March 28, 2025
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in our Lenten readings from “The Life of Jesus”? Here’s today’s reading:
Lent 2025 – Day 8 in the Book: “The Life of Jesus“
The Week Jesus Dies
Read Sections 5.12 through 5.13 (pages 142-145)
This book is an account of Jesus’ life and teachings told in chronological order from the four Gospels to create one continuous story.
*If you do not have a copy of the book please contact the church at (401)667-0775 and we can get you a copy.
The Pharisees man made laws had become just as important as God’s laws. But why obey if your position in the church is more important to them then their loyalty to God. Leadership that serves itself instead of serving others. Certainly saw this growing up in Catholic Church and catholic school. Priest walked into class room we were to go to our knees. What did the apostles say and do when people did that to them
Lent 2025 – Day 8
When reading this section I thought about the verse that says, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. I think about how stern Jesus’ words were for the Pharisees here juxtaposed to the times He was speaking to tax collectors, sinners, and people the Pharisees would have considered lost causes. Jesus, like a good father, sees past the sinful acts and sees into our hearts and motivation and meets us there. He knows these Pharisees were dirty on the inside and it didn’t matter what they looked like on the outside. God wants our whole heart and our desire to be seeing Him glorified through us. The Pharisees not only did things for selfish motivation, even worse they lead others to do things the same way, blind leaders of the blind. Humility can be hard for us as we are so naturally inclined to be prideful and self centered so Lord I pray you keep me humble, empty me of self that I might be filled with You!
Lent Day 8
1 Timothy 4-6; Joshua 9-12; The Life of Jesus 4.71-5.13
Day 8
TRUE worship comes from the ❤️!
Jesus didn`t have anything good to say about the religious leaders during this time. They were like whitewashed tombs. They looked good on the outside but inside they were corrupt and full of sins. They were hypocrites. They wanted the praise of men but instead they should have honored God and had their hearts right with God. There were some exceptions to these religious leaders who truly tried to follow and worship God. Like the Pharisee, Nicodemus who sought the truth and even came to Jesus asking Him questions. Nicodemus became a believer, and he is one of the two men that took the body of Jesus away to be placed in the tomb. He was however not boldly outspoken of saying he was a believer. We know who Nicodemus is from John 3 when he talked to Jesus. May the Lord bless us as we follow Him.
We think of Jesus as all-loving and all-forgiving, and He was and is, but He also is and will be the judge. Here He judges the teachers of the law and Pharisees. He tells them they are so bad they belong in hell! They know the law but they don’t follow it, they make it more burdensome and they lead the people astray.
Jesus says they do not obey the really important teachings- being fair, showing mercy and being faithful.
It will be bad for you!
Jesus certainly gives the Pharisees and teachers of the law a lot to chew on, both in giving them a question about David that they couldn’t answer and all the things He addresses them in their hypocrisy. In their actions, they appeared to be doing it right, but their hearts were far from God. We need to make sure we do not become people like this or be influenced by them either. Legalism has a subtle way of entering into a believer’s life. We can protect ourselves by not believing we are something that we are not, not comparing ourselves to other people, being humble and consistently clinging to the grace of God as the basis of our relationship with Him. It also is important to not let our outward life become more important than our inward life with God, thinking about being obedient to Him in our hearts even more on some level than what people can observe or even caring that they do observe.
What are our hearts are seeking and longing for as we live our lives? Do we ask ourselves “Where is my heart in this situation”? And are we actively pursuing things that are in line with God’s rightouseness? It’s important to God that we do. 1 Samuel 16:7 – …The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Proverbs 27:19 – As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.