Words from the Weary Wilderness - Lenten Journey Day 38
posted on April 05
Day Thirty-Eight Maundy Thursday, April 14
Reading the Law Aloud Every Seventh Year
Read: Deuteronomy 31:9-13 (The Law to be Read Every Seventh Year)
The Law to Be Read Every Seventh Year
9 Then Moses wrote down this law, and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 Moses commanded them: “Every seventh year, in the scheduled year of remission, during the festival of booths, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people—men, women, and children, as well as the aliens residing in your towns—so that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God and to observe diligently all the words of this law, 13 and so that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land that you are crossing over the Jordan to possess.”
Today’s Word from the Weary Wilderness: Every seventh year… you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. (Deuteronomy 31:10-11)
Reflection: I love Maundy Thursday, and I think it is important to bring this powerful scripture from Deuteronomy to you on this holy day. Maundy Thursday is about remembering the command that Jesus gave us to love and serve one another. “Maundy” comes from the Latin mandatum, which refers to this command of Jesus. In today’s Bible study, there is a command to read the law aloud, so that the people will remember it, and so that children can hear it perhaps for the first time. This is something that the people do in remembrance of God, just as Holy Communion (and footwashing) is something that we do in remembrance of Jesus. There is power in remembering what we have been commanded to do. As you think about worshipping tonight in your own church, what comes to your mind as something God has uniquely commanded you to do in this world? What might you need to read aloud? Who do you need to love and serve? What do you need to remember?
Prayer: God of the Weary Wilderness, we see today the importance of being reminded. Remind us of the need we have in our own wilderness lives, and remind us of the command Jesus gave us to love, to serve, and to remember him at the Table. Amen.
Blessings of Peace and Health,
Bev
Rev. Beverly B. Coppley
District Superintendent
& Chief Missional Strategist
