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A Spiritual Re-Awakening…? Day 26 – Lenten Readings & Reflections through John’s Gospel

A Spiritual Re-Awakening…? Day 26 – Lenten Readings & Reflections through John’s Gospel

by | Apr 4, 2019 | 2019 Lenten Series

Day 26 (Thursday, April 4, 2019)

Read

John 13:31-35
31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33 Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Reflect

Our capacity to make choices is quite extraordinary. However, we often forget that our decisions impact those around us, especially those who love us or are close to us.

This is graphically illustrated in the events that led to Jesus’ death. John 13:30 tells us that though he was one of Jesus’ close followers, Judas chose to betray him to the Jewish religious authorities. It’s not surprising Jesus was troubled (13:21). Betrayal by a close confidant and friend is deeply hurtful – especially if it sets in motion a sequence of unjust events.

Jesus, for his part, confirmed his own decision to see God’s plan through, whereby both he and his Father would be glorified (13:31-32). He said enigmatically to the eleven left with him at the Passover table, “‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’” At great cost to himself, he chose to serve the world (3:16), even though we have all chosen to turn our backs on God. Paul the Apostle later wrote, While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

Before the meal concluded Jesus gave a new commandment to his followers: to love one another. This was not to replace the Ten given to Moses, but to distill the essence of neighbor love. Where God had said ‘no’ to murder, adultery and theft, Jesus spoke of praying for enemies, truly loving one’s spouse, and being generous to the needy.

When we choose to live out the generous love he showed to us, not only will our relationships with one another be transformed, but others will notice the difference.

Prayer

Eternal God and Father, by whose power we are created and by whose love we are redeemed: guide and strengthen us by your Spirit, so that we may give ourselves to your service, and live this day in love for one another and to you; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen. (1978 AAPB, A Prayer for the Morning)

Daily Reading Plan

Read John 13:21-38.

A Spiritual Re-Awakening…? Day 26 – Lenten Readings & Reflections through John’s Gospel

A Spiritual Re-Awakening…? Day 25 Lenten Readings & Reflections through John’s Gospel

by | Apr 3, 2019 | 2019 Lenten Series, Word on Wednesday

Day 25 (Wednesday, April 3, 2019)

Read

John 13:12-20


It was Lord Acton who observed, ‘Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.’ A sad feature of some leaders in every age is their use of power to pursue their own selfish gain. They have no interest in serving the best interests of people they lead.

How different was the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth. He continually used his extraordinary powers, intellect and wisdom, not in the pursuit of his own ends but to serve the best interests of others. His stooping to the lowliest of tasks, washing the street-soiled feet of his disciples, is a graphic illustration of this. “Do you know what I have done to you?” goes to the heart of his mission. Rightly called Teacher and Lord, he nevertheless, at great cost to himself, chose to serve our greatest need by washing away the dirt of guilt and sin in our lives.

12 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16 Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. 18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But it is to fulfill the scripture, ‘The one who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ 19 I tell you this now, before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe that I am he. 20 Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.”

Reflect

Here is an example of Jesus’ expectations of his people. “I have set you an example,” he said, “that you also should do as I have done to you.” The greater is to serve the lesser. It is a principle that flies in the face of every culture – in family life and in government, in society and in the world of powerful corporations.

Living out the principle of service marks out a true follower of Jesus Christ. We see it in the way God’s people treat the person at the checkout and the handyman in their home or building, members of their household and one another at church, the socially unlovely and the less able, the corporate client and the sick and the lonely. “If you know these things,” Jesus said, “you are blessed if you do them.”

Prayer

Heavenly Father, the giver of all good things, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and grant that by your holy inspiration we may think those things that are good, and by your grace and guidance do them; through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (BCP, Easter 5 – adapted)

Daily Reading Plan

Read John 13:1-20

A Spiritual Re-Awakening…? Day 26 – Lenten Readings & Reflections through John’s Gospel

A Spiritual Re-Awakening…? Day 24 Lenten Readings & Reflections through John’s Gospel

by | Apr 2, 2019 | 2019 Lenten Series

Day 24 (Tuesday, April 2, 2019)

Read

John 12:42-50

42 Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God.

44 Then Jesus cried aloud: “Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. 47 I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge, 49 for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.”

Reflect

Living with our first world comforts, we tend to overlook the hatred that some have towards Jesus Christ. John tells us that even though some of the authorities believed in Jesus they did not make it public because they feared excommunication from the synagogue and the resulting implications for their families and livelihood.

These rulers, who included men like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, would have enjoyed wealth and status. However Nicodemus who defended Jesus (7:50f) and Joseph of Arimathea who provided for Jesus’ burial (19:39), were notable exceptions and doubtless paid the price for their loyalty.

The focus of Jesus’ words here is striking. He says again that he has been sent and that to believe in him is to believe and know God. Further, his present task is not to judge but rather to save the world. With his coming he has introduced a unique moment in time: an era of grace where we have the opportunity to be forgiven by God and enjoy new life in Christ Jesus. Every one of us has a decision to make: we either reject Jesus or surrender to his love while there is time.

Light and life, truth and love, loyalty and sacrifice lie at the heart of Jesus and his work. At this point in John’s narrative, the shadow of the cross looms large. Through it, Jesus will be glorified and supremely reveal God’s glory.

In these verses, we’re challenged not to keep our faith in Jesus hidden, despite what others might say or do. We’re also challenged to withhold judgment of others – that’s God’s job one day. This is the time to introduce them to Jesus, so that they too may find life. It will involve a cost, but we’ve nothing to lose, while others have everything to gain.

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, for our sake you fasted forty days and forty nights. Give us the grace we need to have such self-control that, our hearts and minds being directed by your Word and your Spirit, we may always obey your will in righteousness and true holiness, to your honor and glory; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for evermore. Amen. (BCP, Lent 1 – adapted)

Daily Reading Plan

Read John 12:27-50

A Spiritual Re-Awakening…? Day 26 – Lenten Readings & Reflections through John’s Gospel

A Spiritual Re-Awakening…? Day 23 Lenten Readings & Reflections through John’s Gospel

by | Apr 1, 2019 | 2019 Lenten Series

Day 23 (Monday, April 1, 2019)

Read

John 12:20-26

20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

Reflect

Christianity at its very heart is outward looking and outreaching. The Greeks who came to Philip were probably Greek-speaking Jews or Gentile god-fearers who only spoke Greek, not Aramaic. Coming from Bethsaida, a Greek-speaking region, Philip would have provided a natural connection for anyone wanting to meet Jesus. In drawing our attention to these Greeks, John wants us to see that people from outside of Jerusalem were keen to know Jesus whereas the Jerusalem leaders were keen to kill him. Jesus was going to draw proportionally many more followers from outside of Jerusalem than within. But first, a costly sacrifice had to be made.

With these words to his disciples, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified…” and the following metaphor, Jesus pointed to his coming death. Ironically through the horror of death by crucifixion he would be glorified. Through his sacrifice the extraordinary love within God – the glory of God – would be revealed for all to see. Furthermore, just as through the burial of one seed there is the harvest of many seeds, so would Jesus’ death and burial bring about a great harvest of new life.

There is something else we can notice. Unless Jesus’ followers were prepared to make sacrifices in the gospel cause, there would be no harvest. Jesus’ own death and resurrection laid the essential foundation for forgiveness and eternal life for all who believe in him. It will only be through the self-sacrifice of his followers that this good news will spread and bear much fruit. For many of us, this may mean moving to somewhere that is less than our ideal, rather than remaining in our comfort zone.

Prayer

Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you; and grant that we may perceive and know what things we ought to do, and also have the grace and power faithfully to perform them; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, Epiphany 1)

Daily Reading Plan

Read John 12:1-26 

A Spiritual Re-Awakening…? Day 26 – Lenten Readings & Reflections through John’s Gospel

A Spiritual Re-Awakening…? Day 22 -Lenten Readings & Reflections through John’s Gospel

by | Mar 30, 2019 | 2019 Lenten Series

Day 22 (Saturday, March 30, 2019)

Read

John 11:32-44


32 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”*

Reflect

Jesus wept. The word wept describes a deep anguished cry of grief, the cry of heartfelt loss. Why did Jesus react this way? He knew he was going to bring Lazarus out of the tomb. I suggest he wasn’t grieving so much for the passing of his friend but for our human plight. No matter how successful we are, how good and compassionate we are, death awaits us all.

Men and women who had been created in God’s image are now broken images and broken images cannot endure the pure light of God’s perfection and glory. Jesus was grieving for what we as men and women had lost. As in Adam all die. At Lazarus’s graveside, Jesus felt the full impact of this and wept. But there is a sense in which Jesus grieved at what our loss would mean for him. It would mean that he himself would have to die. Only through his death could he conquer death and raise to life anyone who turned to him and believed in him. For as in Adam all die, wrote Paul, so in Christ shall all be made alive (1 Cor. 15:22).

One of our greatest comforts when we lose a loved one and when we face the reality of our own mortality are Jesus’ words: I am the resurrection and the life. His imperative, “Lazarus, come out” foreshadowed the greatest of all days when he will say, “Unbind them, and let them go” to all who have died in him. We live with this great comfort and this great hope and it’s our privilege to share this with others.

Prayer

Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us both a sacrifice for sin and also an example of godly living; give us grace so that we may always thankfully receive the immeasurable benefit of his sacrifice, and also daily endeavor to follow in the blessed steps of his most holy life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for evermore. Amen. (BCP, Easter 2)

Daily Reading Plan

Read John 11:28-57


(* Today’s selected passage is from the ESV).