reading for: 24 february

Mark 8:31-38

Trust in God who calls you to follow him

• READ

Mark 8:31–38 calls for women and men to acknowledge that God alone determines what things are “divine.” Peter is in no position to dictate to Jesus the terms of Jesus’ Messiahship. 

Three times in 8:27– 10:45 Jesus predicts his suffering, death, and resurrection (8:31;9:31; 10:33–34). Each time that prediction is followed directly by an incident in which the disciples are unable to understand Jesus’ comment (8:32–33; 9:33–34; 10:35–37). And each time, the disciples’ misunderstanding prompts a statement from Jesus about the true nature of discipleship (8:34–38; 9:35–37; 10:38–45).

Mark does not directly reveal the content of Peter’s rebuke or its motivation, but Jesus’ comments provide an interpretation: “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things” (8:33). Whatever Peter has said, he has somehow rejected Jesus’ prediction, and for that action he receives the strongest possible condemnation, associated with the figure of Satan. 

The second of Jesus’ comments, while not as sharp, may have proved equally puzzling to Peter. Jesus accuses him of thinking about “human things” rather than “divine things,” but surely Peter would object that the opposite is the case! Peter has been thinking divine things, things about Jesus’ power and his authority and even about his status as Messiah. It is Jesus who has introduced human things into the conversation with his insistence on talking about his future suffering and execution.

In actual fact, Peter has not yet understood either Jesus’ role or what it means to follow after him. In 8:34–37, Jesus implicitly links the two together (as he does quite explicitly in 10:41–45). Those who wish to be followers of Jesus must conform their lives to his, denying themselves, being prepared to lose their lives, taking up the cross.

• REFLECT

  What does it mean for you to follow Jesus? On whose terms are you trying to be a follower? Invite the Holy Spirit to bring discernment into your heart so that you can keep in step with the Spirit on your discipleship journey. 

reading for: 25 february

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16

Trust in God to do the impossible and keep His promises

• READ

  In Genesis 17 the covenant that God makes with Abraham is one that He initiates and directs. God’s promise of offspring for Abraham, offspring with whom the covenant will continue, signals God’s intention to sustain the covenant into the distant future. The final lines of this passage, the announcement that the covenant will be made through a child born to Abraham and the barren Sarah, reveal that God fulfils God’s promises in God’s own way. What is thought to be impossible or absurd may prove to be precisely God’s plan.

  The first words of God (v1-2) clashes up against that factual statement of “99” (ninety-nine years old). God declares his power and sovereignty in the face of “ninety-nine”, old age where conception is impossible in the natural. He says, “I am God Almighty.” There is nothing more elemental than God’s good self, God’s name, God’s identity. It is enough to override the body-given despair of this old couple. In the utterance, God prevails over “the human condition.”
  The second element of God’s decree is a summons to Abraham: “Walk before me, and be blameless.” The phrase “Walk before me” may mean “Worship me” or, more likely, “Present yourself before me like a servant presenting himself before a terrible sovereign.” “Be available to me on my terms.” The second imperative, “Be blameless” (perfect, complete), does not refer to moral purity, but rather to being completely devoted, in unqualified loyalty. The term may come from ritual procedure, meaning to be completely acceptable and without disqualifying mark. Abraham’s whole life is to be given over to God in unqualified devotion.

  The third element of this decree is a large, unusual promise, the one Abraham most wanted to hear. God will unilaterally “give [make]” a covenant that the family of Abraham will “be exceedingly numerous.” Abraham submits himself bodily in a deep bow of reverence (v.3). He falls to the ground, perhaps terrified, perhaps grateful, overwhelmed.  

  God speaks again (vs. 3–7). This speech only intensifies and clarifies the earlier comment of God. It is God’s staggering speech that changes everything. Now in a great moment Abraham’s name is changed, thereby signifying that Abraham now receives his life and his future only from the hand of God. Abraham’s identity and destiny have been decisively altered, so that the desperate one without an heir now receives a wondrous, limitless future of power and well-being.

  Here, three aspects of this new future for Abraham are important to note. First, the future is royal:“Kings shall come from you.” This is a hope for power in the future, precisely in a context of powerlessness. And, of course, this text points forward to ultimately refer to King Jesus. Second, this covenant of faithfulness is everlasting (see Gen. 9:16). Nothing can disrupt it. It is striking that these texts asserting an everlasting covenant (see also 9:8–17) are uttered precisely in exile, the crisis of deepest discontinuity. Third (in v. 8), the powerful promise is for land. The desperate family that is always “on the way” will have a safe, good place in which to be “at home” (see Heb. 11:8–10). Verses 15 and 16 serve, to include Sarah in the good future with Abraham. She also has her name changed, as she becomes “Princess.” She is to carry a blessing and to bear kings to a royal future. 

• REFLECT

  Those barren at the beginning are fruitful at the end. Those abandoned have become cared for. Those displaced have become royal. Those alone have come to covenant. Can you see the goodness and faithfulness of God to Abraham and Sarah? Can you see God’s faithfulness and providence over you and your family? Take some time to reflect on the blessings and give Him all the thanks and glory. 

reading for: 26 february

Romans 4:13-25 

Trust in God on His terms, not yours

• READ

  In Rom. 4, Paul argues that those “yet unborn” now include not only those who are physically the offspring of Abraham but those who have faith like that of Abraham. If Paul often makes use of Old Testament passages in ways that seem complicated, here he appears to be following the main lines of the Genesis account; Abraham is a prime example of God’s faithful and yet mysterious ways with humankind. God calls into existence, God keeps promises, and God does so in ways not subject to the prediction or control of human beings.

  In this light, faith, then, means giving space to the surprising power of God, refusing to settle for what is possible or what is reasonable. Believers, like Abraham and Sarah, turn out to be unrealistic and even a bit mad, because their worldview includes the activity of the God of creation, who continues to bring “into existence the things that do not exist.” It is not their “faith” that works miracles, but the One in whom they trust.

  But if God can do anything, does that mean that I can count on God to heal my stricken child when medical science declares there is no conceivable prospect? The second affirmation about God in the text clarifies the issue further: God does what God has promised (Rom. 4:21). The all-powerful God does not turned into a genie who redirects the course of bullets and guarantees that all our crises will have happy endings. Rather, the context for our reflection about God’s activity in the world and in our lives is the divine promise.

  For Abraham and Sarah, faith in the divine promise meant living between the impossible word, that they would parent an entire nation, and its ultimate realisation. Their believing was not an

  arbitrary claim that God would do exactly what they wished in every circumstance, but a trust in God to honour commitments made.

  For us, the particular promise of Rom. 4 that shapes our faith in God’s miracle-working presence is the pledge that God justifies the ungodly, that what sustains us in the day of reckoning is not an account of deeds done or not done but the certain mercy of a forgiving Judge (vs. 4–5, 16).

  “God the creator” and “God the promise keeper” find their fullest expression in God the redeemer. What has been promise becomes gospel in Jesus’ death and resurrection. The One in whom both Abraham and Paul trusted has given a more complete self-revelation, has brought forgiveness of sins, and has set things right.
  

• REFLECT

  The bottom line of so much of our human struggle is the question of God, not so much whether there is a God, but what kind of God there is. Is the one at the heart of the universe a reliable God, a God of compassion in whom we dare to trust? Or are we at the mercy of chance left with no grounds for asking of life questions of meaning and purpose? Or is God primarily an impersonal force who started things off but then let history run its own course, or a God whose ears are deaf to human cries and whose hands are helplessly and eternally tied? What is your view of God? Where does this come from? Is your view informed by Scriptures?

reading for: 27 february

Psalm 22:23-31

Trust and praise him for his limitless mercy and grace

• READ

  The Psalm does not make particular reference to the story of Abraham and Sarah, but the thematic connections between the two readings are close ones. The psalmist calls forth praise of God for God’s dominion over all people. All peoples, like all the offspring of Abraham and Sarah, are to join in serving God. God’s promise to future generations is here celebrated as the promise of deliverance even for those “yet unborn.”

  God’s mercy and compassion prevail! This is the key idea of the Psalm for today. Verses 23-31 testify to God’s love and power. Initially (vs. 23–24), the psalmist invites all the members of the family of faith to join in worship and praise. Three times—a symbol of urgency—the call is issued: those who “fear Yahweh,” the “offspring of Jacob/Israel” are to “praise,” “glorify,” and “stand in awe of him” (v. 23). The reason: Yahweh has heard the cry of one miserable sufferer and has responded in grace and compassion (v. 24). The psalmist, who was convinced that God had abandoned him or her (v. 1), now knows that that could never have been the case.

  In vs 25–26, it is not enough that the psalmist should now take this newly acquired appreciation of God’s ways and simply internalise it. It must be celebrated, and in the most public manner possible: in the presence of the “great congregation,” the presence of “those who fear him” (compare v. 23).

  In vs 27-28 the scope of concern is now broadened to include all peoples everywhere. . But here the larger human family is addressed in order to bring it under the umbrella of Yahweh’s loving care. Since Yahweh is the Lord of all peoples everywhere (v. 28), nations and races to “the ends of the earth” will acknowledge Yahweh’s benevolent rule.

  The Psalm reaches its fitting climax (vs. 29–31) in the extension of God’s mercy to those who are dead and to those who are yet unborn! Those human generations yet to be born will experience Yahweh’s mercy and, because of that, they will prepare peoples even more chronologically distant to expect God’s saving grace in their own lives.

• REFLECT

  On the cross, Jesus quotes the first few words of this Psalm “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Could it be that the obedient Son of God chose to recite this psalm because it not only captured his current crisis on the Cross but also his perfect hope and trust in God the Father? Find a scripture that is meaningful to you and share it with your LG members so that they may be encouraged to keep their eyes on Jesus.