Day 47: Laws of Worship and Resurrection

Exodus 23, 24 and Matthew 28:

These chapters introduce us to some of the laws of worship for the Israelites. These laws were to help differentiate between the worship they had known and seen in Egypt and worship of the one true God. In Matthew, we are given the account of Jesus’ resurrection.

Exodus 23

The laws for worship and living are continued in this chapter of Exodus. Verse 9 reminds the people for a second time to not oppress the alien in their midst. This is one of God’s laws repeated time and time again in scripture.

God gives the Sabbath laws, decreeing that even fields get a rest one out of every seven years. Rest is a necessity it would seem, even for the soil. Why do we struggle so much in actually taking a day of rest and worship ourselves?

God declares the celebration of three festivals, Passover, Harvest and the Ingathering (or end of growing season) I was recently asked why we do not celebrate these festivals in our Christian faith. We choose to celebrate each Sunday as a remembrance of the resurrection and we celebrate the birth, death, and resurrection of the Lord annually. This is a way that Christians began differentiating themselves from those who did not accept Jesus as the Messiah.

Exodus 24

Aaron and Moses along with 70 elders are allowed to go up the mountain. They saw God and lived to tell the story. There is a beautiful description of seeing God’s feet resting on a sapphire or lapis lazuli. Moses goes up to the very top to speak with God and is there 40 days and 40 nights.

Matthew 28

Three days have passed and the women are going to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body. There is another earthquake and when they arrive they find the stone rolled away and the guards is shock. An Angel stands there and tells them Jesus is risen! He tells them to tell the others to meet Jesus in Galilee. The women leave fearful, yet full of joy.

Along the way they meet Jesus. They cling to him, worship him. Jesus then tells them to tell the disciples to gather in Galilee. They run to the disciples and spread the Gospel message.

Meanwhile the guards find their ability to speak and move. They go to the priests and tell what they saw. The priests bribe them to lie about what they have witnessed. And a rumor spreads that Jesus’ body was stolen from the grave.

When the disciples and Jesus gather in Galilee some believe and others doubt. Jesus gives the great commission to them all. Even those who held doubt. Even when we question or are unsure, we are to continue in the work, trusting that God’s got this.

Day 46: Laws and The Faithful Few

Exodus 21, 22 & Matthew 27:51-66

These passages continues to offer up laws for the building of the community. We also are told of the events that happened alongside the death of Christ.

Exodus 21:

This section of Exodus gives us laws for daily living. It is important to note that these laws were the beginning of the system of justice, of living with one another without another government having control for the first time in 400 years.

The Bible speaks here of the practice of slavery. Slavery was part of the cultural context of the day, and these passages are ways of addressing that painful reality. The Bible does not promote or encourage slavery, though it does not call specifically for it to be abolished. This is disheartening for me. I so wish there was a blanket policy laid out saying “No slavery, no one owns anyone else!”

The rules for female slaves are different than those for male slaves. This, in its own odd way, was seen as a way to protect women. Women could not own property, they had to be cared for and these laws kept them from being set aside when their husbands or masters grew tired of them or wanted to trade-in for a newer model.

I also find it interesting to note, the eye for an eye passage actually has to do with injury to a pregnant woman when two men are fighting. Another level of protection for women.

Exodus 22

Personal Injury laws shift now to property dispute laws. This part of the text reminds me a bit of the controversial “Stand your Ground law” in Florida and other States. Here, however, you could not kill a thief in the daylight without being found guilty of murder. This kept you from holding a thief overnight and torturing him until morning. It also made it clear that if you could identify the thief then that is the avenue to pursue rather than killing him.

Matthew 27:51-66

This passage tells us that Jesus’ death could not have gone unnoticed. There was darkness at mid-day, there was an earthquake, the curtain of the Holy of Holies was torn in two from the top to the bottom, and oh, yeah, dead people came out of their graves and walked around!!!

The women are present throughout Jesus’ death and watch to see where Joseph, the secret disciple, takes Jesus. They are the faithful Few who do not leave Jesus’ side. Perhaps that was because they really had nothing left to lose.

The religious leaders were more concerned about the resurrection rumors than the disciples because they had the tomb sealed and a guard set in place for three days. They knew that Jesus was more than an itinerant preacher.