Exodus 39:1-40:38
We have already commented on the forensic nature of the obedience of Bezalel and Oholiab and now we see the result of it; God approves of the work by filling the tabernacle with his presence. It is highly unusual for any group to make so bold a claim as this; that they actually have their god living among them. I believe that most of the other religions of Moses’ time, and most today, stretch only so far as having a symbolic image of their god in their grasp while the real presence of their divine is based in some distant realm or land. It is really quite presumptuous, and a provocative twist on the common understanding of a human-divine relationship, to actually have God’s presence coming down and dwelling among his people. I would have loved to have seen such a thing - to have peeked out of my curtains as I’m going to bed just to check the fiery cloud is still there and then to have gazed at it with wonder as I munch on my cornflakes in the morning. How reassuring and faith-building would that have been? And yet, I’m struck that we actually have it better than this. In a yet-further twist on the human-divine relationship we no longer have to look to the horizon to see the cloud of God, He has now come down and dwelt in our very midst - in our hearts by his Spirit and in the church as we gather.
Mark 9:2-32
Peter and the disciples seem to me to be in a position that I so often hold. Firstly, God has shown him amazing things about Jesus but he hasn’t realised quite how important he is. Peter thinks Jesus is just about on a par with Moses and Elijah - a super holy prophet of God - but he needs to have his head rocked so he grasps that Jesus is even several levels above that. Secondly, Peter hasn’t quite realised the expansiveness of what Jesus is doing. He has understood that Jesus is coming to bring a new age upon Israel but his brain can’t comprehend that Jesus is actually annihilating the power of death and unleashing the overwhelming power of resurrected new life into the whole of the world. Thirdly, Peter hasn’t grasped the immensity of the resources that Jesus has given him. Peter and the other disciples know that they can cast out demons but when a tricky case presents itself they begin to wonder whether they have met their match. They have not appreciated that through prayer they can call on the unrivaled power of the Kingdom which makes every single thing a possibility. And, fourthly, Peter has understood that following Jesus involves a cost but cannot compute the bleakness of the path that Jesus, and he, will have to tread. This passage is a jolt out of any kind of complacency; all that we know of Jesus is the tiniest fraction of what he has for us. Following Him is a stretching and exhilarating place to be.
Psalm 26:1-12
Sometimes David sounds so smug you just want to spank him round the face with a wet kipper. But I don’t think he really is being smug. I think he is just laying himself out before the Lord and asking for more of his mercy. It is no bad thing to recognise the good that the Lord has put in you.
