Exodus 33:12-23
Moses is obviously very weary in this passage and a bit testy with God. He asks God to promise that his presence will go with him as he leads the people on to the Promised Land. God affirms that he will do so and Moses asks for a sign. He wants to see the glory of God. God offers an alternative for Moses to stand in the cleft of a rock and when God passes by Moses, he will see God’s goodness and hear God speak God’s name. Remember how God had answered Moses at the burning bush about his name: I am.
Psalm 99
This psalm reminds us of the centrality of worship. Vs. 1 gives reference to the mercy seat that God instructed Moses to build for the tabernacle in the wilderness with a top that had two cherubim where the Hebrews believe the presence of God sat. We are reminded that worship without just living is hollow. We are reminded of God’s laws and statutes and the grace of God. Therefore, we should keep our practice of worship in faithfulness to God.
Matthew 22:15-22
There is a saying that you may have heard that politics makes strange bedfellows. This story illustrates that. The Pharisees were ardent nationalists, who hated the Roman government, who had taken Israel captive. The Herodians were ardent supporters of the Roman government. Usually these two groups were at such great odds, but the Pharisees believe the Herodians can help them, so they solicit their aid.
They go to Jesus with a plan to trap him with his own words. They ask Jesus about paying taxes to the Roman government, which the Herodians fully support and the Pharisees detest. Jesus knew their evil plan so he names their question as an attempt to trap him. He asked for the coin used to pay tax, which was a Roman coin and had the image of Caesar stamped on it. So, he asked them whose image or portrait was on the coin. They, of course, answered that it was Caesar. Jesus responds that if the coin belongs to Caesar, give it to him, but give what belongs to God to God.
The Pharisees and Herodians were amazed and went away. What is your response to Jesus’ answer? What would you identify as belonging to God? Why does that or those things belong to God?
I Thessalonians 1:1-10
I Thessalonians is probably the earliest of Paul’s letters that is included in the Bible. He probably wrote it from Corinth after and early escape from Thessalonica, which is a port city in Greece. Paul affirms that the faith of the Christians at Thessalonica is amazing considering the threats and danger that they live with. Their witness, he says, has spread far and wide.
Prayer: Some days, Holy God, it feels like we are constantly under the wile of others to trap us in our words and to turn every word we use against us. Help us to learn from scripture how to speak your truth and trust your Presence to be with us. Amen.