The Joshua Victor Theory

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The book of Hebrews says this about the prophet Moses: “ Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son.” Today in our Old Testament reading, we see Moses interceding for God’s people in a Christ-like way, but also throwing himself completely upon God’s mercy and help. He models Christ, our mediator between God and man, but also models a persistent faith that hangs onto God and seeks His favor and promises. Why was Moses so earnestly seeking assurances of God’s help? This was just after a serious crisis. A short timeline: Moses had given the 10 Commandments to the people at Mt. Sinai. After that, he went up to the mountain to continue to receive God’s Law. Then, in chapter 32, while Moses was up on the mountain, the whole terrible incident of the golden calf took place...

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. “You’d better clean your act up fast!” We’ve all heard similar words, and if they were directed at us we may either have felt that sinking feeling of failure, or a rising feeling of defiance. I wonder how often they actually produce a willingness in us to accept the correction, and obey. But this isn’t the way the beatitude speaks. It says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Not a command, like “Get out your soap and scrub brushes!”, but a statement of fact, or a description of those who blessed. In our whole series we’ve seen how the Beatitudes give us “Christ-colored glasses” by which we see the Christian life. In other words, our life before God is colored and shaped by the light of Christ. Christ’s life running in and through us, by His gracious working. But “blessed are the pure in heart” raises a standard that seems incomparably higher than the other beatitudes, which speak of mour...