May 2021 Readings

Date Reading(s) Verses 01-May Luke 19:1-27 27 02-May John 12:1-19 19 03-May Matt. 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11 22 04-May Luke 19:28-44 17 05-May Matt. 21:12-17, Mark 11:12-19, Luke 19:45-48 18 06-May Matt. 21:18-32 15 07-May Mark 11:20-33, Luke 20:1-8 22 08-May Matt. 21:33-46 14 09-May Matt. 22:1-22 22 10-May Mark 12:1-17 17 11-May Luke 20:9-26 18 …

April 30 / Matt. 20:29-34, Mark 10:46-52, Luke 18:35-43

Matthew 20:29-34, Mark 10:46-52, and Luke 18:35-43 And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. (Luke 18:43b) Two years ago we read these three passages on three consecutive days, and on the second day, Mark’s version, I commented on the crowd’s reaction to Bartimaeus begging Jesus to be healed. See the …

April 29 / Matt. 20:17-28, Mark 10:32-45, Luke 18:31-34

Matthew 20:17-28, Mark 10:32-45, and Luke 18:31-34 We have some chronological problems with today’s setting. From yesterday’s reading, John 11:54 puts Jesus in a city called Ephraim; scholars put that city some 15 miles north or northwest from Jerusalem. So what is the mother of James and John doing this far south from Capernaum (some …

April 27 / John 11:17-37

John 11:17-37 So now I can’t see the name “Lazarus” without thinking about John S.’s argument that Lazarus may have written the Gospel of John. Further support for that argument has to do with the amount of time that John’s Gospel has Jesus in Judea and the fact that Lazarus was from Bethany, only two …

April 26 / John 11:1-16

John 11:1-16 I’ve always seen Jesus’ raising of Lazarus as the beginning of the end. After this miracle we’ll only have a few more days’ readings before Palm Sunday. Geography: Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” (v. 7) Yesterday we had Jesus in Jerusalem arguing with the …

April 25 / John 10:22-42

John 10:22-42 I’ve never understood this verse: Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’?” (v. 34) So I went back and read Psalm 82; its verse 6 contains the line that Jesus is quoting. After an opening verse, God is the One speaking in this entire Psalm. He is looking …

April 23 / Luke 18:18-30

Luke 18:18-30 The “rich, young ruler”, the finale! Comparing the three accounts… First, Matthew and Mark each list six “commandments”, but for each of them their sixth is not one of the original Mt. Sinai commandments. Matthew has …love your neighbor as yourself (v. 19), while Mark’s sixth is “Do not defraud…” (v. 19). Neither …