The scriptures read are Deuteronomy 4-6, Psalm 54, and Luke 12.
Deuteronomy 4. Prologue to the recap of the law. Moses is emphasizing the uniqueness of God, how fortunate the Israelites are to have a relationship with him and how important it is to obey his commands. He underlines the fact that there is one God, that he is compassionate and that he is everywhere.
Deuteronomy 5. Moses reiterates the Ten Words or Commandments. The one about the Sabbath is different. The reason for the Sabbath in Exodus 20 is that God rested on the 7th day after creating the world in 6. Here the reason given is that the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. It's important to observe that the exact wording is not as important as observing the Sabbath. Good thing to remember about God's word: the exact wording isn't always important; getting the spirit of God's word right is essential. Lawyers nitpick words and can use them to subvert the original intention, something Jesus accuses the Pharisees of doing.
Deuteronomy 6. Reminding the people to stick to God only, Moses gives us the great commandment: to love God with all your heart and all your soul and all your might. To which Jesus in quoting adds "with all your mind." Remember it's the spirit of God's word that counts.
Psalm 54. Asking God to deliver the psalmist.
Luke 12. We have a block of teachings here, some we've heard before and some new. Some come from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus probably had some things he said over and over, each time he came to a new town.
Interesting picture of the master so happy to see his servants doing their jobs and keeping watch for him that the master has them sit down and serves the servants.
'I came to set the world on fire..." Seldom quoted saying of Jesus.
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