February 11, 2009

Leviticus 6:14-8:21

In ch. 8, Aaron and his brothers are ordained as priests. The Urim and Thummim were some kind of oracle – possibly stones that were cast on the ground like dice – to help make difficult decisions with God’s guidance.

One of the good things about reading the whole Bible is that you find out how different our context is from some people in Bible times. Sometimes, people will quote a verse or two out of context to prove their point, but that is not taking the Bible seriously on its own terms. Looking back on Leviticus 3:16, I remember a humorous basis for a weight loss program: “All fat is the Lord’s.” That’s a tongue-in-cheek motivation for getting in shape, but of course the verse is not talking about weight loss at all.

Matthew 26:26-46

It’s amazing. Again, the New Testament passage helps illuminate the Old Testament passage (or they illuminate one another). Here, we see the beginning of Jesus’ self sacrifice “for many for the forgiveness of sins.” In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prays, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.” He doesn’t want to go there, but is willing to obey God’s will. This does not mean that God ‘wanted’ Jesus to die, as if God were an evil parent. It means that the cross is what God – through Jesus – had to endure for us and our salvation.