Ezekiel 33:21-35:15
He nicked them. Jesus nicked these stories. If he was a student he’d be done for plagarism and be up before a tribunal. I start to think “how dare he?”. I start to feel cheated and that he’s a con. But then I realise the genius of it. Then I realise that Jesus nicking these stories and turning them into his parables is about the most inflammatory and provocative thing he could have done. Because in doing this Jesus made his parable of the Lost Sheep not just a fluffly little story for us to tell our children at bed time but an accusatory diatribe against the current leaders of Israel. By taking this passage from Ezekiel and turning into the parable of the Lost Sheep Jesus not only suggested that the temple leaders were like shepherd who only take care of themselves but he also suggested that he - Jesus - was the Sovereign Lord come to bring back his scattered flock. The parable was principally a claim of authority. He was saying He was the hope for Israel and the temple gang was not. It was a call to trust in him. And then there is the sheep and the goats. Again, in this context we see how this is not a promise that ‘good people will get into heaven’ but is a scathing attack upon the ‘shepherds’ of Israel at the time of Jesus who not only stole the best stuff for themselves but also messed everything else up for others. They saw themselves as righteous but Jesus was declaring them to be bankrupt and evil. Jesus was saying that he was the Sovereign Lord coming to clear out the vain, abusive leaders of Israel to replace them with himself - the David-figure who would be Prince among them. Ezekiel promised that God would come to show people that he is the Lord. He came. He was called Jesus. If you want to know God, look at the Christ.
James 2:1-26
More of the Jewish flavour we talked about yesterday. And this passage is shot through with it. Martin Luther hated this bit; it caused him to describe James as a “strawy epistle” and even suggested it shouldn’t be in the bible. Luther was wrong. We as Western gentiles have been grafted into the olive tree of this immense and beautiful Jewish faith and we should be deeply grateful for the focus on action it brings. This Jewish flavour means we demand that all are welcomed among us, we insist upon us acting with compassion and taking care of those in need. Without a focus on action then all of this would just be optional extras - things for people to choose if they want to or if they “feel led by the Spirit” (what a convenient phrase that can be!!). But we are not as pathetically insipid as that. We insist on seeing faith at work in our lives. We challenge people when they judge others on appearance. We push each other to care for each others needs. We call people to deeper levels of discipleship because we expect them to increasingly display the powerful mercy of the glorious Lord Jesus Christ in their lives. Sure we do it in compassion and sure we do it in love but we must do it! It is the freedom we are called to. Faith must display itself in deeds. Jesus is worthy of that. His mercy is powerful enough for that.
Psam 128:1-6
“Your sons will be like olive shoots round you table”. I’m confused; do olive trees not like vegetables either??
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