THE LORD SPOKE (January 28)

Daily Reflections from Scripture:

Old Testament: Exodus 15-16

We’ve been struck by 9-11 in more ways than one. So-called worship songs are often not much more than nine words repeated eleven times over (thanks to Chuck Swindoll for the original idea here). Somehow we’ve gotten the idea that raised hands, semi-glazed and up-turned eyes, and a repetitive croon equals worship.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Though there is plenty of repetition, for example, in the psalms, biblical worship is always content-rich. Take a look at the song Moses led the Israelites to sing in Exodus 15. Every verse is dripping with praise for the mighty attributes of God. His majesty is exalted with content-rich language.

vs. 1 - He is exalted
vs. 2 - He is strong (repeated several times in what follows)
vs. 2 - He is the redeemer (“he has become my salvation”) - c.f. vs. 13
vs. 3 - He is a warrior
vs. 3 - He is eternal (“Yahweh [probably from all three tenses of the verb “to be”] is his name”)
vs. 6 - He is majestic
vs. 7 - He is great
vs. 7 - He is angry = righteous in His wrath
vs. 11 - He is holy
vs. 11 - He is glorious
vs. 11 - He is all-powerful (“working wonders”, “your right hand”) - c.f. vs. 16
vs. 13 - He is merciful, gracious (Heb. hesed)
vs. 13 - He is our guide
vs. 18 - He is sovereign over all

And we haven’t even gotten to the chorus yet (that comes in vs. 21).

Let’s put some more thought into our praise. Let’s think longer and harder about the attributes of God and be less worried about producing a mood.


New Testament: Matthew 28

There was a lot of shaking going on. The first earthquake (Mat. 27:51) happened at the moment of Jesus’ death and shook the city of Jerusalem so violently that tombs actually broke open. Some dead people were shaken alive again and “many holy people who had died” went into the city after the resurrection. That probably made a good number of other people shake too.

But there was a second earthquake three days later. On Resurrection Sunday morning, another violent earthquake shook Jerusalem (28:2). No doubt, many people were still shaking from the first one and these rumblings didn’t help. This earthquake was accompanied by an angel of the Lord who came to the tomb to roll back the stone. At that sight, the Roman guards were so afraid that “they shook and became like dead men” (28:4).

Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome saw the empty tomb and trembled (Mk. 16:8). Peter and John were probably trembling when they heard the news and ran to the tomb. Wouldn’t you? The two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Lk. 24:13-32) had palpitations that left their hearts “burning”. The disciples gathered in Jerusalem were trembling “for fear of the Jews” (Jn. 20:19) and when Jesus appeared in their midst, their hearts must have trembled for joy. Wouldn’t yours?

That Jewish leadership was also trembling. Some in fury that their plan had failed and they really had no Plan B. What more can you do than kill a man? Some in frustration that the news would get out and they’d have more to deal with than they could possibly handle. How were they going to control the crowds now? Some in fear that the Roman authorities would hear and crack down even worse on them all. How do you explain that your fail-safe plan didn’t work?

There was a lot of shaking going on.

Maybe the biggest shake-up was the plan that Jesus announced at the conclusion (Mat. 28:18-20). Based on His authority as Lord of heaven and earth, the Commander-in-Chief issued an “Order of the Day” for His troops. Hereafter, they were to be actively and continuously involved in motion towards the lost. Wherever they went (“in your going”) they were to make disciples. That was to involve two primary activities: baptizing and teaching. Baptism was/is an identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. It is the best outward sign of inward conversion. Teaching is necessary for continuing and sustained growth. Through it, the new disciple is strengthened and brought to maturity.

You are left with two options. You can be a “discipler“, one who is actively and continuously seeking the lost and bringing them to Christ. Remember, it’s the lost “of all nations” (Mat. 28:19). What that means is spelled out for us in Acts 1:8 - “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. So you don’t wait until you’ve saturated the home front first and then do something about distant battlefields.

The other option is to be disobedient.