Day 116
Joshua 9:16-10:43, Luke 23:26-56, Proverbs 10:21-30
If there was one job that I always hated on scout camp it was fetching the water, you usually had to go a long way and your arms always ached. It was often a lonely job and no-one wanted to do it. Now translate that into what we have seen of people in many countries who have to travel miles for any kind of water, even stagnant water! That was the role of the water carrier and rather than kill them, this is the job that Joshua gives to the people that deceived them.
The reason for this was that an oath had been sworn, and it had been sworn in the name of the Lord. Far too often today things are said in the Lord's name and they are not meant. Here though, the whole of the assembly had used the Lord's name and they would stand by it, even when the people got miffed!
Let's turn though to the significant part of today and Luke's narrative of the crucifixion. We cannot fail to see the significance of reading the crucifixion on Christmas day. The description in vv44-45 shows a sequence of events that are cataclysmic, the sun stops burning and the temple curtain is split in two. A similar cataclysmic event that we celebrate this very day is that point in time that God brought heaven and earth together when he became incarnate in a little baby. The joy of Christmas, contrasts with the sadness of Jesus death, and yet one cannot come without the other. The death of Christ also transpires into the joy of the resurrection. Birth, death and life, all tied up with the gift of life to us.
So as we celebrate a birth, as we read of a death, we are very much conscious of the life that we are given. The gift of a child, the death of a man, the gift of life eternal.
If there was one job that I always hated on scout camp it was fetching the water, you usually had to go a long way and your arms always ached. It was often a lonely job and no-one wanted to do it. Now translate that into what we have seen of people in many countries who have to travel miles for any kind of water, even stagnant water! That was the role of the water carrier and rather than kill them, this is the job that Joshua gives to the people that deceived them.
The reason for this was that an oath had been sworn, and it had been sworn in the name of the Lord. Far too often today things are said in the Lord's name and they are not meant. Here though, the whole of the assembly had used the Lord's name and they would stand by it, even when the people got miffed!
Let's turn though to the significant part of today and Luke's narrative of the crucifixion. We cannot fail to see the significance of reading the crucifixion on Christmas day. The description in vv44-45 shows a sequence of events that are cataclysmic, the sun stops burning and the temple curtain is split in two. A similar cataclysmic event that we celebrate this very day is that point in time that God brought heaven and earth together when he became incarnate in a little baby. The joy of Christmas, contrasts with the sadness of Jesus death, and yet one cannot come without the other. The death of Christ also transpires into the joy of the resurrection. Birth, death and life, all tied up with the gift of life to us.
So as we celebrate a birth, as we read of a death, we are very much conscious of the life that we are given. The gift of a child, the death of a man, the gift of life eternal.
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