Daily Scripture Reflection & Prayer: March 15, 2024

Date:  Friday of the 4th Week of Lent

Scripture Text:  John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

Jesus moved about within Galilee; he did not wish to travel in Judea, because the Jews were trying to kill him. But the Jewish feast of Tabernacles was near. But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, he himself also went up, not openly but as it were in secret. Some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem said, "Is he not the one they are trying to kill? And look, he is speaking openly, and they say nothing to him. Could the authorities have realized that he is the Christ? But we know where he is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from." So, Jesus cried out in the temple area as he was teaching and said, "You know me and also know where I am from. Yet I did not come on my own, but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me." So, they tried to arrest him, but no one laid a hand upon him, because his hour had not yet come.

Breaking the text open – background and summary:

The gospel text for today from John continues to show the opposition to and even rejection of Jesus because He did not fit their expectations of the Christ, the Messiah. Aware of this, Jesus continued to preach the good news and to reveal the Father as the one who sent Him.

Meditating on the text with personal questions:

Does Jesus Christ fit my expectations of Savior? Do I embrace the fact that He is the Son of God? Am I selective about which teachings of Jesus I will embrace?  

Praying:

LORD, Almighty Father, beloved Son, Most Holy Spirit, we come to You this day full of awe for all You are, Love itself, poured forth in generative and creative ways, the source of our being and of the goodness in our world. We come to You full of contrition and remorse for those times that we have turned away from your goodness, from your will for us for our own desires. We raise our voices in thanksgiving for the hope of life in abundance with You, for salvation from You, the Father, through You, the Son, in You, the Spirit. Grant that we may use this Lenten season to turn fully and wholly back to You and to your transformative love. Give us the wisdom to seek your will, the humility to embrace it over our own, and the perseverance to make the journey home to You. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.