communities. We have seen the Jewishness of the roots of the Christian faith, and we have visited the Gentile soil where the faith came to life and grew. Jewishness and Gentileness come together in Christ and in a Christian faith which binds the followers of Jesus into the people of God. It is one message, one Christ that is proclaimed at the heart of the whole New Testament. And that is the message and the Christ who is right at the very heart of the Book of Revelation. There is an urgency and an immediacy about the message the writer of that book leaves with us - and it is one that brings us back to Christ himself and to the reality of God with us that gives us grounds for hope in a world of hostility.

Another John – Hope against Hope – the Book of Revelation

Grace and Peace is what it’s all about.

From the One who is and was and is to come, from the all-ranging, all complete unseen power, the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ. He will open up the fullest picture possible of God. His resurrection has opened up a whole new world of possibilities for us all. He is the ruler of the kings of the earth. He loves us, he frees us, he wipes away our sins ... And he enables us to reign with God in heaven. One of us, he is greater than all of us, towering over the mists of time. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.

His message is for churches right across the spectrum from the weakest to the strongest, via the lukewarm on the way. But beware! Better to be hot or cold than to be lukewarm!

There must be a secret to the meaning of life in this troubled world of ours. If only we could find the secret.

There is one who has found the secret, and has given his life for it.

More than that, he gives life in all its fullness to all who come to him and through him discover the secret.

At that moment when all seemed lost and the one so many had thought to be a Lion of a King turned out to be no more than a lamb, a lamb that was slain, at that moment all heaven broke out in endless praise. Here was one who was worthy to receive glory and honour and power.

It is through the sacrifice of a life given freely and the subsequent victory over death and all the powers of evil that a new life opens up for all of us to share. It is a new life that only becomes apparent after a great deal of struggle, not least against the powers of this age and its darkness.
But the victory is assured. Grasp the secret of this immense and mysterious act of love and we too can share in that remarkable victory.

We can look to a new heaven and a new earth where there will be no more pain, no more suffering, no more tears, no more mourning. It’s not just that we shall share life in all its fullness at some time in the distant future. As we know for sure that we are heading for the fulfillment of life in all its glory we can live that life out to the full here and now.

Think of that life as a river ... the river of the water of life flowing out into the world. And each side of the river a remarkable tree that bears fruit all the year round. And then picture if you can the leaves of the tree. When you realise those leaves are for the healing of the nations ... Then you will have begun to grasp that secret we all long to know, the secret of life itself.

Look to the Lion that is King and see the Lamb that was slain, and know the victory is assured, life in all its fullness is for you to share. That life is not just for your own good: it is for the good of others. Once we know the secret then we have a task to devote the whole of our life to. The task is hiding in the leaves of the tree. In anticipation of the life to come, our task is here and now to bring healing into a hurting world. For the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

A Note to Accompany our Quick Read of Revelation

Revelation is arguably the most difficult book of the Bible. Agonise over every last detail in a search for its precise meaning and you will miss the point. Revel in the mystery of its imagery of the Lion that becomes a Lamb, of the victory over all evil that is ultimately ours to share, and you will be on the way towards getting the message! Look again at the Minister’s Memo: one way to get the hang of Revelation is to read the Narnia Chronicles at the same time. Why not give it a go? An even better way, is to take seriously its challenge. At a Church Meeting a few years ago we re-created the Tree of Life of Revelation 22 and invited everyone to think of the leaves that are for the healing of the nations. Think of Highbury as one trunk among many of the Tree of Life. The branches of our tree are our work of mission. And the leaves represent the specific things we do to bring healing into our hurting world.

John - hope through love

2008-03-05T21:25:00.002Z

Behind the New Testament are people whose lives connect with each other in the most wonderful of ways. The books that make up the New Testament spring from the life of the very first community of Christian people. They didn’t have an easy time of it. They faced all sorts of questions. They experienced all sorts of conflict. But through it all they were people of Hope.

Peter’s hope may have been rocky at times …but he held on to it and passed it on through his preaching, his letters and the reminiscences he shared with Mark. What a down-to-earth hope Mark had. He knew how much Jesus was a man of action. Jesus’ brother, James, found it difficult at first to take Jesus’ teaching to heart: but something changed all that as the risen Christ became a reality in his life. Leading the church family in Jerusalem he was convinced that hope comes through actions as Christian people put their faith into action.

Faith, hope and love underpinned the experience of the writer of the letter to the Hebrews as he affirmed the Jewishness of the roots of the Christian faith and mapped out the way to hope. Maybe coming from the same Christian community in Antioch where the followers of Jesus first came to be called ‘Christians’, Matthew brought together all the teaching of Jesus in a hand-book of hope for would be disciples.

Paul it was who bridged the Jewish and the non-Jewish worlds. A Jew who had studied at the feet of Gamaliel, he was at the same time a Roman Citizen by birth. His Jewishness and his ‘Roman-ness’ placed him in a good position to share a Christian hope even through the suffering he knew only too well.

He passed on that tremendous commitment to faith, hope and love to his travelling companion, the doctor Luke who in Gospel and Acts shared a healing hope that would make a difference to people individually and collectively too.

Writing from prison Paul shared his hope for a better world, continually coming back to the challenge for Christian people to live by love.

That’s the love that underpinned the writings of another of apostles.

The Disciple Jesus Loved

It is in John’s Gospel that the one who appears to be the youngest of the twelve apostles plays a particularly significant role. He is linked with Peter and over the years has been identified with John, the son of Zebedee.

As Jesus shared the last supper with his closest friends they were troubled when Jesus began to speak of one who would betray him.

21 After Jesus had said this, he was deeply troubled and declared openly, “I am telling you the truth: one of you is going to betray me.”
22 The disciples looked at one another, completely puzzled about whom he meant. 23 One of the disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was sitting next to Jesus. 24 Simon Peter motioned to him and said, “Ask him whom he is talking about.”
25 So that disciple moved closer to Jesus' side and asked, “Who is it, Lord?” (John 13:22-25)

Later that night when Jesus is arrested it is John’s gospel that informs us that Simon Peter and another disciple followed the captured Jesus to Annas, the High Priest. John explains a connection this other disciple had with the High Priest …

15 Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. That other disciple was well known to the High Priest, so he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the High Priest's house, 16 while Peter stayed outside by the gate. Then the other disciple went back out, spoke to the girl at the gate, and brought Peter inside. (John 18:15-16)

Some have called in question whether John, the Son of Zebedee, could have been known to the High Priest, others have pointed out that Zebedee seems to have been a person of some standing: indeed John’s mother is very anxious about issues of status for her sons. (Matthew 20:20-28). It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that John was well known to the High Priest.

Everyone else may have deserted Jesus at the cross. But not this disciple. It is in John’s Gospel alone that we hear Jesus bringing together the disciple he loved and his mother:

25 Standing close to Jesus' cross were his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there; so he said to his mother, “He is your son.” (John 19:25-26)

On the day of resurrection when Mary Magdalene fears that the body of Jesus has been taken from the tomb it is to Simon Peter and the disciple Jesus loved that she goes with a message that prompts them to race to the tomb. It is the disciple Jesus loved who reaches the tomb first …

1 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been taken away from the entrance. 2 She went running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!”
3 Then Peter and the other disciple went to the tomb. 4 The two of them were running, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and saw the linen wrappings, but he did not go in. (John 20:1-5)

It is some time later that the apostles have returned to Galilee and have spent the night fishing to no avail. A stranger on the shore suggests they try one more time. It is the disciple Jesus loved who recognises the stranger …

The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Peter heard that it was the Lord, he wrapped his outer garment round him (for he had taken his clothes off) and jumped into the water. John 20:7

After a meal of bread and fish, cooked by Jesus on a charcoal fire, Jesus has a remarkable conversation with Peter during which he asks him three times, ‘Do you love me?’. The conversation over, Peter turns round … his eye falls on the disciple Jesus loved.

Peter turned round and saw behind him that other disciple, whom Jesus loved — the one who had leaned close to Jesus at the meal and had asked, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”
21 When Peter saw him, he asked Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”
22 Jesus answered him, “If I want him to live until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!”
23 So a report spread among the followers of Jesus that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he said, “If I want him to live until I come, what is that to you?” (John 21:20-23)

Who could this disciple be?

He tells us in the next verse.

24 He is the disciple who spoke of these things, the one who also wrote them down; and we know that what he said is true. (John 21:24)

What a climax to the story John tells!

Then comes an almost wistful comment he makes at the very end of his Gospel.

Now, there are many other things that Jesus did. If they were all written down one by one, I suppose that the whole world could not hold the books that would be written. (John 21:25)

What is the Purpose of John’s Gospel?

John is quite clear about the purpose of his Gospel. It is written, not just to tell the story of Jesus, but to bring people to faith in Jesus, to change people’s lives, to give people the life that Jesus alone can give.

30 In his disciples' presence Jesus performed many other miracles which are not written down in this book. 31 But these have been written in order that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through your faith in him you may have life. (John 20:30-31)

What is John’s Gospel like?

Written in the simplest language, it is filled with the most profound thinking. Anyone starting to learn New Testament Greek will begin with John’s Gospel. Anyone wishing to explore the depths of the very essence of Jesus Christ must build up to John’s Gospel and maybe give him the last word.

How does it relate to the other three Gospels?

Very little of John’s Gospel appears in the other three gospels and there are not the same parallel passages at all. The other three can be looked at side by side and so have come to be known as ‘the Synoptic Gospels’. John is quite different.

At first sight it can seem to be very ‘Greek’. The opening words of the Gospel have the feel of Greek philosophising …

1 In the beginning the Word already existed; the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 From the very beginning the Word was with God. 3 Through him God made all things; not one thing in all creation was made without him. 4 The Word was the source of life, and this life brought light to humanity. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out. (John 1:1-5)

Look more closely and you will find that John’s gospel is shot through with Jewish thinking as well. Indeed, talk of the Word of God at the very beginning with God in the creation is an echo of thinking about the Wisdom of God in Proverbs 8 and in the Wisdom of Jesus Ben Sirach, Ecclesiasticus.

Maybe it’s no coincidence that the parts of the Old Testament that seem to underlie John’s Gospel are in the Writings and the Apocrypha and have to do with ‘Wisdom’. These come into their own in the period when Jewish people are mixing with the Greek world of thought as well.

John has roots in the Jewishness of the Hebrew Scriptures and in the Greek world too.

It is not inappropriate to arrive at John’s Gospel after reading through Paul’s letters.

History or Philosophy?

Jesus is portrayed quite differently in John’s Gospel from the other three Gospels, and yet he is recognisably the same person. Only the feeding of the 5000 occurs in all four Gospels, and yet read it in John 6 and you will find it has quite a different feel. Following on from the miracle, called by John ‘a sign’, Jesus goes on to teach the disciples at great length about the ‘significance’ of the bread of life. There are overtones and echoes of the Last Supper.

Only seven incidents are recorded in John’s Gospel: each one seems to be accompanied by teaching from Jesus that has quite a different feel to it from the much more practical teaching you encounter in the other three Gospels. Here Jesus is portrayed in very reflective, almost philosophical mode.

The other three Gospels lead up to Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem in the last week of his life. Jesus enters into Jerusalem and cleanses the temple right at the beginning of John’s gospel. He goes in and out of Jerusalem a number of times, often linked to the great festivals of the Jewish year.

Like Luke, it looks very much as if John has put a structure on to the telling of the story of Jesus that brings out the message of Christ as powerfully as possible. He holds light to chronology.

But that is not to say that he is not interested in history. As you come to the end of the Gospel you feel that the writer is convinced. These things happened in the view of the writer of the fourth Gospel.

Whereas the strength of the other three gospels is that you can see the way they handle their material, the strength of John’s Gospel is that it gives us access to a separate line of thinking and tradition that goes back to the story of Jesus.

What is John’s Picture of Jesus?

John’s Gospel has a clear structure. It is made up of three parts:

Who is this Jesus? The Introduction. (1)
What does this Jesus mean for us? The Book of the Signs. (2-12)
The Greatest Sign of All. (13-21)

The Introduction leaves the reader in no doubt as to the identify of Jesus.

But where does the Prologue begin and end. Is it John 1:1-14? Or is it John 1:1-18?

Or is it John 1:1-51?

1) Who is this Jesus? The Introduction – John 1:1-51

In the very first chapter John leaves us in no doubt as to the identify of Jesus.

He is …

The Word. The source of Life. The Light of the World. The Only Son who makes God the Father known. (John 1:1-18)

Jesus, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the Son of God. (1:29-34)

Teacher (Rabbi), Christ (Messiah – anointed one of God) (35-42)

The one whom Moses wrote about in the book of the Law, and whom the prophets also wrote about. Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth. A true Israelite in whom there is nothing false.

Teacher, Son of God, King of Israel (43-50)

As chapter 1 begins with a most powerful image of The Word made Flesh, so it finishes with an equally powerful picture of ‘heaven open and God’s angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man.”

John 1:51 brings together the story of Jacob at Bethel and the image of the Son of Man in Daniel and Ezekiel. In his vision Jacob sees a ladder going from earth to heaven and angels going up and coming down. When Jesus speaks of people seeing heaven open and God’s angels going up and coming down on the Son of Man, how does that tie in with the story of Jacob. Is he, as Son of Man, like Jacob and the angels go up from him into God’s presence and come down from God on him?

No, that’s not the picture.

Instead, the Son of Man is like the ladder.

Just as the ‘Word of God’ that is with God ‘in the beginning’ and becomes flesh is a massive, larger than life images that touches heaven and earth, God and creation and brings them together, so too the Son of Man spans earth and heaven, us and God.

It is as if Christ in John’s Gospel has his head in heaven and his feet on earth and he is the one who links earth and heaven, us and God in the most wonderful of ways.

The ‘I am’ Sayings of John’s Gospel

It is in John’s Gospel that Jesus speaks of himself in a sequence of sayings that have come to be known as the ‘I am’ sayings.

In Greek there is a single, simple word that means ‘I am’ - eimi. Very occasionally the pronoun ‘I’ can be put in front of that word for emphasis. However, that’s not a very comfortable way of saying ‘I am’. The purists, grammatically, would not really like it!!

In each of these sayings, Jesus uses that expression. Ego eimi I am.

Why?

Hiding behind a seemingly straightforward expression is a reference back to one of the most mysterious and significant moments in the Hebrew Scriptures.

It is when God discloses his name to Moses in the burning bush in Exodus

13 But Moses replied, “When I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ So what can I tell them?” 14 God said, “I am who I am. This is what you must say to them: ‘The one who is called I AM has sent me to you.’ 15 Tell the Israelites that I, the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, have sent you to them. This is my name for ever; this is what all future generations are to call me.

A footnote explains the significance of ‘I AM’ as a name for God.

3.14 I am who I am...I AM; or I will be who I will be...I WILL BE. “I am” sounds like the Hebrew name Yahweh, traditionally transliterated as Jehovah. This name is represented in this translation by “the Lord” in capital letters, following a usage which is widespread in English versions.

Is there a deliberate link between the unusual use of the words I AM in these sayings and the mysterious name for God disclosed to Moses in the burning bush?

Together, the I AM sayings build up into a wonderful picture of Jesus …

I AM the bread of life 6:35
I AM the light of the world 8:12
I AM the one who bears witness concerning himself 8:18
I AM the one from above 8:23
Before Abraham was I AM 8:58
I AM the gate 10:7,9
I AM the good shepherd 10:11,14
I AM the resurrection and the life 11.25
I AM the way, the truth and the life 14:6
I AM the true vine 15:1,5

2) What does this Jesus mean for us? The Book of Signs 2-12

John homes in on a small number of events in the life of Jesus, each of which is accompanied by conversations Jesus has. The events are considered by John to be ‘signs’. The conversations bring out ‘the significance’ of those signs.

The First Sign – a New Beginning (2-4:45)
Events: New Wine
New Temple
Conversations: A Conversation at Night
A Conversation by a Well

The Second Sign – New Life (4:46 – 5)
Events: A boy is healed
A man who cannot walk is healed
Conversation New life

The Third Sign – The Bread of Life (6)
Events: The feeding of the five thousand
Conversations: Living Bread

The Fourth Sign – Light and Life – Yes or No? (7-8)
Events: Jesus goes up to the feast
Conversations Who is Jesus – the light of the world

The Fifth Sign – Judgment by the light (9-10)
Events: A blind man sees
Conversations: Many points of view
The Shepherd and his sheep

The Sixth Sign – The Victory of Life over Death (11)
Events: The death and raising of Lazarus
Conversations: With Mary and Martha on resurrection
The authorities plot the death of Jesus

The Seventh Sign: Life through Death – the meaning of the cross (12)
Events: The anointing at Bethany
Jesus rides into the City
Conversations: Foreigners, Greeks and Gentiles meet Jesus

Conclusion to the Book of Signs – Light of the World (12:44-50)

3) What has this Jesus done for us? – the Greatest Sign of All! (13-21)

In the final part of John’s Gospel the order is reversed. First, come the conversations at the Last Supper and then the greatest Sign of all – the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Conversations at the Last Supper (13-16)

The Prayer of Jesus (17)

The Death of Jesus (18-19)

The Resurrection of Jesus (20-21)

Love made Real

The greatest sign of all is sealed by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Sometimes John has been known as the most spiritual of all the Gospels.

It is at the same time the most physical.

Read through the account of the resurrection and you will find each of the senses used to establish the reality of what happened.

Mary hears Jesus call her by name.

Peter and John see the empty tomb.

Mary sees Jesus.

Peter, John and the other disciples see Jesus in the upper room. All except Thomas.

Thomas touches Jesus and believes.

The disciples smell Jesus’ cooking on the shore and taste the meal with him.
The Gospel message of John is rooted in reality. But it is written for those who have not seen.

29 Jesus said to him, “Do you believe because you see me? How happy are those who believe without seeing me!” John 20:29

We have come right back to where we started when Peter expressed that wonderful hope in his letters. He had seen and therefore believed. He, like John, was writing for those who had not seen and yet could also believe:

Although you have not seen him you love him; and even though you do not now see him, you believe in you rejoice with a glorious and indescribably joy for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

A Covering Letter

This is exactly the point taken up by John in a letter that’s written in just the same style as the Gospel, uses the same kind of language and expresses the same kind of thinking. 1 John is almost like a covering letter to accompany the Gospel.

It begins where the Gospel left off with the reality of all that John has found in Jesus.

We write to you about the Word of life, which has existed from the very beginning. We have heard it, and we have seen it with our eyes; yes, we have seen it, and our hands have touched it. 2 When this life became visible, we saw it; so we speak of it and tell you about the eternal life which was with the Father and was made known to us. 3 What we have seen and heard we announce to you also, so that you will join with us in the fellowship that we have with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 We write this in order that our joy may be complete.

William Barclay recalls an age old story of the church. Tradition has it that John wrote his Gospel and his letters when he was an old man. Later, when he could scarcely walk, let alone talk, he was carried in to preach one last time. He had three things to say. God is love. God is love. God is love.

The culmination of the Gospel had been in the new command Jesus gave his disciples ‘ to love one another as I have loved you for by this shall everyone know you are my disciples, if you love one another.

In his letter he now appeals to all who would follow Jesus to love one another for this is the essence of the Chrsitian faith. More than that it is the essence of God.

What is the essence of God? 1 John 4

Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Whoever loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 And God showed his love for us by sending his only Son into the world, so that we might have life through him. 10 This is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven.
11 Dear friends, if this is how God loved us, then we should love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in union with us, and his love is made perfect in us. 13 We are sure that we live in union with God and that he lives in union with us, because he has given us his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and tell others that the Father sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world. 15 If anyone declares that Jesus is the Son of God, he lives in union with God and God lives in union with him. 16 And we ourselves know and believe the love which God has for us.
God is love, and those who live in love live in union with God and God lives in union with them. 17 Love is made perfect in us in order that we may have courage on Judgement Day; and we will have it because our life in this world is the same as Christ's. 18 There is no fear in love; perfect love drives out all fear.

The Last Word is … Love

We must give the last word to John … or is it to Jesus? One verse more than any other captures the grounds of our hope, the essence of our faith … it is John 3:16

For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life

John’s Gospel – Hope through Love

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son of the Father. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, the teacher from Nazareth who came to be seen as Son of God, King of kings. With his feet firmly on the ground and his head in heaven this Jesus is the one who links heaven and earth as no one else has ever done.

The old rituals have had their day, no longer is God’s presence located in a Temple. It is let loose in the world …and finds new birth in anyone who is prepared to make a new start, begin all over again, believing in Jesus, the one given by God to the whole world in love.

To those spiritually thirsty he gives the water of life, and to those spiritually hungry the bread of heaven. No wonder he came to be seen as the Light of the World, the Good Shepherd prepared even to lay down his life for the sheep, the doorway to something new and lasting, the way, the truth, the life. Not even death itself could stand its ground against him for those who believed in him he was nothing less than the resurrection and the life.

As he came to the end of his life he promised not to leave his followers on their own. Jesus was convinced that the unseen, yet very real power of God would be alongside his followers, and deep within them, to give them strength at the moment of their utmost weakness. How important it was for his followers to love one another – for that’s the way everyone will know that they are followers of Jesus, if they have love for one another. The kind of love that makes for a wonderful unity.

Taken out to be crucified, his execution in a strange way marked the point at which he could say, It is finished. It was as if his task had been completed. But his death was not the end. Sight, sound, touch and smell … all convinced his followers that he had risen from the dead. They saw and believed. How much more blessings are in store for those who did not have the opportunity to see with their own eyes but have nonetheless come to believe!

Jesus did many more signs than the ones that are recorded in John’s Gospel. These are recorded so that you might believe that Jesus is the one everyone’s been waiting for, the Son of God … and that through believing you might have life in all its fullness, life here and now and forever!

John’s First Letter – Hope through Love

It’s not just theory. It’s rooted in reality. It’s something that’s been there from the beginning of time and before. We’re talking about nothing less than the very mind of God, the word of God if you like. It’s something that’s not just of interest: it’s life transforming, life enhancing: it’s all about life in all its fullness. This life that was with God from the beginning, and is the very essence of all creation, has been revealed in the flesh-and-blood world of every day reality. At one moment in history it was there in all its fullness. And we have heard it with our own ears, seen it with our own eyes, touched it with our own hands. And this is what we are writing about. Act on what we say and you will find that you enter into a remarkable relationship not just with us and with other people who have discovered this life: you will enter into the closest possible relationship with the God who has created the world.

The One who makes all that possible is none other than Jesus Christ. He is nothing less than the true God and eternal life!

This is something that will bring joy into a world of despair, light into a world of darkness and love into a world of hatred. This is something for everyone: young and old, male and female, black and white. It is something unique. Nothing else quite matches up to it.

It all boils down to one thing and one thing only. Love.

No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love finds its fulfilment in us.

God is love. To be in tune with God, and to have the very life of God coursing through our veins we need to be filled with love. And when our love runs dry, and we feel as if we’ve let other people down, let ourselves down and let God down because we haven’t loved enough we need to look again at Jesus Christ. This is the love that really counts. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to the means by which our sins are forgiven. What a remarkable love: so great that it takes away our greatest fears!

Love God. Love other people. And discover a faith that will conquer the world.

Paul - Hope for a better world (Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus)

2008-02-26T21:53:00.002Z

Letters from Prison - Philippians, Colossians and Philemon, and Ephesians
Pastoral Letters - 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus

Paul’s story began with a concern for the poor, in particular those in the Christian community in Jerusalem who were experiencing famine. Still known as Saul, he joined Barnabas in taking a collection from the church in Antioch to Jerusalem. (Acts 11:19-30)

Paul’s story in Acts reaches a dramatic climax as he insists on returning to Jerusalem to hand over in person another collection taken for the same reason. He had written at length to the church in Corinth, one of those churches he had been collecting from about the need for generous giving from those according to their means to those according to their need (2 Corinthians 8).

Throughout his life he took seriously the charge he recalled being given when Peter, James and John, the pillars of the church in Jerusalem had recognised the grace of God at work within him, extended to him the right hand of fellowship, given him the task of taking the gospel to the Gentiles and challenged him to remember the poor. (Galatians 2:9-10)

He was determined to hand the money over in person.

To Jerusalem for the Poor!

Luke and other friends of his tried to persuade him not to go in person to Jerusalem. It was too dangerous. The authorities were after his blood.

He took no notice of the advice, made the journey to Jerusalem.

It is not without significance that it is within the Temple that he is arrested. Taken to the fort, the Roman commander is surprised that Paul can speak Greek.

His response goes to the heart of an understanding of Paul and his message.

“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of an important city.” (Acts 12:39).

The New Testament straddles two worlds. In the company of Peter, Mark, the writer to the Hebrews, James and Matthew we are firmly in the Jewish world, but a Jewish world that has discovered Christ, has a commitment to the Gentiles and wants to make sense of the hope that comes from that Jewish world for the good of the rest of the world.

In Paul we encounter someone whose roots are in both worlds. A Jewish scholar who studied under Gamaliel he is at the same time a Roman citizen.

As the Gentile Doctor, Luke, tells Paul’s story he is all too aware of the way in which Paul can speak with authority in both worlds.

This is a key to our understanding of Paul.

Arrested

Paul is allowed to speak to the people and tells of his conversion. He is brought before the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem who work under the over-all command of Rome. Tension rises and Paul is taken into what amounts to protective custody. (Acts 23).

A plot is hatched to assassinate Paul. The son of Paul’s sister hears about the plot and warns the Roman authorities. Under heavy armed guard Paul is taken from Jerusalem to the headquarters of the Roman authorities in Caesarea where he gives an account of himself to Felix (24). It is at this point that he exercises his right as a Roman citizen and appeals to the Emperor. He makes another defence of himself to King Agrippa and Queen Bernice, almost persuading them of the truth of his faith. Had he not appealed to the Emperor he could have been released.

To Rome and Four Letters from Prison

Under armed guard the Paul and Luke set sail for Rome. The account of the voyage and the shipwreck on Malta in Acts 27 is the best such account in all classical literature. Miraculously, no one is lost in the shipwreck, and Paul escapes injury from the bite of a viper. So it is that the final journey is made by Paul and Luke to Rome. And Luke leaves his account in Acts with Paul under house arrest, “preaching about the Kingdom of God, teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ and speaking with all boldness and freedom.” (Acts 28)
Not only does Paul teach and preach, he also keeps in touch with the people and places he has visited on his missionary travels and with the churches he has established.

Four of those letters from prison are in the New Testament.

Philippians, Colossians and Philemon, and Ephesians.

The letter Paul writes to the church in Philippi is the most joyful of all Paul’s letters. It is full of a spirit of thanksgiving. You can imagine Lydia, the slave girl Paul had healed, the Philippian Gaoler and his family and all the other people in the church in Philippi eagerly awaiting news of their friend, Paul.

It was with anxiety that they heard he was in prison, but with joy that they received his message. It was the same Paul they had always known!

Philippians

Paul and his young friend, Timothy, who delight in serving Christ Jesus together, write to those who have pastoral oversight, the deacons and all of God’s people in the Christian community in Philippi. They write from prison.

“I thank God for the love you showed me, not least when I was beaten and faced imprisonment in your city. My prayer is simply this: that your love may overflow more and more. But love on its own is not enough. I pray that with that deep down love will go an awareness and an insight that will enable you to do your very best in the service of Christ Jesus. That’s the key: live a life that really is worthy of the gospel of Christ.

“What does that involve? The best thing to do is to model your way of life on the way of life that Jesus led. More than anything else he was prepared to humble himself, and treat other people in such a way as to make them know that they mattered the world to him. Lord of all, he humbled himself to the lowest point of God-forsaken suffering on the cross. Just as he was raised up to the glory of God, so we too can share with him in that resurrection victory.

“Don’t think you can do this on your own. You need a strength from beyond yourselves to reach out to others with this kind of humble love. The wonderful news is that in the living presence of the risen Christ you can find that strength.

“It’s worth giving up the all-too-natural inclination we all of us have to cling on to the past and old ways of generating some kind of sense of purpose in life. Much better is to look to the future, and press on to the goal of glory in Christ’s risen presence.

“We belong to a kingdom that’s not of this world, and so we need to put ourselves under the rule of God in our own hearts, in our homes and in the world at large. Do that and we shall find grounds for a remarkable joy in our hearts.

“This is the key to a deep down joy that will enable us to live life to the full – in this world and beyond. Put the worries that so often get you down to one side, turn to God in prayer, and discover a strength that will surround you and uphold you in a love of God that can never be defeated. I would even go so far as to say that in that strength you will be able to do things you never dreamed you were capable of.”

“More than anything, I pray that you will have in your innermost being the kind of grace that comes alone from Jesus Christ.”

Letter writing

Paul’s letters are typical of the letters of the ancient world. The remarkable letters of Vindalanda, discovered in the fort of that name on Hadrian’s Wall and on display in the British Museum date from only 30 to 40 years after Paul’s letters from Rome. As with Paul’s letters these have travelled many hundreds of miles. They too were often dictated to a scribe. They bear the same structure.

Starting with a greetings
and an identification of the author,
proceeding to thanks
and the message,
finishing with personal greetings in the hand of the sender.

That’s exactly the structure of Paul’s letters, not least in Colossians.

At the very end Paul writes a greeting ‘in his own hand’. 4:18.

The letter contains much the same kind of message as Philippians but Paul has greater cause for anxiety as there are tensions in the church in Colossae arising from a teaching that is sending the church in the wrong direction. There are other, more personal tensions there that he is all too aware of as well.

The letter is sent by a courier who is named as Tychicus (4:7-9). Someone else accompanies Tychicus by the name of Onesimus.

Who in that church in Colossae would Tychicus have delivered the letter to?

In all likelihood it would be the person in whose house the church met.

As a house-owner he would have been comparatively wealthy, owning a house large enough to accommodate, probably in its courtyard, a gathering of the church. One can imagine the church gathering together in the courtyard of the villa he owned eagerly to hear the letter.

The owner’s household would have been fairly large and would have included a number of slaves.

It had not always been a happy household. One of those slaves had run away. The owner of the house felt let down. Punishment would be severe if ever the runaway returned.

Imagine his shock, therefore, to see with Tychicus someone he recognised, by the name of Onesimus.

To his consternation the owner of the house saw that Tychicus had another letter in his pouch from Paul. It was a personal letter. It would have to wait while Philemon read the letter to the Colossians to the gathered church.

Colossians

It is wonderful to give thanks for the love that we share in the church family. It is a love that means we can have hope for the future no matter what circumstances we are in. [Paul wrote to the Christian community at Colossae when he himself was in prison facing a very uncertain future in the company of a good friend, Timothy.] How important it is to pray for wisdom and the kind of understanding that we all of us need if we are to follow a Christian way of life in an increasingly troubled world. It’s often a way of life we cannot follow in our own strength. Let’s pray for a strength from beyond ourselves that will see us through. That’s precisely the kind of strength on offer from Jesus Christ.

Following him is like stepping out of the darkness into the light. We need to look at Jesus and through him see the God of creation. More than anything else it is the love of God in all its fullness that we can see in Jesus. It is a love of God that seeks to bring all things together in a spirit of reconciliation and harmony. In a church community that looks beyond itself to the love of God in Christ we can get a foretaste of all that God intends for his world. It is as if it’s all there in microcosm.

As we have received the fullness of God’s love in Jesus Christ, we need to continue to live in him. It is important not to be side-tracked by the petty-mindedness of some who would be overly ‘religious’ or by the wrong-headedness of some who are way off beam. We need to put away the shabby old clothes of petty jealousies, slanderous talk, untruths and hurtful things. In their place we need to put on a wonderful new set of clothes: compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. How important it is to bear with one another, to forgive one another. Above all else we need to clothe ourselves in love – that’s what binds everything else together. With God’s word in our hearts, his praise on our lips, we need to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. If there’s any uncertainty about what we should do, we need to ask ourselves whether we can do it in the name of the Jesus who is filled with all the fullness of God’s reconciling love. If we can’t then we must not do it!

At home, at work in every part of our lives we need to have a mutual respect for one another. More than anything else, we need to pray. Prayer is what will see us through individually and together as a church.

A Personal Concern

The letter reading over, Phlemon would have excused himself and withdrawn into one of the rooms of the villa that was home to the church in Colossae. He took the letter, a little uncertain what to make of it and began to read.

Philemon

From Paul, a prisoner for the sake of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy —
To our friend and fellow-worker Philemon, and the church that meets in your house, and our sister Apphia, and our fellow-soldier Archippus: May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

Brother Philemon, every time I pray, I mention you and give thanks to my God. For I hear of your love for all God's people and the faith you have in the Lord Jesus. My prayer is that our fellowship with you as believers will bring about a deeper understanding of every blessing which we have in our life in union with Christ. Your love, dear brother, has brought me great joy and much encouragement! You have cheered the hearts of all God's people.

For this reason I could be bold enough, as your brother in Christ, to order you to do what should be done. 9 But because I love you, I make a request instead. I do this even though I am Paul, the ambassador of Christ Jesus, and at present also a prisoner for his sake.

So I make a request to you on behalf of Onesimus, who is my own son in Christ; for while in prison I have become his spiritual father. At one time he was of no use to you, but now he is useful both to you and to me. (The Greek name Onesimus means “useful”.)

I am sending him back to you now, and with him goes my heart. I would like to keep him here with me, while I am in prison for the gospel's sake, so that he could help me in your place. However, I do not want to force you to help me; rather, I would like you to do it of your own free will. So I will not do anything unless you agree.

It may be that Onesimus was away from you for a short time so that you might have him back for all time. And now he is not just a slave, but much more than a slave: he is a dear brother in Christ. How much he means to me! And how much more he will mean to you, both as a slave and as a brother in the Lord!

So, if you think of me as your partner, welcome him back just as you would welcome me. If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to my account. Here, I will write this with my own hand: I, Paul, will pay you back. (I should not have to remind you, of course, that you owe your very self to me.) So, my brother, please do me this favour for the Lord's sake; as a brother in Christ, cheer me up!

I am sure, as I write this, that you will do what I ask — in fact I know that you will do even more. At the same time, get a room ready for me, because I hope that God will answer the prayers of all of you and give me back to you.

Epaphras, who is in prison with me for the sake of Christ Jesus, sends you his greetings, and so do my fellow-workers Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

One more letter is attributed to Paul from prison. Ephesians. Some have wondered whether it was written by a follower of Paul. It seems, however, to bring together the threads of all these letters and of Paul’s considered thinking.

Ephesians

What a thrill it is to recognise that Jesus is Lord. There’s a very real sense that belonging to a church involves us in belonging to something much bigger … as big as the God of the Universe. It is as if he has known us and loved us from the beginning of time, and that love will be with us until the end of time and beyond. With the fullness of God’s love comes a freedom and a forgiveness that is life-transforming.

Let’s pray for a spirit of wisdom and understanding as we sense the reality of God’s love coming deep within us and slowly filling us up with his peace.

Let’s pray that that peace will bind us together in love for one another, in such a way that barriers inside our church and between churches may be torn down.

Let’s pray that we can all share in serving God with such love that we can stand up to the powers of this world and make God’s peace a reality in our own lives, in our church life and in our world.

Let’s pray that we can be rooted and grounded in the love of Christ, a love that knows no bounds.

Whichever way we turn, however far we go, whatever despair we experience, whatever joy is ours, his love is greater and will ever be deep within us.

With a humble spirit let’s serve each other with whatever gifts we have so that we can build each other up in the love of God. There can be no time for anger, bitterness, jealousy and argumentativeness; instead let’s make real the love Christ wants us to share. Let’s make that real in our homes, in our relationships, in the work place.

Let’s draw on the strength of God to stand up to the evils of the world around us and more than anything else let’s pray. In the power of God, let’s take our stand on the things that count more than anything else: truth, justice and peace. Let’s hold firm to our faith, hold fast to the salvation that is ours to share, and in God’s word find guidelines for living our lives in an often hostile world.

Peace be to the whole family of God’s people, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

What happened next?

Luke doesn’t tell us. No one really knows. Maybe Paul was released from that imprisonment in Rome and made it to Spain. If he did, tradition has it that he was imprisoned again and this time executed.

Some suggest that the three so-called Pastoral Letters were written by Paul in this late period. Some think they were written earlier. Some think they too reflect a follower of Paul.

Keeping to that earlier tradition, there is a wonderful personal touch as Paul hands the baton on to the younger Timothy and to Titus as well.

Paul’s life may be coming to an end. His work is not!

Paul’s first letter to Timothy

How good it is to pass on from one generation to the next insights about living the Christian life! Even better is for one generation to commend to the next the grace, mercy and peace that comes alone from God.

Don’t get side tracked with the latest thinking just because it’s new. Come back to the free, forgiving love of Jesus Christ and reflect that love into the lives of other people around you. Keep in mind the fundamental aim of all Christian teaching: a love that’s not just on the surface but in its sincerity springs from deep down in our innermost being. Look after that conscience of yours: never let it lose its cutting edge!

Such a way of love has to be underpinned by prayer, not by angry argument. Those in pastoral oversight and those who serve in leadership within the church need to reflect that love in their own personal lives. And in everything it needs always to be a reflection of the all embracing love of Jesus Christ.

Don’t get side-tracked with issues of no lasting importance. Focus on the essence of Christ’s teaching and set your sights on his way of living in God’s world. Live out the faith you profess! Be concerned for one another. And wherever there is need in the community around you, seek to meet that need.

Don’t be absorbed with things that don’t really matter. It’s not the outward appearance that matters so much as the inner person! Don’t forever seek after greater wealth for the love of money is the root of all evil!

Keep at that faith of yours. Don’t give up! Fight the good fight, take hold of eternal life! And model all that you do on the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. And then realise that you too share in his victory over death and the wonderful promise of eternal life!

A Second Letter of Paul to Timothy

How good it is to pass on from one generation to the next insights about living the Christian life! Even better is for one generation to commend to the next the grace, mercy and peace that comes alone from God.

Think of those who passed the faith on to you: maybe your own parents, maybe your grandparents, maybe someone who gave you a particular task to do in the church … and always remember them with a deep gratitude in your heart. Keep alive the gifts God gave you through these wonderful people: there is a power in the love God has shared in this way.
That may mean having a difficult path to follow that involves more than seems to be your fair share of suffering. Hold on to all you have learned. The thing that counts more than anything else is a faith shot through with love.

Think of your Christian life as a campaign fought against the powers of darkness, as a race run by an athlete whose eye is fixed on the prize, as the steady round of a farmer’s year as he moves quickly from harvest once more to seed-time. And always remember Jesus Christ and the resurrection victory we all can share.

Work at it! Keep the world’s values at bay, live by the values of God’s rule in your heart! Remember those who passed the faith on to you … and live by that faith! Remember the very first time the Bible was read to you – that book and its stories shaped your early years, let it shape the rest of your days. It contains the very God-given breath of life: that’s what makes it so fundamentally important for teaching, for setting things right, for mapping out God’s just way in the world. Take that seriously and it will make the world of difference!

We have a wonderful message to share! It is an even more wonderful life to live! Let’s live it to the full and give the glory to God! He’s with us for the rest of our lives … and beyond

Paul’s Letter to Titus

Faith, truth, godliness, hope, eternal life: this is what the Good News of Jesus Christ is all about. Share it and you too will receive grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour.

How important it is for those with pastoral oversight to be worthy of the care that is entrusted to them, and for those who speak out about the Christian faith to be true to the faith they profess. Sometimes it is important to stand and be counted in a world that has very different values from the values Jesus Christ came to share with us.

Life-style makes such a difference. Avoid an extravagant life-style that can be destructive for personal health and damage relationships; instead cultivate a simple life-style that’s true to the love of others that Christ would have us share.

God’s love through Jesus Christ makes such a difference as it takes root in people’s hearts. That’s the way it will spread out into other people’s lives and into the world at large.

If we are honest with ourselves we all have fallen short of the kind of values that the Christian faith is all about. That’s the wonderful thing about Christian faith. It is precisely at the point at which we are most conscious of all our failures and inadequacies that God, in Jesus Christ, by the power of his unseen Spirit reaches out to touch us with his forgiving love and fill us with his renewing love.

The key to Christian faith is to put it into practice. We all need to live out our faith in love for one another. After all, the free gift of God’s love is ours to keep only if we share it!

May that grace fill your life and mine!