Christian Reflection and Prayer

Lenten Meditation

Die in Your Sins

Read John 8:12-30.

TEXT: "Again Jesus spoke to
them saying, 'I am the Light of
the world.' ..." (John 8:12a).

Jesus' enemies want Him dead.
Has He pressed too hard? Is it
time to lighten up or compromise
to find common ground? No!
Jesus knows there is only one
way for them to be saved. So
He presses even harder. He
declares, "I am the Light of
the world."

Instead of backing down
Jesus draws a line in the sand
and says, "Whoever follows Me
will not walk in darkness, but
will have the light of life." But
to those who reject Him, He
says, "I am going away, and
you will seek Me, and you
will die in your sin."

Their hearts should be stirred,
but instead they stubbornly
refuse to listen. In idle curiosity
they ask each other if Jesus'
talk of "going away" means He
will kill Himself. Jesus answers,
"When you have lifted up the
Son of Man, you will know that
I am He."

When they lift Him up and nail
 Him to the cross, they will know
who He is. The miraculous signs
at His death: the darkness, the
earthquake, the torn curtain in the
temple and His glorious resurrection
will make it clear to them that
Jesus is the mighty Son of God,
the promised Messiah.

Which side of the line are you
walking on? Are you truly walking
in the light of Christ or the darkness
of this unbelieving world? Jesus
warns all of us that our time is short.
Don't wait for tomorrow. Today is
the day to live in Christ through faith,
rather than die in your sins.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, bring me
out of the darkness of my sin to the
light of Your Son Jesus Christ. I pray
in His Name. Amen.

Lutheran Ministries

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