Bernard Gabbott - Sunday, 19 March 2023
What Jesus do you trust in?
Scripture References: Matthew 17:14-27, Psalms 12:1-8, Deuteronomy 32:1-20
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CloseThe life of God’s people can often seem a roller-coaster. After the highs of the Transfiguration for three disciples, we walk down the mountain to the lows of the nine below, whose faith is wavering. This is not a new state of affairs – just read the Exodus accounts! And just as God is, time and time again, Jesus expresses a holy exasperation. He also utters an explanation: ‘Because of your little faith!’ (vs.20). Again, the present tense jumps out – and we are encouraged to confront the same explanation. What Jesus do we trust in? Do we trust in Jesus? The Jesus to trust in is the Almighty-God-in-the-flesh who is rejected, dies, is buried and rises from the dead. That King is worth knowing and trusting. Do we?
Scripture References: Matthew 17:14-27, Psalms 12:1-8, Deuteronomy 32:1-20
Related Topics: Matthew | More Messages from Bernard Gabbott | Download Audio
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We love a turning point. Whether it is a story or a football game. Hope dawning at the darkest time. Where is the great turning point in Esther? It could be our memory verse, when Esther is persuaded by Mordecai to act to save her people. It could be when the king looks with favour upon Esther and holds out the golden scepter to her. It could be when Haman is forced to lead Mordecai through the city mounted on the king’s horse and proclaims that he is the man the king delights to honour. They are major events in the story of Esther. They are turning points of a sort. But the writer of Esther points us to another event. That looks so trivial.
Esther is such an exciting story! There are evil plots. There are interesting yet flawed characters. There is risk and sacrifice. There is heroism and villainy. Today, we are introduced to the villain of the plot, and what an evil scheming villain he is! He spins lies and concocts murderous plans to do away with the Jews, God’s covenant people. How will the people respond? Will he get away with his evil plan? Will God, who is not mentioned at all, intervene to protect His people, to live up to the promises He made to Abraham, the people at Mt Sinai, and to David?
There is so much that sounds familiar in these first two chapters of Esther: the world is dominated by loud and brash and imposing and degraded power, the people of God are small and struggling and faced with ambiguous decisions and actions and God seems so far away he is almost absent (at least to our minds and hearts). As we read this book, we will need God’s revelation to help us navigate its strangeness, its ambiguity, and its confrontational narrative. In this, we have the key to the book—the lack of God’s name in letters does not mean the lack of God’s presence.
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