Jim:
Daniel 5:1-12
This is the source of the expression, “I’ve seen the hand writing on the wall,” meaning I can tell that things are about to change, or the end is near. What struck me in verse 5 is that the king saw “the fingers of a human hand” doing the writing. Obviously this was no ordinary hand, and what is meant is probably to tell us that the hand looked like a human hand. Or maybe it was because the king did not know God that he did not recognize this as the hand of God. After all he and the others at the feast had committed sacrilege by using the vessels that had been taken from the temple in Jerusalem to drink to their own gods, which is why the hand appeared. We know God, but do we always recognize the hand of God at work in our lives? Or do we attribute things to other factors, like luck, or our own activities? I think that’s an important question to reflect every day.
1 John 5:1-12
The writer of 1 John also talks about recognizing God. In verses 11 and 12 we read, “And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life, whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” God, then, who is the source of love, is also the source of eternal life. To recognize God in Jesus Christ is to find eternal life.
Luke 4:38-44
In verse 43 Jesus defines his role as the Son of God. “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose.” Jesus understands his mission to be helping others to recognize the good news of the kingdom of God.
1 comment:
I got the following comments this morning from Jo Fontaine that I thought were very insightful:
"I don't understand why the whole story of the handwriting on the wall was not in one reading -- tomorrow we get the message, right? As for recognizing the "hand of God" in our lives, I think more often we only recognize God at work in our lives as we look back. I think this is especially true when we look back on something in our lives that has caused us to ask "WHY, God??" Certainly there are other times, too, when we look back and recognize the "hand of God."
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