The Daily Bible Readings for Wednesday, May 11, 2022

 

The Daily Bible Readings
Wednesday, May 11, 2022
Psalm 100; Jeremiah 50:17-20; John 10:31-42
with commentaries from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

Today’s Verse of the Day:
Ephesians 4:32

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

When we have a genuine and dynamic relationship with God, our lives will show it (Matt. 5:3–12; John 13:34, 35; 1 Cor. 13:4–8; Gal. 5:22, 23; 2 Pet. 1:5–8). We will express Christ’s character by treating others with the same love, comfort, forgiveness, and truth He has shown to us, and we will represent Him faithfully to whomever we meet (2 Cor. 1:3–7; 5:20; Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:12–17).

Today’s Lectionary Readings:
From the Psalter
Psalm 100
We are God’s Sheep

1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2    Worship the Lord with gladness;
     come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
     It is he who made us, and we are his;
     we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
     and his courts with praise;
     give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
     his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Commentary

An exhortation to praise God, and rejoice in him.

This song of praise should be considered as a prophecy, and even used as a prayer, for the coming of that time when all people shall know that the Lord he is God, and shall become his worshipers, and the sheep of his pasture. Great encouragement is given us, in worshiping God, to do it cheerfully. If, when we strayed like wandering sheep, he has brought us again to his fold, we have indeed abundant cause to bless his name. The matter of praise, and the motives to it, are very important. Know ye what God is in himself, and what he is to you. Know it; consider and apply it, then you will be more close and constant, more inward and serious, in his worship. The covenant of grace set down in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament, with so many rich promises, to strengthen the faith of every weak believer, makes the matter of God's praise and of his people's joys so sure, that how sad soever our spirits may be when we look to ourselves, yet we shall have reason to praise the Lord when we look to his goodness and mercy, and to what he has said in his word for our comfort.

From the Prophetic Books of Major Prophets
Jeremiah 50:17-20
Israel Will be Fed

17 “Israel is a scattered flock
      that lions have chased away.
   The first to devour them
      was the king of Assyria;
   the last to crush their bones
      was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”

18 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says:

   “I will punish the king of Babylon and his land
      as I punished the king of Assyria.
19 But I will bring Israel back to their own pasture,
      and they will graze on Carmel and Bashan;
   their appetite will be satisfied
      on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.
20 In those days, at that time,”
      declares the Lord,
   “search will be made for Israel’s guilt,
      but there will be none,
   and for the sins of Judah,
      but none will be found,
      for I will forgive the remnant I spare.

Commentary

The redemption of God's people.

The desolation that shall be brought upon Babylon is set forth in a variety of expressions. The cause of this destruction is the wrath of the Lord. Babylon shall be wholly desolated; for she hath sinned against the Lord. Sin makes men a mark for the arrows of God's judgments. The mercy promised to the Israel of God, shall not only accompany, but arise from the destruction of Babylon. These sheep shall be gathered from the deserts, and put again into good pasture. All who return to God and their duty, shall find satisfaction of soul in so doing. Deliverances out of trouble are comforts indeed, when fruits of the forgiveness of sin.

From the Gospels
John 10:31-42
The Son and the Father are One

10:31 Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”

33 “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’? 35 If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? 37 Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. 38 But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” 39 Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.

40 Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, 41 and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” 42 And in that place many believed in Jesus.

Commentary

The Jews attempt to stone Jesus (vv. 31-38); He departs from Jerusalem (vv. 39-42).

Verses 31-38: Christ's works of power and mercy proclaim him to be over all, God blessed for evermore, that all may know and believe He is in the Father, and the Father in Him. Whom the Father sends, he sanctifies. The holy God will reward, and therefore will employ, none but such as he makes holy. The Father was in the Son, so that by Divine power he wrought his miracles; the Son was so in the Father, that he knew the whole of His mind. This we cannot by searching find out to perfection, but we may know and believe these declarations of Christ.

Verses 39-42: No weapon formed against our Lord Jesus shall prosper. He escaped, not because he was afraid to suffer, but because his hour was not come. And He who knew how to deliver himself, knows how to deliver the godly our of their temptations, and to make a way for them to escape. Persecutors may drive Christ and his gospel our of their own city or country, but they cannot drive him or it out of the world. When we know Christ by faith in our hearts, we find all that the Scripture saith of him is true.

Today’s Lectionary Readings are selected from the Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, a three-year cyclical lectionary. We are currently in Year C. Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent in 2022, we will be in Year A. The year which ended at Advent 2021 was Year B. These readings complement the Sunday and festival readings: Thursday through Saturday readings help prepare the reader for the Sunday ahead; Monday through Wednesday readings help the reader reflect and digest what they heard in worship. Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org. The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle, and Gospel lessons are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Commentaries from Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible.