Sunday 21 May 2023

Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35

Background

The opening words of today’s passage invite us to glance into the rear-view mirror to see what has gone before: "After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said…."

‘These words…’ (John 16) were words about suffering and persecution. They told how the disciples would run away from Jesus as the authorities closed in around him. They described how the ‘hour had come’ for the suffering of Christ on the cross. They were words of confidence that, even in suffering, Jesus would know the companionship, comfort and strength of the God Jesus described as ‘Father’. (John 16.32)

 How natural it was then that Jesus' next words were a prayer to that same ‘Father’. They acknowledged the suffering that Jesus would face on the cross. They acknowledged the commitment that Jesus made to finish (v. 4) the earthly mission that had been given to him: “I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do.” 

These words were words of consecration – of giving back to God – as Jesus recommitted his life and service before the final earthly chapters began. It was a poignant, powerful and sacred moment, as Jesus paused in prayer, before moving from the upper room into the garden where he would be arrested and taken away.

All his ministry Jesus had been committed to the way of the Cross as the means by which the schism between creation and creator would finally be healed. And yet, in the moments before those scenes of suffering began, Jesus paused one more time to renew his commitment to all that he had been called to do.

How privileged we feel that we are permitted to eavesdrop on the sacred: to overhear the Divine: and to be challenged again to ‘finish the work’ God has given us to do – whatever that work looks like for us.

To Ponder:

• What areas of your life and service do you need to offer back to God today?
• What is the work that God has given you to do, and how does it give glory to God?

Prayer

Loving God, I want to serve you and to do your will. Please give me all that I need when I find that commitment difficult. Amen.