Job 16
Job’s Friends Are Bad Comforters
1 Then Job answered and said:
2 “I have heard many such things; You are all bad comforters.
3 What order is there in words of wind? Or what troubles you, that you answer thus?
4 I also could speak as you do, If indeed your soul were in my soul’s place. Then I would attack you with words And shake my head at you.
5 But would there were strength in my mouth: Then I would not spare the movement of my lips.
The Lord Has Rejected Me
6 “If I should speak, I would feel the pain of my wound, But if I also should be silent, how would I be less wounded?
7 But now He has made me weary and a worn-out fool, And you have laid hold of me.
8 My falsehood has become a testimony. It rises up and argues against me to my face.†
9 He vented His wrath and struck me down; He gnashed at me with His teeth; The arrows of the raiders fell on me.
10 He attacked me with the sharp darts of His eyes; He struck me on the cheek; With one accord they ran me down.
11 For the Lord delivered me into the hands of an unjust man And cast me upon the ungodly.
12 When I was at peace, He rejected me. He took me by the hair of my head and pulled it out. He set me up as a mark.
13 They surrounded me with spears aimed at my mind. Without sparing me, they poured out my gall on the ground.
14 Running at me with all their strength, They knocked me down, head over heels.
15 I sewed sackcloth on my skin, And my strength is spent on the ground.
16 My belly is on fire because of weeping, And shade is on my eyelids.
17 Yet there was no wrongdoing in my hands, And my prayer is pure.†
18 O earth, do not cover the blood of my flesh, Nor may my cry have a place.†
19 Now behold, my witness is in the heavens, And the One who knows me thoroughly is on high.
20 May my supplication come before the Lord, And may my eyes pour out tears in His presence.
21 May there be rebuttal for a man before the Lord, As a son of man with his neighbor.
22 For my years are numbered, And I shall go the way of no return.
Psalms 104
28 He sent darkness, and it grew dark; And they rebelled against His words.
29 He turned their waters into blood, And He killed their fish.
30 Their land produced frogs In the chambers of their kings.
31 He spoke and the dog-fly came, And gnats in all their borders.
32 He gave them hail for rain; Fire burned up their land;
33 And He smote their vineyards and their fig trees, And He shattered every tree in their domain.
34 He spoke, and the locust came, And the caterpillar without number,
35 And ate up all the grass in their land, And devoured the fruit of their land.
36 And He smote all the firstborn in their land, The firstling of all their labor.
37 He led them out with silver and gold, And there was not among their tribes one who was feeble.
38 Egypt was gladdened by their exodus, For fear of them fell upon them.
39 He spread a cloud as a cover for them, And a fire to give them light at night.
40 They asked, and the quails came, And He filled them with the bread of heaven.
41 He split the rock, and the waters flowed; The rivers ran in the waterless places.
42 For He remembered His holy word Which He gave to His servant Abraham.
43 He brought out His people with exceeding joy, And His chosen ones with gladness.
44 And He gave them the lands of the nations, And they inherited the labors of the peoples,
45 So they might keep His ordinances, And seek out His law.
Proverbs of Solomon 22
27 Do not be a companion to an angry man And do not associate with a quick-tempered friend,†
28 Lest you learn his ways And receive a snare for your soul.
29 Do not give yourself as surety because you respect a person, For if you do not have the wherewithal to make compensation, They will take your bed out from under you.
30 Do not remove the eternal landmarks your fathers established.†
31 An observant man and one astute in his business Should be present with kings, And he should not be present with slothful men.
Luke 23
The Procession to Golgotha
26 Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.†
27 And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him.
28 But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.†
29 For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!’†
30 Then they will begin ‘to say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’
31 For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?Ӡ
The Compassionate Christ
32 There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death.
33 And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.†
34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots.†
35 And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.”†
36 The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine,
37 and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.”
38 And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.†
Two Thieves, Two Ways
39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”†
40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
43 And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Darkness and Death
44 Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
45 Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.†
46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” Having said this, He breathed His last.†
47 So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous Man!”†
48 And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned.
49 But all His acquaintances, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
Burial
50 Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man.†
51 He had not consented to their decision and deed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God.
52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before.
54 That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near.
55 And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid.†
56 Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.
Christ is Risen!!!
My son (21 yrs old) asked me the other day what happened to the soldiers that were on guard at the tomb. Could you please help me with that answer.
Truly he is risen!
The story of the guards is found only in the Gospel according to Matthew. They seem to be a Jewish guard, not a Roman guard of soldiers. Matthew says that after they resurrection, they went to the Chief Priests. Matthew 28:12 says that the Jewish leaders bribed the soldiers telling them (vs 13) to tell others that the body was stolen while they slept. According to the Matthew, we never hear from them again.
There is a church tradition that says the centurion who pierced the side of Jesus at the crucifixion was a soldier by the name of Longinus. He was one of the soldiers who also guarded the tomb. After being bribed, Longinus refused to be seduced by the money and ended up, with his two companions, getting baptized and preaching in Cappadocia where they were eventually martyred.