Daily Liturgy and Scripture

If you ever wanted to read what a pastor’s heart should look like, this is it. Not only is Paul grieved that outsiders are trying to lead this young church down the wrong path, he also feels like he’s going through “labor pains” with them all over again. That’s a real love for your people. Many times, we may be tempted to cut people out of our lives who become too complicated. But not Paul. He sticks with them, even with they’re making some pretty stupid decisions.

Paul is making an appeal directly to this young church that Christ is enough. Really, by himself, completely enough. He is pointing out that the covenant is God’s, the promise is God’s, and the mediation is also his. God is the maker and keeper of his own promise, starting with Abraham and fulfilled in Christ. Nothing further is required. If our faith is in Christ, then we are part of the promise.

Being in the body of Christ doesn’t mean always agreeing with one another about everything at all times. This moment from Paul and Peter is a good example. Both men were founders of the church, both equally important. (And as Paul says, God doesn’t play favorites!) But when Peter loses his way a bit, not supporting the Gentiles when the Jewish cohort shows up, Paul isn’t having it. The picture is of Paul doing this in front of others, which might not be the correct path at all times… but we do still need to encourage one another as Kingdom citizens, sometimes even with loving correction.

Today we depart from the Gospels and go over to the letters of Paul. The Galatian church was probably one of the first that Paul founded after meeting Jesus, but it encountered some difficulty after he left. We will see that a group of Jewish evangelists show up to try and convince the new Christians that Jesus isn’t quite who Paul said he was. Paul opens by reminding them where he has been, his connection to the followers of Christ, and the truth of his message.

Do you sometimes feel like Jesus is being playful? This moment with the two apostles on the road to Emmaus certainly seems to be proof of that. To hide his identity and seem to know nothing of himself is certainly not what you would expect from a man who has just conquered death. Yet there he is, letting them tell him all about how hopeless things are before revealing his identity and disappearing. This could be a a good lesson for us: despite the fact that God is with us, it may not always be time for us to see him. In times of uncertainty, we might take comfort in the anticipation of his appearing.

The resurrection is a pretty crazy idea, no wonder the Sadducees didn’t believe in it. But neither did the disciples, really. They certainly didn’t react like it was a possibility. Even after hearing Jesus tell them what would happen, it was a pretty far-fetched idea. But that resurrection is what sets Christianity apart, and it’s part of our great hope. We do no fear death, because we know that to die is to be with our Savior.

It’s bizarre how Jesus’s accusers twist and turn their approach. He is arrested as a revolutionary, but before the end of the experience, the people prefer to release an actual revolutionary instead of this man who never hurt anyone. Certainly his words were powerful, and they offended and divided the people. At the end of the day, they would rather see a violent man go free than face the truth of what Jesus said.

While it wasn’t strategic, it seems strangely appropriate that the scripture of Peter’s failure falls on the same day as one of the great encouragers of the early church: Barnabas. We all fail, and we all need encouragers. Perhaps the spirit of the early church, working together and encouraging our brothers and sisters (especially when they fail), could be do us all a little good good in this modern age.

The incarnation meant that God included the entire race of man in his own story. Jesus became human, born of a human, living among humans… and today, betrayed by a human. It would have been out of place for Jesus’ sacrifice to suddenly be brought about because a legion of demons killed him. At every step, even the worst hour, the story of Jesus became God living among us.