READING FOR MARCH 9, 2026: ISAIAH 29, MATTHEW 26, PSALM 18:7-19 ISAIAH 29 Here God directs a woe to Ariel, which is immediately defined as the city where David camped, in other words Jerusalem. God says in effect that they have been doing their religious cer- emonies year after year. That’s good as far as it goes. But nevertheless, God will cause distress to Jerusalem. He will deploy against the city, encircle them, and even build siegeworks by their walls. In case it is not obvious, it’s not good to have the almighty God fighting against us. He’s undefeated This writer has heard many sermons saying that this kind of situation is impossible with our loving God. All that can be said in response is read this chapter and the hundreds like it. It’s true that un- der the New Covenant our sins have been covered by Jesus’s blood. Yet, we still will be disciplined for our good (Heb. 12:6), and we still can reject our protected status after we’ve been saved: “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries” (Heb. 10:26).
Let’s read verses 5-14 super slowly and seek to understand prayerfully, with utmost humility. It appears the many human enemies of Judah will suddenly dissipate (vs.5). God will use natural disasters to punish them (vs.6-7). They will experience a vision of eating but not becoming full and of drinking but not being quenched. Instead, they will feel faint, not very warlike. Starting with verse nine, God tells Jerusalem to pause and consider their situation. God says they have blinded themselves and acted irrationally. Thus, God has in some way put them to sleep and, for reasons perhaps only He understands, made them not responsive to His prophets. They will look for those who can interpret their situation (i.e., read the book), but won’t find anyone. Then God explains the problem in words that Jesus used centuries later: “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. And in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men’”(Mark 7:6-7),
The final verses bubble over with good news for God’s people in the future. Remember the word “Gospel” means good news. Those who have been deaf (spiritually speaking) will hear, and those who have been blind will see (vs. 17-18). Those who have been afflicted will rejoice in the “Holy One of Israel” (i.e., God). All bad guys will be eliminated. Jacob, meaning the Jews and /or the church, will revere Jesus in holiness. We will all know the truth! “Now we see in a mirror dimly but then face to face; now I know in part but then I will know fully, just as I also have been fully known” (1 Cor. 13:12).
MATTHEW 26 This chapter might be the most dramatic in the entire Bible. Since the story is so well known, rather than restate the familiar sequence of events, perhaps we can look more closely at how various participants interact. It might give us insight into our lives. Woman with Costly Perfume. Other than Jesus Himself, she is the only person in this story portrayed in a positive light. Jesus implies that she alone “gets it” about His upcoming crucifixion. Even so, she had to put up with the sneers of the disciples. Let’s be like her and not let the naysayers, likely always around, hinder our devotion to our
READINGS FOR MARCH 9, 2026 CONTINUED: MATTHEW 26, PSALM 18:7-19 Lord. There seems to be a disagreement about using the perfume on Jesus or selling it to give money to the poor. Jesus would never suggest helping the poor is bad, but the higher priority, in Jesus’s opinion, is His substitutionary death on the cross. This is the reason Jesus came to earth. Jesus’s death and resurrection is our only hope to be
free of sin and death. Any other view is not Christian.
Judas. We know from John’s Gospel that Judas said using perfume on Jesus was a waste of money: “Now he (Judas) said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he kept the money box, he used to steal from what was put into it”(John 12:6). So, we learn Judas was a thief, a liar, and a traitor as well as a disciple. The fact that such a person ministered with Jesus does not make Christianity untrue. Jesus still rose from the dead—the litmus test for the truth of Christianity. Should it surprise us that not everyone involved in ministry today is an honorable person?It was so from the beginning. Jesus also said Judas, although completely guilty personally, played a role in fulfilling prophesy, which in turn brought life to the World. This relates back to an earlier discussion regarding Job 9 on March 1, 2024. The presence of evil can be used to facilitate a higher good. Although Jesus eventually won a great victory, He did not minimize Judas’s guilt. He said Judas’s situation would be worse than non-existence. This statement casts some doubt on the view that the final state of those who reject Jesus is non-existence or annihilation.
Peter. Peter was a giant of the Bible. Time and time again, he was at the center of the action, initially in a positive way. Yet, the flip side of his exuberant faith was his tendency to not maintain his courage and/or good judgment. At the Transfiguration he wanted to build shelters for Moses, Elijiah, and Jesus, as if they were equal. After he correctly described who Jesus was, he advocated against Jesus going to the cross. He bravely walked on water, until he didn’t. He obediently accompanied Jesus at the Garden but kept falling asleep and then cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant. And then tragically, but thankfully not irrevocably, he denied Jesus three times at the high priest’s courtyard. This was after his boastful pledge: “Even if they all fall away because of You, I will never fall away!”
Would that all could be that bold for Jesus, but can we learn from Peter’s flaws? Maybe an example from one of Paul’s letters is helpful. He desired to be bold but was humble enough to not assume he could do so in his own strength: “Pray in my behalf, that speech may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel” (Eph. 6:19). This prayer can be ours as we share our faith.
PSALM 18:7-19 David was not content just to say God helped him. His language was a touch more evocative. When God heard David’s cry for help, the earth shook, the mountains trembled, smoke emerged from God’s nostrils, and fire flamed from His mouth. God immediately came by bending the sky, bringing down darkness, and flying to the rescue on a cherub at the speed of the wind. God’s voice thundered from the sky, accompanied by hailstones and fiery coals. God scattered David’s enemies with arrows and flooded their way with deep channels of water. God then rescued David from the danger of the waters and his powerful enemies. Finally, God comforted David and placed him in a safe place. Why did God do this? Because God delighted in David. NEWS FLASH: GOD DELIGHTS IN US IF WE ARE HIS. Psalm 147:11 says, “The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.” Remember a time when God delivered us. Let’s reword our memory of it using speech worthy of who God is, what God did, and why God did it.
