Messiah's Might and Mercy

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Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Devotions: Ps 20, 21, 23, 27; Isa 25:1-9; Rev 1:9-20; Jn 7:53-8:11

May God grant our hearts’ desires and fulfill all our plans; may we celebrate victories and set up banners in God’s name. God helps His anointed ones; so we boast in the name of YHWH our God. He has established Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords! Be exalted, Lord, in Your strength and power! You are my Shepherd! I have no unmet needs; You give me rest, peace, and healing. You guide me into right ways. Even in the shadow of death, I have no fears, because You are with me. Your rod and staff comfort me. You prepare a feast for me, right in front of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil, and my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in God’s house forever! With God as my Light and my Savior, I will fear no one. My only desire is to live with God and behold His beauty. I offer myself to God; I cry out in joy, and sing to the Lord. Lord, teach me Your ways, and guide me on level paths. I believe I will see God’s goodness; I will be strong and courageous and wait for the Lord.

God orders creation to favor His people. He will destroy the veil over everyone; He will destroy death and wipe away our tears. He has declared freedom and salvation for everyone who comes to Him. YHWH is our God; we have waited and He has come; let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation!

John was exiled on Patmos when Jesus came to him and commissioned him to write down the Apocalypse [the ‘unveiling’ – see the Isaiah passage above]. Jesus appeared to John: clothed in a long robe with a golden sash around His chest, hair white as snow, eyes like flames of fire, feet like burnished bronze, and a voice like the sound of many waters! In His right hand, He held seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword issued from His mouth; and His face ‘was like the sun shining in full strength.’ He was dead and is alive, and He holds the keys to Death and Hades. The seven stars and seven gold lampstands in the vision are the angels of the seven churches, and the churches themselves, to whom John wrote his revelation.

As Jesus taught at the temple, His enemies dragged before him a woman taken in the act of adultery, and demanded that He express His judgment in relation to her. Jesus bent down and wrote in the dust with His finger; as the scribes and Pharisees continued to demand His judgment, Jesus said to them: ‘Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.’ And the accusers melted away, eldest first, until Jesus was left alone with the woman. He looked up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She answered ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and sin no more.’ [This scene, appended to John’s gospel, illustrates the other passages above, and the might, wisdom and kindness of God in the Messiah Jesus.]