Reading

John 12:12-26 (ESV)

12 The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. 13 So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” 14 And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, 15 “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!” 16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. 17 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. 18 The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

 

Meditation

Do you identify with those men and women standing along the road way shouting to Jesus as he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey?  Or do you sit back in judgement thinking that you would never be one of them?  Maybe a better question is, “Have you ever had someone you wanted to be like? Someone you wanted to follow all that they did?”

Bruno, better known as Bruce Willis, was my hero when I was young.   He became a star in 1985 when I was 15 years old.  He was the star of Moonlighting, as David Addison a detective and I thought he was the best.  I wanted to be David Addison.  One of the first drinks I had was a Seagram’s Wine Cooler because he was the spoke man (sorry mom and dad).  I changed the type of underwear that I wore because of him.  He was boxers on the show and I was briefs, I began to wear boxers because of him.  I know too much information for a meditation.  I even bought a cassette of his “Return of Bruno” album.  What a fanatic.  Please don’t go look it up as something to listen too.

We all have an idea of what we need for a Savior.  We all think that we know what we need to be the thing that saves us.  And if we see something that closely resembles what we think we need then we will jump on the bandwagon.  That is the messiah.    But it isn’t.  The Messiah is Jesus Christ,  The one who is from God.

The reality is that the Messiah is something different than what we can think of.  It is something beyond what we would hold as true.    Jesus is the answer to every question He is the one who knows what we need to hear before we ask the question.  He is the one who will hold us when we fall short and rely on our own strength.   We call out to a savior and it is based on what we think we need not on what we really need.   Jesus is the triumphal entry; He is the one who will bring us to the place of understanding and love. He is the one who will take us to the place that He has prepared for us.

Prayer

Father , thank you for loving us and bringing us to a place of submission,  It is only through you that we are able to hold on to the  glory that is present in the appearance of Jesus Christ,   It is only in you that we are able to trust that you have the best for us. You know beyond our selves what we need and you will provide it.  You are the one you gives us mercy and grace beyond what we think we need.   You are the one who will not hold back from providing what we need to be your children.  Amen.

Lenten Action

Trust God to provide for you to know that He is the answer.  Don’t trust on your own work but trust on the work that the Father has accomplished.

 

Reading, Meditation, Prayer, Action

Psalm 130 (ESV)

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! 2 O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! 3 If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. 5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6 my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. 7 O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. 8 And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

Reading:

John 17 (ESV)

1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. 6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. 20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

Meditation

Jesus prays for you in this prayer.  Go back and read it.  Hear Him praying it over you.  Jesus prays for you in this prayer.

Prayer

Thank you for praying for me, Jesus.   Amen

Lenten Action:

Go back and read this prayer.  Jesus prays for you.

Reading

John 1:1-18 (ESV)

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. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens 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. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.'”) 16 And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Meditation

I have only recently begun wearing reading glasses when I read.  Obviously.  I have also grown accustom to looking for my glasses only to find them resting on my head.  Does that happen to you?  You have something you are looking for and can’t seem to find it but then you realize it was on your person or right in front of you the whole time.  Car keys that you have in your hand, a cell phone you can’t find when you realize you are telling the person you are talking to on the cell phone that you can’t find your cell phone.

Or there are those times that you aren’t looking for something and then you find something you thought was gone for ever.  Maybe it was a special letter and it falls out of a book you haven’t read in 3 years.  Maybe it is a $20 in a pocket of pants you haven’t worn in a while.  It’s a bonus!

Maybe you are at a place where you have lost something, misplaced and know that you won’t see it again. I did that in the seat back on a flight to Disney with a bunch of DVD’s.  Right now at our house we can’t seem to find some books, baking supplies and other memory things.  It is heart breaking.

When we find the lost thing it can bring great joy.  It is like Christmas day.  It is a huge bonus!  When Jesus appeared, the Messiah they had longed for, they do not recognize Him.  They still think they are to be searching.  The glory of God is present and they can’t see it.

Many of us have been in that place.  Looking for an answer to our lives; believing that something has to be better or answer our heart desperation.  Jesus appeared to us through others many times and we couldn’t see it.  We were blind and still searching.   Many of us have relations with people who are searching and can’t see Jesus yet.

We should take great joy in that He has appeared and that those who are to know Him will.  There is hope because the Glory of God has appeared.  We no longer need to search, we get to party and revel and reveal Christ to all those who watch around us.    The crazy thing is we become His appearing to the world now.  Some will not see it but others will and they will be born of God

Prayer

Father, we thank you for revealing your grace and truth through Jesus Christ and saving us through Him.  Let us be ambassadors for you in order that those who are searching will find you. Sprit call those who are part of the family to Jesus.  Amen.

Lenten Action

Continue to memorize John 1:1-14.  Through a party to celebrate finding Jesus (remember He really found you) and invite those who are still searching to come along to hang out with you.

Reading

John 12:9-11 (ESV)

When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

Meditation

CS Lewis describes his conversion in Surprised by Joy, “You must picture me alone in that room at Magdalen, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. That which I greatly feared had at last come upon me. In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England”

Conversion stories can be great to listen to or read.  I love talking to people about their journey with God.  I love reading stories of change.  We hear those stories and think that perhaps our story is not enough.  But that is not true.

We are Lazarus. We were dead and now we live.  Our hope can be that many believe in Jesus because they see that difference.  It is the difference of someone who was dead but know is alive; something has changed in us.

We may desire a dramatic story.  We may think that our Christian upbringing negates our conversion.  It doesn’t.  You were dead and now you are alive.

Our lives can be so compelling to those around us because of our “Live-ness” that they would want to know more or never speak to us again.  Through Jesus Christ we are made new.

 

Prayer

Father, thank you for bringing us from death to life; we praise you for saving us.   Let our lives be one that attracts others to you and your glory.  Amen

Lenten Action

Praise God for His resurrection power in your life.  Write out your conversion story.  It may be a one-time event.  It may be an ongoing saga. It could be that you are still coming to grips with it. Write out your story.

Reading

John 12:1-7

1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.

Meditation

It is about this time every year that I begin to think about Judas, U2, and an article I read many years ago about Judas being our patron saint.  This passage shows us the heart of Judas and perhaps a little of our own hearts.  If it we not for the explanation from John about why Judas makes his statement we would think that it is a perfectly legitimate thing to say.  Giving to the poor is a good thing, a righteous act, a wise use of the money.  His real intent was to keep the money for himself.  He was a thief.

We can hide our own selfish desires behind altruistic acts.  Some have argued that there is no such thing as a selfless act.  And that may be true but the real danger is when we begin to believe that our outward acts of goodness make us good even when our hearts are only turned toward ourselves.  At some point Judas may have decided that he knew best how to use the money that had been coming in (which may have even been true) but he takes his eyes off of the work of Christ and puts them on his own method for righteousness.  It could be that he was just a big con artist all along and never thought of anyone but himself, but even then Christ has him close to Himself.  Christ had him near.

He has us near as well.  We may hide behind our good deeds but Christ knows our heart.  He knows what we truly mean when we do good works.  He understands we are either pulling the wool over the eyes of those around us in order to gain something from them or we are pulling the wool over our own eyes believing our good doing can gain us something that we desire.

Mary on the other hand came to worship. She came empty of self with a need to honor Jesus.  Doing something she didn’t even know she was doing.

Prayer

Father, teach us to worship.  Teach us to love you like Mary loved you.  Help us to move from gaining our own righteousness to giving you all glory because of the righteousness you give us.  Keep us near to you even as we have the heart of Judas that we may hear of your love for us. Amen

Lenten Action

I know I have linked to this song in the past meditations but it is so great.  Take a listen sometime today to hear the Gospel.  God loves you.  U2 “Until the End of The World.”

Reading

John 11:38-57 (ESV)

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.” 45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. 54 Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples. 55 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. 56 They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” 57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

Meditation

When I was a boy I would often daydream.  Let me confess, I was (a may still be) a habitual daydreamer.  One of my favourites was about an underground hide out that I would build in my back yard.  Within this hideout were a large tv (we didn’t have flat screens then), an Atari 2600 with all the games, a small kitchen (I liked to cook even back then) and a super couch to rest on while I played games.   The best thing about the hide out was the robot that looked exactly like me that I could control from a computer (probably Tandy brand) the eyes had cameras so I could see what it saw and could control all the movements.  My dream was to send it to school in my place so I could stay in the hideout. The crazy thing is I would have to be engaged the whole time on the control computer while it was at school.  So I would be doing all the work, all the interaction, all the learning but from behind the robots eyes.  I guess I really liked staying in my pyjamas or perhaps something deeper going on there.  I swear I really do like people and being with them.

We all have a version of an alternative universe that sounds more acceptable to us than the one we are living in.  We can live in the “If” world.  “If this happened”  “If I had” “If she would have” “If I could just” “If they were still” It springs from our hearts because we long for comfort, security, control or surety.  Our ideal life looks just a little off or completely different than the life we are living.  This desire for the alternative universe can be a great motivator for us to pursue growth and accomplish great things.  But when it is not tempered by God it can lead to destruction.  It is ok for us to dream, there is something that God has placed in our hearts that provides it. It is when these dreams push us to distrust of God and His plan that sin enters in and begins to destroy.  It is when we begin to believe that God has messed up somehow in our lives and we need to find a way around His screw up that our hearts move from worship, rest and trust toward passive antagonism, doubt and struggle.

Our current lives are not easy even though some of us do have it pretty nice.  We are in the “in-between” when the fallen-ness of this world comes crashing down on us.  “He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.”  The alternative universe for the Jewish leaders was one without Jesus and they begin to plan it but even in that plan God is present.  Caiaphas cast a vision of what is to come, the death of one man, this Jesus, to save the nation and all the while God is writing the Truth; the death of one man, Jesus Christ, to save the Children of God. Caiaphas believed he need to save his nation and God was moving in reality to create a People of His Own.

Prayer

Father God, open our eyes to see your reality; the work you are doing and have accomplished in our lives and in the world.  Help us to submit all of our desires to you.  Let us bring our dreams to your throne and lay them down.  Take our alternative universes and purify them, extract what is your Truth and burn away what is not. Please give us comfort through your Spirit because our pain is real and our hurt is exhausting. We need your mercy and gentle touch to assure us that you have us in your hands.  We are broken and being restored.  We are complete in Christ right now but see through the glass dimly.  Please pour your assurance over us. Amen

Lenten Action

Over the next week when an “if” statement moves into your hear ask the Spirit to help you quickly take it to the feet of God.  Find someone you know is on the journey with God to pray with you about your “if” statement.  Ask them to look at it with you seeking to know how God is working in the current place you are that has invited the “if” statement.  Ask them to help you trust the Father.

Reading

John 11:1-37 (ESV)

The Death of Lazarus

1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” 17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” 28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 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?”

 

Meditation

There are times in our lives when darkness seems to engulf us; times when hope seems to be the last possible thing that we could imagine feeling.  Often it sneaks up on us when we are not looking.  It can take our breath away with how quickly the intrusion into our ordinary lives creates a new normal for us to live in.  We end up marking time the rest of our lives with the arrival of this uninvited quest; Before (fill in the blank) and After (fill in the blank).

For some of you there does not seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Some of you have a nagging feeling in the pit of your stomach that you maybe weathered the first part of the storm but something larger is approaching.  And still some feel confident that you were able to overcome this “minor interruption” but in the back of your mind as you drift to sleep doubts begin to creep in.

So do we have hope?  Yes, Jesus walked this path with us.  His life wasn’t interrupted because He knows all things but when He, as a man, felt the magnitude of the loss of Lazarus, He wept.  And he weeps with us. He gives us permission to be undone.  And He holds us there.

Prayer

Jesus, thank you for grieving before us, with us and for us.  You make a path through our lose to light.  Keep us in your hands because it is hard for us to believe that there is good during this part of the journey with you.  We need your strength.  We need your hope.  We need your faith.  We need your obedience.  Thank you for giving it to us. Amen

Lenten Action

Many of us have been taught to hide our sorrow or hurt.  Jesus does not want you to hide anything.  He gave us our emotions to draw us toward Himself.  Take time today to cry. Cry over your sin.  Cry over a relationship that has ended.  Cry over a loved one who has died.  Cry and know that Jesus is present and weeping with you.

Reading, Meditation, Prayer, Action

Psalm 66 (ESV)

1 Shout for joy to God, all the earth; 2 sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise! 3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you. 4 All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.” Selah 5 Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man. 6 He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There did we rejoice in him, 7 who rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations– let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah 8 Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard, 9 who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip. 10 For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. 11 You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; 12 you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance. 13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will perform my vows to you, 14 that which my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble. 15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals, with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams; I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah 16 Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul. 17 I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. 18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. 19 But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. 20 Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!

Reading

John 10:22-40 (ESV)

22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” 31 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? 35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came–and Scripture cannot be broken– 36 o you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” 39 Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands. 40 He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. 41 And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” 42 And many believed in him there.

Meditation

I am fairly new at trusting Jesus.  Don’t get me wrong, I have known about Jesus since I was born and knew that He loved me and for the most part I loved Him.  I trusted that He loved me but I didn’t trust Him.  Why wouldn’t He love me, I am a pretty great guy.  No really I am and that is how I looked at it for many years.  Of course I never came out and said it that way but in my heart of hearts that is how I felt. But trusting someone requires that you know them and have an experience with them. Jesus knew me but I hadn’t taken the time to know Him.  I knew about Him.  I created things that I thought were like him.  But the reality is I was more than happy to have Him love me but not interfere.

The Jews wanted to know who Jesus was because they wanted to see if He really lined up with what their desire was.  Don’t keep us in suspense.  Let us know you are the one we want you to be exactly how we envision it to be.

Jesus lets them know that He has answered them and they haven’t heard because they can’t.  But we can.  For me I was loved by God through Jesus not because I was such a great guy, which is beside the point or icing on the cake for those who know me (not really).  God loved me through Jesus when I didn’t deserve it.  And He called me when I was His enemy.  He knew that I was really His.  My fleshy heart still wants to pick up a stone when He doesn’t meet my expectation.  And He still calls my name.

Prayer

Jesus, forgive me for putting expectations on you that are wrong.  Forgive me when I look to you to be what I want you to be instead of being who you are.  Forgive me for demanding of you to reveal yourself in a new way that meets my immediate desire instead of trusting that you know my true desire.  Forgive me trusting my own self for my hope instead of being silent and listening to your hope for me. Thank you teaching me to understand and believe.

Lenten Action

Find someone to share your story of being Jesus sheep with and share the whole mess.  Share about where you were and where you are and where Jesus is taking you; transforming you.  It can be anyone, even someone who has heard the story before but tell it out loud.  It will remind you of the greatness and graciousness of our loving God.