We all like to think that there are areas in our life where we are in control.

CS Lewis in Surprised by Joy wrote of his pre-Christian phase: “… But, of course, what mattered most of all was my deep-seated hatred of authority, my monstrous individualism, my lawlessness. No word in my vocabulary expressed deeper hatred than the word INTERFERENCE. But Christianity placed at the centre what then seemed to me a transcendental Interferer. If its picture were true, then no sort of ‘treaty with reality’ could ever be possible. There was no region, even in the innermost depth of one’s soul (nay, there least of all) which one could surround with a barbed wire fence and guard with a notice No Admittance. And that was what I wanted; some area, however small, of which I could say to all other beings, ‘This is my business and mine only’.”

As we prepare for Christmas it’s worth reflecting on one of the most breath-taking moments in history – the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary: “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28b). We can appreciate Mary’s alarm with this supernatural visitation.

But the angel, sensitive to her apprehension continued, “Do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God. And now you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus… (Luke 1:30-31).

“How can this be, since I have no husband?” Mary responded (Luke 1:34). Even though she was engaged to Joseph, at this point she had clearly not slept with him. And, perhaps like Peter at the time of Jesus’ transfiguration (Luke 9:33), she uttered the first thought that came to mind.

The angel’s response to Mary’s question is unexpected and astonishing (Luke 1:35). It is one of the most stunning statements about Jesus in the whole of Luke. Gabriel clarified for Mary, and for us, just why this baby can be described as truly human and yet divine: ‘God’s Holy Spirit will come upon you,’ he says, and ‘the power of the Most High will overshadow you’. They reflect the life-giving work of God in creation (Genesis 1:2; Psalm 104:30), and in salvation (Ezekiel 37:14).

Mary was a special recipient of God’s grace. God would be with her (future tenses) in the events that were to unfold. His centuries old promises concerning his kingdom and his salvation were about to be fulfilled.

Consider what the angel Gabriel goes on to say to Mary about her baby: “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:32f).

The theme of a virgin or young woman bearing a special son found in Isaiah chapter 7, verse 14, is present here. Yet Luke, unlike Matthew, doesn’t reference this. His emphasis is on the son rather than the mother. The baby is to be named Jesus. Furthermore, Luke sets out who the baby is – drawing our attention to the themes of the prophet Nathan’s words to king David in Second Samuel, chapter 7. Nathan speaks of David’s descendent whose name would be great and who would sit on the throne of his father David (2 Samuel 7:9 and 13-16). Furthermore, Nathan speaks of him as God’s son who will rule over God’s people (see also Psalm 7:17 and Daniel 4:24).

We should also note Luke’s contrasting statements about Jesus and John the Baptist. Whereas John would be great before the Lord (Luke 1:15), Jesus would be great in his own right (Luke 1:32). Many will rejoice at John’s birth (Luke 1:14) but God would give Jesus the throne of his father David (Luke 1:32). While John will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God (Luke 1:16), Jesus will reign over the house of Jacob forever (Luke 1:33).

John would play a significant role in God’s plan, but Jesus would be more significant in every way. John would stand in the tradition of the great prophets, but Jesus would be greater than a prophet. He would not simply stand in the tradition of the kings but would be the king God had promised long ago. (2 Samuel 7:9-16; Psalm 89:14, 19-29, 35-37). For Luke, Jesus’ connection with David is most important (1:32; 1:69; 2:4; 2:11; 3:31).

While Jesus would be given the title Lord after his death and resurrection (Acts 2:29-36), glimpses of this would be seen during the course of his ministry (Luke 18:39; 19:38). This royal figure would be the Son of the Most High (Luke 1:32). His rule would be over Jacob and would be forever (Luke 1:33).

In this remarkable, unexpected scene, Luke records God’s direct and personal involvement in his creation. From the moment of his conception in Mary’s womb, Jesus is understood to be truly man and truly God. God’s kingdom or rule has come into our human experience in a new and personal way. Jesus is truly divine and yet he is from the family of the kings.

Mary’s words of humility challenge us: “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).

When we consider this simple yet profound scene the implications are life-changing. They threaten our desire to be in control. Yet when we reflect, we discover an unexpected ray of light and hope for us and for our world. Yes, God is the ‘transcendental interferer’ but his ‘interference’ springs from his amazing heart of love and mercy.

No wonder we sing, Hark! The herald angels sing, … glory to the newborn king.

Prayer. Lord, we beseech you, pour out your grace into our hearts; so that, knowing the incarnation of your Son Jesus Christ by the message of an angel, we may be brought to the glory of his resurrection by his cross and passion. We ask this through Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Note: Comments on Luke 1 are drawn from my book, Luke: An Unexpected God, Second Edition, Aquila: 2019.

© John G. Mason

“Prepare ye the way of the Lord …” are the opening words of the Broadway musical Godspell, that was released in 1971. The lyrics pick up the theme of John the Baptist’s preaching some two millennia ago as he prepared people for the coming of God’s promised Messiah or King. All four Gospels record John’s ministry.

John the Baptist was a great preacher. He drew thousands from the cities and towns to the wilderness region near the Jordan River. He may have been a member of the Qumran community which was located around the northern shores of the Dead Sea.

In his preaching John used the symbolism of the exodus from Egypt. God’s people Israel had endured the wilderness for forty years because they had not listened to Moses. Now God in his mercy, had sent John whose role was to prepare the way for God’s Messiah. John’s mission was to call Israel back to God through preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as we read in Luke chapter 3, verse3.

For John, repentance and baptism are tightly linked. We men and women fail to honor God in our lives. This is our real sin. And we need to change. ‘Repentance and baptism’, said John, ‘were signs of a change of heart towards God and a renewed relationship with God’s people.’ In calling both the Jewish people and Gentiles to repent and be baptised, John angered many Jewish leaders. Baptism was a ceremony typically used as a sign of the incorporation of non-Jewish people, that is, outsiders, into the Jewish faith. When John preached that Abraham’s descendants should also be baptized, he was implying that God saw them as outsiders and not automatically as his people.

The glory of the Lord. To enable us to understand the significance of John’s ministry, Luke quotes Isaiah chapter 40, verses 1 through 9, the chapter from which the opening lines of Handel’s Messiah are drawn: Comfort, comfort, my people, says your God …. Isaiah 40 continues: In the wilderness a voice cries out, “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight … a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low;… Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (40:3-5).

The preaching of John the Baptist was a wake-up call for all of God’s people. ‘God is about to do a new thing; there will be a new exodus,’ John was saying. ‘He is going to fulfil his promises that prophets like Isaiah spoke about: God is about to send his Messiah who will offer comfort and hope to a broken world. My task,’ said John, ‘is to prepare you. You need to repent – to turn back to God – and, as a sign of your changed hearts, be baptised for the forgiveness of your sins’ (Luke 3:3).

Significantly, Luke emphasises Lord rather than God. John’s preaching is focused on God’s Messiah, namely, Jesus. This is significant. Luke is telling us that God is about to do a new thing. He is about to provide the means of the rescue of a lost world and with it, offer the comfort and hope the world longs for. All flesh shall see the salvation of God, we read in Luke chapter 3, verse 6. Like freeway or highway construction, cutting through mountains and filling in valleys, John’s ministry was to make the way ready for the Lord.

The priority of John’s ministry is preaching (3:7-18), the ministry of the sacrament is dependent on the ministry of God’s Word. This is important for us who live in an age when churches often focus more on the outward signs of faith rather than an inner personal response. God uses the instrument of words, not signs, to bring people to himself and change their lives.

John likened his hearers to a brood of vipers (3:7). These people were descendants of Abraham and yet he told them that they were alienated from God. “Who warned you,” he asked, “to flee from the wrath to come?” (3:7).

‘The time is critical,’ he insisted: “Even now the axe is laid at the root of the tree” (3:9). The true children of God are not those who have the right credentials (physical descendants of Abraham, 3:8), but those who bear fruits that befit repentance (3:8). ‘Do not be complacent or self-satisfied about your lives,’ John declared, ‘for you do not bear the marks of godly living. Like the very desert you are standing in,’ he implied, ‘you are barren; be warned of God’s coming judgment’ (3:9).

Godspell dramatized the first coming of the Messiah. The words prepare ye now serve as a reminder of his return. The season of Advent, which is the first season in the annual Church calendar, and which began on Sunday December 1, focuses on the second coming of the Lord Jesus.

The return of the King one day will surprise us all. We need to be prepared. We also have the task of preparing others for that great and glorious day. Will you join me in praying that all of us will look for and take up opportunities to introduce family and friends to Jesus, the Christ, especially over the Advent and Christmas seasons?

A Prayer. Blessed Lord, you have caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning, grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them that, encouraged and supported by your holy Word, we may embrace and always hold fast the joyful hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Note: My comments on Luke 3 are drawn from my book, Luke: An Unexpected God, Second Edition, Aquila: 2019.

© John G. Mason

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” Lord Acton wrote in his correspondence with Bishop Creighton in England in 1887. Reflecting on the moral issues in writing a history of the Inquisition, Lord Acton considered that all people, including political and spiritual leaders, should be held to the same moral standard.

The problem, as Lord Acton observed, is that leaders are inclined to use their powers corruptly. Especially is this true of despotic rulers who are not held accountable. How we need to thank the Lord for good leaders while also praying for them – for they are not perfect. Indeed, as Paul the Apostle urges us in First Timothy chapter 2, we need to pray for the leaders of all nations.

Significantly, the wrongs that leaders can perpetrate contrast sharply with the story of Jesus of Nazareth.

Come back with me in time some two and a half millennia, when the little kingdom of Judah in the Middle-East was facing the rise of great powers. In the 8th century BC the Assyrian imperial army rampaged through the Middle East and sacked the northern kingdom of Israel. A century later the Babylonian armies were on the rise, and it was only a matter of time before Judah received the unwelcome attention of those powerful forces.

How would Judah survive? She had no army to speak of, no money and no allies. Greater nations had already been cut down. Political obliteration seemed inevitable. Yet despite the odds, Judah’s morale was not destroyed. A glimmer of hope was on the horizon.

It was Isaiah, one of the prophets who had spoken of doom and despair, who wrote about a special leader who would be raised up. In Isaiah chapter 11, features of God’s promised king unfold.

A leader after God’s own heart. Isaiah was disappointed by the politicians of his day. They were corrupt: they took bribes, ignored the poor, and turned a blind eye to justice. King Ahaz, for example, had broken every trust given to him. He had even used the gold of the Temple to try to bribe Assyria and prevent her march on Jerusalem. He’d failed. He was another ruler who’d let his people down.

Time and time again, rulers and governments do that. In most western democracies today election promises are constantly consigned to the trash.

In chapter 11, verse 1, Isaiah offers hope: A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

Jesse was the father of King David, the great king in the Old Testament. Just as David himself had come out of obscurity, Isaiah is saying, so too a new king would emerge, and he would be greater than David and his son Solomon.

The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, Isaiah says, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:2-3).

Wisdom, understanding and knowledge would characterize this king’s rule. But fundamental would be his willingness to learn from God. There would be no political blunders in his rule. Furthermore, corruption would not plague his government; the media wouldn’t be able to destroy him – either over his personal integrity or his policies. No one would be living in poverty or without a home.

A leader who would use his power for peace. The metaphors in verse 6 are vivid: The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. Peace would be the mark of this leader’s rule.

Periods of world peace are fleeting. The war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle-East today have expunged the view that the world had at last entered a time of safety, security and prosperity. Yet Isaiah insists that under God’s ruler there will be no incompetence, no corruption, no violence – only justice and peace. Could it be true?

A leader who draws his people from the nations. Isaiah doesn’t stop there, for in verses 10 though 16 he portrays people coming from all parts of the world, like a scattered army, to rally around this ruler. It will be a victorious, redeemed community, he says (11:15). People will come from the East and the West. Highways will be built to God’s City so that people from every nation can come. It’s a vivid and poetic picture.

Understandably we ask, ‘Could it happen?’ ‘Who is this root of Jesse, this ruler to whom the people rally, who will restore creation to its pristine harmony?’ Jesus.

Some eight hundred years before Jesus came, Isaiah predicted the first coming of God’s king as well as his return. This is one of the amazing things about the Bible that convinces me that it is what it claims to be – namely, God’s deliberate, progressive, self-revelation.

Centuries before Jesus came, Isaiah opened a window on Jesus’ life and work. Wise men did come from the Far East to pay him homage at his birth. And people from around the world have been coming to him ever since his death and resurrection.

The Gospel writers reveal that Jesus not only taught but backed up his words with action that showed God’s compassion for a sick and sorry world. He fed the hungry, healed the sick, and dealt with the powers of evil.

As the New Testament unfolds, we learn that the coming of God’s king is in two parts. His first coming was a rescue operation; his return will reveal the king in all his might, majesty dominion and power. He will bring his perfect justice to bear and, with the unveiling of his own glory, will reveal the glory of all who have truly turned to him.

His first coming we celebrate at Christmas. In this season of Advent, the four weeks before Christmas, we focus on the reality of his return.

Our hope is bound up in God’s king. For the death of the king on the cross comes between God’s good creation, ruined by human sin with which the Bible begins, and the promise of a restored creation with which the Bible ends. God will wipe away every tear from our eyes… there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away (Revelation 21:4).

A prayer. Blessed Lord, you have caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning, grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them, so that, encouraged and supported by your holy Word, we may embrace and always hold fast the joyful hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

You may want to listen to Christ Our Hope in Life and Death from Keith and Kristyn Getty and Matt Papa.

The Advent Word on Wednesday series is adapted from my 2022 Advent series.

© John G. Mason

‘Thanksgiving’ in America is one of the delights Judith and I experienced when we moved to New York in 2001. Despite the evil events of September 11, 2001 people at our first Thanksgiving Dinner expressed their thanks for the way the Lord had used the events of 9/11 to build their trust in him.

When we think about it, thanksgiving is a theme that permeates the Bible – especially the Psalms. And while we do live in an uncertain world, there is still much for which to be thankful.

Come with me to Paul the Apostle’s Letter to the Philippians, chapter 4, verses 4 through 9.

An exhortation: Rejoice in the Lord always, Paul exhorts. And, as he doesn’t want us to skim over this, he says it a second time: Again, I say, Rejoice.

Paul was in prison when he wrote these words. He is repeating an earlier exhortation that we read in chapter 3, verse 1: Rejoice in the Lord. God wants us to so value our relationship with Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, that we long for the smile of his approval in all we do. Nothing else matters. He is our joy.

Paul is encouraging us to rejoice in the Lord because we can be assured that the Lord has his hand on the helm of the world’s events and our personal affairs. Come what may in life, he is working out his good purposes for his people. This challenges us to ask if we trust him in every situation – be it the loss of a job, disappointments, or sobering medical news.

Furthermore, in exhorting us to rejoice, he is not speaking about our being happy, always having a smile on our face. The joy he speaks of is the deep inner peace and contentment that spring from a personal trust in Jesus.

For this reason, he urges us to pray with thankfulness in our hearts: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

What remarkable and encouraging words: Don’t be anxious about anything … A timeless remedy for anxiety.

So Paul urges us to pray about our concerns in life, petitioning the Lord with our particular needs, and yet with thankfulness in our hearts for his goodness and mercy.

Here is the antidote to anxiety and the prelude to the experience of peace. Such prayer and thanksgiving express trust in God in every situation.

Let me ask, can you honestly say you are assured that Jesus is not only in control but that he truly loves and cares for you?

The promise of peace. In verse 7 we read: And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus, and in verse 9: …And the God of peace will be with you.

Peace, Shalom is a word of security. Paul was in prison for his faith when he wrote these words. He knew what it was to be anxious, even fearful about life’s injustices and disappointments. He knew the barbs that can hurt, especially false accusations and unjust persecution.

Encouragingly he speaks about God’s peace guarding our hearts and minds. Guard in this context conveys the positive idea of protection. As a Roman citizen, he may have had in mind the Praetorian Guard. It’s a great thought: God’s ‘Praetorian Guard’ providing security for our hearts and minds, and so giving us peace.

Furthermore, heart is the Bible’s way of speaking of what is deep within us – the desires that are at the very center of our soul. And mind refers to our decisions and thoughts that spring from our inner longings.

Now, if we remove God’s promise of peace from its biblical context, the idea of peace may be a great idea, but it is without substance. Peace in the Bible is profound because it is grounded in righteousness and truth. It is only meaningful because its foundation is the objective reality of the God whose very nature is holy and just. We enjoy peace only because God, whose very nature is to be merciful, has himself opened the way for peace between himself and us.

On the day of his resurrection, when Christ met with his disciples in a locked upper room, his first words were the conventional Jewish greeting: ‘Peace be with you’ (John 20:19). After showing them his hands and his side, revealing that he was truly physically alive he repeated the greeting: “Peace be with you” (20:21). In doing this, he was reminding the disciples of his words on the night of his arrest: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you … Do not let your hearts be troubled” (14:27).

The God of peace has stepped into our world in person and, in his righteousness and love, has provided once and for all time the means whereby his just requirements of us are perfectly satisfied. The resurrection of Jesus Christ assures us of the peace God has secured and now holds out to us. Nothing, not even death, can stand against it.

How much there is for which we can be thankful to the Lord from the bottom of our hearts. Is this real for you? How often do you express your thankfulness to the Lord – just at Thanksgiving, or every day?

A General Thanksgiving.  Almighty God, Father of all mercies, we your unworthy servants give humble and hearty thanks for all your goodness and loving kindness to us and to all people. We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your amazing love in the redemption of the world through our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace and for the hope of glory.

And, we pray, give us that due sense of all your mercies, that our hearts may be truly thankful, and that we may declare your praise not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory, now and forever. Amen.

You may want to listen to the song, May the Peoples Praise You from Keith and Kristyn Getty.

May you enjoy afresh the riches of God’s love this Thanksgiving!

A Gift at Thanksgiving

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© John G. Mason

Jesus’s physical resurrection from the dead is fundamental to the Christian faith. Without it, as Paul the Apostle says in First Corinthians, chapter 15, our faith is meaningless: we would have no assurance of our broken relationship with God being restored and no hope of eternal life that God holds out to us.

Some years ago, Ken Handley, a retired Justice of the Court of Appeal in New South Wales, Australia, wrote: “Most people who reject the resurrection do so with a closed mind without looking at the evidence. This is irrational and foolish. Jesus, the Son of God, who died to make us right with God, is calling each of us into a relationship with him which will involve faith, repentance, forgiveness and obedience. The Christian answers to those nagging personal questions make sense of the Cosmos and our place and purpose in it…”

In the opening segment of John 21 we learn that seven of Jesus’s disciples, including Simon Peter, went fishing on the Sea of Tiberias (Sea of Galilee) in the aftermath of Jesus’s resurrection. However, as they were returning to shore a voice called out asking if they had caught anything. Receiving a negative answer, the voice encouraged them to cast their nets on the right-hand side of the boat. Even though they didn’t know who it was, they followed the advice and quickly found that the nets were overfull with fish. ‘It is the Lord!’ John quietly said to Peter (21:7). Keen to see Jesus once again, Peter threw himself into the water.

As an eyewitness John the Gospel writer provides precise details: the boat was in shallow water, being only 100 yards offshore, and the catch of large fish numbered 153 (21:11). Fabricated accounts would not give such unexpected detail. The disciples found Jesus by a charcoal fire with fish laid out, as well as some bread. ‘Bring some of the fish that you have just caught’, Jesus said … ‘Come and have breakfast’ (21:12). Jesus not only turned out to be their provider that morning but cooked and served them breakfast – something apparitions cannot do (21:13).

John records: it was the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead (21:14).

And as we read on, we find that Jesus had a special word for Peter that day.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ When Peter had first encountered the power of Jesus’s words, he had said, ‘Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord’ (Luke 5:8). And on the night of the Last Supper Peter had said, ‘Lord I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death’ only then to deny Jesus three times, as Jesus had predicted (Luke 22:33f).

Like us, Peter was a sinner, in need of forgiveness. He sorely wanted Jesus’s assurance. He knew that without Jesus’s forgiveness their relationship would be broken; it would also mean that he could never be doing what Jesus had said he would do: “… from now on you will be catching men and women (Luke 5:10).

‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ Jesus asked him. Three times Jesus asked the question. Three times Peter had denied the Lord, and now, three times Peter responded, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you’. Humbled and grieved for his failures, Peter felt the force of Jesus’s questioning. So much so that his third response reveals the depth of his contrition, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you’ (21:17). The thrice repeated questions and Peter’s answers, assured him, in front of the other disciples, that the Lord had fully and freely pardoned and forgiven him. It was a special word for Peter – and for us all.

Furthermore, Jesus now had work for him to do. For with his response to Jesus’s three questions, he is commissioned with, ‘Feed my lambs’, ‘feed my sheep’ – God’s people, the children and the adults, the young in the faith as well as those who are mature in their faith.

The imagery of shepherd and sheep bubbles throughout the Bible. In Psalm 23 David speaks of the Lord as his shepherd and John chapter 10 records Jesus’s words, ‘I am the Good Shepherd (10:11, 14). Psalm 100 says, Know the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Isaiah chapter 40, verse 11 tells us, He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

Verse 6 of Isaiah chapter 53 begins with a sobering note about everyone of us, All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to our own way; and then foreshadows what God will do, And the Lord has laid on him(the suffering servant – the Son of God) the iniquity of us all. It is a prophetic word about the significance of the death of Jesus: Christ died in our place (Romans 5:6, 8).

Jeremiah chapter 3, verse 15 sets out another facet of God’s plans for his people, ‘I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding’.

These words stand behind Jesus’s charge to Peter as well as Paul the Apostle’s words in his Letter to the Ephesians when he speaks of God giving various ministries to his people – some as apostles (the foundational ministries), some as prophets, some as evangelists, and others as pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11f).

The ministry of God’s Word is the key to the effective growth and pastoral care of God’s people. Without the announcing of God’s good news how will people be rescued? (Romans 10:14f) Unless God’s people are taught God’s truth how will they grow in their love for him? (Colossians 3:16f). How will we know and understand the true meaning of the equality of all men and women – that we are all equal in God’s eyes, designed to know and love him, and enjoy him forever? How will we know what true compassion and justice are?

Without God’s speaking into our world through his unique, written self-revelation, how will understand that our reasoning and decisions are so often flawed? God alone can teach us the wisdom we need for life in a self-centered world until the day of Jesus’s return. How easy it is in the world of change pressing in on us to lose sight of the primary task of true ministry.

In his First Letter, Peter says, shepherd the flock of God among you … And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory (1 Peter 5:2, 4).

Do you love me? the risen Jesus asks. Feed my sheep – children and teenagers, unmarried and married, and the elderly.

A prayer. Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us both a sacrifice for sin and also an example of godly living; give us grace so that we may always thankfully receive the immeasurable benefit of his sacrifice, and also daily endeavor to follow in the blessed steps of his most holy life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for evermore. Amen.

You may like to listen to Facing the Task Unfinished from Keith and Kristyn Getty.

© John G. Mason

Back in 1995 Joan Osborne came and went with the hit, What if God Was One of Us? On the surface it asked the seemingly impossible question about seeing God face to face in human form. What would we do if we knew his name, saw his face, and his glory?

It’s a song that challenges us to think about our own worldview. It’s asking how we would respond if we were personally confronted with the seemingly impossible – seeing God face to face, as one of us. It’s a question that the Jesus Story we read in John’s record prompts us to ask.

In John chapter 14 a dark cloud was hanging over Jesus’s close followers. For three years they had been with him and were increasingly confident he was God’s promised king. But on the night of his arrest, Jesus had told them he was going away. “Don’t be troubled,” he said. “Believe in God, believe also in me… I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:1, 2b).

However Thomas, one of Jesus’s close followers, found this frustrating: “Lord, we do not know where you’re going…” For him, knowledge was based on concrete evidence and logic, not abstract ideas: ‘Where is this Father’s house? How can we know the way?’

Jesus’s reply is breath-taking, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Significantly, he doesn’t say, ‘I’ll show you the way’ but rather, “I am the way”; he doesn’t say, ‘I’ll tell you the truth’ but, “I am the truth”; he doesn’t say, ‘I’ll give you eternal life’ but, “I am the life”.

He is saying that at the heart of the universe is not a mathematical or scientific equation, but a person – a transcendental person who has come amongst us, as John records.

Many today dismiss the existence of God and a supernatural realm – and especially the idea that should it exist, that it can enter the material world. Maybe Thomas thought this too.

Indeed, John later candidly reports that Thomas didn’t believe the other disciples when they said they had seen Jesus risen from the dead. But when, a week later Thomas saw him, Jesus said to him, “Put your finger here, and see my hands, and put out your hand and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve but believe” (20:27).

Experiencing first-hand an unexpected joy and without touching Jesus, Thomas responded, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). With these heartfelt words Thomas not only acknowledged the reality that Jesus had risen from the dead, but also revealed his genuine repentance for having doubted the testimony of the others.

His contrite confession, “My Lord and my God!” underlines the veracity of John’s witness to Jesus: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

The challenge that Jesus put to Thomas that day, he puts to you and me today: “Do not disbelieve but believe” (20:27). Unbelief that Jesus is God is how Jesus defines sin. This is the question we all need to address.

Consider also how Jesus responded to a request from Phillip, another of his close followers. Philip said: “Lord show us the Father. That’s all we need” (John 14:9).

Philip wanted to know what every religion, and Joan Osborne, wants to know: ‘What is God like?’ He wanted some tangible experience of God that would sweep his doubts away. Perhaps he was thinking of God’s special appearances to people in the past – such as Abraham, Jacob, Moses. Or maybe he was influenced by a Jewish mysticism of the day, known as Merkabah or chariot mysticism, that taught of angels taking true believers by chariot into the very presence of God. Philip wanted to see God.

Again, Jesus’s response is breath-taking: “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

We would not have been surprised if Jesus had replied, ‘Don’t be silly Philip. You’re asking the impossible’. Rather he says, ‘Don’t you know me Philip, even after I’ve been among you for some years? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father’.

Now many who read history regard Jesus as one of the world’s great teachers. But this doesn’t come close to what he is saying. He isn’t just an emissary from God, but God himself.

And so, he continues: “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works (or signs) themselves” (John 14:11).

Think about it, Jesus is saying: ‘You’ve seen my miracles, signs that point to my divinity. Don’t they tell you something about me?’

It would make sense, explaining many extraordinary events over the last three years – especially how Jesus could even raise people from the dead, because he is the source of life.

The cumulative impact of Jesus’s life – the signs he performed and his revelatory teaching – exemplify the truth of the opening lines of John’s Gospel: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men and women … And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, … (John 1:1-4, 14).

The impossible has happened. God has come amongst us in person. As the Joan Osborne song suggests, he has a name and a face, he wants us to know him and one day share his glory.

Indeed, the signs of Jesus’s transcendent nature and his tender compassion for those in need, help us understand the significance of the words of chapter 3, verse 16: For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

We all have a decision to make – not believe that Jesus is God in the flesh (which is what sin is) or believe that Jesus is truly God who came to us as one of us, to rescue us and restore our relationship with God. He alone is our hope. Does your heartfelt response to Jesus echo the repentance and faith of Thomas: ‘My Lord and my God’.

Do you want to find out more? You will find it helpful to speak with a believing friend, perhaps over coffee. They may suggest one or more options. One that comes to mind is, ‘TheWord121’ (www.theword121.com). It is an accessible introduction to the bigger picture of the Jesus Story in the Gospel of John and is available in booklet form or online.

Prayer. Almighty God, you show to those who are in error the light of your truth so that they may return into the way of righteousness: open our eyes to know Jesus as our only Lord and Savior, prompting us to renounce all things that are contrary to your will and stirring us to  live for you, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

© John G. Mason