Bible Reading Challenge Blog

We find in these chapters in Matthew many of the parables dealing with the coming of the kingdom of God and the need for each one of us to be ready when that kingdom comes.  Probably my favorite parable in the entire Bible is the one of the workers in the vineyard because it displays a truth that plays itself out consistently in life.  People look at others to gauge whether they are being treated fairly or not, as opposed to looking at how they are actually treated.  We gauge the empirical value of fairness not based upon what we recieve, but rather on what others receive and we compare it.  That is not how God works.  God is unfair, we get what we don’t deserve, thanks be to God!  If we got what we deserved we would all be in trouble.

Jesus enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and then enters the temple and clear it out of money changers and those performing business in a house of prayer.  We move on to the greatest commandment which while not taking up a lot of verses, is one that is probably the most important commandment in all of Scripture.  This is the law according to Jesus, love God, and love your neighbor.  It is that simple.  

Jesus then goes off on the religious leaders in a way that is incredibly convicting to anyone who might be a leader in the church even today.  We are reminded in the next chapter to not put your trust in trying to discern whent he end times might be, God chooses and every time that we try to predict we get it wrong.  We then launch into parables of when Jesus comes back again and we are demanded to be ready.  Being ready, according to Matthew 25, entails doing the work of the king.  That work is defined in vs. 35-36.  That should be our purpose here on earth, this is what defines a disciple.  One who does these things.

We finish up the prophet Isaiah and we have to recognize the parallel of his words and the actions and the life of our Savior.  In 65 we see the promise of a new heaven and a new earth and verses that are very familiar in vs.19 which is a direct parallel to Revelation 21:4 which give us a celebratory depiction of what earth will look like when Jesus comes back again.  There is also the promise to the people of Israel that their name will endure forever.

We then move to the psalms and David asking God to help him watch what he says.  Look at vs.3 of Psalm 141 where David asks: “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.”  What a great way to ask God to help us ensure that what we say aligns with whom we are, a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Finally Proverbs provides us with some wisdom that would be good not to forget.  Much of Proverbs, including these chapters, provide a dichotomy between what the righteous person does and what the evil person does, what the wise person does and what the fool does.  It goes without saying, but I’m going to say it, that we are called to follow the way of the righteous and the wise.

We find ourselves totally immersed in Isaiah for this reading.  The end of 59 reminds us of the covenant that God has made with us, it is one where the Spirit of God has been placed within us and that Spirit is passed down through the generations.  We see the glory of Zion in chapter 60 and the verses of a familiar hymn that we sing: Arise, your light has come…

When we get to chapter 61 we see the words that Jesus spoke in his home synagogue in Nazareth and the words that we are called to emulate: “the Lord has annointed me to preach good news to the poor…”  We can’t make it through this reading without highlighting 64:8 where we read: “We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”  That is our lot, that is our state, we are the clay in the hands of the potter looking to be shaped and molded for the sake of his kingdom

As we make our way to the end of Isaiah we move away from the promise of destruction for the nations that are foes of Israel to what seems like a more personalized description of the good and the wicked.  The prophet moves away from a description of nations to the description of individuals.  He sets up a dichotomy between the righteous and the wicked.  

The most powerful verses in this section has to be vss. 5-12.  Isaiah redefines what fasting is, from a personal abstaining from food the a communal reaching out with justice, feeding the hungry, reconciling with others, clothing the naked, providing shelter.  It is a good reminder to us that God requires us to do these things, they are not options, they are part and parcel of who we are as disciples.

In Matthew we get a major event and then a series of teachings that allow us to read it without getting tired.  We begin with the transfiguration where Jesus is revealed to the core disciples as being in league with Moses and Elijah.  The parable of the lost sheep is tucked away in statements about children and their importance in the kingdom of God and the need to have the type of faith that children have in order to obtain the kingdom of God.  It is described fundamentally as a humble faith.

We then have statements on divorce and the need to store up treasures in heaven which makes a rich young man very sad.  

This felt like a short and manageable Scripture.  Isn’t that something when you read 5 chapters and it feels that way.  It could be that they are somewhat familiar Scriptures so you find yourself in a comfort zone and it feels better as you read it.  Chapter 52 contains the Scripture that we see used in the New Testament to describe John the Baptist especially in vs.7

Chapter 53 is entirely about the suffering servant and a section that is good to read especially during Lent as we see his suffering spelled out.  Chapter 55 contains verses that remind me of this song.  

Then we find ourselves in Matthew 16 which is where Peter declares that Jesus is the Messiah and that statement is the foundation of the church.  The Lordship of Jesus is the most important part of who we are as disciples.

From focusing on Babylon the prophet now speaks to Israel about Israel and her need to return to the Lord and abandon her stubborness.  It is definitely a message that could be directly to each one of us as we look to our own individualism to save us from whatever situation we might find ourselves.  We then find another couple of chapters, 49 and 50 that address the servant of the Lord and what the servant will look like.  If you look at 50:6 and following you see the servant described as: “I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard.”  We see this description clearly as what Jesus suffered.

In Matthew we find another explanation by Jesus of a parable, which again is unusual.  This time he explains it begrudgingly calling his disciples “dull”.  That is in chapter 15, but in 14 we see Jesus feed the five thousand, to be followed the next chapter by the feeding of the 4,000, now wonder people wanted to be around him, free lunch!  Jesus walks on water and Peter’s faith and then doubt is revealed.  

Babylon seems to take the attention of the prophet in the majority of these chapters.  Isaiah describes the choseness of Israel in the first chapter that we read.  We then transition to a description of the gods of Babylon and their inertness and their powerlessness.  We also see the fall of Babylon that is going to take place in a prophecy that describes Babylon as a fallen daughter and all that comes with that metaphor.  

In Matthew we find a few parables dealing with the agricultural venue in which Jesus’ teachings were set.  The parable of the sower is one that is actually explained by Jesus after he tells it.  That is pretty rare.  Normally in the parables Jesus leaves them as they are and allows them to speak for themselves.  But here the disciples ask him why he speaks in parables and so as  result he feels compelled to explain to them the meaning of the parable of the sower.  

Isaiah 40 is one of the more famous chapters in all of Isaiah.  You have the quote that Scripture tells us about John the Baptist where it describes one calling out in the wilderness.  But it doesn’t end there.  You also have the well known verses that end the chapter from vs.28-31 which I use just about every funeral service that I do which describes a God that we serve who gives strength to the powerless.  

Chapter 42 describes the servant of the Lord in one of the many servant songs.  This chapter is meant to prophesy the coming of Jesus who was indeed one who: “will not cry out or raise his voice in the streets…he establishes justice on earth.”  

In the Gospel we find Jesus calling his 12 disciples and sending them out to do his work of healing and driving out demons.  He then speaks about John the Baptist and the role that he played in preparing the way for Jesus to come and be recognized as the Messiah.  

We have in Isaiah a retelling of a number of events in the life of the king of Judah, Hezekiah.  He is threatened by the Assyrian king and allies himself to the king of Egypt and at the end we see him allying himself with the king of Babylon, which will come to bite him later on.  But we begin with Senaccherib, king of Assyria, threatening to overtake Jerusalem, Hezekiah prays to God and beseeches deliverance and it is provided.  I loved seeing how God provided deliverance.  He went into the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 men in the evening and when Senaccherib woke up he saw the slaughter before him and decided to pack up and go home.  

Hezekiah is about to die and God tells him to put his affairs in order, but Hezekiah asks God to spare him.  God does, for another 15 years, so he had that going for him.  Then we have this strange account of the envoys from Babylon coming in and Hezekiah opening the doors and showing them everything that he has.  When God tells him that one day he will have children born in Babylon he thinks this is a promise of peace and detente with Babylon.  I’m thinking it means that Babylon is going to invade and take the people into exile, but let’s see.

The Matthew Scripture has a lot of healings which is a standard for Jesus in this Gospel.  We also have the calling of the disciple Matthew, the tax collector, which is interesting since it is thought that the Gospel was written by this very same Matthew as we see in the next chapter where we find the list of disciples in Matthew 10:3.  

As we continue our journey through Isaiah we find ourselves pretty much in the middle of the prophet’s message.  Chapter 33 is a cry for help from the author for God to intervene as his people find themselves in a position where deliverance can only come from the Lord.  Jerusalem continues to be the center of deliverance and the Lord is portrayed as one coming to provide that deliverance.  Chapter 34 speaks of judgment that the Lord will bring because “he is angry with all nations.”  

We then suffer a bit of Scripture whiplash as chapter 35 speaks for the joy of the redeemed as they make their way out of bondage and into freedom back into their homes and territories from which they had been taken.  If you look at vs.8 we see a highway that is built so that the redeemed can make their way back to Jerusalem and enter Zion with singing and that eventually: “sorry and sighing will flee away.”

When we transition to Matthew we find Jesus go up a mountainside as he gives the people who are gathered the sermon on the mount.  It is impossible to read the sermon on the mount and not be convicted in some way.  We have taken these teachings and watered them down substantially.  We don’t really preach and teach and live according to loving our enemies.  We have caveats if it is in the best interest geopolitically then we don’t really have to apply it.  If we can as individuals, great, but as a nation state surely Jesus wasn’t intending us to lay down in front of an aggressor.  I’m not sure why we would make that distinction when it is clear that Jesus never makes that distinction.

He clearly speaks about prayer and how to do it and the formulaic nature of prayer in the Lord’s prayer which he gave to us as well.  We are told that if we judge others then we will be judged in the same way.  It is not a ban on judging, but rather a realization that if and when we make judgment calls then we ought to be ready to be judged in the same way that we are judging others.  That is very different from saying “don’t judge.”  

It is from the sermon on the mount where we ought to get our ethics and our way of living.  We really don’t have to make too much up in order to understand how Jesus wants us to live.