Acts 1:1-11

Dear RTB’ers,

One of the men in white clothing speaking, “This Jesus, Who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven.” (v. 11) The angels tell the disciples that Jesus will return in the same way that He left. To me, initially, that means He will come in a “cloud”, somehow (Acts 1:9b). Or thinking further, maybe not a cloud, but an “emerging appearance”, seen by everyone in the entire world, simultaneously. I try to picture that and put myself into that picture. And I’m blown away!! Every Sunday we say together, “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.” And almost every time I hear emphasis on the word “will”. It’s a belief that we hold, that the apostles and Paul held strongly in those first years after Jesus ascended, that Jesus WILL return. Have you put yourself into that picture?

He presented Himself alive to them after His suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days… (v. 3a) Paul expands on the information that Luke provides, “…that Christ died …, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day …, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive …, Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared also to me.” (I Corinthians 15:3b-8) In the next verses Paul goes on to explain the importance of Jesus’ Resurrection and His many post-Resurrection appearances. (I Corinthians 15:12-19) I have my own summary statement for that later paragraph, “If Christ is not raised from the dead, we are, of all people, the most to be pitied.” But Jesus is raised and WILL come again!! Foundational, fundamental beliefs. GLORY!!

Blessings!

Psalms 11-12

Dear RTB’ers,

I have seen over and over again in Scripture, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, that God has a special place in His heart for the poor and needy. I had a lot to say yesterday about other stuff and did not focus on David’s comments in Psalm 10 about the poor, the needy, the afflicted. But take a look: …He does not forget the cry of the afflicted. (Ps. 10:12b); and For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever. (Ps. 9:18); and O LORD, You hear the desire of the afflicted; You will strengthen their heart; You will incline Your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more. (Ps. 10:17-18) Today we see that focus again, with action on the Lord’s part, “Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the LORD; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.” (Ps. 12:5)

I agree with the psalmist that the Lord remembers the poor, the needy, the afflicted. But my difficulty is with His people, with us – His church – and our remembering (or not remembering) the poor, the needy, the afflicted. There is huge income inequality among people in the industrial nations and between the industrial nations and the lesser developed peoples; wealth inequality is even more dramatic! We have a poverty rate in the United States of 13.4 percent, one in every 7.5 people living in poverty. Almost one-third of those living in poverty are children under the age of 18 – and they can’t do anything about it! Global poverty is even worse; I’ll not trouble you with those statistics. I’m encouraged that the Lord remembers the poor, the needy, the afflicted. I’m troubled that the wealthy (us!) don’t do more. But I don’t have any reasonable answers short of wholesale national and global changes.

My apologies for such a sobering post.

Blessings!

Psalms 9-10

Dear RTB’ers,

A header in my NASB translation referred to Psalm 9 as “Thanksgiving for God’s Justice”. And when we see wickedness and righteousness set against each other in Psalm 9 (much like yesterday’s Psalm 7), then that sounds like a good title. The header for Psalm 9 is followed up by my NASB header for Psalm 10, “A Prayer for the Overthrow of the Wicked”. Given that these two Psalms are one in the Septuagint (as noted in STS), thanksgiving for justice followed by the overthrow of the wicked seems appropriate! Pray for justice, then watch the results!

I’m always surprised / confused by what seems (to me) to be David’s excessive focus on the wicked and on his enemies. We have seen it already quite a bit in earlier Psalms, then today in Psalm 9 (Ps. 9:3, 5b-6, 15-17) and an entire passage in Psalm 10 (Ps. 10:2-11). The focus on the wicked and his/her/their deeds is strange (again, to me) in that most of us don’t see these people or their deeds in our everyday lives. We read articles in the newspapers and magazines. We see horrible behaviors – violence, lust, corruption, etc. – in movies and on television. But we tend not to see these behaviors ourselves unless our jobs or our volunteerism take us there. Presumably, King David actually saw these people and their behaviors. Because of his position he had evildoers in and around his throne, although certainly not of his making or his desire! All that, yes, but to be fair David’s concern for wickedness today is overwhelmed by his praise to the Lord for His goodness and His deliverance (many, many verses in both Psalms). In spite of wickedness, God’s righteousness overwhelms.

I was especially touched by David’s personal motivation for deliverance, “Be gracious to me, LORD … so that I may tell of all Your praises, that … I may rejoice in Your salvation.” (Ps. 9:13-14) His focus is on praising the Lord. It should be clear to us that when David is finally delivered, that his first action will be thanksgiving and praise. Even yesterday I noted David asking the Lord not to die, for how could he praise God if he were dead?

David closes today’s combined Psalm with his consistent confidence in the Lord’s working: O LORD, You hear the desire of the afflicted; You will strengthen their heart; You will incline Your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more. (Ps. 10:17-18) Justice. Done.

Blessings!

Psalms 7-8

Dear RTB’ers,

No doubt the authors of Search the Scriptures spent thousands of hours poring over the books and chapters and verses of the Bible as they plotted a three-year journey through these Scriptures. Still, one wonders at their choice of putting Psalms 7-8 together on the same day, especially after two days of stand-alone Psalms 5-6. These two Psalms, 7 and 8, could hardly be more different.

Psalm 7 seems to be in the same genre as Psalm 6, something like a lament, but not fully so, with a lot of verses concerning David’s pursuers / enemies (Ps. 7:1-2, 4-6) and the wicked (Ps. 7:9a, 14-16), set apart by verses of praise, confidence and thanksgiving (Ps. 7:3, 7-8, 17).

Psalm 8, by contrast, is one of my favorites, especially (for me) those few words, What is man that You are mindful of him…? (Ps. 8:4a). David has begun and ended this Psalm by ascribing glory and majesty to his (and our) Lord (Ps. 8:1-2, 9). In between he reviews the magnitude of the heavens and sees mankind as such a small bit of God’s creation. But God looks down on this small bit of His creation, each and every one of His created human beings and has …crowned him with glory and honor… (Ps. 8:5b) and set him above everything else in all creation. It is such a humbling thought, that of all the glory that is God’s creation, that God looks down on mankind in a special way.

And if all that is not awesome in itself, because of His love for all of humanity and to rescue His human creation from the depths of their sin, He sent Jesus to die for us and His Holy Spirit to live in each and every one of us – each and every one of us, personally! …what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him? Awesome!!

Blessings!

Psalm 6

Dear RTB’ers,

Today’s Psalm 6 reads like a lament. I mentioned a few days ago of something I learned from our trip through the Psalms two years ago – synonyms for commands / commandments that helped me appreciate the Psalms more and understand them better. Today another item came up from 2022 – understanding laments. One of my Study Bibles two years ago listed the elements of a lament. We have three of those today: a cry for help (Ps. 6:1-3); the psalmist’s situation (his foes, Ps. 6:7-8); and an expression of confidence in the Lord’s deliverance (Ps. 6:8b-10).

Two other elements of a classic lament are missing (or hidden) in Psalm 6 – the psalmist’s protestation of innocence or prayer for vindication; and thanksgiving or grateful recognition for God’s help. I suppose it could be argued that verse 4b is something like David proclaiming his innocence or seeking vindication, but I see it more as a cry for mercy, …save me for the sake of your steadfast love, a recognition that he can do nothing without God’s help. Finally, surprisingly, I do not see thanksgiving in Psalm 6. I see a great deal of complaining and a lot of confidence in God’s help, but no real prayer of thanks.

Verse 5 is interesting, For in death there is no remembrance of You; in Sheol who will give You praise? David is “arguing” with God for his deliverance with an appeal to logic – if he’s dead, there is no “gain” for God, no one to praise Him, so God should deliver him. Interesting!

So, an introduction to laments. We’ll see quite a few more of those as we read on.

Blessings!

Psalm 5

Dear RTB’ers,

Sorry for the delayed post – morning medical appointments…

Psalm 5, again “A Psalm of David”. Today I noticed David’s castigation of the wicked (Psalm 5:4b-6, 9-10) contrasted with his prayers for the righteous (Psalm 5:7-8, 11-12).

Interrupted! Gotta go…

Blessings!

Psalms 3-4

Dear RTB’ers,

Today’s Psalm 3 begins with a header notation, “A Psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom.” The title is associated with an incident reported in II Sam 15:13-17, when King David is on the run from his son, Absalom, who has attempted to usurp the throne from his father. Surprisingly, before he became king, David also spent many years fleeing from King Saul. So both before his reign and during his reign we see David fleeing for his life. But even as King David is fleeing from his son, I find that he has confidence in God’s deliverance: I cried aloud to the LORD, and He answered me from His holy hill. I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me. (Psalm 3:4-5) His sleep does not appear to be one of fitfulness, restlessness, anxiety. Rather, he seeks the Lord’s deliverance and is confident in the answer that he receives. A good lesson for us! Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

The confidence that David shows in Psalm 3 is reflected again in Psalm 4: But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for Himself; the LORD hears when I call to Him. (Psalm 4:3) And we see again David’s restful sleep: In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. (Psalm 4:8) A good lesson for us!

Blessings!

Psalms 1-2

Dear RTB’ers,

(Speaking of the righteous person) …but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night. (v. 2) In the past, whenever I read about “the law” (of the Lord) I would go back to Mt. Sinai where the Lord gave Moses and the Israelites the Ten Commandments or to Leviticus and Deuteronomy, where He added more “laws”. However, one of my main takeaways when we did the Psalms and the Wisdom literature in 2022 had to do with “the Law”, when we read Psalm 119. In essence, the entire Psalm 119 is about the Law – God’s word to His people. But my Study Bible pointed out that the author of Psalm 119 uses seven (I counted eight) other synonyms for “law” throughout Psalm 119: testimonies, ways, precepts, statutes, commands (or commandments), judgments, decrees, and (His) word. I’m not sure how “correct” it is to simply insert any one of these words for “the law”, but it helps my understanding when I typically use “His ways” as a synonym for “the law”. I see a more loving God than when I think of all the “dos and don’ts”.

STS notes that Psalm 2 is a “Messianic” psalm, looking forward to the reign of the Lord’s Anointed. So read it again with Jesus as that Anointed One (v. 2), that King (v. 6), My Son (v. 7 and continuing in verses 8 and 9), and the Son (v. 12). Jesus is that Anointed One, that King, that Son!!

Blessings!

Luke 24:36-53

Dear RTB’ers,

Today we finish Luke’s gospel with another of Jesus’ Resurrection appearances. Although we are never certain of the exact chronology of Jesus’ activities in the gospels, today’s incident possibly occurs on His Easter Resurrection day, late afternoon/early evening. If so, we see (again) that Jesus is fully committed to His disciples. They have seen His arrest and Crucifixion and He wants to assure them before too much time has passed that He is alive, that He has risen as He said He would. Even though they have heard reports of Him being alive from the women and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, it was important to Him to appear to them all in person. That’s the Jesus that we know; He is not unconcerned with whatever is troubling us, but rather is there for us. Live in that!

The disciples were unbelieving when they heard the women’s story, then again when the two men reported their meeting with Jesus. (Mark 16:12-13) Now Jesus appears in the flesh and the disciples …were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. (v. 37) So Jesus had to convince them otherwise. As with so many other items in Scripture, His convincing was in three parts. First, He appeared in the flesh and spoke to them, even commenting to them that …a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. (v. 39b) Second, He explained about Himself from Scripture, Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead… (v. 46a) Finally, He asked for something to eat.

So, for us…? If you’ve been sharing the Gospel over and over again with your family and friends and they still do not believe, don’t quit. It took Jesus appearing in person to convince His disciples that He was alive – and then even with multiple signs. Just pray again that He will appear to the ones with whom you’ve been sharing, in the person of His Holy Spirit. Don’t be unbelieving, but believe – wait and pray, pray and wait.

Blessings!

Luke 24:13-35

Dear RTB’ers,

Jesus’ Resurrection, continued… Today, Jesus meeting two disciples on the road to Emmaus. This incident is possibly my all-time favorite Bible story. When I read it, I live it! I’m in it, I’m one of the disciples. A few verses jump out at me every time:

First, when Jesus asks them about their conversation, …one of them, named Cleopas, answered Him, “Are You the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” (v.18) Essentially Cleopas is reflecting the fact that Jerusalem has just gone through its annual Passover feast, with hundreds of thousands of pilgrims joining the large population of nearby residents, and the news of Jesus’ Crucifixion and Resurrection has overwhelmed the city. There is no way the Jewish leaders could keep this quiet, even though they tried. (See Matthew 28:11-15)

Second, the disciples related what they knew, then Jesus took the lead: And then He said to them, “You foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to come into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the Prophets, He explained to them the things written about Himself in all the Scriptures. (vv. 25-27) As I put myself into that story, I am listening with all my heart! I’ve never heard the Old Testament explained so powerfully! Don’t you wish we had a recording…?!

Third, to me, the most powerful, … He took the bread and blessed it, and He broke it and began giving it to them. And then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him… (vv. 30b-31a) And … He was recognized by them at the breaking of the bread. (v. 35b) Every week in our liturgical tradition we have the opportunity over and over again to recognize Jesus in our priests breaking the bread and sharing it among us. How powerful that is, especially hearkening back to the Emmaus verses I just noted.

Now, finally however, we begin to see faith and hope from the “eleven and those who were with them” (v. 33b). The two Emmaus disciples happily recount their story of meeting Jesus, then the “eleven” counter with their own story of Jesus appearing to Peter. Sounds like the first “Glory Sightings Sunday” in history! GLORY!!!

Blessings!