Readings:
Ruth 3-4
Psalm 113
Luke 23:26-56

Ruth 3-4

Naomi plays matchmaker and sends Ruth to see Boaz at his threshing floor and she flirts with him. He informs her that he’d gladly take her as wife, but there’s a man who’s actually closer kin to her deceased husband than he is, so he tells her to go home to Naomi and if the other kinsman isn’t willing to take her as wife then he will.

Boaz approached the next of kin and put him on the spot to see if he wanted to buy the land that belonged to Naomi’s husband. The man wanted the land, but when informed of the Moabite woman that came with the deal he backed out, and so Boaz claims the right as the next in line to both buy the land and get the girl. This was all part of the marriage and inheritance customs that we read about back when Tamar was owed another son from Judah but he withheld that from her and so she tricked him into fathering a child with her himself.

The townspeople that Boaz gathered to be witnesses to this conversation confirm his purchase of the land and wife, and bless him by bringing up Tamar and Judah. They proclaim that his house will be renowned in Bethlehem and considering the fact that both Boaz and Ruth are great grandparents of king David and feature in the lineage of Jesus Christ, I’d say they are very renowned.

Like I said before, as much as Judges showed the bad side of what was going on in this era, the Book Of Ruth shows us that there were still good people who strived to do the right thing. To honor God and love their neighbors. That even in dark times we can be a light to those around us.

Luke 23:26-56

The Romans impose upon a visiting Jew from Cyrene (modern Libya) to carry the cross for Jesus. The people of Jerusalem were not for the most part Roman citizens, and so they could be pressed into the service of the empire temporarily at any time and for almost any task. For Simon, saying no wasn’t really an option here.

Jesus address the weeping women, telling them not to cry for him but for their children. He remarks that if this is what happens when the wood is green, imagine what it will be like when it’s dry. What’s dry wood good for? Making fires. This is a prophecy of the coming destruction of Jerusalem in fire and flame, when these women’s children will be the ones manning the walls and being crushed by Roman legions.

Jesus speaks seven sayings from the cross, but Luke only records a couple of them. Overall they’re generous and merciful to those carrying out his sentence, despite the cruelty given to him in return. (See The Seven Last Words of Christ)

Jesus dies and his body is given to Joseph of Arimathea, who was a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin. Luke calls him a “righteous man” but Matthew and John go even further and reveal that he was secretly a disciple of Jesus. This further shows that the Pharisees as a whole were not bad people, and some of them were righteously seeking God and his kingdom, but many of them were hypocrites and this is what Jesus went after them for. Hypocrisy is one of the worst things we can do, because in the end we don’t fool God, we only fool ourselves.

Tomorrow’s Readings:
1 Samuel 1
Psalm 114
Luke 24