C, Lent 1 - Luke 4:1-13 "By The Authority"

By the authority of God the Father, a human being is given a renewed being of life in Jesus Christ!  When we are baptised into Jesus’ death and resurrection, we receive life anew, full of the Holy Spirit, giving us a holy life before our Father in heaven! 

Just as Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, we leave the baptismal font full of the Holy Spirit and are led into a worldly wilderness that seeks to starve us of the holy spirituality we’ve received in baptism.

From the spiritual heights of holy baptism, we wander in the wilderness of earthly existence like a wandering Aramean, tempted to wonder if our baptism is really holy.  All of God’s baptised children are tempted to believe baptism is not eternally effective. 

Therefore, some wander away from God and their holy baptism into hopelessness, and find nowhere to dwell, so that their thirst or hunger is not satisfied. (See Psalm 107:4-9)

Some, like sheep flop down and sulk.  They clearly see the darkness of death, the painful reality that  life is death preceded by hard labour.  In flopping down in their darkness, they forget the light of eternal life given to them in baptism.  Therefore, they believe no one can help them in their trouble or distress. (See Psalm 107:10-16)

Some are led away by their desires, into foolish afflictions and addictions.  The food of life first given in holy baptism is rejected. The baptismal life first received then dwindles away and dissipates back into the death that baptism once overcame. (See Psalm 107:17-22)

Some, figure when the going gets tough the tough get going.  They seek to work their way out of the wilderness.  They don’t realise, in doing so, they’re putting aside the very things given to support them in tough times.  A baptismal faith in which the Holy Spirit causes one to be still and know that God is God.  A baptismal faith that demonstrates God’s strength in our weakness.  That in his power, God allows and tempers the tides of worldly turbulence and troubles, in which we’re tempted to wander and wane. (See Psalm 107:23-32)

Jesus faced all of this in the wilderness.  But he did not lose what he received in his baptism at the Jordan – the Holy Spirit, and his Sonship as God the Son.  In your baptism, you have been sealed in Jesus’ Sonship by the Holy Spirit. 

As you hear the Word of God, in this worldly wilderness, the Holy Spirit works belief in you.  Like Jesus, you have received the Holy Spirit in holy baptism, and the Holy Spirit seals you with the promise of salvation, in the good works of Jesus Christ. 

The Apostle Paul tells the Ephesians, “In him we have obtained an inheritance…  In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” (Ephesians 1:11a,13 ESV)

And later, he warns, “…do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30 ESV)

Jesus seals us for the day of redemption by not grieving the Holy Spirit in the wilderness.  He faces the fiery trials of the devil but doesn’t succumb to his temptation.

Jesus put aside the power of his Sonship and took on the weakness of our human flesh.  Then, he was baptised into death as the servant Son of Man.  With the same weakness as us, he was given the Holy Spirit and was tempted as we are tempted, yet he did not sin.

We hear of three temptations put before Jesus by the devil.  The first is physical hunger and the temptation comes through a question, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” (Luke 4:3 ESV)

The devil seeks to get Jesus to prove his Sonship, to use his heavenly power, by turning a stone into bread.  Later on, five barley loaves and two fish are used to feed five thousand, but not now in the wilderness and not the way the devil wants Jesus to do so.

Jesus doesn’t give in to the temptation to use his Sonship, to make bread when he was hungry, nor does he when he feeds the five thousand.  Jesus responds to the devil with God’s Word, “It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone.”  (Luke 4:4 ESV)

Jesus, the Son of Man, lives with faithfulness to the Father, not on bread alone!  At the feeding of the five thousand, with his divinity set aside, he faithfully prays to the Father.  Then, in the weakness of his human flesh, he faithfully feeds the five thousand as the servant Son of Man, full of the Holy Spirit. 

Then in Luke’s Gospel, the devil temps Jesus with pride and power to receive all authority and glory from the kingdoms of the world.  But to get this he has to turn his back on the Word of God.  He has to break the first commandment, bowing to worship the devil. 

Yet again, Jesus remains faithful to the Father in his baptismal mission of mercy.  Like in the first temptation, Jesus’ defence is the Word of God, and he rebuffs the devil, saying, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’” (Luke 4:8 ESV)

The devil can’t separate Jesus from the Father, despite showing him humanity from one moment in time.  I imagine Jesus was shown humanity in all its ugliness and suffering.  But there is no way Jesus abandon’s his relationship despite the devil’s coercion that might seem rational to get control for the “greater good” of humanity. The only good is the good of the cross in all its ugliness.  Jesus is faithful to God, looking to the good and evil of the tree of the cross, to repair God’s creation for the greater good of God.

In the third temptation, the devil uses the Word of God, having been foiled by the Word of God in the previous two temptations.  Of all places to tempt Jesus, the devil takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem, and says, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here…” (Luke 4:9b ESV)

Again, comes the questioning of Jesus’ Sonship but the devil uses parts of Psalm Ninety-One.  It’s shrewd, but like anyone who uses parts of God’s Word to deceive, a wider reading reveals the weakness and shallowness of their deception.

The devil begins his quote with the same words with which Jesus rejects the devil the previous two times, saying, “for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and  ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” (Luke 4:10–11 ESV)

Yet, as we have spoken in Psalm ninety-one earlier, we know the deception of the devil.  For the next verse of the psalm reveals the deceit of half-truths. We hear that Jesus will, “tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.” (Psalm 91:13 ESV) This is the promise and fulfilment of Jesus at the cross, first proclaimed by God in the Garden of Eden, “he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15 ESV)

This is repeated by Paul for the encouragement of the Romans and us, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” (Romans 16:20 ESV)

The devil who is bound and crushed by Jesus in his victory over sin and death, still has limited authority, but only on earth for a period of time. Though judged and condemned, the devil has been allowed to test us to further condemn himself.  We like Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit can crush the devil underfoot with Jesus and his Word, saying, “In the name of Jesus Christ, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Luke 4:12 ESV)

In Revelation chapter twenty, John sees the last day where, “the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10 ESV)

Be encouraged in these days of difficulty, walking in the wilderness, to walk with Jesus.  He went into the wilderness full of the Holy Spirit and came out of it and into Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus endured in his hometown of Nazareth, full of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus having endured in human flesh endures in us.  In Jesus’ baptismal Sonship, walk in the wilderness by the authority of Jesus Christ, full of the Holy Spirit.

Know that being filled with the Holy Spirit in God’s holy baptismal reality, you are being daily renewed in Jesus’ reality because he endured our reality and promises, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” (Luke 4:18–19 ESV)

Amen. 

C, Ash Wednesday - Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 2 Corinthians 5:20a "Be Reconciled To God"

The book of Joel has three chapters.  The first chapter speaks of unstoppable swarms of locusts. Wave after wave, their march has undermined all human efforts.  “What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten.” (Joel 1:4 ESV)

Surprisingly, these battalions of grasshoppers, were sent upon Israel by God.  So destructive are the locusts on the land that the inhabitants cannot even make an offering to God.  We hear, “The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the Lord.” (Joel 1:9a ESV) They call a gathering and lament, “Alas for the day! For the day of the Lord is near, and as destruction from the Almighty it comes.” (Joel 1:15 ESV)

The second chapter continues the judgement of God upon his people.  The text we have before us speaks of darkness and gloom because the day of the Lord is coming, it is near!  We hear God’s call to repentance and some speculation as to what might happen.  “Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?”  (Joel 2:14 ESV)

Notice the desire is not for a blessing for the appeasement of the afflicted, but rather a blessing of produce that the afflicted can offer to God?

Joel calls for repentance proclaiming, “Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.” (Joel 2:13 ESV)

The disaster that concerns God, the ruin from which he wants to relent, is affliction that spiritually separates people from him.  If they don’t have the produce, the wine, the grain, the oil, and the meat, they cannot fulfil the required sacrifices under the law, to have fellowship with God.  The greatest suffering humanity faces is separation from God’s steadfast love, where without God one eternally burns in the suffering of their unfulfillable desires!

So, the second half of Joel chapter two and chapter three (the final chapter) change in tone.  Joel, like Moses and many other faithful prophets in Israel, gets the attention of Israel off themselves and the earthly disaster of the day, turning them from themselves, and certain spiritual death.  This is the reason why God has allowed the legion of locusts and the following famine in the first place. 

Like climate change today, the climate change required by God is not out there, but within each of us.  God allows the climate to change in his creation to get our attention.  When we turn from him, his Word, and his way, he allows heartache, to stop us, to turn us, so we allow him to renew our hearts with holy repairs.  God promises to provide for his children.   But he needs our attention, and he requires faithful repentance!

Once God turned Israel and got their attention, Joel then becomes God’s agent of reconciliation.  He speaks of what God will do through his gracious and merciful character, which is slow to anger—in other words, patient—and overflowing with enduring compassion.

He announces what God will do, saying, “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.” (Joel 2:28–32 ESV)

These words from Joel are the words Peter also spoke to the crowd at Pentecost, ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven.  The complete fulfilment of Joel’s three chapters of prophecy is finished in Jesus Christ. 

In these days of disobedience, we do well to return to the prophecies of Joel and the other prophets in the Old Testament.  We need to be correctly focused, by God’s Word, from ourselves, back to the steadfast love of God, with which the Holy Spirit cleanses us through the passion of Jesus Christ.

In this time of “Lenten reflection”, God seeks your attention!  He calls you to ponder why Jesus had to come for you!  You do well to reflect on God’s Word in the Old Testament, so the locusts of God’s destruction can chew up your idols.  The very things given to you by God, which should be used to glorify God instead of yourself.

Like King David, you and I, need to allow purification to occur within us, so we can allow the daily drowning and cleansing of the human spirit.  So we can call on the name of the Lord, and receive all the benefits of the Holy Spirit, by which we can offer God right worship.

As Paul requests of the Corinthians, his call continues, “We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”  (2 Corinthians 5:20b ESV) This is not a reconciliation worked by you or me! But a surrendering within to the work of the Holy Spirit, who purges and cleanses you in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. 

Like Paul, you’re called to see your judgement and flee in repentance from the self to God, namely, to his Son, Jesus Christ, who pours out the Holy Spirit on your flesh, so you can call on the name of the Lord, and trust God’s salvation. 

Let David’s call, be your call, in the name of the Lord, praying, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.”   (Psalm 51:7–13 ESV)

Earlier I pointed out how Joel said, “Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?”  (Joel 2:14 ESV) Joel encouraged Israel to see why God would relent and bless them.  So they could make an offering to God with the return of produce, like wine, oil, grain and meat. 

Today you and I need to see what God’s purging and cleansing does!  It helps you to glorify God as the Holy Spirit retrieves you, restores you and remains with you to produce faithfulness and works within you, that please and glorify God.

We all need the Holy Spirit to overcome the human spirit within and will us not to glorify ourselves, but God.  Therefore, like King David, the offering all believers can give to the Lord is to teach transgressors God’s ways, so through the Holy Spirit, other sinners like you and me can have opportunity to return to the Lord, adding to the glory that God deserves. 

On being purged of sin and cleansed by the Holy Spirit, through Christ we are returned to God, so the next generation can be taught about the work of God.  Know this is a God pleasing sacrifice. This glorifies God in our church and in the community, today and tomorrow, and into eternity!  Amen.

C, The Transfiguration of our Lord - Luke 9:28-45 "A Flash of Holy Glory"

Luke 9:43–44 (ESV) And all were astonished at the majesty of God. But while they were all marvelling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.”

A cataclysmic flash in the sky is followed by the sound of an explosion of kilotonic proportions.  The sound is accompanied by a pressure wave that stuns and shocks to the core of a person’s being.

Possibly you’ve seen the footage of the British Government testing nuclear bombs at Maralinga in South Australia, or at other places where countries test these weapons of destruction.   Vision of people with their backs turned to the initial blast, quickly turn around to see the ugly mushroom cloud of another atomic test.

Or, perhaps you remember seeing the destruction of the Beirut Port explosion in 2020.  There was fire, and substantial explosions, before the mega-blast that was heard up to 240 kms away in the countries surrounding Lebanon.  It measured a magnitude of 3.3 on the seismic scale and is considered the largest non-nuclear explosion on record.

The fire where the 2750 tons of ammonia nitrate was stored was huge.  A billowing tower of smoke meant many were watching and recording it on phones, not expecting the main event was still to come.   So, many angles of the blast were captured by Beirut locals, along with their reactions as the blast wave rippled out through the city. 

What happened in a second, left its ugly mark on the city and those who lived in it.  We watch, mesmerised by the magnitude of these types of detonation — the flash, the blast wave, and the earth-shattering destruction.  However, those who survive these mega-explosions live dumfounded and numb, dealing with the fallout from a cataclysmic moment in time, long after the fact.

The impact of the Transfiguration of Jesus on the mountain with Moses and Elijah, dumfounded  Peter, James and John.   It was good for Peter and the others to be there, but they didn’t know why. 

Unlike a nuclear explosion or the Beirut blast, this cataclysmic event was beautiful, as God’s holiness and glory flashed only for a moment.  But like the blast wave of a nuclear event or the fallout after Beirut, the three apostles were shocked and shaken by the holy glory, that altered Jesus’ face and made his clothes dazzling white with holy brilliance.    

We’re told Peter, James, and John were praying with Jesus, and they were heavy with sleep.  We’re not told whether they were falling asleep because they were struggling to pray, or that God had allowed them to enter a trancelike state.  Nor do we know if God’s glory woke them up or if they woke to discover his glory.

But what we do know is once awake, the event had a lasting impact on the three.  Jesus appeared with two others, Moses and Elijah, speaking of a “new” exodus.  Like those dumbfounded and shocked by an explosion and its sound wave, Peter deliriously seeks to halt their exodus and wants to build three shelters.  He knows it is good to be there, but he doesn’t yet know why it’s better to leave.

Now came the holy blast wave, as it were, as a cloud overshadowed them.  “And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!’” (Luke 9:35 ESV)

Eight days earlier Jesus said to the twelve, “But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:27 ESV) Now on the eighth day they heard their holy God and saw a flash of God’s glory and his kingdom.  Albeit, for just a moment.

Like a cataclysmic earth-shattering explosion that ripples out from its epicentre, Jesus and the disciples leave the mountain and are confronted by the reality of what might be considered anything but glorious and holy. 

They encounter by a man whose son is possessed by a spirit, that seizes him and convulses him.  In Matthew’s Gospel, we hear it grips him so much it throws him into fires and water.

To see the flash of God’s holy glory, then to see this convulsing boy, would’ve been chalk and cheese events.  But like Peter’s inability to act on the mountain, the other disciples who didn’t go up the mountain are dumbstruck and cannot cast out the spirit.  So, the father of the child begs Jesus to cast it out.

After Jesus confronts the convulsing spirit, rebukes it, and heals the boy, and gives him back to his father, all who witness the event, “were astonished at the majesty of God.” (Luke 9:43 ESV)

Three of the disciples saw the majesty of God on the mountain and heard, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him.”  The three saw and heard God’s majesty, but only after the resurrection and the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, would they have fully understood this Chosen One, this Son, was God the Son.

The glorious holy flash of Transfiguration, seen also in the healing of the boy, was rippling from God’s holy glory towards the human ugliness of the cross.  This was the exodus, the way out, about which Jesus was speaking to Moses and Elijah.  Now having seen God’s holy glory and hearing the declaration from God that, Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary, is his Son, Jesus adds to their astonishment.

We hear, “But while they were all marvelling at everything he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.’” (Luke 9:43b-44 ESV)

Jesus reveals that not only is he the Son of Mary, and the Son of God, but he sinks  into them  that he’s the Son of Man who was about to be delivered into death as the Anointed One, the Christ.

The three-part picture is complete, this human, the second member of the Trinity, makes a turn, a very good turn, a Good Friday exodus turn.  Better than Peter’s idea to build three shelters and stay on the mountain, Jesus has another mountain in view.  This is the mountain of Calvery, gory Golgotha, the place of the skull, the mountain of death.  At Calvary, Jesus became the Christ.  The Son of God and the Son of Man, serves God and serves humanity.

Not only did the holy glorious flash of Transfiguration mesmerise the disciples, but it also revealed Jesus as the only one who could atone for all the failures humanity has inflicted upon creation.  Everything we do to break from our brokenness reveals so many more layers of unrepairable brokenness.  Like a pandoras box of despair, the flash of God’s glory shows we have no human exodus from the goriness of our flesh into God’s glory.

As we stand here in memory on the Mountain of Transfiguration, let us stand with Jesus on the cusp of our Lenten season of reflection as we learn why it's good to see Jesus in transfigured glory, but is better that he walked the way of the cross.

As Jesus resolutely set his face towards Jerusalem see what was before him.  As you resolutely walk with him, know from what you’ve been delivered, and into what his death delivers!  See at the cross on the mountain of Calvary, his hidden glory exchanged for the hidden gore of your nuclear explosive nucleus, that ripples out of your humanity in cataclysmic proportions.

But see further to Jesus on the mountain of ascension and your resurrection ascension with him.  See that the end is in sight, the night is nearly over, and what awaits you.  Be mesmerised by the explosion of God’s glory welling up in eternal streams of life, won by Jesus, who is returning to finish your eternal healing, and accompany you into the majesty of our Father’s presence.  Amen.

C, The Seventh Sunday after Epiphany - Luke 6:16:35–38a "Jesus on Judgement"

Luke 6:35–38a (ESV) But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you.”

Here at the centre of Jesus’ word on loving one’s neighbour is a succinct statement, “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you.”

This directive by Jesus is for one not to judge and condemn and therefore one will not be judged or condemned.  

What happens when we are judged?  It all depends on the judgement. 

When we’re wrongly judged positively, when we’re guilty, we tend to keep our mouths shut agreeing with the judgement.  When someone says, “You’re a good bloke or a good lady.” Usually, one doesn’t cause a stink about being wronged.  Rather one quietly breathes a sigh of relief thinking,  “Gosh, I’m glad they didn’t see my true colours!”   

But when judge negatively, rather than being quiet, the heckles go up, and we voice a protest, despite being innocent or guilty of the allegation.

But as we’ve heard, Jesus encompasses his words on judgement and condemnation with mercy and forgiveness.  However, to be merciful and to be forgiving, one is required to make a judgement.

What is going on here? 

Today in the readings we hear about Joseph being revealed to his brothers after they had sold him into slavery and deceived their father into believing he was dead.  

Joseph was the least amongst his brothers, but highly exalted by Jacob his father.  The judgement made by his brothers; we would all agree was horrendous to say the least.  Yet when Joseph became second to pharaoh, although it was testing on his brothers, his judgement was ultimately encapsulated with mercy and forgiveness.

This is Joseph’s judgement: “And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.” (Genesis 45:5, 7-8 ESV)

So, it seems there is judgement and then there is judgement.  Jesus says to a crowd at the temple, “If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” (John 7:23–24 ESV)

So how do you and I judge with right judgement?  How does one make just judgements, but at the same time, are made with infused mercy and forgiveness? 

Last week we heard Jesus speak blessings and woes to the people on the plain.  The Gospel reading today is a continuation of Jesus’ sermon on the plain.  It’s quite similar to the sermon on the mount recorded in Matthew’s Gospel.  In it, Jesus’ parallels being merciful with your enemies with being perfect or whole saying, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48 ESV) This is a repetition of what God said through Moses, “For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:44a ESV)

Our judgement is called to be in accord with our Heavenly Father’s judgement.  His judgement is complete, perfect, holy, and impartial.  So, is Jesus setting an impossible task for us?

Our human brain is made up of two halves.  Both halves control the other half. The right half generally works on feelings, creativity, and intuition.  The left works is rational, logical, analytical, and is mathematical and factual.  However, the frontal lobe which is on both side of the brain is the largest part of the brain and it makes judgements both rational and emotional. 

We know for certain when Jesus says, “to not judge”, he’s not calling us to have a frontal lobotomy.  Judgement sometimes requires us to make rational decisions based on logical and factual information.  But then sometimes judgements need to be emotive, based on the intuitive and creative part of the mind.     

It seems we are still in a judgement jam!   

Paul makes a clear judgement about the resurrection to the folk in Corinth.  He works on both half of the hearer’s brain, emotively calling one who asks, “what kind of a body is raised”, as a “fool”, as one who is curved in on their own emotions!  But then he works on the other half of the brain,  the logical half, by painting the picture in the mind of the hearer about the reality of a seed which dies to produce life.  Beginning as a germ inside the husk or body, planted in the soil, just as people are buried in the grave.

But it’s what he says next regarding the resurrection, from where we can glean an understanding on how one might love their enemies, and make merciful, impartial, and just judgements, in the sight our Father in heaven.

He says about the body, “It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.” (1 Corinthians 15:43–46 ESV)

Rather than dissecting the brain from left and right, or lobotomising the frontal lobe, Paul points to the natural and the spiritual.  Paul is speaking of the natural as the flesh or human spirit as opposed to those who have the mind of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.  This is a key theme Paul picks up back at the start of his letter to the Corinthians.

He says, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:14–16 ESV)

Judgement with right judgement comes as a result of us being judged at the cross and in our baptism as guilty natural people.  However, this judgement is executed upon us as mercy, forgiveness, and resurrection from death, to be God’s spiritual people.

By our appearances we still appear as enemies of God, when we sin.  Therefore, our judgement or condemnation takes into consideration the tension of our acquittal and freedom, despite still being natural people this side of the resurrection.  You and I are one hundred percent natural people, created from dust with the breath of God, but returning to dust as a result of our corruption. 

Yet, what was begun at the cross and is transmitted to us in Holy Baptism continues in those who make right judgements of God, themselves, their neighbours, and their enemies, judging the sin with the goal of releasing the sinner.  God is freeing you through the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

James tells us, “So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:12–13 ESV)

Therefore, those who receive the law of liberty or freedom are also one hundred percent God’s spiritual people.  God’s spiritual people judge with the intention to forgive and show mercy.

Because God the Father, Son, and Spirit are holy, we are called to be holy.  Because God is perfect, we are called to be perfect.  Because God is merciful, we are called to be merciful.

The law of liberty is such that you can judge with a right judgement.  As spiritual people God promises you’re covered by Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit, to be holy, because God is holy.  You’re continually perfected in your suffering, because Christ was shown to be perfected in his impartial suffering for all.  And you and I have the freedom to be merciful and forgiving, because our Heavenly Father is merciful and forgiving.  Amen.