Exodus 23 continues the commands for justice begun in yesterday’s readings. Many of them seem to be elaborations of the Ten Commandments. God continues to have a concern for the poor, mentioning them 3 times in the first 11 verses. Most of the rest of the commands in this chapter deal with bearing witness, right treatment of enemies and strangers (aliens), and Sabbath and feast day regulations.

God says that he is going to send an angel to guide the Israelites to the Promised Land. They are to obey him, worship only the Lord and not be influenced by other peoples. If they do as God has commanded, God will protect them, take care of their provisions and keep them healthy.

In Exodus 24 God has Moses come to him. Aaron and the elders are allowed to come closer but are allowed to worship only at a distance.

Moses tells the people what God has commanded and the promise to obey. Moses writes down what God has told him. He builds an altar and the people offer sacrifices to the Lord. God allows the elders to see him.

God has Moses go to the top of the mountain to receive stone tablet with the law and the commandment on it. God was in a cloud which covered the top of the mountain. To the people it looked like a fire. Moses entered the cloud and stayed forty days and forty nights.

At this point everything seems to be going well. When the people are confronted with God they promise to obey. They worship God whom they have seen and heard.

In Matthew 26 Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to be handed over to be crucified. Meanwhile the chief priests and elders discuss having Jesus arrested. They decide to wait until after Passover so the people will not riot.

Jesus and his disciples are staying n Bethany. A woman comes to him with a jar of expensive ointment and pours it on his head. The disciples object, but Jesus says that she is preparing him for burial.

Judas is clearly disappointed with the way things are going. He goes to the chief priests and asks what they will pay for his betrayal of Jesus. They offer thirty pieces of silver, the cost of a slave.

Jesus and the disciples celebrate Passover together. While they are eating he predicts that one of them will betray him. They all deny it. Even though Judas denies it also Jesus knows his intentions.

Jesus takes bread and wine that are used for the Passover observance and gives them new meaning by saying that they are his body and blood.  He then tells them that he will not drink again until he drinks with them in his Father’s kingdom.

After the meal they go to the Mount of Olives. Jesus says all of them will desert him. Peter says he will never desert Jesus, but Jesus says that before the cock crows the next morning Peter will deny him three times.

Jesus takes Peter, James and John to pray. He asks them to stay awake with him, but three times when he return they are sleeping. While Jesus prays he asks his Father to change the plan that he will follow but acknowledges that he will do whatever God wills.

It is time for Jesus to be betrayed and Judas approaches Jesus and kisses him. He brings a crowd with him and they arrest Jesus. One of the disciples draws a sword and cuts the ear off of a slave, but Jesus tells him to stop. He tells them that if he wanted he could have God protect him but then the scriptures would not be fulfilled. The disciples desert Jesus.

Jesus is brought to Caiaphas, the high priest. Peter follows at a distance. While Jesus is being put on trial and found guilty of blasphemy because of false testimony given against him, Peter is accused three times of being associated with Jesus. Each time he denies the charge. When he hear a cock crow he remembers what Jesus said and he runs away weeping.

All of us would rather that Jesus did not have to go through the humiliation and torture he did. But as he continually reminded the disciples he needed to do this in order to fulfill the scriptures. God had destined Jesus to save us in this manner before the world began. He told us about it throughout the Old Testament. It is hard for us to believe that the priests who know the scriptures backward and forward would participate in this manner, but then, again, we read these same scriptures and have a hard time believing ourselves. Reading them now, can you see God’s plan? Can you believe?