We know we are to honor our mothers and fathers (refer to the 10 commandments in Exodus 20). That’s non-negotiable, but what if the advice our parents gave wasn’t always good?

Some people who grew up in non-Christians homes really wrestle with this. But it may also be a concern for some who grew up in Christian homes where the parents struggled in their walk with Jesus.

God selected the tribe of Levi to serve him and the people of Israel in the tabernacle. In the same way Jesus selected twelve apostles to serve him and the early Church. When Judas needed to be replaced the apostles drew lots for his successor, trusting God to work his will through such a process.

We see these chosen ones as being special and they are.

The Passover is so important God excludes no one from its celebration, not the foreigner, not the person who is unclean because of a dead body, not the man or woman who is far away on a journey. All are called to celebrate the Passover and the rules for celebrating it must be the same for both a foreigner and a native born child of Israel.

Why is it so important? We know the Lord passed over the houses of the children of Israel when they were slaves in Egypt.

That we follow God’s leading to come or to go or to stay where we are is clear enough from this passage. But the idea that God does not always use verbal commands in the sense of Scripture verses or other people’s words or placing sentences in our mind should also be understood. The cloud is the sign of God’s presence and its movement or absence of movement is the command.

Mark starts his book by declaring, “This is the good news about Jesus Christ.” There is no birth narrative here but instead there’s the birth of a literary genre—the gospel (from the old English “god-spel”—“good news”).

There is so much meaning packed into the first two sentences of Mark.

Jesus comes to the Jordan River where two events occur that mark the beginning of his public ministry. First, Jesus is baptized. Given John’s vocal teaching of repentance and baptism, why did Jesus submit to a baptism of repentance? He was sinless. Secondly, why did the Holy Spirit come down to him like a dove during his baptism only to then whisk him “right away,” as Mark puts it, into the desert where Satan tested him for 40 days?

Psalm 24 is a psalm of anticipation. David, the shepherd king, is anticipating the arrival of the Lord. The Lord is coming to his city, to His temple. Have you prepared your heart and your mind for the moment of his arrival? He often shows up at the moment we least expect him.

Undoubtedly, David, the warrior King, was reflecting on his own triumphant entry into the city after the defeat of his enemies in battle.