Blog – Page 132 – Read Through the Bible

June 15 / Mark 15:1-20

Mark 15:1-20

I am not a person who suffers pain well. But as horrible as the crucifixion was, I am equally troubled at the scourging that Jesus received from the Roman cohort. A scourging with a leather whip would have been trouble enough, but these whips (according to my Study Bible) had bits of bone and metal embedded into the leather thongs. In addition to the pain from each lash of the whip, Jesus had to endure the taunting by the soldiers, then a crown of thorns driven into His head. Through all this I can imagine Jesus loving His torturers and praying out His words from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) Words fail me.

June 14 / Luke 23:1-25

Luke 23:1-25

So often the Synoptic gospels are very similar, with even sentences and paragraphs repeated almost verbatim. But today Luke is very different from Matthew (yesterday’s reading) or Mark (tomorrow’s reading) and even John (two days from today). Luke has Jesus appearing before Herod, unlike any of the other writers. All of the other writers have Jesus mocked and flogged, but not Luke. Finally, Luke has Pilate proclaiming Jesus’ innocence three times (vv. 4, 14, 22). Despite those proclamations, Pilate yielded to the crowd and delivered Jesus over to be crucified: But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that He should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. (vv. 23-24) What a sad, weak leader! But as I note in the second link below, Jesus’ horrible death is our glorious salvation. How can we not be touched by these Gospel accounts…??

June 13 / Matt. 27:1-26

Matthew 27:1-26

And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. (v. 5) Through all our reflections and discussions on Judas’ betrayal of Jesus, today’s reading (to me) clarifies Judas’ actions. It looks like Judas was simply a mercenary looking for an opportunity to earn some cash by turning Jesus over, but that he did not anticipate that the Jewish elders would have Jesus killed. Jesus had escaped previous challenges, maybe Judas thought that He would be questioned and challenged and maybe scourged, but then released. When he saw that the Jewish leaders meant to kill Jesus he regretted turning Him over. I see remorse and repentance in Judas’ actions, but then he took another wrong turn taking his life into his own hands. He had not remembered or internalized Jesus’ words at the Last Supper, …for this is my blood of the (new) covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (Matthew 26:28)

I wince at the thought of Jesus being scourged. How can men do something like that to another man?

June 12 / Luke 22:54-71

Luke 22:54-71

And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. (v. 61a) This verse has always struck me. Recall from yesterday that Mark had Peter moving from the courtyard to the forecourt (porch), closer to where Jesus was inside. Now being closer, there’s a turn of events that Peter had not anticipated. He is now close enough to Jesus that Jesus can look over and see him. And see him, He did, after the rooster crowed. Jesus looked at him and guilt overwhelmed Peter. How he must have felt, to know that he had wronged Jesus by denying Him and for Jesus to know that and turn to look at him at that very moment. Peter was crushed! The weight of his denial was enormous. Peter …went out and wept bitterly. (v. 62) The guilt was instantaneous, but the regret must have been even more pronounced – he now had to live with that memory, that regret until Jesus’ resurrection three days later. It’s easy to see now why Peter would RUN to the tomb after the report that Jesus was alive! He needed to be washed clean with Jesus’ loving touch. Sin, guilt, repentance, forgiveness. What a lesson we can learn from Peter!

June 11 / Mark 14:53-72

Mark 14:53-72

Regularly I try to put myself into the story and to visualize the words and actions that I am reading. In today’s reading we have Peter following Jesus …at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. (v.54b) I see Peter’s aggressive personality at work here, first cutting off the high priest’s servant’s ear, then following the crowd discreetly so as to see what would become of his Master, then boldly, brazenly entering the courtyard of the high priest – clearly a “foreigner” in that crowd of temple officers and guards and household servants. Then after being challenged by a servant girl he leaves this crowd and moves closer to Jesus, to the “forecourt” (or porch). I daresay the he moved closer, not to avoid a further challenge, but because he had heard the commotion inside – the verbal abuse and the people in the room slapping and taunting Jesus. I can imagine that he was troubled at Jesus being treated so rudely. His love for Jesus left him unafraid to move closer to Him. Unfortunately the rooster crowing and two more denials and another crowing overwhelmed him and he broke down and soon thereafter departed. I feel sorry for Peter, such a conflicted person…

June 10 / Matt. 26:57-75

Matthew 26:57-75

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Although you may be thinking that I am quoting from today’s reading, I am actually quoting John 2:19. In today’s verse 61 it’s actually two witnesses who testify to this statement against Jesus. But they were not false witnesses like the others that the Jewish leaders were putting forth: Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put Him to death. (v. 59) These two witnesses spoke truth, words that Jesus had spoken very early in His earthly ministry. When Jesus could not deny that He had spoken these words, it gave the high priest the lead-in to demand that Jesus respond to the Messiah question: And the high priest said to Him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” (v. 63b) Jesus’ reply to this question sealed His fate: Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” (v. 64) According to those present He had clearly blasphemed! Unfortunately they did not know that He was speaking truth. Some day we will see that truth played out before our very eyes!! GLORY!!

June 9 / John 18:1-27

John 18:1-27

Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest… (v. 15a) I keep wondering about this disciple “known to the high priest”. I commented below that many (most?) scholars presume that it was John, the Gospel author. I commented on this item (below) in our 2019 discussions, wondering if John’s father, Zebedee may have been known to the high priest, such that John and James would also be likewise known. That could be the case if Zebedee was a well-to-do fisherman, an argument we discussed two years ago, who (reflecting on today’s political donors) may have been generous to the Temple treasury.

But I think it’s somewhat of a stretch for someone from Galilee to be “known to the high priest”. Another suspect in this regard could be Lazarus. I recall John S. (in 2019) arguing that Lazarus may have been the Gospel writer and maybe even “…the disciple whom Jesus loved…” (see my May 30 comments). I can imagine some of the disciples fleeing from Gethsemane and running to Bethany to alert Lazarus of Jesus’ arrest, and I can follow that story forward to Lazarus bringing Peter into the courtyard. Maybe we have two people remaining anonymous, one “the disciple whom Jesus loved”, the other “known to the high priest”. Interesting…

June 8 / Luke 22:39-53

Luke 22:39-53

A few days ago I posted a comment where I noticed Jesus calling Phillip by name. I noted that it was a very personal touch and that it was not often recorded that Jesus called one of His disciples by name. I also mentioned there about Jesus referring to Simon Peter by name at the Last Supper, about Satan sifting him like wheat. Now today Jesus calls Judas by name (v. 48b). A small point, mostly an enhancement to that earlier comment.

A correction to a comment from two years ago: Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against Him… (v. 52a) I had commented in 2019 that no chief priests or elders had come to the Garden to apprehend Jesus, but here Luke tells us otherwise. Certainly the high priest(s) stayed behind, but a number of Jewish leaders were present. Surprisingly, I noted this same correction two years ago, two days after I posted my “cowards” comment!

Verse 42, Jesus praying: Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me. Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done. We end many of our supplication prayers with some variant on this verse, both individually and in shared prayer, “not my/our will, but yours be done”. It is here in Luke that we have these exact words spoken by Jesus. Matthew and Mark record similar words, but Luke is whom we quote verbatim when we end our prayers like this.

June 7 / Mark 14:32-52

Mark 14:32-52

I’ve been thinking about this …crowd with swords and clubs… (v. 43b) that came to meet Jesus. To get to the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus had to go “over the ravine of the Kidron” (John 18:1) to the upslopes of the Mount of Olives (Luke 22:39). The crowd included a band of <Roman> soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees (John 18:3). In that same verse the NASB also records that Judas had “procured” their services. I’m wondering to what extend this entire mob was either ordered to go (in some official capacity, serving the Jewish leaders) or paid to go if their services could not be required (townspeople and off-duty Roman soldiers?). But think about it – this mob was not being asked to go just a few blocks from the temple area. [Aren’t most riots just a few blocks’ walk?] They weren’t just going to the local city park. They were being asked to leave Jerusalem, traverse the Kidron ravine/valley and climb the Mount of Olives to get to the Garden. Oh yeah, and bring swords and clubs! All in the middle of the night! Go get Him and bring Him back to the high priest. That’s what’s really going on in these few verses where “a crowd” somehow shows up at Jesus’ nighttime rest area. This is a full-blown chief priests’ plot!

June 6 / Matt. 26:36-56

Matthew 26:36-56

Today we begin Jesus’ Passion – it starts with His praying to His Father and His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. Each of the Gospels reports on this Garden and Jesus’ arrest, but John does not include Jesus’ prayer with His Father.

As He arrived in the Garden, He took forward with Him the three disciples (Peter, James, and John) that He had chosen for special occasions at least two other times – His Transfiguration and His healing of Jairus’ daughter. That is, Jesus knew that He would be going through this terrible ordeal so He brought forward His three closest disciples so that He might gain strength from their support. Alas, their failure to stay awake and be with Jesus is a sad event.

So I put myself there along with Peter, James, and John. They nod off to sleep. Do I join them or do I stay awake for Jesus? Maybe they had too much wine at that Passover meal? Did I? Or maybe they were just tired from a long day? And me? Tired? Always, it seems! But too tired to stay awake with Jesus? Like Peter, James, and John? Alas, their failure is my failure. All too often I’ve been too tired to “stay awake” with Jesus – for whatever He is asking me to do. Carol recalls a Bible Study back in Texas when one of her friends soundly declared that these three disciples were failures, that there was no way that he would have slept after Jesus asked him to stay awake. I wish I had that kind of conviction in my life, but I think I would have fallen asleep.