Numbers 33:40-35:34, Luke 5:12-28, Psalms 65:1-13, Proverbs 11:23
Today is the 22nd day of March welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is great to be here with you as we just, you know. We’re…we’re moving into work and yesterday we came into this week and we talked about it being a brand-new shiny sparkly week, like we always do and now we have to live into this week and now is the time where it’s not a theory where we have to hold onto Jesus and walk with God and allow the Scriptures to lead us forward. And, so, it’s great that we have this place, right? This place that we can go, come around the Global Campfire, situate ourselves, find a place to sit, just relax and orient ourselves to God as we move forward in our day. So, we’re reading from the English Standard Version this week, picking up with the story in the book of Numbers. Today, Numbers chapter 33, verse 40 through 35 verse 34.
Commentary:
Okay. So, we are indeed nearing the end of the book of Numbers and so we’ve been kind of recounting the travels that…that we’ve been on with the children of Israel since they left Egypt, place to place and what happened there and all this in preparation for moving forward across the Jordan. And then sort of how the…the…the borders would look and how things would be divided out up, that’s being laid out in front of us as well so we can tell that we’re moving forward toward something.
And then in the gospel of Luke, obviously, we’re in the Gospels. So, primarily we are observing and walking along as one of the disciples of Jesus listening to His teachings, observing His ministry, observing the way He interacts, His personality, the kinds of things that He does. And we’ve already gone through Matthew and Mark so it can be like, “yeah…I mean, yes, I want to hear the stories over and over but I…I know the stories.” But let’s just kind of go into the book of Luke and observe what we’re seeing today. Jesus’ ministry has begun, and it is…it is beginning to catch fire. Actually, word is spreading all over the place. So, his fame is spreading, and we have to look and go like, “what is Jesus after here? What is He going for as He sets up His ministry?” Obviously, He’s becoming famous but is that what He’s going for? What is He after here? One thing that we began to observe is that Jesus isn’t afraid to mingle with anybody. The crowds are pressing in on Him and so He is among all kinds of different people, whether clean or unclean, whether Jew or Gentile. He is among all kinds of people in all different statuses of life. And we see Jesus begin kind of sorting for the for the people who aren’t particularly religious or aren’t particularly educated or who don’t think they have the answers. So, he goes to fisherman, common people or he goes to a tax collector, which…which would’ve been a statement in itself. These tax collectors, they were Hebrew people, but they work for the Roman government and it’s kind of a convoluted thing because the right to collect taxes is something that could be bought, sort of like a license, but it costs a lot of money. And, so, wealthy people would obtain these licenses and then hire people to do the collection and then these hired people would be paid, but they’re also kind of allowed to…to skim or to overcharge to embellish their own pocketbooks in the process. And these were Hebrew people among Hebrew people collecting money and so they were pretty well hated for what they were doing because they were perceived as betrayers, right? Not really…really in the Hebrew community, just extorting from the Hebrew community. So, for Jesus to hang out with those kind of people, even invite one of them to become a member of His inner circle, this is a statement in itself. This is not what other rabbis are doing. They are condemning these tax collectors and sinners. They are staying completely clear of them and instructing everyone else to stay clear of them, to not give hospitality, to not be friendly with them. So already, Jesus is making statements with His behavior that would have had people, especially the people that are educated and think that they know the answers, would’ve had them talking amongst themselves, which is what we see shaping up in the Gospels. And, so, Jesus is healing people today and one of the ways that he heals someone is to say, “your sins are forgiven.” For the religious leaders this would be a statement of blasphemy because forgiveness of sins can only be given by God and through a process. So, you’ve got to think again, “what is He going for then?” Because if He’s going to be a rabbi and make comment on Torah then he’s a religious person. And yet, He’s like picking fights with the religious leaders. So, He is becoming famous among the people, but He continually separates Himself and goes into a solitary place, to recharge, to pray, to be with Father. So, obviously, the accolades and being thrown up on a pedestal of fame isn’t what He’s after. He mingles with the…what would be considered the riffraff, the underbelly of the society. I suppose if you are known to be friendly with prostitutes and I don’t mean like customers, I mean like friends with prostitutes and tax collectors then your stereotyped, then there are assumptions made about you based on the company you’re keeping. We’re kinda taught these things from childhood but Jesus seems to be flying in the face of some of that. We’re told that we’re known by the company we keep, largely to keep us from others leading us down paths that could lead to destruction. Jesus seems to be going like right into those people’s lives inviting them to be His friends. So, we can imagine that the people that are being befriended are finally…finally getting for just a moment what it might feel like to belong. And isn’t that what we’re looking for in our lives? Isn’t that like what motivates so much of our lives, that we could belong somewhere? And the people are buying into it. They’re flocking to Jesus, they’re hearing Jesus and its it’s changing the atmosphere, it’s changing the atmosphere among the religious people too. It’s just inflaming them. So, Jesus is doing what He’s doing, and it is giving the outsider a sense of belonging and a sense of invitation and a sense that there might actually be some hope left in the world. And He continues to do what He’s doing. Like, He’s not changing anything but there’s a completely different reaction among the religious elite, those who think they know God, those who think they know what God will and won’t do, those who think they know exactly what God expects. Without Jesus changing His behavior at all He is inflaming those people and inflaming them to the point where they will become profoundly antagonistic as we all know and will eventually sit down and decide that they will do whatever it takes to get rid of this guy. So, what is Jesus going for? Jesus, at least from His own testimony is going for the truth. He’s attempting to open people’s eyes to see that there are other ways to be, that the world and all its deception and the whirlwind that the world brings just pushing us forward even though we don’t know where were going and keeping us discombobulated all the time so that it is very easy for us to be at odds, Jesus is saying that “the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Do you not perceive it? Can’t you see it? There is a totally different way of being a human being and it doesn’t have to be this way.” The irony is He’s going to finish His ministry and provide that path and it’s going to be the people who think they know what God wants that are going to have Him killed. It’s the religious that want Jesus out of the way. And as hard as it might be, that is a mirror. That is a mirror that should be right in front of our eyes. If we were to say…I don’t know…go review the things that we have posted on social media over the last few months or the conversations that we’ve had over a variety of topics over the last year, if we just review ourselves do we find ourselves in the camp that knows that we don’t know and are so profoundly fortunate to even be here or are we in the camp of those who think they know what God will and will not do and that we have been somehow appointed His spokesperson to defend Him as if He can’t defend Himself? There’s a lot there to be considered. Of course, every one of us would have to repent at some point over last few months, even if it’s just something we said to our spouse and we just…it just trickled out of our lips before we could stop it. The point here in trying to create some type of contrast is that there is a contrast that exists in these stories in the New Testament. If our goal, like if the thing we’re going for is to follow Jesus, is to be transformed and to become Christlike, like Christ in this world, to follow in His footsteps and do the things that He did so that is not one Jesus but His entire body in this world. If our goal is to be a part of that than the contrast should invite us to look at whether we are Christlike or whether we are Pharisee like. And that could be disruptive, which can be a good thing.
Prayer:
Jesus come. Come into the things that we’re considering. Are we walking with You and representing You in this world the way the examples have been given to us in the Gospels or are we more like religious elite people who think we know everything? The truth is, we can find ourselves somewhere in the middle and on any given…any given day we can move to either of those extremes. That’s just how we are. Like we can…we can get into alignment today and be completely off tomorrow, which is why a rhythm and staying connected and moving forward, step-by-step day by day brings us back so that we can make progress, so that we can cooperate with this process of transformation, so that we can yield ourselves to this process of sanctification, so that we don’t stand in our own way of what You’re doing in our lives. Come Holy Spirit into all these things that we’re considering today, what our postures are like, what the aroma of our lives are bringing into the world. Come Spirit we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.
Community Prayer and Praise:
Hi this is Steve from Maryland; I’m calling to ask for prayer for me and also for my family as we are going through a lot of struggles right now. To give some background my wife and I had adopted five kids a number of years back and raised them. And five years ago my wife passed away so that left me as a single dad to raise these kids and here we are five years later and we are struggling with my son, I am struggling with my son who is 14 years old and with dealing with the whole schooling and home…home…home life with the pandemic and also a lot of loss. Still dealing with the loss of mom and other people in his life. And now he’s losing his sister who is going into jail tomorrow. She got herself in a legal jam a year and a half ago and it’s finally coming to pass at this time. And I have one daughter who is having a baby next month. And this is just a lot to take on and I just ask for any prayer that anybody can provide as this is a lot for me to take on. Any prayer is appreciated. I thank you very much.
Hello DAB this is Carla from East Texas…East Texas. I listen every day and I just started this journey on listening to the Bible everyday January 1st and I’m so glad I did. I’ve learned a lot and I’ve heard a lot. The Bible’s my favorite. Praying for everyone whenever I think about it. I mean, life is busy. I just gained guardianship of my great-niece and I just want to ask for prayer for her. Her name is Chloe and she’s lovely. She six. I have a four-year-old daughter. I’m a single mom actually. So, my daughter loves her being over and I’m learning how to have two children in the house. And if you could just pray for her and her heart and her mind because she’s been through a lot. Stability was a reason why wanted her and I prayed to God that if it’d be His will that she stay with us and here she is. So, thank you for this. Thank you for your prayers and God bless.
Hello family this is People on the Water from Indiana just calling in just to be thankful. For Redeemed Rachel I heard your message, and I was just so blessed by hearing your very words. And just your name, Redeemed Rachel. I lift up prayers of intercession for your church family as a…as…as…as they are going to Norway to go on and serve the Lord in nor…Norway. And you’re also moving, and you’re excited about that. You have to say goodbye to friends but you’re excited to go…to go across country…to go cross nation. And like you’re just excited about that and I just thank the Lord that He has given you eyes to see and hope and not in fear or not in negative energies but in hope you can see hope so may you just keep that gift. And also, just in…in a spirit of celebration a prayer answered. I asked you all to pray for me that I might get my job. And this job is a little interesting because I was standing firm on. I didn’t want to have any other job but this one. I believed God would do it for me. And I…I…I turned in my application and I got the job brothers and sisters. I got it. So, keep being faithful to your God who is faithful to you. And know that Jesus loves you. I’d seen it within his scars and may you grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior. I love you all. It’s in Jesus name that I pray, and I ask. Amen.
Good morning DAB family this is Jenny from London UK. I just started reading the plan this year. I would like to pray for the man who phoned in on the 18th of March with a brain tumor pending surgery. By the stripes of Jesus, you are healed. Jesus had already paid the price at the cross. He has healed all our diseases. I curse that brain tumor and command it to shrink and die in Jesus mighty name. Thank you, Lord for a miracle for this man and his family, for supernatural healing prior to any surgery. In Jesus’ name I pray. Thank you, Lord. Amen.
Hey DAB family my name is Nathan, and I had a stroke in 2009 when I was 25 and I’m 37 now and I’ve been a believer for five years. I posted on the Prayer Wall and got some feedback and I think it’s working. I think it’s working. I…I will continue to listen to the daily devotional, and I thank you DAB family. Thank you very much. God bless you. Goodbye.