Readings for the Week of July 10, 2016

The law of God is an overarching theme of the Bible, for good and for bad.  It is the way to God, but a way that cannot hope to be mastered by we the people.  We just aren’t good enough.  So along comes Jesus, who tosses everything on its ear.  He didn’t end the law, he fulfilled it.  That changed the very nature of the beast, from condemnatory to preparatory.  It goes from being an instrument of our judgment by God to a tool to teach how to offer our lives more fully to our God.  There is lots of law in the Bible, five full chapters of it to start with, the Torah, Genesis to Deuteronomy.  We are going to consider passages around the Ten Commandments.

Mon., July 11: Exodus 20:1-21  The law and the reaction of the people.

Tue., July 12: Deuteronomy 5:1-33; 6: 1-3  This is the recap in the last book of the Torah.

Wed., July 13: Deuteronomy 6:4-25  The ‘why’ of keeping the law is given.

Thu., July 14: Matthew 22:15-40  The rulers of the Jews are taking turns taking their shots at Jesus, who completes his defense with a summation of the whole law.

Fri., July 15: Matthew 5: 15-26  Jesus lays out his relationship to the law and what he intends with it, giving a practical example of interpreting “Thou shalt not murder”.

Sat., July 16: Matthew 5: 27-48  He continues on the law, taking about “Thou shalt not commit adultery”, then going on to develop his thoughts and summary of the new role of law.