Revised Common Lectionary: Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

Year A___

Year B

Deuteronomy 18:15-20; Psalm 111:1-10; 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; Mark 1:21-28

Micah 6:1-8; Psalm 15:1-5; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Matthew 5:1-12

We find God’s blessing when we come to worship Jesus Christ.

In Micah 5:2, we have a prophecy concerning the birth of Jesus at ‘Bethlehem’. This prophecy invites us to ‘go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about’.

At ‘Bethlehem’, we see ‘shepherds, glorifying and praising God’ (Luke 2:15,20). We also see Jesus our Shepherd. He is the One whom the shepherds worshipped. He is the One who ‘will stand and shepherd His flock in the strength of the Lord...’

 - He is ‘the Good Shepherd’. He ‘laid down His life’ for us.

 - He is ‘the Great Shepherd’. He ‘was raised from the dead’ for us.

 - He is ‘the Chief Shepherd’. He will ‘come’ again for us (5:4; John 10:14; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 5:4).

Jesus, our ‘Shepherd’, gives us ‘strength’ to ‘do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God’ (Micah 6:8).

God’s blessing increases as we build our life upon Jesus Christ.

Life can be testing and trying. In all of this, God makes Himself real to us.

This is our assurance of faith: ‘The Lord restores the fortunes of His people’. He makes us ‘glad’- In Him, we ‘rejoice’ (Psalm 14:7).

God Himself is the Sure Foundation for our lives: Build on Him, and you ‘shall never be moved’ (Psalm 15:5).

We long for God’s blessing, ‘O that salvation...would come...’ (Psalm 14:7). He will not disappoint us.

Do not be ‘the fool’ who ‘says in his heart, “There is no God”’ (Psalm 14:1).

‘Fear the Lord’- ‘and give Him glory’ (Psalm 15:4; Revelation 14:7).

We are to ‘act wisely’- ‘seeking after God’, ‘calling upon the Lord’ (Psalm 14:2,4). Do you want to ‘dwell on God’s holy hill’ (Psalm 15:1)? - ‘There is a way for man to rise to that sublime abode...’ (Church Hymnary, 357): Christ is the Way to God and Heaven (John 14:2-6).

Every blessing we enjoy comes from the Lord. All the glory belongs to Him.

Paul preached ‘Christ crucified’with a determination ‘to know nothing except Jesus Christ crucified’ (1 Corinthians 1:23; 2:2). This is the message of our salvation - ‘Christ crucified... Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God’ (1 Corinthians 1:23-24). All the glory belongs to God. We have no right to steal away any of the glory for ourselves: ‘Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord’ (1 Corinthians 1:26-31). Christ is our full salvation. ‘Let us rejoice and be glad’ in Him’(1 Corinthians 1:30; Psalm 118:24).

We enjoy God’s blessing most when we share it with others.

In Matthew 5:1, we see both ‘the disciples’and ‘the crowds’.

The disciples are taught with a view to becoming teachers of the crowds.

Jesus’ ministry to the disciples had a dual purpose.

 - It was for their own spiritual strengthening.

 - It was training for the time when they would be entrusted with the Lord's commission: ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations... teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you’ (Matthew 28: 19-20).

Do we read God’s Word solely for our own benefit? Or, do we have an eye for ways in which we can learn to share His Word with others?

In Matthew 5:3-12, ‘The Beatitudes’show us God’s way of blessing. In verses 3-10, we have the general principles. In verses 11-12, we ar challenged to apply these principles to ourselves: ‘Blessed are you...’

We might also describe them as the Be Attitudes, since they show us what we are to be.

Jesus teaches us that the way to happiness is the way of holiness.

The only alternative to the way of holiness is the way of hypocrisy. There can be no true happiness when we are walking in the way of hypocrisy.

Holiness is to take shape in our lives - the shape of Jesus Christ living in us. This is the truly happy life: the Christ-centered life.

We are not to live according to present appearances. We are to live in the light of the future Reality of God's heavenly Kingdom.

We are not only to read the Beatitudes. We are to live them.

Let us listen to our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Word of God.

Even the king is subject to God’s ‘law.’ His supreme responsibility is this: Pay Micbrethren’ (Deuteronomy 17:20). There must be humble obedience to God’s Word. Priests speak to God for us. Prophets speak to us for God. We need both - ‘prayer and the ministry of the Word’ (Acts 6:4). In our worship, we must keep the Lord at the very centre. Anything or anyone who distracts our attention from the Lord is no help to true worship (Deuteronomy 18:9-14). ‘A prophet like Moses’ (Deuteronomy 18:15): Jesus is the ultimate prophet - to see and hear Him is to see and hear God (John 5:19; 12:49; 14:9). He preaches God’s Word. He is ‘the Word of God’ (John 1:1).

Let us praise our Lord Jesus Christ. He speaks to us Good News.

‘Praise the Lord... To Him belong eternal praise... Blessed is the man who fears the Lord... His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes...’ (Psalm 111:1, 10; Psalm 112:1, 8). Those who ‘fear the Lord’ have no need to live in fear of man. Those who know that ‘eternal praise belongs to the Lord’ can face their enemies with confidence. Our confidence is not in ourselves. Our confidence is in the Lord. We know how good the Lord has been to us - ‘He provided redemption for His people.’ We have heard and believed the Good News of Christ. We need not ‘fear’any ‘bad news’ which the devil sends our way. We ‘trust in the Lord’, confident that the ‘light’ will triumph over the ‘darkness.’ The Good News of Christ will triumph over the devil’s bad news (Psalm 111:9; Psalm 112:4, 7).

Let us serve our Lord Jesus Christ. He calls us to do God’s will from the heart.

We are to ‘use the things of the world’ without becoming ‘engrossed in them’ (1 Corinthians 7:31). Becoming more worldly in our way of living is not a purely personal thing. We harm other people ‘for whom Christ died’. They look to us for a godly example and we let them down. We ‘sin against them.’ We ‘sin against Christ.’ Our choices affect other people. We choose a self-centred life. We cause them to ‘fall into sin.’ We live a life of ‘love’, and they are ‘built up’ in their faith (1 Corinthians 8:11-13, 1; Matthew 18:5-7, 10). How are we to live? Are we to become preoccupied with how our actions affect those who watch our every move? That could become very confusing and distracting. We must keep our eyes on Jesus. We must live ‘not ... as men-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart...’ (Ephesians 6:6-7).

Let us trust our Lord Jesus Christ. His power is released when His people pray.

Great things were happening. God was moving in power. In all this, we could easily overlook something very important: Jesus prayed (Mark 1:35). He made time for prayer. This was not wasted time. This was time well spent. Jesus was mighty before men - the power of God was flowing freely. Jesus knew where the power comes from - He was humble before God. We long for this - ‘they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”’ (Mark 2:12). We must pray in faith, bringing people before the Lord, convinced that such prayer ‘is powerful and effective’ (Mark 2:5; James 5:16). “If my people... pray..., I will... forgive their sin and heal their land’ (2 Chronicles 7:14). “O Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee. Send a revival. Start the work in me. Thy Word declares Thou wilt supply our need. For blessing now, O Lord, I humbly plead' (Mission Praise, 587).
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Year C

Jeremiah 1:4-10; Psalm 71:1-6; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13; Luke 4:21-30

Catching a glimpse of the eternal God

To understand Jeremiah’s story, we must look ‘behind the scenes’: ‘The Word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations”’(Jeremiah 1:4-5). To understand our own story, we must go even further back – ‘The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ… chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight’. We must never forget the words of Jesus: ‘You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last’(Ephesians 1:3-4; John 15:16). We’re not to be ‘on the surface’ people. We’re to be people who have seen ‘behind the scenes’, people who have caught a glimpse of the eternal God and His eternal purpose for our lives.

Looking to the Lord who leads us in the way of victory

David is in great danger. His life is being threatened by his enemies (Psalm 70:2). We might expect that he would be depressed. Far from it! Rather than being preoccupied with his own problems, he is calling on God’s people to worship the Lord with joy: ‘May all who seek You, rejoice and be glad in You! May those who love Your salvation continually say, “God is great!”’(Psalm 70:4). How was David able to rise above his own problems and call the Lord’s people to worship? – He knew that the Lord was his ‘Rock of refuge’, his ‘strong Fortress’(Psalm 71:3). Like David, we may face ‘many terrible troubles’. Let us learn, like David, to praise the Lord and look to Him to lead us in the way of victory: ‘You have done great things, O God… You will revive me again’(Psalm 71:19-20).

A revival of love

Paul’s teaching seems so unrealistic. Life isn’t like this, people aren’t like this, the Church isn’t like this – and we’re all the poorer for it! We speak about revival. We hope for it. We pray for it. What we need most of all is a revival of love. This is not a return to ‘the good old days’. This is for here and now. We can make a great deal of a ‘revival’ which took place a good many years ago. It is in today’s world that we are called to show love. Differences of opinion become deeply-held prejudices. It’s all going on in the Name of Christ! Our reverence for yesterday’s religious leaders will mean nothing – if there is no love. Some things should have been ‘dead and buried’a long time ago. Keep the negative thinking going and we’ll be speaking to ourselves. Nobody will be listening (1 corinthians 14:4, 8)!

In our weakness, the Holy Spirit comes to us with His strength.

Jesus was ‘tempted by the devil’(Luke 4:2). He was rejected by His enemies (Luke 4:28-29). When we look around us, we see nothing but temptations and rejection – What a negative way of looking at things! There is something more positive here – the presence of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:1,14,18). Do not be afraid. There is no need to be discouraged. We need not be defeated. The temptations may be many. The opposition may be fierce. We can ‘pass through the midst of them’(Luke 4:30): ‘God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control’(2 Timothy 1:7). Satan is persistent – They did not rest until they had crucified Him. Faced with such opposition, we – like Jesus – must walk in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:12,17-18).