Tag Archives: Jesus

Day 86: For our own good!

Joshua 15-17; Luke 5:1-16

But the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the people of Judah could not drive out, so the Jebusites dwell with the people of Judah at Jerusalem to this day (Joshua 15:63).

This sentence is tucked in the middle of lists of newly occupied cities and almost seems like an aside. But it spells trouble. The people were to drive out ALL the inhabitants of the land. This lack of obedience is evidence that the people were not whole-heartedly devoted to the Lord. This small misstep will fester and multiply so that after only two generations, the people will have turned away to worship other gods. God’s command to drive out all of the inhabitants was to protect the people from idolatry. God calls us to obey for our own good!

Meanwhile, in Luke’s gospel, we read of Jesus calling his first disciples by the Sea of Galilee (or Lake of Gennesaret). This is the third time this event is recorded in the gospels; it is also found in Matthew 4:18-22 and Mark 1:16-20.

In each of the three Gospels, it seems as if these men barely know Jesus – and they just suddenly decide to leave their professions and livelihood to follow a virtual stranger (albeit a famous stranger!) But in reality, they had spent almost a year with Jesus prior to this scene. The first four chapters of John occur chronologically before this event. So these men had plenty of opportunity to witness Jesus’ ways and work. It is only after they have spent considerable time with Jesus that He asks them to make such a drastic commitment.

In the same way, Jesus gives us time to learn his ways and work. But be careful… eventually he will ask for your whole heart. As we struggle to surrender, we must remember that all He asks of us is for our own good!

Day 85: Individually Known

Joshua 13-14; Luke 4:14-44

Today’s passages remind me that God is big enough to see the big picture AND the minute detail. To borrow Paul’s metaphor from 1 Corinthians 12… God cares about the “Body” and “its parts.” In other words… He cares about the individual.

We read of Joshua continuing what Moses began – allotting the land to the 12 tribes of Israel. The people were grouped by their tribe. Their identity was based on being a member of a group. Yet, there is a narrative in Chapter 14 describing Caleb’s land allotment. The writer of Joshua takes the time to remember God’s promise to Caleb – that he would possess the land that he spied out 45 years earlier. God remembered Caleb. He cares about the individual.

In Luke, we read of Jesus beginning His earthly ministry. Luke’s gospel contains so many rich details.  Listen to Luke’s words…

Now when the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to him, and he laid his hands on every one of them and healed them (Luke 4:40).

Luke tells us that the day is almost over and there are still sick waiting to be healed. If I were Jesus, I would be tempted to perform one big group healing; “You’re healed. Now go home. I’m tired.” Thankfully, I’m not Jesus!! Jesus “laid his hands on every one of them.” He cared for them individually.

Luke 4:18-19 are some of my favorite verses in all of scripture. Why are they my favorite? Because one day when I was reading the bible, God knew the inner-workings of my heart. He knew I felt “poor” and spiritually “blind.” So when I came to Luke 4:18-19, I felt like Jesus was speaking directly to me. The Holy Spirit worked in my heart to remind me that Godknew me and loved me anyway! God cares for the individual!

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).

Day 84: Our call to battle

Joshua 11-12; Luke 4:1-13

Joshua made war a long time with all those kings (Joshua 11:18).

It takes maybe 5-10 minutes to read through these two chapters of Joshua. We read about Joshua destroying this city and killing that king. If you’re anything like me, it’s tempting to skim through quickly – and those with more sensitive hearts might skip this gruesome section all-together!

But think about this… the events in these two chapters took a long time. Most commentators estimate around 7 years. Joshua was a real man who sacrificed much to obey the Lord. His life was not one of comfort or ease – he lived a life of faith – doing battle for his God.

Because God was establishing a nation – the battle he commanded was physical in nature.

But we live in the time when the gospel is available to all the nations. Our battle is now spiritual in nature.

Consider Jesus in Matthew 4… He battles with Satan not by clanging swords but by matching wits. Jesus, the 2nd Adam, is able to overcome Satan’s lies because unlike the 1st Adam… He knew AND believed the truth of God’s word.

We’re called to the same spiritual battle. I pray we are equipped through the Spirit to understand God’s truth revealed in His Word.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).

Day 82: Intricacy and Goodness

Joshua 6-8; Luke 2:22-52

And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”

“Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete” (Genesis 15:7; 13-16).

These are the words that God spoke to Abraham hundreds of years earlier. We have read of Abraham’s descendants moving to Egypt to escape the famine, of the people being enslaved by the Egyptians, of God’s amazing rescue mission. He indeed brought great judgment on Egypt and the people came out with great possessions. We’ve read of the giving of the law, of the building of the tabernacle, of the marching to Canaan, and of the people’s failure to enter the land. We’ve read in Numbers of the 40 years of wandering and we’ve listened to Moses reiterate the law in Deuteronomy.

And now, finally…the people begin to posses the land. The iniquity of the Amorites is complete. You see, God used every circumstance and weaved each failure as he orchestrated the perfect plan to both bless His people and bring judgment on a very sinful people. If Israel had taken the land earlier, it would have not been fair to the Amorites (one of the main peoples who lived in Canaan) for “the iniquity of the Amorites [was] not yet complete” (Gen 15:16).

God’s plans for nations are intricate, complicated and good. But somehow God manages the same intricacy and goodness in His plans for individuals.

Consider Simeon in Luke’s passage. He is but one man. But like all people of faith, he was important to God. God had plans for him. Plans that included seeing the promised Messiah before he died. And God weaved and orchestrated so that Simeon, as an old man, would see Jesus as a 40-day-old infant.

And then God used Simeon, the individual, to prophesy God’s plan for the nations.

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32).

God’s ways are intricate and complicated. But most of all, they are good.

Day 81: Signs among us

Joshua 3-5; Luke 2:1-21

Words are inadequate to describe the events in these chapters. The shepherds fall before angels, and Joshua bows before the Commander of the Lord’s army. The Israelites cross the Jordan on dry land and God squeezes his form into an infant’s shell.

God is the same… yesterday, today and forever. But have you ever wondered why God doesn’t show himself to us in such a dramatic fashion? I don’t know about you, but I’ve never seen the glory of an angel or crossed a river on dry ground. If God is the same, why does He seem so different?

First, miraculous signs don’t make it easier to believe. What did the people do after they saw God part the Red Sea, provide water and manna in the desert and descend on the temple in glory?? They failed to believe that God would help them defeat the Canaanites. They did not enter the land.

Second, I believe that He has chosen to display His power and work in the world through His church. It is a great responsibility – a work that requires humility and compassion – and can only be done as we are unified by the Spirit. Remember Jesus’ words in John 17…

 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:20-21 NIV).

The world notices when believers are unified and serve one another with humility and compassion. On the other hand, the world is quick to mock when we show division and hypocrisy.

And finally, we shouldn’t need signs because we have the privilege of having his Word. And even more importantly, we have Jesus.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

Day 79: An End and a Beginning

Deuteronomy 33-34; Luke 1:26-56

Today we read of the death of Moses and the conception of Jesus. It is the end of the law-giver and the beginning of the law-Fulfiller. It is the end of the shadow and the beginning of full-color glory.

The end of Deuteronomy marks the end of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament). All the themes of the Pentateuch find their fulfillment in Christ.

  • The promises of the Abrahamic covenant, specifically “All the nations are blessed through Abraham and his descendants” (Genesis 12:1-3), point forward to all nations being blessed through Jesus. 
  • The climax of the Pentateuch, God coming down to fill the Tabernacle with His glory (Exodus 40:34-38), points forward to Christ coming to earth to reveal His glory to the world.
  • And finally, “Jesus is seen as the new and greater Moses. As Moses declared God’s law for Israel, so Jesus declares and embodies God’s word to the nations. As Moses suffered and died outside the land so that his people could enter it, so the Son of God died on earth so that his people might enter heaven” (from article “Introduction to the Pentateuch” ESV Study Bible, Crossway).

Imagine if the people of Moses’ day could look forward to see the fulfillment of the promises in Jesus… It would have been beyond their imagination! Just as the ultimate fulfillment that Revelation describes is beyond our imagination :) It is no wonder that C.S. Lewis referred to our life on this earth as the “Shadowlands.”

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more,neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:1-4).

Day 77: Resurrection Power

Deuteronomy 29-30; Mark 16

And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you” (Mark 16:6-7).

The resurrection. Thinking in literary terms… this is the climax of the story. Everything – everything – in the Old Testament and the gospels points and leads to this one moment.

Jesus’ resurrection proves that God has power over death and sin, which is the cause of death. This is the same power that God uses to change our hearts…

And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live (Deuteronomy 30:6).

Apart from the power of God to change our hearts, we are dead in our sin. But when our weak faith is mingled with God’s grace and compassion toward us, we are changed…

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead (Ephesians 1:18-19 NIV).

Because of the resurrection, we are set free from the burden of the law and fear of the curse. Instead, we are given a new heart, the power to obey and the gift of eternal blessing!

Day 76: Blessings and Curses

Deuteronomy 27-28; Mark 15:21-47

Blessings for obedience; Curses for disobedience. And the span between the two is wide.

Reading through Deuteronomy 28, I notice that the curses far outweigh the blessings. It’s like God knew that the people would one day walk away from Him. The curses seem to hit too close to home… the fruitlessness of labor, the fear of enemies, the battle with sickness and disease, the sense of purposelessness and anxiety.

We live in a fallen world. We desperately need a Savior. Someone to lift us up out of the mire and give us a purpose and hope. Someone to make sense of our suffering and pain. We need our minds opened to see life through an eternal lens – to know deeply – that our lives count for something – that we are worth something… that we are valuable.

Have you considered how Jesus’ death proves your worth to God? Read through today’s passage in Mark – and meditate on the death of our Lord – and know that He endured the cross to ransom a people. He endured the cross to save you from eternal curses.

His death guarantees that those who believe in His name –  to those that have been given the right to be called children of God – that they will receive eternal blessings! Read the first paragraph of Deuteronomy 28 and consider that these blessings are just a foretaste of the eternal blessings awaiting the believer in heaven!!

Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out (Deuteronomy 28:3-6).

Day 75: King and Servant

Deuteronomy 23:15-26:19; Mark 15:1-20

Today’s passage in Deuteronomy concludes Moses’ detailing of the specific laws… Most of the laws are miscellaneous but can still be loosely categorized by the 10 commandments…

  • Deuteronomy 23:19-24:22: 8th commandment (Do not steal)
  • Deuteronomy 25:1-16: 9th commandment (Do not bear false witness)
  • Deuteronomy 26: 10th commandment (Do not covet) + conclusion

Now that this section of Deuteronomy is complete, let’s take a wide-angle view of chapters 12-26. Specifically… how is God’s character revealed through this section of Scripture?

First, consider this: The following phrase is found eight times in chapters 12-26: “So you shall purge the evil from your midst.” It usually follows a command of capital punishment.

Conversely, Moses mentions the “sojourner”twelve times. And each time, the context is how to show compassion and is usually grouped with laws describing how to care for the fatherless and widow as well.

What does this teach us?

First, God is severely holy and perfectly just. But. He is also compassionate.

There is no greater illustration of the coupling of these two character traits than in the death of Jesus. In today’s passage in Mark, we see the conclusion of Jesus’ trial before Pilate. We read that Jesus was cruelly scourged and mocked. WHY? Why did Jesus allow himself to be so cruelly treated? Why did He submit himself to the treacherous authorities? Why? Why?

Because of his perfect justice and compassion. There had to be shedding of blood for the payment of our sin. But because of his compassion, he offers a substitute for the offering of our own blood as payment. He offers his blood. He is both the righteous judge and the bearer of iniquity – both the King and the Servant – both the Lion and the Lamb. He is both just and compassionate. He is our God!!

Day 74: The Orchestrator

Deuteronomy 21:15-23:14; Mark 14:51-72

Many of the laws in this section of scripture pertain to sexual morality which correlates with the 7th commandment: “Do not commit adultery.”

One law from yesterday’s reading directly applies to today’s reading from Mark…

A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established (Deuteronomy 19:15).

The trial described in Mark 14 takes place before the High Priest, Caiaphas. This trial is highly irregular. Firstly, it takes place at Caiaphas’ house. Secondly, it is in the middle of the night. Whoever heard of a trial taking place in the middle of the night? Everything about this trial seems clandestine. They can’t find corroborating testimony, and in the end… Jesus, himself, provides the condemning testimony.

The injustice of this trial is preposterous. I almost wonder if Mark precedes his description of the trial with verse 52 – as a literary commentary on the absurdity of it all..

And a young man followed him, with nothing but a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked (Mark 14:52).

This entire scene… the naked man, the middle-of-the-night-trial, Peter’s denials – it all seems nightmarish – yet it was part of God’s plan.

Jesus’ death is the ultimate example of God bringing good out of suffering. Even though the circumstances of this night seemed out of control, God knew what He was doing. He was the one orchestrating the farce of a trial – not the unjust Sanhedrin. This should be a great comfort as we experience confounding and difficult circumstances – that God is the orchestrator; He has a plan, and His plan is good.