New Beginnings

Jim:

Ezra 7:1-26
Portions of verses 5 and 6 are interesting to me: “…son of the chief priest Aaron—this Ezra went up from Babylonia.” Ezra is a descendant of Aaron, the brother of Moses. And the fact that he is a scribe devoted to the law of Moses and that he is engaged in reestablishing Jerusalem and the worship of God there (in part because the hand of the Lord was on the king to let Ezra go) seems to cast Ezra in the role of a “new Moses”. The people of God are being led through a new Exodus, out of bondage in Babylonia, home to the promised land, in part by a man who is related to Moses and devoted to Moses’s teachings.

Revelation 14:1-13
Verse 12 seems to sum up a lot of what Revelation is saying: “Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of Jesus.” As disturbing as the visions contained in Revelation are, they all seem to point to the need for faithful endurance by God’s people, and to the promise of joy and peace in the life to come. “Hang on,” it is saying, “remain true to who you are and what you believe.” In troubled times this is an important message for the church and for individual Christians. God knows that there is suffering. But God promises a new beginning for those who are steadfast in the faith.

Matthew 14:1-12
After John the Baptist’s beheading , “His disciples came and took the body and buried it; then they went and told Jesus.” (Verse 12) I don’t always remember the proximity of John and Jesus’ ministries, the fact that, not only were they living at the same time, but that they were aware of and communicative with one another. Certainly John’s disciples felt that Jesus was worthy of hearing the news of John’s death from them.