Day 4 – (March 9, 2019)

Read

John 3:1-10

1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ 8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

Reflect

Jesus’ rise to stardom happened very quickly. His popularity was enormous. He said amazing things and backed them up with extraordinary deeds—and as we read yesterday, he even turned water into wine. Nicodemus, one of the Jewish religious leaders, was among the thousands impressed by Jesus’ words and actions. He wanted to meet Jesus to find out more but, because of his position as a Jewish leader, it seems that for Nicodemus such a meeting was best under the cover of night. John may have included this detail to highlight something else—the nocturnal shroud hinting that Nicodemus was spiritually in the dark. What Nicodemus wanted Jesus to answer was how he could find God, a question we all ask at some time in our lives.

Nicodemus, as one of the religious elite, may have expected that Jesus would give him a ringing commendation on what a fine job he was doing with his life. Something like, ‘Keep calm and carry on and there’ll be a day when you will find God.’ Instead, Jesus made this breathtaking response: “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” No amount of education, social re-organization or self-discipline can eliminate the fundamental moral distortion of our human heart.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn once commented: ‘If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?’

We need a new beginning, a fresh start, and this can only occur outside of ourselves. Such rebirth can only come from God through the breath of his Spirit.

Prayer

Almighty God, who taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending them the light of your Holy Spirit: enable us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things and always to rejoice in his holy comfort; through the merits of Christ Jesus our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (BCP, Whit Sunday – adapted)

Daily Reading Plan

Read John 2:23-3:15

Day 3 – (March 8, 2019)

Read

John 2:1-11

1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.” So they took it. 9 When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

Reflect

Israel’s prophets foretold the day when God himself would live with his people in a land of peace and plenty. In that day, new wine would be flowing from the mountains and hills (see Amos 9:13-15; Jeremiah 31:1; Isaiah 25:6-8). Jesus’ act of turning water into wine in Cana, Galilee, was a sign of his being God in the flesh. No one but God could do it. With each jar filled to the brim, such abundance gives us a glimpse of God’s ultimate plan for peace and plenty.

Verse 11 tells us that Jesus’ first followers saw God’s handiwork in this remarkable event. And so they began to trust in Jesus as God’s messiah. Coming to know him better, they eventually understood that the messianic age in all its fullness and glory had not yet completely arrived. The same is true today. We still live in the tension of what is and what will be, the nowand the not yet. The wine at the wedding was not where God would start and stop; rather, God had a bigger plan to be worked out that would involve Jesus’ death and resurrection. We now live on the other side of this. With Jesus’ resurrection, we have now seen the dawn. But the fullness of the final day is still to come. Let’s pray that by the grace of God we will be ready for it.

Prayer

Lord Christ, eternal Word and Light of the Father’s glory: send your light and your truth so that we may both know and proclaim your word of life, to the glory of God the Father; for you now live and reign, God for all eternity. Amen.(1978 AAPB, A Prayer for the Gospel)

Daily Reading Plan

Read John 2:1-25

Day 2 – (March 7, 2019)

Read

John 1:19-23, 29-42
19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”…

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).

Reflect

The words of verse 41 identify two significant themes: ‘We have found…!’ and ‘He (Andrew) brought him (Peter) to Jesus…!’ Earlier we read John the Baptist’s testimony: “I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God” (1:34).

The implication of John the Gospel writer’s words in verses 19-23 is that the Jewish leaders expected a messianic figure at some point. Because of this they were keen to find out more about John who was preaching repentance and baptizing in the Jordan River. To their inquiry John responded with words from Isaiah 40:3, telling them that someone greater was coming. He himself was not the One. Indeed, he specifically identified Jesus as God’s Son when Jesus came and asked to be baptized (1:29-34).

It is also interesting to note how John the Baptizer knew Jesus’ true identity: it was not necessarily because he heard a supernatural voice speaking to Jesus, but rather because the Spirit of God had told him what to watch for. The presence of the dove was the sign that God’s Spirit came upon Jesus and that Jesus is the Man from heaven.

The story takes us from John’s testimony to Jesus: ‘Look at him! Follow him!’ are John’s words. Jesus now takes center stage in the Gospel narrative. Calling his first followers to join him, they in turn told others, ‘Come and see’. They had found God’s long-promised king who would pour out his Spirit, enabling God’s people to remain with God forever. The God who exists eternally outside the material world was coming in human form into our world. For his part, John the gospel writer, now invites us to ‘Come and see’ for ourselves just who Jesus is. The implication is that we in turn will want to invite others to do the same.

Prayer

Almighty God, by whose providence your servant John the Baptist was wonderfully born, and was sent to prepare the way for your Son our Savior by preaching repentance: so grant that we may truly repent according to his teaching, and following his example may constantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer for the truth’s sake; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (1662 BCP, A Prayer for St. John the Baptist’s Day, June 24)

Daily Reading Plan

Read John 1:19-51

(Ash Wednesday, March 6. 2019)

Keith Ward in his Why There Almost Certainly Is a God (Lion: 2008) critiques the views of Richard Dawkins and others on the question of the existence of God.

A highly respected philosopher and theologian, Professor Ward raises questions about the dubious nature of materialism. ‘Most of us (philosophers) do not want to deny that material things exist,’ he writes, ‘but we are no longer sure of what matter is. Is it quarks, or superstrings, or dark energy, or the result of quantum fluctuations in a vacuum?’ (p.14) ‘What is the point of being a materialist when we are not sure exactly what matter is?’ he asks. ‘It no longer seems to be a set of simple elementary particles… What this means is that materialism no longer has the advantage of giving us a simple explanation of reality’ (p.15).

He also raises questions about the problem of consciousness, namely, ‘how conscious states – thoughts, feelings, sensations and perceptions – can arise from complex physical brain-states …’ (p.16). He further asks, ‘Do we know that no consciousness could exist without being tied to … a physical process? … There might be a consciousness that came into existence in some other way’ (apart from a physical process) (p.17).

Following a carefully developed analysis of a scientific and materialistic explanation for our existence, he observes, ‘But perhaps materialism is the greater delusion. Consciousness is the most evident sort of existence there is, and it is not necessarily bound to matter. It will then be very natural for finite consciousness to have an affinity with the spiritual consciousness of God, and sharing in the divine awareness is their most natural form of existence.’

‘Immortality is not a fiction invented to compensate for an unhappy life,’ he comments. ‘It is the perception that our conscious lives are not bounded by space and time, and that they find fulfillment in union with a supreme spiritual reality that seems, even during this life, to take us beyond the limits of time’ (p.96).

It is this spiritual reality that the Lenten readings from John’s Gospel open up for us.

Read

John 1:1-5, 9-14, 18

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth…

18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Reflect

With his opening verses, the gospel writer John introduces us to ‘the Word’. He tells us who the Word is and from where he comes; we learn that he is truly God (1:1), eternal (1:2), the creator of all things and the source of our existence (1:3); he opens our eyes as well as opening the way to the spiritual dimension of life (1:4). He was God, and yet with God – by himself the Word is not the full complement of the Godhead. With such a philosophical preamble, verse 14 is alarmingly and shockingly tangible!

The Word of God, whose very nature and existence is eternally divine, has taken on human form. John is telling us that he and his fellow apostles saw what Moses only glimpsed, namely, the glory of God personified. For the first time in history, God had revealed himself in person (1:18). The grace and truth of God had become incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ.

But there is an ironic tragedy: left to ourselves we reject the Word and his light. We prefer to live in the darkness of our own egos. We need God’s work of grace within us to open our eyes to the truth (1:5-13).

In his opening section (1:1-14), John introduces us to a counterintuitive idea: there is more than one Person who makes up the One God of the Bible. Throughout eternity God exists in relationship and, in that relationship delights in giving life and light. Christianity we begin to see is not a religion of works but of relationship – one that is grounded in the surprising grace of God.

Prayer

Blessed Lord, you have caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning: grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them, that, encouraged and supported by your holy Word, we may embrace and always hold fast the joyful hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. (1662 Book of Common Prayer, Advent 2)

Daily Reading Plan

Read John 1:1-18