Christian Reflection and Prayer

Lenten Meditation

Scripture:

Read John 7:32, 45-52.

TEXT: "They (the Pharisees) replied,
 'Are You from Galilee too? Search
and see that no prophet arises from

Galilee'" (John 7:52).

The Jewish leaders hear the crowds
wondering if Jesus might be the Messiah.
They decide it's time to act. So they send
the temple guards to arrest Him. But it isn't
Jesus' time yet. Impressed by the authority
of Jesus' words the guards return empty
handed. The Light will keep shining a
little while longer in the darkness.

Jesus is trying to break through the
darkness of the Jewish authorities through
their temple guard. If these men are willing
to listen to Jesus, perhaps the chief priests
and Pharisees will follow their example.
But the leaders harden their hearts and
accuse the guard of being deceived like
the crowds who must be under a curse.

If they won't listen to the guards, perhaps
they will listen to one of their own.
Nicodemus speaks up. He suggests they
give Jesus a fair hearing rather than blindly
condemning Him. Instead, they turn on him
with two exaggerations. First, they claim
none of the authorities believe in Him-
though at least Nicodemus does. Second,
they claim no prophet ever came from
Galilee, but they overlook Jonah who was
from Galilee. They attempt to close ranks
against Jesus through intimidation and lies.

We often plant our heels in the sand and
refuse to budge no matter what anyone
might say, no matter what the church might
say, no matter what God's Word might say.
But Jesus suffered and died for our
stubbornness just as He did for all our other
sins.

God continues to work through His Word and
Sacrament to break through our persistent
unbelief and move us to understand and
accept the truth.

PRAYER:

Lord, forgive my stubborn pride,
and move me to true, sincere faith. Amen.

Lutheran Ministries

Lenten Meditation

Scripture:

Read John 7:33-44.

TEXT: "Jesus said, 'I will be with
you a little longer. ...'" (John 7:33a).

People are divided over Jesus. Some
believe in Him. Others don't. Many are
undecided. Jesus warns them to make
up their mind: "I will be with you a little
longer."

I learned that lesson the hard way
when I was 19. One Friday afternoon
my boss handed me my paycheck
on the way home. A couple hours
later he collapsed at his bowling alley
and died. My chance to talk to him,
learn from him, and reach out to him
was gone forever.

Soon Jesus will be gone. He will
die on a cross and be buried. After
three days He will rise again, but the
vast majority will never see Him again-
only a few select believers God
will choose to be witnesses of His
resurrection to the world.

The clock is ticking for us too. Each
of us has only a limited amount of
time before we die and our chance to
find salvation through faith in Jesus
Christ ends forever. But often we are
content with the way life is going. Or
we think it doesn't matter what you
believe, God will be satisfied if you
just try to live a good life.

But that is a false hope and a false
comfort. God has provided only one
way to save us, and that is through His
Son Jesus Christ. Jesus satisfied God's
holiness and justice by taking our sins
on Himself and suffering and dying in
our place on the cross. No one else
could do it. Now is the time to come
to Him and walk in His light.

PRAYER:

Lord, draw me to You while there is
still time. Shine in my life that others
may turn to the Light of the world, while
they still have time. Amen.

Lutheran Ministries

(Lenten Meditation)

Scripture:

Read John 7:14-24.

TEXT: (Jesus said) "... 'Why do
you seek to kill Me?'" (John 7:19b)

The darkness of unbelief hangs like
a thick blanket over the temple grounds.
For the first half of the festival it looks
as though the darkness has driven away
the Light-Jesus is nowhere to be seen.
But midway through the festival He
steps into the temple courts and begins
shining His light for all to see. Jesus
immediately addresses the reason He
stayed away for the first half of the
festival. He asks the religious leaders
why they want to kill Him for doing a
good deed.

Unaware that Jesus is talking to the
Jewish leaders, the crowd thinks He
is talking to them. Since they aren't
seeking His death and are unaware
of their leaders' thoughts, they reach a
false conclusion: they accuse Him of
being demon possessed!

When He hangs from the cross they
will reach another false conclusion:
Jesus was a fake and God is using
the cross to show the world Jesus of
Nazareth is not His Son. They will
have no idea God is giving His
only-begotten Son to die for the sins
of the whole world.

Judging by appearances and jumping
to conclusions is something we often
do too. We are offended by our
neighbor, so we condemn him before
we even learn his reasons. Jesus
warns, "Do not judge by appearances,
but judge with right judgment."

Stop a moment and reconsider Jesus
Christ. Did you start this Lenten season
thinking of Jesus as only being meek
and humble? Have you begun to see His
strength, commitment and courage?
Stick around, because as Jesus once
told Nathanael, "... You will see greater
things than these" (John 1:50b).

THE PRAYER:

Father, forgive me for judging by
appearances. Open my eyes to see
Your Son as He is-my powerful Lord
and Savior. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Lutheran Ministries