Never too Late to Learn

Daily Lectionary Readings
Psalm 119: 49-72
Deuteronomy 9:13-21
Hebrews 3:12-19
John 2:23-3:15

John 2:23-3:15
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

23Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. 24But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.

John 3
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."

3In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."

4"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"

5Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."

9"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.

10"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? 11I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

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I have always found this text to be interesting. To me it points out the divide that often exists between what we think we know about God and what we truly know about God. In this story we are introduced to Nicodemus. We learn that he is a Pharisee and a member of the ruling council. Thus, he was just not an ordinary man on the street. He was versed in the Law of Moses and knew the Scriptures. We also learn that he is a man that has an open mind. He comes to Jesus, albeit, under the cover of darkness and begins a conversation with him on matters of the Spirit. We quickly learn, however, that there is a world of difference between what he knew and what he thought he knew.

Ultimately, Jesus says to him, "You are Israel's teacher and you do not understand these things?" No--he did not understand. His spiritual eyes were still closed to God's plan through Jesus.

I sometimes think that many of us are like Nicodemus. We think we understand the Bible. We think we have a good prayer life. We think we do the things that God expects us to do. We think that we know God' s plan for our lives. Yet, if we could have a talk with Jesus the way that Nicodemus did, most of us would see how much we really don't know or don't understand.

What about you? Do you truly know Jesus Christ, or do you simply put on a good show? Think about it.

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Prayer: Lord, help open our spiritual eyes and let us truly see Jesus for who he is and what he is for us.

Abuse of Power

Daily Lectionary Readings
Psalm 45
Deuteronomy 9:4-12
Hebrews 3:1-11
John 2:13-22

John 2:13-22 New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

13When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"
17His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."
18Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?"
19Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."
20The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" 21But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.

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Jesus doesn't waste any time establishing his motives with the public. He goes to the Temple area and there discovers that the people had turned it into a get rich quick scheme. You see, when travelers, came to the Temple to make their sacrifice, it was too hard to bring with them a dove, or cattle or sheep for the sacrifice. It was also unlikely that an animal brought in would have the necessary purity characteristics to make it usable in the Temple. However, those animals purchased at the Temple had already been certified as clean, pure, and usable.

Thus, you bought your animal at the Temple at the Temple prices. You also had to pay in the Temple coin. Not just any old coin would do. You had to first exchange your coinage into an acceptable Temple coin. There was usually a premium for this service as well.

As you can see there was quite a racket going on and somebody was making a lot of money. It is this usage of the Temple that so angers Jesus. He goes berserk and upends the tables and drives out the buyers and the sellers.

Such an action would not have gone unnoticed. The Jews demanded that he give them some sign that he had the authority to act as he acted. His response to their request laid another stone in the foundation of his ministry. "Destroy this temple and in three days I'll raise it." The Jews of course were not seeing through spiritual eyes. Their response was an earthly one, "It has taken us forty six years…." we don't need to read the rest. We know it will show their lack of spiritual discernment.

From our perspective we know that Jesus was already looking toward his death and his resurrection from the response to their questions.

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Prayer: Lord, help us to have spiritual discernment so that we can understand what Jesus is trying to do when he cleans out our lives during this season of Lent.

You Think Things are Good Now--Just Wait!

Daily Lectionary Readings
Psalm 41
Deuteronomy 8:1-18
Hebrews 2:11-18
John 2:1-12

John 2:1-12 New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

John 2
Jesus Changes Water to Wine
1On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."
4"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come."
5His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
6Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.[a]
7Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim.
8Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."
They did so, 9and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."
11This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.

Jesus Clears the Temple
12After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.

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Jesus begins his public ministry with a miracle that makes a lot of folks scratch their head. He goes to a wedding and is apparently enjoying the festivities, when his mom comes up and says that the family has run out of wine. His retort is, "What business is that of mine?" Nevertheless, she told the servants to obey him and he decides to inaugurate his ministry with the miracle of the water turned into wine.

What’s so special about this passage is not the miracle. We know he is the son of God and that miracles are part and parcel of who he is and what he is all about. As I ponder this passage, I think the key comes from the mouth of master of the banquet as he says to the bridegroom, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."

I think this could be viewed as a precursor to Jesus ministry. I believe that those that were following him were already giddy with excitement and anticipation. They were already calling him Messiah. They thought that they had started on the ride of their life.

At the Jewish wedding, you would like wise have started on a high--you served the best tasting wine first. After everyone had had their fill of the good stuff, then the cheaper stuff didn't taste so bad. I believe Jesus was trying to tell his followers, you may think that we are starting with the good stuff, but what I have in store at the end is even better than what you can imagine right now.

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Prayer: Lord, don't let us simply get involved with you because of the excitement of the moment. Let us also be in it for the long haul to see the even greater things that you have in store for us.

Lord, I am Tempted

Daily Lectionary Readings
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
Psalm 91:1-2,9-16
Romans 10:8-31
Luke 4:1-13

Luke 4:1-13 New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

Luke 4
The Temptation of Jesus
1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."
4Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone.'[a]"
5The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7So if you worship me, it will all be yours."
8Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'[b]"
9The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. 10For it is written:
" 'He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
11they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'[c]"
12Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'[d]"
13When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

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Luke's Gospel has Jesus going through a period of trial and temptation immediately after his baptism in the Jordan. He is taken away into the wilderness for 40 days (40 days of Lent). During that time he was tempted. I don't know about you, but I think temptation is difficult to resist at times. During his temptation, the devil attacked him on three specific points.

First of all, the devil offers him food--sustenance. I guess the devil forgot that in the Old Testament, God provided food for his people as they wandered in the desert. Manna was available for them in the morning to satisfy their needs for the day. Jesus didn't need food at this point. God was nurturing him as he prepared himself for what was yet to come.

Secondly, the devil seeks to divert Jesus' attention from who he was supposed to be worshipping. Again, this brings to mind the Old Testament. As Moses was on the mountain getting the Ten Commandments from God, the people were down below forgetting whose they were. Instead of worshipping God, they created their own idol out of gold. Looks, like Satan was trying to get Jesus to fall for the same trap the Israelites had already fallen for once before. This time, however, Jesus resisted and insisted on worshipping only God.

Finally, Satan tries to get Jesus to test God. Seems this trick didn't work either.

His ministry was off to a good start and Satan then left him for a more opportune time.

I sometimes wonder what the opportune time is that makes most of us give in to temptation. I came across an acronym called HALT to help battle temptation.

H- Hunger
A - Anger
L - Loneliness
T - Tired

If any one or more than one of these elements is present in your life at a given time, then you are more open to temptation. Think about your own life. The next time you feel tempted, see if the HALT acronym is true at that moment of your temptation. If it is, then do something to relieve your hunger, anger, loneliness, or tiredness.

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PRAYER: Lord, as temptation comes our way, please give us the power to resist.

Philip Tells Nathaniel and Another Follower is Born

Daily Lectionary Readings Psalm 30 Deuteronomy 7:17-26 Titus 3:1-15 John 1:43-51 John 1:43-51 New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael  43The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me."  44Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."  46"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked.       "Come and see," said Philip.  47When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false."  48"How do you know me?" Nathanael asked.       Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."  49Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."  50Jesus said, "You believe[a] because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." 51He then added, "I tell you[b] the truth, you[c] shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." A day later, Jesus leaves the region with Andrew and Peter in tow. On the way he comes across Philip and simply says, "Follow me." Philip was from the same town as Andrew and Peter. Perhaps they quickly told him about Jesus. Something happened. Philip goes to Nathanael and tells him about Jesus. Nathanael, though, must not have heard yet of this man that people were proclaiming as Messiah. He was skeptical doubting that anything worthwhile could come from Nazareth. Philip, though insisted that he come and see for himself. As he approached, Jesus called him by name and was able to say that he had seen him as he sat under the fig tree before Philip arrived. This got his attention. Jesus could see things beyond his own range of sight--could he do more. Jesus says, "You shall see greater things than that…" Just a few days into his public ministry, Jesus was drawing to him the men that would travel with him and learn from him. He was drawing the men that would be the foundation of the church. From their witness, others would come to know Jesus and God's plan for him--and for us. Prayer: Lord, help us to be more like Philip and tell others about Jesus.


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Andrew Becomes a Follower of Jesus

Daily Lectionary Readings:
Psalm 95
Deuteronomy 7:12-16
Titus 2:1-15
John 1:35-42

John 1:35-42 New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

Jesus' First Disciples

35The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"
37When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?"
They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?"
39"Come," he replied, "and you will see."
So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.
40Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). 42And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter[a]).


There must have been some excitement when Jesus began his ministry. John the Baptist had been preaching in the desert. The crowds had been flocking to hear him. Although his message was not a feel good kind of message, it must has struck a chord, because people listened to what he said.

One of those persons that listened was Andrew. He heard John say, "Look, the Lamb of God." He saw Jesus and followed after him. John's message had prepared his heart and now he was off to hear what the Lamb of God had to say. Andrew spent the day with Jesus and something happened. The Scriptures say that "the first thing he did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, 'We have found the Messiah'"

Andrew took his brother Simon to Jesus, and immediately Jesus gave him and new name and called him Cephas or Peter.

The word was already beginning to spread and Jesus was calling disciples. They were beginning a journey that would lead them to more fully understand what Messiah truly meant. It would be a rough and rocky journey. Peter would ultimately deny he even knew Jesus. However, God's plan had begun.

Prayer: Lord, help me to become a true follower of Jesus.

The Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world!

Daily Lectionary:
Psalm 37:1-18
Deuteronomy 7:6-11
Titus 1:1-16
John 1:29-34

John 1:29-34 New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

Jesus the Lamb of God
29The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30This is the one I meant when I said, 'A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' 31I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel."

32Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' 34I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God."

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It is fitting, that the Gospel reading for the first day following Ash Wednesday would go back to the river Jordan and Jesus' baptism. John the Baptizer knew the reason that Jesus had come to earth. He boldly proclaimed:

"Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

Lent can be thought of as an unveiling of God's ultimate plan for the world. God did not just take on human flesh when Jesus was born to see what it felt like to be human. God took on human flesh because he had a plan for Jesus. As we journey through Lent together, that plan will hopefully become more and more clear to us.

For John, though, the plan was already evident. Jesus came to take away our sins!

Prayer: Lord, unveil your plan to us as we journey towards the cross this season of Lent.

Ash Wednesday Reflection

Lectionary Readings for the Day:
Joel 2:1-2,12-17
Psalm 51:1-17
2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Today we begin the season of Lent. The day is called Ash Wednesday. In the Old Testament ashes were seen as a sign of grief or penitence. As the season of Lent begins, we start with a service that reminds us clearly of our need for penitence. Ash Wednesday is a somber day, second only to Good Friday in the solemnity of the celebration.

If you come to church today for the Ash Wednesday service, you can expect to engage in personal and corporate confession of sin. You can expect to hear the scriptures talk about fasting, almsgiving, prayer. You can expect to have the pastor make the sign of the cross on your forehead using ashes from palm branches that were used in previous years on Palm Sunday.

Don't come expecting to be lifted up and to rejoice. Come to worship expecting to be reminded of your own humanity and sinfulness. Come to worship expecting to hear the pastor say, as he imposes the cross of your forehead, "From dust you came and to dust you shall return."

If that doesn't remind you of the fleeting nature of this life, then you need to sit back and examine your spiritual life. Our life is but a short breath when compared to eternity. Ash Wednesday reminds us of that short span and invites us to come to terms with what our place in God's eternity is all about.

Prayer: Lord, help me to begin the season of Lent with an introspective spirit. Let your Spirit shine the light of the Gospel on all the recesses of my heart and make me aware of my relationship with you. Amen.

Join With Me as I Reflect on Daily Readings During Lent

As the season of Lent is about to begin, I feel led to begin a project that I have thought about for many years, but never acted upon. I have always wanted to have a series of daily devotionals for the season of Lent. This year, I believe that I am going to make it happen.

My goal is to post a short devotional for each day during the Season of Lent. I'll use the Revised Common Lectionary for the major dates: Ash Wednesday, Sundays, Holy Thursday, and Good Friday. I'll use a daily lectionary for the other days of Lent.

I could use your prayerful undergirding as I begin this project. The dates on the blog pages will reflect the date that the readings should be read. I am going to attempt to write a week ahead.

I hope that you find these reflections thought provoking. Please feel free to share your response to any of them with a post.