The scriptures read are Joshua 1-3, Psalm 65 and Luke 23.
Joshua 1. New man, same God. Getting ready to enter the Promised Land.
Joshua 2. Scouts are sent to scope out Jericho (oldest continuously occupied city on earth) set in an oasis on the river Jordan. The spies are hidden from authorities by Rahab, a prostitute. The spies promise her that she and her family will be spared when they invade.
Joshua 3. God does the parting of waters thing with the Jordan. And so the people, following the Ark of the Covenant, enter the land.
Psalm 65. A song of praise to God in his temple for his care for the fertile earth.
Luke 23. Luke is the only evangelist to tell us that Pilate sent Jesus over to Herod. It sounds totally in character with Pilate's behavior as recorded in all the gospels. He wants to pass on this hot potato. He never had good relations with the Jews he was supposed to govern. And he probably did not want to do Caiaphas, the high priest, any favors if he could help it because they had been at odds from the beginning. Pilate at last gives in (John's gospel tells us why) and sends Jesus to his death.
Only Luke records Jesus' prayer for God to forgive his executioners, his pardon of the robber being crucified with him and his prayer commending his soul to God.
A Joseph was there when Jesus was taken from the womb and a Joseph was there to lay him in his tomb.
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