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First Reading: Job Chapter 18 and 19
Job 18
18:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2 "When will you end these speeches? Be sensible, and then we can talk.
3 Why are we regarded as cattle and considered stupid in your sight? 4 You who
tear yourself to pieces in your anger, is the earth to be abandoned for your
sake? Or must the rocks be moved from their place?
5 "The lamp of the wicked is snuffed out; the flame of his fire stops burning.
6 The light in his tent becomes dark; the lamp beside him goes out. 7 The vigor
of his step is weakened; his own schemes throw him down. 8 His feet thrust him
into a net and he wanders into its mesh. 9 A trap seizes him by the heel; a
snare holds him fast. 10 A noose is hidden for him on the ground; a trap lies
in his path. 11 Terrors startle him on every side and dog his every step. 12
Calamity is hungry for him; disaster is ready for him when he falls. 13 It eats
away parts of his skin; death's firstborn devours his limbs. 14 He is torn from
the security of his tent and marched off to the king of terrors. 15 Fire resides
in his tent; burning sulfur is scattered over his dwelling. 16 His roots dry
up below and his branches wither above. 17 The memory of him perishes from the
earth; he has no name in the land. 18 He is driven from light into darkness
and is banished from the world. 19 He has no offspring or descendants among
his people, no survivor where once he lived. 20 Men of the west are appalled
at his fate; men of the east are seized with horror. 21 Surely such is the dwelling
of an evil man; such is the place of one who knows not God."
Job 19
19:1 Then Job replied:
2 "How long will you torment me and crush me with words? 3 Ten times now
you have reproached me; shamelessly you attack me. 4 If it is true that I have
gone astray, my error remains my concern alone. 5 If indeed you would exalt
yourselves above me and use my humiliation against me, 6 then know that God
has wronged me and drawn his net around me.
7 "Though I cry, 'I've been wronged!' I get no response; though I call
for help, there is no justice. 8 He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; he
has shrouded my paths in darkness. 9 He has stripped me of my honor and removed
the crown from my head. 10 He tears me down on every side till I am gone; he
uproots my hope like a tree. 11 His anger burns against me; he counts me among
his enemies. 12 His troops advance in force; they build a siege ramp against
me and encamp around my tent.
13 "He has alienated my brothers from me; my acquaintances are completely
estranged from me. 14 My kinsmen have gone away; my friends have forgotten me.
15 My guests and my maidservants count me a stranger; they look upon me as an
alien. 16 I summon my servant, but he does not answer, though I beg him with
my own mouth. 17 My breath is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own
brothers. 18 Even the little boys scorn me; when I appear, they ridicule me.
19 All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me. 20
I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth.
21 "Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck
me. 22 Why do you pursue me as God does? Will you never get enough of my flesh?
23 "Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll,
24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock forever!
25 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the
earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;
27 I myself will see him with my own eyes-I, and not another. How my heart yearns
within me!
28 "If you say, 'How we will hound him, since the root of the trouble lies
in him,' 29 you should fear the sword yourselves; for wrath will bring punishment
by the sword, and then you will know that there is judgment."
Second Reading: Luke Chapter 9
Luke 9
9:1 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority
to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to preach
the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them: "Take nothing
for the journey-no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic. 4 Whatever
house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5 If people do not welcome
you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town, as a testimony
against them." 6 So they set out and went from village to village, preaching
the gospel and healing people everywhere.
7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was going on. And he was perplexed,
because some were saying that John had been raised from the dead, 8 others that
Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had
come back to life. 9 But Herod said, "I beheaded John. Who, then, is this
I hear such things about?" And he tried to see him.
10 When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then
he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida,
11 but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke
to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.
12 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, "Send the crowd
away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food
and lodging, because we are in a remote place here."
13 He replied, "You give them something to eat."
They answered, "We have only five loaves of bread and two fish-unless we
go and buy food for all this crowd." 14(About five thousand men were there.)
But he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty
each." 15 The disciples did so, and everybody sat down. 16 Taking the five
loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them.
Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. 17 They all ate
and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken
pieces that were left over.
18 Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he
asked them, "Who do the crowds say I am?"
19 They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still
others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life."
20 "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Peter answered, "The Christ of God."
21 Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. 22 And he said, "The
Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests
and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised
to life."
23 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny
himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save
his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. 25 What
good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very
self? 26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed
of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the
holy angels. 27 I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste
death before they see the kingdom of God."
28 About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with
him and went up onto a mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance
of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.
30 Two men, Moses and Elijah, 31 appeared in glorious splendor, talking with
Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment
at Jerusalem. 32 Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became
fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him. 33 As the
men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, "Master, it is good for us to
be here. Let us put up three shelters-one for you, one for Moses and one for
Elijah." (He did not know what he was saying.)
34 While he was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were
afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 A voice came from the cloud, saying, "This
is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him." 36 When the voice had spoken,
they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves, and
told no one at that time what they had seen.
37 The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him.
38 A man in the crowd called out, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son,
for he is my only child. 39 A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams; it
throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely ever
leaves him and is destroying him. 40 I begged your disciples to drive it out,
but they could not."
41 "O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how
long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here."
42 Even while the boy was coming, the demon threw him to the ground in a convulsion.
But Jesus rebuked the evil spirit, healed the boy and gave him back to his father.
43 And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.
While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his disciples,
44 "Listen carefully to what I am about to tell you: The Son of Man is
going to be betrayed into the hands of men." 45 But they did not understand
what this meant. It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and
they were afraid to ask him about it.
46 An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the
greatest. 47 Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him
stand beside him. 48 Then he said to them, "Whoever welcomes this little
child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent
me. For he who is least among you all-he is the greatest."
49 "Master," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your
name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us."
50 "Do not stop him," Jesus said, "for whoever is not against
you is for you."
51 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely
set out for Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan
village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome
him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John
saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven
to destroy them?" 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them, 56 and they went
to another village.
57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow
you wherever you go."
58 Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but
the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
59 He said to another man, "Follow me."
But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and
proclaim the kingdom of God."
61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back
and say good-by to my family."
62 Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back
is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
GOOD VS. EVIL
Part 4 of 7
The Bible clearly shows, in each book of the Bible, that man is essentially "evil" by nature. The enmity between man and God has continued throughout the ages:
The bottom line is that Man is evil and God is good. Evil may prevail for a while, but ultimately good will prevail forever according to God's timetable. Consider the wonderful promise found in Paul's letter to the Romans:
"I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God." Romans 8:18-21 (NIV)
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