Jul 25 2014
People of the Presence
“Dad, what’s behind the curtain?” “God is my son” “Wow Dad, so if I go behind the curtain, will I see Him?” “No I don’t think so son … but perhaps you will feel Him. Anyhow you can’t go behind the curtain, only the High Priest is allowed in the Most Holy Place.” “Gee Dad, so the High Priest gets to know what God feels like?” “Yes son, in fact he comes out of the Most Holy Place shinning, and sometimes he has the word of the Lord for us.”
Can you imagine such a discussion between father and son about the Temple in Old Testament times? The curtain separated all Israel from the Most Holy Place where God’s Presence was. The High Priest went in to the Most Holy Place once a year on the Day of Atonement to offer a lambs blood for the sins of the nation. There he met with the living God. It was the place of His Presence.
But as Jesus breathed his last breath on the cross the Temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom (from heaven to earth). Did it mean something? More
Aug 16 2014
The Wine of the Spirit
John 2: 1-11
Water into Wine was Jesus’ first ‘miraculous sign’ (11). But what was it a sign of? Signs always point to something. We have signs pointing people to our church. If a sign does not get people to church it has failed. So it’s important to know what a sign is pointing to; especially a miraculous one. John refers to a number of Jesus’ miracles as ‘signs’, and towards the end of his gospel he says, “These (signs) are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (Jn 20.31). Showing that Jesus is the unique Son was clearly John’s main objective. But we would be mistaken to think that being able to do miracles makes Jesus the Son of God. Moses and Elijah did miracles but neither was declared to be the Son of God. No, when John talks of a sign he wants us to see that there is a message in the kind of miracle that Jesus did; a message that reveals who Jesus is. More