- Feb. 27-Mar. 4… The Story, chapter 20 (Esther 1-9)
- Mar. 5-11… The Story, chapter 22 (Matthew 1-2; Luke 1-2; John 1)
- Mar. 12-18… The Story, chapter 23 (Matthew 3-4,11; Mark 1-3; Luke 8; John 1-4)
- Mar. 19-25… The Story, chapter 24 (Matthew 5-7,9,14; Mark 4-6; Luke 10,15; John 6)
In church currently we are reading The Story, a condensed and carefully arranged Bible that helps us see God’s plan working throughout human history. You can follow along by reading the selections above, or you can purchase a copy of The Story through our church office. All our kids’ Sunday School classes and one of our adult classes are matched to this – join us!
We begin in the time of exile – the kingdoms of Israel and Judah have been defeated by world empires, and many Jewish people have been taken into exile. At the end of February, we heard about Daniel and his friends witnessing in the Babylonian and Persian empires.
Another hero of the faith from this period is Esther, a young Jewish woman. King Xerxes of the Persians (reigned 486-465BC) selected her to be his queen without knowing her national background. One of Xerxes’ advisors, Haman, plots genocide against the Jewish people. Supported by her faith in God and with the advice of her uncle Mordecai, Esther bravely champions her people and defeats Haman’s plot. The book of Esther is a well-written story commemorating this deliverance. One curious feature: God is never mentioned by name in Esther, yet God’s presence and purpose clearly run throughout the book.
Esther’s heroic act and the deliverance of the Jewish people from yet another threat to their survival is the basis for the Jewish festival of Purim. We will celebrate this at our family night Saturday, March 3, from 5-8:00pm, and watch the movie “One Night With the King,” based on Esther.
The Persians allowed the Jewish people to return to Jerusalem and begin rebuilding the city and the temple sometime around 450BC. We are skipping chapters 19 and 21 of The Story, but if you want to read about this time period read Ezra 1-7 and Nehemiah 1-2,4,6-8; and the prophets Haggai 1-2, Zechariah 1,7-8, and Malachi 1-4.
We then pass through a period of 400 years not covered in our Bible. After the Jewish people returned to the promised land, they were ruled by the Persians, then the Greek empire of Alexander the Great. For a century from 164BC to 63BC a small Jewish kingdom under the Maccabean (or Hasmonean) kings existed. Then the Romans took control, and established Herod the Great as a client king of a semi-independent Judea. Herod rules from 37-4 BC. He is a ruthless king who kills even members of his own family if he feels they will challenge him. He also builds massive projects including the Masada fortress, the port of Caesarea, and vastly expands God’s temple in Jerusalem.
It is under Herod’s rule that Jesus Christ is born around 5-6BC and we enter the New Testament era of history. As we travel through Lent, we will be following the life of Jesus Christ in the gospels… although we will reach the crucifixion and resurrection in The Story (chapters 26-27) in the weeks following Easter.
In October 2011’s “Bible Readings” column I discussed the unique features and relationships between Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – the four gospel accounts of Christ’s life. Click here to read that article.
In The Story, we’ve seen how God continually works in the big picture (the “upper story”) to redeem all of creation and bring humanity back into beloved relationship with himself. Jesus Christ, God’s son, becomes human in order to bring this plan to perfection. Christ links the upper story with our lives, the “lower stories” of individual people.
The story and revelation of Jesus progress in stages: at his birth it is already obvious to a few that this is someone very special. As a young man of about 30 he gathers his first disciples and begins a preaching, teaching, and healing ministry in the remote Jewish province of Galilee. Jesus travels more widely and challenges religious leaders more directly. His disciples soon realize that Jesus is no ordinary man – in fact, he is the Son of God! Finally he begins a journey to Jerusalem, the center of religious and political power, where he is perceived as a threat by the authorities, who will conspire to kill him.