John 13 begins the last 24 hours before the crucifixion of Jesus. Jesus washed the disciples’ feet before the Passover meal, a task normally performed by the lowest servant. During the meal he announced his betrayal, and then he gave the disciples a new commandment “love one another”. He also predicted Simon Peter’s denial.
Genesis 38 tells the story of Judah and Tamar. One of the rules of the Old Testament is that if a man dies without producing an heir, it was the duty of his brother to try to produce an offspring to his widow. Onan shirked this responsibility, and that was the sin of Onan. Tamar was thus still barren, so she tricked Judah into committing adultery. You can read it for yourself. Judah finally confessed: She is more righteous than I.
Genesis 39 then picks up the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. The story is a classic, and for doing the right thing Joseph was falsely accused and thrown in jail.
Psalm 7 is a shiggaion, a dithyrambic ode of David. I would love to hear what the music to this Psalm sounded like.
Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment. 