Good Morning Friends,
Every religious Jew knew the Gospel according to Leviticus 23 for it contains the wise plan of God for the ages. It is the foundation for the ways in which we worship today despite its cultural subversion and the reality that the Temple has been destroyed. In the Levitical reading today, we find the people of God learning about the feasts of the Lord for the first time. The Lord instructed Moses, to confront the people through the feasts so that in time they might become a crowd of witnesses. It gave the people a message that they did not always want to hear but something they needed to experience. So too in our New Testament passage Jesus’ discourse on the Kingdom had prompted an open rejection of his message from many scribes and Pharisees who did not like what they heard for it meant change for their power structure. The theme of God’s sovereignty is continued from the Old Testament into the New Testament story of people of Jesus’ own hometown challenging it, but it is also the story of people’s rejection of God’s plan. Matthew said they were enviously irked by him. They rejected Jesus. It all hints at a bit of a scandal. Interestingly there is synergy between these two passages about how the law and prophets are considered, but the questions of wisdom and worship remain… So, How Do We Apply The Wisdom of the Feasts of God To Our Own Lives of Worship?
Scripture: The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: These are the appointed festivals of the Lord, the holy convocations, which you shall celebrate at the time appointed for them. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, there shall be a Passover offering to the Lord, and on the fifteenth day of the same month is the festival of unleavened bread to the Lord; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. For seven days you shall present the Lord’s offerings by fire; on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation: you shall not work at your occupations. The Lord spoke to Moses: Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall raise the sheaf before the Lord, that you may find acceptance; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall raise it. And from the day after the sabbath, from the day on which you bring the sheaf of the elevation offering, you shall count off seven weeks; they shall be complete. You shall count until the day after the seventh sabbath, fifty days; then you shall present an offering of new grain to the Lord. Now, the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you: you shall deny yourselves and present the Lord’s offering by fire; Speak to the people of Israel, saying: On the fifteenth day of this seventh month, and lasting seven days, there shall be the festival of booths to the Lord. The first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not work at your occupations. Seven days you shall present the Lord’s offerings by fire; on the eighth day you shall observe a holy convocation and present the Lord’s offerings by fire; it is a solemn assembly; you shall not work at your occupations. These are the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you shall celebrate as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord offerings by fire—burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day.
Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37 (NRSV)
He came to his home town and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?’ And they took offence at him. But Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honor except in their own country and in their own house.’ And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.
Matthew 13:54-58 (NRSV)
Message: God instituted seven Feasts for the nation of Israel to observe. These feasts provide a two-fold purpose. They were both object lessons to remind them how merciful and gracious God had been to them and to provide to the church a beautiful portrait of Christ as God’s prophetic time-table for the ages. The first three feasts, the feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread and First Fruits are closely related. And are observed in the first month of the Jewish calendar, Nisan. The last three feasts, the feasts of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles are also closely related, and they are observed in the seventh month of the Jewish calendar. Between these two groups is the fourth feast called the Feast of Pentecost. The first four feasts have been literally fulfilled by Christ. These last three feasts are to be fulfilled by Christ. Now the 23rd Chapter of Leviticus has a lot of symbolism that Jews knew and remembered. The feasts have largely lost their meaning for most people, but in them the wisdom and power of Jesus as our Sabbath and Feast is manifested in an ordered ecclesiastical year that can guide our lives of worship. For this is why we worship the way we do as a remnant of these traditions and teachings. You see each one of us has developed a religious system – a way of doing things that gives us a feeling of piety and importance. When we stop and consider that we have some things to change when we are already doing our best, we can very easily get defensive and angry, but the thing is that the last thing any of us want to hear is that we have done something wrong. Jesus was accused of plenty of things he didn’t do wrong. He was accused of insurrection, not paying taxes, and plotting to tear down the temple in Jerusalem. He was accused of breaking the Sabbath, being a drunkard, and blasphemy. It only got worse. On the cross he was accused of being a cheat, an adulterer, a liar, and every other kind of sin in the book. Worst of all, he was punished for those things, even though he did not deserve it. Instead of getting angry about it however, God pronounced it fair not foul. In a way Jesus allowed Himself to be falsely accused, so we could be justly acquitted. That is the message of the Gospel – not guilty, even though we are. So, when God points the finger into our lives through friends and family the proper response is not to be angry or excuse our behavior – even if we are not getting a completely fair shake. Instead of getting defensive or angry at our accusers, what God wants us to say is, “God have mercy on me, a sinner.” That is the right response. That is how we are to apply today’s scripture to our own lives. This is also how we are to come to worship. So, if we put the shoe on the other foot and examined the challenge of change from the Israelites and scribes and Pharisee’s points of view, perhaps we would see that they responded in anger because their places of authority were being threatened. Their system was under fire. When we see change and power shifts in our worshipping communities, we too might get defensive. Hence our need for mercy…. all around.
And So, today’s passages affirm over and over in different ways that the Lord of the Israelites is the Lord of our time too and that our time belongs to Him as well. The seventh day Sabbath and this cycle of feasts inserted into the experience of the Israelite is now impressed upon today’s believer, that God. even a God of History, is the God of our time as well, and furthermore that all of my time, and your time, belongs to God. So, set apart some of that time in recognition of His lordship, and consider it as an opportunity to praise Him for the manifold gifts God has given to us by making us, by creating us, by redeeming us, by providing for us, by forgiving us, by giving us a hope for the future. The over-arching theme is that God is Lord and God’s lordship not just in the past and now, but for all time. Our freedom does not come from a social contract but from God who redeems us.
Pray that we seek God and the baptism of the Holy Spirit with fire. Pray we listen to God and are drawn to the divine like a high tide. Pray we obey God and become living sacrifices. Pray we put God first. Pray we forgive. Pray we celebrate Christ’s feast of love. Pray we appreciate how prayer works together with Scripture in our quest to hear and listen to God. Pray we become spiritually disciplined in worship. Pray we handle rebuke with grace. Pray we realize what Christ did for us. Pray we realize that God is not looking for perfect saints but sinners that can be forgiven and welcomed into the Kingdom. Pray if we are kind, and we should be, that we not become pessimistic. Pray we have souls that explode with love in the face of conflicts. Pray we are willing to suffer though transformation and change. Pray we are willing to choose a new birth over the warmth of a womb. Pray we produce fruit and give the best to God. Pray we acknowledge God’s sovereignty.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 