EPIPHANY • 4

Can We See God’s Authority overflowing from His Great Love?

SONGS FOR PRAYER

reading for: Tuesday Night, 23 JANUARY

Mark 1:21-28

  • READ

    21 And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. 22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. 23 And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

    Commentary:

    The first miracle of Jesus that Gospel-writer Mark records is this exorcism. Jesus has authority to set those in bondage free. In Jesus, the living Word is incarnate (God has put on human flesh), and His spoken words possess the power to act. He commands the unclean spirit in the man to “be silent and come out of him” (v25), and the spirit is compelled to obey.

    The God of Israel, who in the Old Testament brought his people out of bondage and slavery in Egypt and who sanctified and consecrated his people through the Law and the Prophets, is now revealed to be acting through the person of Jesus, with the same divine power and authority.  As the Old Testament prophet Zephaniah wrote 600 years before Jesus:

    7 Be silent before the Lord God!
        For the day of the Lord is near;
    the Lord has prepared a sacrifice

    and consecrated his guests. (Zephaniah 1:7)  

     

    In loving continuity with what God was doing in the past, and with great love for the demon-possessed man, Jesus uses his spiritual authority to set him free, to make him holy, to consecrate him. So that he too, may, like Israel in the past, be free to worship God. The unclean spirit is totally powerless against Jesus, whose authority flows from the very essence of His divine nature.

    The people are amazed because the kingdom of God has arrived on earth not merely in the teachings and spoken words of the scribes but in powerful demonstration by the Son of God. Gospel-writer Luke records Jesus revealing plainly that such exorcisms ultimately provide evidence that God’s rule has arrived. Jesus says,

    “But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” (Luke 11:20)

  • REFLECT

Consider the words of Thomas Merton, from Thoughts in Solitude:

“My life is a listening,

His (God’s) is a speaking,

My salvation is to hear and respond.

For this, my life must be silent…

If our life is poured out in useless words,

We will never hear anything,

We will never become anything.”

 

What is one small change you must make this year to prepare and position yourself, to be able to hear the voice of God who comes to act in your life and transform you? Where is the noise in your life coming from? Are there other voices that should be shut out? Is your own internal dialogue so noisy that the still small voice of the Holy Spirit is drowned out?

reading for: Wednesday Night, 24 JANUARY

Deuteronomy 18:15-20  

  • READ
    Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 18:15-20

    15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. 20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or[a] who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’

    Commentary

    The people of Israel have been led by Moses, who was sent to them as a prophet from their Lord. He brought to the people of Israel the words from the Lord. He commanded them how they were to live. Here in Deuteronomy, Moses was given his final instructions to the people of Israel before his impending death.

    Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15-20 speaks of the Lord raising up a prophet like him from among them. Moses charged them to listen to the prophet that the Lord will raise up. The prophet will speak the words of the Lord which will be placed in his mouth. The people are warned that whoever does not listen to this prophet, the Lord will require it of him. This is most likely referring to the judgment and punishment that will befall those who do not listen to this prophet. Moses then ends this section with a warning to the prophet not to speak any words that the Lord did not give him to say or speak in the name of other gods, for the fate of those who do such things is death.

    Who is this prophet? The Lord raised up many prophets after Moses. One can speak of Samuel or Isaiah or Jeremiah. Perhaps this words from the Lord to Moses applied to them, for the Lord did raise them up and gave them the words to say. They obeyed the Lord and served the Lord. However, the ultimate referent of this prophecy by Moses refers to Jesus. Jesus is the prophet that Moses spoke about.

    John 5:45-47

    45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

    The apostle John makes it clear that Moses wrote of Jesus. Jesus is the prophet that we must listen to his words. To fail to listen to Jesus is to face judgment.

  • REFLECT

    Who are we listening to? Are we listening to the words of Jesus or are we listening to the words of the world? Take time with the Lord to ask him what is he saying to you today? Will we spend time this week with the Lord to allow him to speak to us? Will we walk in obedience to him?

    Respond to the Lord in prayer. Pray that we will have the strength to hear the words of Jesus and respond to him in obedience.

reading for: Thursday Night, 25 JANUARY

1 Corinthians 8:1-13  

READ

We have been following the Corinthians passages for the third week now and we see a church in discord. From what we can infer, one of the main reasons for Paul to write this letter was to address the various questions that the church was asking and struggling with.

Tonight’s reading from 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 contains Paul’s answer concerning the question of “food offered to idols” that was dividing the church (v1).

Paul begins with a posture of humility by acknowledging that it’s impossible to know everything and what really counts is to know God and be known by Him (v2-3). And the most important knowledge one must possess is to know that “there is no God but one” and especially for believers, to know that there is only one God and one Lord Jesus Christ (v4-6).

Unfortunately, not everyone possesses this “knowledge” and understand that food offered to idols are merely food since there are no other gods but One (v7-8). Not everyone sees that eating food offered to idols held no bearing on one’s standing before God.

Therefore, Paul appeals to the believers who possess the knowledge to be considerate towards those who do not possess the knowledge and to exercise their rights in a thoughtful, loving, and others-centered way (v9). God may not be concerned with eating food offered to idols but he is concerned about his people acting in ways that causes another to stumble (v10).

It was so crucial for the Corinthians to understand this truth and principle that Paul equates causing a brother to stumblewith sinning against him and sinning against a brother as sinning against Christ (v11-12). And Paul declares that he will not eat any meat if eating food offered to idols causes someone to think that other gods and idols exist (v13).

REFLECT

Tonight’s passage is especially for those of us who are mature and who have walked with the Lord for a long time. We know that there is no God but One. Flesh and blood has not revealed this truth to us but our Father in heaven. Let us exercise the knowledge and rights we have in love and in consideration of those who may be less mature. It is not worth pursuing or doing something that will cause our brother or sister to stumble.

And we must watch our walk lest we cause others to stumble and sin against them. It is a lie to think that the decisions we make and how we choose to live our lives have no impact on the body of Christ and those around us.

For the sake of Christ, let us grow in our walk with the Lord and in our love for one another. In 2024, let us commit to growing deeper together as friends for life.

reading for: FRIDAY Night, 26 JANUARY

Psalm 111

  • REAd

    Praise the Lord! This psalm exhorts us to praise the Lord! The psalmist calls us to give thanks to the Lord with our whole hearts in the company of the upright, in the congregation.

    We are to praise the Lord because his works are great and studied by all who delight in them. His work is full of majesty and splendour. His righteousness endures forever. The Lord causes his wondrous works to be remembered and he is gracious and merciful.

    The psalmist goes on to praise the Lord for he is the great God who has shown his people the power of his works in giving them the inheritance of the nations. The works and precepts of the Lord are faithful, just, and trustworthy and they are established forever.

    The Lord is the redeemer who redeems his people, and his covenant never fails. The psalmist concludes with an exhortation for all to fear the Lord and for us to praise him as his praise endures forever.

    Praise the Lord!

  • REFLECT

    Psalm 111 is a psalm that calls us to praise the Lord! Let us recount some instances where the Lord has been gracious and merciful to us and give him praise for his loving kindness. Praise the Lord using the words of Psalm 111. Praise the Lord!

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