Family Bible Reading

Monday, June 23 Luke 10:21-42           Commentary Picking up from where we left off yesterday, Jesus rejoices that God has revealed his wisdom to the “children” of the world, those who know they need God’s help, rather than the wise and self-assured. We need God’s help even to understand who he is and place our faith in Jesus. All the power, knowledge, and wealth in the world still cannot overcome the effects of sin in our minds and hearts; we need spiritual sight and renewed life from God himself. A lawyer, an expert in the Law also called a scribe, asks Jesus what he must do to obtain eternal life. Jesus replies with a fitting summary of the Law: love God and love your neighbor. Loving God and loving others is reasonable and simple enough, but the lawyer tries to find a loophole. Surely, we do not have to love everyone, because that would include those we do not like! Jesus teaches what loving God and neighbor looks like with a...

  Monday, June 16 Luke 7:1-23           Commentary Today’s reading details three occasions of Jesus’ healing miracles: the healing the deathly ill daughter of a Roman commander, the raising of a widow’s son, and in answer to the query of John the Baptist. The Roman centurion has great humility, approaching a rabbi for help despite being Roman, and has remarkable confidence in Jesus, knowing that Jesus could heal his daughter simply by giving the word. Jesus’ raising of the widow's son reveals Jesus’ miracle-working power a great crowd of witnesses who were sure the boy was dead. The followers of John the Baptist report these miracles to him in prison and John sends two of them to ask Jesus if he is truly the promised Savior. Before we look down on John for his uncertainty after he knew even in the womb who Jesus was, we should note that in the verses we will read tomorrow, Jesus commends John as the greatest of men. John was ...