Daily Reading Passages

Click below for access to the passages. Biblegateway.com is an excellent site with many versions of the Bible. The link below opens in NIV.  Youversion.com is a new site that allows you to annotate your own Bible, make notes, and comments once you create an account. That link opens in the TNIV version. Other versions are available at both sites.

Coaching Comments

We continue on with descriptions of the sacrifices in Leviticus 4:1 - 5:19. Chapter 4 talks about the variations of the sin offering. In these God was teaching a couple of different things. First, He was teaching that sin, even unintentional, has consequences. In each case the offender was to place his hands on the head of the sacrificial animal. This was a symbol of transferring guilt from the person who sinned to the animal. Why would they do that? God was showing them that there was a penalty for sin. In this case the animal paid it for them. But that was only to build the understanding, so that ultimately Jesus could replace all these sacrifices. Our sins (and theirs) would transfer onto Jesus at the cross, and there He would be the sacrifice for one and all.

Chapter 5 starts explaining a few circumstances where a person might sin and not realize it, and then gives a sort of sliding-scale for the sacrifices. If someone can't afford a lamb then there is a whole sequence of things that can be brought, down to something that could be afforded by the poorest in the community. To me this indicates that for God the principle was more important than the letter of the law. He didn't want position in the community or level of wealth to dictate whether a person could do what was necessary with the sacrifices.

Back in the New Testament reading, Mark 2:13 - 3:6, gives us a quick selection of five scenes. It starts with Jesus calling Matthew Levi. This is the guy who wrote the gospel we just finished. Shortly after that, we see Jesus at a party thrown by Matthew Levi for his friends. Since Matthew was a tax collector (considered a traitor by the Jews, and looked down on by the Romans), the friends he had were undoubtedly the low and marginal in the community. But Jesus went to the party, and incurred the disapproval of the religious who saw it (why were they watching anyway?) By the way, this is where we get the concept of a "Matthew Party," for those of you who have come across that. If you haven't heard of it, it's the idea of creating a social gathering for your friends who aren't Christians, and inviting a couple of your Christian friends, just so they can all rub shoulders. Anyway, the encounter ends with a very important statement from Jesus, that ought to be formative for the church: "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

After this Jesus gets challenged by the Pharisees about fasting. Apparently they thought Jesus' disciples were having a little too much fun. Jesus' responded that fasting was often a sign of grief, but if the Bridegroom was present (Himself) why would his disciples feel that way? This leads into Jesus' teaching about the new wine and old wineskins. Very appropriately, Mark segues into an interaction Jesus had about the Sabbath. If ever there was a place where the new wine/old wineskin principle would come into play, this was it.

At this time the Sabbath had become a labyrinth of customs, duties, obligations and expectations. For the Pharisees it was the point of highest spiritual responsibility, and they expected Jesus as a teacher to uphold all of this. So when the disciples (being uncultured back-water kinds of guys) picked some grain to feed themselves, the Pharisees attacked Jesus. But Jesus' responded that they had misunderstood the very purpose of the Sabbath, and even declared Himself sovereign over how the Sabbath is to be experienced.

The next scene is another Sabbath and Jesus encountered a man in the synagogue who needed healing. The Pharisees were watching to see what He would do. He healed the man in front of everyone, and then asked the question that publicly revealed the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. This was the moment, according the Mark, that they started plotting Jesus' death.

The Psalms reading today is the 36th Psalm, Psalms 36:1-12. It comes in two parts. The beginning talks about the state of sinfulness in a man whose pride keeps him from seeing his own error. The second part is quite a contrast, looking at the steadfast faithfulness of God, who shelters those who seek after him. You will come across the lyrics for a particularly good worship song by the band Third Day here as well.

In our Proverbs reading we start into a sequence of actual proverbs, the short sayings of wisdom. We get two today. (Proverbs 10:1-2).

First, a wise child brings joy to his parents, and a foolish one brings grief. It's a statement of truth as far as the parents are concerned, but it's a warning to the children. After all, we all want to make our parents proud. The best way is to live in alignment with the wisdom of God.

Second, we see a contrast between living in a way that profits in ungodly ways, verses a way that is righteous. That wealth is of no lasting value. Only righteousness brings life.

2007 Cohort Comments