Day 46 Exodus 39:1-40:38; Mark 1:1-28; Psalm 35:1-16; Proverbs 9:11-12 Mark – The Gospel of Action and Deliverance It is sometimes asked, “Why do we need four tellings of the Gospel story in the Bible?” It is also said that the four gospels are One Story revealed in four dimensions. Among those dimensions, Mark offers…
Day 45 Exodus 37:1‐38:31; Matthew 28:1‐20; Psalm 34:11‐22; Proverbs 9:9‐10 A Day of Reflection At this point we have reached 45 Days in the Word. What an accomplishment! As you read today’s Scripture passages, we encourage you to write down something that you draw from the passages. There is no right or wrong way to…
Day 44 Exodus 35:10‐36:38; Matthew 27:32‐66; Psalm 34:1‐10; Proverbs 9:7‐8 Mocker or Wise Man “Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you.” – Proverbs 9:8 Unfortunately, here is a verse from Proverbs that stings. It is so very easy to throw a retort at someone who criticizes….
Day 43 Exodus 34:1-35:9; Matthew 27:15-31; Psalm 33:12-22; Proverbs 9:1-6 Commandments Written on the Heart Today’s passage from Exodus is rich and full and mysterious, and will pay back all the effort we expend on it. (We don’t need to understand it all today! We will return!) Moses goes up the mountain to commune with…
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…
