February 16
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The book of Leviticus begins. The title of the book refers to 'the Levites', the priestly tribe, the sons of Aaron. What is this all about? This question may come to your mind a lot when reading this book. The big word to keep in mind when reading Leviticus is 'worship'. The Levites were basically the worship leaders of the Israelite people. But why is so much of worship in the Old Testament about sacrifice offerings? I think for two reasons (1) God is letting the people to realize that their sin is serious, as our passage in Romans said last night 'the wages of sin is death'. But is this the death that talks about? Not exactly. Our death? Well, yes that's true. But the punishment for sin of death is primarily the punishment that Jesus took. And therefore (2) These sacrifices are meant to make the people long for a more perfect sacrifice. They are to point them to the type of sacrifice that doesn't have to be offered over and over again. A sacrifice that really would take away sin. Jesus' death.
Mark tells that story in full... The pharisees are amazed that Jesus claims to forgive sins because only God can forgive sins... that says it all really. Jesus shows them his authority to forgive sins by showing his power to heal physical defects. And how do the people react. Mark says, 'This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this"'. That's an understatement.
It is an understatement to say that we've never seen anything like Jesus.
ReplyDeleteAnd as awesome as Jesus' healings are, Jesus seems to focus mainly on our eternal well being -- the forgiveness of sins. He even says that he healed the paralytic so that the witnesses can know that believers' sins are forgiven.
Does Jesus love us? Of course! Does Jesus heal us? Of course! Does Jesus want to get to Heaven? Most definitely!
the gospels are so wonderful in how much they show Jesus' love and power for us.
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