John 21 – The books that would be written of Jesus

‘So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?”

He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”

He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”

He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”

He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”

Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”

Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!”

Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?”

Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!” Therefore this saying went out among the brethren that that disciple would not die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?” This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true. And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.’

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Leviticus 16 – God bless the scapegoat

“Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness…’Now you shall have this as a permanent statute, to make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year.’ And just as the LORD had commanded Moses, so he did.”

I once attended a worship service where we all wrote down our sins, gathered them together, and burned them. We should probably do that more often.

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Leviticus 14 – On pigeon’s wings

“To cleanse the house then, he shall take two birds and cedar wood and a scarlet string and hyssop, and he shall slaughter the one bird in an earthenware vessel over running water. Then he shall take the cedar wood and the hyssop and the scarlet string, with the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the slain bird as well as in the running water, and sprinkle the house seven times. He shall thus cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the running water, along with the live bird and with the cedar wood and with the hyssop and with the scarlet string. However, he shall let the live bird go free outside the city into the open field. So he shall make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.”

This whole process seems a little weird and mystical. I was good with the whole sacrificial system up until this point. God lost me a little bit whit the rules about leprosy and mold.

However, there is something that really appeals to me in the releasing of the live bird. It is as though you were releasing your disease and letting it fly away into the wilderness.

Some bright morning when this life is o’er; I’ll fly away
To that home on God’s celestial shore; I’ll fly away.

I’ll fly away, oh Glory, I’ll fly away in the morning
When I die Hallelujah, by and by; I’ll fly away.

When the shadows of this life have gone; I’ll fly away
Like a bird from these prison walls I’ll fly; I’ll fly away.

I’ll fly away, oh Glory, I’ll fly away in the morning
When I die Hallelujah, by and by; I’ll fly away.

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Leviticus 7 – Rules, rules everywhere

“This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering and the ordination offering and the sacrifice of peace offerings, which the LORD commanded Moses at Mount Sinai in the day that He commanded the sons of Israel to present their offerings to the LORD in the wilderness of Sinai.”

That’s a whole lot of offering going on: burnt, grain, sin, guilt, ordination, and peace. No wonder the priestly leadership of Israel became so rules based. I wonder if there was a temple parliamentarian?

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Leviticus 6 – The food of the Gods

Much of the offerings presented to the Lord were eventually given back to the priests to eat. I had always assumed that this was a means of providing for the needs of the priests. After all they were performing sacrifices all day rather than working.

But was this arrangement merely pragmatic? Is there a deeper meaning behind those closest to God consuming the sacrifice which removes the sin of the people? I really don’t know.

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Leviticus 4 – The church who sins together…

There are two kinds of sins addressed in this chapter. The first kind we are very familiar with; that is individual sin. If an Israelite unintentionally goes against God’s law, they have sinned and are called to make a sacrifice to God to atone for their sin.

The second kind of sin is group or corporate sin. If the whole community of Israel fails to follow God’s law then collectively they are called to make a sacrifice to God to atone for their sin.

Has your church ever sinned? Have you collectively sought God’s forgiveness?

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Leviticus 2 – A life seasoned with faithfulness and devoid of sin

The Lord then instructs Moses on how a grain offering is to be presented to the Lord. It is to be “an offering by fire of a soothing aroma too the Lord.” The remainder of the grain offering not burned up is a given to the priests. No leaven or honey may be a part of the grain offering; however, each grain offering needs to be seasoned with salt

Looking forward to the New Testament leaven is most often used to symbolize sin and salt is most often used to represent faithfulness to God. I would guess (without having done any research) that these New Testament understandings of leaven and salt come from these Levitical instructions on presenting a grain offering to God.

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Leviticus 1 – Recovering Ancient Worship Practices: washing the entrails of your goat

Leviticus begins with the Lord speaking to Moses at the tent of meeting. The Lord then gives Moses the instructions Moses is to give to the people on how to present offerings to God.

Those giving the offering and the priests combine their efforts to slay, butcher, and cook the burnt offering. Different methods of offering are given depending on if the offering is a bull, sheep or bird.

Overall, the process of giving an offering is a messy dirty process. It is a messy dirty process to forgive sin and right the offenses committed against God. There is something to be said for the dirty, smelly process of animal sacrifice. I imagine washing the entrails of your sacrifice reminded you how offensive your sins against God were.

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Psalm 25 – Relating to the Lord

For Your name’s sake, O LORD, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great. Who is the man who fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way he should choose. His soul will abide in prosperity, And his descendants will inherit the land. The secret of the LORD is for those who fear Him, And He will make them know His covenant. My eyes are continually toward the LORD, For He will pluck my feet out of the net. Turn to me and be gracious to me, For I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; Bring me out of my distresses. Look upon my affliction and my trouble, And forgive all my sins.

Pardon my iniquity, pluck me out of that which entangles me, and forgive me sins. Can the Christian life be summed up more succinctly?

I am an immoral person and I beg for my immorality to be pardoned. I allow myself to become entangled in that which I should be avoiding. I need to seek Christ’s forgiveness both once for all and every day.

May the Lord lead us into a closer relationship with himself everyday.

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Genesis 45 – Seek and extend forgiveness

“God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.”

Joseph recognized that God had used his life to save his family. Through God’s work he was able to forgive the wrong committed against him. His brothers were also able to submit themselves before him and ask for forgiveness.

We all have people whose forgiveness we need to seek out. We all have people that we need to forgive in our hearts. What is God doing in your life to allow this forgiveness to come about? Has God brought you to a place where you need to ask for or extend forgiveness. I am sure you have never been sold into slavery by your brothers; if Joseph can forgive his brothers and see God working through their evil act, then you can forgive those whom you hold something against.

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Matthew 18 – Resenting forgiveness

Jesus tells the story of a man who was forgiven a great debt he owed, but then went out and demanded a small debt be paid by a man who owed him.  The point Jesus is making is that the man who was forgiven the enormous debt, should in turn be willing to forgive a small debt.

The obvious application to our live is that if Jesus has forgiven all of the sins I have committed against him (and they are great and numerous) then I have no right to withhold forgiveness for the sins anyone commits against me.  In fact, the story seems to imply that I should forgive those who have sinned against before before they even ask.

I would argue that because of the enormous debt Christ has forgiven in my life, I have no right to hold anything against anyone; it is my duty to forgive as I have been forgiven.  That is a hard thing to do and I do not do it well.  Forgiveness is tough, but the next time I find myself having a hard time forgiving I need to re-read the second half of Matthew 18 and recognize that Jesus did not resent forgiving me.

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