One Year Bible Readings and Commentary for Saturday, February 26th
Click Here to Read Leviticus 19:1-20:21
1. The Lord's first words to Moses are important. "You must be holy, because I am holy". The word means to be. "set apart for a special purpose". God is not like man, and therefore is wholly separate in His very essence. We are made in God's image, and as we follow his laws, we are set apart. God's law was to separate the Israelites from their neighbors to show them what the real God looked like.
It is the same today. As believers in Christ, we are sanctified, or made holy by Jesus' work on the cross. We are declared as holy, because of Jesus' sacrificial death for us. But we are also called to live a holy life. We call the process of being made Holy, "santification".
What makes us different from the Israelites though is that we have been given the Holy Spirit, who lives in us and makes us holy. As we live by the Spirit, we can lead a holy life. We will never be completely holy in this life, because we still have a sinful nature.
2. The rest of the chapter lists all the different regulations, which the Israelites were to obey in order to be holy, or set apart. Most of the laws in this chapter had to deal with how the Israelites treated each other. They also had to do with how they treated the poor among them. For instance, when they harvested the crops and the grapes, they were not to harvest the edges of the field and not pick up any crops or grapes that had fallen while they were harvesting.
3. Some of the laws were specific like, "Don't wait until the next day to pay your neighbor". Others were similar to the ones we see today, "Don't gossip about your neighbor". Here are some interesting ones we have not heard about yet. Don't practice fortune telling and witchcraft. Stand up in the presence of the elderly. Don't mark you skin with tattoes.
Many people get tattoes today, so the question is does this law apply? Part of the answer is to deal with the context in Moses' day, and why such tattoes were gotten.
“The tattoo indicated that one was a slave to a particular deity.” (Rooker)
“Ancient writers abound with accounts of marks made on the face, arms, etc., in honour of different idols; and to this the inspired penman alludes.” (Clarke)
So are tattoes okay today? I don't think this passage gives a definitive answer, but the question one should ask is, "Why am I getting this tattoo?" Is it to give God glory? What is the message I am giving out with this tattoo?
4. In chapter 20, we see the consequences for disobedience, which in the cases of certain offenses was capital punishment, or death. The following offenses were punishable by death: sacrificing children to Molech, a person who dishonors a mother or father, a man and woman who commit adultery against their neighbor, a person who practices homosexuality and bestiality.
Wow! That seems harsh! I thought God was kind and merciful. How do we explain this part of scripture, which seems so difficult to interpret?
Here are a couple explanations from commentators which might help us understand.
"Calling down curses on a mother or father". - "This wasn’t merely saying something bad about or to one’s parents; it was likely the calling down of a death-curse on them." Guzik
Sexual offenses like adultery, homosexuality, incest and bestiality. Note the same penalty is given for both adultery and homosexuality. We sometimes rank homosexuality as worse today.
As a practical matter, this death penalty was rarely carried out, as was the case in most of the situations in chapter 20 where capital punishment was commanded. This is because any capital crime required two or three witnesses, and the witnesses had to be so certain of what they saw that they were willing to “cast the first stone” – that is, initiate the execution (Deuteronomy 17:6-7).
i. So, particularly in a case of adultery (or other sexual sins) there would rarely be two eyewitnesses willing to initiate the execution – and so the death penalty would not be carried out.
ii. This also helps us to understand what Jesus did when He confronted the religious leaders who brought to Him the woman taken in adultery (John 8:1-12). By their presence and words, they claimed to have caught the woman in the act of adultery – but they did not also bring the guilty man. No one was willing to identify themselves as a witness and start the execution of the woman (to cast the first stone).
iii. Shall surely be put to death: Even though the death penalty was carried out so rarely in ancient Israel (especially for these crimes), it still did good for Israel to have it. This penalty in the law of Israel clearly communicated an ideal that Israel was to reach for. It made people regard their sin much more seriously. (Guzik)
1. The Pharisees demanded a sign from Jesus, but he would not give it to them. He had already done many signs for them and it didn't change their view toward him, so why should he do one now?
"This demand for a “special” sign was an extreme example of the arrogance and pride of the Pharisees towards Jesus. Essentially, they said, “You have done a lot of small-time miracles. Come on up to the big leagues and really show us something.” Guzik
2. Jesus warned the disciples about the "yeast of the Pharisees", but somehow they were focused on the bread they gave Jesus to feed the 4,000 and 5,000. Jesus was frustrated that they had so completely missed the point. Jesus was irritated because they were so slow to believe and understand.
"This is one of the situations where we wish we had a recording of Jesus’ words to hear what tone of voice He used. Was it a tone communicating anger, concern, or frustration? We know that even when Jesus confronted His disciples, He did it in love." Guzik
3. When Jesus heals the blind man, the story has an interesting twist. Jesus touches his eyes and the man can partially see, but it looks as if the people were like trees walking around. So Jesus touched his eyes again and he could see fully.
This is the only “gradual” or “progressive” healing described in the ministry of Jesus. It is another example of the variety of healing methods Jesus used. (Guzik)
4. It is at this time that Jesus decides to check in with his disciples to see if they are starting to realize who he is. He asks them directily, "Who do people say I am?". Then he asks the disciples, "Who do YOU say I am?" It seems as though Jesus might have had a higher expectation of the disciples to know he was as the Messiah.
Peter gets it right by saying, "You are the Messiah". In Matthew Jesus says to him, "Blessed are you Peter, this was not revealed to you by man but by God!"
5. Jesus for the first time tells the disciples that he will be killed by the Jewish religious leaders, but after three days he will be raised from the dead. Peter, who just got it right by correctly calling the Jesus the Messiah, tries to dissuade Jesus from such a notion. Jesus rebukes Peter saying he does not have in mind the things of God but of Satan. Just because Peter knew Jesus was the Messiah, doesn't mean he understood what kind of Messiah Jesus would be.
"Peter’s intent was love for Jesus, but he was unwittingly used of Satan. You don’t have to be demon possessed for Satan to use you, and we need to be on guard lest we are unwittingly used." Guzik
6. Jesus then gives his disciples the clearest definition of what it means to be his disciple, possibly in response to Peter's misunderstanding of what it meant to follow him.
“If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." 8:24-25
The cross was an instrument of torture, but in this case taking up their cross was to deny themselves and follow Jesus. It was to die to themselves and live for him. We all have our own cross to bear in the sense that we are all called to give up anything which prevents us from following Christ with our whole life. But in giving up our lives we find them, in a way we never could before.
"Amazingly, the people who live this way before Jesus are the ones who are really, genuinely happy. Giving our life to Jesus all the way and living as an others-centered person does not take away from our life, it adds to it." (Guzik)
"What Now" Study Questions:
The disciples thought Jesus was talking about physical yeast, but He was making a spiritual analogy. How often do you focus more on the physical world when Jesus is concerned with your spiritual condition?
Who do you say that Jesus is? This is the most important question in life!
Comments
Post a Comment