Bible Challenge
Day 358
Zechariah 12, Psalm 146 and Luke 3
Our year-long Bible Challenge is nearly complete and I want to thank all our bloggers and readers for your companionship in this sacred journey. I pray you have found it encouraging and renewing.
Zechariah chapter 12 begins a section of “oracles” that differ from the preceding visions. In chapter 12 we read of a prediction of God’s judgment against “all the nations” that have oppressed Jerusalem and the people of God. Images of a “cup of reeling” and a “flaming torch” serve as vivid portraits of a fierce and destructive day of divine reckoning that precedes the restoration of the reign of the “House of David”. But while I was struggling to cope with the ferocity of these images, suddenly verse 10 includes the image of a great mourning for the “one whom they have pierced”-- a passage that brings to mind the crucifixion and is part of our Good Friday liturgy. The cross of Christ reveals eternally God’s judgment and compassion. In Jesus, we see God’s plans and purposes take flesh. Like a shining shaft of light, this image pierces through Zechariah’s prophesy and connects us to God’s act of ultimate restoration in the coming of Jesus, the messiah.
Luke chapter 3 begins the story of Jesus public ministry and the in-breaking of God’s reign with the baptism of Jesus. All four gospels tell the story of Jesus by first telling the story of John the Baptism and his call to repentance through baptism and a renewed life of justice and mercy. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus’ baptism takes place “off stage” and while Jesus is praying, he receives the stirring affirmation from Abba: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased”. Luke’s gospel repeatedly emphasizes the role of prayer in providing guidance and direction for our Lord’s ministry, and by extension, our ministries.
This chapter also ends with a genealogy, very different from Matthew’s, but before you are tempted to skip lightly over this section, note that the genealogy ends not with Abraham, as Matthew’s does, but with Adam. Luke, the gentile physician and convert to Christianity, want us to remember that Jesus comes to save all humanity. You and I are included in this story.
Psalm 146 begins the final section of Psalter which contains a series of songs of praise to God. For this, my last blog entry, I join the psalmist in praising God for our year of immersing ourselves in the Bible:
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises toGod all my life long...
The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion for all generations,
Praise the Lord!
Andrew+
Day 358
Zechariah 12, Psalm 146 and Luke 3
Our year-long Bible Challenge is nearly complete and I want to thank all our bloggers and readers for your companionship in this sacred journey. I pray you have found it encouraging and renewing.
Zechariah chapter 12 begins a section of “oracles” that differ from the preceding visions. In chapter 12 we read of a prediction of God’s judgment against “all the nations” that have oppressed Jerusalem and the people of God. Images of a “cup of reeling” and a “flaming torch” serve as vivid portraits of a fierce and destructive day of divine reckoning that precedes the restoration of the reign of the “House of David”. But while I was struggling to cope with the ferocity of these images, suddenly verse 10 includes the image of a great mourning for the “one whom they have pierced”-- a passage that brings to mind the crucifixion and is part of our Good Friday liturgy. The cross of Christ reveals eternally God’s judgment and compassion. In Jesus, we see God’s plans and purposes take flesh. Like a shining shaft of light, this image pierces through Zechariah’s prophesy and connects us to God’s act of ultimate restoration in the coming of Jesus, the messiah.
Luke chapter 3 begins the story of Jesus public ministry and the in-breaking of God’s reign with the baptism of Jesus. All four gospels tell the story of Jesus by first telling the story of John the Baptism and his call to repentance through baptism and a renewed life of justice and mercy. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus’ baptism takes place “off stage” and while Jesus is praying, he receives the stirring affirmation from Abba: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased”. Luke’s gospel repeatedly emphasizes the role of prayer in providing guidance and direction for our Lord’s ministry, and by extension, our ministries.
This chapter also ends with a genealogy, very different from Matthew’s, but before you are tempted to skip lightly over this section, note that the genealogy ends not with Abraham, as Matthew’s does, but with Adam. Luke, the gentile physician and convert to Christianity, want us to remember that Jesus comes to save all humanity. You and I are included in this story.
Psalm 146 begins the final section of Psalter which contains a series of songs of praise to God. For this, my last blog entry, I join the psalmist in praising God for our year of immersing ourselves in the Bible:
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises toGod all my life long...
The Lord will reign forever,
your God, O Zion for all generations,
Praise the Lord!
Andrew+
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