Christian Reflection and Prayer

A Lenten Meditation

Scripture:

Read John 8:1-11.

TEXT: "... 'Teacher, this woman
has been caught in the act of adultery.
Now in the Law Moses commanded us
to stone such women. So what do You
say?'" (John 8:4b-5)

Unable to arrest Jesus in front of the
crowds, His enemies look for a chance
to turn those crowds against Him. They
bring a woman caught in adultery and
set their trap, "Moses commanded us
to stone such women. So what do You
say?" Certainly the crowd is ready for
a stoning. Jesus will lose popularity if
He stands in the way.

Jesus answers them. "Let him who is
without sin among you be the first to
throw a stone at her." He was the only
one qualified to be her Judge, the only
one who has the right to throw that first
stone. One by one they drop their
stones and walk away.

Jesus tells her, "Go and from now on
sin no more." She can walk away
unpunished because He has taken her
guilt and sin upon Himself, along with
the punishment she deserves from
God for that sin. She goes away free
while He prepares to suffer in her place
on the cross.

We don't like to admit it, but each of
us is a sinner like that woman. God
catches us in every single one of our
sins, and we deserve something far
worse than being stoned to death.
We deserve the fires of hell under the
wrath of God.

But Jesus Christ steps forward to
take our condemnation on Himself and
pay the full price for our sins as He
suffers and dies on the cross. On
Judgment Day we will walk away free.
He will not condemn us either.

PRAYER:

Lord Jesus, You set me free by
being condemned in my place.
Help me show true gratitude by
forgiving others and sharing Your
salvation with them.              Amen.

Lutheran Ministries

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