Job 19: 1-27 Hebrews 8 Luke 11: 1-13.

“Father, “ asked the village villain, “What would be the sciatica that I read about?” The parish priest saw his chance, “Ah,” he replied, “You may well ask. A most painful and incurable infliction and it comes of loose living and bad ways. Those get sciatica who neglect their religious duties, and go after the drink, and lead lives of dissipation.” “I’m very grateful to you, father he replied, and I’m glad to know about the sciatica, for I have just read how his Lordship the Bishop is suffering from a severe attack of it.”   “Smile Please” Phil Mason                                                    

Just as the priest was embarrassed I think Job was embarrassed by his predicament

Job described how he felt when he was brought to the edge of despair; his body was full of inflamed soars and swellings. His three friends only furthered his agony by saying he needed to repent of his sin. But Job insisted that he hadn’t sinned. In verse 27 his faith in God is such that he sees that in his flesh he will see God on the last day.

 “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth, ²⁶ And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God; ²⁷ I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!” Job 19: 25-27

Job would have been delighted with the New Covenant with the promise to know his redeemer lives in this life; before death.

In the letter to the Hebrews the New Covenant having better promises than the old covenant.

Hebrews 8: 6  “But Christ has obtained a ministry which is as much more excellent than the old covenant as the new covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted, to make into law, on better promises.”

Jesus as high priest of God, he offered the final sacrifice of his blood, as a result he mediates for us directly to the throne of God our Father.   No longer going through the priesthood with its rituals and sacrifices.

Jesus revealed God to his disciples as their Father, they heard conversations that Jesus had with the Jews.

John 5: 19 “Truly, truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but what he sees the father doing; for whatever he does, that the Son does likewise, For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing.”

So he made it known that he was the Son of God. in touch with his Father in heaven.

In our Gospel reading the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. So he directed them to pray to their Father in heaven. To simplify the prayer he told them a story.

“You needed a loaf of bread for a friend visiting, and you called upon your friend who had gone to bed, to supply him with the bread, because of your persistence he responded and gave you the bread.” 

Two things: The Friend who had gone to bed was God,

Secondly: nothing that concerned the disciples was trivial to God, so they should be persistent in prayer. This applies to us Jesus is never too busy to respond to our prayers.

As we look at the prayer:

“Father, hallowed be your name, thy kingdom come.” The disciples revered God but couldn’t enter into the promise of the coming kingdom until after Jesus had established the New Covenant.

They entered into the kingdom in Christ through Jesus sacrifice being the end of the Law given to Moses by God.

A better Covenant “And forgive us our sins,” Father God has supplied us with Jesus the living, unleavened bread that came from heaven that is pure, and sinless. Jesus paid the price for our sins forgiven by laying down his life. A better promise we pass over from death as a result of the resurrection and enter into new and eternal life.

J John writes, “God brings people into deep waters not to drown them but to cleanse them.”

The next line has an interesting refection on the words

 “For we ourselves forgive all those indebted to us.”

We apply this first to ourselves, we may feel indebted to God for what Jesus has done for us, but God doesn’t hold us to account by being obliged to show gratitude. For his grace, and mercy has released us completely.

Jesus renews us daily as we feed on his word. John 6: 63 “It is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and life.” His blood constantly flows from his throne of grace to forgive us when we do sin. 1 John 1: 9 “But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”   

These words applied to a third party, “For we ourselves forgive all those indebted to us”   God left on Jesus’ resurrected body the marks of the cross; the nail holes and where the spear was driven into his heart. They are there to remind us of the cost of forgiveness and the healing that took place when God raised Jesus from the dead.

We are called to forgive, and release those who may feel guilty of their sin against us, who are in debt to us. “Lead us not into temptation.” We are not to bear grudges.                  

Dave Barry says, “The best way to knock off a chip on another person’s shoulder is to pat him on the back.” and so we should release them.

In our reading the covenant promise of the Holy Spirit

Jesus only wants his children to receive the Holy Spirit, ask and you shall receive. The Holy Spirit continues Jesus’ ministry, Jesus said, “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine; and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” John 16: 14, 15.

The Holy Spirit acts on our concerns, compassion for people. I meet people whose lives are disfigured often brought on by taking drugs. Several years later, they realise that they made a bad choice, they find themselves on a roundabout, a treadmill of addiction and they need help to change their life.

John came on our Alpha course he had been a drug addict, he spent a lot of time in prison, he said that he trusted no one. But he found out that God loved him. God spoke to him as he was about to take his life. Several weeks later he was still amazed that God loves him. He had spoken with Christians at the hostel and accepted Jesus as his Saviour and now he wanted to learn about God through Jesus by coming on the Alpha course.

John told me that he was still unsure if he could put his trust in God.

We know that the Spirit will lead him into all truth, just as Jesus revealed the Father and he can take God and trust his word found in scripture.

As John continues on his journey with Christ the Holy Spirit will gradually lead him into all truth; revealing spiritually good things concerning Jesus, that will strengthen and build him up to trust God. He will receive assurance by being risen with Christ and to know his nature has been transformed, he will feel how God the Father feels about sin because the commandments are written in his heart.

He will know that Jesus is God made visible in the flesh and that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is the living word of God and many more wonderful things to know about our Lord God shown to us by the Holy Spirit.

The words in the next hymn reflect John’s heart for God.

“Abba, Father, let me be yours and yours alone.”