I've been asking the Lord to show me something new this season in our Bible reading, something that will bring new light on a book like Leviticus that I've never understood before. So I did some digging and learned that the book of Leviticus illustrates the way a priestly nation is to enter the holy presence of the living God. It's all about a sacrificial blood offering to atone for sin. The Hebrew name of the book highlights the narrative aspect of Israel's spiritual journey and as we read it and we can draw a parallel to see how it gives important information to all of us on our own journey. Let's go back into tradition for a moment. When Jewish boys would study Torah, the Rabbi would give them honey as a reminder to associate God's Word with sweetness. Psalm 119:103 tells us "How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey". They also learned the importance of maintaining a wholehearted love for God and that when that relationship was broken a sacrifice had to made. We see in our reading that a life for a life is required to restore the relationship with God that was cut off by transgression, iniquities and rebelliousness. In God's perfect plan, to satisfy this lawful demand, Messiah's life had to be poured out as a living sacrifice. His offering had redemptive significance and fulfilled the Torah's demand for atonement. In our reading today in Mark, Jesus asks two critical questions, Don't you understand?, and Who do people say I am? Perhaps what Jesus was asking was if they recognized Him from the scriptures that they read while growing up. That the ultimate life for life sacrifice for atonement would be made by Him on the cross, and that He is the prophesied Messiah. Lord, I pray we understand and remember how sweet Your word is and the sacrifice You made to restore us. I pray in a world of confusion, we can share this message.
Randi
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