Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

These thoughts were part of a series of Easter reflections prepared for, and by, members of Horley Baptist Church during April 2020. This reflection is based on Mark 14 v16-25.

For nearly two thousand years, millions of people have looked at this passage at Easter-time. For many people it will bring to mind Leonardo da Vinci’s famous fresco of the Last Supper; for others it forms the focus of every communion service. For those of us who have become ‘hardened’ to passages such as this, how is it possible to see something new in words that are so familiar?

The first gem in this passage came from words in verse 16 – [they] “found things just as Jesus had told them.” Jesus knew the details in advance. A similar thought can de detected in verses 18 and 21 – Jesus knew in advance. As we work our way though one of the most difficult periods in modern history we too can take comfort in the assurance that Jesus knew in advance.

“When evening came, Jesus arrived.” It had been a strange day; a simple visit to the home of some friends had turned into an event that was difficult to understand. Now it was getting dark and the disciples did not know what the evening would bring. In our insecurity about the future we too can look forward to Jesus being with us.

“He … gave it to his disciples.” He shared the meal with them. Of course, it was not an ordinary meal – it was the Passover meal when most of the city would have been recalling the way in which God had rescued his people from Egypt. We remember that we too have been delivered by the actions that Jesus foretells during this meal. All the twelve disciples were included, not even Judas was excluded. Rather, Jesus took the opportunity to warn Judas of the consequences of his actions; it was not too late to repent. Is that relevant to you?

“that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” Jesus spoke of better times to come. He was looking forward to the time when a great multitude that no one could count would stand before the throne of God. Will you be there?

He knew, he came, he shared, he reassured. Let us live with confidence knowing that this Lord is our shepherd and, whatever happens in the meantime, we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
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[Modified transcript of a midweek message published by Horley Baptist Church on YouTube^[1], April 2020]

The story of Passover, and the meaning of Easter

Jews all over the world this weekend will be celebrating the festival of Passover. Passover remembers a time when the nation of Israel was living in slavery in Egypt. They cried out to God and God heard their cries and he sent a man to speak on their behalf to Pharaoh. His name was Moses. Moses went and he pleaded with Pharaoh to let the Israelites go but Pharaoh said “No” so God sent plagues. Each plague was a way of punishing the Egyptians and encouraging them to let the Israelites go.

^00:46 When it came to 10th plague, well that certainly changed Egyptians’ minds because that final plague was a plague that caused the firstborn in every household to die. God had warned the Israelites through Moses that they needed to self isolate, they had to lock themselves up in their houses, they were to sit with their families but they were going to have a meal. They were told to sacrifice a lamb and to eat it but they would take the blood of the lamb and put it over the doorway of their houses. The idea being that when the Angel of Death came over the nation of Egypt to kill all those firstborns that actually he would pass over the houses where this blood was daubed over the doorposts and the lintel and that’s exactly what happened. The nation of Egypt was in complete anguish, the nation of Israel was safe from this plague and the Pharaoh finally let the Israelites leave. Finally they were no longer slaves but they were free.

^01:56 Now this weekend is also Easter and in the story of the first Easter we find Jesus and His disciples celebrating the Passover meal. They were remembering what God had done all those years back when he’d heard Israel’s cries; he’d rescued them, he’d freed them from slavery. They’re sharing a meal in an upper room and they’re having the various bits and pieces you would have for the Passover meal. There’s a point when Jesus goes off-script; this is when he has got the bread and he tears it and he said “this is my body broken for you” and it must have puzzled the disciples somewhat. Then he picked up the cup of wine (sometimes in the Passover meal it’s called the cup of blessing or the cup of redemption). This wine is supposed to symbolise that blood of the lamb that was put on the doorpost and instead of saying “this is the blood of the Lamb” he says “This is my blood shed for you”. What Jesus was trying to tell his disciples was that somehow his body being broken and his blood being spilled would rescue not just Israel but a whole world a whole of humanity from slavery; that somehow his death, and his resurrection that was just around the corner, would be this momentous point in history that will bring about freedom.

^03:34 In his Gospel John writes that “for God so loved the world that He sent His only Son so that whoever believes in Him shall not die but have eternal life”. It also tells us in the Bible that the consequences of sin is death and through Jesus’s death on the cross he has freed us from the curse of sin and by doing so he has also freed us from the curse of death. If we give our lives to Jesus, if we make him Lord of our lives, then because of his death, because of his resurrection, we can live forever now.

^04:20 This time of the coronavirus has really woken us up to the reality of death because suddenly it’s closer than it’s ever been before, You may dodge the bullets of COVID or you may catch it and survive but the reality is death will come to us all. For followers of Jesus Christ that need not be the end; through Jesus’s death and resurrection we are safe from sin, our relationship with God is restored and we can spend eternity with him.
I would encourage you in the same way that you are trying everything to save your lives from COVID so you should also do everything you can to find about Jesus so you can save your life for eternity.

YouTube link: Can I escape Death?
Bible references: Mark 14 v22-24, John 3 v16

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These thoughts were part of a series of Easter reflections prepared for, and by, members of Horley Baptist Church during April 2020. This reflection is based on John 13: 1-5

Do you remember just a few short weeks ago how we used to happily invite our friends and family to our home for a meal? If we were still allowed to do that now I guess we would have to say to our guests as they arrived, “Welcome. Come in. But first make sure you wash your hands for 20 seconds with the antibacterial handwash provided, and then we can enjoy our food and conversation together.” Yet we can’t even do that – how things have changed in just a short time.

However, I doubt if we would ever have to invite them to wash their feet first before starting the meal, and yet this was the accepted behaviour at the time of Jesus. Just to remind ourselves, people in those days wore open sandals and walked for miles along dusty roads, and their tired and dirty feet needed cleansing and refreshing before they could enjoy food and drink with their friends. In the best homes the washing would be done by a lowly servant.

In the above passage, Jesus was meeting with His disciples to have a last meal together with them, which they didn’t know at the time. But He knew that His life on earth would end the following day with His crucifixion, even though afterwards He would be returning to His Father and the glory from which He came. For Him the thought of enduring the crucifixion filled Him with dread but He still had so much to teach them that evening. His teaching centred round love, His love for the disciples, for the world and us, and the disciples’ love for each other. Not long before that they had argued about who was the greatest among them, but Jesus was about to show them that true greatness comes from love and humility as He washed their feet.

You can imagine the surprise and even shock of the disciples as they watched Jesus take a bowl of water and a towel and do the work of a mere servant, washing the feet of each one of them. Even included was His enemy Judas, who was about to go out and betray Him. Jesus, the One who was God before He was born as a human being, was kneeling and washing the dirty feet of people He had created, because He loved them and always would do into eternity. His action was not only an example of love but also a sign of the cleansing that He wanted to give to His disciples and ultimately to us as well. A cleansing that could only come from His sacrifice of death on the cross when He faced separation from His Father, torture and death to cleanse us from our sins.

A few days later He rose to life from the dead as a promise that we have new life through Him. Maybe it’s also a sign that the illness and death from Covid–19 will come to an end by the grace of God. At the present time it may be difficult to show the love we have seen in this passage, but we are doing it by phoning one another, helping the vulnerable by shopping for them, by keeping our distance and not going into anyone else’s home so that the virus has less chance of spreading. I have a feeling that after this is over there will be many other needs, as a result, that we shall have to meet with love. We shall need to surrender ourselves to the Spirit of Jesus so that He may continue to “wash the feet” of others in love through us.
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These thoughts were part of a series of Easter reflections prepared for, and by, members of Horley Baptist Church during April 2020. This reflection is based on Mark 14 v3-9.

Jesus loved to party with His friends. When he was invited to Simon the leper’s house he accepted willingly – after all Simon was a Pharisee (a stickler for the law), all sorts of people would be there too, probably the upper crust of society.

They were all enjoying a good meal when in burst Mary, a woman of ill repute, not your typical church goer. She went right up to Jesus, smashed a very expensive jar of ointment and poured it over Jesus’s head.

She washed His feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. Some people that were there asked why this Jesus, a prophet, mixed with such a woman and what was she doing wasting this expensive oil, it could have been sold and the money used to help the poor.

This woman blessed Jesus where others had neglected Him. Simon had not greeted Jesus properly according to the local customs when He arrived, but this woman had lavished her love on Him. Jesus said her sins were forgiven because she loved much.

Our first ministry is not to the traditions and rules of men,but our allegiance is to Jesus our Lord and Saviour. Jesus is looking for a people who will totally follow Him, out of our commitment to Him comes total obedience. What Mary did was to prepare Jesus for His burial.

What is Jesus asking us to do for Him. You never know where He will lead us. Use us Lord for your glory in whatever way you choose, it may be the most unusual task.

Every blessing to you all this Easter time, not full of bunnies and chicks, but full of the new life that springs eternal through the Holy Spirit. Amen
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These thoughts were part of a series of Easter reflections prepared for, and by, members of Horley Baptist Church during April 2020. This reflection is based on Mark 11: 1 -11.

Imagine yourself as a bystander hearing a terrific ruckus coming down the road -loud shouting and singing! It’s a growing mob of people milling excitedly around this Jesus of Nazareth riding a donkey. Now you can make out what they’re shouting: ‘Hosanna to the son of David! Blessings to the one who comes in the name of the Lord!‘

Someone next to you says, ‘That’s what Zechariah prophesied! He is riding in as king!‘ Sometimes else: ‘The Romans are as good as finished!‘

Do you break away from the spectators and join the wild procession? If you do, you are in for a devastating disappointment! In just a few days, you and this crowd will watch your ‘king’ die a horrible death on a Roman cross. Maybe you should have kept your distance. It was ridiculous in the first place!

Then, a few weeks later, you and many others hear that he is alive again, that somehow, he burst out of his tomb! Another moment of decision, another amazing invitation: now, will I join the celebration? He just may be who he said he was: King of the universe! Even in the face of Covid -19? Yes! Oh, yes!!
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[This Reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 05/Apr/2020]

Below is an excerpt from an online post that spoke to me this week …

“If My people will
1) HUMBLE THEMSELVES AND PRAY,
2) SEEK MY FACE AND
3) TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS”
God promises to heal the land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

‘That tells me we can be out of sync with God in three ways, we may seek and pray but if we don’t TURN, we still haven’t got the message. My growing view and I’m not enjoying it, is that REPENTANCE, turning, is a key issue here in our present situation. We’re praying all right, but turning? The church has the key to this, not the unbeliever.
What if we are in a desperate state before Him, made worse by the fact that we think “we are all right, it’s the others”; what if we cannot see ourselves naked like the King who was in His altogether? What if we are stone deaf to the Holy Spirit? Yes, we are positionally ‘in Christ’, yes, we are the beloved of God. BUT, what if we are immature in the WAYS of God and we have some growing to do – fast.

What if it’s back to basics? What if every Christian asked the Lord to show them where they needed to repent, to turn away from what He didn’t like in their lives – their wicked ways, and sincerely asked how to get into alignment with HIM? Regular confession: keeping short accounts with Him. What if the cumulative effect of unconfessed sin is like one vast landfill site stinking to heaven? Graphic but that’s the picture I got…unconfessed sin, is sin that is unforgiven. He’s not obsessed with it, but it needs acknowledgement and cleansing – it’s the only way we grow beloved. Finding out where we don’t fit with Him, where we are out of sync…could shake us out of our complacency.’

— Beryl Moore, Bible Teacher and Visionary, Sovereign Ministries.

Why did the post speak to me? I think it was the words “My people…” that stood out. This verse is directed at those already in Christ, but I wonder if we sometimes interpret it as “If the world will humble itself and pray, and turn from its wicked ways”. I shared the above with some prayer friends, and below is how one of them responded. He has given me permission to share his response here:

“Lesley, I was thinking about that very passage yesterday, and how it’s hard not to see this situation as punishment/correction. Of course, my main focus was on businessmen, politicians, and basically everyone who doesn’t think like me. So it’s a huge wake up call to read this and remember, it starts with me – I need to humble myself before God again, and ask him to show me where I need to take a log out of my own eye. So, in such a rationalistic age, perhaps even a miraculous end to the virus would soon be explained away. But a changed Christian community might cause more pause for thought. And seeing as we are all scattered servants now, if we allow God to change and remould us in the light of what’s happening, we can let our lights shine to a better way of being.”

So what is my response, your response? I like to think of it like gardening. When I regularly weed my garden, it thrives and the beauty of the good things in it, shine through. But when I leave the weeds to take hold, they choke everything around them, and the garden looks uncared-for, messy, struggling. Can we all ask God each day to show us what needs digging out, so that our lives, our witness, our relationships, our church, our service are a wonderful array of colour and beauty that transforms the world around us?
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