Readings for 8,9 October & comments
The Bible readings for Monday 8 and Tuesday 9 October are -- Joshua 22:1-23:16; Ps 52:1-9; Pro 12:15-16; Lk 19:1-27.
Please feel free to leave any comments on any of these passages (or on any of the other comments).
Ps John has a comment on Luke about how Jeus welcomed the marginalised.
Ps John has a comment on the key verse in Joshua and in Luke.
Ps John has a comment on Joshua 22 about averting conflict.
posted by Ps John @ 11:13 AM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
Zacchaeus was despised for collecting taxes from his own people for the Romans. Yet Jesus befriended him and went to stay in his home, despite criticism from onlookers (19:7). We've seen familiar behaviour in other recent readings in Luke. The disciples rebuked the parents bringing their children to Jesus, but he welcomed them and blessed them (18:16). The crowd rebuked the blind man for calling to Jesus, but he commanded that the man be brought to him (18:40).
In each case, Jesus welcomed the rejected and the marginalised. He even welcomed them into the Kingdom -- he said that the Kingdom belonged to those like the children (18:16); he said the blind man's faith had healed him (18:42); and he said salvation had come to Zacchaeus (19:9).
Amongst those stories is that of the rich young ruler. By contrast, he was one of the well-respected elite. But he's the one who remains outside the Kingdom!
I would pick 22:5 as one of the key verses in Joshua -- "Only carefully obey the command and instruction that Moses the LORD's servant gave you: to love the LORD your God, walk in all His ways, keep His commands, remain faithful to Him, and serve Him with all your heart and soul."
But who could possibly do this? The Israelites failed. So have you and I. That's why I'm so thankful for what Jesus said in what I'd choose as the key verse in Luke -- "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." (19:10)
Things aren't always as they seem. So the Israelites learned after sending a high level delegation to the leaders of the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh. It had seemed that these tribes were rebelling by setting up an alternate place of worship. But in fact the opposite was true. The imminent war (22:12) was averted through a process of listening and dialogue. Please God, may there be more of it!
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