Tag Archives: Christianity

Autobiographical, General Principles

Comfort

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Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 2 Cor. 1:3-5

Perhaps its because of my age or heart condition but I find that unless I feel, very tangibly, the internal comfort of the Holy Spirit and some ease of pain or discomfort, I’m pretty well good for nothing.

The story of Jonah is one of God using discomfort to direct and teach Jonah and other men. In chapter 1, the extreme discomfort of a storm leads men to do something they wouldn’t do if the discomfort wasn’t there. In Chapter 2 Jonah knows comfort in the extremity of being deep underwater in the belly of a fish. In Chapter 3, the people of Nineveh make themselves discomfited in response to the Prophet’s word. 

But in Chapter 4 the impact of personal discomfort on our actions, thoughts and responses to God is shown most clearly:

5 Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, ‘It would be better for me to die than to live.’

9 But God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?’

‘It is,’ he said. ‘And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.’

10 But the Lord said, ‘You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left – and also many animals?’

Jonah 4:5-10

It would be easy for us to judge Jonah but I for one can fully identify with his position. The sufferings of the people of Ukraine, Gaza or even those much closer to home are irrelevant to me when all I feel is pain or discomfort.

Which is why it is so good and important that God does comfort us. As Paul says: “Praise God.. who comforts us in all our troubles.”

It is clear that God wanted to teach Jonah and us all a lesson about the relative importance of things in this chapter. There can be no comparison between my sluggishness and tiredness in the morning and the appalling loss of home, possessions and loved ones that is happening everyday in Ukraine and Gaza.

But still He does actually comfort me. He cares so much about me that I am comforted internally and know regular relief from pain and tiredness as well. Why am I so blessed and others have to suffer so much?

I cannot tell. Grace I guess.

His Story

The Practice of Slavery in New Testament Times

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“Half the population of Rome, and a large proportion of the Empire, were slaves. Christians did not oppose slavery but taught slaves to work well for their masters, believing or unbelieving. Slavery eventually became eradicated by masters and slaves becoming brothers in Christ. The Roman army often took the brightest and best young men and women as slaves.” (Halley’s Bible Handbook Page 616)

“The punishment for runaway slaves could be death. Slaves were not generally ill-treated but they were considered the property of their masters. They could be seized and sent back by anyone if they were trying to escape.” (John Drane, 1998)

“As many as one third of those living in Mediterranean cities may have been slaves, with others having slave origins. In Rome and Italy the figures were higher, perhaps as many as 80 – 90% of the population. By the first century the main supply came from children born to slaves. Slavery was not thought of as immoral or as necessarily degrading. A slave was simply the bottom rank of the economic ladder, doing the jobs equivalent to those which, typically in the 19th and 20th centuries were undertaken by immigrant labour.” (Bowker, The Complete Bible Handbook, 1998, Page 440)

When I think of slaves I think of the worst excesses of exploitation of labour such as took place on Roman galleys or in the gladiatorial arenas. However the reality for most slaves was quite different. Slaves in the Roman Empire were often treated well, especially in the case of those whose masters were Christians. In our case we are redeemed and slaves of Christ – a wonderful master so we don’t have to have negative connotations when Paul says that we should offer ourselves as slaves to righteousness in Romans 6. As Bowker says: “The gospel brought freedom from one slavery, but human beings could only realize their full potential as God’s creatures in the relation of absolute dependence on God, which the image of slavery so powerfully expressed.” (ibid. page 441)

“…slaves are directly addressed in Paul’s letters as members of the churches written to. Paul clearly regarded them as full members of these churches.” (ibid. page 441)