Mark continued his series on Joseph this morning, looking at Gen 41:1. We left Joseph having interpreted the dreams of the cup-bearer and the baker but languishing in jail for a further two years. He may well have felt fed-up and frustrated and even angry with the cup-bearer for forgetting about him. In hindsight, however, we can see that God was working in the situation to bring to pass plans which were far greater than Joseph could have imagined.

God has a plan for everything to be fulfilled, but we must wait for His timing. As Hab 2:1-3 reminds us, we have to watch out for the dream, keep it alive through prayer and wait for God to bring it to pass. Even when things do not seem to be going our way, God has not forgotten us.

Pharaoh had a dream too. He was a significant person – in charge of most of the known world at this time, and his dream was equally significant for the future of that world. The fact remains, however, that God used him and gave him that dream. God can use whomever He wishes to bring His plans to fulfilment. Joseph will ultimately remind Pharaoh of the fact that this dream is from God (and since Pharaoh considered himself a god, this would be a risky thing to remind him!) The story we are involved in is not just about Joseph or about Pharaoh, however. It is about God, and God will work out His plans using anyone He chooses! Similarly, our lives are not just our own stories, but are a part of God’s great story.

1 John 2:18-27 looks at how we can discern truth from lies and at the form of the lies which abound in the world today. John reminds us that the antichrist (anything which ultimately is against Christ) will deny that Jesus is the Christ (i.e. God’s anointed one who is the only means of salvation) and that He is God’s Son, thereby also denying the Fatherhood of God. We might expect doctrinal tests to tackle practices as well as beliefs, but it is interesting to note that it is primarily what we believe about who God is which determines whether the truth is living in us.

Jesus reveals God to us as a loving heavenly Father. He shows us the closeness of the relationship within the Godhead and shows us that God is not an impersonal force but a loving God who desires to have a relationship with us. It was His insistence on the relational nature within the Godhead which enraged the Jews of His time (John 5:18, John 10:36-37) and which is also a stumbling-block to many today. He repeatedly cut away at religious practices which were legally motivated rather than fuelled by relationship and taught of the personal relationship we now have as adopted children (teaching us to pray ‘Our Father in heaven’, for example; see also Rom 8:15)

What we believe is crucial to how we live. Belief shapes action; it acts as our ‘operating system’ and provides the framework for our whole life. All of us have many wrong ideas and beliefs about God and need God’s Word to re-shape our thoughts so that we can believe the truth, rather than lies. We have an enemy who is a liar (his native language is lies, we read in John 8:44), yet those lies can often seem so plausible to us. We need to dwell in God’s truth, for He is truth, speaks truth and works out of truth  (John 14:6, Is 45>19, John 16:33). He is totally incapable of lying! (Num 23:19) It is only by truth that we can be set free (John 8:32) and so we need to dwell in the truth of God’s Word. (Ps 119:160)

The strategies we need to employ if we are to recognise truth from lies (made possible because we too have an anointing from God, even as Jesus is the anointed One) involve:

1. transformation through the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:1-2) as we tear down everything that sets itself up against God and take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Cor 10:5)
2. weighing everything in the light of God’s Word rather than being influenced by cultural norms
3. being led by the Spirit of God as John tells us in these verses (he reassures us that ‘all of you know the truth’ 1 John 2:20 and continue to remain (abide) in Christ 1 John 2:24)
4. test what we hear by the plumbline of truth (fruit takes time to grow, but ‘the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth’ (Eph 5:9))
5. recognise Christ’s Lordship over us (1 Cor 6:19-20) and choose to agree with Him and submit to Him in every area of our lives
6. worship God alone!

It’s not often I even register news from the football world, not because I have no interest at all in football (I was brought up by a sports-mad father and have attended a number of football matches all over the country, not to mention cricket matches, often freezing in April weather that felt more like winter than spring!), but even I heard this week that Manchester United had sacked their manager David Moyes less than a year after being appointed at Old Trafford. The Independent called it a ‘ruthless decision’ after only 316 days on the job; the Metro declared that the board had the backing of former manager (and legend) Sir Alex Ferguson (even though he had also backed the appointment those few months previously…) In semi-religious language reminiscent of Bill Shankly’s view that football was ‘much more important’ than life and death, the Guardian, calling this ‘a very brutal and modern sacking’ said ‘despite being anointed by Alex Ferguson, within 10 months Moyes had lost the support of the players, the fans and board.’ Needless to say, the reasons for the sacking were the poor results in matches played this season, with Manchester United only (!) seventh in the Premier League, and the ‘dour football that is anathema to fans who feasted on success throughout the Ferguson era.’

I have no particular interest in who manages Manchester United (or any other club, for that matter), but this news did make me ponder on how fickle we are as people and how easily we break vows (and contracts) these days. David Moyes was appointed manager on a six year contract, but in less than one year was deemed to have failed so spectacularly that the only answer was to dismiss him (and pay the costs required for breaking that contract.) This is symptomatic of a culture which judges by results and by the visible. In football terms, ‘the Glazers’ leveraged business model, estimated to have cost United £680m in interest and fees since they took over in 2005, requires consistent success on the pitch to keep the global sponsorship deals rolling in and the tills ringing.’  There is no room for delay, no room for slow progress, no room for anything except consistent, insistent, never-ending success in the football world. We view marriage in a similar light, believing that it is all about instant gratification, personal pleasure and my rights. We are very quick to define success and that will always be viewed in visible, material terms.

Such a culture, however, bears little resemblance to the gradual, unhurried way of organic growth in the natural world or indeed to the patience and long-suffering methods employed by God. The God who delights in paradox (1 Cor 1:18-31) and who has utter confidence in the long-term efficacy of His Word (Is 55:8-11) is a God of commitment and covenant and He expects the same from His people. Ps 50:14 says ‘Sacrifice thank offerings to God,fulfil your vows to the Most High‘: Ps 76:11 says ‘Make vows to the Lord your God and fulfil them.’ We depend on God’s faithfulness and immutability as the source of strength and stability in this world; He calls us to mirror these characteristics in our own lives.

One of the fruit of the Spirit is patience; Peter urges us to add perseverance to our faith. (2 Pet 1:6) This will often mean not giving up at the first sign of trouble, pressing on despite our personal feelings (which are so notoriously unreliable anyway!) and refusing to judge by external appearances (John 7:24). I have no idea if Manchester United have ‘done the right thing’ or not; I am not qualified to comment on their decision. But I do know that it is dangerous to make spiritual decisions based only on the evidence of our eyes and that God honours faithfulness and commitment because these reflect His own nature.

Dave continued speaking about the importance of Christ’s death and resurrection by looking at 1 Cor 2:1-5 and asking the question why did Christ have to die? In considering the last day of Christ’s life, he looked at John 13, where Jesus washed His disciples’ feet and inaugurated the Last Supper. During this intimate time of fellowship with His twelve disciples, Jesus gave them a vivid explanation of His life and death by inaugurating this memorial service. The bread represented His body and the wine His blood which demonstrated the central importance of Christ’s death to His followers. His divinely appointed death was necessary to bring into being the new covenant prophesied by Jeremiah, a sacrifice which needs to be appropriated personally. The disciples had to partake in the eating and drinking in the same way that the blood of the Passover lamb had to be sprinkled on the door frames for the firstborn of the Israelites to be spared when the angel of death passed over.

Following the time with His disciples in the Upper Room, Jesus moved on to the Garden of Gethsemane, where, with His closest disciples, Peter, James and John, He prayed for the cup of suffering and wrath to be removed if possible. He knew, however, that what was important was His obedience to the Father’s will, for God’s whole purpose was to save sinners and so Jesus embraced the cup of God’s wrath as the means by which mankind could be saved.

Later, at Golgotha, Christ was crucified. The outward darkness which fell from noon until 3 p.m. (in contrast to the angelic brilliance which heralded His birth at the dead of night) was a symbol of the spiritual darkness which Christ endured; He knew what it was to utter the cry of dereliction from Ps 22:1: ‘My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?’ Despite this agony, His victorious cry ‘It is finished!’ shows that Christ’s death accomplished God’s plan of salvation.

The cross reveals to us three things:

1. the terrible effect of our sin, which was so weighty that this was the only way God could reconcile mankind to Himself. We need to see the utter seriousness and helplessness of the human condition apart from God.

2. the depth of God’s love for us which is beyond our comprehension. God’s mercy, grace and love overwhelm us. They are freely offered to all and must be freely received; there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation.

3. There is nothing left for us to pay. The salvation Christ offers us is received by faith. We have to apply what Jesus has done for us by accepting the free gift of salvation and can then know the glory of forgiven sins and receive eternal life. The power of the Cross is such that it relies not on human wisdom but rests entirely on God’s power. ‘There’s nothing more that we can do, for Jesus did it all,’ the old hymn says. Our part is simply to receive the free gift with gratitude and thanks.

Dave spoke from John 20 this morning, looking at how Jesus met with Mary after the Resurrection. You might expect the resurrection accounts to be dazzling and marvellous, given the amazing content of the news that Christ has risen, but as with so many things in the Christian life, God does not always work in the ways we would expect. Instead of bolts of lightning and triumph, we find confused disciples not really knowing what to believe, even after they have been told that Christ is alive. The diversity of the witness accounts in the Gospels should not cause us to doubt the veracity of these accounts, but simply reflects the different perspectives of the people involved.

Mary Magdalene, from whom Jesus had earlier cast seven demons, had been present at the crucifixion and was desperate to hold on to her Saviour, even if that simply meant helping to anoint His dead body. She, along with the other women, displayed an ability to hold on, even in the midst of grief and suffering. The thought that she could no longer help Jesus was devastating to her, hence her tears. She did not recognise Jesus when she met Him, mistaking Him for the gardener; she could not cope with this amazing news that He was alive again. It was only when He spoke her name that she recognised Him.

Whilst we know that Jesus appeared to His disciples in groups and to more than 500 people on one occasion, the fact remains that the majority of the accounts of the Resurrection are personal: how Jesus appeared to individuals, restoring and reassuring them (as He did with Peter and Thomas and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, for example.) The strugglers and the stragglers were just as important to Jesus as the crowds. The Resurrection – the most earth-shattering event in history – was nonetheless immensely personal. What matters to us today as much as our actual belief in the Resurrection of Christ is that we create a climate in which people can meet Christ for themselves. We need that real and living encounter with a real and living Christ if we are to be transformed as the early disciples were, from fearful, grieving followers to bold apostles, confident and sure in their proclamation of Christ.

As we reach Easter Sunday, our hearts are filled with awe and gladness that we can indeed proclaim that Christ is risen. I often think of what it was like to reach that first day of the week without the benefit of hindsight, however: to view Easter as it must have seemed to the first disciples without the knowledge that appearances do not necessarily tell the whole story, without the knowledge that God is working all things together for good.

Anyone who has lived through any kind of emotional turmoil knows how draining and debilitating it is to see-saw from hope to despair through every range of emotion in between. The disciples had entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday on the exhilarating high of acclamation. (Matt 21:1-11) The Gospels tell us so much of this last week of the life of Christ: the teachings, the miracles, the plots. Then came the talk of betrayal and sorrow, the Last Supper, feet being washed, teachings of the last days. We struggle to take in all this teaching even now, so it must have been exhausting for the disciples: no wonder they fell asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Matt 26:36-46)

The dread and fear they felt at the arrest of Jesus, the sickening realisation that one of them had betrayed Jesus, the hurt and terror that this must have engendered in them cannot simply be ignored by us, for we so often are in that place of dread, fear, hurt and pain. Their differing reactions – blustering violence (Matt 26:51), a desperate need to know what was going on (why else did Peter and John follow into the courtyards?), quiet solidarity in watching the Crucifixion – remind us of how we react to the unknown.

Then there came the quiet obedience of waiting: ‘The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.’ (Luke 23:55-56) How hard it is to wait, to feel impotent, to be able to do nothing at all to change a situation. How long that Sabbath must have seemed. As they remembered God’s deliverance of His people from Egypt, did they have any inkling of the greater deliverance taking place in the world?

Then we have the next stage of the story. ‘When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.’ (Mk 16:1) They knew their duty. They were determined to be faithful to the end. They were still trying to work things out: ‘they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”‘ (Mk 16:3)

So often, that is where we are. Hurt, confused, afraid, we ask questions to which there are no answers. We try to work things out as best we can; we try to answer our prayers ourselves at times, all too often unaware that God is working things out in ways we cannot ever even imagine. When the women arrived at the tomb, the stone had already been rolled away. Their immediate problem had been solved. They had done nothing to solve this, despite their questions and anxiety. Greater things awaited them: the revelation that death was not the end of the story, that God had planned a solution beyond their wildest dreams.

Easter Sunday reminds us very firmly that God is in control, sovereign over all, ruling and reigning in majesty, even though He chooses to work in hidden, invisible ways that to us remain mysterious and unfathomable. We hold on to hope in the midst of darkness; we remind ourselves that the God who delivered Israel from Egypt and raised Christ from the dead is our God: ‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’ (Rom 8:31)