Grains of Sand

Google Images How appropriate that we should come to Leviticus 16 during Easter week. This chapter describes how the sacrifices for atonement were to be made. To atone for something is defined as: make amends for, make reparation for, make restitution for, make up for, compensate for, pay for, recompense for, expiate, redress, make good, offset; do penance for. In the Old Testament an animal sacrifice was required to make atonement for sin. In the New Testament we learn that Christ paid the price that God’s justice demanded because of our sin against Him (1 Peter 3:18). Leviticus 16 describes what went on inside the Tent of Meeting and around the altar where only the High Priest went and what happened outside of the Tent of Meeting as a visible expression to the people of the payment made to remove the guilt of their rebellion against God. Here we are introduced to the scapegoat. The story is told of a prince whose father didn’t think it was appropriate for royalty to be punished f...

Google Images I caught a bit of a news report this morning out of New York. A man was trying to escape from one of the upper floors of a burning building. To jump would have been suicidal; to stay wasn’t an option. Neighbours saw the dilemma and found a ladder that they could lay alongside the window. I didn’t catch exactly what one rescuer did but the reporter said that he risked his life to help the man in the window to safety. A heroic deed. When some people look at Jesus’ life, or more specifically, his death, they see no hero. They see weakness, foolishness, and helplessness. The Pharisees taunted Him as He hung on the cross. “If you are God,” they said, “come down and save yourself.” Here in John 10, Jesus sets the record straight. It was His choice, and His choice alone, to sacrifice Himself. “ The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and aut...

Google Images I’ve always wondered why the miracle of changing the water into wine at the wedding in Cana was Jesus’ first miracle. It has always seemed so out of sync with all the other miracles. Though He fed the multitudes on several occasions, those miracles were always connected with His teaching. But here in John 2, it doesn’t appear the Jesus had the opportunity to teach—at least from the part of the story we have recorded for us. But the Lord never did anything without a reason, without an eternal purpose. As I sat and thought about this passage this morning, an idea occurred to me. I could be stretching the passage beyond its meaning but here is where my mind went. I thought about what Jesus said about putting new wine in old bottles in Matthew 9:17, and wondered if that was the lesson here. The host of the wedding had served his best wine at the beginning of the wedding feast. That was customary. While the guests were capable of appreciating the bouquet and the expense, t...

Google images “ The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping the covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments ” (Deuteronomy 7:7-9, NIV). I am reminded of salvation as I read these verses. Those of us who believe were once like the galley slaves of old, chained to the bottom of the ship of death. If the ship went down—as it inevitably will—we would have gone down with it. But God, in His love and mercy, set His affection on us and sent His Son to provide the way for us to be free from the chains of our sin that held us captive. With a mighty hand H...