Skip to main content

bible reading weekend mar 28



Bible reading for weekend of March 28 -- Exodus 39-40; John 18-19 

 "Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle."  (Exodus 40:34-35) 

 The glory of God overshadows and fills the completed tabernacle (Ex 40).  In fulfillment of this foreshadowing, the glorious presence of God rests upon our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the true temple where sacrifice, cleansing, light, life, intercession, and the presence of God is manifested to us.  Visibly, this glory was seen at the transfiguration: "He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, 'This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him'" (Matt 17:5). But the Apostle John says that all of Jesus' life (and death) was a manifestation of that glory: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (Jn 1:14; cf Jn 17). In the first chapter of Revelation, John, seeing the risen Christ, could not even stand in the presence of his revealed glory (Rev 1:17). And the holy city of the new creation will be illumined by the glory of God radiating from the Lord Jesus: "And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb" (Rev 21:22-23).   

 ================  

 Then Pilate said to him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world - to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice." (John 18:37)

 Glory.  The two chapters in this weekend's reading cover one day -- the arrest, trials, scourging, and crucifixion of our Lord Jesus.  The disciples flee, and Peter denies the Lord three times.  An observation that only the gospel of John notes is that when Jesus identifies himself as "I am he" (Gr., ego eimi, "I am")(18:5) the soldiers drew back and fell to the ground. Something in the way Jesus said the name of God, as applied to himself, incapacitated these men.  The glory of God in Jesus would completely undo us if it were not for his mercy (see Rev 1:17 and the post above).  

 Christ before Pilate. To stand before the power of Rome, and to be liable to death by crucifixion, would frighten even the most courageous of men.  Yet our Lord is totally composed before Pilate, before his accusers, and before his executioners. He even tells Pilate, the Roman governor with complete authority over Jewish subjects, that "You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above" (19:11).  When I first read the gospels many years ago, one of the things that impressed me was Jesus' composure and courage in the face of all.  He sought no praise of man and he feared no opposition from men. He was completely free, even when bound as a condemned prisoner.  


 Image credit: painting above is "Ecce Homo" by Antonio Ciseri (1862). Wikimedia Commons. 
We are following the Robert Murray M'Cheyne (RMM) two-year reading schedule, as arranged by D. A. Carson. 
Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

clement quotes hebrews

Clement of Rome wrote to the church in Corinth around AD 90.  This is perhaps the same Clement, companion of Paul, mentioned in Philippians 4:3.  Many hold him to be the first bishop / pope in Rome, aka St. Clement I.   Clement quotes from the letter to the Hebrews.  Origin suggested that Clement was in fact the writer (as transcriber or amanuensis) of Hebrews.  Perhaps this letter began as a "word of exhortation" given by Paul at the synagogue (Heb 13:22; cf Acts 13:15) which then became a circular letter for the churches.  Other possible authors of Hebrews include Luke, Barnabas, or Apollos.  The theology is Pauline, but the transcriber is obviously second-generation (Heb. 2:3-4). At any rate, this early church leader in Rome, is already quoting Hebrews in his letter in AD 90:    CHAPTER 36  ALL BLESSINGS ARE GIVEN TO US THROUGH CHRIST This is the way, beloved, in which we find our Savior, even Jesus Christ,  the High Prie...
Post a Comment
Read more

Howard Hendricks on OT books chronology

When I was in seminary, Howard Hendricks (aka "Prof") gave us a little card with the books of the OT chronologically arranged. The scanned copy I have was a bit blurry and I wanted to make something like this available for our church class in OT theology ("Story of Redemption"). A few minor edits and here it is...
2 comments
Read more

sword and trowel

"From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail. And the leaders stood behind the whole house of Judah, who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other. And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me." (Nehemiah 4:16-18 ESV) The great London preacher, Charles Spurgeon, published a monthly magazine called The Sword and The Trowel; A record of combat with sin and of labour for the Lord. It was published from 1865 to 1892. The cover of the journal had a drawing taken from Nehemiah 4, which included both a trowel (representing the work) and a sword (representing the fight). The sword was necessary to protect what the men with trowels were building. These citizen-soldier-builders would successfully complete the wall aroun...
Post a Comment
Read more