The marvel of poetry is that it can be as short as a question yet as powerful as an answer.
How well said, Mr Martel. And happy reading, Mr Harper.
Thursday, 30 August 2007
poetry, questions and answers
Yann Martel has been sending books to the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper (see here). Along with the books, he writes letters and in one letter he makes this observation about poems:
How well said, Mr Martel. And happy reading, Mr Harper.
How well said, Mr Martel. And happy reading, Mr Harper.
vulnerability: haiku #1
To admit you're vulnerable
is strong and not weak;
it shivers the backs of men.
is strong and not weak;
it shivers the backs of men.
Sunday, 19 August 2007
Two gems from Harold
From the back of the car came these thoughts...
When I grow up I'm going to join the army as a morale booster.
I'm going to join the army to learn self-discipline and then quit.
Thursday, 12 July 2007
who can forgive sins?
In Matthew 9, when Jesus tells the paralysed man, Your sins are forgiven (v.2), the Pharisees respond by accusing him of blasphemy (v.3); in Mark's account their ire is made more explicit: they ask, Who can forgive sins but God alone? (Mark 2:7). It's a good question - and also a moot point.
The crowd who see the miracle respond with awe and praise because, as they see it, "God...had given such authority to men." Authority to do what? To heal? Yes. To forgive? That would seem to be part of the package they have in mind.
The Pharisees are angered because, as they see it, God alone can forgive sins; and the crowd are amazed because, as they see it, God has conferred authority on men (not just the man) to forgive sins.
Who's right? It's often said (by preachers - I know, because I've said it) that the Pharisees were at least right on this point; where they went wrong was in not recognising that God was among them in the person of his Son. So they were right and the crowd was wrong.
I'm not so sure now. Is it true that only God can forgive sins? Yes, but it is also true that he devolves the authority to do so to people - Jesus tells us that explicitly in Matthew 18:15ff, esp. v.18.
So the Pharisees were only partly right; the crowd, however deficient in their understanding of the true identity of Jesus, had got it spot on.
The crowd who see the miracle respond with awe and praise because, as they see it, "God...had given such authority to men." Authority to do what? To heal? Yes. To forgive? That would seem to be part of the package they have in mind.
The Pharisees are angered because, as they see it, God alone can forgive sins; and the crowd are amazed because, as they see it, God has conferred authority on men (not just the man) to forgive sins.
Who's right? It's often said (by preachers - I know, because I've said it) that the Pharisees were at least right on this point; where they went wrong was in not recognising that God was among them in the person of his Son. So they were right and the crowd was wrong.
I'm not so sure now. Is it true that only God can forgive sins? Yes, but it is also true that he devolves the authority to do so to people - Jesus tells us that explicitly in Matthew 18:15ff, esp. v.18.
So the Pharisees were only partly right; the crowd, however deficient in their understanding of the true identity of Jesus, had got it spot on.
Monday, 2 July 2007
a heap from ash
A small overview on the book of Job that is big on pastorally-helpful material, grounded in serious exegesis and wise biblical-theology. It also helps that Ash can write well; very well.
Thursday, 14 June 2007
Young At Heart
Been listening to Neil Young's latest release - Live At Massey Hall 1971 - stunning vocal performance, great acoustic guitar, appreciative audience, gentle humour and, of course, lyrics that plumb depths of emotional intensity both real and raw, whilst remaining humane and sane. A welcome companion on a miserably-wet morning.
Monday, 28 May 2007
Song for Hefina
Recently came across this piece, written after an 18-week miscarriage in 1995. The little girl was due to be born in June 1996, hence the name we chose for her ('June' in Welsh is Mehefin). Posting it here fwiw.
Song for Hefina
Out of time,
yet your time hadn't come;
Out of the darkness,
into eternal light.
Joy we never tasted
and shared at your dawn,
Is multiplied to you
in heaven's glory song.
And lullabies soft whispered
never soothed a troubled cry;
Yet music wholly other
holds and charms you now.
Our arms never held
and cradled you in love;
His are everlasting,
how can we long for return?
Tested and examined,
consigned to history.
Our hearts will never forget you
nor will our tears dry
until the day faith turns to sight
and God, who is rich in mercy,
unfurls the banner
of love's final triumph.
Song for Hefina
Out of time,
yet your time hadn't come;
Out of the darkness,
into eternal light.
Joy we never tasted
and shared at your dawn,
Is multiplied to you
in heaven's glory song.
And lullabies soft whispered
never soothed a troubled cry;
Yet music wholly other
holds and charms you now.
Our arms never held
and cradled you in love;
His are everlasting,
how can we long for return?
Tested and examined,
consigned to history.
Our hearts will never forget you
nor will our tears dry
until the day faith turns to sight
and God, who is rich in mercy,
unfurls the banner
of love's final triumph.
Saturday, 19 May 2007
On the cusp
of a study-week, to be spent in our Dandy, sans famile (as Alain Dah-vey might say). Here are the books I plan to take and (maybe) to read:
John Goldingay, Old Testament Theology Vol 2 - Israel's Faith
Kevin Vanhoozer, The Drama of Doctrine
Eugene Peterson, Eat This Book
Eugene Peterson, The Jesus Way
Miroslav Volf, Free of Charge
Miroslav Volf, The End of Memory
Larry Crabb, Soul Talk
Chris Wright, The Mission of God
I guess that's enough. I've never had a study week before so I figured that it's best to take too many books rather than take only a few and then find they aren't what's most needed. I also decided to take a variety of styles and subjects. And some are small and some are big.
Of course, a Bible or three will also be needed. And a mobile phone, a set of headphones and directions to the nearest public house showing the Champions' League final on Wednesday. The essentials, so to speak.
The Dandy? This is it:
Tuesday, 8 May 2007
the words that saved my life
I know, LORD, that your laws are righteous,
and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
May your unfailing love be my comfort,
according to your promise to your servant.
(Psalm 119:75,76)
and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
May your unfailing love be my comfort,
according to your promise to your servant.
(Psalm 119:75,76)
Monday, 7 May 2007
Tagged!
Msr Alain Dah-vey has apparently tagged me (it hasn't happened since I was at Junior School in Pwllheli) so I ought to try to reply (this is where he did so).
Three characters I wish were real, so I could meet them:
i) Reginald Perrin
ii) Esther Greenwood (from The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath)
iii) Querry (from A Burnt-Out Case by Graham Greene)
Three characters I would like to be:
i) Reginald Perrin
ii) Richard Hannay
iii) Alf Tupper (from The Victor comic for boys)
Three characters who scare me:
i) Dr Mary Malone (from Philip Pulman's His Dark Materials)
ii) Maxwell Edison (from Maxwell's Silver Hammer by The Beatles)
iii) The Cook (in Yann Martel's Life of Pi)
I need to tag 3 people. I only know one who qualifies: The Masked Badger. You're tagged, sonny.
Three characters I wish were real, so I could meet them:
i) Reginald Perrin
ii) Esther Greenwood (from The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath)
iii) Querry (from A Burnt-Out Case by Graham Greene)
Three characters I would like to be:
i) Reginald Perrin
ii) Richard Hannay
iii) Alf Tupper (from The Victor comic for boys)
Three characters who scare me:
i) Dr Mary Malone (from Philip Pulman's His Dark Materials)
ii) Maxwell Edison (from Maxwell's Silver Hammer by The Beatles)
iii) The Cook (in Yann Martel's Life of Pi)
I need to tag 3 people. I only know one who qualifies: The Masked Badger. You're tagged, sonny.
Sunday, 22 April 2007
Prescience
Americans are not particularly good at sensing the real elements of another people's culture. It helps them to approach foreigners with carefree warmth and an animated lack of misgiving. It also makes them, on the whole, poor administrators on foreign soil. They find it almost impossible to believe that poorer peoples, far from the Statue of Liberty, should not want in their hearts to become Americans. If it should happen that America, in its new period of world power, comes to do what every other world power has done: if Americans should have to govern large numbers of foreigners, you must expect that Americans will be well hated before they are admired for themselves.
Alistair Cooke, The Immigrant Strain, 6th May 1946.
Thursday, 19 April 2007
Why bother to read the Bible? Why bother to preach?
Christians feed on Scripture. Holy Scripture nurtures the holy community as food nurtures the human body. Christians don't simply learn or study or use Scripture; we assimilate it, take it into our lives in such a way that it gets metabolised into acts of love, cups of cold water, missions into all the world, healing and evangelism and justice in Jesus' name, hands raised in adoration of the Father, feet washed in company with the Son.
Eugene Peterson, Eat This Book, p.18
Friday, 13 April 2007
faithful servant; faithful son
In Numbers 12 we're told that Moses "was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth" (v.3). The context for that comment is the jealousy of Aaron and Miriam; part of the Lord's response is to declare that Moses "is faithful in all my house" (v.7) and, unlike other prophets who receive the Lord's word in dreams and visions, Moses has face-to-face dealings with the LORD and sees his form (v.8). There could be no clearer nor more powerful affirmation and exaltation of Moses as the LORD's servant.
The writer of Hebrews also makes use of this incident (or at least of the LORD's commendation of Moses) but in a quite unexpected way. Yes, "Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house" (Heb. 3:5); the commendation is repeated almost word for word, but the writer has in view one who is even greater than this Moses: "But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house" (3:6).
Moses was outstanding in his generation, commended by the LORD and deeply privileged. But there is one even more worthy of commendation, outstanding in all time and whose privilege derives from his being "the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being" (Heb. 1:3). As the house-builder, he has greater honour than the house itself (Heb. 3:3) and as the son over that house is worthy of the deepest devotion and the highest praise.
The writer of Hebrews also makes use of this incident (or at least of the LORD's commendation of Moses) but in a quite unexpected way. Yes, "Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house" (Heb. 3:5); the commendation is repeated almost word for word, but the writer has in view one who is even greater than this Moses: "But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house" (3:6).
Moses was outstanding in his generation, commended by the LORD and deeply privileged. But there is one even more worthy of commendation, outstanding in all time and whose privilege derives from his being "the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being" (Heb. 1:3). As the house-builder, he has greater honour than the house itself (Heb. 3:3) and as the son over that house is worthy of the deepest devotion and the highest praise.
Wednesday, 11 April 2007
Tuesday, 10 April 2007
hallowing the name
Hallowed be your name - the adoration that springs from the appreciation of God as our Father in heaven. The question I had was this: who does the hallowing and how? My assumption was that it is we (in concert with all humanity) who are to do the former by living hallowed lives, in every context and in every possible way.
But enter Ezekiel 36.
It is the LORD who will show his name to be holy, who will hallow his name. And he will do so through the return from exile and the gift of his Spirit:
That is to say, God will hallow his name in and through his Son and his great achievements, through the great events of the gospel. And through those achievements being visible in the lives of the people he brings back from the exile (of sin) and into whom he gifts his Spirit.
Maybe it's startlingly obvious to all & sundry but it was a fresh discovery to me. And a welcome, humbling one.
But enter Ezekiel 36.
Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes. (vv.22,23)
It is the LORD who will show his name to be holy, who will hallow his name. And he will do so through the return from exile and the gift of his Spirit:
For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. (vv.24-28)
That is to say, God will hallow his name in and through his Son and his great achievements, through the great events of the gospel. And through those achievements being visible in the lives of the people he brings back from the exile (of sin) and into whom he gifts his Spirit.
Maybe it's startlingly obvious to all & sundry but it was a fresh discovery to me. And a welcome, humbling one.
Thursday, 22 March 2007
Chris Wright on Noah & Mission
Although we live on a cursed earth, we also live on a covenanted earth.
This is God's earth, and God is covenantally committed to its survival, just as later revelation will show us that God is also covenantally committed to its ultimate redemption.
Our mission takes place within the framework of God's universal promise to the created order.
The rainbow promise spans whatever horizon we can ever see.
Christopher J H Wright, The Mission of God, IVP 2006, pp.326,7
Monday, 26 February 2007
Blessing, not cursing
In commenting on Genesis 3, John Goldingay (Old Testament Theology p.139) notices that "God actively blesses; God does not actively curse, but declares that the snake and ground are cursed." While acknowledging that "at one level the distinction is purely syntactical" he goes on to (fairly, imo) comment that "To describe God as blessing but not directly cursing suggests that blessing is Yhwh's natural activity, while cursing is less so...In Yhwh's nature blessing has priority over cursing, love over anger, mercy over retribution."
An interesting example that seems to confirm Goldingay's observation is found in Exodus 20:5 where the Lord delcares that he will punish the children for the sin of their parents to the fourth generation but will show love to a thousand generations of those who love him. Because his priority is blessing, not cursing.
An interesting example that seems to confirm Goldingay's observation is found in Exodus 20:5 where the Lord delcares that he will punish the children for the sin of their parents to the fourth generation but will show love to a thousand generations of those who love him. Because his priority is blessing, not cursing.
The Best Paragraph Ever Written
I believe this to be one of the finest paragraphs ever written. It makes you want to continue reading, its use of english is faultless and its pace and tone are exemplary (I'm sure the venerable Mr Zinsser would agree). The author is Eugene Peterson and he is writing about the pastoral ministry.
Here it is:
(from a piece entitled The Apocalyptic Pastor, found in various places including here)
I read the paragraph to my wife (whose name is a palindrome) and told her that I would give my life-savings to be able to write like that. She half-laughed, safe in the knowledge that were my intent true it wouldn't change our lives much. When I told her that I would sell this house to be able to write like that, she stood aghast and said "Surely you wouldn't!" I don't recall my response but it probably masked, for her sake, how real that desire was. Because it's the finest paragraph I have ever read.
Here it is:
The adjective apocalyptic is not commonly found in company with the noun pastor. I can't remember ever hearing them in the same sentence. They grew up on different sides of the tracks. I'd like to play Cupid between the two words and see if I can instigate a courtship.
(from a piece entitled The Apocalyptic Pastor, found in various places including here)
I read the paragraph to my wife (whose name is a palindrome) and told her that I would give my life-savings to be able to write like that. She half-laughed, safe in the knowledge that were my intent true it wouldn't change our lives much. When I told her that I would sell this house to be able to write like that, she stood aghast and said "Surely you wouldn't!" I don't recall my response but it probably masked, for her sake, how real that desire was. Because it's the finest paragraph I have ever read.
Monday, 12 February 2007
sermons on john 13-17
for what it's worth, my sermon notes on john 13-17, preached in swinton a couple of years ago, are available here (and also via the sermons link in the sidebar).
sermon on john 17:24-26
As GoogleEarth pans out, it sets your house, town and country into its global context. The prayer of Jesus draws to a close in these verses and as it does we see our Lord’s vision panning out and taking into account the final picture. It’s a thrilling and humbling sight.
1. To be with me
Having prayed for those who would believe in him through the apostles’ witness, Jesus now prays for every believer, for all those that the Father has given to him. And what he prays for is that all his people might be with him, where he is.
We’re used to tales of superheroes saving the world and then riding off into the distance but that isn’t what Jesus is about – that isn’t why God made the world, it isn’t why he sent his Son to rescue this fallen world. The Lord’s purpose, in creation and salvation, was to save a people for himself, people who would be in relationship with him and who would ultimately live with him.
This is what thrilled and encouraged Paul so much as he languished in a Roman prison and penned his letter to the Philippians – to “be with Christ which is better by far.” The Christian hope is not simply that one day we will live in the renewed heavens and earth where sin can no longer spoil and where death cannot rob and grieve. The centre of our hope is the Lord himself.
Have you ever wondered what that bit in Revelation is about, when it says that there will be no temple in the new heavens and earth? Why is that? Because “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (21:22). The temple served as the place where God’s presence was localised in this world and the same is true, in essence, of the church as the temple. But the great hope held out before us is for the full presence of God to flood the whole of creation.
We shall be with him. And look at what Jesus prays here: “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me”. This is what God wants, this is the passionate desire of Jesus, to have his people with him and for him to be with them.
One writer has said that “’With me’ is the language of love. The beloved longs for the lover’s presence. So Jesus…gazes across the rolling aeons of the future and anticipates the embrace of his beloved bride in the glory that is to be” (Milne).
For now, Jesus has prayed that we not be taken out of this world but rather protected whilst in it. But that’s only while time lasts. His ultimate desire is for his own to be with him. He wants us there and so prays for us to be there. And we shall be. No prospect can be so thrilling or sustaining amid the challenges and disappointments of life in this world. He wants you, wants us, to be with him.
2. To see my glory
But that isn’t all. The reason Jesus wants us to be with him is so that we might see his glory, the glory that he had with the Father because the Father loved him before the creation of the world.
We have already seen something of the glory of God in the face of our Lord Jesus. It is a sight of exquisite beauty and grace; when we see something of the wonder of God’s grace and love radiating from his Son, it takes our breath away. But there is yet more to see, so much more. Jesus wants us to see the glory he had with the Father ‘in the beginning’, before the days of time.
Here is a glory that is beyond words to begin to describe – the full relation of Father and Son, in the Spirit; the glory of the eternal God. And Jesus says that the Father gave him this glory because he loved him before the creation of the world – this is a glory that is not simply about salvation but takes up the full reality of the eternal God, who he is in himself, who he is in the relationship of the members of the Trinity.
The sight we have now is true but it is only partial; what Jesus is praying for here is the fullness. It will be a sight that is not clouded by sin, nor limited by our mortality. John tells us that when we see Jesus, we will be made like him for we shall see him as he is. It is that sight Jesus is praying about here.
When we fall asleep in Jesus we go to be with him in that moment but even then there is something more to come, the full revelation of his glory at his coming when he will be marvelled at among us.
Have you ever had the hairs on your neck stand up at the sight of a beautiful sunset? Or maybe just gazed admiring the clouds in the sky and adored the one whose canvas displays such amazing artistry? Have you had times when the reality of God’s love to you in Jesus has reduced you to grateful tears?
All those experiences are glimpses of the glory of God but they will be far surpassed. Jesus is asking here for us to be allowed to have, not a glimpse, but a full and unending grasp of the amazing reality that is God himself, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
3. Your love in them; I myself in them
With his last petition, Jesus returns to the interim. Having set up the prospect of the final consummation of all things, he states that the though the world does not know the Father, he does and his disciples know that the Father has sent him.
He is the one who has made the Father known to the disciples. All knowledge of the Father comes only through the Son, the one who is the express image of his person. But coming to know the Father through the Son is not a one-off event that is then done for ever. Jesus affirms his intention here to go on making the Father known to his people.
Whilst ever we remain in this life, Jesus will go on making the Father known to us. Our life as disciples is not to be static but an upward path as he opens to us through his Word, by his Spirit, the riches that are God himself. This is the desire and stated aim of Jesus, to reveal the Father to us as his people. That commitment by our Lord should lead us to say with Paul, “I want to know him…” and to pray with him, that the Lord would give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we might know him better (Eph. 1:17).
But why is Jesus committing himself to making the Father known to us? “That the love you have for me may be in them…that I myself may be in them” (v.26).
There’s a couple of things to notice about this.
i) Jesus wants us to know personally the same love that the Father has for him. To know and share in that is the very pinnacle of salvation. But Jesus is not speaking of our individual experience here; he has in view the love that exists and is shared within the Trinity also existing and being shared by the members of his family, the church.
Jesus makes the Father known to us so that we might share in their love, delighting personally in it and collectively demonstrating that love. Discovering more about God is not a merely intellectual exercise; it is for the purpose of showing love to each other and so declaring to the world the reality of who Jesus is and why he came.
ii) Jesus makes the Father known to us so that their love might be in us and so that he himself might be in us. And that is where we come to the highest goal of all in the purposes of God – that he might be all in all and that we might be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
You see, at the end of the day, it isn’t just about being forgiven and made new, it isn’t just about renewing the moral order of the world; it is, rather, all about God making his dwelling with humanity. And not just among us but in us.
Many centuries ago, a man called Athanasius said this: “the Word took bodily form so that we might receive the Holy Spirit: God became the bearer of a body so that men might be bearers of the Spirit.” That is how our Lord Jesus will be in us, each one and as a body collectively.
That is what Jesus is praying about here with his cross in full view. The only way that God will be able to dwell among and within people is by Jesus going the way of the Cross, bearing away all our sin and shame, enduring untold agony so that we might know inexpressible joy as we are filled with his love and indwelt by the Lord of glory.
This is what we hold out to this world as we preach the gospel. No-one else is worthy of our love and devotion.
1. To be with me
Having prayed for those who would believe in him through the apostles’ witness, Jesus now prays for every believer, for all those that the Father has given to him. And what he prays for is that all his people might be with him, where he is.
We’re used to tales of superheroes saving the world and then riding off into the distance but that isn’t what Jesus is about – that isn’t why God made the world, it isn’t why he sent his Son to rescue this fallen world. The Lord’s purpose, in creation and salvation, was to save a people for himself, people who would be in relationship with him and who would ultimately live with him.
This is what thrilled and encouraged Paul so much as he languished in a Roman prison and penned his letter to the Philippians – to “be with Christ which is better by far.” The Christian hope is not simply that one day we will live in the renewed heavens and earth where sin can no longer spoil and where death cannot rob and grieve. The centre of our hope is the Lord himself.
Have you ever wondered what that bit in Revelation is about, when it says that there will be no temple in the new heavens and earth? Why is that? Because “the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (21:22). The temple served as the place where God’s presence was localised in this world and the same is true, in essence, of the church as the temple. But the great hope held out before us is for the full presence of God to flood the whole of creation.
We shall be with him. And look at what Jesus prays here: “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me”. This is what God wants, this is the passionate desire of Jesus, to have his people with him and for him to be with them.
One writer has said that “’With me’ is the language of love. The beloved longs for the lover’s presence. So Jesus…gazes across the rolling aeons of the future and anticipates the embrace of his beloved bride in the glory that is to be” (Milne).
For now, Jesus has prayed that we not be taken out of this world but rather protected whilst in it. But that’s only while time lasts. His ultimate desire is for his own to be with him. He wants us there and so prays for us to be there. And we shall be. No prospect can be so thrilling or sustaining amid the challenges and disappointments of life in this world. He wants you, wants us, to be with him.
2. To see my glory
But that isn’t all. The reason Jesus wants us to be with him is so that we might see his glory, the glory that he had with the Father because the Father loved him before the creation of the world.
We have already seen something of the glory of God in the face of our Lord Jesus. It is a sight of exquisite beauty and grace; when we see something of the wonder of God’s grace and love radiating from his Son, it takes our breath away. But there is yet more to see, so much more. Jesus wants us to see the glory he had with the Father ‘in the beginning’, before the days of time.
Here is a glory that is beyond words to begin to describe – the full relation of Father and Son, in the Spirit; the glory of the eternal God. And Jesus says that the Father gave him this glory because he loved him before the creation of the world – this is a glory that is not simply about salvation but takes up the full reality of the eternal God, who he is in himself, who he is in the relationship of the members of the Trinity.
The sight we have now is true but it is only partial; what Jesus is praying for here is the fullness. It will be a sight that is not clouded by sin, nor limited by our mortality. John tells us that when we see Jesus, we will be made like him for we shall see him as he is. It is that sight Jesus is praying about here.
When we fall asleep in Jesus we go to be with him in that moment but even then there is something more to come, the full revelation of his glory at his coming when he will be marvelled at among us.
Have you ever had the hairs on your neck stand up at the sight of a beautiful sunset? Or maybe just gazed admiring the clouds in the sky and adored the one whose canvas displays such amazing artistry? Have you had times when the reality of God’s love to you in Jesus has reduced you to grateful tears?
All those experiences are glimpses of the glory of God but they will be far surpassed. Jesus is asking here for us to be allowed to have, not a glimpse, but a full and unending grasp of the amazing reality that is God himself, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
3. Your love in them; I myself in them
With his last petition, Jesus returns to the interim. Having set up the prospect of the final consummation of all things, he states that the though the world does not know the Father, he does and his disciples know that the Father has sent him.
He is the one who has made the Father known to the disciples. All knowledge of the Father comes only through the Son, the one who is the express image of his person. But coming to know the Father through the Son is not a one-off event that is then done for ever. Jesus affirms his intention here to go on making the Father known to his people.
Whilst ever we remain in this life, Jesus will go on making the Father known to us. Our life as disciples is not to be static but an upward path as he opens to us through his Word, by his Spirit, the riches that are God himself. This is the desire and stated aim of Jesus, to reveal the Father to us as his people. That commitment by our Lord should lead us to say with Paul, “I want to know him…” and to pray with him, that the Lord would give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we might know him better (Eph. 1:17).
But why is Jesus committing himself to making the Father known to us? “That the love you have for me may be in them…that I myself may be in them” (v.26).
There’s a couple of things to notice about this.
i) Jesus wants us to know personally the same love that the Father has for him. To know and share in that is the very pinnacle of salvation. But Jesus is not speaking of our individual experience here; he has in view the love that exists and is shared within the Trinity also existing and being shared by the members of his family, the church.
Jesus makes the Father known to us so that we might share in their love, delighting personally in it and collectively demonstrating that love. Discovering more about God is not a merely intellectual exercise; it is for the purpose of showing love to each other and so declaring to the world the reality of who Jesus is and why he came.
ii) Jesus makes the Father known to us so that their love might be in us and so that he himself might be in us. And that is where we come to the highest goal of all in the purposes of God – that he might be all in all and that we might be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
You see, at the end of the day, it isn’t just about being forgiven and made new, it isn’t just about renewing the moral order of the world; it is, rather, all about God making his dwelling with humanity. And not just among us but in us.
Many centuries ago, a man called Athanasius said this: “the Word took bodily form so that we might receive the Holy Spirit: God became the bearer of a body so that men might be bearers of the Spirit.” That is how our Lord Jesus will be in us, each one and as a body collectively.
That is what Jesus is praying about here with his cross in full view. The only way that God will be able to dwell among and within people is by Jesus going the way of the Cross, bearing away all our sin and shame, enduring untold agony so that we might know inexpressible joy as we are filled with his love and indwelt by the Lord of glory.
This is what we hold out to this world as we preach the gospel. No-one else is worthy of our love and devotion.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)