Don't get shipwrecked!

Timothy, my son, I am giving you this command in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the battle well, holding on to faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and so have suffered shipwreck with regard to the faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme. 1 Timothy 1:18-20

Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have departed from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. 2 Timothy 2:16-18

I wonder who Hymenaeus, Alexander and Philetus were?

The fact is that we just don’t know. Hymenaeus gets two mentions in the New Testament, both in the passages above, Alexander and Philetus get just one each. But that’s all the information we have.

Just names to us. But presumably they were members of the church in Ephesus, where Timothy was the pastor. Very likely they were thoroughly pleasant people, good family men, leaders in the church.

But these three men were trouble-makers, and Paul sees fit to warn his young protégé Timothy about them…

They remind us that even in the earliest days of the church all sorts of wrong ideas were swirling around, and that some of them were anything but Christian; on the contrary, they were a danger to the church. Paul compares the teaching of Hymenaeus and Philetus to “gangrene” (not nice!), and warns that that of Hymenaeus and Alexander could lead to “shipwreck”.

Well, if it was like that then, two thousand years ago, how much more today? That’s why it’s vital that the church should stick carefully to scripture and not let itself get sucked into the world of half-truths and downright untruths which are all around us.

What was actually wrong with the influence of these men?

Regarding Hymenaeus and Alexander, it seems there was a problem about conscience (1 Timothy 1:19). They have “rejected” it – perhaps like sailors deciding they know better than the compass – and so have run aground spiritually.

Conscience is not an infallible guide to behaviour. But it is important and, hopefully, in general it points us at least roughly in the right direction. To disregard that little inner voice, especially when it has been exposed to scripture and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, is folly – like carrying on with what you’re doing even though a fire warning bell is ringing.

Is this a reminder some of us need today?

Regarding Hymenaeus and Philetus, something a little more precise was obviously troubling Paul. It seems that they were teaching that “the resurrection has already taken place” (2 Timothy 2:18). Well, of course, the resurrection of Jesus has already taken place; there’s no argument about that! But that wasn’t what they were talking about.

No, they were suggesting that the general resurrection of all humankind at the end of time was not going to happen – everything that was going to happen had already happened.

To be absolutely fair to them, you could say that Paul himself had taught things that could be interpreted that way. In Colossians 2:12 and 3:1, for example, he tells the Christians of Colosse that “you have been raised with Christ” – note the past tense!

Yes, Paul certainly believed that by faith in Jesus we have already entered into his resurrection-life. But he also taught very clearly that our present resurrection is one day to be completed when Jesus returns in glory. (Just take a look at 1 Corinthians 15, his great resurrection chapter.) We will then experience a bodily resurrection, just as he did.

Presumably Hymenaeus and Philetus thought that after death we become disembodied spirits; perhaps they had absorbed a common view in the ancient world that the physical body is intrinsically evil, and they couldn’t conceive that it would one day be raised, even in a perfect and sinless form.

Whatever… the fact is that there is no such thing as Christianity without a conviction that not only did Jesus rise that first Easter day, but that one day we too will rise: our present sharing in Jesus’ resurrection life is just a foretaste of the future glory that is still to come.

Do you see yourself as already raised with Christ? And do you also anticipate a day when you will be raised to be eternally with him and “see him as he is” (I John 3:2)? This, and nothing less, is what it means to be a Christian.

So… a warning about false practices and teaching in the church. But it  needs an important footnote.

Yes, we must be very careful. But, dare I say without being misunderstood… not too careful…!

The things Paul is writing about – (a) the violating of our consciences and (b) the denial of a basic teaching of the Bible – were glaring errors, poison in the bloodstream of the church.

But we need to be careful not to go to the opposite extreme and condemn every point of view that doesn’t agree exactly with ours. History shows that there have always been people only too ready to shout “heretic!” or “unsound!” when they come across a person, book or movement which doesn’t see things quite the way they do.

This is seriously dangerous: it encourages division and perhaps self-righteousness and smugness: “We, of course, are the ones who have got it all right…”.

Is this a warning some of us need?

I am reminded of a severe pastor from a bygone age who lamented that he, his wife and their dog were the only truly biblical people around. And who then added under his breath: “And, to be honest, there are times I wonder a bit about my wife…”

(I don’t vouch for the truth of that story…)

Lord God, save me, I pray, from serious wrong in either conduct or doctrine. Save me too from the kind of confidence that breeds self-righteousness and arrogance. Keep me true – and keep me humble! Amen.

Truths to boggle your mind (3)

In the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.  Hebrews 1:1-3

This is instalment three of my posts on Hebrews 1:1-3 – and, I promise, the last! As I said at the beginning, the writer manages to pack so much into these verses that it takes a little time to open them up. Well, so far I’ve tried to explain the first six, so there’s just two to go: two more great truths about the person of Jesus…

7. He has “provided purification for sins”.

With these words the writer reaches the central theme of the whole letter: how Jesus has made a complete, perfect and final sacrifice for sin.

Sin – disobedience which leads to separation from God – is the essence of our human problems, pinpointed in the tragic Adam and Eve story at the start of the Bible. And the writer’s great concern is that his readers, having been saved from it, are in danger of falling back into it.

The Old Testament spells out that, after generations of continuing failure, God chose the people of Israel to, in effect, kick-start human history again and to show the whole world what it means to be a pure and holy nation. And he made special provision for dealing with sin: a system of blood-sacrifice whereby the people were cleansed and reconciled to him.

These sacrifices were carried out by an order of priests, chosen by God. They were offered either in the “tabernacle” – the movable shrine the Israelites carried with them before they settled in the land of Canaan – or in the temple built by King Solomon in Jerusalem once they were settled there.

Once a year they celebrated a “day of atonement”. This was a solemn occasion when special sacrifices were made, and the only time of the year when anyone – it would be the chief priest, of course – was authorised to enter “the Most Holy Place”, the innermost compartment of the temple, regarded as the earthly dwelling-place of God. (You can read all about this in Leviticus 16.)

This is the background to what the writer to the Hebrews is talking about when he says that Jesus “provided purification for sins”. And this is what the rest of the letter is mainly about.

Putting it very simply: Jesus is not only the great high priest – he is also the offering! His death on the cross, involving the shedding of his blood, is the once-for-all sacrifice required to deal with the sins of all humankind. And this is why faith in what he did that first Good Friday is all that is needed to purify each of us from sin.

And so we come to the last of these great truths…

8. He has “sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven”.

Jesus died. And Jesus rose again. But because his work on earth was now complete he then returned to heaven – the event Christians call “the Ascension” (described in Acts 1:1-11). This is where he is now – seated in honour at the right hand of God.

It’s important that the writer emphasises that he is sitting, for that implies rest after work. No more sacrifice need be offered – or, indeed, can be offered. This too is something the writer will stress as the letter unfolds.

Not that Jesus is inactive in heaven. Oh no, he still has a ministry, but no longer a sacrificial ministry. His ministry now is one of prayer for his people who are still on earth. As the writer puts it in 7:25: “He always lives to intercede” for us. And Paul in Romans 8:34: he is “at the right hand of God… interceding for us”.

So… Jesus has offered a perfect sacrifice for our sins; and now, in heaven, he never stops praying for us. Doesn’t that make you feel good?

Let’s pull these eight truths together. Who is Jesus?

• The living word of God.
• The heir of all things.
• The agent of creation.
• The radiance of God’s glory.
• The exact representation of God’s being.
• The one who sustains all things.
• The one who provides purification for sins.
• The one who is now enthroned in heaven.

Just think: These extraordinary claims are made about a carpenter’s son, who just thirty or so years earlier was walking the hillsides of Galilee and mixing with others as an ordinary man.

Didn’t I say that these truths are mind-boggling! They certainly demonstrate that it’s hopelessly inadequate to say, as many who are vaguely religious might, that Jesus was a good man, a great example who spread love wherever he went and who died a heroic death. No! That just won’t do!

This Jesus, the fully-orbed Jesus, is the true Jesus; and he is worthy of our love, our obedience, our trust and our worship.

Which just leaves the question: Does he have yours, and mine?

Lord God, as I reflect on these things, please enlarge my vision of the Lord Jesus Christ, so that I might love him more deeply, trust him more fully, and serve him more faithfully. Amen.

Truths to boggle your mind (2)

In the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.  Hebrews 1:1-3

Last time I pointed out that in a mere eighty-seven words at the beginning of the Letter to the Hebrews, the writer manages to cram in no less than eight different truths about Jesus the Son of God…

First, he is the living Word of God – the one through whom God “has spoken”. Second, he is the “heir of all things”, the inheritor of all that God has made. And third, he is God’s agent in creation, the one “through whom also he made the universe”. These three aspects of Jesus’ person are packed into verses 1 and 2.

But, awesome though these truths are, there is more to come in verse 3! So stay with me please…

4. He is “the radiance of God’s glory”.

Throughout the Bible God is spoken of in terms of light. John sums it up very simply in his first letter: “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). His holiness and perfection – his “glory” – are so overwhelming as to cause men and women to fall to the ground.

Well, says the writer of this letter, Jesus the Son is the perfect reflection of this heavenly light, the “radiance” or “shining forth”. John, once again, picks up this theme in his Gospel: “We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

When exactly did John see this glory? Well, he doesn’t spell it out: quite likely he is thinking generally of the words and works which the disciples heard and saw during those three years of Jesus’ ministry.

But it’s hard not to think particularly of that strange, frightening-but-wonderful experience of Peter, James and John that Christians call the “transfiguration”: “There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light” (Matthew 17:2). (Just pause to imagine that!)

Many good people bring a little light into our dark world – thank God for them! But only of Jesus is it said the he is “the light of the world”.

Mind you, Jesus also told his disciples, “You are the light of the world”. Do we see ourselves in that way? As the moon, which has no light of its own, reflects the light of the sun, do we pray to reflect the light of Jesus?

5. He is “the exact representation of God’s being”.

That phrase “exact representation” is literally an engraving. Roman emperors routinely had their images stamped on coins, coins which are sometimes dug up today, hundreds of years later. You wanted to know what the emperor looked like? Well, take a coin out of your purse, and there you are.

In a far greater way, it’s no exaggeration to say “You want to know what God is like? Fine: just look at Jesus”.

Jesus said many remarkable things, but I can’t think of any that are more remarkable than “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). What a claim to make! If it’s not true, then it’s just plain blasphemy (or insanity). But if it is true…

True, we today don’t “see” him in the flesh, but we do see him through the pages of scripture. So no wonder that, as he draws this letter to a close (12:2), the writer tells us to “fix our eyes on Jesus”.

Is that something we aim to do day by day?

6. He “sustains all things by his powerful word”.

In Greek mythology the giant Atlas is depicted as holding the world on his shoulders – Mr Muscle-Man indeed! But the writer of this letter tells us that in fact “the Son” is the one who “sustains all things”, and that he does it, not by the power of his muscles, but “by his powerful word”.

These claims just get more and more remarkable! Not only (says the writer) was the Son there before the Beginning, God’s agent in creation; not only will he be there after the End, inheriting “all things” – but now we learn that he’s also there right through the history of the universe, for he carries “all things” through to their final completion.

Paul says a similar thing in Colossians 1:17: “…in him all things hold together”. Our massive universe is, so the scientists tell us, very delicately balanced. If, say, some tiny planet veered off course for just a moment, the whole thing would collapse into chaos. But God has arranged for a divine stability to hold it all together.

He is not (as some Christians have believed) a kind of heavenly watchmaker who winds the universe up and leaves it then to run its course. No, in the person of his Son he is intimately active, moment by moment.

We should keep this in mind when we hear about global warming, or “wars and rumours of wars”: not in order to make us complacent, of course, but in order to spur us to co-operate with God in the maintenance of planet earth – and to comfort us with an assurance that he is in control.

Oh dear, I’ve run out of space again! Please join me next time for the final two “truths that boggle your mind”.

Oh God, thank you that in Jesus we see you. Please refresh our vision of your glory, majesty, power and love, and so help us to love you more and to serve you better. Amen.

Truths to boggle your mind

In the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.  Hebrews 1:1-3

My computer tells me that the verses I have quoted – the first three verses of the Letter to the Hebrews – consist of 87 words. That’s not a lot, really, is it? – not much longer than the Lord’s Prayer. But they are truly remarkable, because the writer (whose identity we don’t know) has managed to pack into them a whole list of claims about Jesus.

And what claims they are!

People who are what you might call “vaguely religious” are often prepared to say that, yes, all right, Jesus was a good man, possibly a prophet, who spread kindness and love wherever he went, and who died a heroic martyr’s death.

And they would be sort-of right: Jesus is indeed those things. But to affirm only them is to affirm only a millionth part of the truth! He is so much more. The word “Wow!” isn’t one I tend to use – I’m not really a “Wow!” person – but in this case – well, I’m not sure I can find a better one, for in these 87 words the writer lists no less than eight truths about Jesus. Let me just highlight each of them…

1. He is the living word of God (verses 1-2a).

This letter was written to Christians who had a Jewish background, and the Jews, of course, believed (and still do) that God is a God who speaks. In earlier times he had spoken mainly through prophets, divinely inspired messengers like Isaiah, Elijah or Ezekiel.

But now, says the writer, he has spoken to us “by a son” (the word “his” has been added by the translators) – a reference, of course, to Jesus. To borrow an expression of John, Jesus is “the word who was made flesh” (John 1:14).

God’s truth, then, is not just something we read off a page or even hear through our ears: no, God’s truth is a person we meet. If the Bible is the written word, then Jesus is the living word. Which means that while knowing the Bible is vital to growth in the Christian life it is never an end in itself; the purpose of the written word is to point us to the living word.

This prompts a question for all of us. I may know the Bible very well; but do I know the person of whom it speaks?

2. He is “the heir of all things” (verse 2b).

In many cultures, even to this day, the eldest son inherits the family estate from his father. Whoever, then, is the Son of God inherits all of creation from God the Father.

In making this claim, is the writer harking back to Psalm 2, a psalm addressed to Israel’s anointed king, where we read (verse 8), “I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession”? Very likely: but if he is, he goes even further than the psalmist, talking not just of “the nations” but of “all things”, presumably including also non-earthly realities.

This is a thought to juggle with! – for we read elsewhere in the New Testament that we who belong to Christ are “co-heirs with him” (Romans 8:17).

Another question: Have you ever seen yourself in this light? – a fellow-heir with Jesus! Can you imagine a greater privilege?

3. He is God’s agent in creation (verse 2c).

It was “through” the Son that “God made the universe”. This is where my mind really begins to boggle. The person we know as Jesus was present at creation…? He was active at creation…?

The first verse of the Bible tells us that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. Well, that seems straightforward enough (putting aside questions about evolution, of course!). But now the Bible is telling us that “the Son” was there!

This isn’t, of course, the man Jesus of Nazareth, complete with his carpenter’s tools and apron, for the Son didn’t take on human form until his birth at Bethlehem. But he was there, all right; and he was involved.

Commentators point us to Proverbs 8:22-31, where “Wisdom” speaks to all who will listen, and states: “I was there when he [‘the Lord’] set the heavens in place, and marked out the horizon on the face of the deep…” (verse 27). And they suggest that this is a kind of prophecy which is fulfilled in the person of Jesus, who is the true wisdom of God.

Well, perhaps so. All I can say is that this is something I simply accept with amazement even though I find I can’t even begin to imagine it.

But we can sum up these last two claims like this: The Son was present before the Beginning, for he was active in creation; and he will be there after the End, for he is the heir of all things.

Do you see what I meant about the “Wow!” word?

I said that these verses contain eight claims about Jesus, and I have only managed to fit in three. But perhaps that’s enough to be going on with!

Why not soak your mind in these extraordinary claims? – and then join me next time for the other five.

Lord God, thank you for all that is down to earth and familiar about Jesus – his words, his compassion, his tears, his suffering. But thank you too for these staggering truths about his eternal being. Please enlarge my understanding of him, so that I may love and worship him better. Amen.

When everything seems meaningless...

 

Remember your Creator
    in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble come
    and the years approach when you will say,
    “I find no pleasure in them”—
² before the sun and the light
    and the moon and the stars grow dark,
    and the clouds return after the rain;
³ when the keepers of the house tremble,
    and the strong men stoop,
when the grinders cease because they are few,
    and those looking through the windows grow dim;
⁴ when the doors to the street are closed
    and the sound of grinding fades;
when people rise up at the sound of birds,
    but all their songs grow faint;
⁵ when people are afraid of heights
    and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
    and the grasshopper drags itself along
    and desire no longer is stirred.
Then people go to their eternal home
    and mourners go about the streets.

⁶ Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,
    and the golden bowl is broken;
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
    and the wheel broken at the well,
⁷ and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
    and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

⁸ “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.   “Everything is meaningless!”

⁹ Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. ¹⁰ The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.

¹¹ The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd. ¹² Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.

¹³ Now all has been heard;
    here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
    for this is the duty of all mankind.
¹⁴ For God will bring every deed into judgment,
    including every hidden thing,
    whether it is good or evil.     Ecclesiastes 12

It’s not often (in fact, so far it’s never!) that I have printed out a whole long passage rather than just a verse or two. But Ecclesiastes 12 cried out to be an exception to my self-imposed rule. I would encourage you not just to skim through it but to read it through thoughtfully and slowly (and preferably out loud). For quite apart from anything else, these verses are a very haunting piece of poetry.

The basic theme of Ecclesiastes as a whole is the essential meaninglessness of life – apart from God. (That theme is repeated here in verse 8.) And the fact is that the God element doesn’t get much of a look-in. It’s a very sobering book, and nowhere more so than in this final chapter; for, putting it bluntly, it’s about the approach of death in old age, and about death itself. It is shot through with images of weakness, sadness and regret.

Addressed in the first instance to the young (verse 1), the writer piles up various images of what lies before all of us, and what is bound to be gloomy if not lightened by the light of “your creator”. We’re all heading for decay, folks!

Some commentators like to interpret the images of verses 1-5 as some sort of code. Verse 2 applies (they say) to fading eyesight and recurring depression; verse 3 to arms and legs and (yes, of course!) crumbling teeth; verse 4 to an inability any longer to get out and about, and to loss of hearing; verse 5 to being slow or unsteady on your feet and nervous about possible dangers, to grey hair (the almond blossom), to the loss of sexual energy.

Well, possibly.

But that seems a bit forced to me, and personally I prefer TS Eliot’s description (from his poem The Waste Land) of these verses as simply “a heap of broken images”. The writer is aiming to grab our attention by making us use our imaginations and puzzle things out.

Whatever, the second part of verse 5 makes very clear what he has in mind – the time when “people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets”. Yes, it’s the reality of death he is talking about.

Verses 6-7 move from images of slow, gradual decay to the suddenness and finality of death. Precious, beautiful and useful things simply cease to function: a silver cord – “severed”; a golden bowl – “broken”, a pitcher  - “shattered”; the wheel that operates the well – “broken”.

And so we are reminded that we should never take a day of life – or even a minute – for granted. CS Lewis wrote somewhere that we tend to think of death as being like a gramophone record (remember them?) gradually slowing down till it comes to a gentle halt: but no, he says, it’s more like someone throwing a shoe at the record-player in mid-flow: zeeuch! (After all, it’s not only the old who die…)

Verses 9-12 have good news for us: this kind of gloomy picture needn’t hold us in its grip – for wisdom is available.

There is a “teacher” (verses 9-10) who has gone to the trouble of making wisdom known to us. We as Christians can hardly avoid seeing this, ultimately, as a picture of God himself, the inspirer of scripture. He is also the “shepherd” of verse 11, and presumably the wise people with their “goads” are the prophets, teachers and preachers whose role is to make known the word of God and to prod us (lovingly, of course!) to walk in the ways of God.

The challenge to us, then is: how seriously do we take God’s word? He is our teacher, and, of course “the Lord is our shepherd”. So take his words to heart! – and take note of the solemn warning of verse 12a (which is echoed again right at the end of the Bible: Revelation 22:18). Books are a great thing – but (verse 12b) you can have too many of them, especially if they claim to add new light to the light God has already given.

And so we come to “the conclusion of the matter” (verses 13-14). Now the writer reminds us of two fundamental truths.

First, the basic business of life is to “fear God and keep his commandments” (verse 13).

From Jesus we know what the writer of Ecclesiastes perhaps didn’t – that this isn’t just a matter of grim duty, but a daily walk of joy, peace and hope. According to Jesus in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full”. Yes, gloomy Ecclesiastes is true – but it’s only a tiny part of the truth!

And then verse 14, the other fundamental truth: “God will bring every deed into judgment”.

In fact, life is anything but meaningless – for one day we will be called to account for what we have done with it, whether “good” or “evil”.

Once again, there is a great truth which we know but which the writer of Ecclesiastes couldn’t: that on the cross Jesus made atonement for our sins and thus lifted from us the threat of God’s punishment. And so death – gloomy, dark and sombre though it is – has lost its sting.

Yes, death is an enemy, and it’s foolish to pretend otherwise. But Christ is risen! – and by God’s grace we too are already risen with him.

Lord God, help me to appreciate both the miracle of life and the certainty and seriousness of death. So grant, please, that I may live for Christ’s glory, and that I may die in his peace. Amen.

Childlike faith or reckless irresponsibility?

Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake… Matthew 14:22-33

Last time, I dwelt on one particular feature of this famous story of Jesus walking on the water: the fact that Jesus watches over us even when he seems not to be with us. He, on the hillside, could see the disciples in their boat even though they couldn’t see him. And exactly the same is true for us in our dark times.

But there are other things worth noticing too about the earthly Jesus. Let me pick out two.

First, there were times when he needed solitude.

The story starts with him trying – if I can put it bluntly – to get away from other people (you know that feeling?).

Matthew tells us that he “made” the disciples get into the boat without him (that word could be translated “compelled”), while he “dismissed” the crowd.

Why was this?

As I said last time, it seems that he’s been going through a hard time – coming to terms with the death of John the Baptist (chapter 14:1-12), and then being called on to preach to and to feed a large crowd of people (verses 13-21). I think he must have been tired and needing to recharge his batteries.

We should never forget the sheer humanity of Jesus – he was human as well as divine. John tells us plainly that the reason he was sitting one day by a well, and therefore in a position to meet the Samaritan woman, was because he was “tired from the journey” (John 4:6). It’s quite ironic, really: the one who later talks of himself as the only giver of “living water” – fresh, life-giving and never running out – himself needs to ask the Samaritan woman for a drink from the local well!

And there are several references in the New Testament to Jesus weeping; picture, please, the tears running down his face – can you get more human than that?

Jesus is the divine Son of God, as he demonstrates by walking on the water; but let’s be encouraged that he is also a frail human being, one who “knows our every weakness”. So when we see him eager to get away from both his disciples and the crowd, and eager to head for the hillside where he can be alone with his Father in heaven, let’s take our cue from him. We too need such times: there is no virtue in overworking, even in God’s service, no value in blowing a fuse or burning ourselves out.

It may be just regular short periods in the middle of a busy week that meet our need; but let’s not deny them to ourselves.

There is another reason why Jesus needed to get away on his own. The parallel story in John 6 tells us that the people “intended to come and make him king by force” – and this he simply knew would be wrong.

Oh yes, the day will come when he will be king, king indeed! But that day still lies in the future, and he refuses to allow himself to be bounced into a situation that would be against God’s will. And so, John tells us, “he withdrew again to a mountain by himself”.

We need to take our cue from him in this respect also: never to let ourselves be railroaded by events, however attractive and tempting, which are not of God’s making. No. Walk in step with God, neither running ahead nor lagging behind, and all will be well.

The second aspect of Jesus’ character I wanted to pick out was that he encouraged the child-like faith of Simon Peter. However naïve and impetuous Peter was, Jesus was obviously delighted with his faith…

You think you’ll be able to walk on the water too? he says. Well, fine, you come! And so he did. But his faith failed him “when he saw the wind” (I love that expression: how on earth can anybody see the wind?). He begins to sink, whereupon Jesus “reached out his hand” (another lovely expression) and saved him.

This pleasure that Jesus takes in someone’s faith is a recurring feature of the Gospels – think of the Roman centurion (Matthew 8:5-13), the woman with the haemorrhage, or the synagogue ruler (Matthew 9:18-26). True, in our story he does express disappointment too: when Peter begins to sink he calls him “you of little faith” and asks “Why did you doubt?”

But the great thing is that he doesn’t rebuke him for initially taking the risk of faith and stepping out of the boat.

The question has been asked in a million sermons: Which is better – to get out of the boat even if you then sink, or to be like the other disciples and to stay in it?

I dare to think that I know Jesus’ answer to that!

Is he calling some of us today to get out of the boat…? I wouldn’t want anyone to do anything foolish or irresponsible, but remember, the word “faith” is sometimes spelled r-i-s-k…

Dear Father in heaven, please help me to follow Jesus in carving out time in my life to be alone with you – and also to follow Simon Peter in sometimes daring to take the risk of faith. Amen.

Our all-seeing God

Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake… Matthew 14:22-33

This is just a snippet of a longish story (verses 22-33), but it’s the part that always grabs our attention: Jesus walked on the water!

The Gospels make that statement as a take-it-or-leave-it fact: it’s not provable – or disprovable, come to that. If you are inclined to leave it, all I can ask is that first you ponder its powerful message, and also consider the untold millions of men and women of faith over the centuries who have found it to be almost literally a life-saver. It’s packed with challenging, comforting and thought-provoking ideas…

Jesus has been having a tough time. He has heard the news of the killing of John the Baptist, and feels the need to withdraw “to a private place” – no doubt to pray, to grieve, and to collect his thoughts. But it is not to be. He is followed by a crowd of people seeking teaching and healing – who then need to be fed. This he does with the miracle of the loaves and fish.

It’s getting late, so he virtually shoos his disciples away (he “made them get into the boat”) while he sends the people home. Then, at last, he is free to go up onto the hillside by himself to pray.

Meanwhile the disciples get into difficulty with a sudden storm. So, in the early hours of the morning, he “went out to them, walking on the lake”. At first they are scared out of their wits, thinking he is a ghost. But he reassures them with words that are so beautifully typical of him: “Take courage! It’s me. Don’t be afraid”.

At this point Simon Peter, ever impetuous, declares his wish to go to Jesus on the water. “Come”, says Jesus. At first all is well, but then Peter takes his eyes off Jesus and begins to sink: “Lord, save me!” he shouts. Which, of course, Jesus does, reaching out his hand to him. There’s a little word of loving rebuke – “Why did you doubt?” – and then they are both safe in the boat and the wind has died down.

For me the highlight of the story is in a little detail for which we have to go to the parallel account in Mark 6:45-52. (Why Matthew didn’t include it I don’t know; but I’m very glad Mark did.) He brings the scene vividly to life by telling us that Jesus “saw the disciples straining at the oars”. (Can you see them?)

What’s so special about that? Simply this: it tells us that though they couldn’t see him, he could see them.

The experts tell us this would probably have been a moonlit night. So I imagine Jesus, way up there on the hillside, with a panoramic view of the whole lake. And there, way down below him, is the little boat, “buffeted” by the wind and the waves.

I think this is a perfect picture of us and Jesus in certain circumstances of our lives. We’re caught up in a storm; the winds are howling and we’re afraid, gripped by anxiety over health or money or family concerns or whatever. And Jesus seems to be nowhere. It’s tempting to think we have been abandoned, just when we needed him most.

But… while we can’t “see” him, he is watching over us. And if we hold on to that hope, it’s only a matter of time before it will be proved true.

For Jesus did come. Yes, their rescue wasn’t immediate. Yes, they went through some anxious hours. Yes, no doubt their hands were rubbed raw on the oars and their backs were aching.

But come he did.

And there was nothing to stop him. Yes, they were well out from the shore (John 6 tells us they had rowed three or four miles), and yes, Jesus had no boat in which to reach them. But still he came: the carpenter of Nazareth is also the lord of creation.

If you have been a Christian any length of time you will very likely be able to look back in your life to times when you felt lost and helpless, perhaps indeed close to despair. But now, with the benefit of that wonderful thing we call hindsight, you are able to say, “But he was there! He was watching over me! And he came. And here I am today!”

The events of this story took place in a matter of hours. And there may be situations in our lives when we receive our rescue likewise very quickly. But more usually it is spread out over a matter not of hours or days but of weeks, months or even years: the Christian walk is, after all, a lifetime thing.

It’s during those long periods of waiting that we need to feed on this story, and to remind ourselves of its great lesson: he sees us always, even when we can’t see him.

Lord Jesus, please go today in a special way to those known to me who are “straining at the oars” and “buffeted by the winds”. And if you want me to be the means of your presence for them, show me and so use me. Amen.