Day 5 – (March 11, 2019)

Read

John 3:16-21
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

Reflect

The words of John 3:16 go to the heart of God’s good news for the world. They tell us that God so loved the world that he gave… The love of God is the fundamental truth upon which Christianity is built. If God is not love, there would be no good news. We see here that God’s love is active: God so loved that he gave. He didn’t send his Son to condemn the world, but to rescue it. It needed rescuing because we have chosen to ignore God, something that God in his justice could not overlook. But God’s love has found a way to restore us and give us the opportunity of eternal life. And notice, this proactive love of God was for the benefit of the world.

It was an extraordinary and costly action – not just for the Son, but also for God the Father. The climax and consummation of God’s love is the cross of Christ. Often we think of God the Father as the stern and forbidding judge of a sinful world, while God the Son is our rescuer. John is telling us that God, in his amazing love for us, initiated our rescue and was just as much involved in the cost of our redemption as God the Son. God gave himself absolutely. In 1 John 4:10 we read: In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

These statements are ‘heavenly things’. We only know them by revelation and we only appropriate them by faith. And as we saw in yesterday’s reading, to have the faith we need God’s help. We need to ask him to awaken us to the reality of his love.

Prayer

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing that you have made, and you forgive the sins of all who are penitent: create and make in us new and contrite hearts, so that we, truly lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain from you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (1662 BCP, Ash Wednesday)

Daily Reading Plan

Read John 3:16-36

SUNDAY – (March 10, 2019)

The Song of Zechariah at the Naming of John the Baptist

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel: for he has come to his people and set them free. He has raised up for us a mighty Savior: born of the house of his servant David. Through his holy prophets he promised of old: that he would save us from our enemies, from the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers: and to remember his holy covenant. This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to set us free from the hands of our enemies, free to worship him without fear: holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.

And you my child shall be called the prophet of the Most High: for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way, to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of all their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God: the dawn from on high shall break upon us; To shine upon all those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death: and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit; as in the beginning so now: and forever. Amen. (An Australian Prayer Book (AAPB): 1978)

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