October 20th

Exodus 25:1-26:37, Mark 4:30-5:20, Psalm 23:1-6

Stories of grandeur and comfort today, although I always wonder about the poor owner of the 2000 pigs.

Think of afternoon tea at Harrods or in the poshest hotel and you still don’t get close to an idea of what the ark of the covenant is to look like. There is a hotel in Dubai that will even sprinkle bit’s of gold dust on your hot chocolate, and that doesn’t get close. Now imagine going upstairs in that hotel, to your room, where the taps are made of solid gold and your bed is covered in gold and you still don’t come close to the amount of gold that is on the ark of the covenant and the tabernacle.

This ark, a huge carrying case for the word of God, has to befit what it will carry. And anything that is going to carry God’s word has to be pretty posh. And so it is made from the finest materials and covered in the finest materials. This is where the stone tablets, the ten commandments, are to live, and it will be carried in front of the people on their journeys. We will see later that it was something that actually had immense power.

Jump into the Gospel reading and you see the exact same story. The word has become flesh. Jesus is now the bearer of the word of God and he has that same power, to still storms and to drive out demons. And this is where we come to the words of comfort, that the word of God is with us and he will still storms for his people. Read again v15 about the man possessed with demons. The people were afraid when they saw that he was sane again. This man was off the scale, no one could get near him to calm him down, not even the world’s strongest man, he was crazy. And here he is, sat as cool as a cucumber. Anything that has enough power to command these demons is a force to be reckoned with and that scarred them. But flip that on its head, if you have that force on your side, because the living word of God is on our side, is that not comforting rather than scary.

Check out Psalm 23 again, “even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me”. That is the word of God, walking with you where ever you go – fear no evil.