John 12
Jesus Anointed at Bethany
1Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3Then Mary took about a pint[a] of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
4But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5"Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages.[b]" 6He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
7"Leave her alone," Jesus replied. " It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."
9Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.
The Triumphal Entry
12The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
"Hosanna![c]"
"Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"[d]
"Blessed is the King of Israel!" 14Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written,
15"Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey's colt."[e]
16At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.
17Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him. 19So the Pharisees said to one another, "See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!"
Jesus Predicts His Death
20Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. 21They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. "Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus." 22Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.
23Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
27"Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28Father, glorify your name!"
Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again." 29The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
30Jesus said, "This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." 33He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.
34The crowd spoke up, "We have heard from the Law that the Christ[f] will remain forever, so how can you say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this 'Son of Man'?"
35Then Jesus told them, "You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. 36Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light." When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.
The Jews Continue in Their Unbelief
37Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:
"Lord, who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"[g]
39For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
40"He has blinded their eyes
and deadened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
nor understand with their hearts,
nor turn—and I would heal them."[h] 41Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him.
42Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.
44Then Jesus cried out, "When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. 46I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
47"As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. 48There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. 49For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say."
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion:
Psalm 23
A psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, [a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
April 29, 2008
The Lamb Is My Shepherd
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READ: Psalm 23
The Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them. —Revelation 7:17
The writers of the Old and New Testaments used many different metaphors for the Lord Jesus Christ. These word pictures vividly describe the marvelous aspects of Jesus' life and ministry.
While visiting a friend, hymnwriter Albert Simpson Reitz saw the following motto hanging on a wall: "The Lamb Is My Shepherd." How foolish, he thought. Then he realized that a smudge on his glasses had distorted the second word of the motto. Actually it read: "The Lord Is My Shepherd."
His mistake started him thinking. He remembered that the Scriptures present Jesus both as the Good Shepherd and as the Lamb of God. Reitz said to his friend, "I've just seen the glorious gospel of our Lord in a new light. I'm reminded that the apostle John on the island of Patmos saw a vision, assuring him that the resurrected 'Lamb who is in the midst of the throne' will guide His people even when they get to heaven. Misreading that motto on your wall has given me a rich blessing. It could actually read, 'The Lamb Is My Shepherd.'"
It's reassuring to know that our Shepherd will guide us safely through this life, and that He will continue to feed and lead us throughout eternity. — Henry G. Bosch
The Lord of hosts my Shepherd is—
O sweet these words to me;
And Thou, dear Lamb, will be my Guide
Throughout eternity. —Kendrie
The Lamb who died to save us is the Shepherd who lives to lead us.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
April 29, 2008
Gracious Uncertainty
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READ:
. . . it has not yet been revealed what we shall be . . . —1 John 3:2
Our natural inclination is to be so precise— trying always to forecast accurately what will happen next— that we look upon uncertainty as a bad thing. We think that we must reach some predetermined goal, but that is not the nature of the spiritual life. The nature of the spiritual life is that we are certain in our uncertainty. Consequently, we do not put down roots. Our common sense says, "Well, what if I were in that circumstance?" We cannot presume to see ourselves in any circumstance in which we have never been.
Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life— gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. This is generally expressed with a sigh of sadness, but it should be an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God. As soon as we abandon ourselves to God and do the task He has placed closest to us, He begins to fill our lives with surprises. When we become simply a promoter or a defender of a particular belief, something within us dies. That is not believing God — it is only believing our belief about Him. Jesus said, ". . . unless you . . . become as little children . . ." (Matthew 18:3 ). The spiritual life is the life of a child. We are not uncertain of God, just uncertain of what He is going to do next. If our certainty is only in our beliefs, we develop a sense of self-righteousness, become overly critical, and are limited by the view that our beliefs are complete and settled. But when we have the right relationship with God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy. Jesus said, ". . . believe also in Me" (John 14:1 ), not, "Believe certain things about Me". Leave everything to Him and it will be gloriously and graciously uncertain how He will come in— but you can be certain that He will come. Remain faithful to Him.
"A Word With You" by Ron Hutchcraft
A Gift Too Late
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
My wife really got a nice wedding gift for our friend. It's a beautiful little serving dish and some cut glass and some silver. It's one of those things people get only at their wedding, usually. I hope our friend likes it, if she ever gets it. See, she was married four years ago. We put her wedding present behind a chair to get it out of the way one day and we just found it recently, like four years later! We had planned to have our daughter take it to the wedding for us. Well, we totally missed the time that you should give a gift like that.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have a Word With You today about "A Gift Too Late."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Ephesians 4:29. It's excellent advice for improving and nurturing the relationships in your life. Here are God's words, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, but only what is useful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Now God says the only words you ought to be speaking to people are those that will build them up. Give those people around you build up encouragement, give them compliments and thank you's, and affirmations - the kind of things we usually say at their funeral.
I remember when my dad died and I stood by that casket - and some wonderful, wonderful things were said about him. All these people had wonderful praise for the kind of man that my dad had been - unfortunately my dad couldn't hear any of them.
I remember when I went to the memorial service for a sixteen-year-old young man who had been killed by a hit-and-run driver, and these big old football players who had been on the team with him went to the microphone one after the other and they just - well, they tearfully told what a great friend he'd been. They praised him for these many great qualities. I could only hope that they had said those when he could hear them. Why don't we give people their flowers when they can still smell them? Your family, your friends, your spiritual leaders, and your spiritual helpers - they need encouragement today and you have the power to give that powerful gift.
Proverbs 18:21 says, "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." You see, we can give people life sentences (because the tongue has the power of life) with our tongue, or we can give them death sentences; things that make them feel more alive like compliments, praise, encouragement, or things that make them feel like they're dying inside like put-downs and criticism. How are you doing giving those life sentences each day to the people in your world?
Too often we make the same mistake that my wife and I made with the gift for that young bride; we waited too long to give the gift. Some of us have people who are gone now that we wish we could have back for like ten minutes just so we could tell them we love them, give them our appreciation. But we can't have them back. What we can do is determine that the people who are still here will hear our love, will hear our encouragement, will hear our apology or our forgiveness, will hear our praise, often! They need your gift right now. We never know how long someone will be here for us to give those emotional gifts; those gifts that could mean so much. The days are flying by and I'll bet there is someone whose gift maybe has been sitting on the shelf. Give them your love, now! Don't wait for the funeral to say what's in your heart.