The One Year Bible- March 4th

So far, so good! 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 almost 50 Psalms and 10 chapters of Proverbs) Yes, we have a long way to go, but we have already come so far. 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 as we continue our Lenten journey to the cross.

Seth’s Thoughts

The Old Testament
We finished up Leviticus with a few more regulations. One of the more interesting is the idea of jubilee. Every 50 years all debts were cancelled and the land rested. This was not only good for the land it was good for the society. This limited social stratification that can be divisive within society. The value of land and servants etc was all based on how many years until the next jubilee. This might not be such a bad thing to consider as God’s people today. Anything that can be done to meet the needs of the people must at least be thought of.  Right at the end of the book there is this great word of grace from God, “I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.”  (Leviticus 26:11-13 NIV)  Some of this sounds like the beginning of “The Ten Words” and indeed Yahweh is reminding the people of his continued love for the people. This will be important when we get into all the grumbling and complaining in Numbers.  The book of numbers is so named because it starts out will a bunch of numbers.  Don’t get too caught up in all the details here, you may just want to skim some of these parts when you get to them.  In Numbers 6 we see the requirements of one who would be called a Nazirite.  The one Nazirite we will see later will be Sampson.  If you remember his story some of these requirements will make sense to you.  Nazirites dedicated themselves to the service of the Lord for a period of time.  Most of the Lord’s work was done by the Levites but if you were not a Levite you could still serve the Lord as a Nazirite.  Also in chapter 6 is the Aaronic blessing, “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26 NIV).  This is familiar to must of us but the next verse I thought was quite interesting, “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them” (v. 27).  Kinda sounds like baptism to me.  I have not done a deep study on this passage but I just wanted to throw it out there for you.

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 Peter’s story. Luke is for those who are scholars and was most likely 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 affirm Theophilus in the Gospel of Jesus, which he learned from others.
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

Law Themes: the lost; the mighty brought low; destruction of the temple; repentance; call to prayer

Gospel Themes: The found; the humble exalted; God’s presence at the temple; work of the Spirit; promises fulfilled; fellowship meals; call of Gentiles.
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.