psalm113

In those words ‘servants of the LORD’ Jesus would have seen what he had known from eternity past about himself, firstly ….

Jesus saw in those Hebrew Scriptures the picture of himself as the servant who would fulfill all that Israel as the servant of the Lord was meant to be, and more. Isaiah’s reference to God’s chosen servant, “Look at my servant, whom I strengthen, he is my chosen one and I am pleased with him,”[1] is quoted in full by Matthew in connection with Jesus’ ministry of healing. The implication is that the servant references in the servant chapters of Isaiah point ultimately to him. The opening lines of the reference match the voice from heaven that affirmed Jesus’ identity as he came up out of the water after his baptism: “This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with him.”[2] Matthew writes …

This fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah concerning him: “Look at my servant, whom I have chosen. He is my Beloved, and I am very pleased with him. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not fight or shout, he will not raise his voice in public. He will not crush those who are weak, or quench the smallest hope, until he brings full justice with his final victory. And his name will be the hope of the world. (Matthew 12:17-21)

One day James and John, prompted by their mother, came to Jesus with a request that they be given a senior position in his kingdom. His answer speaks also to us, and at the same time reveals his own his servant attitude. He truly is the servant.

Jesus called them together and said, “You know that in this world kings are tyrants, and officials lord it over the people beneath them. But among you it should be quite different. Whoever wants you to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must become your slave.

For even I, the Son of man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and give my life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:25-28)

While singing those words ‘O servants of the LORD,’ Jesus may have been picturing again those scenes by the shores of Galilee when he first “… saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—fishing with a net, for they were commercial fishermen.” He would remember when “ … he called out to them, ‘Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!’ ” He recalls their response as “… they left their nets at once and went with him.” And then as he walked further along the shore when he saw, “… two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. And he called them to come too. They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.”[3]

And then there was Matthew the tax collector, who Jesus invited to become another of his disciples. He remembers how straight away “Matthew got up and followed him.” He thinks back to the times when Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, James, Thaddaeus, Simon (the zealot), and Judas Iscariot completed his chosen twelve. He chose them to take his message of salvation to their countrymen and beyond. The nature of their service, not only as servants but in the deep relationship of friendship with him, was made clear to them when Jesus said to them …

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener … Yes, I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart

You are my friends if you obey me. I no longer call you servants, because a master doesn’t confide in his servants. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. I command you to love each other. (John 15:1, 5-8, 14-17)

But will their commitment last? How will they go when confronted by the difficulties that surely lie ahead? Will they give up easily? Sadness begins to descend on Jesus as he looks into their faces, knowing that one of them, Judas, is about to betray him to those wanting to kill him, and the other eleven, despite their promise never to deny him, will all desert him as he is taken to the cross on ‘Skull Hill.’[4]

In that upper room, as he sang those opening words of the Hallel with his disciples, Jesus may also have seen …

Israel as a nation had long ago had been called to serve the Lord in making him known among the nations. Isaiah has preserved for us the references the Lord makes to Israel as his chosen servant. For example …

The lands beyond the sea watch in fear. Remote lands tremble and mobilize for war. They encourage one another with the words, “Be strong!” The craftsmen rush to make new idols. The carver hurries the goldsmith, and the molder helps at the anvil. “Good,” they say. “It’s coming along fine.” Carefully they join the parts together, then fasten the thing in place so it won’t fall over.

But as for you, Israel my servant, Jacob my chosen one, descended from my friend Abraham, I have called you back from the ends of the earth so you can serve me. For I have chosen you and will not throw you away. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. (Isaiah 41:5-10)

The Lord’s promise quoted above, moves on from Isaiah’s time to the later time of Israel’s restoration to their homeland after being disciplined and scattered among the nations. But it repeats what had always been the nation’s calling to make him known to all people. One of Israel’s song writers was aware of that calling when writing this prayer for its fulfillment …

O God, in mercy bless us. Let your face beam with joy as you look down at us. Send us around the world with the news of your saving power and your eternal plan for all mankind. How everyone throughout the earth will praise the LORD! How glad the nations will be, singing for joy because you are their king and will give true justice to their people! Praise God, O world! May all the peoples of the earth give thanks to you. For the earth has yielded abundant harvests. God, even our own God, will bless us. And peoples from remotest lands will worship him. (Psalm 67 Living Bible)

But so far, Israel as a nation has never in its history taken up that responsibility to carry God’s message of salvation to the rest of the world. The Lord speaks of his disappointment with them in the writings of Isaiah, a disappointment that may well express his feelings towards his church in our day …

“Oh, how deaf and blind you are toward me! Why won’t you listen? Why do you refuse to see? Who in the world is as blind as my own people, my servant? Who is as deaf as my messengers? Who is as blind as my chosen people, the servant of the LORD? You see and understand what is right but refuse to act on it. You hear, but you don’t really listen.” (Isaiah 42:18-20)

“These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. And their worship of me amounts to nothing more than human laws learned by rote.” (Isaiah 29:13)

The people’s attitude was still the same in Jesus’ day, drawing from him this cry of distress …

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. And now look, your house is left to you, empty and desolate. For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ” (Matthew 23:37-39)

And then as they sang the next parts of the song, Jesus would have seen himself …

It is in these lines that we come to something that is beyond our understanding, but something that Jesus knew. It is in that name that he saw himself as God.

Praise the name of the LORD! Blessed be the name of the LORD forever and ever. Everywhere—from east to west—praise the name of the LORD. For the LORD is high above the nations, his glory is far greater than the heavens. (vs. 1b-4)

Isaiah saw him as God in the prophetic announcement of his coming, a prediction verified by the angel’s reassurance to the worried Joseph.

Now this is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her fiancé, being a just man, decided to break the engagement quietly, so as not to disgrace her publicly.

As he considered this, he fell asleep, and an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to go ahead with your marriage to Mary. For the child within her has been conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All of this happened to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:

“Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and he will be called Immanuel, meaning, God is with us.” [5] (Matthew 1:18-23)

When questions arose about his identity Jesus made it clear that he was indeed God. On one occasion some Jewish people became confused and angry as they listened to his teaching and said to him …

“Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”

Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I do not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day. He saw it and was glad.”

“You are not yet fifty years old,” the Jews said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”

“I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am.” (John 8:53-58 NIV)

When Jesus concluded with the statement ‘I am,’ he identified himself as God. For he used the very same phrase that appears in God’s reply to Moses when protesting at his call to lead the people of Israel to a new life in another country. When Moses doubted his ability to rescue his people from their oppression in Egypt, part of his response was to ask God what name he should use for him in negotiating with the Egyptians.

But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they won’t believe me. They will ask, ‘Which God are you talking about? What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?”

God replied, “I AM THE ONE WHO ALWAYS IS. Just tell them, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” God also said, “Tell them, ‘The LORD, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, he God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent you.’ This will be my name forever. It has always been my name, and it will be used throughout all generations.” (Exodus 3:13-15)

Notice in God’s reply to Moses that the two references to his name are identical. Just tell them, ‘I AM has sent you.’ Tell them, ‘The LORD … has sent you.’ Wherever the name Lord is rendered in capital letters in our English translations it indicates the name Jehovah, as it does here. It is a name derived from the Hebrew verb ‘to be.’ And so it is not difficult to see why the two references to God’s name in this reply to Moses’ protest are synonymous. ‘The LORD’ is the ‘I AM’, the one who is always there, the one who is always the same. When Jesus told those people that “before Abraham was born, I am,” he was telling them that he was indeed ‘God,’ the ‘I AM’ the always is one. The author of the book Hebrews saw Jesus as the one who always is when he wrote … “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”[6]

Jesus also used the name ‘I am’ to identify himself to the disciples when they were caught in a storm on Lake Galilee one evening. They had been fighting the turbulence of wind and wave for several hours without making any progress when Jesus came to help. Not recognizing him as he walked towards them on the surface of the water, they were terrified. Aware of the perilous situation they were in and hearing their cries of terror above the noise of the storm, Jesus made himself known as he called out, “I am here!” What Jesus is saying may also be translated as ‘The I am is here.’ The Greek behind this translation is just the one word, éιμι (eimi) meaning ‘I am.’ Mark has left us a brief account of the terrors of that night as it followed the blessings of the day when Jesus had taught the several thousand people waiting for him on the shores of the lake and provided them with food …

Immediately after this, Jesus made his disciples get back into the boat and head out across the lake to Bethsaida, while he sent the people home. Afterward he went up into the hills by himself to pray.

During the night, the disciples were in their boat out in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was alone on land. He saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and the waves. About three o’clock in the morning, he came to them, walking on the water. He started to go past them, but when they saw him walking on the water, they screamed in terror, thinking he was a ghost. They were all terrified when they saw him. But Jesus spoke to them at once. “It’s all right,” he said, “I am here! Don’t be afraid.” Then he climbed into the boat and the wind stopped. (Mark 6:45-51)

As we have explained above, the assurance Jesus conveyed to his disciples as he concluded his response to their terror was simply the verb éιμι, ‘I am’, translated meaningfully as ‘I am here.’

Jesus also gave people the opportunity to see him as God while not directly asserting it. For example, in answering the question put to him by a wealthy business man.

Once a religious leader asked Jesus this question: “Good teacher, what should I do to get eternal life?”

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “Only God is good.” (Luke 18:18-19)

In reminding this person that only God could be called good, Jesus is inviting him to see for himself that the one talking to him there was God. If this religious leader could see that Jesus was good, then he is close to seeing that Jesus is God, because only God is good.

The psalmists frequently refer to the Lord (Jehovah, the ‘I am’) as being God and as being good, using the two designations of his name as synonyms. The writer of Psalm one hundred does this for example. In the first stanza he gives as the reason for praise the fact the Lord is God, in the second that the Lord is good. As synonyms, the words God and good are interchangeable between the stanzas. It’s worth a closer look at this psalm.

It was clear to the religious leaders and teachers in Israel that Jesus was making it known that he was God. It was for this very reason that they were often huddled together making plans to kill him. On one occasion for example …

It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah.[7] He was at the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon’s Colonnade. The Jewish leaders surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is what I do in the name of my Father. But you don’t believe me because you are not part of my flock. My sheep recognize my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than me. The Father and I are one.”

Once again the Jewish leaders picked up stones to kill him. Jesus said, “At my Father’s direction I have done many things to help people. For which one of these good deeds are you killing me?”

They replied, “Not for any good work, but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, have made yourself God.” (John 10:22-33)

As Jesus sang that line with his disciples, ‘Blessed be the name of the LORD,’ it was in that name that he saw himself as Jehovah, the ‘I AM’. And now, in a way that is beyond our understanding, in human form, he is about to become the sacrificial Lamb of God. Paul captures this moment when he writes …

Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing, he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross. (Philippians 2:6-8)

For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others. (2 Corinthians 5:19)

Charles Wesley did not try to understand this mystery, but found peace with himself and with God in the assurance that Jesus Christ as God died for him. In one of the earliest of the six thousand hymns he wrote, he advises us to ‘inquire no more’ but simply to accept him as he said he was and is and the salvation he has provided for us by his sacrificial death.

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior's blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, should'st die for me?

'Tis mystery all: th'Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
'Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.

The Cambridge University graduate, English test cricketer, and Christian missionary to the people of China C. T. Studd once said, “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”

There was good reason to be praising the Lord in the singing of this first song of the Hallel, Psalm 113, “For the LORD is high above the nations, his glory is far greater than the heavens.” (vs. 4) But as the disciples sang, did they understand what they were singing? In those words did they see the one who was singing with them? Did they see him raised and ruling ‘high above the nations’ as the Lord God? We can be sure that Jesus would have seen himself in those words.

Jesus spoke often of his resurrection. It was following a confrontation with those conducting a questionable business in the temple that Jesus made it clear, for those who wanted to see, that he would be raised from the dead.

“What right do you have to do these things?” the Jewish leaders demanded. “If you have this authority from God, show us a miraculous sign to prove it.”

“All right,” Jesus replied, “Destroy thus temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.”

“What!” they exclaimed, “It took forty six years to build this temple, and you can do it in three days?” But by this “temple,” Jesus meant his body. After he was raised from the dead, the disciples remembered that he had said this. And they believed both Jesus and the Scriptures. (John 2:19-22)

Jesus also spoke many times of his coming death. He always knew that the purpose of his coming was to die a sacrificial death. John was aware of this when he pointed him out to his followers.

John told them, “I baptize with water, but right here in the crowd is someone you do not know, who will soon begin his ministry. I am not even worthy to be his slave. This incident took place at Bethany, a village east of the Jordan River where John was baptizing.

The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and said, “Look! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin world!” (John 1:26-29)

While teaching in Jerusalem in the week before he became “our Passover lamb … sacrificed for us,”[8] Jesus spoke of his coming death as he had done many times before. But this time, as it was now only a few days away, he speaks also of the struggle he was having in fulfilling the purpose of his coming.

“The time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory … Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father save me from what lies ahead?’ But that is the very reason I came! Father bring glory to your name.”

Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, “I have already brought it glory, and I will do it again.” When the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to him.

Then Jesus told them, :The voice was for your benefit, not mine. The time of judgement for the world has come, when the prince of this world will be cast out. And when I am lifted up on the cross, I will draw everyone to myself.” He said this to indicate how he was going to die. (John 12:23, 27-33)

It was the thought of what lay beyond the cross that kept him on track. The author of Hebrews says of Christ …

He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward. Now he is seated in the place of highest honor beside God’s throne in heaven. (Hebrews 12:2)

While he was singing these words of the Hallel with his disciples, ‘For the LORD is high above the nations, his glory is far greater than the heavens,’ Jesus would have seen himself there, ‘high above the nations,’ raised and ruling. He would have seen himself in that scene, yet to be given in a revelation to John, where the residents of heaven would be singing a new song before him. John tells us what he saw when he looked through that ‘door standing open in heaven.’[9] A scroll containing God’s plans for the winding up human activity on planet earth, and of the planet itself, are given to one named as ‘a Lamb that had been killed.’[10]

Paul refers several times in his letters to Christ as raised and ruling. In his letter to the Christians in Rome for example, reminds them of the prophecies of the coming Messiah’s future reign over all people, Israelis and Gentiles.

So accept each other just as Christ has accepted you, then God will be glorified. Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promises he made to their ancestors. And he came so the Gentiles might also give glory to God for his mercies to them. That is what the psalmist meant when he wrote:

So I pray that God, who gives you hope, will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in him. May you overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:7-13)

When writing to the church in Ephesus, Paul tells the people of his prayer that they might come to understand this great truth, Christ raised and ruling …

I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else in this world or in the world to come. And God has put all things under the authority of Christ, and he gave him this authority for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body, it is filled by Christ, who fills everything everywhere with his presence. (Ephesians 1:19-23)

So far we have thought of Jesus seeing himself in the first psalm of the Hallel: As The Servant, As God, As Raised As Ruling. Now in the remainder of the psalm we may think of him as seeing himself …

The psalmist states the uniqueness of the Lord in the form of a rhetorical question.

If we acknowledge that Jesus is God, even though, while in human form at his first coming, “he did not demand and cling to his rights as God,”[15] we are able in the psalmist’s statement, to see him as unique. The word 'unique' refers to something or someone, ‘Of which there is only one … having no like or equal, standing alone in comparison with others.’[16] The word can certainly be said of Jesus. There is no one like him. There are none to be compared to him. The song writer Ethan writes of him …

All heaven will praise your miracles LORD. Myriads of angels will praise you for your faithfulness. For who in all of heaven can compare with the LORD? What mightiest angel is anything like the LORD. The highest angelic powers stand in awe of God. He is far more awesome than those who surround his throne. O LORD God almighty! Where is there anyone as mighty as you, LORD? Faithfulness is your very character. (Psalm 89:5-8)

Nowhere among the pagan gods is there a god like you, O LORD. There are no other miracles like yours. All the nations—and you made each one—will come and bow before you, LORD. They will praise your great and holy name. For you are great and perform great miracles. You alone are God. (Psalm 86:8-10)

And now back to our Psalm, the remaining verses of which describes his uniqueness. He is unique …

He reigns over all of creation. He overrules all of the decisions made by those in all areas of leadership. As Paul explained to the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers in Athens, “From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand which should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. His purpose in all of this was that the nations should seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any of one us.”[17] Our psalmist writes of him as the one “… who is enthroned on high. Far below him are the heavens and the earth.” (vs. 5-6a) The author of the doctrinal treatise Hebrews identifies Messiah Jesus with God …

Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. But now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance and through the Son he made the universe and everything in it. The Son reflects God’s own glory and everything about him represents God exactly. He sustains the universe by the mighty power of his command. After he died to cleanse us from the stain of sin, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God of heaven …

But to his Son he says, “Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. Your royal power endures forever and ever. Your royal power is expressed in righteousness. (Hebrews 1:1-3, 8)

What is this throne the writer is referring to? Stephen points us to the answer in his address to his fellow Israelis and their religious leaders …

“David found favor with God and asked for the privilege of building a permanent Temple for the God of Jacob. But it was Solomon who actually built it. However the Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands . As the prophet says[18], ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you ever build me a temple as good as that?’ asks the Lord. ‘Could you build a dwelling place for me? Didn’t I make everything in heaven and earth?’ ” (Acts 7:46-50)

John saw Christ pictured as the ultimate victor over all the forces on earth and in the heavens that are opposed to God’s rule. He is truly ‘King of kings and Lord of lords.’ This is his unique position.

Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. And the one sitting on the horse was named Faithful and True. For he judges fairly and then goes to war. His eyes were bright like flames of fire and on his head were many crowns. A name was given on him, and only he knew what it meant. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. The armies of heaven dressed in pure white linen, followed him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword, and with it he struck down the nations. He ruled them with an iron rod and he trod the winepress of the fierce wrath of almighty God. On his robe and thigh was written this title: King of kings and Lord of lords. (Revelation 19:11-16)

No matter what the trial we may be experiencing, the problem troubling us, our psalmist assures us that “He stoops to look.” (vs. 6b) The Hebrew word translated here as ‘stoops’ is shaphel ‘to become low, lowly.’ The word is used to express humility. Jewish scholars have missed the Messianic reference in this phrase because they look only for a Messiah King not a suffering Messiah. They do not look for the one of whom Paul wrote, “He humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!”[19] As one who has suffered, ‘He stoops to look’ to see how we are getting along in our pilgrimage. And looking, he feels for us in the pain we may be experiencing. He is aware of the trial we are going through. He knows and understands for he too has known suffering. He has experienced …

The walk through the valley of death. The People of Israel had and still have an expectation of a Messiah who would come to reign as a king. They have not understood that before the nations acknowledge him as King of kings and Lord of lords[20] he would first come as the ‘Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.’[21] The author of Hebrews writes of him …

“For a little while you[22] made him lower than the angels, and you crowned him with glory and honor. You gave him authority over all things.”[23] Now when it says ‘all things,’ it means nothing is left out. But we have not yet seen all of this happen. What we do see is Jesus, who ‘for a little while was made lower than the angels’ and now is ‘crowned with glory and honor’ because he suffered death for us.

Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone in all the world. And it was only right that God—who made everything and for whom everything was made—should bring his many children into glory. Through the suffering of Jesus, God made him a perfect leader, one fit to bring them into their salvation. (Hebrews 2:7-10)

Because he has walked through that valley, he is aware of its shadow and will be there with us as we too pass that way. David expresses that assurance when he prays …

The LORD is my shepherd. I have everything I need. He lets me rest in green meadows’ He leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. Even when I walk though the dark valley of death, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4)

The pangs of hunger. He once endured forty days without food. And along with it, the temptation to engage in activity that was not right for him to become involved in.

Then Jesus was led out into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tempted there by the Devil. For forty days he ate nothing and became very hungry. Then the Devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, change these stones into loaves of bread.”

But Jesus said told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People need more than bread for their life. They must feed on every word of God.’[24] ” (Matthew 4:1-4)

The insecurity of homelessness. In conversation with some people who were thinking about becoming one of his disciples, Jesus reminded them of the difficulties that came with discipleship.

As they were walking along someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you no matter where you go.”

But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but I, the Son of Man, have no home of my own, not even a place to lay my head..” (Luke 9:57-58)

The intensity of temptation. He understands the pressure that temptation puts upon us for he has been there. He is there fulfilling all the functions of the High Priest of old—interceding, helping us withstand the attack on our integrity.

Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted …

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 2:18, 4:14-16 NIV)

The pain of lessons learned. Learning in the school of life is often costly. David discovered this when he learned that God asks for obedience ahead of sacrifice. “Obedience is far better than sacrifice. Listening to him is much better than offering the fat of rams.”[25] In his growing up years and in the years of his ministry, Jesus himself learned in this way. He graduated, as it were, from the ‘University of Hard Knocks,’[26] with a perfect score.

While he was here on earth he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could deliver him out of death. And God heard his prayers because of his reverence for God. So even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. In this way God qualified him as a perfect High Priest and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him. And God designated him to be a High Priest in the line of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 5:7-10)

The hurt of rejection. Jesus understands what it is like to be rejected. John writes of him …

The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was going to come into the world. But although the world was made through him, the world didn’t recognize him when he came. Even in his own land and among his own people he was not accepted. (John 1:9-10)

Jesus knew that rejection would be his lot if he pursued the purpose for his coming. He spoke of this to his disciples on one occasion.

Then Jesus began to tell them that he, the Son of man, would suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the leaders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, and three days later he would rise again. (Mark 8:31)

Paul experienced the same rejection when he began to preach the Gospel message in Damascus soon after his conversion. Luke writes of the way the Jewish leaders received him there …

Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days. And immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogue, saying, “He is indeed the Son of God.”

All who heard him were amazed. “Isn’t this the same man who persecuted Jesus’ followers with such devastation in Jerusalem?” they asked. “And we understand that he came here to arrest them and take them in chains to the leading priests.”

Saul’s preaching became more and more powerful, and the Jews in Damascus couldn’t refute his proofs that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. After awhile the Jewish leaders decided to kill him. But Saul was told about their plot, and that they were watching for him day and night at the city gate so they could murder him. So during the night, some of the other believers let him down in a large basket through an opening in the city wall. (Acts 9:19-25)

But Paul’s reception in Jerusalem must have been even more hurtful for him, for it was there that he was at first rejected by those he thought would have given him a warm welcome. But they were not easily convinced that his was a genuine conversion and remained wary of him. Luke continues the story.

When Saul arrived in Jerusalem he tried to meet with the believers but they were all afraid of him. They thought he was only pretending to be a believer! Then Barnabas brought him to the apostles and told them how he had seen the Lord on the way to Damascus. Barnabas also told them what the Lord had said to Saul and how he had boldly preached in the name of Jesus in Damascus. Then the apostles accepted Saul and after that he was constantly with them in Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord (Acts 9:26-28)

One aspect of rejection can be described as a stance taken against a person “To refuse to receive or to acknowledge; to decline haughtily or harshly; to repudiate.”[27] This is an attitude sometimes encountered even in Christian circles. After moving to a new area for example, it may be difficult to fit into a new church, or for young people to find a place in the Christian school. A reason for this is that the friendship groups are already formed and may be reticent to accept newcomers. Thinking of his own experience immediately after his conversion, Paul writes with great sensitivity to his friend Philemon, asking him to accept Onesimus back into his household and to make him welcome in the church that met in his home. Onesimus once worked for Philemon but had run away. In Rome he became a Christian. Paul writes on his behalf to his former employer.

My plea is that you show kindness to Onesimus. I think of him as my own son because he became a believer as a result of my ministry here in prison. Onesimus hasn’t been of much use to you in the past, but now he is very useful to both of us. I am sending him back to you, and with him comes my own heart.

I really wanted to keep him here with me while I am in these chains for preaching the Good News, and he would have helped me on your behalf. But I didn’t want to do anything without your consent. And I didn’t want you to help because you were forced to do it but because you wanted to. Perhaps you could think of it this way: Onesimus ran away for a little while so you could have him back forever. He is no longer just a slave, he is a beloved brother, especially to me. Now he will mean much more to you, both as a slave and as a brother in the Lord.

So if you consider me your partner, give him the same welcome you would give me if I were coming. If he has harmed you in any way or stolen anything from you, charge me for it. (vs. 10-17)

In another of his letters Paul encourages us all to be accepting of each other …

They [the Scriptures] give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises. May God, who gives this hope and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other—each with the attitude of Christ Jesus toward the other. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Whatever we may be experiencing the Lord is aware of it. He has been there himself and has promised to help us through even though there may be times when we feel that he is far away. The people of Israel felt this way during those years of exile in Babylon. But the Lord was there to reassure them. Isaiah has a message for them …

Sing for joy, O heavens! Rejoice, O earth! Burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on them in their sorrow.

“Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for a child she has borne? But even if that were possible I would not forget you! See, I have written your name on my hand.” (Isaiah 49:13-16a)

But now, O Israel, the LORD who created you says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name, you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up. The flames will not consume you. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your saviour.” (Isaiah 43:1-3a)

Our psalmist continues, “…and he lifts the poor from the dirt and the needy from the garbage dump.” (vs. 7) As well as seeing us through times of financial hardship, what are some other places God can lift us up out of? He is able to lift us …

Out of situations that would overwhelm us. Like those troubled waters that swirl around us from time to time, times when we can pray as David did when he was confronted by those who wanted him out of the way …

Rescue me from those who hate me, and pull me from these deep waters. Don’t let the floods overwhelm me, or the deep waters swallow me, or the pit of death devour me. Answer my prayers, O LORD, for your unfailing love is wonderful. Turn and take care of me, for your mercy is so plentiful. Don’t hide from your servant. Answer me quickly, for I am in deep trouble. (Psalm 69:14b-17)

But now, O Israel, the LORD who created you says, “Do not be afraid for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name, you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up, the flames will not consume you. For I am the LORD, your God, your Holy One of Israel, your Saviour. (Isaiah 43:1-3a)

Out of the unclean place. Our psalmist continues, “ … and he lifts the poor from the dirt and the needy from the garbage dump.” (vs. 7) David knew what it was like to flounder in the slush of sinfulness or to fall into the pit of depression. But he also knew what it felt like to be lifted out of such places. He tells us of his experience …

I waited patiently for the LORD to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be astounded. They will put their trust in the LORD. (Psalm 40:1-3)

The LORD is faithful in all he says. He is gracious in all he does. The LORD helps the fallen and lifts up those bent beneath their loads. All eyes look to you for help, you give them their food as they need it. When you open your hand, you satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing. (Psalm 145:13b-16)

Christians viewing this word picture today can fill out the picture to answer the question, what is the place to which the Lord lifts us? Ultimately, it is a place being prepared for us in heaven, as Jesus assured his disciples …

Don’t be troubled. You trust in God, now trust in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s home, and I am going to prepare a place for you. If this were not so, I would tell you plainly. When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. (John 14:1-3)

But for now, as we look at it carefully, that picture expands to reveal our place in the family of God, a position in which Paul describes believers as being ‘in Christ.’

How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we belong to Christ. Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure.

So we praise God for the wonderful kindness he has poured out on us because we belong to his dearly loved Son He is so rich in kindness that he purchased our freedom through the blood of his Son, and our sins are forgiven. (Ephesians 1:3-7)

It was because Jesus was lifted up on the cross to die, that the way has been opened for anyone who will believe in him to be lifted up out of the unclean place into Christ. To Nicodemus early in his ministry and again to an enquiring crowd just prior to his death, Jesus explained it this way ...

“And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so I, the Son of Man, must be lifted up on a pole,[28] so that everyone who believes in me will have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it but to save it.” (John 3:14-17)

Then Jesus told them … “And when I am lifted up on the cross, I will draw everyone to myself.” (John 12:30, 32)

Of a changing perspective. It is a moving away from human perspective towards seeing things as God sees them. Ezekiel was granted this perspective to a far greater extent than we would expect for ourselves. Lifted up in a vision, he saw what was going on in his nation, just as God saw it.

Then on September 17 during the sixth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity, while the leaders of Judah were in my home, the Sovereign Lord took hold of me … Then the Spirit lifted me up into the sky and transported me in a vision of God to Jerusalem. I was taken to the north gate of the inner courtyard of the Temple where there is a large idol that has made the LORD very angry …

“Son of man,” he said, “do you see what they are doing? Do you see the great sins the people of Israel are doing to drive me from my Temple? But come, and you will see even greater sins than these!” Then he brought me to the door of the Temple courtyard where I could see an opening in the wall. He said to me, “Now, son of man, dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and uncovered a door to a hidden room.

“Go in,” he said, “and see the unspeakable wickedness going on in there!” So I went in and saw … Then the LORD said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the leaders of Israel are doing with their idols in dark rooms? They are saying, “The LORD doesn’t see us, he has deserted our land!” Then he added, “Come, and I will show you greater sins than these!” (Ezekiel 8:1, 3, 6-9, 12-13)

Paul once had an experience similar to Ezekiel’s. He writes briefly of the occasion when he was lifted up into a heavenly realm.

Let me tell you about the visions and revelations I received from the Lord. I was caught up into the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether my body was there or just my spirit, I don’t know, only God knows. But I do know that I was caught up into paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be told. (2 Corinthians 12:1b-4)

The Lord reminds us of the need to be moving towards seeing things from his perspective when he says …

“My thoughts are completely different from yours … And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

Beyond the reach of enemies. It is a secure place that David, for example, discovered for himself. When Saul began to realise that David was God’s choice to replace him as king, he became increasingly hostile towards him. With his life in constant danger, David was forced to spend much of his time on the run. But in his relationship with God, David found himself lifted above those who were out to kill him. He writes of his experience …

The LORD lives! Blessed be my rock! May the God of my salvation be exalted! He is the God who pays back those who harm me. He subdues the nations under me and rescues me from my enemies. You hold me safe beyond the reach of my enemies.[29] You save me from violent opponents. (Psalm 18:47-49)

A place of rest. The writer of the Hebrews treatise saw this place of rest pictured in the new homeland that God planned for the people of Israel after their deliverance from oppression in Egypt. The author writes …

God’s promise of entering his place of rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to get there. For this Good News—that God has prepared a place of rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t believe what God told them. For only we who believe can enter his place of rest …

This new place of rest was not the land of Canaan, where Joshua led them. If it had been, God would not have spoken later about another day of rest. So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who enter into God’s rest will find rest from their labours, just as God rested after creating the world. (Hebrews 4:1-3a, 8-10)

“Come to me all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)

My enemies come out at night, snarling like vicious dogs as they prowl the streets. They scavenge for food but go to sleep unsatisfied. But as for me, I will sing about our power. I will shout with joy each morning because of your unfailing love.

For you have been my refuge, a place of safety in the day of distress. O my strength, to you I sing praises, for you, O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love. (Psalm 59:14-17)

A place of freedom. A large place where we have room to move. It is a place where we are free to be ourselves. Not confined to the enclosure others may want to put us in but given, as one translation[30] renders the phrase, ‘a spacious place’. Or given, as one writer puts it, ‘open ground in which to manoeuvre, ‘a place where I can move freely.’ David paints this picture of the way the Lord lifted him to this place of freedom.

He reached down from on high and took hold of me. He drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place. He rescued me because he delighted in me. (Psalm 18:16-19)

A restricted place. Paul reminds us that it is our sinfulness that keeps us from entering, when he writes …

Don’t you know that those who do wrong will have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, who are idol worshippers, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, greedy people, drunkards, abusers, and swindlers—none of these will have a share in the Kingdom of God. There was a time when some of you were just like that, but now your sins have been washed away, and you have been set apart for God. You have been made right with God because of what the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God have done for you. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the special blessings that will come to you ate the return of Jesus Christ. Obey God because you are his children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of doing evil, you didn’t know any better then …

For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him for this purpose long before the world began, but now in these final days, he was sent to the earth for all to see. And he did this for you. (1 Peter 1:13-14, 18-20)

Also in this statement ‘he lifts the poor from the dirt and the needy from the garbage dump,’ we see yet another way in which the Lord is unique. He is unique …

The Lord sees the potential for good in every person’s life. He sees great value whereas others may not see any worth at all. This is why “he lifts the poor from the dirt and the needy from the garbage dump.” (vs. 7) He sees them not as worthless but as treasure to mined. He sees the ‘rough diamond’ ready to be cut and polished. He sees the gold waiting to be refined. He sees the valuable jewels waiting for him to find them. For the Lord is like that pearl merchant in the word picture Jesus drew of the Kingdom of Heaven.[31] Like that merchant who gave up everything to buy the pearl he had found, so Jesus set aside all that he had and came to earth “to seek and save what was lost.”[32] He finds that treasure in all kinds of places. Some, like Zacchaeus high in the sycamore-fig tree, he finds hiding in all kinds of places. Others he finds covered in trash, but no matter where, he sees their worth. All who accept him now, whether Jew or Gentile, will be among those he calls ‘my own special treasure’ when he returns. Malachi was given this picture of that day …

“Then those who feared the LORD spoke with each other, and the LORD listened to what they said. In his presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared him and loved to think about him. “They will be my people,” says the LORD Almighty. “On the day when I act, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient and dutiful child. Then you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.” (Malachi 4:16-18)

This reminds us of what Jesus said about how valuable each person is to God. When teaching about what value we should attach to our possessions he said …

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. So I tell you, don’t worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food, drink, and clothes. Doesn’t life consist of more than food and clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t need to plant or harvest or put food in barns because you heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are.” (Matthew 6:24-26)

As our psalmist recognises, he takes the poor and the needy and “sets them among princes, even the princes of his own people.” (vs. 8) This is not the way it is in the world where class distinction is everywhere. In every society, distinctions have many different shapes. Distinctions are made between the well to do and those not so well off, the rich and the poor, the powerful and the powerless, the white collar workers and the blue collar, management and work force, rulers and subjects, the bright and the dull, to name just a few of such distinctions. Wikipedia[33] introduces us to the subject of class distinction …

The most basic class distinction is between the powerful and the powerless. Social classes with a great deal of power are usually viewed as "the elites" within their own societies. Various social and political theories propose that social classes with greater power attempt to cement their own ranking above the lower classes in the hierarchy to the detriment of the society overall. By contrast, conservatives and structural functionalists have presented class difference as intrinsic to the structure of any society and to that extent ineradicable.

In Marxist theory, the capitalist stage of production consists of two main classes: the bourgeoisie, the capitalists who own the means of production, and the much larger proletariat (or 'working class') who must sell their own labor power. This is the fundamental economic structure of work and property, a state of inequality that is normalized and reproduced through cultural ideology. Max Weber critiqued historical materialism, positing that stratification is not based purely on economic inequalities but on other status and power differentials. Social class pertaining broadly to material wealth may be distinguished from status class based on honor, prestige, religious affiliation, and so on. The conditions of capitalism and its class system came together due to a variety of "elective affinities".

Theorists such as Ralf Dahrendorf have noted the tendency toward an enlarged middle class in modern Western societies, particularly in relation to the necessity of an educated work force in technological economies. Perspectives concerning globalization and neocolonialism, such as dependency theory, suggest this owes to the shift of low-level laborers to developing nations and the Third World. Developed nations have thereby become less directly active in primary industry (e.g. basic manufacturing, agriculture, forestry, mining, etc.) and increasingly involved with "virtual" goods and services. The national concept of "social class" has therefore become increasingly complex and confused.

Class distinction sees the formation of political parties to represent some of those different social classes. Dissension in the work place, the church, the community, rises out of class distinction. It was class distinction that threatened to disrupt the harmony Jesus wanted to see among his disciples, when James and John asked him for places of honor in his service. But Jesus explained to them that there was to be no place for class distinction or favoritism among his followers.

When the other ten disciples discovered what James and John had asked, they were indignant. So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that in this world kings are tyrants, and officials lord it over the people beneath them. But among you it should be quite different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all. For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:41-45)

Matthew also gives an account of this discussion.^[34] It occurred as Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem for the last time. Matthew adds the information that it was the ambitious mother of James and John who was behind the request.

As Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside privately and told them what was going to happen to him. “When we get to Jerusalem,” he said, “the Son of Man will be betrayed to the leading priests and the teachers of religious law. They will sentence him to die. Then they will hand him over to the Roman to be mocked, whipped and crucified. But on the third day he will be raised from the dead.”

Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor. “What is your request?” he asked.

She replied, “In your Kingdom, will you let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one at your right hand and the other at your left?” (Matthew 20:17-21

With this extra bit of information telling us about the mother’s involvement, Matthew gives us Jesus’ reply just as Mark has. Did the disciples listen? It seems not! Instead of taking Jesus’ teaching to heart, the ambition of James and John fostered by their domineering mother, took root among all the disciples. So that it was only a few days later that we find all the disciples arguing over who should top the list. They were with Jesus in a guest room in Jerusalem celebrating the Passover. Jesus had just given them his wishes regarding the way he wanted to be remembered, for in a few hours he would offer himself up as the Passover lamb to be sacrificed for them. As Paul would write later, “Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed for us.”[35] But no sooner had Jesus finished speaking than the argument started. Jesus, although saddened at how quickly they forget his teaching but ever patient with them, as he is with all of us, repeats what he had taught them only a few days ago. Luke records the moment for us …

And they began to argue among themselves as to who would be the greatest in the coming Kingdom. Jesus told them, “In this world the kings and great men order the people around, and yet they are called ‘friends of the people.’ But among you, those who are the greatest should take the lowest rank, and the leader should be like a servant. Normally the master sits at the table and is served by his servants. But not here! For I am your servant.” (Luke 22:24-27)

Again, this is not generally the way among people. The more well to do rarely make welcome among them those they consider to be of a lower rank in society, those less well off. Not so with the Lord for “he sets them among princes, even princes of his own people.” (vs. 8) So that none of his people should feel awkward or out of place in the presence of those in authority, those of another social group or culture. How does he help us to fit in? He has given us the assurance of his continual presence with us. Just as the Lord was with Moses when he called him to confront the Egyptian Pharaoh. Moses objected but God promised to be with him when he said …

“The cries of the people of Israel have reached me, and I have seen how the Egyptians have oppressed them with heavy tasks. Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You will lead my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

“But who am I to appear before Pharaoh?” Moses asked God. “How can you expect me to lead the Israelites out of Egypt?”

And again the promise of the presence of the Lord when Moses was encouraged to keep on going after the deliverance from Egypt.

The LORD said to Moses, “Now that you have brought these people out of Egypt, lead them to the land I solemnly promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I told them long ago that I would give this land to their descendants … ”

Moses said to the LORD, “You have been telling me, ‘Take these people up to the Promised Land.’ But you haven’t told me who you will send with me. You call me by name and tell me I have found favor with you. Please, if this is really so, show me your intentions so I will understand you more fully and do exactly what you want me to do. Beside, don’t forget that this nation is your very own people.”

And the LORD replied, “I will personally go with you Moses. I will give you rest—everything will be fine for you.” (Exodus 33:1, 12-14)

Paul too, would have no reason to feel awkward or out of place when making his faith known in the presence of national leaders. He could be sure that the Lord would be there with him, as he took God’s message “to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel.”[36] When brought before officials of the Roman government, like Festus and Agrippa for example, Paul remained calm and comfortable in their presence as he told them of his faith in God and explained the Christian message to them.

“And so, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to that vision from heaven. I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must turn from their sins and turn to God—and prove they have changed by the good things they do. Some Jews arrested me in the Temple for preaching this, and they tried to kill me. But God protected me so that I am alive today to tell these facts to everyone, from the least to the greatest.

I teach nothing except what the prophets and Moses said would happen—that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead as a light to Jews and Gentiles alike.” (Acts 26:19-23)

When Peter was called to go the home of a Roman army officer, a centurion of the Italian Regiment, to explain the Christian faith to him, he may have wondered if he would fit in. Things would be done differently in the home of an army officer. A home more organized perhaps than what Peter was used to, maybe more luxurious. The centurion would be used to telling others what to do. Would Peter feel comfortable in a home where the social structure was different to that of a humble fisherman? Peter need not have been concerned. When he got there he found Cornelius and his entire household was ready to hear what he had to say. As he had promised, the Lord had prepared the way and was right there with him. Peter felt right at home as Cornelius said to him …

“Four days ago I was praying in my house ay three o’clock in the afternoon. Suddenly a man in dazzling clothes was standing in front of me. He told me, ‘Cornelius, your prayers have been heard, and your gifts to the poor have been noticed by God! Now send some men to Joppa and summon Simon Peter. He is staying in the home of Simon, a leatherworker who lives near the shore.’ So I sent for you at once, And It was good of you to come. Now here we are, waiting before God to hear the message the Lord has given you.’ ” (Acts 10:30-33)

Peter responded with a clear description of, and an explanation for, the recent events in Jerusalem which he and others had seen for themselves—the death and resurrection of Christ, the forgiveness of sins now possible because of his sacrificial death, finishing with this summary, “He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name.”[37]

So comfortable was Peter in the presence of this great man that he had no difficulty in accepting the invitation when “Cornelius asked him to stay with them for several days.”[38] We can be sure that during those days, Cornelius, his family, and many of the soldiers in the regiment he commanded would have listened intently to Peter as he explained to them the way of salvation. Many would have believed and accepted the savior. Back in Jerusalem Peter was able to tell the other disciples what had happened …

“Well, I began telling them the Good News, but just as I was getting started, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as he fell on us at the beginning. Then I thought of the Lord’s words when he said, ‘John baptised with water but you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.’ And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to argue?”

When the others heard this, all their objections were answered and they began praising God. They said, “God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of turning from sin and receiving eternal life.” (Acts 11:15-18)

And so it was, that, supported by the presence of the Lord in the person of the Holy Spirit, Peter was able to fit comfortably into a different social and cultural situation and teach from the Scriptures with confidence.

The empty space the psalmist has uppermost in his mind is that felt in the home where there are no children. Only the Lord can fill that empty space. “He gives childless couples a family, gives them joy as the parents of children.” (vs. 9 The Message)

But there is another picture that arises from that particular situation. With all that fills our lives there often remains the feeling that something is missing, a gnawing loneliness, a feeling of emptiness. Some try to fill that emptiness by …

Being part of the social scene. Looking for friendship, even illusory friendship like that found on ‘facebook,’ partying, pleasure seeking, wild living. Jesus told a story about a person like that, a young man who tried to find something to fill the emptiness in his life by taking a trip overseas. But in doing so he found only trouble.

Jesus told them this story, “A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now, instead of waiting till you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.

A few days later, this younger son packed all his belongings and took a trip to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money on wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him to feed his pigs. The boy became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.” (Luke 15:11-16)

There is however, a happy ending to the story. This young man eventually came to his senses, saying to himself …

“I will go home to my father and say, ‘Father I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired man.’ ”

So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. His son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.”

But his father said to the servants, “Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger , and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening in the pen. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.” So the party began. (Luke 15:18-24)

Back home once more the young man found a father’s love filling his heart. A wonderful picture of the love of God filling the emptiness that otherwise is there in our innermost being. Paul wrote of this in one of his many letters …

Since we have been made right in God’s sight, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

We can rejoice too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us to learn to endure. And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation. And this expectation will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Romans 5:1-5)

The accumulation of ‘stuff’. What Job’s advisors usually had to offer him was only empty counsel. But now and again they said something that came close to hitting the mark. For example, when referring to those whose lives were taken up in the pursuit of riches and the gathering of ‘stuff’, Eliphaz offers this advice …

Let them no longer trust in empty riches. They are only fooling themselves, for emptiness will be their only reward. They will be cut down in the prime of life, and all they counted on will disappear. They will be like a vine whose grapes are harvested before they are ripe, like an olive tree that sheds its blossoms so the fruit cannot form. (Job 15:31-33)

Jesus was met on one occasion by a person who seems to have been consumed by the desire to get more ‘stuff’. His only interest in Jesus was to try and get his help to access his father’s estate. Jesus replied with a story to illustrate that no matter how much ‘stuff’ we accumulate it will always be insufficient to fill the emptiness of our lives.

Then someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.”

Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?” Then he said, “Beware! Don’t be greedy for what you don’t have. Real life is not measured by how much we own.”

And he gave an illustration: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. In fact, his barns were full to overflowing. So he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bugger ones. Then I’ll have room to store everything. And I’ll sit back and say to myself, My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink and be merry!’

But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will dies this very night. Then who will get it all?’

Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.” (Luke 12:13-21)

The prayer of Agur is a good one to pray each day, along with the one Jesus gave us as a model in which he included the sentence, “Give us today our daily food.”[39]

“O God, I beg two favors from you before I die. First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?” And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.” (Proverbs 30:7-9)

Not only does the amassing of ‘stuff’ fail to fill the empty space, the going after it drives us further and further away from the only one who can fill the emptiness.

With much religious activity. People will turn to any one, or many of the religions of the world searching for something to fill the emptiness, often turning away from the religious faith of their childhood if they think it has failed them. The people of Israel in Jeremiah’s time were like that. Many, including their religious leaders, were looking to the religious practices of other cultures to fill what they perceived to be missing in their lives, only to find that the emptiness remained. Jeremiah had this to say to his people …

Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. Thus says the LORD, “What injustice did your fathers find in me, that they went far from me and walked after emptiness[40] and became empty? … The priests did not say, ‘Where is the LORD?’ And those who handle the law did not know me. The rulers also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal and walked after things that did not profit … For my people have committed two evils: They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:4-6, 8, 13)

Jeremiah was reminding his people that only the Lord can fill the empty space. How foolish to leave the only well that supplies the ‘living water’ that Jesus spoke of, for wells that are broken and are themselves empty![41] When Paul was in Athens on one occasion he met people who were searching for water among the empty wells of different religious systems.

He went to the synagogue to debate with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there.

He also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said, “This babbler has picked up some strange ideas.” Others said, “He’s pushing some foreign religion.”

Then they took him to the Council of Philosophers. “Come and tell us more about this new religion,” they said. You are saying some startling things, and we want to know what it is all about.” (It should be explained that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest ideas.)

So Paul, standing before the Council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious, for as I was walking along I saw your many altars. And one of them had this inscription on it—to an Unknown God.’ You have been worshipping him without knowing who he is, and I now wish to tell you about him … ” (Acts 17:17-23)

Paul then went on to tell those philosophers about the God who had ‘made the world and everything in it,’ about his provision for the forgiveness of sins through Christ’s sacrificial death. He spoke of God as having ‘set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.’[42] While listening to Paul, some saw in what he was saying that which could fill the empty space in their lives. But many of them just did not get it! Luke continues his account of the meeting …

When they heard Paul speak of the resurrection of a person who had been dead, some laughed, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.” Than ended Paul’s discussion with them, but some joined him and became believers. Among them were Dionysius, a member of the council, a woman named Damaris and others. (Acts 17:32-34)

It may have been his meeting in that school of philosophy in Athens which confirmed to Paul the emptiness of philosophical thinking. Later in his teaching ministry he wrote this to the Christians in Colosse …

Don’t let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high sounding nonsense that comes from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world and not from Christ. For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body, and you are complete through your union with Christ. (Colossians 2:8-10a)

In contrast to the emptiness of philosophy and religion, stands the completeness, the fullness to fill the empty space that comes from Christ. In a letter to the Christians in Ephesus Paul writes of his prayer for them to experience this fullness more and more …

And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Ephesians 3:17-19)

Filled with fullness! The empty space could not possibly be filled any fuller than that! Speaking of Christ as the logos the Greek philosophers had long been searching for, the apostle John wrote …

And the Word (logos) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John[43] bore witness of him and cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me, has a higher rank than I, for he existed before me.’ ” For of his fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has explained him. (John 1:14-18 NASB)

With anything and everything. Solomon was a person like that. Nothing that he tried filled the emptiness he felt in his life. He tried pleasure but when it was all over nothing remained. Then he tried a glass or two or three or more of the best wine at the end of the day, but that too left him with that empty feeling. Then followed the accumulation of ‘stuff’ and the expansion of his business interests in his search. And to cap it all off, the many illicit affairs that he got caught up in. In a reflective mood, he writes in his diary …

I said to myself, “Come now, let’s give pleasure a try. Let’s look for the good things in life.” But I found that this too was meaningless. “It is silly to be laughing all the time,” I said. “What good does it do to seek only pleasure?” After much thought, I decided to cheer myself with wine. While still seeking wisdom, I clutched at foolishness. In this way, I hoped to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world.

I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and by planting beautiful vineyards. I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees. I built reservoirs to collect the water to irrigate my many flourishing groves. I bought slaves, both men and women, and others were born into my household. I also owned great herds and flocks, more than any of the kings who lived in Jerusalem before me. I collected great sums of silver and gold, the treasure of many kings and provinces. I hired wonderful singers, both men and women, and had many beautiful concubines. I had everything a man could desire!

So I became greater than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. And with it all, I remained clear-eyed so that I could evaluate all these things. Anything that I wanted, I took. I did not restrain myself from any joy. I even found great pleasure in hard work, an additional reward for all my labors. But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless. It was like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere. (Ecclesiastes 2:1-11)

However, as he thought about everything he had tried Solomon did seem to be getting a vague feeling that what he was searching for could somehow be found in the Lord. He may be close but on the other hand still be far away when he writes …

So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink, and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that this pleasure is from the hand of God. For who can enjoy anything apart from him? God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please him. Even this however, is meaningless, like chasing the wind. (Ecclesiastes 2:24-26)

As we read on in his diary, it seems that Solomon has given up his search altogether, as he writes of the emptiness of his life …

In the few days of our empty lives, who knows how our days can best be spent? And who can tell what will happen in the future after we are gone? (Ecclesiastes 6:12)

There is no reason however, for us to come to the same conclusion as Solomon. For there is one who can fill the empty space in our lives. We can draw a word picture showing how the Lord fills that emptiness, from certain historical events described in another of the psalms. Thinking of the lost and lonely and empty, that psalmist writes …

Some wandered in the desert, lost and homeless. Hungry and thirsty, they nearly died. “LORD, help!” they cried in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress. He led them straight to safety, to a city where they could live. Let them praise the LORD for his great love and for all his wonderful deeds to them. For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. (Psalm 107:4-9)

As Jesus sang this first psalm of the Hallel with his disciples, at the beginning of the Passover meal, so close to offering himself up on the cross as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,”[44] I have suggested that he must have been deeply moved as he saw himself in the lyrics of the song. For he knew himself to be The Servant Isaiah wrote of, he knew that he was God, and he knew that he was about to die but would be raised again to rule. He knew that he was unique in his position in the creation, in his awareness of our troubles, in the power he has to lift us up from where we are now to a better place, unique in weighing up a person’s worth, in treating all people as equal, in helping us to feel comfortable in unfamiliar situations, and unique in the way he fills the empty space in our lives.

[1] Isaiah 42:1a.
[2] Refer to Matthew 3:17.
[3] Refer to Matthew 4:18-22.
[4] ibid: 27:26-33.
[5] Quoted from Isaiah 7:14.
[6] Hebrews 13:8.
[7] The Jewish Festival of Dedication.
[8] Refer to Paul’s comment, 1 Corinthians 5:7.
[9] Revelation 4:1.
[10] Revelation 5:6.
[11] Quoted from Psalm 18:49.
[12] … from Deuteronomy 32:43.
[13] … from Psalm 117:1.
[14] … from Isaiah 11:10.
[15] Refer to Philippians 2:6.
[16] MACQUARIE CONCISE DICTIONARY. Sydney: Macquarie Publishers. 2009.
[17] Acts 17:26-27.
[18] Quoted from Isaiah 66:1-2.
[19] Philippians 2:8 NIV.
[20] Refer to Revelation 19:11-16.
[21] John 1:29.
[22] That is, ‘God.’
[23] Quoted from Psalm 8:4-6.
[24] See Deuteronomy 8:3.
[25] In his rebuke to Saul. 1 Samuel 15:22b.
[26] The School of Hard Knocks is an idiomatic phrase meaning the (sometimes painful) education one gets from life's usually negative experiences, often contrasted with formal education. The term was first coined by American columnist George Ade in 1912^[1], and re-popularized by the song "It's the Hard Knock Life" from the 1977 musical adaptation of Annie, which chronicles the life of poor, uneducated orphans. It is a phrase which is most typically used by a person to claim a level of wisdom imparted by life experience, which should be considered at least equal in merit to academic knowledge. It is a response that may be given when one is asked about his or her education, particularly if they do not have an extensive formal education but rather life experiences that should be valued instead. It may also be used facetiously, to suggest that formal education is not of practical value compared to "street" experience. In the UK, the phrases "University of Life" and "School of Hard Knocks" may be used interchangeably. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
[27] Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language.
[28] This story is told in Numbers 21:4-9.
[29] A more literal translation of the phrase is: ‘Thou dost lift me above those who rise up against me.’ (NASB)
[30] God’s Word Translation. 1995. See www.godsword.org/cms/
[31] Refer to Matthew 13:45-46.
[32] Luke 19:9. (NIV)
[33] SOCIAL CLASS. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia.
[34] Refer to Matthew 22:17-20.
[35] Refer to Paul’s letter at 1 Corinthians 5:7b.
[36] See Acts 9:15.
[37] Refer to Acts 10:34-43 for Peter’s complete message.
[38] Acts 10:48b.
[39] Taken from ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ as given us by Jesus. Matthew 6:9-13.
[40] A reference to the religious practices associated with Baal, an idol of the Phoenicians, and particularly of the Tyrians, whose worship was also introduced with great solemnities among the Hebrews. The Hebrew word translated here as ‘emptiness’ is a play on the name of that Phoenician god, Baal.
[41] John 4:1-14.
[42] For Paul’s message to those philosophers, refer to Acts 17:24-32.
[43] The name refers to John the Baptist.
[44] John 1:29.