A Journey with Jesus during Lent

Matthew 27:6-10

But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” So they took counsel and bought with them the potter's field as a burial place for strangers. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed me.”

How are you, ladies? How is your journey with Jesus going? I am praying we all encounter Him mightily as we continue through Matthew until Easter.

Today, we have an interesting portion of scripture. I believe it highlights 2 of our human traits that can negatively affect the way we experience life.

First, please notice the hypocrisy of the chief priests. My commentary noted several laws that were ignored or discarded to carry out the crucifixion of Jesus. Yet, the chief priests quoted the law concerning the money Judas returned to them. Don’t we all have a propensity to use rules and laws in our favor or as we want to? Isn’t hypocrisy always lurking in the shadows? What was true for the chief priests is very true for me. I can easily use rules to incriminate others but to protect myself. Yuck!

Here’s something else that I find interesting. Matthew quoted from the prophet Jeremiah, but both of my commentaries said the quoted portion was actually from the book of Zechariah. Wow! Possible suggestions for the “mistake” are; an early copyist mistakenly put Jeremiah, Jeremiah spoke the prophecy but Zechariah recorded it, or Matthew could be referring to the scroll of Jeremiah which included the book of Zechariah. God’s Word is without error, but human understanding is not. Despite our very best efforts, the possibility of a mistake is always present when a human is involved.

Did I nerd out too much? Are you still with me? I hope so, because these two little issues in our passage bring up the reality that our humanity produces all sorts of problems for us. That’s why it’s wonderful that Jesus came to live a perfect life, die, and rise to life in our place. Now, we can own the mess of our humanity, because Christ has redeemed it.

For the sake of a light-hearted start to this week’s study, when is the last time you made a silly mistake, had a ridiculous misunderstanding, or any other reminder of your humanity. We can laugh at ourselves a little because God’s love in Jesus covers us completely.

Dear Jesus,

We praise You and give thanks that we get to journey with You through this season of Lent. Draw us closer to Your heart, that we might know You better. After we daily reflect on Your selflessness and life-giving Word, give us wisdom to be Your hands and feet in the world just as You intend. Give us hearts of compassion, hands of generosity, and feet that take Your good news to the world. We love You and are honored to serve you Lord, our sweet Savior. Amen.

Week 4 Act of Kindness

“I needed clothes and you clothed me” Matthew 25:36a

This week, donate clothing to a thrift store or homeless shelter.