Day 42 Exodus 32:1‐33:23; Matthew 26:69‐27:14; Psalm 33:1‐11; Proverbs 8:33‐36 God in a Box I read a book many years ago (Sorry, can’t remember the name of it…) that talked about how so many of us try to put God in a box. We imagine God to be of the size and shape we need….
Day 41 Exodus 30:11‐31:18; Matthew 26:47‐68; Psalm 32:1‐11; Proverbs 8:27‐32 A Kiss, a Fist, and a Sword Today’s reading from Matthew covers the time from Judas’ betrayal of Jesus in Gethsemane to His abuse at the hands of Jewish leaders at the High Priest’s residence. When the crowd showed up, Jesus was betrayed with a…
Day 40 Exodus 29:1‐30:10; Matthew 26:14‐46; Psalm 31:19‐24; Proverbs 8:14‐26 Betrayed! It is difficult to imagine the level of betrayal Jesus experienced from Judas. In today’s reading from Matthew, a few short words tell us the gravity of his betrayal. Only Matthew tells us the price for betrayal – the infamous thirty pieces of silver….
Day 39 Exodus 28:1-43; Matthew 25:31-26:13; Psalm 31:9-18; Proverbs 8:12-13 Revealed. Waiting. Preparing. “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” Matthew 25:40b Since, the first manifestation of Christ’s divine nature to the three kings who paid Him homage at…
Day 38 Exodus 26:1-27:21; Matthew 25:1-30; Psalm 31:1-8; Proverbs 8:1-11 Keep Reading! At this point in Exodus, the temptation is always to skip it. Skip all these specific directions about how to make the tabernacle. Keep reading. Try to picture what it might have looked like to make even one component of this structure. If…
Day 37 Exodus 23:14-25:40; Matthew 24:29-51; Psalm 30:1-12; Proverbs 7:24‐27 The Dwelling Place of God Exodus 24:9-10 – “Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like…
Day 36 Exodus 21:22‐23:13; Matthew 24:1‐28; Psalm 29:1‐11; Proverbs 7:6‐23 Building a Living Temple One of the most amazing experiences when traveling to the Holy Land is to go to what is commonly called the Wailing Wall. Built by Herod in the 19th Century B.C., the Western Wall is all that is left from the…
Day 35 Exodus 19:16‐21:21; Matthew 23:13‐39; Psalm 28:1‐9; Proverbs 7:1‐5 Whitewashed Tombs Each time we attend a Eucharist service we hear the words, “. . . and from him no secrets are hid.” God sees our hearts regardless of anything that distinguishes us among human beings. In today’s reading from Matthew, Jesus has just stated…
Day 34 Exodus 17:8-19:15; Matthew 22:34-23:12; Psalm 27:7-14; Proverbs 6:27-35 Fire Next to Our Chest What is the difference in perspective between a child and a mature adult when it comes to laws? The child sees rules only as restrictions to their desires, and the mature person has come to understand both the protective compassion…
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…
