Category: Daily Bible Reading Blog

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

Hebrews 10:16-25

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            By the wounds of Jesus Christ we are healed of the stench and power of sin.  There is forgiveness.  And where forgiveness exists and is the controlling existential reality, there is no longer any offering for sin.  In other words, Jesus has offered a once-for-all sacrifice for sin.  Therefore, there is no need whatsoever for us to provide something that will take care of and deal with our foul and odious sin; Jesus has already done it.
             Good Friday is the most bittersweet day in the Christian Year.  It is bitter because they have tortured and crucified my Lord.  It is sweet because the Lord Jesus accomplished what he set out to do:  opened the way back to God through a new and living way.
             So, then, Jesus did not go through the agony of the cross just so that no one need offer the blood of bulls and goats as a sacrifice anymore.  No, he did it all to strike a death blow to the power of sin so that we could take advantage of this new spiritual reality.  We now can draw near to God without any obstacle.  We now can persevere and hold fast to our bold confession of Christ.  We now can effectively spur one another on toward good deeds, reminding each other of the tremendous privilege we have of sharing in Christ and his finished work.
             Faith, hope, and love are our business as Christians.  Good Friday was the means by which we are now able to live into these three great actions of the Christian life.  All that we do, all that we say, and all that we plan are to center fully around the person and work of Jesus using these incredible tools of faith, hope, and love.  Let us consider and reflect deeply on our new reality made possible on this most holy day.
             Merciful God, as darkness covers the land today I confess along with the Roman centurion:  surely Jesus is the Son of God.  How can I say thanks for the things you have done for me?  It is a small thing for me to dedicate myself completely to faith, hope, and love.  These three actions I endeavor to live into as a means of gratitude for your great sacrifice, Lord Jesus.  Amen.

John 13:1-17, 31-35

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Today is Maundy Thursday.  On this day the church remembers the last evening Jesus shared with his disciples in the upper room before his betrayal and arrest.  It is a day to particularly remember the key events of Christ’s washing of the disciples’ feet; the beginning of what we observe as the Lord’s Supper; and, Jesus’ giving of a “new” command to love one another.
 
            Loving one another is not new in the sense that it did not exist before Jesus.  Indeed, the command to love is permeated throughout the Old Testament (see especially Leviticus 19:18).  Yet, when Christ gave the new command, it was distinctive in four ways:  Jesus is a new model of how to love, demonstrated through the servant-oriented meeting of needs regardless of who the person is; we now have a new motive for love in that Jesus Christ first loved me, so I can now love others as he has done (1 John 4:19-21); we now possess a new motivator, the Holy Spirit, who energizes us for the service of love; and, finally, we have been given a new mission in which the church exists not for itself, but to evangelize the entire world using the highest of spiritual tools, love.
 
            A true, genuine, and authentic follower of Jesus Christ will be deeply and profoundly characterized by love in all his/her words and actions.  We are called to put love where love is not.  The cross of Christ stands as the supreme sacrifice of love on our behalf.  We remember it this Maundy Thursday with humility and eternal gratitude.
            Holy God, your Son, the Lord Jesus, came as a servant not seeking to be served but to give his life as a ransom for many.  He came to wash away our sinful pride and feed us with the bread of life.  We praise you for inviting us to serve one another in love, to forgive one another as we have been forgiven, and to feast at his Table as members of one household of faith.  Amen.

Hebrews 12:1-3

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith, “who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising its shame.”  Our Lord experienced the ultimate in suffering and shame; the cross was painful physically, mentally, and spiritually.  It was awful.  Yet, there was joy set before him.  This does not mean Jesus relished in the pain; rather, he clearly understood what his suffering would accomplish: the saving of many lives.
 
            Trying to make sense of this great sacrifice on our behalf can be mind-blowing.  No earthly illustration or word-picture can begin to adequately capture the idea.  However, perhaps what we can understand is undergoing the necessary discipline, effort, and pain in order to accomplish a goal.  Back in the day, I was a cross country runner (back far enough for Sherman to set the way-back machine).  When I was running I would sometimes get that super nasty pain in my side while running.  It is called a side cramp, or side stitch.  If you have never experienced it, the pain feels like an intense stabbing, as if someone were taking a knife and twisting it inside you.  There is really only one thing to do when this occurs:  keep running through the pain and it will subside in a few minutes; to stop running only exacerbates and prolongs the hurt, not to mention losing if it occurs during a race.
 
            Jesus faced the cross knowing that he was going to experience terrible excruciating pain.  He also knew that not facing the shame of it all and avoiding the agony would only make things worse and not take care of the problem.  Jesus endured all the foulness and degradation of the cross for you and me.  The pain was worth it to him.  He did not circumvent it, but embraced it so that the result would be people’s deliverance from sin, death, and hell.  The end game of his redemptive work was joy over deposing the ruler of this dark world.
 
            Suffering often does not fit into our equation of the Christian life; but it should.  Since Jesus bled and died for us, it is our privilege to follow him along the way of suffering.  Holy Week is a time to reflect and remember on such a great sacrifice, and to consider our Christian lives in the face of such great love.
            Gracious Lord Jesus, I give you eternal thanks for your mercy toward me through the cross.  It is a small thing for me to follow you even it means great suffering on my part.  My life is yours.  Use it as you will, through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Isaiah 42:1-9

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            As we journey with Jesus through the last days of his life in Holy Week, there is the reminder and the remembrance that God is concerned with justice.  “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.”  Indeed, in the person of Jesus and through his redemptive events there is the ultimate work of justice.
 
            It is possible that when we think of the word “justice” we might immediately imagine something punitive.  Justice in this sense is the doling out of judgment to one who has hurt another or transgressed the law.  The biblical concept of justice certainly has this connotation, but only secondarily.  The primary usage and understanding of justice in the Old Testament is justly providing a victim with a need they have.  In other words, it is furnishing the hungry with food, shelter for the homeless, freedom for the enslaved, and the poor with basic necessities.  It is to indefatigably work on behalf of another who cannot gain what they need on their own.
 
            So, when God talks of his servant bringing justice he means that he sees the vast needs of humanity across the earth and vows to do something about it.  This is why God the Father sent God the Son, in order to establish the basis for justice for all nations and all people.  Through the death and resurrection of Jesus our primary and most basic needs for life are met:   especially, the grace of forgiveness.  And through this great love, God’s forgiven people are to spread both their spiritual and material wealth to those locked in circumstances of injustice.  The implications for this are immense and reach across to every area of life, whether it is political, economic, relational, emotional, or spiritual to everyone despite differences of race, ethnicity, gender, even religion.  This is why Christians ought to be at the forefront of concern and action for ministries of justice and reconciliation.  We are to stand up for the oppressed and those in need because Jesus made it possible for us to do so.
            Just God, I praise you for your grace and power working together to bring justice to people.  Fill me with your Spirit so that I might point others to the singular work of Jesus on the cross.  Open my eyes to see the immense need around me, and lead me to understand how I might help.  Thank you for acting justly on my behalf in so many ways.  Amen.