The One Year Bible

So far, so good! For those of you who have been with us since January 1, I have good news for you, we have already read three of the big five books of Moses in the Old Testament and we are almost halfway through the Gospels and it is only March! (Not to mention 50 Psalms and over 10 chapters of Proverbs) Yes, we have a long way to go, but we have already come so far. If you are just joining us, don’t worry about what you missed, just concentrate on settling in to a routine and start enjoying spending time in God’s Word. I am glad to be out of Leviticus. That is some tough reading. There will be more like it. When we get into Isaiah and Jeremiah (as well as some of the other prophets) the readings will be a bit tedious, but remember that the Bible has one story and that is about Christ. I hope this time in the word will help you in your Lenten journey to the cross.

Vicar Seth’s Thoughts

The Old Testament
The continued theme of the Old Testament is that of complaining. In Numbers Ch. 11 we see some complaining of the people. Their first complaint resulted in God sending a fire to destroy the people. Moses prayed to God and the fire left. One verse later the people start complaining again! Now they want meat. They were sick of this manna stuff and they longed to be back in Egypt. Moses even gets agitated with the people. But God, in his mercy, gives them meat to eat. So much meat that they get sick of it. Moses selects 12 men to go into the Promised Land to check it out and when the return, 10 of the men say that Israel should not go in because the people are giants. Only Joshua and Caleb give a true account. They trust in God’s promises. So the people started complaining again. They even wanted to kill Caleb and Joshua. God gets fed up with this group and tells them that none of them will even enter the Promised Land. This theme will continue in the coming chapters. One of the amazing parts of the story is that God would have every right to destroy the people but he doesn’t. In is mercy, he spares them; this is all in preparation for the ultimate act of love when God was to send his own Son to die for us.

Psalms

One of the best know and most powerful Psalms is 51. This Psalm was written by David after he was confronted of his many sins; his sin of adultery with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah. The prophet Nathan brings it to his attention and in a spirit of contrition and repentance, David pens this Psalm. You are probably familiar with some of the words. This is a good one to memorize as we all need to ask for forgiveness.

The New Testament

In our readings in Mark this past week we had a few great stories and a few that have confounded scholars for generations. In ch. 11 we have the story of Palm Sunday and the triumphant entry of Jesus. This story shows a glimpse of the divinity of Jesus as well as point to his role as our King. This story also solidifies him as the promised Messiah. The story of the fig tree is a strange one. Mark divides up the story into two parts. The first part happens right before the clearing of the temple and many scholars believe that Jesus used it as an object lesson. Here was a tree that should have had some fruit on it. Most fig trees begin growing fruit at the same time they begin to grow leaves. If there are leaves on the tree then one should find fruit. Not finding any fruit Jesus curses the tree. The lesson here is that the Jews are the fig tree but they are not producing any fruit. They are just content to grow leaves. But leaves are of no value. It is the fruit that is beneficial. This leads right into the clearing of the temple. Jesus “prunes” the temple so it can bear fruit. The withered fig tree is like those who do not listen to the teaching of Jesus. They will dry up. Jesus uses similar analogies when he talks about the vine and the branches and the idea of good people bear good fruit. Another great teaching is what some scholars call “The Great Commandment”. Jesus sums up all the commandments in two sentences. “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul and with all of your mind and with all of your strength.” This is a summary of the first three commandments. “Love your neighbor as your self.” This summarizes the other commandments.

Bits and Pieces

Matthew was written for the Jews, Mark for the common man and was most likely Peters story. Luke is for those who are scholars and was influenced by the viewpoint of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Luke was a companion of Paul and spent years interviewing eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ. He probably spent time with Matthew and with Mark which explains why many things are repeated in Luke. Luke was a physician who had gone to school for many years. He was fluent in Greek and the Greek of Luke is some of the most polished (and hard to translate) in all the New Testament. Here are the Vital Stats on the Book:

Purpose: To present an accurate account of the life of Christ and the present Christ as the prefedt human and Savior

Author: Luke—a doctor (Colossians 4:14), a Greek and Gentile Christian. He is the only known Gentile author in the New Testament. Luke was a close friend and companion of Paul. He also wrote Acts, and the two books go together.

To Whom Written: Theophilus (“one who loves God”), Gentiles, and people everywhere

Date Written: About A.D. 60

Setting: Luke wrote from Rome or possible from Caesarea

Key Verses: “Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost’” (19:9-10)

Key People: Jesus, Elizabeth, Zechariah, John the Baptist, Mary, the disciples, Herod the Great, Pilate, Mary Magdalene

Key Places: Bethlehem, Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem

Special Features: This is the most comprehensive Gospel. The general vocabulary and diction show that the author was educated. He makes frequent references to illnesses and diagnoses. Luke stresses Jesus’ relationship with people; emphasizes prayer, miracles, and angels; records inspired hymns of praise; and gives a prominent place to women. Most of 9:51 to 18:35 is not found in any other Gospel.

Have a great week!!