18 September 2007

Psalm 61, 62; 1 Kings 21:17-29; 1 Cor. 1:20-31; Matt. 4:12-17

In spite of the fact that the chronicler tells us “There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD,” the Lord spares Ahab’s family in his day because he repented in sackcloth and fasting. The mercy of our God is beyond comprehension. His willingness to forgive a man like Ahab who repented should give us reason for hope always, we are never beyond the pale in our sins. Has any of us sinned worse than this man? The writer would have us understand the depth of his depravity as greater than any who had ever been and yet the Lord spares him the judgment proclaimed through Elijah. Praise God for His mercy this day.

Multiple times in these first chapters Matthew tells us that the movements of Jesus and his family weren’t random and they weren’t motivated by fear entirely, but God was in control of all these things in order to fulfill His Word spoken through the prophets. In that Matthew is giving us understanding of the providence of God and that all things are working together according to a plan that was conceived long before. The mercy of God here is that He has revealed these plans through the prophets in order that His people might see the fulfillment and believe in His Son, to do as even Ahab had done, repent of sin.

It is all about Jesus and the crucifixion which Paul wisely acknowledges is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. For Jews the death on the cross brings not blessing but curse as per Leviticus, so how could someone take the Name of Jesus the one God cursed? For Greeks it is utter folly to have as a savior a man who died on a Roman cross, he died there, don’t you get it? Paul says it isn’t about wisdom and power but about foolishness and weakness. Faith is the key to the whole thing. The mercy of God is that this salvation is available to all equally, it doesn’t depend on wisdom or strength. Mercy is found by those who confess themselves to be in need of a wonderful, merciful savior.

I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings. For you have heard my vows, O God; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name. One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done. I ever sing praise to your name and fulfill my vows day after day.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 18, 2007 at 19:11 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

| Print