Category: John

Day 32 of reading the Holy Bible in 365 days.

John 21 tells of the eighth miracle of Jesus. This miracle, a great catch of fish happened after Jesus resurrection and was a sign of new beginnings. Jesus reinstated Peter and told him: “Feed my sheep.”

Exodus 12 tells of how God instituted the Passover. The name comes from the action that night, when the angel of death came to kill every firstborn in Egypt, if he saw the blood of the pascal lamb om the doorposts and the lentil of the house, he would pass over that house. The chapter is fantastic, read it and marvel!

In Exodus 13 the feast of unleavened bread is defined and the consecrating of the firstborn to the LORD. The Hebrews have escaped from Egypt, and a proposed route is suggested.

Day 31 of reading the Holy Bible in 365 days.

John 20 deals with the resurrection, and Jesus was not there, only his grave clothes, strips of cloth, not the “Turin Shroud.” It was the first day of the week and Jesus showed himself to all the disciples except Thomas. He doubted their testimony, and it is from this we have the expression “Doubting Thomas.” Later, when even he saw Jesus, he bowed down and worshiped him saying “My Lord, and my God”. Jesus also gave the promise they would receive the Holy Spirit.

Exodus 10: Two more plagues, the plague of locusts and the plague of darkness. For these two plagues the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

In Exodus 11 Moses and Aaron proclaimed the tenth and final plague: The death of the firstborn. Interestingly enough the plagues of Egypt are also in the Quran, four are the same, five are different, and one is missing altogether. Guess which one!

Psalm 11 has the phrase “flee as a bird to the mountain”, which bring back memories of songs we used to sing in choir.

Day 30 of reading the Holy Bible in 365 days.

John 19:16b-42. I took the liberty to incorporate all the “seven words of Christ on the cross.” This requires to take passages from the Gospel of Luke, as well as from the Gospel pf Matthew or Mark. It helped me a lot to get the time-order of events as well as the completeness of Christ substitutionary sacrifice on the Cross. It is finished!

In Exodus 9 there are three more plagues, the plague of livestock, the plague of boils and the plague of hail. In the fifth and seventh plague Pharaoh’s heart remained hard, but for the sixth plague the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

Day 28 of reading the Holy Bible in 365 days.

John 18:28-40 deals with the last 24 hours of Jesus’ life, from the trial before Annas and the Sanhedron Jesus was paraded before Pilate, seeing a way out, Pilate sent him to Herod, who sent him back to Pilate, Pilate offered to release Jesus or Barabbas and the people demanded that Barabbas be released.

In Exodus 4 God gave Moses his call. At first Moses came up with one objection after another, but God persuaded him with signs that he must go back to Egypt, face Pharaoh and lead his people.

In Exodus 5 Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and asked for a 3 day reprieve for their people so they could go and worship God. Like all dictators Pharaoh reacted to this petition by making life even more miserable for the Hebrews; he wanted them to gather their own straw and still make as many bricks as before. The Hebrews blamed Moses for stirring up trouble for them.

And in Exodus 6 the LORD (Jehovah) promised deliverance from Pharaoh and He would give them the land He had promised Abraham. The narrative continues with an interlude where the names of the heads of the clans of Israel are listed. Moses protested and did not want to talk to Pharaoh any more, so Aaron would have to do the speaking.

Day 27 of reading the Holy Bible in 365 days.

John 18:1-27 deals with the last 24 hours of Jesus life, the prayer in the garden of Gethsemane and the subsequent arrest of Jesus, the trial before Annas, Peter’s first denial, Jesus trial before Caiaphas, Peter’s second and third denial and the cock crowing.

Exodus 3 tells where God revealed Himself to Moses in the form of a burning bush and declared “I am that I am”. Jesus made a similar declaration in John 8:58 “Before Abraham, I am”.

In the Septuagint Psalm 9 and Psalm 10 belong together. They speak of God’s faithfulness and the only temporary victories of the wicked one.

Day 26 of reading the Holy Bible in 365 days.

John 17 is commonly known as Jesus’ high priestly prayer. In some conservative circles it is also called “The Lord’s prayer.” In it Jesus prayed for himself, then he prayed for his disciples followed by prayer for all future believers. In the end of the chapter he prayed that the believers will see his glory, the glory God gave him before the creation of the world.

A few hundred years has passed since the end of Genesis. Exodus 1 tells how the Hebrews multiplied and became a perceived threat to the Egyptians. The Egyptians told the Hebrew midwives that every boy they delivered must be thrown into the Nile, but every girl were to be let to live.

Which seamlessly leads into Exodus 2, how Moses when he was born was placed in a papyrus basket, which then was thrown into the Nile and the child was left crying in the reeds. Pharaoh’s daughter heard it, picked him up and asked her servant to find somebody to nurse him. Of course she found Moses’ own mother to nurse him. After he was weaned Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s household and got educated. He did remember he was a Hebrew, so when he saw an Egyptian mistreat a Hebrew he killed the Egyptian. This became known and Moses fled to Midian, where he spent 40 years tending flocks. This is great reading.

Day 24 of reading the Holy Bible in 365 days.

John 16:1-16. Jesus continued his instructions to his disciples, telling why it is good he leaves and sends the Holy Spirit. He also promised they would be persecuted for following Jesus.

Genesis 48 describes how Jacob blessed Ephraim and Manasseh. He blessed Ephraim ahead of Manasseh, even though Manasseh was the older of Joseph’s sons.

In Genesis 49 Jacob blessed all his sons with a different blessing for each of them.

And finally, Genesis 50 tells how Jacob was buried back in Canaan near Mamre where Sarah, Abraham and Rebecka also were buried. Joseph forgave his brothers; “Ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good”. Finally even Joseph dies, and he wills that his bones will be carried out when they depart Egypt and enter into the promised land.

Day 23 of reading the Holy Bible in 365 days.

John 15. Jesus continued his instructions to the disciples. There are many memorable quotes from this chapter: “I am the true vine, I am the vine, you are the branches, apart from me you can do nothing, as the Father has loved me, so have I loved you, love each other as I have loved you, greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends, this is my command: Love each other” and “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.”

In Genesis 45 Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, and all rejoiced. It contains the phrase “But God” and shows clearly that God was in control all the time.

In Genesis 46 Jacob joined Joseph’s brothers in going to resettle in Egypt, and is a retelling of the names of all that went, sixty-six in total – not counting women and children.

Genesis 47 tells of how Jacob and his descendants settled in Goshen, about the continuing famine, and how Joseph, controlling the food supply enslaved the people. All power corrupts, and so even Joseph failed in comparison to Jesus, who came to set people free.

Day 22 of reading the Holy Bible in 365 days.

John 14:15-31 records the events of the hour after the Passover meal before they all depart to Gethsemane. Since Jesus told his disciples he was leaving, he promised to send another comforter or advocate. (I have put in a short explanation on the difference in the interpretation of this passage between Christianity and Islam). Jesus then explained clearly he will be going away and send the Holy Spirit in his place.

In Genesis 42 there was famine in Canaan, as happened quite regularly, so Joseph’s brothers went down to Egypt to buy food. They met Joseph, now governor of Egypt, and he demanded to see Benjamin, who was left behind with Jacob. They agreed to do so and left one of the brothers behind as collateral. Joseph was very distraught at the proposition, since Joseph and Benjamin were his favorite children.

And in Genesis 43 the famine continued, so they had to go back to Egypt for more. This time they had to bring Benjamin with them to keep their promise to Joseph. Joseph gave them all food from his table, and he gave a five times larger portion to Benjamin. So ends that chapter.

Genesis 44 tells how Joseph tested his brothers by having Joseph’s own silver cup placed in Benjamin’s sack as the brothers returned back to Canaan. They all passed the test and returned to Joseph to await his judgment.

Day 21 of reading the Holy Bible in 365 days.

John 14:1-14 records the events of the hour after the Passover meal before they all depart to Gethsemane. Jesus told his disciples he is going away to prepare a mansion, more precisely a dwelling place for them. Thomas, always questioning him, asked him “How can we know the way?” And Philip added “Show us the Father“. Jesus answer? “Believe in me“.

Genesis 40 deals with dreams. Joseph’s two fellow cellmates in prison each had a dream, Joseph interpreted the dreams that the cup-bearer would be released and restored to his former position, while the baker would be hanged on a tree.

In Genesis 41  Pharaoh himself had a dream, and Joseph was released from prison to interpret the dream. It dealt with seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. Joseph interpreted the dream so well that Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all affairs of Egypt. The seven years of plenty came and good harvests filled the storehouses. Then came the seven years of famine.

Psalm 8 has been set to music many times. Even I have sung it many times, both as a choir number, and the first verse as an introit. Looking for the music I found a far better, very free rendition of the Psalm, this one by Marty Goetz.