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Monday October 28 - Final piece of the jigsaw
“Think not that I have come to abolish the law, or the prophets: for I have
come not abolish, but to complete.” Matthew 5:17 (Smith’s Literal Translation)
At one of the hospices where I work, there is often a big jigsaw on the go and it’s not unusual to see several people standing at the table, scanning what lies before them. Inserting the final piece always attracts a big cheer!
The Bible fits a jigsaw metaphor in several ways. Firstly, there is the original picture, which may be a famous painting or photo. This is like the creation, described in the first two chapters of Genesis – the perfect picture. Through sin, mankind broke the picture into pieces, like the chaotic contents of the jigsaw box. The Old Testament, then, is like the picture on the cover of the box, giving outline, colour and clues to how the final outcome is supposed to look. The Ten Commandments and the sacrificial law are God metaphorically saying, “Come on, let’s put this thing back together.” The New Testament offers further pictures of what God’s kingdom should look like.
Some jigsaws have 5000 pieces, but after hours of putting them together, the final piece is somehow the most important. You could build a jigsaw in record time, with everyone working well together, but if you only had 4999 pieces, the whole thing would be incomplete. Jesus is like this crucial piece, being the final piece in the jigsaw, without which the whole thing falls to pieces.
Dear Lord, help me in all that I do to see and understand the truth of Jesus, who completes the picture of your purposes. In his name I pray. Amen.
Tuesday October 29 - It is finished!
But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. It is impossible for the
blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Hebrews 10:3-4
Once, at an open-air service, I spoke to somebody who was having a difficult time with substance misuse and associated life issues. I invited her to church, to which she replied, “Why would I do that? I feel guilty enough already!”
This is the fruit of cold, rule-based religion. It sets an impossible standard: you strive to meet it, and when you fail, you feel guilty. The options then are to try harder (which will never be enough) or to walk away from the religion (and live ‘on the run’). The writer to the Hebrews does not pretend that the sacrificial law was anything other than this, demanding sacrifices that could not effectively take away sins. This was the work of the Temple – to repeat sacrifices again, and again, and again, and again (Hebrews 10:3-4).
Into this world of gore, ritual, guilt and sacrifice steps God himself, in the person of Jesus Christ. Because human relationships are broken, as is our relationship with God the Father, Jesus perfectly lives the moral law that restores human relationships (the Ten Commandments). He then goes to the Cross and offers a perfect sacrifice, once and for all, meeting the sacrificial law and restoring us to the Father (Hebrews 10:10). Why did this put an end to the sacrifices? Because on Sunday Jesus rose from the grave, breaking the power of death that held us captive. Hallelujah!
Father, please help me to comprehend that guilt and death are destroyed by Jesus, his person and his work. It is finished! Amen.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
PRAYER FOR TODAY
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