rescue
A New and Living Way
By Linda Rex
November 17, 2024, Proper 28 | After Pentecost—This year as we have walked through the Revised Common Lectionary passages, I have been mostly focusing on the New Testament passage, while drawing upon the other passages where they have been appropriate. Today, though, in the light of tomorrow being the 2024 election day here in America, I will begin with the Gospel passage, Mark 13:1–8. I will bring in the New Testament passage from Hebrews later in this blog.
In the gospel for this Sunday, Jesus was leaving the temple when one of his disciples began pointing out the architectural merits and wonders of the building. Jesus was not impressed. He immediately remarked that a time was coming when every stone would be leveled, a statement of hyperbole prophetically pointing to what would happen in 70 AD when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by the Romans.
Since the disciples, as usual, did not seem to get the point, they began asking about what the sign would be when all that was predicted would come to pass. Jesus turned their attention instead to what their motives were. They were looking for someone to save them from their Roman oppressors. They were looking for a messiah who would rescue them and make them an independent nation using violent means. But Jesus told them not to seek rescue and salvation from human saviors, for they will always end up misleading the people who follow them, using evil means to defeat evil. And Jesus told the disciples that wars, famines, international disputes were all part of the birth pangs leading up to the establishment of God’s new heaven and earth. They were not to be distressed by any of these things, but to understand that they were all part of the process of God’s redemption of his creation.
Jesus’ message is just as appropriate today as it was back then. Even to this day, there have been leaders who claimed that they would bring about a new world, a new government, and the salvation of their people. Some of these even led a military revolt, or the establishment of a new government. Many looked real good at the beginning, because they knew what things to tell people in order to get a following. But when they eventually began to run things their way, it soon became apparent that they were no savior or messiah—they were merely another faulty human who was leading everyone astray.
In the light of this reality, we are reminded of our New Testament passage, Hebrews 10:11–14, 19–25. In this the author contrasts the daily efforts of the Old Testament Aaronic priest, who, in spite of his diligent efforts, was never able to take away the sins of the people. In contrast, Jesus offered himself, once for all. By this self-offering, Jesus “perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”
There is only one Person who is able to take away our sins and perfect us before God. There is only one Person who delivers us and frees us from the tyrannies of this world. There is only one Person who enables us, “by a new and living way,” through his flesh, to enter into God’s presence. Because of who Jesus Christ is and what he has done, we draw near to God in faith, cleansed and purified, and made whole.
We are reminded that though human kingdoms rise and fall, human leaders rise and fall, and the world seems to be falling into chaotic disarray at times, Jesus Christ does not change. He does not fail us. He is present now by his Spirit, and is interceding for us with his Father on our behalf. There is nothing that cannot be brought to Jesus, and through him to his Father in the Spirit. Whatever is happening in this world, no matter how the election turns out, we have hope that God is still at work bringing to pass his ends and purposes. He will, in time, defeat all his enemies, and they are as good as defeated even now, for he is taking all that is meant for evil and turning it to accomplish his perfect, good will in this world.
As we make our way to the voting booth, and as we work our way through this transition of government, there is one thing we can be sure of: When we go to God with humble hearts and ask him to rescue and save us, and to work all things for our good, he will hear us and respond. May we have the humility and grace to pray to God about all that is going on, and trust in the faithful love and grace of Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.
Heavenly Father, as we face significant changes in our world and our nation, we turn to you and ask you to take all things into your loving hands and to work them out for our good. Thank you, Jesus, that we can come to you in faith, and know you are interceding on our behalf. We are in need of your rescue and salvation in every moment. May your Spirit move in us, in our lives, and in our circumstances, to accomplish your perfect will, in Jesus name. Amen.
“Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, ‘sat down at the right hand of God,’ waiting from that time onward ‘until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet.’ For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. … Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:11–14 (15–18) 19–25 NASB
“As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.’ As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and 1James and John and Andrew were questioning Him privately, ‘Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?’ And Jesus began to say to them, ‘See to it that no one misleads you. Many will come in My name, saying, “I am He!” and will mislead many. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.” Mark 13:1–8 NASB
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Children of Light
By Linda Rex
November 24, 2019, Christ the King or Reign of Christ—Yesterday I was catching up on a few emails when I noticed one from a publisher. They were wanting to market my book “Making Room” and were telling me how wonderful it was and how it could reach millions of people if only I would sign up with them for their marketing services. When the email reached the place where it said that my book was being considered for being made into a film, I started laughing. Well, I thought to myself, it is pretty obvious that this person never even read my book.
What I found out with a little research on my part was this particular group makes a practice of plagiarizing people’s writing. What appeared to be a wonderful opportunity to share my writing turned out to be a ploy to steal what I worked so hard to put together for the benefit of my readers. Just another case where what appeared to be glorious on the outside turned out to be like the tombs Jesus described—outwardly whitewashed and beautiful, but filled with death and decay on the inside.
It seems that our broken human existence is often like this. Remember the old saying, “there’s no such thing as a free lunch?” We tend to assume that free means free, but more often than not there is a catch of some kind. We end up paying in some crazy way for that thing we thought was a generous and delightful freebie. Because of this, we find it difficult to get our minds around the reality that God has offered us salvation as a free gift in his Son Jesus Christ.
First, the darkness of our human brokenness blinds us to our need for deliverance. We prefer to buy a few cans of whitewash and put a new layer on our evil, sin, and death rather than submitting ourselves to the truth of our humanity—we need Christ. We need to be changed from the inside out—we need a new existence, one in which we are reconciled with God and made whole. The fact that Jesus came in our stead, on our behalf means we were in need of him doing so. In other words, we are sinners in desperate need of rescue. We are, as Israel was, incapable of and unwilling to live in union and communion with our covenant God, and so the Word of God came into our humanity to do what we could not and would not do.
Secondly, submitting ourselves to the transforming power of God’s grace given to us in Jesus Christ means we are submitting to God as Lord over our existence. Jesus lived our life and died our death, rising again and carrying our humanity into the presence of our Father. Our human existence isn’t defined by our self-determination, our self-will, and self-preservation any longer, but by the self-giving, self-sacrificing, and other-centered being of Jesus Christ. Jesus defines us—he is our identity as adopted children of our heavenly Father. We are called to faith, to trust in him fully, to receive our identity as full participants in the majestic love of the Father and the Son in the Spirit.
And this is what we resist—Jesus as our King. What we need to come to grips with is our need to surrender to the all-encompassing love and grace of our ever-living Lord. We are so much more comfortable with our fear, our anxiety, and our human efforts to liberate ourselves than we are simply trusting in him, in his goodness, kindness and mercy—that as our Lord and King, he wants only the best for us and is always working things for our good as we trust in him.
As soon as things start to go wrong in our lives, we are tempted to believe that God doesn’t care, that he doesn’t love us, and that he is indifferent to our concerns and needs. We may be dealing with an endless struggle with pain or loss, and wonder why God won’t take it away—how can he really love us when we have to go through this day after day after day? We like to make up our own rules for our existence and don’t like the idea of anyone but us deciding how things ought to be. Why should I listen to God and do things his way, since his way is so hard and difficult? And look at all those people who say they are Christians—what’s the point of following Jesus when it doesn’t change anything?
These are really good questions, and I do believe we need to be asking them. But I also believe we have to be very careful in our search for answers not to ignore the reality of what God has done already in giving his Son Jesus Christ, and what he is doing in each moment right now by the Holy Spirit to bring Jesus’ resurrected life into effect in our human existence as we trust in him.
God is at work in the world through Jesus in the Spirit. He has, in Jesus, delivered all humanity out of the kingdom of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of light. But our participation is critical. What we believe about Jesus, who he is, what he has done and is doing, is important. Who is Jesus Christ? Who is Jesus to you? Are you in agreement with the spiritual reality that Jesus is your Lord and your Savior? If so, how does this affect the way you live your life?
If we expect it to be all up to us to make the Christian life work, we are going to find ourselves in a very difficult place. God will not allow us to endlessly continue in the false belief that if we do everything “just so” then everything will turn out all right. He will allow us to experience the reality that our rightness is solely dependent upon Jesus Christ. He alone is the sovereign Lord over our whole human existence.
It was our heavenly Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness of the Godhead to dwell in Christ and through him to reconcile all things in heaven and on earth with himself. There is nothing left between us and God—we are fully free to be the adoring adopted children of God we were always meant to be (Col. 1:11–20).
We have been brought out of darkness into the light, so the truth of our existence is that we are children of light. This gift of grace so freely given is meant to be received with gratitude and praise demonstrated by a life lived as those who reflect the glorious image of our loving sovereign King who is Father, Son and Spirit. Let us live and walk in the truth of that, both now and forever.
Abba, thank you for loving us so much that you would not allow anything to come between us and you. Thank you for delivering from the kingdom of darkness and setting us by your Son Jesus Christ in your kingdom of light. Grant us the grace to admit our need for redemption and forgiveness, and to submit to you as the Lord over all things, through Jesus our Lord and Savior. Enable us to serve you faithfully and obediently from now on with gratitude and praise as your beloved children. Amen.
“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely | And do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, | And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The Lord our righteousness.’” Jeremiah 23:5–6
“The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, and saying, ‘If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!’ Now there was also an inscription above Him, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’ One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, ‘Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!’ But the other answered, and rebuking him said, ‘Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.’ And he was saying, ‘Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!’ And He said to him, ‘Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.’” Luke 23:36–43 NASB
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