Bible Reading Challenge Blog

We find ourselves on the day of resurrection with the women at the tomb amazed because not only was the stone rolled away for them, convenient, but Jesus’ body was no longer there, scary. Two angels in white speak to them as if they were disciples: “Remember when Jesus told you that you should meet him in Galilee?” And the Scripture states that they remembered and so as a result they were able to leave and tell the disciples, or at least the 11 and the others. We see a similar Jesus appearing to those who are not the 11 and yet were considered integral disciples as he appears to a couple of them on the road to Damascus. He walks with them, and talks with them, and breaks bread with them and then they realize who it is. As soon as Jesus disappears they head into Jerusalem to tell the 11. It is so important to note that Jesus did not just appear to the apostles, he appeared to many.

We have the trial and the resurrection of Jesus. It is so interesting that Pilate says to the people that all of the charges that you have brought before me about this man, not one of them has proved to be true. But I’ll beat him and then let him go, just to make you happy. But that was not good enough for the people, they cried out that he wold crucify Jesus. This is not the type of justice that we expect. The man is innocenent, but a good beating should make the people happy. When it doesn’t make them happy then how about a crucifixion.

We have two instances of the bystanders, in one case women and in another case random bystander, beating their breasts and wailing after Jesus. One as he is carring his cross and one when he dies and they return home. It was a death and a scene that would remember for the rest of history.

When things start to go sideways, they go quickly. Jesus shares the passover meal with his disciples and Judas goes out and betrays him. I find that Luke is much more readable and easier to understand. As soon as Jesus sees his disciples sleeping, Luke says filled with grief, Judas appears with those who were to arrest him. The disciples filled with grief makes sense because it implies that they actually did understand what was about to happen, unlike any other Gospel. You have the detail of Jesus looking at Peter while he is arrested as soon as the rooster crows. It is a haunting scene.

The whole chapter is dedicated to Jesus warning his disciples and anyone who would hear that the coming of the Son of Man, are we assuming he is talking of the second coming since he was on the earth while he was saying this, will be in such a way that no one will know ahead of time. Don’t even try to predict, it is going to take place just that no one will know when it will be. Again, this chapter ends with a kinda throw away verse that is fascinating to me. We read that he was staying overnight on the Mount of Olives, I had thought that he would go out to Bethany where John and his sisters Mary and Martha lived, but here we see that he just goes down the valley from Jerusalem and stays in the Mount of Olives. He then goes back into the temple and the people were gathered looking forward to what he had to say. They would get up early in the morning to hear what he had to say. This happened on a daily basis.

This chapter seems to be a compilation of Jesus sayings that kinda slam the religious leaders, like all of it. He speaks about how they refused to accept the coming Messiah, who happened to be Jesus, and instead killed the prophets and eventually killed the Son of God as well, who again happened to be Jesus. This all happens after they try to trap him by asking him by whose authority do his teachings come from. They couldn’t answer a simple question about John and so he refused to answer that question. He doesn’t even hide his denunciation of them. He says plainly, beware of the scribes for they will receive the greater condemnation. I am curious which particular scribe Jesus had in mind.

There is one little phrase at the end of this chapter that almost feels like a throw away line, but is really important. Before we get to that a reminder that this is the chapter in Luke that contains the story of Palm Sunday and in Luke he goes into the temple right after the donkey ride and cleans out the temple. The last sentence mentions that he was in the temple teaching every day and the religious leaders were looking to kill him. But they were unable to kill Jesus because the poeple were, wait for it, spellbound, by Jesus. Now, that is a powerful word, almost as if Jesus had cast a spell, which is not at all what Scripture is implying. Instead, the implication is that Jesus was so appealing and so convincing that people could not look away.

I want you to be reminded what the Scripture said about the disciples of Jesus, specifically those 12 disciples also called apostles who were with Jesus for three years and learned from him. Jesus tells a parable, or a story, or the facts that he will be going down to Jerusalem and while he is there he will be beaten and then killed. But not one of the disciples, it states, understood what he was talking about. And Scripture states that what the meaning of his statement, that he would go down to Jerusalem, be beaten, killed, and rise from the dead, was hidden from them as well. This is the third time that Jesus tells them that all of this was going to happen, had to happen, but they still didn’t get it. What chance do we have to understand the mysteries of the kingdom if even those who were closest to him did not understand while it was happening in real time?

The phrase that caught my attention was those who try to make their life secure will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it. It is a similar vignette to what we hear in Ecclesiastes 3 except here we do find a sense of value judgment. We are told not to try to keep our life, for God’s responsibility is that. Ours is to lose our life in Christ and allow him to take us wherever the presence of the Holy Spirit might take us. That is a hard message in this day and age because we do not understand what it is like to give up that which we think is fundamental and basic, physical safety, financial security and the like.

This has to be the most confusing and problematic chapters for me in all of Scripture. It begins with Jesus telling us, get this, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth. Huh? Again, this is in the form of a parable, but it is still quite puzzling, as was the parable that set this up. But then it continues in the theme of puzzling and disturbing when we read about the rich man in hell seeing Lazarus in heaven and wanting to send a messenger to his brothers to not do what he had done and that request is refused because they had Moses and the prophets warn them. But we know that with Jesus Moses and prophets isn’t going to cut it, we need someone to tell the Good News. It is all very confusing with no explanatin except a warning that if we do not live and believe according to the salvation that Jesus offers then we will find ourselves pretty bad off.

Lost and found, that is what we can call this chapter. It is a series of stories about that which is lost and then is found and the celebrations that ensue as a result of that lost item/person/animal being found. The lost sheep and leaving the 99 makes on think about the other 99. The Prodigal Son makes one think of the eldest brother and the way in which he was indignant. But we should think about the reaction of the Father, the shepherd, the woman when that which was lost to them is now found. We have to put ourselves in the position of being that which was lost and discovering the presence and the power of Jesus we are found once more.