[NOTE: For those who are continuing the 1-year Bible reading plan we started on April 1, 2018, just go to the end of this entry and you will find the Day 290-Matthew 8-10; John 15 summary!]
As we move to the Book of Exodus, chapters 1-4 introduce us to the Israelites being enslaved by the Egyptians. It’s amazing that any king of Egypt could ever forget what Joseph did for his nation, but this one did, and assumed the Israelites who had grown greater in population than Egypt, would one day side with Egypt’s enemies and escape the country. The king’s response was to enslave the Israelites and put restrictions on their ability to continue multiplying, by killing the male children born to the Israelites.
One of the amazing results of the Egyptians’ decree that the Israelites had to kill their male children, was when Moses was born, his mother kept him alive for three months, and then made a small boat out of reeds and put Moses in it and set him adrift in the Nile River. As God’s providence would have it, one of Pharaoh’s daughters found Moses, and decided to adopt him. That meant Moses lived for forty years as a prince in Egypt.
Somehow Moses knew he was a descendant of the Hebrews, and one day when he saw an Egyptian slave driver mistreating one of the Hebrews, and as we read, he killed the slave driver. The next day, two Hebrews were fighting with each other, and Moses attempted to intervene. One of the men asked whether Moses was going to kill them as he had killed the Egyptian. When Moses realized his murder of the Egyptian was known, he took off into the wilderness.
Again, God ordered his steps and he “happened” to come across some Midianite shepherdesses. He helped them with watering their sheep, interceding between them and some shepherds who were harassing them. As a result, the women’s father gave one of his daughters to Moses as a wife and gave Moses the job as the shepherd of his sheep. While this might not seem important at first glance, Moses had forty years of leadership training as a Prince of Egypt and then forty years of training leading sheep. It seems the combination would be great experience for his next vocation: leading the people of Israel out of Egypt.
God called Moses in a most unusual and supernatural way: He appeared to Moses in a burning bush, but although the bush was on fire, it wasn’t consumed by the fire. Amazingly, instead of going along with God’s plan right away after such a clear and powerful demonstration of His presence, Moses argued and debated with God about his lack of qualifications for the task. He also told God he would lack credibility with both the people of Israel and the king of Egypt. Eventually, God got tired of Moses’ excuses and told him to just do it!
I don’t know whether you have ever been called by God to do something and argued with Him about it. I have. In fact, my call to serve as a pastor came when I was seventeen. It wasn’t as dramatic as Moses’ call, but it was dramatic. Even so, I told God flat out I would not become a pastor and struggled against becoming one for five years. Eventually I gave in, but I didn’t become a whole-hearted servant of Jesus until long after that. It comforts me to realize one of the greatest leaders of the Old Testament era, and one of the greatest leaders in all history, begged God not to put him in a leadership position. It helps me, and all of us to see we don’t have to feel qualified to serve God for Him to call us to serve Him!
In Mark 15, we read of Jesus’ trial before Pilate, His condemnation by the people (and not Pilate!), and Pilate’s agreeing to have Jesus crucified. We also read of Jesus’ crucifixion, and how the people mocked Jesus and challenged Him to come down from the cross to prove He was God’s Son. He could have done that, but He would not derail His purpose of paying the penalty for the sins of humanity for His own benefit. When Jesus died, one of the Pharisees, named Joseph, asked Pilate for permission to bury Him in his tomb. Pilate agreed, and the stage was set for Jesus’ resurrection. Not a single person believed it was going to happen. Otherwise, the women wouldn’t have come to the tomb early on Sunday morning to finish embalming Him, and every one of the remaining disciples would have been camping outside the tomb on Easter morning to get a first glimpse of their risen Lord.
Jesus had told His followers a number of times, at least three that are recorded in the Gospels, that He was going to be handed over to the religious leaders and the Romans, tried, convicted, and crucified. But they were not to worry, because He would rise on the third day. Each time they heard the message the disciples, the women, and the crowds were either confused, misinterpreted it, or ignored it. It’s easy for us to wonder why, because we live on the resurrection side of Easter. We know Jesus rose from the dead. But had we lived in His day, believing would not have been so easy.
Thankfully, Jesus didn’t need an audience to rise from the dead, although I’m sure the angels of heaven witnessed it! More about that tomorrow.
Day 290-Matthew 8-10; John 15
Matthew 8-10 are action-packed when compared with the teaching chapters of Matthew 5-7. Matthew 8 starts with Jesus cleansing a leper. This miracle is recorded in Mark 1, so we see the Gospel writers didn’t always record the events in the same sequence. They did record the details quite similarly in most cases. Some have seen these “discrepancies” as “proof” the gospels were made up stories and not actual events. The slight variations in details are what we would expect if various witnesses had seen the same thing happen and told someone about it. Matthew was with Jesus from Matthew 9 on, so he wasn’t there for all the events recorded. Mark is thought to have written his gospel from Peter’s perspective. In any case, Matthew tells us about Jesus healing the leper, then the centurion’s servant, then Peter’s mother-in-law and many others. Next, Matthew interjects the account of Jesus telling a few men the cost of following Him. Finally, we read what is the account of “Legion” in Mark 5, but here is the account of two men filled with demons. This is an important detail, so it might have been two separate events. However, Matthew also has Jesus ride two donkeys at His triumphal entry into Jerusalem rather than the one recorded in the other three gospels. The details differ, but the point is the same: Jesus has powerful authority over evil spirits.
In Matthew 9, Jesus heals a paralytic, but first forgives his sins. Tis causes an uproar among the religious leaders. Next, Jesus calls Matthew, and Matthew throws a party to introduce Jesus to his friends. This causes another uproar among the religious leaders, because Jesus was hanging out with tax collectors and other “sinners.” Jesus pointed out He came to call the sinners, not the righteous to repentance. John the Baptist’s disciples come to ask Jesus why his disciples don’t fast? They noted that they fasted, as did the disciples of the Pharisees. Jesus pointed out no one fasts when the wedding feast is taking place. Jesus was comparing Himself to the bridegroom, and He said His disciples would fast when He was taken away. After this, we find the record of Jesus healing a dead girl, and a woman who had been suffering from a bleeding disorder for twelve years. Next Jesus healed two blind men, and finally wo blind men, and finally a man who was deaf and unable to speak. Matthew shows us Jesus power to bring the Kingdom of God to the earth in all these examples. As Jesus surveys the crowds, He turns to the disciples and tells them the “harvest” is plentiful, but the workers are few. Then He tells them to pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send workers.
As chapter 10 begins, Jesus calls those He just told to pray for workers as His twelve disciples and sends them out on their first missionary endeavor. Jesus gave the twelve extensive directions before sending them out. He told them to rely on God’s provision. He told them they would be persecuted. In the midst of that, they were to rely on God’s provision. He promised them if they remained faithful they would receive great rewards even for the smallest act of kindness done in Jesus’ name.
As we return again to John 15, Jesus continues His discourse with the disciples before His arrest. He uses a powerful analogy to show the disciples how vital it is for us to stay “connected” to Him. Jesus says He is the vine, and we are the branches. He makes the point clear: If we remain in Him, we will bear fruit, much fruit, and more fruit. If we don’t stay connected to Him we will die. Jesus reiterates His new commandment for us to love one another. Then He tells the disciples the world will hate them, because it first hated Jesus. He promises the Comforter, the Holy Spirit will come to be with them, and He will bear witness to them, and they will bear witness to the people about Jesus. What a powerful reminder that remaining connected to Jesus means living in the power of the Holy Spirit!