Stephen spoke this morning at Cherry Tree Court from John 9:1-7. Here, the story of how Jesus healed a man blind from birth is recounted, but as Stephen pointed out, this was not just a miracle for that man. Through this narrative, we can see how God cares for each one of us and can bring out miracles for us all.

Jn 9:1 tells us that as Jesus went by, He saw a man blind from birth. No one pointed out the blind man to Him; there were no friends advocating his cause, as in other healing narratives (e.g Mark 2:1-12), Instead, Jesus Himself saw the man; He noticed him. We can be sure that Jesus sees us and notices us too.

The disciples raised a question as to the cause of the man’s suffering, whether it was because of his own sin or his parents’. So often, we feel guilty and condemned in our situations, blaming ourselves or other people and feeling there is no alternative to the situation. The truth is, that no matter what the cause of our predicament, God is able to step in and turn things around. The darkness we face – whether self-inflicted or not – cannot stand against the light Jesus brings. Just as the man had to be obedient only to the commands Jesus gave, so we too need to be obedient to the light we have received and then we can see a miracle for us all, as our spiritual eyes are opened and our understanding becomes clear.

One of my favourite films is ‘Three Amigos’, a spoof Western which sees three actors having to rescue the villagers of a small Mexian village from a bad guy known as ‘El Guapo’. In a scene just before the great showdown, the amigos ask the villagers what their skill and talent is, the one thing that can help to rescue them from their enemy. Somewhat to their astonishment (and despair), an elderly lady tentatively offers the answer, ‘We can sew?’ ‘If only we had known this earlier!’ is the slightly sarcastic reply, but, in true Hollywood style, the sewing skills of the villagers actually do contribute to the defeat of the bad guy as they make hundreds of ‘amigo’ costumes to confuse and baffle El Guapo!

Dearne Churches Together has a similar need of sewing skills! We are looking to be involved in a ‘Good Friday Church Crawl’ when, on Friday 30th March, we will visit as many of the local churches as possible, attending a communion service at Furlong Road Methodist Church at 10.30 a.m. and visiting other churches to see how Easter is celebrated in different traditions. In between, we will be walking from church to church, giving out flowers and Easter chocolates to passers-by, as part of the Easter March of Hope we have done in previous years. To demonstrate that we are all part of God’s church, we will be wearing yellow sashes, which is where the sewing skills come in..

.Those of you who know me know that even sewing a button on a garment is a major production for me! Sewing is definitely not one of my skills. But Our Shed Dearne (based at the Renaissance Centre in Bolton-on-Dearne and host of the Pins & Needles sewing class whose fashion show was a great success at last year’s Dearne Community Arts’ Festival) has offered us the use of their sewing machines one Saturday to help us make the sashes. They have also offered ignoramuses like myself tuition on Thursdays between 5 and 7 p.m. to teach us to hem material, which is what these sashes essentially will need. Between these two offers, hopefully we will be able to make sashes for all who wish to take part in the Good Friday event.

So if you can sew and wouldn’t mind giving up a couple of hours one Saturday… or if you are a novice like me but wouldn’t mind giving up a couple of hours over two Thursdays… please let us know and we can prepare the sashes for Good Friday in good time for one of the most important days in the Christian calendar, when we celebrate the death of our Lord Jesus Christ and look to share this good news with our local communities!

Ps 2:11-12 reminds us that we are to approach an omnipotent God with reverence and awe:

‘Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling. Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.’

Ps 2, like Ps 1, has presented us with the way of human rebellion verses the way of submission to God. ‘Kissing the son’ (or his feet) indicated an act of submission or homage, a declaration of obedience and recognition of being in the presence of someone greater than oneself. Other examples of kissing as a symbol of submission are found in 1 Sam 10:1 (when Samuel anoints Saul as king) and 1 Kings 19:18 (when God tells Elijah of the seven thousand in Israel who have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.) To kiss the Son means to recognise God’s Son as the only way to God (Jn 14:6) and to live to serve Him and celebrate His rule.

‘The fear of the Lord’ is a theme which runs throughout Scripture (especially the book of Proverbs, where we are told it is the beginning of wisdom.) We need to have reverence and a healthy regard for God. Whilst we are not meant to cower away in fright and are exhorted to come before His throne of grace with confidence (Heb 4:16), we cannot treat God’s Messiah with indifference or complacency. He deserves our respect, attention, obedience and submission, for He is Lord of Lords!

Psalm 2 is the first of the Messianic psalms. Along with Psalm 1, it forms an introduction to the book of Psalms (‘a joint preamble to the whole book’, in the words of Michael Wilcock). The private world of Psalm 1 opens out into the public world of Psalm 2; the personal is followed by the cosmic (in airport language, one is ‘domestic’ and the other ‘international’!) Psalm 1 looks at how an individual is to live a blessed life in God; Psalm 2:12 reminds us that ‘blessed is the one who takes refuge’ in God. Psalm 1 ends with the warning that ‘the way of the wicked leads to destruction’, whereas Psalm 2 begins with a reminder that God will not let the way of the wicked triumph. In Psalm 1, the godly person meditates on God’s law; in Psalm 2, the wicked meditate (NASB = “devising,” NIV = “plot”; using the same Hebrew word) on how to cast off the rule of God. In Psalm 1 the theme is the contrast between the righteous and the wicked person; in Psalm 2 the theme is the contrast between the rebellion of wicked rulers and nations and the rule of God’s righteous Messiah.

Psalm 2 shows people plotting against God’s word, devising schemes for getting rid of it so that they can be free of all God-interference in their lives – something that continues to happen to this very day. Eugene Peterson says, ‘These people see God’s words not as javelins penetrating their lives with truth, but as chains that restrict their freedom. They put their minds together to rid themselves of this word so that their words can rule.’ (‘Answering God’, P 28) Rulers and nations seem an intimidating force to ordinary people, but God simply laughs and scoffs at all their plans, being completely in control. (Ps 2:1-3) His plan involves His Messiah who, born of a woman, would be bruised on the heel by Satan in death as the sin‑bearer for the fallen race, but who would bruise Satan upon the head in His triumphant victory over sin and death in His resurrection from the grave. (Gen 3:15) By bringing people from every nation under the lordship of God’s Anointed, Jesus, the rebellion of Satan is thwarted.

Ps 2 also reveals something of the nature of the Godhead to us in showing us a personal relationship between Father and Son. Ps 2:7 has been the object of much controversy over the years, but in describing this relationship, we see something of the closeness described by John in the New Testament (see John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9; 5:1, 18). Heb 1:1-3 and Col 1:15-19 give us a much fuller picture of this relationship between Father and Son, but it is already foreshadowed in this psalm, with the pre-eminence of Jesus implicit in Ps 2:8-9.

Psalm 2 is quoted in 7 places in the New Testament, with 3 separate sections quoted in different books (Acts 4:25-26, Acts 13:32-33, Hebrews 1:5, Hebrew 5:4-5, Rev 2:26-27, Rev 12:5, Rev 19:15). Clearly, the New Testament writers found great comfort in God’s sovereignty and in the nature of the Godhead. We too can find comfort and hope in these things.

The Bible tells us God’s story of the world and the people in it, and there is a coherence to this story which demonstrates God is in ultimate control, working all things together for good. God’s plan of salvation is outlined in the first book (Genesis) and reaches its fulfilment in the last book (Revelation), but in the meantime, Jesus – hinted at, revealed in history and now working through the church – is found in all the other books too! This week, we have started looking at Messianic Psalms, those psalms which give us a foreshadowing of God’s Messiah way before His arrival on earth.

The Messiah, the Christ (in Greek), God’s anointed One, is God’s solution to the problem of sin, whose coming was first announced in Gen 3:15. The Messiah would be set apart for God, just as the priests were anointed for their duties (see Ex 29:7, Lev 21:10) and would also fulfil the role of prophet (see Deut 18:15) and king (see 2 Sam 11:7–16). Quite how this could be in one person was not easy to grasp, and the failure of the religious leaders to understand this can be said to have directly led to their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. We have the benefit of hindsight and fulfilled prophecy, thankfully!

Some of the Messianic psalms clearly refer to situations experienced by the psalmists and also look beyond this experience, whereas others seem to refer to situations outside the psalmists’ experience, pointing directly to the Messiah. There are Messianic references in 25 of the 150 psalms and many of these psalms are also quoted in the New Testament, showing us, as one commentator has said, that ‘Messianic prophecy is at the core of all prophecy.’ Peter tells us, ‘We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Pet 1:19-21) Prophecy enables us to see beyond our present situations to the final act of the story and we can be encouraged by studying these psalms as we realise just how many of these prophecies have already been fulfilled and can draw comfort that the remaining prophecies will also be fulfilled in God’s timing. God is in control of history; His sovereignty is a fundamental fact, as Ps 2:1-3 makes plain, this fact enables us to hold on to His faithfulness as we await the culmination of His majestic works.

Mark gave the epilogue at tonight’s family service, speaking from Matthew 7:13-14. Often, we feel that if life is narrow and difficult, it must be because we are on the wrong path or have misheard God, but the way of following Christ involves difficulties and persecution, and we should not be surprised that life is not as easy as others declare (see also Ps 73). Life has its shares of ups and downs, and we must not immediately assume that if difficulties are present, God has abandoned us or is punishing us. The narrow path leads to life, but the broad path leads to destruction. The path to God requires vigour and our total attention; we must be prepared to accept the difficult parts as well as the joyful ones.

Following God requires us to make choices. God opens doors and closes them; we will know times of great blessing and also times of great trial. We should not be surprised at these things, but must continue to follow Him faithfully, wherever the path leads.