The parting of the Red Sea is an image that is part of our cultural heritage. It is not a Christian event; it is centuries before John the Baptist and it is very much an Old Testament event which shows how much God in his freedom, favours the Sons of Israel . What a panic must the Egyptian charioteers, Pharaoh's special forces,  have felt at the command to follow the Israelites into the sea bed exposed at that moment but soon to swamp and wipe them out. Our Old Testament is a Jewish text and battles won are always reported by the victors. "We won !! It is obvious that God was on our side. We won!!" Today's psalm is a masterpiece of triumphalism; it is hard not to be affected by its capturing of the victor's emotions.

We are Christians and have to find a way to accept that the Old Testament is also God's Word.; the Word that walked the world of the Old Testament but showed us the new life of the Resurrection . The Old Testament is very much alive in the men Jesus encounters with his teaching. The men that Jesus instructs to turn the other cheek are the same to whom God is real because of  his destruction of their enemies. Jesus has to keep repeating that his "Kingdom is not of this world" precisely because no other sort than a kingly Messiah had been awaited for centuries. What could be meant by the "Sign of Jonah". Jesus explains but until it happens no-one can understand.

Dear Lord let my faith in You remain at the forefront of my consciousness as I set about my daily tasks. Show me the way to overcome any temptation.