Reading this was a reminder of the Lord’s humility. Not only did He lower Himself to be limited as a human being, but to be able to be pushed to such a low point by society, the world..He experienced so much negativity : the betrayal of a disciple, being “voted” lower than a man such as Barrabbas. Most of us would cringe at the thought of even ourselves being thought of in the same sentence as such a man. Our Lord is so worthy of all our praise, and His love is so limitless. Hallelujah for His righteousness.
Mt 27:23, 25 And he said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they kept shouting all the more, saying, “Crucify Him!” … And all the people said, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!” Did they know what they were demanding? Demanding that their promised Messiah be killed? And that they would bear the guilt? Yes, they would bear the guilt. As would each human ever born. The One “Person” to fulfill Gods law perfectly. To live for 33 years without ever sinning. And we killed Him. He died innocently. For us.
I am struggling with the whole defect thing. If God is creator and doesn’t make mistakes why would these defects happen back then and why would they be shunned for something they are born with. This chapter has me sad.
To me it is to point is even more to Jesus Christ! He makes us perfect, inside and out. The law was established to show that no one was worthy of being in the presence of God. No one can live under the law and be saved. We needed a perfect blood sacrifice. And praise God we live under Jesus and His grace, not under the law which only points out our flaws, our sins, our imperfect nature….physically and spiritually.
Without sin in the world, yes, all of God’s creation would be perfect without defect or blemish. But once sin entered the world, all of creation suffered. Nothing is perfect anymore. But God is also still sovereign over all. Perhaps God has a different purpose for those who had defects. He has a plan for everyone, not all are called to serve as the priests, but everyone is called to do something.
I don’t know if you’ve heard of him, but there is a guy named Nick Vuijivic (sp?) who was born with no arms and no legs, and he now has an amazing ministry going around and speaking! Thousands of lives have been touched by him, and that would not have happened if he had been born “normal”.
Just a different perspective! :)
The defects may not have all been from birth. Lameness and injuries could happen in travel and fights. But what I take from this was that we give the best to God not our unwanted. The men with defects were still allowed to eat, just not offer the sacrifice. In a way, that left the defective animal to be cared for, to live. Maybe this can tell us again that each one has a purpose?
It made me sad at first, but then the more I thought about the purpose of all these laws, the more it made sense. Deformities and blemishes are marks of humanity’s sinfulness. And our God is holy beyond all other things. So sin cannot be in His presence. So I don’t think God saying that those with deformities could not be in the Holy of Holies was coming from a lack of love for them (especially since He made sure they were still provided for and were allowed to eat the priests’ food) but instead was just a command to protect His holiness. Hope this helps!
I am enjoying this bible reading plan. The insights that are revealed by reading the New and Old Testament at the same time. In today’s reading Old Testament, the Lord gives instructions on how a priest should act to remain holy and then in the New Testament reading our high priest personifies holiness as the actual sacrifice. Amazing!
me too. when reading the scripure fome Matthew, I couldn’t help but think back to Leviticus – how God demanded sacrifices without blemish. and the perfection of Jesus.
Reading Leviticus is hard! The law was given to Israel to set them apart, but today’s passage repeats over and over…I am the Lord, who makes you holy! So thankful my holiness comes from Him! I could never keep these laws! Never! Reading the law then reading of the sacrifice he made on my behalf elevates my worship! Thank you Jesus!
Yes! Such a great point, Carie. I too have been struggling a bit thru Leviticus, but it gives such important context to what happens in Matthew. The Jews had been taught to keep God’s law and here was Jesus turning everything upside-down. I’ve always thought of the law as a demonstration of our humanity – and Jesus as the atonement for our inability to keep it.
That stopped me too. How blessed we are because His blood is on us, to read about the perfect sacrifices in Leviticus & then read about true perfection sacrificed for us – whose blood is on us & cleanses our sin. It’s breathtaking; deepest sadness & deepest gratitude in one moment. Praise the Lord that He is faithful to Himself.
I’m amazed with how Jesus stayed silent. How strong he kept himself — what an amazing Lord we have. It’s kind of how the world has always been.. We have the choice of having Jesus or something else and people go for the something else even though Jesus is being given to them. How sad He must be seeing His children turn away from Him..
Our precious Lord suffered so greatly for love’s sake and didn’t say a word… Our King who deserved all glory and honour humbled himself to be beaten, spat on, and mocked. I can’t describe how I feel about this. It’s just time to bow down and worship.
Reading this was a reminder of the Lord’s humility. Not only did He lower Himself to be limited as a human being, but to be able to be pushed to such a low point by society, the world..He experienced so much negativity : the betrayal of a disciple, being “voted” lower than a man such as Barrabbas. Most of us would cringe at the thought of even ourselves being thought of in the same sentence as such a man. Our Lord is so worthy of all our praise, and His love is so limitless. Hallelujah for His righteousness.
Amen!
Mt 27:23, 25 And he said, “Why, what evil has He done?” But they kept shouting all the more, saying, “Crucify Him!” … And all the people said, “His blood shall be on us and on our children!” Did they know what they were demanding? Demanding that their promised Messiah be killed? And that they would bear the guilt? Yes, they would bear the guilt. As would each human ever born. The One “Person” to fulfill Gods law perfectly. To live for 33 years without ever sinning. And we killed Him. He died innocently. For us.
I am struggling with the whole defect thing. If God is creator and doesn’t make mistakes why would these defects happen back then and why would they be shunned for something they are born with. This chapter has me sad.
To me it is to point is even more to Jesus Christ! He makes us perfect, inside and out. The law was established to show that no one was worthy of being in the presence of God. No one can live under the law and be saved. We needed a perfect blood sacrifice. And praise God we live under Jesus and His grace, not under the law which only points out our flaws, our sins, our imperfect nature….physically and spiritually.
Without sin in the world, yes, all of God’s creation would be perfect without defect or blemish. But once sin entered the world, all of creation suffered. Nothing is perfect anymore. But God is also still sovereign over all. Perhaps God has a different purpose for those who had defects. He has a plan for everyone, not all are called to serve as the priests, but everyone is called to do something.
I don’t know if you’ve heard of him, but there is a guy named Nick Vuijivic (sp?) who was born with no arms and no legs, and he now has an amazing ministry going around and speaking! Thousands of lives have been touched by him, and that would not have happened if he had been born “normal”.
Just a different perspective! :)
Love nick! Good point.
The defects may not have all been from birth. Lameness and injuries could happen in travel and fights. But what I take from this was that we give the best to God not our unwanted. The men with defects were still allowed to eat, just not offer the sacrifice. In a way, that left the defective animal to be cared for, to live. Maybe this can tell us again that each one has a purpose?
It made me sad at first, but then the more I thought about the purpose of all these laws, the more it made sense. Deformities and blemishes are marks of humanity’s sinfulness. And our God is holy beyond all other things. So sin cannot be in His presence. So I don’t think God saying that those with deformities could not be in the Holy of Holies was coming from a lack of love for them (especially since He made sure they were still provided for and were allowed to eat the priests’ food) but instead was just a command to protect His holiness. Hope this helps!
I am enjoying this bible reading plan. The insights that are revealed by reading the New and Old Testament at the same time. In today’s reading Old Testament, the Lord gives instructions on how a priest should act to remain holy and then in the New Testament reading our high priest personifies holiness as the actual sacrifice. Amazing!
me too. when reading the scripure fome Matthew, I couldn’t help but think back to Leviticus – how God demanded sacrifices without blemish. and the perfection of Jesus.
Yes! Love this – humility personified.
Reading Leviticus is hard! The law was given to Israel to set them apart, but today’s passage repeats over and over…I am the Lord, who makes you holy! So thankful my holiness comes from Him! I could never keep these laws! Never! Reading the law then reading of the sacrifice he made on my behalf elevates my worship! Thank you Jesus!
Yes! Such a great point, Carie. I too have been struggling a bit thru Leviticus, but it gives such important context to what happens in Matthew. The Jews had been taught to keep God’s law and here was Jesus turning everything upside-down. I’ve always thought of the law as a demonstration of our humanity – and Jesus as the atonement for our inability to keep it.
So well put, it gave me such peace to see your perspective.
25 All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!”
Wow
I took a big gasp in when I read that… Did they have any idea the gravity of what they said???
That stopped me too. How blessed we are because His blood is on us, to read about the perfect sacrifices in Leviticus & then read about true perfection sacrificed for us – whose blood is on us & cleanses our sin. It’s breathtaking; deepest sadness & deepest gratitude in one moment. Praise the Lord that He is faithful to Himself.
I’m amazed with how Jesus stayed silent. How strong he kept himself — what an amazing Lord we have. It’s kind of how the world has always been.. We have the choice of having Jesus or something else and people go for the something else even though Jesus is being given to them. How sad He must be seeing His children turn away from Him..
Our precious Lord suffered so greatly for love’s sake and didn’t say a word… Our King who deserved all glory and honour humbled himself to be beaten, spat on, and mocked. I can’t describe how I feel about this. It’s just time to bow down and worship.
Amen. I have such a heavy heart & I am so blessed to have an amazing Lord to have died on the old rugged cross for my sins.