OT – 1 Samuel 2:22-4:22
The call of Samuel is a familiar one to most church goers. There are continuing echoes of Samuel’s call in Isaiah, Jonah, even Paul.
As a matter of fact, one of the most beloved hymns, Here I am Lord, was written for Isaiah 6 but the songwriter was thinking of Samuel’s call. Here is his story about the writing the hymn and a lovely YouTube version of the song.
Click HERE if your email does not display YouTube.
The call of Samuel was interspersed with the awfulness of Eli’s sons. Clearly, Eli was a good priest. But he was either a really bad father or he had really bad kids. These boys were doing the unthinkable – messing with the burnt offering. And we remember from Numbers what God does to burnt offering messers!
NT – John 5:24-47
John the Baptist pops up again. Jesus is being compared to John and not in a favorable way. My guess is that the Sabbath rules were a big, big problem in John’s (the author of the gospel) congregation. Each of the gospel writers seem to be wrestling with differing problems in their midst. This must have been one of John’s. John offers the reason for the Pharisees’ hatred as the abuse of the Sabbath and Jesus’ familiarity with God. So, Jesus deliberately provokes that anger by doing his big miracles on the Sabbath. Mean Jesus.
But if we believe that scripture speaks to us today, what is this scripture telling us? We don’t keep Sabbath rules. Today(I am working ahead on Sunday as I have Matthew’s graduation’s this week and have a party to give), I have washed windows, curtains, and clothes. I have vacuumed and dusted, and gosh, I have moved more than one mat. I am cooking dinner where I will have sausage, grits and milk all mixed together and if I have any energy left, I am going to the grocery store where I will drop a wad of cash to feed 2 teen boys, one husband, a dog and a cat and me. I think I broke a bunch of Sabbath rules.
But maybe, Jesus’ message was not really about Sabbath rules so much as it is about rules made up to practice religion. So that made me think, what rules do I have that make me practice my religion? The get dressed up rule. No. Sometimes I go to church in jeans. Not often but I am not hung up on that. Organ playing? No. I love good piano, great guitar and drums, I can handle just about anything except really bad choir. I like diversity, I like change. What are my rules????
Well, after a lot of thought, an episode of Lost, and a walk around the block with Howler, the best dog in the world, here is one. I have a hard time sitting still. I have a hard time with folks who just want to sit and listen. I think incredibly bad thoughts about the moms who do not help with Vacation Bible School. In short, I am judgmental. I expect everyone to be a-doing and a-going and involved and if they aren’t, well, they are not worthy. There is one of my rules. I suspect that Jesus wouldn’t like my rule. I suspect he would be in my face about it, A LOT.
What about you? What are your rules? And how would Jesus feel about them?
Monday, May 7, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
May 7
May 7
OT – 1 Samuel 2:22-4:22
This is just a point of reference, but the reason we have 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings and so on, is that these ‘books’ were actually scrolls written on velum, sheep’s skin. When the ‘book’ got too heavy for one man to carry, the decision was made to divide the book into 2.
Also, the chapter and verse headings were a medieval addition; they were not original to the text.
The feast of Simchat Torah which occurs on October 7 celebrates the end of the readings of the Torah and the beginning of the reading for the following year. At this time, all the scrolls are removed from the ark and are carried around the synagogue for 7 circuits. Many times, the carriers continue to hold their scrolls as they dance and sing. You can see why the weight of the scroll would be a hindrance.
My study Bible says that the probable date for this book is 900 BCE, after the division of the nation into two kingdoms which occurred in 931 BCE.
Samuel, Nathan, and Gad, all prophets to the kings, kept records and these are probably the backbone of the book.
The book itself is a history of God’s relationship with the Israelites. It connects the time of the Judges (Samuel, himself, was the last Judge) to the time of the kings (Samuel will anoint the first two kings).
It begins, as several stories in the Bible, with a barren woman. Hannah has echoes all the back to Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachel.
I was in a Sunday School class once where the question was posed, “what is the big deal with all these women who can’t have babies?” (This was asked by a man who had seven children.) After a period of thought, Pete, the teacher who himself had 4 said, “well, I guess if our survival depended on someone else looking after us now that we were old, we would want children too!”
But I think it goes so much deeper than that. Reproduction is an instinctual drive. Sexual arousal resides in the limbic brain, the oldest part of our brain, one that we share in almost the exact same shape and function with reptiles.
When you CANNOT reproduce, creation is torn apart. I know women who have shot themselves up with horse pee, taken hormones that rendered them grumpy and fat, had surgeries, done therapy, taken temperatures in places I don’t want to talk about, and have STILL been unable to conceive.
I think the salvation of the Israelite by Moses was engineered by a barren woman – the Egyptian princess who ‘found’ his basket.
But beyond that, in the very first verses of Genesis we see who is in charge of creation. God. He is the one who creates life. Originally, to the patriarchs, to the Judges, to Elizabeth, to now. It is hard not to equate not being able to have children with the bad judgment of God. My brain is not capable of untying that idea. But what is true is that God can and does use physical conditions – and not always the good ones, either -- to His benefit and His glory.
Which brings us back to Hannah. She had the love of her husband. Now, this was not always the case. Marriages were arranged in the time of the Judges for family advancement, property settlement (you recall the sisters that received their dead father’s share – they could only marry within their tribe), and dowries. Having the love of the husband was so rare that our scripture mentions it three times!
But that was not enough. I think that Hannah would have been unhappy even without Peninnah’s cruel teasing.
When she had prayed her heart out to the Lord and Eli had sent her on her way, her heart was lifted. She knew. She had faith. God gave her a baby.
Proverbs 14:28-29
A large population is a king’s glory, but without subjects a prince is ruined.
I read some of these proverbs and my only response is why? I get the first part of the proverb. More money, more power, bigger army, you know the basics for being a ‘good’ king. Hard to be king of runts. But why is a prince ‘ruined’ if he has no subjects? Is the sole reason for him being to be a prince? Has he no other manly characteristics? Or does not having subjects make a prince do questionable things?
Here is what the Message has to say about vs. 28:
28 The mark of a good leader is loyal followers;
leadership is nothing without a following.
What comes first? The leader or the ones who need a leader?
OT – 1 Samuel 2:22-4:22
This is just a point of reference, but the reason we have 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings and so on, is that these ‘books’ were actually scrolls written on velum, sheep’s skin. When the ‘book’ got too heavy for one man to carry, the decision was made to divide the book into 2.
Also, the chapter and verse headings were a medieval addition; they were not original to the text.
The feast of Simchat Torah which occurs on October 7 celebrates the end of the readings of the Torah and the beginning of the reading for the following year. At this time, all the scrolls are removed from the ark and are carried around the synagogue for 7 circuits. Many times, the carriers continue to hold their scrolls as they dance and sing. You can see why the weight of the scroll would be a hindrance.
My study Bible says that the probable date for this book is 900 BCE, after the division of the nation into two kingdoms which occurred in 931 BCE.
Samuel, Nathan, and Gad, all prophets to the kings, kept records and these are probably the backbone of the book.
The book itself is a history of God’s relationship with the Israelites. It connects the time of the Judges (Samuel, himself, was the last Judge) to the time of the kings (Samuel will anoint the first two kings).
It begins, as several stories in the Bible, with a barren woman. Hannah has echoes all the back to Sarah, Rebecca, and Rachel.
I was in a Sunday School class once where the question was posed, “what is the big deal with all these women who can’t have babies?” (This was asked by a man who had seven children.) After a period of thought, Pete, the teacher who himself had 4 said, “well, I guess if our survival depended on someone else looking after us now that we were old, we would want children too!”
But I think it goes so much deeper than that. Reproduction is an instinctual drive. Sexual arousal resides in the limbic brain, the oldest part of our brain, one that we share in almost the exact same shape and function with reptiles.
When you CANNOT reproduce, creation is torn apart. I know women who have shot themselves up with horse pee, taken hormones that rendered them grumpy and fat, had surgeries, done therapy, taken temperatures in places I don’t want to talk about, and have STILL been unable to conceive.
I think the salvation of the Israelite by Moses was engineered by a barren woman – the Egyptian princess who ‘found’ his basket.
But beyond that, in the very first verses of Genesis we see who is in charge of creation. God. He is the one who creates life. Originally, to the patriarchs, to the Judges, to Elizabeth, to now. It is hard not to equate not being able to have children with the bad judgment of God. My brain is not capable of untying that idea. But what is true is that God can and does use physical conditions – and not always the good ones, either -- to His benefit and His glory.
Which brings us back to Hannah. She had the love of her husband. Now, this was not always the case. Marriages were arranged in the time of the Judges for family advancement, property settlement (you recall the sisters that received their dead father’s share – they could only marry within their tribe), and dowries. Having the love of the husband was so rare that our scripture mentions it three times!
But that was not enough. I think that Hannah would have been unhappy even without Peninnah’s cruel teasing.
When she had prayed her heart out to the Lord and Eli had sent her on her way, her heart was lifted. She knew. She had faith. God gave her a baby.
Proverbs 14:28-29
A large population is a king’s glory, but without subjects a prince is ruined.
I read some of these proverbs and my only response is why? I get the first part of the proverb. More money, more power, bigger army, you know the basics for being a ‘good’ king. Hard to be king of runts. But why is a prince ‘ruined’ if he has no subjects? Is the sole reason for him being to be a prince? Has he no other manly characteristics? Or does not having subjects make a prince do questionable things?
Here is what the Message has to say about vs. 28:
28 The mark of a good leader is loyal followers;
leadership is nothing without a following.
What comes first? The leader or the ones who need a leader?
Saturday, May 5, 2012
May 6
OT – Ruth 2:1-4:22
There is a lot going on in the back story of this scripture.
#1 When Naomi came back to Israel with Ruth, her kinsmen should have taken her in immediately. That they didn’t , that she had property to dispose of (Ruth, apparently) and that they didn’t settle that up was a huge breach. However, remember that this story took place during the time of the Judges, “when there was no king in Israel”.
#2 That Boaz knew Ruth’s story, even though he ‘asked’ his foreman, indicated a high level of interest in her, personally. She was a foreigner, a Moabite, a sworn enemy of the Israelites. He was a wealthy, successful, apparently much older man. Why he would notice her, allow her to be on his property, even protect her virtue by hustling her out before the dawn broke after the wild threshing party, is really quite astonishing.
#3 That the elders would approve of Boaz taking Ruth for his wife and redeeming the land of Naomi is also quite astonishing. But even more so, that the baby that was born to the union was HIS son, not Mahlon’s.
All this to say, Ruth must have been one awesome young woman. She left her home to keep her vow to Naomi, traveling to her enemy’s land. She is obedient, kind, frugal, and shares. Clearly, she must have been attractive and knew how to dress herself up well. That she was named in the geneolagy of Jesus was amazing. That she was named when she such a woman makes it all the more incredible.
Proverbs 14:26-27
He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress.
What does that mean in our day and time? In the time of Proverbs, just a few centuries after Judges, it meant that secure physically. Boaz had a secure fortress. He was able to say to Ruth, stay in my fields and no man will harm you. Clearly, it wasn’t just the presence of armed guards that kept the men away from Ruth. It was the man, Boaz, himself.
Remember back to the Levite’s concubine, that wretched story. The fortress was secure, all right, but not the folk who belonged there.
We have alarm systems, people own pit bulls, we double, triple lock our doors. But that doesn’t seem to make us secure. People still are afraid. Of people, not of the Lord.
But it is the second part of the proverb that is intriguing to me. The security is for the children to find refuge. Do our children find refuge in our homes? Too much?
When they are hurting emotionally or even physically, is your home the place they want to come to?
I remember the first time I had the flu after I moved out of my parents’ house when I was 20. I wanted to come home, crawl up on my parents’ bed and eat tomato soup and ritz crackers and drink ginger ale. That was my very first response. Go home.
I hope my children have the same sense of home as I did.
My favorite song of all time. Click here if your email does not display YouTube.
Blessings to you and yours.
There is a lot going on in the back story of this scripture.
#1 When Naomi came back to Israel with Ruth, her kinsmen should have taken her in immediately. That they didn’t , that she had property to dispose of (Ruth, apparently) and that they didn’t settle that up was a huge breach. However, remember that this story took place during the time of the Judges, “when there was no king in Israel”.
#2 That Boaz knew Ruth’s story, even though he ‘asked’ his foreman, indicated a high level of interest in her, personally. She was a foreigner, a Moabite, a sworn enemy of the Israelites. He was a wealthy, successful, apparently much older man. Why he would notice her, allow her to be on his property, even protect her virtue by hustling her out before the dawn broke after the wild threshing party, is really quite astonishing.
#3 That the elders would approve of Boaz taking Ruth for his wife and redeeming the land of Naomi is also quite astonishing. But even more so, that the baby that was born to the union was HIS son, not Mahlon’s.
All this to say, Ruth must have been one awesome young woman. She left her home to keep her vow to Naomi, traveling to her enemy’s land. She is obedient, kind, frugal, and shares. Clearly, she must have been attractive and knew how to dress herself up well. That she was named in the geneolagy of Jesus was amazing. That she was named when she such a woman makes it all the more incredible.
Proverbs 14:26-27
He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress.
What does that mean in our day and time? In the time of Proverbs, just a few centuries after Judges, it meant that secure physically. Boaz had a secure fortress. He was able to say to Ruth, stay in my fields and no man will harm you. Clearly, it wasn’t just the presence of armed guards that kept the men away from Ruth. It was the man, Boaz, himself.
Remember back to the Levite’s concubine, that wretched story. The fortress was secure, all right, but not the folk who belonged there.
We have alarm systems, people own pit bulls, we double, triple lock our doors. But that doesn’t seem to make us secure. People still are afraid. Of people, not of the Lord.
But it is the second part of the proverb that is intriguing to me. The security is for the children to find refuge. Do our children find refuge in our homes? Too much?
When they are hurting emotionally or even physically, is your home the place they want to come to?
I remember the first time I had the flu after I moved out of my parents’ house when I was 20. I wanted to come home, crawl up on my parents’ bed and eat tomato soup and ritz crackers and drink ginger ale. That was my very first response. Go home.
I hope my children have the same sense of home as I did.
My favorite song of all time. Click here if your email does not display YouTube.
Blessings to you and yours.
Friday, May 4, 2012
May 5
OT – Judges 21:1-Ruth 1:22
Thank goodness we are leaving Judges! Okay, I take back every word I said in praise of it. I am exhausted with how utterly awful people can be to one another even those they ‘supposedly’ care for.
What kind of adviser would tell a group of men to lie in wait for girls merely to get around a stupid oath? They didn’t keep half the oaths they made to God anyway??? They worshiped a bunch of idols. Why on earth did they think kidnapping would be acceptable to reneging on their stupid oath.
OHHHHHH!
NT – John 4:4-42
The opening verse of our scripture today “Now he (Jesus) had to go through Samaria.” Is deceitful. The verb ‘had’ in Greek is frequently translated ‘commanded’. Which begs the question, who commanded? God, of course. This story is one long exposition on Jesus’ obedience characteristic and how he changed lives. It also explains why the apostles fled to Samaria when the Jewish ruling council kicked them out from Jerusalem. That story is in Acts 8.
If you want to know the back story on why Jesus had to be commanded to walk through Samaria, click HERE.
Like so many other stories in John, this one starts with word play. Living water to the Samaritan woman, meant something entirely different than what it meant to Jesus. Jesus played with her for a little longer, doing his ‘parlor trick’ thing of knowing more about that person than he should have. This set her for the declaration that he WAS the Messiah and off she went to change the Samaritans.
His disciples, the ones who day in and day out saw who and what he was, were caught by the same word play. How amazing.
Psalm 105
I heard a brief part of radio statement talking about poems and how to make them relate to you. The person making the broadcast said that you should make YOURSELF the subject of the poem. Then and only then would you be able to ‘crawl into’ the poem. She went on to talk about other methods but that one really stuck with me.
Let’s look at today’s psalm.
Give thanks to the Lord, Sylvia, call upon his name.
Make known to all you encounter what he has done for you, Sylvia.
Sing to him, sing praise to him,
Tell of all his wonderful acts of salvation for you, Sylvia.
Glory in his holy name;
Let the hearts of those who encounter you know you praise the Lord.
Sylvia, when you need help, look to the Lord for strength first and always.
Now, you do it!
Changes it doesn’t it?
These are just like the ‘had’ in NT. Commands to do these things. And not in a little way.
So, tomorrow, I am going to pick one, just one (you know how I LOVE babysteps…) and see how it goes.
I am picking “Let the hearts of those who encounter you know you praise the Lord.” Not exactly sure how I will do that just yet. Will report tomorrow.
In the meantime, be well, be strong.
Thank goodness we are leaving Judges! Okay, I take back every word I said in praise of it. I am exhausted with how utterly awful people can be to one another even those they ‘supposedly’ care for.
What kind of adviser would tell a group of men to lie in wait for girls merely to get around a stupid oath? They didn’t keep half the oaths they made to God anyway??? They worshiped a bunch of idols. Why on earth did they think kidnapping would be acceptable to reneging on their stupid oath.
OHHHHHH!
NT – John 4:4-42
The opening verse of our scripture today “Now he (Jesus) had to go through Samaria.” Is deceitful. The verb ‘had’ in Greek is frequently translated ‘commanded’. Which begs the question, who commanded? God, of course. This story is one long exposition on Jesus’ obedience characteristic and how he changed lives. It also explains why the apostles fled to Samaria when the Jewish ruling council kicked them out from Jerusalem. That story is in Acts 8.
If you want to know the back story on why Jesus had to be commanded to walk through Samaria, click HERE.
Like so many other stories in John, this one starts with word play. Living water to the Samaritan woman, meant something entirely different than what it meant to Jesus. Jesus played with her for a little longer, doing his ‘parlor trick’ thing of knowing more about that person than he should have. This set her for the declaration that he WAS the Messiah and off she went to change the Samaritans.
His disciples, the ones who day in and day out saw who and what he was, were caught by the same word play. How amazing.
Psalm 105
I heard a brief part of radio statement talking about poems and how to make them relate to you. The person making the broadcast said that you should make YOURSELF the subject of the poem. Then and only then would you be able to ‘crawl into’ the poem. She went on to talk about other methods but that one really stuck with me.
Let’s look at today’s psalm.
Give thanks to the Lord, Sylvia, call upon his name.
Make known to all you encounter what he has done for you, Sylvia.
Sing to him, sing praise to him,
Tell of all his wonderful acts of salvation for you, Sylvia.
Glory in his holy name;
Let the hearts of those who encounter you know you praise the Lord.
Sylvia, when you need help, look to the Lord for strength first and always.
Now, you do it!
Changes it doesn’t it?
These are just like the ‘had’ in NT. Commands to do these things. And not in a little way.
So, tomorrow, I am going to pick one, just one (you know how I LOVE babysteps…) and see how it goes.
I am picking “Let the hearts of those who encounter you know you praise the Lord.” Not exactly sure how I will do that just yet. Will report tomorrow.
In the meantime, be well, be strong.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
May 4
OT – Judges 19:1-20:48
The Levite’s Concubine
What an awful, awful, awful story.
In my translation, much of the euphemisms are totally left out to render the Levite devoid of any emotion to the concubine.
Just the fact that she is called ‘concubine’ is a bad omen to me. It brings up the idea of ‘less than wife’ although at the time of Judges and even later, concubines while not on par with first wife, did have status in the household.
Most of the Midrash that I read on this story fault the Levite for him choosing his honor over hers. Some also fault the High Priest for not having traveled the breath of Israel teaching Torah and how to behave (and presumably, how not to behave).
There are echoes all over this story of other stories in the Bible – Lot in Sodom, the rape of Dinah, the ill-treatment of Hagar. Even later stories have echoes like Hosea with his wife, the harlot, Gomer, and Song of Solomon.
All of this stuff leads scholars to believe that this was a very, very late addition to the book of Judges, perhaps as late as the Exile or even the return after Captivity.
No matter what, the fact that the Levite, THE LEVITE – who supposedly knew better how to treat his wife/concubine – allowed her to be raped and killed and then, only then, was he moved to do something and that something got 30,000 to 60,000 men killed.
Here is more on this story’s Midrash. The Levite’s Concubine.
NT – John 3:22-4:3
Oh, the things that you want to ask the author but he is not in an explaining mode. Why was it the disciples who were baptizing and not Jesus? And why is this scripture even in here?
My study Bible has this small note – “Many wondered where the admonition to ‘go and baptize believers came from. John is answering this question.” Who wondered this? The people of Acts?
Makes little to no sense to me.
Either John is answering a question that we don’t have or there are pieces of this story we don’t know. Either way, I will be interested in asking this question of the disciples if I get to meet them in the hereafter.
Proverbs 14:22-24
All hard work brings a profit but mere talk leads only to poverty.
I spent part of my afternoon weeding and thinning my garden. I can tell you that my back is sore, I have several thorns in my fingers (forgot to wear gloves, again…...), and I know that my knees will be painful tomorrow. But it looks beautiful and healthy and vibrant.
The people of Proverbs were almost to a man, laborers. You earned your bread by how hard you worked. There was an upper class, but it was minuscule.
No hard work, you went hungry and so did your family.
We are a long way from that kind of society. I harbor no illusions that it was a better place to be. After all, we are reading Judges “when there was no king in Israel”.
But some of the same tenets still hold true. If you don’t work hard, you won’t accomplish much. People notice that kind of stuff. You may be able to fool some people with flash and splash for a little while, but not for long.
My garden tonight.
Work hard, work well, abide in the Lord.
The Levite’s Concubine
What an awful, awful, awful story.
In my translation, much of the euphemisms are totally left out to render the Levite devoid of any emotion to the concubine.
Just the fact that she is called ‘concubine’ is a bad omen to me. It brings up the idea of ‘less than wife’ although at the time of Judges and even later, concubines while not on par with first wife, did have status in the household.
Most of the Midrash that I read on this story fault the Levite for him choosing his honor over hers. Some also fault the High Priest for not having traveled the breath of Israel teaching Torah and how to behave (and presumably, how not to behave).
There are echoes all over this story of other stories in the Bible – Lot in Sodom, the rape of Dinah, the ill-treatment of Hagar. Even later stories have echoes like Hosea with his wife, the harlot, Gomer, and Song of Solomon.
All of this stuff leads scholars to believe that this was a very, very late addition to the book of Judges, perhaps as late as the Exile or even the return after Captivity.
No matter what, the fact that the Levite, THE LEVITE – who supposedly knew better how to treat his wife/concubine – allowed her to be raped and killed and then, only then, was he moved to do something and that something got 30,000 to 60,000 men killed.
Here is more on this story’s Midrash. The Levite’s Concubine.
NT – John 3:22-4:3
Oh, the things that you want to ask the author but he is not in an explaining mode. Why was it the disciples who were baptizing and not Jesus? And why is this scripture even in here?
My study Bible has this small note – “Many wondered where the admonition to ‘go and baptize believers came from. John is answering this question.” Who wondered this? The people of Acts?
Makes little to no sense to me.
Either John is answering a question that we don’t have or there are pieces of this story we don’t know. Either way, I will be interested in asking this question of the disciples if I get to meet them in the hereafter.
Proverbs 14:22-24
All hard work brings a profit but mere talk leads only to poverty.
I spent part of my afternoon weeding and thinning my garden. I can tell you that my back is sore, I have several thorns in my fingers (forgot to wear gloves, again…...), and I know that my knees will be painful tomorrow. But it looks beautiful and healthy and vibrant.
The people of Proverbs were almost to a man, laborers. You earned your bread by how hard you worked. There was an upper class, but it was minuscule.
No hard work, you went hungry and so did your family.
We are a long way from that kind of society. I harbor no illusions that it was a better place to be. After all, we are reading Judges “when there was no king in Israel”.
But some of the same tenets still hold true. If you don’t work hard, you won’t accomplish much. People notice that kind of stuff. You may be able to fool some people with flash and splash for a little while, but not for long.
My garden tonight.
Work hard, work well, abide in the Lord.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
May 3
OT – Judges 17:1-18:31
A weird throw back story. My commentary says that this was an insert from David’s time. We know this by the repetition of the phrase “In those days Israel had no king.” Why would Jonathan, the grandson of Moses be serving a cast idol, away from the chosen altar at Shiloh? There are lots of weird things going on in this story and in tomorrow’s which is even more unsettling.
NT – John 3:1-21
In this scripture, we meet Nicodemus who illustrates another character facet of Jesus.
Jesus alters lives.
We will see Nicodemus 3 times, each time, more visible and more “out” than before to the point where he asks for Jesus’ dead body. Remember, that would make him ritually unclean for a month. A very, very long time in Pharisee on the Sanhedrin Council’s life.
Listen to this great conversation on Nicodemus from this really high ups at Yale. Skip to minute 3:53 if you have already read the scripture.
Click HERE if your email does not display YouTube.
A weird throw back story. My commentary says that this was an insert from David’s time. We know this by the repetition of the phrase “In those days Israel had no king.” Why would Jonathan, the grandson of Moses be serving a cast idol, away from the chosen altar at Shiloh? There are lots of weird things going on in this story and in tomorrow’s which is even more unsettling.
NT – John 3:1-21
In this scripture, we meet Nicodemus who illustrates another character facet of Jesus.
Jesus alters lives.
We will see Nicodemus 3 times, each time, more visible and more “out” than before to the point where he asks for Jesus’ dead body. Remember, that would make him ritually unclean for a month. A very, very long time in Pharisee on the Sanhedrin Council’s life.
Listen to this great conversation on Nicodemus from this really high ups at Yale. Skip to minute 3:53 if you have already read the scripture.
Click HERE if your email does not display YouTube.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
May 2
May 2
NT – John 2:1-25
The Wedding in Cana. This is the first of the 7 miraculous signs that John uses to show Jesus’ power and divinity. It is a favorite story with lots of people for various reasons. I love it because this is where John introduces a major facet of Jesus’ character that he wants the reader to take away from his gospel.
Jesus is obedient.
We will see this over and over again in John’s gospel. God says go and Jesus goes. Even when it is somewhere he should not be (like Samaria), Jesus goes. Mary says ‘fix it’, Jesus may protest, but she brushes that off and he fixes it. Why? Because his mother said so. If you want to be like Jesus, you have to be obedient, even unto death, to God.
That sounded dramatic, didn’t it? Martin Luther. He was nothing if not dramatic. John was his favorite gospel, too.
OT –Judges 15:1-16:31
Gosh, I misread the last verse of yesterday’s scripture. I assumed that *Samson* had given away his wife. Now, he really did when he left her at his in-laws home and went back to his home without her. But he must have relented and when he got there, he discovered that she had been given to ‘his friend, who attended him at the wedding’. I guess they must not have been Good Friends otherwise he would have noticed that GF was missing while he was down with the wife of Samson???? Time to check out the Midrash.
Here is a link to an online Midrash about Samson and his various women.
Psalm 103
Love this psalm. I also love the verse: slow to anger, abounding in love.
I am beginning to think, reading Judges, that I have mistaken ‘slow to anger’ for ‘never gonna get angry’. And that, based on God’s might, is probably a huge mistake.
We are 1/3 of the way through. Keep going, we are making great progress!
NT – John 2:1-25
The Wedding in Cana. This is the first of the 7 miraculous signs that John uses to show Jesus’ power and divinity. It is a favorite story with lots of people for various reasons. I love it because this is where John introduces a major facet of Jesus’ character that he wants the reader to take away from his gospel.
Jesus is obedient.
We will see this over and over again in John’s gospel. God says go and Jesus goes. Even when it is somewhere he should not be (like Samaria), Jesus goes. Mary says ‘fix it’, Jesus may protest, but she brushes that off and he fixes it. Why? Because his mother said so. If you want to be like Jesus, you have to be obedient, even unto death, to God.
That sounded dramatic, didn’t it? Martin Luther. He was nothing if not dramatic. John was his favorite gospel, too.
OT –Judges 15:1-16:31
Gosh, I misread the last verse of yesterday’s scripture. I assumed that *Samson* had given away his wife. Now, he really did when he left her at his in-laws home and went back to his home without her. But he must have relented and when he got there, he discovered that she had been given to ‘his friend, who attended him at the wedding’. I guess they must not have been Good Friends otherwise he would have noticed that GF was missing while he was down with the wife of Samson???? Time to check out the Midrash.
Here is a link to an online Midrash about Samson and his various women.
Psalm 103
Love this psalm. I also love the verse: slow to anger, abounding in love.
I am beginning to think, reading Judges, that I have mistaken ‘slow to anger’ for ‘never gonna get angry’. And that, based on God’s might, is probably a huge mistake.
We are 1/3 of the way through. Keep going, we are making great progress!
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