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Tag Archives: Faith

Matthew 7:13-14

14 Apr

13 “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. 14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

Matthew 7:13-14

Dear God, these two verses have been lingering in my head for a couple of years now. I did a couple of Sunday school lessons on the Sermon on the Mount a couple of years ago, and there were two things that really struck me beyond the basic content in Matthew 5 and 6. First, the summary of the whole thing in Matthew 7:12: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” And then these two verses. The gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

I’ve been trying to point some special people in my life to the road for a while now, and it frustrates me that they seemingly choose not to find it. I really wish they would look. I wish they would take me up on the challenge to find it. But I guess they have to be more motivated by pain before they will find it. What’s the quote? Something like, “Change only happens when remaining the same is more painful than the pain of changing.” I never learn or grow in easy times. It always takes struggle for me to move beyond my comfort zone and into a new place. You don’t cause the pain, but I pray that you will make it count.

Father, I’m going to be going over verses 13 and 14 tonight for a men’s Bible study I’m involved with. Help me to guide them. Help them to teach me in the process as well. Help us all to understand better what it looks like to find the narrow gateway and walk through it thoughtfully, intentionally, and determinedly.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 14, 2026 in Matthew

 

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Romans 3:22-26

13 Apr

22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

Romans 3:22-26

Dear God, I was listening to a podcast on Saturday morning where the host discussed the theology of “substitutionary atonement.” Basically, the idea that Jesus death/sacrifice was a substitute for the death and separation from you we deserve because of our sin. The speaker, Skye Jethani, was saying that he wrote a book called What is Jesus was Serious about Justice, in which he talked about this. He confessed that he went into it hoping to poke holes in the idea of substitutionary atonement, but ended up having it confirmed to him even more. He was giving a brief answer to a question, so he didn’t go into it deeply, but he mentioned the Isaiah 53:4-6 as an example:

4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
    it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
    a punishment for his own sins!
5 But he was pierced for our rebellion,
    crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
    He was whipped so we could be healed.
6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
    We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
    the sins of us all.

I think this passage from Paul in Romans works as well, specifically in verses 24-25a:

24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.

One of the objections to substitutionary atonement I’ve heard before is that this is child abuse on your part. You punished your son. You mocked, beat, tortured, and brutally killed your son so give yourself some kind of appeasement for my sin. But Skye pointed out, and I agree, that you weren’t the one doing the mocking, beating, torturing, and killing. The plan that you and Jesus had–the plan Jesus talked to Moses and Elijah about in Luke 9:30-31:

30 Suddenly, two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared and began talking with Jesus. 31 They were glorious to see. And they were speaking about his exodus from this world, which was about to be fulfilled in Jerusalem.

It’s what Jesus was praying about in the Garden of Gethsemane the night of his arrest in Luke 22:41-44:

41 He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” 43 Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. 44 He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.

Jesus isn’t saying, “Father, don’t hurt me or kill me.” He is saying, “If there’s any other way, please pick that one.” But there wasn’t any other way. We walked away from you. We walk away from you in the present. We will walk away from you in the future. How are you to receive us again? Because Jesus, who never walked away from you, allowed himself to be taken away from you by the sin of the men of the time–the sin of us all.

Finally, Paul says something interesting here about how this atonement works for those who had lived previously in verses 25b-26:

This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

It is interesting that Paul depicts you, at least in this translation, as being the punisher of sin. I’ll admit I’m tempted to overlook that word because it doesn’t fit my thesis and points from before. There is a certain distastefulness for me when I see you as the punishing God. But when I see you as the father who lets the son go, that version of you makes more sense.

Father, I struggle with so much when it comes to eternity and you. Will all souls live forever? Honestly, I hope the ones that are separated from you won’t. Is the only way to spend eternity with you through saying the magic words: “I need Jesus sacrifice to cover my sins, I repent of my sins and ask you to forgive me, and I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior”? Maybe, but that leaves an awful lot of people on the wrong side of the cut line even though they weren’t any worse in life than I am. Do certain sins condemn someone more than others? Was Hitler confirmed Lutheran at one point? Does that grace cover his evil? There is no way for me to know the answer to these questions on this side of life. What I do know is that I am here to worship you today. I want to be your tool in this world. I want to glorify you in all things. And I want to introduce others to the God I know so that they might know you now and join me in worshipping you for all eternity.

I pray this ignorant and feeble prayer in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 13, 2026 in Luke, Romans

 

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Psalm 118

12 Apr

Psalm 118

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
    His faithful love endures forever.

2 Let all Israel repeat:
    “His faithful love endures forever.”
3 Let Aaron’s descendants, the priests, repeat:
    “His faithful love endures forever.”
4 Let all who fear the Lord repeat:
    “His faithful love endures forever.”

5 In my distress I prayed to the Lord,
    and the Lord answered me and set me free.
6 The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear.
    What can mere people do to me?
7 Yes, the Lord is for me; he will help me.
    I will look in triumph at those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in people.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
    than to trust in princes.

10 Though hostile nations surrounded me,
    I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
11 Yes, they surrounded and attacked me,
    but I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
12 They swarmed around me like bees;
    they blazed against me like a crackling fire.
    But I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
13 My enemies did their best to kill me,
    but the Lord rescued me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my song;
    he has given me victory.
15 Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp of the godly.
    The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things!
16 The strong right arm of the Lord is raised in triumph.
    The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things!
17 I will not die; instead, I will live
    to tell what the Lord has done.
18 The Lord has punished me severely,
    but he did not let me die.

19 Open for me the gates where the righteous enter,
    and I will go in and thank the Lord.
20 These gates lead to the presence of the Lord,
    and the godly enter there.
21 I thank you for answering my prayer
    and giving me victory!

22 The stone that the builders rejected
    has now become the cornerstone.
23 This is the Lord’s doing,
    and it is wonderful to see.
24 This is the day the Lord has made.
    We will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Please, Lord, please save us.
    Please, Lord, please give us success.
26 Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
    We bless you from the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God, shining upon us.
    Take the sacrifice and bind it with cords on the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise you!
    You are my God, and I will exalt you!

29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
    His faithful love endures forever.

Dear God, someone shared Psalm118:24 with me today. I was having trouble figuring out what scripture to meditate on earlier today, so I decided to read this whole psalm. Of course, it’s a good one. A classic. But I decided to focus on verse 22. “The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.” Verse 23 follows it and is good as well: “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.” I don’t know if David wrote this psalm or not. It’s not labeled as such, but it seems like it could be his voice.

Of course, verse 26 echoes the words shouted at Jesus during the triumphal entry beginning Passion week: “Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” The Messiah. David’s heir.

I can see how some nations around the world right now, even though they are not Christian or even Jewish, but they do harken back to the God of Abraham, would feel like verses 10-18 fit them right now:

10 Though hostile nations surrounded me,
    I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
11 Yes, they surrounded and attacked me,
    but I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
12 They swarmed around me like bees;
    they blazed against me like a crackling fire.
    But I destroyed them all with the authority of the Lord.
13 My enemies did their best to kill me,
    but the Lord rescued me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my song;
    he has given me victory.
15 Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp of the godly.
    The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things!
16 The strong right arm of the Lord is raised in triumph.
    The strong right arm of the Lord has done glorious things!
17 I will not die; instead, I will live
    to tell what the Lord has done.
18 The Lord has punished me severely,
    but he did not let me die.

We can all use verses to justify our positions and support what we want them to support. I can sin and find a verse to support what I’ve done. But I can also find encouragement when others have sinned against me. It’s tricky to know when I am the sinner, when I have been sinned against, or when both are true.

Father, right now, I know the parts of this psalm that aretrue, above all else, are the parts that acknowledge who you are. 1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever…28 You are my God, and I will praise you! You are my God, and I will exalt you! 29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Give me eyes to see my sin. And yes, I do see my sin, and I am sorry for that. I regret it. It makes my heart heavy. Please forgive me. Show me your path forward. Help me to take the forgiveness I feel from you and offer it to others–even those who have wronged me the most. I will give you thanks, for your are good. Your faithful love endures forever. You are my God, and I will praise you. You are my God, and I will exalt you!

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 12, 2026 in Psalms

 

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Romans 5:3-5

10 Apr

3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

Romans 5:3-5

Dear God, when I think of the sorrows in my life, while I don’t like them at all, I can definitely see where they have made me a more humble, loving person. I’m much less judgmental that I would otherwise be. I can clearly see the aspect of “prosperity gospel” in the idea that there’s a formula for living your life a certain way and then having things turn out the way you want them to. I was talking with a mom recently who has been through drug/alcohol/suicidal ideation issues with her son. She told me that she had a friend two years ago whose son had to go to a drug treatment center, and she judged this friend for her son being in that situation. Now that she’s been through something similar, she’s a different person towards that friend. Her heart softened and changed. It’s more loving, understanding and forgiving.

The other part of this is the idea of developing endurance. As American Christians, we are soft. We see someone promoting a non-Christian agenda and we freak out, calling it religious persecution. “You’re saying, ‘Happy Holidays,’ instead of, “Merry Christmas.’ Aaaaa! I’m being persecuted!” “There’s an LGBTQ rights march in my town square. Aaaaa! I’m being persecuted!” But there are literally people who have been tortured and killed and are currently being tortured and killed for their faith in you. But even the little struggles I have make me stronger. They make me more durable. I’ve been doing a lot of cycling over the last three months. I’ve been mixing in some really hard workouts with some easier recovery rides. I want my body to be able to push through pain and get stronger while also having the muscle memory of what it’s like to be in for an endurance ride. None of that will happen if I rest myself on the sofa and never push through the pain.

Father, I’m not going to go out looking for pain. Life will bring enough of that. At the same time, I don’t want to run from it. I want to walk the path you’ve given me to walk. I want to have the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, but I also want to have the courage to change the things I can. If it were easy, I wouldn’t need courage. Please give me the wisdom to know the difference, and to persevere and rest in you when life’s trials come my way. If there is to be pain, make it count for your glory and my growth.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 10, 2026 in Romans

 

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Romans 5:6-11

08 Apr

6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

Romans 5:6-11

Dear God, I really need to be better at communicating this to people I see throughout the day. I need to be better about sharing this reconciliation with you. The trick for me is that I know it’s not just about realizing their need for you and evening being willing to repent, but getting them to somehow walk the narrow path.

I have a friend who’s really struggling in their marriage right now. Actually I have a couple of friends in that situation. I’ve encouraged them both to really discipline themselves to walk closely with you and be as healthy as they can before they make any definitive decisions about the future of their marriages. I suspect that the healthier they get the more clarity they will get as to how to respond to their spouses.

I just got a text while I was typing this from a friend who said she and her husband are taking their adult son to rehab today for substance abuse. Oh, Father, the path will have to be narrow for him as well. I know he’s battled addiction for about 20 years. Help him to find the narrow path.

Father, lest I forget, I need to walk the narrow path as well. Jesus saved me from your condemnation, but that does me no good here if I don’t live it out during my earthly life. The only way to experience your fruit is to graft my branch to your vine. So I come to you to worship you, love you, and then take that love and give it to others as much as I can.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 8, 2026 in Romans

 

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Galatians 2:15-21

07 Apr

15 “You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. 16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”

17 But suppose we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then we are found guilty because we have abandoned the law. Would that mean Christ has led us into sin? Absolutely not! 18 Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. 19 For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. 20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.

Galatians 2:15-21

Dear God, the last sentence of verse 16 is what is really catching me this morning: “For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.” It’s a reminder for me that the law is for me and not you. I am disconnected from you because of the sin of my heart, and that sin is the decisions I make to be my own God, not love you with everything I have and not love my neighbors. All of the little pieces of the law are for my good and my benefit, but what disconnects me from you is something much more in my core. It is my selfishness that simply walks away from you (notice I kept “walks” in the present tense and not the past tense because I still do it continuously).

I think about Peter’s denial of Jesus, which I spent a lot of time with last week. But what I’m thinking about isn’t the sin of self-preservation over loving you. I’m thinking about Jesus telling him in Luke 22:31-31, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have burned back, strengthen your brothers.” Jesus’s sacrifice and forgiveness would keep Peter whole with you. Jesus was calling on Peter to take that humility from the moment and use that, not his pride or strength, to strengthen the others disciples.

Father, I make many mistakes. I fail a lot. I’ve failed others many times. Be glorified in me. Help me, Father, to show your love to others through my weakness so that you might be glorified. I offer this simple life. And I also ask for your mercy on some friends I saw yesterday in a retirement home. It was sad. It was sad to see some really competent people from earlier in life look so frail and diminished. I don’t know the path for them, but please be merciful in it. My heart is heavy for what will happen in the world today. Be merciful in that as well. Please guide the leaders of the world and hold us close to yourself even though we sin so greatly.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 7, 2026 in Galatians

 

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1 John 3:14-15

06 Apr

14 If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. 15 Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.

1 John 3:14-15

Dear God, the verse of the day for Bible Gateway was 1 John 3:16, talking about Jesus loving us and giving his life up for us, but this part about loving and hating on the part of humans and murder and eternal life really struck me this morning because of the hate I see in some people I know. In some politicians who are throwing out hate like it’s candy. Cursing others. Even mocking you. It’s unbelievable. It’s really unbelievable that I’m seeing this kind of rampant hate. It is just consuing them. What’s really interesting (in a sad way) is to watch it grow. It’s like a cancer. The hate is really growing in some hearts and completely taking over. I mean, for some, it’s been there all along, and they are just revealing more and more of it to the outside world. But wow.

So let’s turn this mirror back on me. How do I guard myself from this? How do I continue to find the narrow gate and walk this narrow path of love over hate? Is there anyone right now in my life towards whom I’m harboring “hate?” There are certainly some people I don’t like or about whom I think ill, but do I hate them? Is there a fine line? Is there a difference?

I do think there’s a difference. I think there are some people I shouldn’t trust and whose motives are suspect. I might even root for their plans to fail. But “hate.” Do I hate them? I don’t think I do.

Father, give me mercy where you want me to have mercy. Where I tend to be unmerciful. I want to walk through the narrow gate and then down the narrow path with you. I want to feel the mercy you give to me flow through me and into those around me. Live through me. Love through me. Let your kingdom come and your will be done in this world through my life and the lives of your people.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 6, 2026 in 1 John

 

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“Then Came the Morning” by Luke Garrett

05 Apr

“Then Came the Morning” by Luke Garrett

They all walked away, nothing to say
They’d just lost their dearest friend
All that He said. Now He was dead
So this was the way it would end

The dreams they had dreamed
Were not what they’d seemed
Now that He was dead and gone
The garden, the jail, the hammer, the nails
How could a night be so long?

The angel, the star, the kings from afar
The wedding, the water, the wine
Now it was done, they’d taken her Son
Wasted before His time

She knew it was true, she’d watched Him die too
She’d heard them call Him just a man
Oh, deep in her heart she knew from her God
Somehow her Son would live again

Then came the morning
Night turned into day
The stone was rolled away
Hope rose with the dawn

Written by Chris Christian, Bill Gaither, and Gloria Gaither

Dear God, when I wake up on Easter morning, this is the song that almost always pops in my head. I first heard it about 40 years ago when Luke Garrett came to perform for a weekend revival at our church, and he stayed with my family (I was in high school at the time). I remember driving him back and forth to the church in my old truck. He was very kind to me. A good man. He died too young. I later found out that it was written, at least in part, by Gloria and Bill Gaither. That makes sense. It sounds like a Gaither song.

I think what I’ve always liked about it is how it puts me in the story, but it spends some time with the part the Bible passes over. The 36 hours or so between the burial in the tomb and when Mary visits the tomb on Sunday morning. It’s one of my own favorite things to do when I read and ponder scripture. To put myself into their shoes and see if I can think of some of the things they are experiencing.

In this case, Jesus is dead. What was it all for? Mary, his mother. What must she have been thinking as she saw this train on the tracks for at least months if not the last three years? How did this line up with what Gabriel, the shepherds, Anna, and Simeon said to her. The only thing that might have lined up with this was Simeon’s words in the Temple in Luke 2:35: “And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” Was this that sword?

There were the other women at the foot of the cross. There were the eleven remaining disciples. There were the other believers. There were Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. All of these people had to have been so disillusioned.

The part of the song that just says, “The dreams they had dreamed.” What were their dreams? Power? Glory? Redemption and success for Israel? If those were their dreams, they would never come back–even after the resurrection. That’s not why he came or did what he did. No, his ultimate plan would be revealed on Sunday morning, after the resurrection. He was here to be the Passover Lamb for all of us and for all time. All we need to do is metaphorically put his blood over the doors to our heart. That’s what he taught us to do. And that’s what we need to teach others to do.

Father, I’m so grateful for this morning. I’m so grateful the night turned into day. I’m so glad you didn’t fulfill their expectations and that you don’t strive to fulfill our expectations to this day. No, you know what we need, and you see life beyond this physical world and the short number of years we are here. Continue to shape and mold my mind. Help me to see what you want me to see and understand what you want me to understand. I just want to fulfill your glory for your glory’s sake.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 5, 2026 in Hymns and Songs

 

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Ephesians 1:3-8

04 Apr

3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

Ephesians 1:3-8

Dear God, I stand amazed by not only your grandeur, but also by your prodigal love. A few years ago I sat with the story of “The Prodigal Son” and I realized that we might have misnamed it. It might better be called “The Prodigal Father” because the father in the story was so seemingly foolishly extravagant with his love for both of his sons. And that story was about you.

It’s interesting that that parable is actually the third of three in a row that Jesus uses to describe you, but it’s the only one we focus on. The other two are the parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the lost coin. In those two parables, you go looking for your lost one. In “The Prodigal Son,” you wait. I guess the difference is that a sheep is too dumb to know their way home and might not have left intentionally in the first place. A coin is not lost because it’s the coin’s fault. But the son in this last story…well, he needed to come to the end of himself and embrace your love. He needed to want to be found.

So I read verse seven in the passage above and I think about how you extravagantly purchased me back with Jesus’s blood. I’m sorry, but that seems pretty wasteful to me. But as I sit here on the Saturday morning before Easter, after having just been to a Good Friday service last night where I thought a lot about the price Jesus paid through pain and suffering (and even then my imagination can’t wrap itself around the true horrow he experienced) for my redemption, I can’t help but be amazed by your prodigal love for me. Yes, you get frustrated with me. Yes, you have to correct me sometimes. Yes, I make you angry. But you extravagantly spilled your son’s blood so I can still be here with you.

Father, Saturday is a dark day between Good Friday and Easter morning. It’s a dark day for those who cannot see what you’re actually doing. But the real dark day is yesterday. Today is the “Harrowing of Hell.” I obviously don’t understand how all of this works. There are too many inconsistencies in the way the Bible presents what happened after death in the Old and New Testaments to confidently make sense of it (at least for my ignorant brain). But I know that Jesus’s death at this point was only a bad thing to those who sat there that day almost exactly 2,000 years ago and wondered what it was all for.

Father, I have a couple of “What was it all for?” situations in my life. So let me sit here today in the faith that my ignorance of your plan will be paid off in the same way Jesus’s followers’ ignorance was paid off on Easter Sunday back then. I know I’ll likely have to wait longer than a day. That’s okay. In the meantime, I will worship you and love othes as best as I can.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 4, 2026 in Ephesians

 

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John 12-19

03 Apr

Dear God, that’s too much to paste here so I’m not going to try to actually put the scriptures at the top of this. But where the other Gospels take two chapters to tell this story, John takes eight. And he changes the order around a little. I am starting each of these with Jesus being anointed at Simon’s house in Bethany with perfume and Judas deciding to betray him. We all know John’s Gospel is not synomptic with the other three. That will become very apparent here.

  • For John, Bethany becomes before the Triumphant Entry, but it’s not Simon’s house where they are. It’s Martha’s/Mary’s/Lazarus’s house. It’s Mary who anoints him with perfume, and John intimates that only Judas was annoyed by it. He also ascribes greed and even theft to Judas’s motivations. John doesn’t mind naming names and calling people out, as we’ll see later with Peter and the sword.
  • The leading priests decided to not only kill Lazarus but Judas also. I might have read that before, but I don’t know that I ever let it sink in. What exactly did Lazarus do to deserve execution? That heart that let’s evil in can really get on a roll and lose all perspective. In for a penny, in for a pound.
  • I don’t think I’m going to give a blow by blow through these eight chapters, but I’ll pain with broad brush strokes since there is so much that is unique to John’s telling of the story. Next is the Triumphant Entry. This comes before the anointing in Bethany in the other gospels. I’ll say that John brings up the Lazarus resurrection again here as a motivator for the crowds. John obviously remembers that as being a huge turning point in Jesus’s ministry. Okay, I just realized this–for such a pivotal moment in Jesus’s ministry, John is the only one who gives us the Lazarus story! You would think it would at least get a mention in the other Gospels. That’s weird, and I honestly don’t know what to think about that. I had to look it up just now. The theory I like the most is that the writers of the Synoptic Gospels were protecting Lazaraus’s anonymity because he was still alive when the Gospels were written, and they wanted to save him persecution from the Jewish leadership. I’ll buy that.
  • The Greeks want to meet celebrity Jesus and approach Philip to get an audience with him. Jesus seems to ignore the request and talk about/explain his coming death. And then comes “After saying these things, Jesus went away and was hidden from them. His last public appearance before his arrest.
  • John gives a generic exchange between Jesus and an unbelieving crowd, but it seems unrelated to this particular time and event. It’s more a general interaction between them.
  • Starting in chapter 13, John starts the Passover Meal narrative by describing in an intimate way the love Jesus had for his disciples.
  • John relates Satan coming into Judas as a motivator like Luke did.
  • John is the only one to give us the foot-washing story and Peter’s response. I’ve heard Skye Jethani talk about this: “Jesus was willing to humiliate himself because he had nothing to prove and nothing to lose.” It wasn’t servant leadership. It was an expression of love through service and letting our own esteem go. Jesus goes on to explain in verse 15 that it’s about an example to follow of equality between us all.
  • Jesus says someone will betray him. Again, he didn’t have to do this. He could have kept it to himself. In this telling, John describes Jesus as specifically identifying Judas and sending him away.
  • Jesus prophecies about what’s to come.
  • Jesus predicts Peter’s denial here at the table and not on the way to the Mount of Olives like Matthew and Mark did.
  • Jesus does a lot of teaching here in chapters 14-16:
    • Jesus the way to the Father. “I am going to prepare a place for you.” “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” “You can ask for anything in my name and I will do it so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.” It’s always about your glory, Father, not ours.
    • Jesus promised the Holy Spirit. He will be and Advocate and Teacher. “I am leaving you with a gift–peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.” I love this. Peace is the only fruit of the Spirit I can’t will myself to experience. It only comes from you, Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit.
    • Jesus is the True Vine. I need you for my nourishment. I am nothing without you. “When [I] produce much fruit, [I am] your disciple. This brings great glory to my Father.” I hope I bring you glory, Father. Thank you for grafting me to your vine, Jesus. “Love each other as I have loved you.” Jesus once again reiterates in verse 15:16 that we can ask for things in His name and it will be given to us.
    • The World’s Hatred. I’ve been persecuted by people for my faith. Ironically, the people who have persecuted me the most for it are some of the people I love the most in this world. It breaks my heart, but I don’t know another way to be. I love you and I need you.
    • Teaching about the Holy Spirit. “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.” Verses 16:14-15 draw a line from me to the Holy Spirit through Jesus to the Father: “He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, “The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.”
    • Hope in their sadness turning to joy. I like how John describes the disciples as being in the fog about all of this. They keep asking each othe questions on the side. Interesting dialogue here between Jesus and the disciples about them not understanding and him speaking plainly vs. figuratively.
  • Jesus’s prayer in chapter 17. I’m always struck by the fact that when Jesus prayed for future believers (us), he asked that we would be one. That’s where Satan attacks us, and it is very successful. Help us as your church to repent and to be one.
  • They head to the Mount of Olives. John gives us a lot more detail about Judas. That he knew the place because Jesus went there a lot. The leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a contingent of Roman soldiers and Temple guards.
    • John skips Jesus’s prayer in the garden! I’ve absolutely never noticed that before. At least I don’t think so. That’s amazing. And he was one of the three Jesus asked to accompany him along further and chastised for falling asleep.
  • Jesus is confronted and John identifies Peter as cutting off the right ear of Malchus (again, the first time we get a name). Luke is the only one to tell us that Jesus healed Malchus’s ear.
  • Peter and presumably John (another disciple) followed Jesus to Annas’s house (first time we get this detail or even hear about Annas). We also find out that John got Peter into the high priest’s courtyard because he knew the high priest. John gives the detail that it was when the servant was letting Peter in at John’s behest that she first asked him about being a Jesus disciple and Peter denied it.
  • Jesus is questioned at Annas’s house (and slapped by a Temple guard) before he is sent to Caiaphas.
  • Flashback to Peter by the fire, he not only gets questioned a second time, but the third time he’s asked is connected to his attack on Malchus’s ear. Then the rooster crows.
  • John kind of skips over the trial at Caiphas’s house with just barely a mention in one sentence. Then we are off to Pilate’s. The other Gospels are much more descriptive of Caiphas’s rage towards Jesus.
  • Pilate’s trial is pretty similar here to the other Gospels, but I think John has some amount of sympathy for Pilate’s position on this one. I won’t go into all of it here, but Pilate really seems to be trying to understand what is going on and then spare Jesus’s life. No handwashing in this telling of the story.
  • No Simon to carry the cross.
  • No conversation between Jesus and the other two on the crosses.
  • Extra conversation between Pilate and the leading priests over the “King of the Jews” sign. I think Pilate is angry with the leading priests and trying to offend them.
  • More people at the foot of the cross, including, apparently, John. His mom and his aunt, Mary (Clopas’s wife), and Mary Magdalene. I wonder why the name Mary was so popular then. I just looked it up. This was a reference to Miriam, Moses’s sister. Of course, now there are a lot of Mary’s because of Jesus’s mother.
  • Jesus takes a drink of sour wine and dies. No “Father, forgive them,” or “Why have you forsaken me?”
  • Only time we get the leg-breaking scene. John claims the veracity of his story and the fulfillment of the scriptures.
  • Joseph of Arimathea asks for the body, but John is the only one to tell us that Nicodemus, a Pharisee who has two other mentions by John is there too. They put the body in the tomb, but John doesn’t tell us it’s Joseph’s tomb. And he doesn’t mention the women watching where they put Jesus.

Okay, that’s John’s version of Passion Week. It’s so interesting to see how different it is from the others, and yet which beats are details are the same. It’s an amazing story. As I sit here on Good Friday and consider all of this, I want you to know, Father, that I ache as I read this. And the aching is good. I ache for what Jesus went through. I ache that he had to go through it, and I’m one of the reasons he had to go through it. I ache for the world today and its pain. But I am also hopeful. I can hope in what is to come after this life. I am at peace in you, knowing I can sit here forgiven of my sin and blameless before you because of what I just read.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on April 3, 2026 in John

 

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