Preparing for Worship - June 1, 2025

The Psalm, Psalm 133, expresses one of the key themes of our Scripture readings this week. “How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity.” This seems obscure to us, who do not know the Old Testament very welI. In Old Testament terms, though, that meant bringing people together in Jerusalem, in the mountains of Zion, the place where King David established the capital of the Kingdom of Israel. Earlier, that place was where the tabernacle was and where Aaron was anointed generously with oil and as a priest to be able to do the animal sacrifices and other offerings required. Later, the temple in Jerusalem was the place for that priesthood and those sacrifices.  Other priests followed, but were sprinkled with oil and then carried on their duties. (See how this is described in Exodus 29:7, 30:30-33, and Leviticus 21:10, and how no one but the priests were to be anointed in this way for their special work.) Another Old Testament image was of the importance of dew falling from Mount Hermon and watering Jerusalem and other areas. Such water was very important in this drier climate. (See Hosea 14:5 and Zechariah 8:12 as examples of such dew and how it represented God’s blessings for His people.) For from Jerusalem, “the Lord had commanded blessings” and would finally bring “life forevermore” in the gift and work of His own Son, our Lord Jesus. Sadly, David’s kingdom was split, and many of God’s people worshiped falsely in other places, and there was disunity and rejection of Jesus by many when he came, and finally, the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Unity will now only come through Jesus and His work and Word, revealed in the New Testament.

Jesus prays for that unity in Him in the Gospel lesson, John 17:20-26, for all those who would believe in Him through the Word of God. As Jesus and His heavenly Father were unified (together with the Holy Spirit, as the One True Triune God), before the foundation of the world, so Jesus prays that believers would be united in Him and in His and the Father’s love for the world. Believers “may become perfectly one” only when they are with Jesus, where He will be in glory, in heaven, in eternal life forevermore. In the meantime, believers must live in this imperfect world so that they can share the Word of God and faith in Christ with others. They live in a world where, as Paul says, “we see in a mirror dimly,” and not always perfectly. Only in heaven shall we “know fully” what God wants us to know (1 Corinthians 13:12). Yet in God’s eyes, there is already one true body of all believers in the Holy Christian Church, which God alone can see. Paul writes, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - all were made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13). But only our Lord can create and see that body of believers perfectly, with His love and forgiveness. Jesus then prays for growing unity in His love and Word for His believers. They would soon scatter when He was arrested, suffered, and died. But they would be united with Him again in His resurrection. The Father’s love would be in them, and the risen Lord Jesus would be in them (along with the Holy Spirit, as we will hear next week, as we celebrate on Pentecost).

The reading from Acts 1:12-26 tells us that the believing disciples, about 120 people, did what Jesus asked them to do and stayed in Jerusalem, awaiting the coming of “power from on high,” in the Person of the Holy Spirit, at Pentecost (Luke 24:49). “With one accord, they devoted themselves to prayer.” This group included the chosen disciples (other than Judas), Jesus’ brothers, other women, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, and others. This is the last time Mary is mentioned in the New Testament, other than when Paul says that Jesus was “born of a woman,” obviously Mary (Galatians 4:4). Peter then showed that there was now need, based on Scripture, for Judas to be replaced, since he had betrayed Jesus and then in regret, had taken his life. (See Matthew 27:1-10 and related passages, predicting this: John 13:18, Psalm 41:9, Psalm 55:12-14, Psalm 69:25, Psalm 109:8, John 15:25, Psalm 35:19. A note from the CPH ESV Bible, p. 1812, explains also that Judas “bought the field indirectly because the Council did this with the money Judas returned… The rope Judas hanged himself with likely broke, over time, causing his already decaying corpse to fall and rupture.”) Peter also explained that the believers should now choose a replacement among men (clearly males, in the Greek) who had been followers of Jesus from the time of the baptism of John to Jesus’ ascension into heaven. Two men were chosen as candidates, and the believers cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias to be numbered with the 11 apostles. The job of all of them was now to be a witness to Christ and His resurrection, sharing the Word of God with others. (There were decisions made by casting lots in the Old Testament, but this is the last time in the New Testament. From Acts 6:1-7 and afterward, when a need arose, the gathering of believers prayed and then chose their leaders, in this case, Stephen and others as leaders, and blessed them in their ministries.)

The last reading is from Revelation 22:1-6, 12-20. Here we see the perfection of heaven. The water of life and the tree of life are available to all, with no limitations for anyone. There is nothing accursed - only believers who see the face of God and the Lamb and worship Him. There is no night or darkness, and the Lord God is their Light, and they will reign with Him forever and ever. There is only Light and truth for all. Then we hear that the final day for Earth is coming, with the judgment of God, as He returns. All those who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, by faith in Jesus, will be in heaven, the city of God (Revelation 7:14). All unbelievers will be excluded. Before the end comes, though, there is still time for more people to come to faith through the free gift, without price, of the water of life in Christ. Jesus is the Root of Jesse, from the line of King David (Isaiah 11:1). He is the Bright Morning Star (Isaiah 9:2 and Luke 1:77-79) through whom people can have forgiveness and salvation and the Light, the Way of eternal life. The Truth is in the Word of God, including the Book of Revelation, and no one should add to or take away from that Word, centered in Jesus. We are prepared and ready for eternal life in the holy city, by the grace of God with us, through Jesus. He is coming soon, and we say “Amen!” This is most certainly true! And we say, by that same grace of God, “Come, Lord Jesus!”