A Resurrection Prayer

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Scripture: Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV)

20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Devotion:

            We continue our look at the resurrection of Jesus today with a prayer of blessing from the author of Hebrews. The prayer starts out by calling on God as the “God of peace”. Here the writer is urging us to see God as a God who works peace between nations of the world and between all people. We see that there is a clear lack of peace in the world today. War both between nations and between competing world views are ever present in our news reports. This is happening because the world has rejected our wonderful God of peace and turned to idols instead.

            This same God of peace has done the ultimate miracle by bringing Jesus back from the grave. The world has become numb to the idea of resurrection. It is thought of as a joke in some circles. Our culture no longer desires to know if the story of Jesus returning from the grave is true or not. Since they have never seen someone come back from the dead, they assume that no one has ever done this. It has apparently never occurred to them to check out the evidence for themselves.

            Jesus is called the great shepherd of the sheep. This evokes echoes of the 23rd Psalm. This continues the idea of God as a God of peace. We are in deep need of a shepherd in our world today. Someone who will gently lead us back into the paths of peace and kindness between people. Because Jesus suffered so much in the crucifixion, he has shed his blood so that we could know the peace that was denied him. The world should be awaiting his return in glory to bring a permanent peace to the world, but it does not. The world is too wrapped up in the pursuit of power and conquest at all costs to ever look to the way of Jesus as a model for living.

            The next petition in this prayer is one we do well to pay attention to. The writer asks God to equip his followers with all good so that we may live out that good that God wishes us to do in his name while we are here on earth. It brings to mind Micah 6:8 (NRSV):

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?

           

            Let us then seek this peace of that comes from God through Jesus Christ. May all we do be done according to the will of God. That our lives may be signs of the peace which God wants to see in our world today.

 

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