Day 33 Exodus 15:19‐17:7; Matthew 22:1‐33; Psalm 27:1‐6; Proverbs 6:20‐26 Marital Reunion in Heaven When the Pharisees and the Herodians failed to trap Jesus with their questions on paying taxes, the Sadducees in their own smug way thought they had succeeded where the others had failed. Because they didn’t believe in resurrection, they thought they…
Day 32 Exodus 13:17-15:18; Matthew 21:23-46; Psalm 26:1-12; Proverbs 6:16-19 Quick Repentance: Knowing and Doing In our attempts to understand good and evil, very few of us will brave the shame of ever putting ourselves in the latter category. The real shame of this is that when we ignore our demons, it becomes remarkably easy…
Day 31 Exodus 12:14-13:16; Matthew 20:29-21:22; Psalm 25:16-22; Proverbs 6:12-15 Passover Perhaps you have had the privilege of sharing in a Passover celebration with a Jewish family, or perhaps your family or church participates in the “Seder Suppers” which have become common during Holy Week in Christian circles. Passover has become familiar to us, so…
Day 30 Exodus 10:1‐12:13; Matthew 20:1‐28; Psalm 25:1‐15; Proverbs 6:6‐11 Fear Factor A popular TV show in recent years was the reality show “Fear Factor.” It showed people facing their greatest fears in some really weird ways. Why do we watch such fake shows when there are real fears in our world today? Just watch…
Day 29 Exodus 7:25‐9:35; Matthew 19:13‐30; Psalm 24:1‐10; Proverbs 6:1‐5 Can We Get “Good Enough”? In today’s reading from Matthew, Jesus is called “Good Teacher” by the man inquiring how to inherit eternal life. Jesus assures him no one is “good” except God, and that to go to heaven, he needs to keep God’s commands….
Day 28 Exodus 5:22‐7:24; Matthew 18:23‐19:12; Psalm 23:1‐6; Proverbs 5:22‐23 God Uses Whom He Chooses We all know that Moses looked just like Charlton Heston in his heyday—strong, tan, well built, great hair, and a sonorous voice. I can’t read the words of today’s reading from Exodus without the mental images of “The Ten Commandments,”…
Day 27 Exodus 4:1-5:21; Matthew 18:1-22; Psalm 22:19-31; Proverbs 5:15-21 Give Us Grace, O Lord Today’s readings from Exodus and Psalms speak about proclaiming the salvation of the Lord. In Exodus, Moses doubts his own ability to get Israel to believe the word the Lord has given to him for Pharaoh. If his own people…
Day 26 Exodus 2:11-3:22; Matthew 17:10-27; Psalm 22:1-18; Proverbs 5:17-24 Murderer Moses and Disciples of Little Faith Look at Moses, the greatest prophet of the Hebrew people, the bringer of the 10 Commandments. Look at the disciples—our churches are named St. Peter’s, St. Thomas’, St. Matthew’s. Look at them, sinful and faithless. And yet as…
Day 25 Genesis 50:1-26; Exodus 1:1-2:10; Matthew 16:13-17:9; Psalm 21:1-13; Proverbs 5:1-6 The Mystery of Human Responsibility and God’s Providence. Genesis 50:20 – “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” Even though Joseph’s…
Day 24 Genesis 48:1-49:33; Matthew 15:29-16:12; Psalm 20:1-9; Proverbs 4:20-27 Not Just the King’s Battle! Psalm 20 is a prayer of the people of Israel for their King to have success in battle. What is the relevance of this for us? We are not kings riding into battle against enemies. Yet, in light of the…
Day 23 Gen 46:1‐47:31, Matt 15:1‐28, Ps 19:1‐14, Prov 4:14‐19 We’ve Never Done It That Way Before The seven most deadly words for any congregation are, “We’ve never done it that way before.” Traditions held too tightly can become precarious if we don’t understand their purpose. Translated from the Greek word “paradosis,” tradition means to…
Day 22 Genesis 44:1-45:28; Matthew 14:13-36; Psalm 18:37-50; Proverbs 4:11-13 Divine Strength for Earthly Weakness Most recall the Feeding of the 5000––the only miracle recorded in all four gospels. But of note is that immediately preceding that high point of Jesus’ ministry is the beheading of John the Baptist. Note how Matthew today begins with…
