We are to be the light of hope in a dark world

The most important message I picked up from today’s readings overall is we are to be the light of hope in a dark world.

My primary takeaway from each of the passages was this:

• Numbers 27 & 28: The law regarding the inheritance of daughters. Joshua becomes the head of the community. Regulations concerning sacrifices for various feasts/celebrations. 
• John 4: Jesus reveals himself to the woman at the well, and ministers to the Samaritans for two days. He heals the son of a local official with a word, from a distance.
• Psalms 72: A description of the coming Messiah and his mission.
• Proverbs 10: “Reaping at harvest-time is the mark of the prudent, sleeping at harvest-time is the sign of the worthless.”

In Numbers today, we learn about provisions that were made for women to inherit their father’s land and possessions, when the father had no sons. This was a new thing. Before this request by the daughters of a man who had died, the property bypassed them and went straight to the father’s brothers. Before this, women did not inherit property.

In John 4, Jesus meets the woman at the well and asks her for some water. She starts quoting him social regulations about how Jews and Samaritans are supposed to (or not supposed to) interact, and how men and women are supposed to (or not supposed to) interact. He tells her everything she has done in her life, and reveals that he is the Messiah. She tells everyone she knows and they come back to meet him. His disciples are astonished to find him hanging out with Samaritans and sharing the good news with them. They continue to make the mistake of thinking that Jesus has come only for the Jews. Jesus sets them straight again.

While speaking with the woman at the well, and his disciples, Jesus talks about a harvest sown by others that his disciples will reap. He speaks of the foundation laid down by the prophets (fertile ground), the ministry he himself has embarked upon (seeds he is sowing), and a harvest to be reaped by others (his disciples, both those with him during that time, and those of us who succeeded them, to this day).

They travel back to Galilee and Jesus heals the son of a local official with a word, from a distance.

Some of the events in John are the retelling of events we have already read about in previous gospels. But the way that John writes about them is centered on the mystical nature of Jesus, and the bigger picture of his ministry; the meaning of it all. In the previous gospels, we get the events. In John, we get the things that really can’t be explained in logical terms. John shows us where faith is necessary for the stories to make sense.

Coincidentally (there’s God winking at us again), Psalm 72 is a description of the coming Messiah and his mission. What Jesus says to his disciples in John is the perfect bookend to today’s Psalm.

Another coincidence occurs today in Proverbs 10, where we read in verse 5, “Reaping at harvest-time is the mark of the prudent, sleeping at harvest-time is the sign of the worthless.” Jesus spoke of a harvest that his disciples (both those he was with at that time, and those of us who succeeded them to this day) would reap that they had not sown. In Proverbs 10 there are other verses that speak directly to being wise and leading a productive and fruitful life in general. But in verse 5 we have a double entendre concerning reaping a harvest. There’s the literal meaning, which is to not be lazy and to reap a harvest so that you can feed your family; and there’s the interpretation related to the harvest of which Jesus speaks in John 4, the one sown by Jesus in a field prepared by the prophets and ultimately reaped by his disciples; a harvest of souls. Jesus sowed seeds of light and hope, and it’s our job to finish the work and bring people into the light by connecting the dots for them. We are to, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5: 16).

That’s what I got out of it. What did you get out of the readings today?

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This post is part of the series, “Read the Bible in a Year.”

To see other posts in this series, go to the Chronological Index of Read the Bible in a Year Posts.

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