Dave Miller's 2024 Bible Reading Challenge

Today's Reading - John 15 Background Jesus continues, in his "Farewell Discourse," to prepare his disciples for the explosion that would take place the next day, as their lives would be blown apart. In today's reading, Jesus focuses on our abiding in him, and on the consequences of that - the reality of persecution. He returns to the topic of the work of the Holy Spirit as well.  Devotional - Abiding in Christ I love Christmas trees. Last year was sad - we were traveling so there was no tree! The house was so bland. Decorating the tree, packing on the lights and ornaments, is one of my favorite parts of the season. But the trees we get have a problem. They have been severed from the roots. They are nice and green when we get them, but as the weeks go on they begin to turn brown and brittle, and the needles begin to fall to the ground. There is a reason for this, a pretty obvious one. It has been cut. The roots are severed. Even though it looks good for a while, once ...

Today's Reading - John 14 Background I've always loved mountains. Maybe it's because I lived so long in flat places like Florida, but the majesty and awe-inspiring beauty of mountains move me. John 14-16 is a mountaintop of scripture. Like Romans 8, Psalm 23, 1 Corinthians 13, or John 3, it is among the Himalayan peaks of God's word. It is a message that Jesus preached to his disciples the night before he died, his last words to them, preparing them to handle life when he went away. The entire sermon is about the peace that God gives in tough times. He knew the disciples' lives were about to be shattered into a million pieces and so he wanted to give them peace - real peace, God's peace. Is peace possible when storms rage all around? Do we have resources beyond those of our circumstances? According to Jesus, we do. From the opening words (Let not your hearts be troubled) to the last, "Take heart, I have overcome the world," Jesus is preparing his disc...

Today's Reading -  Luke 22:31-38, John 13:31-38 Background As the end drew near, as the supper wrapped up, Jesus engaged his disciples in several ways to prepare them for what lay ahead. John tells us that Jesus laid out a new commandment, one that would be the dominant mandate for the church that his disciples would establish. They were to "love one another." Unfortunately, after he set out this wonderful command, he then had to give Peter some bad news. Confident that he could follow Jesus to the ends of the earth and endure whatever he had to, assured of his loyalty to Jesus and his kingdom, Peter was shocked to hear Jesus tell him he would deny him three times before the sun came up the next morning. Luke then tells us of a warning Jesus gave to the disciples about the days ahead, how things were about to change. Scripture was to be fulfilled and Jesus was to become all he had been intended to be. Devotional - Real Christianity What is the marker of true spirituality...

Today's Reading - Matthew 26:20-29, Mark 14:17-25, Luke 22:14-30, John 13:21-30  Background For nearly 2000 years people have gathered in homes, in tunnels, in caves, in cathedrals, in forests, in churches, and in many other places to take a piece of bread and drink the fruit of the vine to remember the body of Christ which bore our sins and the blood which washes us white as snow. In today's readings, Jesus initiates the Lord's Supper, the ordinance which has been such a blessing (and a source of much controversy) through the years.  There were two significant events that the gospels record as a part of the meal. First, Jesus revealed to the group that one of their number would betray him and identified Judas as the one though it seems that the rest didn't understand it completely. Judas slipped away to complete the single most despicable deed in world history - betraying the Son of God.  At the end of the meal, after Jesus has washed the disciple's feet and after...

Today's Reading -  Matthew 26:1-19, Mark 14:1-16, Luke 22:1-13, John 13:1-20 Background And now it gets serious.  To this point, the religious leaders have hated Jesus.  They've schemed and plotted against him. But now they actually are planning his death. They have put feet to their hate and set in motion the scheme that would result in the passion of the Christ.  They get a break when Judas got upset with Jesus over a financial matter. A woman anointed him with expensive perfume and Judas wanted it given to the treasury (which he kept and dipped into according to John 12) for his own selfish purposes. When Jesus did not do as he said and perhaps after hearing Jesus talk about dying over and over again, Judas despaired of Jesus' ability to establish a successful earthly, political kingdom and he threw in the towel. He went to the Pharisees and agreed to betray Jesus for money - 30 pieces of silver.  Thus begins the fateful day, as Jesus sends his disciple...

Today's Reading - Matthew 25 Background The end is near.  Well, to be honest, we don't really know precisely how close it is, because to the Lord, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a time. Time isn't the same for him as it is for us. But we know that the world we live in has an expiration date and that it will be consummated to the glory of God.  In this chapter, Jesus tells three stories that deal with aspects of the end. First he tells about the Ten Virgins and reminds his disciples that since they do not know when the end is going to come they must be vigilant and always ready to meet Christ. Then he tells the parable of the Talents, which has nothing to do with talents as we think of them. A talent was a measure of silver. This parable speaks of faithfulness, reminding us that as the end draws near we must invest everything we are and have into the service of God. Finally, he speaks of the awaiting judgment in which Jesus will separ...

Today's Reading - Matthew 23:37-24:22, Mark 12:41-13:20, Luke 21:1-24 Background fter the familiar story of the widow's offering which appears in Mark and Luke, Jesus turns his attention to Jerusalem. He laments it's sin and rebellion in Matthew 23:37-39, a significant passage which indicates his rejection by the people. When he rode in at his triumphal entry he was hailed as the one who was blessed, as the one who had come in the name of the Lord. But now he knew that the leaders and even the people were rejecting him, and he lamented the sin of Jerusalem and asserted that the city would not see him again until they meant what they said that day, until they truly proclaimed, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." Then Jesus stepped forward and gave prophecies about the destruction of the temple and then about the end times. Matthew 24 and the related passages in Mark and Luke are important parts of any study of the end times.  Devotional - Our God Wi...

Today's Reading - Matthew 23:1-36, Mark 12:38-40, Luke 20:45-47  Background I wish I had a nickel for every time someone has used Matthew 23 to justify their angry words toward someone else. "Look what Jesus said to the Pharisees in Matthew 23." It's true, of course, he says some pretty harsh about his religious antagonists here. But it is well to remember a few things. Jesus was perfect and so was his judgment. Our judgment is often colored by our own pride, anger, and selfish perspective - Jesus was seeking only the glory and purposes of God. Unless I am absolutely sure that my judgment is as just as Christ's I would do well to guard my words. What we see in this passage is a confrontation of the Pharisees for all they were and all they did wrong. Jesus held nothing back. The devotional will deal with the high points in this, but the key point here is that the tendency toward pharisaical attitudes and actions is in each of us. We tend to pin the label on others...

Today's Reading - Matthew 22:15-46, Mark 12:13-37, Luke 20:19-44 Background Pop quiz! How I hated those words. I was able to study for tests, cramming knowledge into my brain, spitting it out on the test, and forgetting it the moment the test was over. But pop quizzes were sprung on us when we weren't prepared.  The religionists tried some pop quizzes on Jesus in today's readings, nearly identical in all three Synoptic Gospels. First, they asked him about whether they were obligated to pay taxes to Caesar. "Now we've got him," they thought. If he said yes, the people would hate him. If he said no, he would be in trouble with the Romans to whom the taxes were to be paid. Jesus passed the pop quiz by showing a coin and telling them to "render to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."  He then was asked a labored question about the resurrection and a woman who married each of seven brothers, who died. It was a law from the Old Testam...

Today's Reading -  Matthew 21:28-22:14, Mark 12:1-12, Luke 20:9-18 Background Jesus returns to his parable-telling ways, these ones not nearly as mysterious as some of the previous ones. Matthew records three parables in our reading today, each one designed to insult the Pharisees and religious leaders who were following him and trying to trap him. Jesus didn't back down, didn't try to curry favor. He trained his verbal guns at them with full force and they understood exactly what he was saying. Mark and Luke repeat only one of the parables. Matthew first told a parable about two sons. The first son refuses to obey his father but changes his mind and submits to his will. The other assures his father of his intent to obey but does not follow through. Jesus pointed out that it took more than just talking a good game to be a true servant of God.  He then spoke of a master who left his servants to tend his house. The tenants beat them and killed them. Finally, he sent his so...

Today's Reading - John 12:20-50, Matthew 21:18-27, Mark 11:20-33, Luke 20:1-8 Background The passage is John is first here because it is a continuation of a previous reading in John. Jesus is preparing for the end. John 12:23 is rife with irony. "The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified." Think of what was about to happen to him. Arrest. Trial. Beating. Mocking. A crown of thorns. Carrying his cross. Nails in his hands and feet. Agony. And he called this being "glorified." Only Jesus would say that because he realized that the path to greatness was to lay down his life for the world. In verses 25-26, he called his disciples to follow him on the path of the cross, giving up their lives to him and for the sake of others. Jesus was sinless, but in his battle with the Pharisees, he was not exactly innocent. He did most of his miracles on the Sabbath and said many things that insulted and infuriated them. He entered Jerusalem knowing that it would force ...

Today's Reading - Matthew 21:1-17, Mark 11:1-19, Luke 19:28-48, John 12:1-19 Background The beginning of the end - that is what the Triumphal Entry is. Jesus came over the Mt of Olives and down into the city with the crowds cheering. It was a great way to start a week that would turn ugly quickly - a fulfillment of prophecy and a portent of a future return when Jesus will be accepted by all as King of kings and Lord of lords.  Devotional - For Heaven's Applause Jesus rode into Jerusalem with crowds cheering him (Mark 11:1-11). "Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." They lined the streets to celebrate him, spreading branches to pave his way. It was a glorious and joyful moment. It is a heady thing to have people cheering you on and most of us would have found the temptation to play to the crowd and seek to keep the applause coming. Jesus did not. He was not going to Jerusalem to receive adulation but to make a sacrifice. He was about the Father...

Today's Reading - Luke 18:35-19:27  Background Today's readings take place in Jericho, on the west side of the Jordan, at the north end of the Dead Sea. Jesus was headed to Jerusalem, determined to give himself for the sins of the world, and so he walked in the Jordan River valley, the easiest way to walk. In Jericho, Jesus healed a man born blind (a story we read yesterday in other gospel accounts) and the story of Zaccheus, the repentant tax collector. He also, while in Jericho, told the parable of the nobleman who gave his servants "minas" to invest. It is about being faithful to use that which God has given us in the kingdom. From Jericho, Jesus will head up the hill toward Jerusalem and his Triumphal Entry and the eternally significant events that followed. Devotional - Hands-on Ministry Z accheus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he... It's one of the stories that we church kids heard in Sunday School, about the little guy who climbed the tree ...

Today's Reading - Matthew 20:1-34, Mark 10:32-52, Luke 18:31-34  Background Today's readings mark the clear turning point in Jesus' ministry. The hints have been leading up to this point, but now all doubt is gone. After a parable about rewards for serving God and his kingdom, Jesus predicts his death a third time, with a firm prediction that they are headed to Jerusalem. The Galilean portion of the ministry is over and the march to Jerusalem is beginning. The story of the request of James and John (evidently pushed by their "stage mom" according to Matthew) is quite a contrast to the intent of Jesus. Jesus is planning to go to Jerusalem and die for the sins of the world while these two are scheming to see who can become the "greatest" when Jesus takes over the government. Not only is their attitude wrong but they demonstrate that they have no understanding of the nature of the kingdom of God. The final story, of course, is a healing in Jericho, in the p...

Today's Reading - Matthew 19:1-30, Mark 10:1-31, Luke 18:15-30  Background While there are readings in Matthew, Mark, and Luke today, they repeat the same stories (mostly). First, Jesus goes over the issue of divorce, with slight variations in each Gospel in some of the small details, primarily over whether there is an exception on the grounds of adultery. Matthew, the most extensive telling of the story, includes it but Mark does not. The second story, which appears in all three Gospels, is the blessing of the children. Then, the primary story is that of the rich young ruler, also told in each of the three Gospels. We learn different details in each of the Gospels which combine to give us the entire story. It is a key story when we study the gospel as Jesus preached it. Here he turned away a young man who wanted eternal life because he would not give up the idol of money. Jesus demands to the only love, the only passion of our lives. He will not accept second place and will ...