Reading the Bible Together

Passages for the Day

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Acts 1:1-9

1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

6 So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

Points of interest:

·         ‘Then Jesus came to them‘—these are the last words of Jesus in Matthew’s story.  The following passage is the beginning of the book of Acts, which tells the story of Jesus’ disciples after his ascension to heaven.  In both passages, Jesus is passing the baton to his followers.  He has done his work: he has died and risen from the dead.  Now, he has a mission for his friends and followers.

·         make disciples of all nations’—‘disciples’ are followers or students.  Once again, like with Abraham before (Genesis 12, March 4^th) we have an instance when things are starting small, but are meant to get very big.  During his earthly career, Jesus spent almost all of his time with twelve people.  But that’s not because he only cares about those twelve people, or because they are somehow more worthy of his attention.  Jesus wants absolutely everyone to get exactly what the disciples have gotten, by the disciples passing it on freely and widely.

·         ‘baptizing them’—circumcision was the sign of participation in Abraham’s covenant.  Baptism is the sign of participation in this new covenant Jesus is establishing.

·         ‘in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit’—Jesus’ predecessor John the Baptist immersed people in water as a symbol of spiritual purification.  Jesus carries on the tradition, but he has a much more powerful baptism in mind.  He wants to immerse people, not in water, but in the very presence and power of God.

·         ‘going to restore the kingdom to Israel’—God had told Isaiah, ‘It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob’ (Isaiah 49, March 19^th).  Small part of God’s purposes or not, it’s the part that continued to capture the attention and the imagination of the Jews.  The disciples aren’t an exception.

·         ‘It is not for you to know’—the disciples would have expected the restoration of Israel to happen in ‘the last days.’  So, along with yearning for Israel’s restoration they’re wondering, ‘Is this the end of the world?’  Jesus essentially answers, ‘None of your business.’ 

·         ‘in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth’—this is an expanding circle.  It starts in Jerusalem, the center of everything Jewish.  It moves on to anywhere descendants of Jacob live, and then takes a giant leap to everyone.  It’s interesting that Judea and Samaria are lumped together; they would have thought of themselves as very different.

·         ‘he was taken up before their very eyes’—Jesus completely disappears, very obviously leaving the work in the disciples’ hands.

Taking it home:

·         For you: Jesus told his followers not to leave Jerusalem without the Holy Spirit.  Before you go any further in your day, ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit.

·         For your six: Jesus was willing to do whatever it took to show the disciples that he was alive and to explain the kingdom of God to them.  I think he’s also willing to reveal himself to your six.  If any of your six are looking for something from Jesus, pray that he would give them the ‘convincing proofs’ they need of his presence, his power, and his love.

·         For America: I don’t think the Jews of Jesus’ day are alone in sometimes confusing their national interests with God’s priorities.  Pray that God would forgive our nation for the times we present our own agenda as his.

¹⁸ They still did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they sent for the man’s parents. ¹⁹ “Is this your son?” they asked. “Is this the one you say was born blind? How is it that now he can see?”

²⁰ “We know he is our son,” the parents answered, “and we know he was born blind. ²¹ But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don’t know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself.” ²² His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who already had decided that anyone who acknowledged that Jesus was the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. ²³ That was why his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

²⁴ A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God and tell the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.”

²⁵ He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

²⁶ Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

²⁷ He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”

²⁸ Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! ²⁹ We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”

³⁰ The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. ³¹ We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. ³² Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. ³³ If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

³⁴ To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.

Spiritual Blindness

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

³⁶ “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”

³⁷ Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

³⁸ Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

³⁹ Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

⁴⁰ Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

⁴¹ Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

¹ Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. ² For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. ³ Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. ⁴ Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

⁵ Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “Whoever does these things will live by them.” ⁶ But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷ “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: ⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. ¹¹ As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” ¹² For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³ for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

⁸ Therefore the LORD Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words, ⁹ I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the LORD, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. ¹⁰ I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. ¹¹ This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

¹² “But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,” declares the LORD, “and will make it desolate forever. ¹³ I will bring on that land all the things I have spoken against it, all that are written in this book and prophesied by Jeremiah against all the nations. ¹⁴ They themselves will be enslaved by many nations and great kings; I will repay them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”

The Cup of God’s Wrath

¹⁵ This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from my hand this cup filled with the wine of my wrath and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. ¹⁶ When they drink it, they will stagger and go mad because of the sword I will send among them.”

¹⁷ So I took the cup from the LORD’s hand and made all the nations to whom he sent me drink it:

A song of ascents.

¹ I lift up my eyes to you,
to you who sit enthroned in heaven.

² As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
till he shows us his mercy.

³ Have mercy on us, LORD, have mercy on us,
for we have endured no end of contempt.

⁴ We have endured no end
of ridicule from the arrogant,
of contempt from the proud.

Passage for the Day

12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.

15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

 18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

19 When evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city.

20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”

22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and do not doubt in your heart but believe that what you say will happen, it will be done for you. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25-26  And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Points of interest:

·         ‘as they were leaving Bethany’—Bethany was a suburb of Jerusalem.  Jesus has come to Jerusalem for the Passover holiday, and he’s staying with friends in Bethany.

·         ‘those who were buying and selling there’—the outer courts of the temple had become something of a bazaar.  One of the major things that happened at the temple was the sacrifice of animals, as a form of gratitude to God for provision or for answered prayer.  To facilitate these offerings, authorized dealers sold ‘pre-approved’ sacrifices in the outer courts.  It made it easier for people who had travelled a long way, plus there was no fear the priests would reject your sacrifice as blemished.  The money-changers were exchanging normal currency for the special temple currency.  Normal currencies weren’t accepted at the temple because they were stamped with the images of kings or gods, which was a violation of one of the Ten Commandments.

·         ‘a house of prayer for all nations’—Jesus is quoting Isaiah 56, our passage from March 20^th. 

·         ‘a den of robbers’—Jesus finds a thieves’ den instead of a house of prayer.  There are multiple layers of likely robbery here:

1.    Since these temple merchants have what amounts to a monopoly on sacrifices and offerings, they are charging the worshippers exorbitant prices.

2.    All of this commerce is happening in the only part of the temple foreigners where were allowed.  So, foreigners are essentially being robbed of a place to pray.  Their part of the temple has been transformed into a market place.

3.    God is being robbed of the foreigners’ prayers and of the full value of the Jewish sacrifices.

By the way, Jesus is quoting another prophet, Jeremiah (7:11).    Jeremiah’s listeners are somehow under the impression that being in the temple gives them immunity from punishment for all sorts of bad behavior, including mistreating foreigners.  Jeremiah tells them that it instead adds to their offense: besides behaving badly in other ways, they are ruining the reputation of God’s house.

·         ‘chief priests and the teachers of the law’—these are the religious professionals of Jesus’ day.  The chief priests are specifically responsible for the temple, and would have been the ones to approve of the mercantile activities in the outer courts.  They don’t take kindly to what they would see as Jesus’ meddling in their affairs.

·         ‘The fig tree you cursed has withered!’—Peter probably thought that Jesus was just venting his frustration the day before, but the tree actually dies.  It doesn’t seem quite fair of Jesus to curse the tree when the fruit isn’t even in season.  I think he does so to illustrate a point.  With the tree, he was looking for fruit, but found only leaves.  With the temple, he is looking for prayer, but finds only business.  This prayerless temple is as dispensable to him as a fruitless tree.

·         ‘if you say to this mountain’—‘this mountain’ would be Mount Zion, the holy mountain so revered by David and Isaiah.  Isaiah spoke of Zion as the place from which universal peace would emanate (Isaiah 2, March 15^th).  Now, Jesus speaks cavalierly of pitching it into the sea.  Faith is more powerful and more valuable to Jesus than the temple.  Despite all the prophecies about the temple’s importance, Jesus can do without it if he has faith.

·         ‘so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins’—the temple was the place Jews went to receive forgiveness.  If it were thrown into the sea, how could they be forgiven?  Jesus offers a new way: if we offer forgiveness, we receive forgiveness.

Taking it home:

·         For you: Jesus once again tells us that amazing things are possible for anyone with faith.  Ask God to give you an extra boost of faith today, and then try it out on something you might not normally pray for.

·         For your six: Have you had conflicts with any of your six recently?  Consider using that conflict as an opportunity to offer and experience forgiveness.  Tell God that you forgive your friend for whatever wrong they’ve done, and ask God’s forgiveness for ways you’ve mistreated your friend.  Then, pay attention to your interactions with that friend.  Can you feel any difference in how you relate?

·         For America: Pray against the power of corruption in our country.  Ask God to expose corruption in religious institutions, government, and business and to minimize the damage corruption causes innocent or defenseless people.

Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind

¹ As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. ² His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

³ “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴ As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

⁶ Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. ⁷ “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.

⁸ His neighbors and those who had formerly seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹ Some claimed that he was.
Others said, “No, he only looks like him.”
But he himself insisted, “I am the man.”

¹⁰ “How then were your eyes opened?” they asked.

¹¹ He replied, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”

¹² “Where is this man?” they asked him.
“I don’t know,” he said.

The Pharisees Investigate the Healing

¹³ They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. ¹⁴ Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. ¹⁵ Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. “He put mud on my eyes,” the man replied, “and I washed, and now I see.”

¹⁶ Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”
But others asked, “How can a sinner perform such signs?” So they were divided.

¹⁷ Then they turned again to the blind man, “What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”
The man replied, “He is a prophet.”

¹⁹ One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” ²⁰ But who are you, a mere human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ ” ²¹ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for disposal of refuse?

²² What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? ²³ What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— ²⁴ even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵ As he says in Hosea:
“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people;
and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,”

²⁶ and,
“In the very place where it was said to them,
‘You are not my people,’
they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ ”

²⁷ Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:
“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,
only the remnant will be saved.

²⁸ For the Lord will carry out
his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”

²⁹ It is just as Isaiah said previously:
“Unless the Lord Almighty
had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,
we would have been like Gomorrah.”

Israel’s Unbelief

³⁰ What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; ³¹ but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. ³² Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. ³³ As it is written:
“See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall,
and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”

Two Baskets of Figs

¹ After Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the officials, the artisans and the other skilled workers of Judah were carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the LORD. ² One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early; the other basket had very bad figs, so bad they could not be eaten.

³ Then the LORD asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
“Figs,” I answered. “The good ones are very good, but the bad ones are so bad they cannot be eaten.”

⁴ Then the word of the LORD came to me: ⁵ “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians. ⁶ My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. ⁷ I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

⁸ ” ‘But like the bad figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the LORD, ’so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials and the survivors from Jerusalem, whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt. ⁹ I will make them abhorrent and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword, a curse and an object of ridicule, wherever I banish them. ¹⁰ I will send the sword, famine and plague against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.’ “

Of David.

¹ Contend, LORD, with those who contend with me;
fight against those who fight against me.

² Take up shield and armor;
arise and come to my aid.

³ Brandish spear and javelin
against those who pursue me.
Say to me,
“I am your salvation.”

⁴ May those who seek my life
be disgraced and put to shame;
may those who plot my ruin
be turned back in dismay.

⁵ May they be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of the LORD driving them away;

⁶ may their path be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the LORD pursuing them.

⁷ Since they hid their net for me without cause
and without cause dug a pit for me,

⁸ may ruin overtake them by surprise—
may the net they hid entangle them,
may they fall into the pit, to their ruin.

⁹ Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD
and delight in his salvation.

¹⁰ My whole being will exclaim,
“Who is like you, LORD?
You rescue the poor from those too strong for them,
the poor and needy from those who rob them.”

¹¹ Ruthless witnesses come forward;
they question me on things I know nothing about.

¹² They repay me evil for good
and leave me like one bereaved.

¹³ Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth
and humbled myself with fasting.
When my prayers returned to me unanswered,

¹⁴ I went about mourning
as though for my friend or brother.
I bowed my head in grief
as though weeping for my mother.

¹⁵ But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee;
assailants gathered against me without my knowledge.
They slandered me without ceasing.

¹⁶ Like the ungodly they maliciously mocked;
they gnashed their teeth at me.

¹⁷ How long, Lord, will you look on?
Rescue me from their ravages,
my precious life from these lions.

¹⁸ I will give you thanks in the great assembly;
among the throngs I will praise you.

¹⁹ Do not let those gloat over me
who are my enemies without cause;
do not let those who hate me without reason
maliciously wink the eye.

²⁰ They do not speak peaceably,
but devise false accusations
against those who live quietly in the land.

²¹ They sneer at me and say, “Aha! Aha!
With our own eyes we have seen it.”

²² LORD, you have seen this; do not be silent.
Do not be far from me, Lord.

²³ Awake, and rise to my defense!
Contend for me, my God and Lord.

²⁴ Vindicate me in your righteousness, LORD my God;
do not let them gloat over me.

²⁵ Do not let them think, “Aha, just what we wanted!”
or say, “We have swallowed him up.”

²⁶ May all who gloat over my distress
be put to shame and confusion;
may all who exalt themselves over me
be clothed with shame and disgrace.

²⁷ May those who delight in my vindication
shout for joy and gladness;
may they always say, “The LORD be exalted,
who delights in the well-being of his servant.”

²⁸ My tongue will proclaim your righteousness,
your praises all day long.