Psalm 63, 98; Deut. 8:1-10; 1 Cor. 1:17-31; Mark 2:18-22
Moses reminds them of all the Lord has done for them and by doing so recalls the first commandment, not only love the Lord but who He is and what He has done. They are to keep covenant with the Lord primarily because He has kept covenant with them. Moses has no doubts that the Lord is bringing them into the Land and yet he is clearly concerned that once there they will forget. Prosperity has always been a dangerous thing for humans to handle. We do a much better job of prayer and worship when we recognize our need of Him. We can be thankful for a while but we have a difficult time being faithful in the long run.
Apparently Jesus and His disciples were out of step with the fasting calendar and people wondered why that would be, a fair question. Jesus’ answer had to be startling to them that He had come therefore there is no reason to fast. Pointing to Himself in this way could certainly raise some hackles among the Jews. Either He is who He says He is, He is crazy, or He is the most arrogant man to ever live. He compares the situation to sewing and winemaking and clearly points out that these two situations make no sense and therefore neither would it make sense to fast while He was among them. Did John and his disciples not fully acknowledge Jesus?
Paul’s message to the Corinthians is to humility. He reminds them, as Moses reminds the people he led, that when God chose them they were nothing to write home about. They had no status, the world thought nothing in particular of them, they were simple people. In Christ Jesus, they have much in which to boast. Just like the Israelites, they were brought out from among the world into the community of God’s beloved. Who can say why God chose them rather than another group of people, they weren’t chosen based on any obvious merits of their own. Let all boasting be excluded in favor of grace. We are saved through sovereign grace and nothing else, and saved not through our own work but through the completed work of Jesus. Let us worship Christ alone, for grace alone, by faith alone, through the Word of God alone, and for the glory of God alone!
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.
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