Jer. 5:1-9
Rom. 2:25--3:18
John 5:30-47
Rom. 2:25--3:18
2 25Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law; but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26So, if those who are uncircumcised keep the requirements of the law, will not their uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 7Then those who are physically uncircumcised but keep the law will condemn you that have the written code and circumcision but break the law. 28For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is true circumcision something external and physical. 29Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart—it is spiritual and not literal. Such a person receives praise not from others but from God.
3 1Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2Much, in every way. For in the first place the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3What if some were unfaithful? Will their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4By no means! Although everyone is a liar, let God be proved true, as it is written, “So that you may be justified in your words, and prevail in your judging.”5But if our injustice serves to confirm the justice of God, what should we say? That God is unjust to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) 6By no means! For then how could God judge the world? 7But if through my falsehood God’s truthfulness abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? 8And why not say (as some people slander us by saying that we say), “Let us do evil so that good may come”? Their condemnation is deserved! 9What then? Are we any better off? No, not at all; for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, 10as it is written: “There is no one who is righteous, not even one; 11there is no one who has understanding, there is no one who seeks God. 12All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, there is not even one.” 13“Their throats are opened graves; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of vipers is under their lips.” 14“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” 15“Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16ruin and misery are in their paths, 17and the way of peace they have not known.” 18“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
“Real circumcision is a matter of the heart” Paul says in this reading. To the Jewish man of Paul’s time, circumcision was the ultimate proof of belonging to the tribe, of being a Son of the Covenant, and of belief in God. Paul’s words must have created quite a stir in the Jewish community. He was saying that this physical mark was not enough to make them righteous.
Paul goes on to say that the truly righteous person is one who “receives praise…from God.” If circumcision (of the heart) is the proof of belonging to God, how can we change our hearts to be in right relation with God—to be righteous?
Paul admits later on, “all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin” and quotes several verses of scripture to prove this. Despite all this, Paul’s underlying argument is that God is faithful even though we are not and cannot be. The only way to be righteous is to look to God, the only One who can affect the change.
As I have said, Lent is a time of looking at our relationship with God. Are there things in your interaction with God that could be changed to make the relationship more fulfilling or more intimate? Maybe one way is to remember this poem by Grace Naessens called The Difference
I got up early one morning and rushed right into the day;
I had so much to accomplish, I didn't have time to pray.
Problems just tumbled about me and grew heavier with each task;
Why doesn't God help me, I wondered; He answered, "You didn't ask."
I wanted to see joy and beauty, but the day toiled on, gray and bleak;
I wondered why God didn't show me - He said, "But you didn't seek."
I tried to come into God's presence; I used all my keys at the lock;
God gently and lovingly chided, "My child, you didn't knock."
I wondered why God didn't show me - He said, "But you didn't seek."
I tried to come into God's presence; I used all my keys at the lock;
God gently and lovingly chided, "My child, you didn't knock."
I woke up early this morning and paused before entering the day;
I had so much to accomplish that I had to take time to pray.
I had so much to accomplish that I had to take time to pray.
For your Journal: Draw a heart. Inside-write all the ways you seek God (prayer, study, etc.) On the outside list some of the things that draw you away from God. Which of these outer things can you ‘circumcise’ so that you can draw closer to God?
