I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them. I hope that the Spirit is moving in others through these posts as the Spirit has definitely been convicting me.
The morning after the earth swallowed Korah and his co-conspirators, the people of Israel gathered to complain about the way in which Moses and Aaron had handled to situation. Despite the deaths of the core group, the rebellion was not quashed. Moses told Aaron to take an incense burner and burn incense among the people to purify them before the Lord because the Lord’s anger was burning against them causing a plague to break out. Aaron followed Moses instructions and took an incense burner and stood between the living and the dead, stopping the progress of the plague.
In order to put a stop to the muttering and complaints against Aaron and Moses, God told Moses to have the people bring him twelve staffs, one representing the leader of each of the tribes. Moses then carved the names of the leaders on the staff which represented them. Aaron’s name was carved on the staff representing the tribe of Levi. Moses told the people that the staff of the man God chose would sprout. He then placed the staffs in the Lord’s presence in the Tabernacle. When Moses retrieved the staffs the following day, he discovered that Aaron’s staff had not only sprouted, but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds. Moses brought the staffs out from the Lord’s presence and showed them to the people. Each of the tribal leaders claimed their staffs. Moses then returned Aaron’s staff to the presence of the Lord in the Tabernacle.
The passage then goes on to lay out the duties of the priests and Levites. The Levites were to assist the priests in caring for the Tabernacle, while the priests were to perform the sacred duties within the Tabernacle. It then goes on to describe how the priests and Levites are to be supported by a share of the offerings that the rest of the people of Israel bring to the Lord.
In today’s passage, Mark gives his account of the Resurrection. He tells us that just after sunrise on the morning of the first day of the week following Jesus’ crucifixion three women took spices to anoint Jesus’ body. On the way to the tomb, they discussed who would roll the stone away from the tomb so that they could get to the body, although they did not have an answer. When they got to the tomb they discovered that the stone was already rolled aside. As they entered the tomb they discovered a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side (the passage does not say if he was sitting on the stone or in the tomb). They were alarmed. The young man told them not to be alarmed, Jesus had risen. He told them to tell the disciples, especially Peter, that Jesus would meet them in Galilee. The earliest reliable manuscripts end with the women fleeing in fear, afraid to tell anyone what they had seen.
The most likely explanation for the rest of the passage is that it was added later because the ending chosen by Mark leaves things hanging. The endings to this passage that were not in the early manuscripts (and thus likely not in the original) are paraphrases of things contained in the other Gospels. I find it interesting to consider why the writer of this Gospel chose to stop telling the story where he appears to have stopped. By stopping at this point, the author puts greater emphasis on Jesus’ death while still recording His Resurrection. I think that we often think of Jesus’ death as merely the setup for His Resurrection, that it’s only purpose was to make His Resurrection possible. By ending the story where he appears to have Mark shows us that Jesus’ death was an important part of His ministry. Jesus’ death was the culmination of His earthly ministry. If we are true followers and imitators of Christ, we should be prepared that our ministry may end in a similar manner. Am I prepared to follow Jesus to a similar fate? Am I willing to sacrifice my life in order to serve the Lord? However, the writer wants to make sure we understand that such a death is not the end. After such a death comes the victorious resurrection.
The psalmist cries out to the Lord for aid because someone whom he had considered a friend has turned on him. His response to this betrayal is not to vow revenge. Rather, he calls on God to redeem him from his troubles. The psalmist tells us that if we give our burdens to the Lord, He will care for us. However, God will bring the wicked down to destruction. If we turn our burdens over to God, He will keep us from falling. Of course, that means all of them, no saying, “Oh this one is small, I can handle it,” when what we really mean is that if I turn this burden over to God, He might see what is inside and I might have to give up something I want to hold on to. I will strive to turn all of my burdens over to God and let Him handle them.
The hopes of those who do not trust in God die when they die because they really on their own strength. It is only when we rest our hopes and dreams on the strength of God that we can trust that they will extend beyond our short lifespans.