The Living Branch From The Living Tree (Isaiah 4)

In the midst of Isaiah’s strong condemnations of injustice and corruption, is a beautiful ray of hope. A day of peace and justice will come.

Isaiah 4:2 (ESV)

In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel.

The branch is a frequently used image in the book of Isaiah. A branch goes somewhere new, but it is part of the same source, not something entirely different. The fruit of a branch is healthy and mature because of the health of the plant from which the branch comes. In Isaiah, the image of a vine is the nation of Israel, the covenant people of God. The branch is the promised coming Messiah, the King who will judge the corrupt and bring peace to the covenant people of God.

The beautiful thing about this promise of Messiah and a coming peace in this short chapter is that it is included as part of the whole story of salvation that Isaiah is prophesying. Though so much corruption and injustice is being called out, and warnings of judgment are being declared, this hope for redemption still exists in the midst of the darkness.

The gift of the branch, Messiah, was the incarnation of eternal God in humanity. Though God’s people had been corrupt, by the interjection of the very being of Holy God into the family of God, all the branches of the vine could be made holy. The good news of the branch in this chapter of Isaiah is that this salvation from corruption was not an afterthought. God did not respond to sin with the incarnation of Messiah, a cleanup project because of a world gone wrong. This story of salvation is the original plan since before time.

1 Peter 1:17-21 (ESVUK)

And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

The salvation offered by Jesus Christ was foreknown before the creation of the world, before there ever was corruption or injustice. Every one of us is in exile before receiving this salvation. Israel will be in exile by the judgments Isaiah prophesies. We too are separated from our spiritual Father because of our own corruption. In Ephesians, it says that we were also chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be adopted into the family of God. We may, by faith, be grafted into the branch of God, and receive from him the source of all goodness and life in order to live justly and love mercy and walk humbly, as we are empowered by Jesus to do so. All of this was planned from the beginning. Like the nation of Israel in the book of Isaiah, even in the midst of our condemnation, the hope of our salvation is sure.

Isaiah 4:3-4 (ESVUK)

And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgement and by a spirit of burning.

The worship of the people of God could not be received for the blood in their hands from injustice in Isaiah 1:15. God promises that because of the branch, the blood and the filth of God’s people will be cleaned. In 1 Peter 1, it says that it is by the blood of Christ we are ransomed from our exile. Peter describes Jesus as being without any blemish or spot. When we are grafted into his branch, all our guilt is washed away, and we are able to begin fresh in the power of his life, the life of God.

Isaiah 4:5 (ESV)

Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy. There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.

The chapter ends with a beautiful reminder of Israel’s experience of God’s presence while they were in the wilderness after their liberation from Egypt. In the book of Exodus, the people of Israel could see the presence of God among them in the form of a pillar of smoke to give them shade during the day, and fire at night for light and warmth. The pillar would rise and move when it was time for the nation to move, and they would follow (e.g., Exodus 13:21-22). God's presence was always there. It protected them. It led them. Isaiah says that when the Messiah comes, the people of God will once again have the presence of God among them as they did then.

The book of Acts tells a powerful story of the coming of the presence of God in a new way on Jesus’ followers. The disciples were all waiting together in an upper room during the feast of Pentecost, Israel’s celebration of the giving of God’s law at Sinai in the wilderness. It was after Jesus’ death and resurrection. They had been told that they would soon receive a gift from God.

Acts 2:2-3 (ESVUK)

And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The presence of God had come again to the people of God. This time, instead of a single pillar before the entire community, every person in the family of God was able to personally experience the presence of God with them. By their faith in Jesus Christ, they were filled with the very spirit of God, grafted to the branch, part of the family, according to God’s very nature.

Even this is not the end of the salvation story. Isaiah describes a time when the family of God will all be together in one place, gathered from their exile, living together in justice and peace with the presence of God among them. The book of Revelation agrees with this hopeful future.

Revelation 20:1-7 (ESVUK)

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.”

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

By the life of the living branch of God does the family of God in exile among the nations live according to the justice, love, and peace of the spirit of God, who fills them with true life. We live in hope every day for the day when the fulfillment of God’s justice, love, and peace will be seen on earth, surrounded by the protecting and refreshing presence of God, living among us. God will complete the good work that began even before Creation.

☠

Tomorrow: Isaiah 5 - Replanting the Vineyard

Thursday: 1 Peter 2 - Living Lights in the Land of Death

Click the image above for the entire series from Isaiah

Introducing the Pastoral Epistles – The Ideal Meets the Real

1 Timothy 1:1-2 (ESV)
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our Saviour and of Christ Jesus our hope,

2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith:

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

The gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) tell the story of Jesus, his life and ministry, and his central message of the coming Kingdom of God. He taught that the Kingdom had come, was near, was indeed among the people he taught. He spoke of a Great Reversal, where the rich would be humbled, the oppressed set free, the last made first, rulers removed, sinners forgiven, and blind see. He taught people to live the truth and life of the Kingdom now, in this life. He promised that the Great Reversal would permeate the world like a yeast would dough, grow over the empire like weeds through the sidewalk, tearing it's deadness down by the life of Spirit-filled communities of justice.

In his death and resurrection, he planted the life of God in the heart of humanity, by grace offering a free invitation into this new Kingdom to everyone, everywhere, regardless of any background or origin of any kind.

Acts tells the story of the first steps of this living community. They wrestle with how to share their abundant life with the diverse crowds that joined their numbers. In their practice, the ideal of the Kingdom that Jesus taught met the reality of life lived in resistance to empire as it was around them, and the spirit of empire in which they had always lived by habit. In the collision of Jesus' universal, eternal, and highly ideal declaration of Kingdom Come with the temporal, complicated, unusual, and unexpected life lived in diverse community the members of community were changed. In both conflict and cooperation, the Holy Spirit among them used every circumstance to further grow them individually and as a community toward the fulfillment of Jesus' Kingdom promises.

The Kingdom had come. People shared everything they had with reckless generosity. Poor people were fed, taught, and equipped in community to be free. The very economy and power structures of empire and religion were confronted and sometimes dismantled by the influence of the growing communities.

But the Kingdom is also still yet to be. The teachings of Jesus are universal, but the diversity of these early Kingdom communities meant there were differences in understanding and application of these commands. The members of community still had habits and expectations from their previous lives in bondage to the spirit of empire. Selfishness and pride sometimes led to conflict. These communities still lived (and today, still live) in a world where the empires and powers have influence and control. Resistance was (and is) difficult at best. At worst, it leads to persecution by the powers of the world.

As the ideal of the promised Coming Kingdom meets the reality of practical demonstration now, every community had to wrestle with how they each would best demonstrate the gospel in their context. These communities were called churches, which means a gathering. The practice of Kingdom life was called the Way. Members of these communities were called Followers of the way, or Christians, after Christ, which means Messiah, or chosen one. Letters were written between the churches, especially by the apostles (which means sent ones), the people who travelled between the churches and beyond to plant new ones. These letters were called epistles.

The diversity in backgrounds within the churches is matched by a diversity of gifts administered by the Holy Spirit within its members. At its best, every member of the community is enabled to give according to their unique gift and calling. Every member contributes to the whole, each supplying to others the ability to all operate to their full function as parts of a body all contribute to the healthy function of a whole person.

Since every church was unique in its cultural context, membership, and gifting, the epistles (the letters to the churches) each dealt with very specific issues unique to each gathering. While Jesus' teaching were universally true and applicable, not every instruction to every church was necessarily so. What may have been assumed in one church may be a sharp controversy in another. As such, the epistles must be interpreted carefully according to their cultural context and intention.

Among the epistles, Romans and Hebrews both stand out as very broad and thorough in the scope of their messages. Romans, an epistle of Paul,  has a very thorough and complete theology of salvation (called soteriology). Paul wrote this letter to a church he'd never visited, so he started from scratch and grew a well formed story of the gospel for the Romans. Much of the New Testament is seen through the theology of Romans, once called the grand cathedral of Christian doctrine. Hebrews has a well formed Christology, a study of the person of Jesus the Messiah. It also traces the history of Covenant from the beginning of Hebrew scripture until the Kingdom age.

Most of these epistles are addressed to a church or churches of a region. Church members would read the letters to the community, probably in full, and the gatherings would then wrestle in word and deed over how to put the instructions into practice. Letters would be copied and distributed widely, so the best opportunity could be given for a wide audience to benefit. Over time and practice, certain books would be recognized by the churches as especially helpful for teaching doctrine or instructing practical community life. These are the books that remain in the New Testament today.

Along with apostles (sent ones), who taught widely and planted churches, the pastoral gift was also given to equip the church communities to function as Jesus had taught. Pastors in the early church served as community organizers and equippers of the body, seeking the best for all members and helping each member find their place in the whole. Pastors became the servants to all, giving their life to preach for, serve, and love their communities.

The communities were multiplying so quickly that many pastors were still themselves young in the faith. Three of the New Testament epistles are addressed to two specific pastors, both of whom had served with Paul, to whom the letters are attributed. 1 and 2 Timothy are addressed to Timothy, the young Greek man who served with Paul on his second missionary journey (Acts 16). Much of both of these letters encourage young Timothy to be bold in his ministry, and not to be timid though he may be young or inexperienced. Timothy pastors in a church in Ephesus, to whom Paul also wrote the highly poetic and beautiful book of Ephesians. Titus is probably more confident in his ministry, as Paul's letter to him is far more direct and to the point, and dispenses with the strong fatherly encouragements of the Timothy letters.

These three letters are commonly called the Pastoral Epistles. In them we find some of the most specific and practical instructions for the organization and administration of church community life of any of the writing of the New Testament. In them, Jesus' broad and universal promises and instructions about the Kingdom of God meet the most immediate, practical, and specific application in the present world. The ideal becomes real.

As we read the instructions of the pastoral letters, we are equipped to also practice the abundance and justice and love of Kingdom life in our communities in their cultural contexts today.

+

These are the repeated messages emphasized in the pastoral epistles of 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus:

1 – Preach good doctrine.
Remember what you’ve been taught.
Use the gifts you’ve been given and the tools you’ve been trained in.
Study the Bible and know it.
Preach often.
Preach Jesus.
Preach the gospel.

2 – Practice good doctrine.
Be a good example of a Jesus follower.
Have integrity.
Do not give anyone an excuse to question your teaching.
Teach people proper application of the doctrine they learn.

3 – Do not be caught up in quarrels with false teachers.
Teach the truth humbly, boldly, continuously, and gently.
Correct wrong teaching.
Warn divisive people to stop being divisive.
Do not associate with those who insist on continuing to quarrel and be divisive.

4 – Recognize, train, and help people develop their gifts.
Teach others to be teachers that teach teachers.
Do not minister alone.
Expect integrity from those who teach in church.
 

+

The pastoral letters, and all the epistles, should be read as following after the book of Acts, as Acts follows the Gospels. In other words, the Gospel, the Good News of freedom and justice and love and the Kingdom of God are central. This is the most important thing. Paul himself says this many times in his letters to Timothy and Titus. In Acts, the church takes its first steps in applying the message of freedom in community. The pastoral letters give practical instruction to pastors for how to demonstrate the teachings of Jesus and the truth of the gospel in their churches. Therefore, these letters reveal as much or more about the process of discerning that practical application as it gives us practical advice today. Also, our context and culture may make some of the advice irrelevant to us. 1 Timothy 5 is mostly about taking care of widows, of which there are none in our church. So these books also reveal much about the practical concerns that faced the early church.

Our job is to discern and practice the gospel in our context. The pastoral letters teach us to keep the gospel central. The examples of instruction in the letters help us see how we too can practically demonstrate the good news of the Kingdom in our context today. Whether we find the instructions within these pages helpful or irrelevant, the principles point to Jesus, and our mandate remains the same to discover how our churches may best honour Jesus and walk in faith.

Acts 28 – Paul in Rome and Act's Open End

(read Acts 28)

The last chapter of Acts wraps up Paul's arrival in Rome as her prisoner and his time of waiting for trial before Caesar.

Partway to Rome, Paul is shipwrecked. The ship's passengers stay on the island of Malta off the coast of Italy. While there, Paul has more opportunity to demonstrate the Kingdom, and share about Jesus.

Paul arrives in Rome still a prisoner, but he has favour and a great deal of privilege despite his legal circumstance. For two years he waits for his trial, always under house arrest.

Christian traditional history tells us that Paul was tried before Caesar and released. Once free, he traveled to Spain to continue to spread his message, but was captured and executed by Rome soon after. Since this history is not under great dispute, many scholars suggest Acts was therefore written before the end of Paul's life. The significance of his victory in court would likely have been recorded had Luke had knowledge of it. This is also evidence that Acts and Luke themselves may have been written or compiled to be used as evidence in Paul's defense in court.

In any case, the open-ended conclusion of Acts has Paul continuing to share as he dud throughout his missions. He shares with the local Jewish congregations, making clear that he still considers himself wholly Jewish and a brother to them. Some believe him, and some do not. Paul continues to preach nonetheless.

It has been suggested by some that Paul's message about Jesus was somehow different than the message of the Kingdom of God that Jesus himself preached. But the concluding words of Acts provide a summary that illustrates the unity from the beginning of Luke to this final chapter.

The Good News is freely shared with outsiders as much as with religious insiders (v28).

The Good News is the Kingdom of God (v31). Though Paul becomes known for preaching a more personal and individual application of this news, the message is still the same. The Kingdom has come. The order is changing. Rulers will be removed, and the humble exalted. The last shall be first.

Jesus Christ is Lord (v31). In calling Jesus the Christ, Paul proclaims his the chosen and promised sent one of God. In calling Jesus Lord, he subverts the claim of the Roman Empire (the "Gospel" that "Caesar is Lord"). If Jesus is now Lord, Caesar is not. The practical consequences of the Gospel are as clear at the end of Acts as in the beginning of Luke.

The Kingdom has come.
Acts 28:28-31 (ESV)
28 Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”
30 He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, 31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

+

vv3-6 – His life was spared because it was not God’s time for him to die.
v17 – Paul appeals to the authority of the Jews again.
vv23-25 – Paul gets another opportunity to share the gospel.
vv30-31 – Two more years Paul continues to preach, though he is under house arrest.
+

The end of Acts is open enough to invite us to write the next chapters ourselves in our own lives. We are invited to share in the community of free Kingdom life now. The age of empire has ended, and we are empowered to resist.

We live in the 29th chapter of Acts, continuing to participate in the living Kingdom of God growing in the world around us. We resist with hope. We share love and justice with hope. We know that our King, who calls us free,  will return, and therefore all our efforts toward justice and freedom today will remain for eternity. No matter what battles we appear to win or lose, in the end this earth will be laid up for us, the meek, the poor, the oppressed. We participate in a movement that will succeed, and it is in this hope we live and share together.

All glory to the only true King.

(read Acts 28)

Acts 27 – Paul is Shipwrecked

(read Acts 27)

Acts 27:21-26 (ESV)
21 Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. 22 Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, 24 and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ 25 So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. 26 But we must run aground on some island.”

The last chapters of Acts deal principally with the will of God in Paul's life and mission in contrast to all other authorities in his life.

In Acts 27, the second last chapter of Luke's two-part epic, Paul sails as a prisoner of Rome toward Rome to be brought before Caesar. Luke, the author, accompanies him.

Paul has been the target of violent and corrupt religious and political authorities for most of the second half of the book of Acts. In every case, the attempts of the authorities of empire or the church to stop the spread of the message of Jesus have always turned in the favour of the Kingdom ambassadors. In this chapter, a significant storm threatens the ship and its passengers. Paul's faith and mission are contrasted with the power of his captors. While the agents of empire fear the worst, Paul speaks confidently of God's will in his life, knowing that whatever the consequences to the ship, they will not lose their lives.

Paul believes God has sent him to speak to Caesar. In the natural he appears to be a prisoner of Rome and subject to the empire's whims. In the Kingdom of God, Paul is subject only to God's will. If God has sent him to Caesar, to Caesar he will go. He'll get there not because Caesar has summoned him or Rome wills it, but by the power and authority of the only Kingdom, through and despite all obstacles.

This is the freedom of Kingdom citizens. No matter what the powers of the corrupt empires of this present age may do, in the end it is the mark of God on the children of God that calls them free. All will stand equally vulnerable before the final judge. We may pretend and play dress-up that one human being has more power or influence over another, but as this storm shows everyone on boar from criminal to governor, in the face of our own mortality, all are equal.

In the light of eternity, all are God's creation. God is not far from any one of us. In him we live and move and have our being. Kings beware.

(read Acts 27)

+

v24 – It was God’s will that Paul stand before Caesar.
vv31-32 – They’re listening to him now.

Acts 26 – Paul on Trial Before Agrippa

(read Acts 26)

After at least two years as a prisoner of Rome, Paul has appealed to have his case heard before Ceasar. As a legal citizen of Rome, this is his right, and he is now on his way to standing before him.

It was to governor Festus that Paul made his appeal. Before sending him away, Festus asks for the cousel of King Agrippa, giving Paul an opportunity to share his message of the coming Kingdom to a person of influence yet again.

Paul makes his case boldly, telling his own personal history of joining the Way after having been a violent persecutor of them. He again emphasizes that what he preaches is faithful to the tradition he grew up with. He has no desire to undermine or subvert the Jews or their faith. It is corruption that sets the religious elite against him, not orthodoxy. They have been able to use faith to keep people under control. What Paul preaches sets people free, and this has made him a threat.
Acts 26:19-23 (ESV)
  19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. 21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22 To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: 23 that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

Paul's defense and testimony are so strong that even King Agrippa seems to waver toward faith by it. Paul appeals to Agrippa's foundation of belief in the prophets, through whom Jesus and the coming Kingdom is revealed.
Acts 26:27-29 (ESV)
27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” 28 And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” 29 And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.”
Paul's chains are temporary. The Kingdom is eternal. In the light of eternity and true justice, Paul was more free standing before these men in his chains than these kings were in their robes and vestments and corruptible power. Their chains were greate than his, and Paul's invitation was for them to be free.

Citizens of the Kingdom seek the freedom of all those enslaved by the spirit of Empire. None are more enslaved by empire than those who think they hold power within it. None are more in need of love than those consumed by hatred. None are more in need of the message of freedom than those who would keep people in chains. It is they who are truly bound. The Kingdom extends it's love and freedom even to its enemies. It is its enemies who need it most.

Acts 26:30-32 (ESV)
30 Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. 31 And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

(read Acts 26)

+

v2 – Paul makes a third defense in secular court. He is very good at defending himself.
Paul’s defense is reasonable, but bold. He tells the true testimony of his experience, even though it is fantastic. He also appeals to the Hebrew scriptures for evidence on his behalf.
v29 – He’s sharing the gospel.
v32 – Did he know this? We can only speculate, but suppose he did this on purpose for the opportunity to share the gospel with Caesar?