The rules concerning first born males of all animal life,
including human life, are given. All of
life is meant to be consecrated to the Lord.
The firstborn of every living creature is to be sacrificed to the Lord
except humans and donkeys. Why are
donkeys singled out for special treatment?
Donkeys usually give birth to only one foal at a time and therefore to
kill the one offspring would be wasteful of a valuable animal. (Horses were not kept by the Jews at this
time.) Therefore, a lamb was sacrificed
as a redemption for the life of a donkey.
There were to be constant reminders, frontlets before the eyes, of all
God had done for His people and the practice of sacrifice and redemption of the
first born of all animals was to be a reminder of the first Passover. Circumcision was a reminder for the entire
life of a man that the covenant passed through that organ's productivity to his
offspring. God has a connection with all
of life, nothing is unconsecrated. Everything
serves His purpose if we are His.
In Luke's retelling of the resurrection, the women are at
the tomb for a purpose. They have
prepared for the act of preparing Jesus' body for burial. There was not time for such work on the day
of His crucifixion, Passover began at sundown and His death was about that
time. In this act they are choosing love
over everything else. Identification with
Jesus will make them complete outcasts in Judaism, but they come this morning
for love. Luke tells us they found the
stone already rolled away in contrast to Matthew's Gospel which says it rolled
away when an earthquake happened. Luke also
has two men, not one, who are clearly angels, who tell the women of
resurrection. The women tell the
apostles what they have seen and heard but the apostles believe it to be an
idle tale, something women might make up.
Peter, however, decides to see for himself and peeks into the tomb and
goes away marveling. Did he believe?
We are His people. We are redeemed. These are the words we say in the Kenyan
liturgy. To be "His people" is
to be redeemed. From what, though, are
we redeemed? We are redeemed, Paul says,
from the law of sin and death. Jesus'
crucifixion, His willing sacrifice of Himself, is the price of our redemption and just as
they were redeemed from Egypt and given the land flowing with milk and honey,
we are redeemed from death and given eternal life. Death no longer has sting if we know it is
not the final word. We need not fear
either death or judgment because of Jesus.
Our redeemer lives. What a
difference a week can make.
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