Category: Daily Bible Reading Blog

A blog following the daily readings from the Revised Common Lectionary.

Luke 10:25-37

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment


            In Christianity there is no justifying self.  The kingdom of God turns on grace, not more or harder work.  On this day, Reformation Day, Christians remember the famous posting of the 95 Theses by Martin Luther on the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany.  Justification by grace through faith, apart from human effort, is the great theological emphasis and legacy of the Reformers.  I suppose one would expect to look at the books of Romans and Galatians on such a day.  But to the gospels we go….
             The parable of the Good Samaritan is just as famous, but perhaps not so much when one is thinking of the Reformation.  Yet, Luke gives us insight into the thought process of the person for whom Jesus told the parable.  The man sought to “justify himself.”  When we look at the parable from the view of justification, we see the perspective of the wounded and hapless man, the victim of robbers.  He was left for dead, and, indeed, in the story we know that he would die apart from help – the kind of help the man could not do for himself.  He was completely dependent on someone to rescue him from his plight.
             The Samaritan, the Christ figure in the story, comes and shows the man mercy.  This grace was free, lacked any sort of favoritism, and full of sheer kindness.  Without the Samaritan’s actions of binding up the man’s wounds and getting him to a safe place, the victim would have died.  
             Today is a special day to celebrate the wonderful and glorious reality that Jesus Christ saves people from their terrible plight.  His mercy is not dependent on what kind of people we are, but simply based on need.  God graciously gives us the gift of faith and the mercy of deliverance.  By Christ’s wounds we are healed.  Take some time this day to reflect on this most gracious of truths that we do not need to justify ourselves, but as Christians already possess justification by grace alone apart from human effort.  Read the parable of the Good Samaritan carefully and slowly, absorbing it from this angle of the inability to justify ourselves and the incredible mercy of Christ.  Let this sink deep in your soul to bring wholeness and healing.
             Merciful God, you sent your Son to rescue me from my sinful condition.  Thank you for the great grace you have shown through Jesus to save me and justify me so that I need no longer try and justify myself before others.  Amen.

Romans 3:21-31

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            Every letter which Paul wrote had its purpose to address some particular problem(s) in the church.  A common situation that Paul continually went after was the disunity between the Jewish Christians and the Gentile believers.  The Roman church had within it both groups of people.  Paul’s great concern was to not establish and maintain two distinct churches based in ethnicity, but one church completely centered in the person and work of Jesus.
             The problem was that many of the Jewish Christians thought they had a leg-up by simply being Jews.  They tended toward a certain arrogance in which they took for granted that new Gentile believers must also adopt Jewish ways.  But the Gentiles fared no better.  They believed the Jews to be hopelessly stuck in their traditions and tended to look down on their brothers and sisters.
             Into this situation Paul makes it clear that no group of people is better than the other because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift.”  This kind of teaching was like a sonic boom to the church.  Although both Jew and Gentile were to appreciate one another’s differences, those differences were secondary to the grand design of the church to show no favoritism.  All are sinners.  All come to Christ by grace through faith.  There is no ground for human boasting of pedigree or practice.
             The Western church today finds itself increasingly within a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural milieu not too unlike the early Roman church.  Taking a good close look at the book of Romans would be a wise approach to fostering corporate unity and personal spiritual formation.  For then we will see ourselves through biblical lenses.
             Just God, you are the one who justifies based upon your own good pleasure.  Thank you for delivering me from my wayward beliefs.  Help me to appreciate your gracious justifying work more and more, to the glory of Jesus.  Amen.

Hebrews 9:1-12

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            A healthy approach to looking at the whole of the Bible is to see it as an unfolding drama of redemption in five acts:  creation; fall; Israel (and the law); Jesus; and, the church.  We are, obviously, in act five, the church age.  The previous four acts were all important in leading up to this final act, just as the scenes in a play all build upon one another.  So, then, Israel and the law had their place in this drama of redemption.  But we are no longer in that act.  This is one reason why we do not hold to all the ceremonial and sacrificial stipulations of the old covenant because it has been superseded by the new covenant.
 
            The previous act of the law had its limitations.  It was never designed to completely clear the conscience of the worshiper.  Its purpose was to be a reminder of sins that points forward to a better time when the sin issue would be settled once and for all.  That time has come.  The person and work of Jesus has completely cleared the conscience of the worshiper because his sacrifice has ended all sacrifices.  Yes, it was that good and total.
 
            Therefore, there is no longer any need to languish in guilt as though we were stuck in act three of God’s redemption drama.  We do not need to be reminded of our sins any more.  Instead, we are to be reminded of Christ’s finished work on the cross, and his blood that has washed away our sins.  So, we are to remember rightly, and have Jesus before us continually.  The redemption we have is not temporal, but permanent.  Taking some time each day to remind ourselves of this new reality and enjoy act five of the drama is both sage and necessary in order to live a successful Christian life.
 

 

            Saving God, you sent your Son, the Lord Jesus, to take care of the sin issue once for all through his blood.  I give you unending thanks for your grace.  May your Holy Spirit press this new reality of forgiveness and clarity of conscience firmly into my mind and heart so that I will always live for you in all things.  Amen.

Matthew 20:29-34

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            God is into asking questions.  He asks questions all throughout Scripture.  For example, early on in Genesis when Adam and Eve fell into disobedience God showed up and asked, “Where are you?”  Here is a very simple observation:  God already knew the answer to his own question.  He doesn’t ask questions because he needs information, but asks questions for our benefit.  God wanted Adam to come forward and admit where he was – living in disobedience.
 
            Today’s New Testament lesson is just plain good stuff.  Jesus is walking along with a big crowd following him, and he passes by two blind men.  They cried out to Jesus to have mercy on them.  The crowd, like some uptight parishioner in a church worship service, shushes the men for being too loud.  But the men will have none of it.  They shout even louder to Jesus.  It’s a beautiful thing.  Then Jesus asks a question: “What do you want me to do for you?”  It doesn’t take God to know what the men wanted.  Everybody knew what the men were after.  But Jesus asks the question to the men anyway.  Here’s the deal:  God wants us to admit where we are and what we want him to do for us.  The act of using our words to admit and confess our situation is important to God.
 
            Only after the men tell Jesus they want their eyes opened did Jesus do for them what they wanted.  So, what do you want Jesus to do for you?  God is looking for you and I to do more than ask for a generic blessing; he wants us to tell him exactly what we want from him – to admit our need and the place we are at in life.  Only when we humble ourselves before God in such a way can we really expect him to do the miraculous.
 

 

            Mighty God, let my eyes be opened so that I can see the wonders of your Holy Word.  Teach me your ways so that I can see to follow Jesus in everything.  Amen.