[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 303-Luke 9-12 summary!]
Leviticus 5-7 finds us reading through many additional instructions regarding sin offerings, guilt offerings, grain offerings and peace offerings. While some of the rules seem to blend together, the purpose of them all is to assure God’s people receive atonement for their sins by the shedding of blood, and have the opportunity to offer sacrifices to God, because He is worthy of them. Additional instructions involving the priests, and what they may and may not eat of the sacrifices offered by the people make it clear what their role is. They are also instructed regarding the offerings they must make for: Sins that require a sin offering; Guilt offering for sins when a person or the people are unaware of their sins; Sins requiring a guilt offering; Further instructions for burnt offerings, and a reminder that the fire must never go out in the Tabernacle; further instructions for grain offerings, which must never be eaten with flour; Instructions for the Ordination offering ; further instructions for sin offerings–and who may eat of it, what to do with containers; further instructions for the guilt offering, including that the same rules apply for guilt and sin offering; further rules for the peace offering; forbidding of eating blood and fat; a portion of the offerings reserved for the priests, which included breast and right thigh meat.
As we revisit Mark 12, we’re reminded during Jesus’ last week on earth, He was able to take time to interact with those who would have Him killed–the Jewish religious leaders. He told the Parable of the Tenants, which spoke directly to the intentions of those leaders regarding Jesus. He responded to their tests with amazing wisdom and clarity, whether regarding paying taxes to Caesar, our marital status at the resurrection, which commandment is the greatest, or even how the Messiah could be both David’s son and His Lord. While each encounter reminds us how much greater Jesus was than His eventual judges, at the close of the chapter, we find Him pausing to affirm the gift of a poor widow. While her offering was small in quantity, it was all she had. Thus, Jesus told us her gift was the greatest of all. What a vital reminder for us to consider the quality of our gifts in Jesus’ name, and not just the quantity.
Day 303-Luke 9-12
Luke 9 is one of the longest chapters in the book. Luke included thirteen different events in the chapter, ranging from Jesus sending out the twelve on their first mission, to the feeding of the five thousand, to Peter confessing Jesus as the Christ, to the Transfiguration, to Jesus being rejected by a Samaritan village. That these events happened is confirmed in the other synoptic gospels, but once again Luke’s order differs. He told us in Luke 1, he had undertaken to write an orderly account that all had happened in Jesus’ life. In Luke 10, Jesus sends out seventy or seventy-two of His followers on a mission. Their return brings rejoicing. The rest of the chapter is devoted to two events found only in Luke: The Parable of the Good Samaritan, and the account of Martha and Mary. Luke 11 also has a number of events squeezed into a chapter, starting with the Lord’s Prayer and some additional teaching on prayer, and concluding with Jesus pronouncing woes against the religious leaders. The overall theme of Luke 12 is readiness, although we find the Parable of the Rich Fool in the chapter. We’re moving to the point in the book, where the focus is going to shift to Jesus setting His face toward Jerusalem, but not before an extended section of teaching in the next six and a half chapters.