Day 318, November 14: Bible reading & prayer

Matthew 28, Mark 16 (chronological); Ezekiel 7-9, Hebrews 10:24-39 (OT/NT)

We are reading chronologically through the New Testament, and are one day away from finishing the four Gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).

Our chronological reading plan simplifies, by necessity, daily reading assignments by having, usually, whole chapters read each day. Therefore, we read different accounts of the same event by the different Gospel writers on different days, making it difficult to follow the chronology. I attempted to piece together the chronology in my more in-depth chronological study of the Gospels.

We’ll discuss today, Day 45, in the chronological what we read on Day 316 and Day 317 from the four Gospel accounts regarding Jesus’ crucifixion and burial.

A overview of our yearly Bible reading plan, with all edited summaries so far, can be found here.

November 14 chronological reading: Matthew 28, Mark 16

Matthew 28

v1-7 “Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.’

v8-10 “And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.’

v11-15 “Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, and said, ‘You are to say, “His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.” And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.’ And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day.

v16-20 “But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’”

Mark 16

v1-8 “When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him. Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. They were saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?’ Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large. Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, ‘Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter, “He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.”’ They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. 

v9-11 “[Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. She went and reported to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and weeping. When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it.

v12-13 “After that, He appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along on their way to the country. They went away and reported it to the others, but they did not believe them either.

v14-18 “Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen. And He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.’

v19-20 “So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.]

[And they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter and his companions. And after that, Jesus Himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.]”

November 14 OT/NT readings: Ezekiel 7-9, Hebrews 10:24-39

We are reading Ezekiel in the Old Testament reading plan. Ezekiel wrote as an exile of Judah in Babylon, and got the tough assignment of prophesying the siege, conquering, and destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Babylonians. He also got the hopeful assignment of prophesying of the restoration of the temple and the land of Israel to God’s people. We read Ezekiel 7-8 on Day 240, and Ezekiel 9 on Day 241 of the chronological reading plan, so you can find the text of these chapters on that day.

We are reading the letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament reading plan. We do not know who wrote this letter, but it teaches Jewish believers about their newfound faith in Christ, reconciling their old life under the Law with their new life under grace. It is incredibly instructive to us as well.

In chapter 1, we learned that God spoke through the prophets, and then, in these last days, through His Son, who is the Creator, heir of all things, radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature. He upholds all things by the word of His power, made purification of sins, and is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high. He is “much better than the angels,” who are “ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation.”

In chapter 2, we learned that we must pay close attention to what was revealed by the Son. Under the Law, which was spoken to Moses through angels, “every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty,” so “how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”

In chapter 3, we learned that Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses, as the builder of the house has more honor than the house and “the builder of all things is God.” “Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.” The Israelites had great revelation in the wilderness, but God swore they were not able to enter His rest because of their disobedience of unbelief.

In chapter 4, we learned, there “remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.” “Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

In chapter 5, we learned that there is a distinction between high priests “taken from among men” and Jesus, our high priest, appointed by God. A human high priest is “appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness.” Different from Jesus, a human high priest has to offer sacrifices for the sins of himself and the people, since he is a sinner himself.

In chapter 6, we were admonished, “leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity.” Show “diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

In chapter 7, we learned that “Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.” Human priests were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, “because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently. Therefore He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.”

In chapter 8, we learned we “have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.” Priests on earth are appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices according to the Law, and “serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things,” just as Moses erected the tabernacle according to the pattern shown to him by God. Jesus “has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.”

In chapter 9, we learned that the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary. The priests continually entered the outer tabernacle performing the divine worship, “but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and the sins of the people committed in ignorance. “Gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience, since they relate only to food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation. But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle…through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” If previous ritual served to cleanse the flesh, “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” Even “the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood.” “And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us…now at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for me to die once and after this come judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.”

In the first part of Chapter 10 yesterday, we learned that the Law, “since it is only a shadow of the good things to come,” can never, “by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.” “But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year.” When Jesus came into the world, He said, “‘SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS AND WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, NOR HAVE YOU TAKEN PLEASURE in them,’ and then He said, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL.’ He takes away the first in order to establish the second. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” “He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” “Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without waving, for He who promised is faithful;”

Hebrews 10:24-39

v24-25 “and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

v26-31 “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, ‘VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.’ And again, ‘THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.’ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

v32-36 “But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one. Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

v37-38 “FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY.
BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM.

v39 “But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”

Dear Lord,

Jesus Himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.

Thank You for the many who have been faithful to share Your gospel. May we be faithful as well.

we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.

Yes, Lord, may this be said of us.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.