Category: Year B

Hebrews 9:1-12

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            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reason why we do not hold to all the ceremonial and sacrificial stipulations of the old covenant because it has been superseded by the new covenant.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

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

Psalm 28

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            In today’s psalm, David cries out for help and for God to hear his prayers.  Later, David exclaims:  “Blessed be the LORD!  For he has heard the voice of my please for mercy.  The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.”
 
            We are not told, however, of any kind of answer to prayer or of some miraculous deliverance.  David did not convey what kind of circumstance was going on.  As I pondered this psalm and its lack of life-detail, I wondered about David’s situation with several questions:  Could it be that David gave God praise just for being heard by him?  Was David cured in some way, or was he healed from the need to be healed?  Was there even any deliverance that occurred?  Did David come to praise God in spite of a lack of deliverance?  Was David’s joy in his relationship with God conditional, or unconditional?
 
            If we are blatantly honest with ourselves, we need to admit that far too often we have a particular outcome in mind for God to do with us.  Our hopes and expectations are usually tethered to God doing something very specific so that, if it does not come to pass (or not come to fruition quickly!) we become discouraged and disillusioned.  So, here is another set of questions I am asking myself:  If my adverse circumstances do not change, can I praise God anyway?  Can I, like David, take joy in simply being heard?  Can I find gratitude in all situations?  Do I only express thanks and praise to God when things are going my way?  Am I open to whatever God wants to do in my life, even if it is not what I would choose?  Do I feel that I am above having to put up with the wickedness of this world?  Am I expecting heaven on earth, or am I willing to suffer as a believer in Jesus?  The answers to those questions will determine the trajectory of our Christian experience.
 

 

            I praise you, O God, in the good and the bad, the easy and the difficult, the failures and the victories.  You are Lord over all things.  You are my strength and shield in every circumstance.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Amen.

Isaiah 59:9-19

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Living in America, one would never know that the U.S. presidential election comes a year from now.  The debates, candidate commercials and endorsements have already been in full swing.  Needless to say, it is going to be a long year in 2016.  Isaiah the prophet may have spoken over two millennia ago, but his words smack just as relevant today when he said “truth has stumbled in the public square.”
 
            Politics, today as in Isaiah’s day, has become less about the concern for the common good and promoting the welfare of citizens and more about winning elections and possessing power.  A party spirit rules the day, where Republicans and Democrats are more polarized than ever with less and less ability to truly listen to one another in order to advance genuine justice, ethical righteousness, and social peace among the nation and the world.
 
            We, as citizens, must all eschew getting sucked into the vortex of acrimonious speech and hate-filled rhetoric.  Christians, especially those who desire to live and love like Jesus, need to be at the forefront of forsaking the hypocrisy of saying one thing and doing another; of envying power in order to satisfy personal agendas; and, of believing that malicious talk is justified if it accomplishes my wants and needs.  In other words we are not to keep looking for everyone else to repent and change, but are to practice repentance ourselves.  If what we speak in the public square is selfish and deceitful, we have no further to look than within when it comes to turning from evil.  A slow, careful, and serious reading of the prophet Isaiah is quite necessary.  If it does not lead to repentance, we only have God’s displeasure to anticipate.
 

 

            Just God, you have every right to judge the world.  Yet, instead of destroying the earth, you sent your Son to redeem lost humanity back to yourself.  May I, along with every creature you have made, come to our senses and speak truth with grace so that there is again righteousness throughout the land.  Amen.