One Year Bible, Monday January 31st - The Passover
Congratulations! We have reached the 31st Day of reading the One Year Bible, 1/12th of the whole bible. If you are a little bit behind, don't worry. Consistency is the key and the most important part of the discipline of reading the bible! God bless you as we head into February!
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The Passover
The other aspect of the Passover celebration is the unleavened bread. Leaven was a metaphor for sin. A little bit of it can work through the whole batch. For the 14th day through the 21st day, they could not eat anything but unleavened bread. Also it was a reminder that they had to leave quickly and could not wait for the dough to rise.
We also see in this passage the importance of families passing down and teaching kids to remember what God has done for them. The best place to teach faith is in the home. Parents spend more time with their kids than any other figure in their life.
"When you enter the land the Lord has promised to give you, you will continue to observe this ceremony. Then your children will ask, ‘What does this ceremony mean?’ And you will reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. And though he struck the Egyptians, he spared our families."
Israel’s Exodus from Egypt
Pharaoh got the message and ordered the Israelites to leave saying, "Get out!" Once again Pharaoh says something very interesting. He asks Moses to, "Bless him before they go!" When the Israelites asked for silver and gold, the Egyptians gave them everything they needed, so the Israelites ended up with all of their wealth. That night 600,000 men, in addition to all the women and children, left Egypt. You can see the exponential growth of the Israelites in the land of Egypt. God used this time to multiply them, which they could not have done in Canaan without intermarrying.
Instructions for the Passover Meal
The Israelites are the only ones who are allowed to celebrate this meal in the context of the community. Other males, like servants and foreigners living among them, could eat of the meal only if they were circumcised. Importantly the passage concludes, "So all the people of Israel followed all the Lord’s commands to Moses and Aaron."
Jesus Heals Two Blind Men
Two blind men followed Jesus and cried out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us." They get three things right. First, they call Jesus, "Lord". Second, they call him by his Messianic title, "Son of David". And finally, the ask Jesus for "mercy", which shows their faith in him. Jesus asked them what they wanted him to do. They wanted to see and Jesus had mercy on them, as they had asked. Jesus touched them directly and they could see!
The men approached Jesus directly, humbly, and with faith in who He was. He honored all of this! When you approach Jesus, do you do it as these blind men did? Though they were blind, they could really see who Jesus was, which led to him restoring their physical sight.
Jesus’ Triumphant Entry
We start the last week of Jesus' life, which we call "Holy Week". The first image we have is of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a young donkey, which have never been ridden before. Remember Matthew is interested in the fulfillment of prophecy. This fulfills a prophecy from Zechariah 9:9. Though he came humbly, the people spread out cloaks and branches as if he were a real king. And the people shouted,
"Praise God for the Son of David! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Praise God in highest heaven!”
This was also a fulfilled prophecy from the psalms. Most kings come riding on a "war horse", but Jesus came riding on a "beast of burden". Just the donkey bore the weight of its owner, Jesus as our humble king would bear the weight of our sin.
Jesus Clears the Temple
There is a difference between "anger", which is destructive and sinful, and "righteous anger". Today Jesus exhibits "righteous anger" toward the leaders in the temple. Why? Because they were making a mockery of the house of God. This also fulfilled prophecies about him from Isaiah and Jeremiah. Meanwhile the blind and the lame continued to come to him in the temple, and he healed them. Children came in shouting, "Praise God for the Son of David". The leaders were indignant over this but this fulfilled a prophecies from Psalms 8 and 21.
Though the leaders made a mockery of God's house, the children brought in true worship fitting for God's Son the True King!
Jesus Curses the Fig Tree
The next day as Jesus left, he cursed a fig tree that had not borne any fruit. It is not an accident that he had just left the temple. The fig tree would never bear fruit again. In a similar way, the religous leaders did not bear the fruit of belief in the Messiah. Though they should have known him, they didn't. They would never have influence as leaders ever again. When they rejected the very One who they purported to serve, they died. God planted new trees in his vineyard. As they abided in Jesus, the True Vine, they would bear fruit that would last forever.
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