Canvey Methodist Church Bible Study 7th June 2022
This coming Sunday Sunday is Trinity Sunday. Our readings come from
Proverbs 8:1-4,22-31; Psalm 8; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-15;
They begin, in Proverbs and Psalms with a focus on God's action in Creation and through the gospel of John and the letter to the Romans, speak of God the Fathers grace to humanity through the ministry of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
Proverbs 8:1-4,22-31
1 Does not wisdom call out?
Does not understanding raise her voice?
2 At the highest point along the way,
where the paths meet, she takes her stand;
3 beside the gate leading into the city,
at the entrance, she cries aloud:
4 “To you, O people, I call out;
I raise my voice to all mankind.
22 “The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works,[a][b]
before his deeds of old;
23 I was formed long ages ago,
at the very beginning, when the world came to be.
24 When there were no watery depths, I was given birth,
when there were no springs overflowing with water;
25 before the mountains were settled in place,
before the hills, I was given birth,
26 before he made the world or its fields
or any of the dust of the earth.
27 I was there when he set the heavens in place,
when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,
28 when he established the clouds above
and fixed securely the fountains of the deep,
29 when he gave the sea its boundary
so the waters would not overstep his command,
and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.
30 Then I was constantly[c] at his side.
I was filled with delight day after day,
rejoicing always in his presence,
31 rejoicing in his whole world
and delighting in mankind.
Footnotes
a Proverbs 8:22 Or way; or dominion
b Proverbs 8:22 Or The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work; or The Lord brought me forth at the beginning of his work
c Proverbs 8:30 Or was the artisan; or was a little child
Comment:
God's wisdom is often personified as a woman in this wisdom writings in the Bible and offers us a picture of God's ways of engaging with and ordering the world. In the first part of this poem, wisdom meets people in the ‘now’ of everyday life and invites them to accept her knowledge rather than the ways of evil. “My fruit is better than gold”! (19).
The poem's second part describes creation, where “Wisdom” is a heavenly being who rejoices in the goodness in the inhabited world.
Israel had a number of Wisdom Poetic writings (Wisdom 7 and Ecclesiasticus 24) all of which influenced New Testament writers such as St John in their understanding of God as Holy Trinity.
Psalm 8:
For the director of music. According to gittith.[b] A psalm of David.
1 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?[c]
5 You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels[e]
and crowned them[f] with glory and honor.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their[g] feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Footnotes
a Psalm 8:1 In Hebrew texts 8:1-9 is numbered 8:2-10.
b Psalm 8:1 Title: Probably a musical term
c Psalm 8:4 Or what is a human being that you are mindful of him, / a son of d man that you care for him?
d Psalm 8:5 Or him
e Psalm 8:5 Or than God
f Psalm 8:5 Or him
g Psalm 8:6 Or made him ruler . . . ; / . . . his
Comment:
Gods majesty and honour are defended and his enemies silenced by the praises of the youngest? Every Human being has a God given significance; a royal dignity and a God given responsibility to care for His handiwork.
How does this psalm encourage you for the future?
Romans 5:1-5. New International Version
Peace and Hope
5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we[b] boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Footnotes
a Romans 5:1 Many manuscripts let us
b Romans 5:2 Or let us
c Romans 5:3 Or let us
Comment:
Someone once described being “Justified by faith” as “Just as if I never sinned”
How do you see being justified by faith?
How are the The Father, Son and Holy Spirit involved in this act of divine grace?
John 16:5-15. New International Version
5 but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
Comment. Work of the Counsellor (16:5-15)
The Gospel Reading set for this coming Sunday is actually from John 16:12-15, but as this is Trinity Sunday, I have taken the passage from verse 5 as it explains a little more about the role of the Holy Spirit in what we describe as the Godhead.
Notice that upon hearing the news about Jesus leaving them that they were so preoccupied with their grief about this that they failed to grasp the joyful news that Jesus was going to be with the Father and was not just vanishing into oblivion (vv.5-7; cf. 16:10, 17, 28).
(John 16:5-7- 5 but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.cf. 16:10, 17, 28.
10. about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 17 At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”).
Indeed, Jesus going was, he explained, to be to their advantage, for only so could he send the Counselor to them. This third person of the Trinity, already mentioned three times in the Farewell Discourses (cf. 14:16-17, 25-26; 15:26-27), was to have a twofold work.
(John 14:16-17. NIV- v16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[a] in you.
John 14:25-26,
25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
15:26-27
26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.)
First of all, the Counselor would have a function vis-à-vis the world, that of convincing the world of the truth concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment (vv.8-11).
(8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned).
Unbelief is the sin that gives rise to all others, and it is this sin that the Holy Spirit would lay to the world’s account. In this case “convince” is rightly translated convict and speaks of guilt. But it cannot be said that the world was guilty of righteousness. Although it had made Jesus out to be a sinner, it was wrong and therefore not righteous. On the contrary, Jesus was the Righteous One, as was evident in the fact that he was returning to the Father from whom he came. As to judgment, the Counselor would show that this world’s prince had been put decidedly in the wrong (cf. 12:31). On all three counts the world’s cause was lost.
Second, as regards the disciples, the Counselor would be a teacher (vv.12-15).
(12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”)
During his earthly ministry Jesus was limited, not least by restricted capacity in those he tried to teach. But as Spirit of truth, the Counselor would continue Jesus' work. He would communicate divine truth (cf. 14:26),
(26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
but not independently. He would glorify Jesus and bring home Jesus' complete unity with the Father; for, revealing Jesus' things is tantamount to revealing the Father’s things).
John 16:5-15. Also reveals a little more about the mystery of the relationships between Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Father Sent Jesus into the world “v5-but now I am going to him who sent me”.
The Father and Jesus share everything (v15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”)
John 10:30- I and the Father are one.”
John 17:11- I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.
All that the Holy Spirit does is prompted by Jesus in relationship with the Father.
John 16:13-15- He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
The Holy Spirit keeps the focus on Jesus - it is the Spirit’s “job” in the economy of salvation to make sure that that spotlight remains on Jesus alone.
(John 16:14; He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”
Father, Son and Holy Spirit all work as one. Here is shown the ultimate deferential community of sharing. Glory comes when each person promotes the other two. A lesson for us perhaps?
Western tradition often depicts the Trinity by way of a triangle. However, Eastern Christian tradition usually opts for a circle to convey the idea of the relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit as being more like a beautiful circular dance. Call it the divine choreography, if you will. It’s a dance of life and love that is never-ending as each person adoringly waltzes with every other person in a divine eagerness to make known to the world the riches of one another. The Father pours out everything onto the Son. The Spirit then takes all that from the Son to pour out these riches on all other people. Each person in God exudes enthusiasm for the other two (and the three together display a zestful enthusiasm for us all).
Sources:
Asbury Bible Commentary
https://cepreaching
Roots Magazine