For a full description of the (Y4) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Gen. 24
A couple of days ago I commented on Isaac’s apparent willingness to be his father’s sacrifice. Isaac really had nothing to do with the whole situation other than in his quiet obedience to his father. So it was with Jesus. The part of Abraham and Isaac’s story in today’s reading sets up a similar correlation. Abraham sent out his servant to gather a bride for his son. God, too, sent someone to gather a bride for His Son. That bride would be us, the Church; Christ’s body of believers.
Interestingly, Jesus is both the servant and the son in this story. In His human form, He is the servant God sent to us to collect a bride for His Son. And in His glorified form, He is the Son who receives His bride in the Promised Land. One thing to note in all of this is that Abraham was adamant that Isaac’s bride come to him. If she would not follow Abraham’s servant back, the servant was absolutely not to take Isaac to where she was. So it is with us. We must be willing to leave where we are and follow Jesus where He leads in order to be His bride.
Matt. 23
Jesus called out the Pharisees and scribes for holding the things in the temple and on the altar as sacred in an oath while disregarding the temple and altar themselves. As I read that this morning, I caught a glimpse of the deeper meaning in His accusation. As with the other woes Jesus declared, this one highlights the emptiness and futility of their religious practices. The scribes and Pharisees held sacred all sorts of laws, regulations, objects, and practices without regard to the One all those things represented. There is no place, ritual, object, or action that can make us right with God. It is Jesus, and Jesus alone, who makes us clean. Thus, it is only when we give proper regard to Him that any of the rest matters.
Neh. 13
If you curse what God blesses, you have no place with Him. This was true for many nations, such as Moab and Ammon, in the Old Testament as well as for many of the Jews, especially prominent ones, in Jesus’ time. Jesus is God’s blessing. He is the Promised Seed of Abraham through which God blesses all who belong to Him. This is why John told us, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar” (1 Jn. 4:20a).