Tuesday, February 25, 2020

God’s laws are given for our protection

I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life. — Psalm 119:93

Much like the rules parents have for young children — don't drink what's under the cabinet, don't play in the street, don't walk out from behind parked cars... — God's guidance is not to restrict us, but to protect us. His commands, both positive and prohibitive, are for our protection and perfection. By them we find life and have it preserved.

(The Old Testament Law had all sorts of cleanliness laws that did not make any sense at all until thousands of years after they were written when we began to understand bacteria and viruses. All through these years, the Israelites were preserved by God's command when they had no real understanding why God had given the laws in the first place.)

An Eye for An Eye

Matthew 5:42
Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Exodus 21:24
eye for eye, tooth for tooth,  hand for hand, foot for foot,   burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

Luke 6:29-30
If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.   Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.

The Burial of Jesus


 Mark 15:42-47 — Mt 27:57-61; Lk 23:50-56; Jn 19:38-42
  It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath).  So as evening approached,   Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council,  who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God,  went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.   Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died.   When he learned from the centurion  that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. 

So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.    Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph  saw where he was laid.

[Message No: 7546]

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