Daily Lectionary | Exodus 31 & Matthew 26:31-56

Exodus 31

Summary

The Lord doesn’t create the tent of meeting and its furnishings out of nothing; he gives his Spirit to skilled craftsmen and artists to carry create. The Lord fills Bezalel and Oholiab “with the Spirit of God“ and with “ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship to devise artistic design...” The tabernacle is a work of God’s design but it also a work of art by the skilled workers he inspired. 

The Lord has rescued Israel out of the house of slavery and toil to bring them into the house of freedom and rest. The Sabbath ordinance is a critical reminder not just of God the creator, but God the redeemer. The Lord brought Israel into a place of rest. The tabernacle is associated with this sabbath context. 

Reflection

How might this chapter help us think about the importance of art as a way of displaying the glory of God?

Why are rules for the Sabbath so strict? If the sabbath is meant to remind us of creation and God’s rest after his work and God’s redemption bringing Israel into rest, how can our sabbath observance work similarly?

Matthew 26:31-56

Summary

Jesus predicts that all of the disciples will fall away (Matt. 26:31). At the end of this section, we read the haunting words, “Then all the disciples left him and fled” (Matt. 26:56). Despite Peter’s protest that he would stick with Jesus to the end, he too will fall away famously when he denies Jesus. But he’s already beginning to slip away as they approach Gethsemane. He, with James and John, can’t even keep watch and pray that so that they would not “fall into temptation.” The temptation in view here seems to be falling away from Jesus.

Jesus, in contrast to the disciples, will persevere to the end, but not without pleading with his Father for another path. At the supper, Jesus said he would not drink the cup again until he drinks in the kingdom. Here, Jesus is faced with a cup that he does not want to drink. Yet he yields himself to the will of his Father. Jesus experiences the weakness in the flesh that he warns his disciples against. But he will overcome that weakness. He will drink the cup of wrath, for the disciples and the world.

Reflection

What does Jesus mean when he tells the disciples “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”? What do we learn about prayer in this passage?