For a full description of the (Y4) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Ex. 34
Because I have been thinking a lot about the concept of “Jesus and…” lately, the thought shaped my perspective when I read Exodus 34:25 this morning. The verse says, “You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, nor is the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover to be left over until morning.” So what I saw was Jesus as the blood of the sacrifice and the leavened bread as our futile efforts toward righteousness. The two simply do not belong together. Furthermore, the requirement to consume the entire Passover sacrifice tells me that we need Jesus, ALL of Jesus, and nothing else.
John 13
John told us here that Jesus lowered Himself to wash His disciples’ feet. He also told us that Jesus did it as an example to them, which means He also did it as an example to us. But John went deeper still in this story. At the start of the chapter, John pointed out a few facts.
- Jesus did this act of love in His darkest hour. As John noted, “He loved them to the end.” (Jn. 13:1c).
- Jesus performed this act of love even for the one He knew would soon betray Him.
- Jesus was able and willing to serve this way because He knew who He was and where He was going. He knew the coming betrayal and defeat was not what it seemed but was, in fact His victory. It was victory, not just for Him, but also for those He loves.
Therefore, Jesus’ example went far beyond showing us that we should serve others. He showed us that we can love others regardless of their behavior or our own circumstances. And that is how people will know that we are His.
Prov. 10
This chapter contains a lot of proverbs concerning our words. James has a lot to say about that in the third chapter of his letter as well. Our words matter. More to the point, the source of our words matters. Twice in this chapter of Proverbs we read the statement, “But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.” (Pr. 10:6b & 11b). This indicates that, while their words may sound good, their source is corrupt. As Jesus said, “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.” (Matt. 15:18). Thus, those nice sounding words from the wicked are, in reality, a lie leading to death. If one seeks God for a discerning heart, it isn’t hard to see this truth playing out in the world around us. The wicked hide their evil, selfish intent with whitewashed words.