Daily Lectionary | Exodus 19 & Matthew 19:16-20:16

Exodus 19

Summary

Israel now comes to Sinai, where Moses goes up the to meet God on the mountain. The Lord gives Moses a message that begins with a reminder of his deliverance. Moses is to tell the people they have seen God’s judgment of the Egyptians and salvation for themselves, how the Lord has borne them “on eagles wings and brought you to myself.” Salvation secured, they are now to keep the covenant the Lord will make with them.

Israel is the covenant people of God out of all the world. But their special covenant status has implications for the world. Within God’s creation, they are to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” As the story unfolds, we’ll see that God’s covenant promises to Israel, like his covenant promises to Abraham, have implications for the world. Abraham was blessed to be a blessing to the world. Israel will be God’s treasured possession amidst they world, that the world might know the Lord and come to him.

The people respond to this covenant obligation: “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” Then, the Lord announces he will come to Moses “In a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.” Moses special relationship with God as a representative, a go-between, is highlighted.

The people are to prepare to receive this covenant on the third day by washing their garments. Limits are to be set around the mountain lest someone touch it and die. When the trumpet blasts, they are to approach the mountain. Ritual washing before the Lord will become important through the various cleansing rites, culminating in Christian baptism.

The third day comes with “thunders and lightings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast.” The people meet God, while Mt. Sinai is enveloped in the glory cloud of God. Moses goes up the mountain to meet God. Moses back down before coming again with Aaron with him.

The holiness of the Lord runs through this passage. There are physical limits which separate the people from the Lord. On the one hand, the Lord comes near and invites the people to come close. On the other hand, the people must keep a distance lest they be consumed. The Lord, however, will mediate his presence and covenant through his servant Moses.

Reflection

Read 1 Peter 2:1-12. How is the church a new Israel? How is the church’s mission similar to Israel’s?

Matthew 19:16—20:16

Summary

The story of the Rich Young Man and the Parable of the Vineyard are connected in Matthew’s account. In the former, Jesus says, “But many who are first will be last, and the last first” (19:30). In the latter, there’s a reversal: “So the last will be first, and the first last.”

The Rich Young Ruler asks a sincere question about inheriting eternal life and Jesus gives a sincere answer. In keeping with the theme of a righteousness that exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees, Jesus calls for a greater righteousness than what the young ruler thought he already possess. Jesus calls for the sort of obedience that upends his life and and everything he’s come to trust in; he must sell all he has and give to the poor. Jesus confronts him with his god, his wealth, and says, effectively, you have to be willing to give that up to follow me. He goes away sad because of his great wealth.

The disciples are baffled: if this good man can’t enter the kingdom, then who can? And that is the point: it’s impossible to follow Jesus in our own power, but not with God’s—all things things are possible. And Peter and the other disciples have done just that. They have given up much to follow Christ, but it all has to be through God’s enabling them in the first place. And Jesus says that all that is lost in following him will be made up to them in the regeneration, the new world. Those “first” in the world will be at the end of the line; those at the end of the line in the world, will be first in the new world.

The parable of the laborers in the vineyard continue Jesus’ teaching. Jesus pays the workers in his vineyard what they have bargained for, whether they’ve been working a long time or a short time. Those who come in at the last hour have as much a place in the kingdom as those who’ve been part of a long time. So again, the last will first, and the first last.

Reflection

The rich young ruler asks, “What good thing must I do?” Jesus says there is One who is good. How does the Master of the House of the Parable of the Laboerers show us one who is good?