Sunday Meditation

JESUS' MINISTRY

"In the early days of Jesus’s ministry, he walked around calling the Twelve to follow him. This rabbi was asking some odd characters to surround him. One such person, Nathanael, in the span of what may have been mere minutes went from trashing Jesus because of his hometown to calling him the Son of God and King of Israel. But even these lofty phrases did not fully encapsulate what Nathanael and the others were witnessing. Jesus invokes a divine title from Daniel 7:13 and Jacob’s ladder when he lifts up the veil and says, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”(5) Derek Caldwell, Slice of Infinity

FAILING

"How significant, then, are Christ’s words to his despairing disciples, and to those of us who have ever felt the sting of regret. To those who had fallen asleep, Jesus returned and said, “Rise, let us be going” (Matthew 26:46). To Peter who had denied him three times, Jesus took him aside and said, “Feed my lambs” (John 21:17). To his once scattered disciples, Jesus offered two commands, neither asking them to sit in a corner and think about what they’d done, nor asking them to carry their sense of guilt for a time before thoroughly moving on. He simply said, “Go” and asked for their obedience.

"For the disciples in Gethsemane, it was a day of failings. For God, it was the fullness of time, the moment in history when the floodgates of heaven were opened, and failed days, missed moments, and broken lives were forever offered a hope that does not let us down. There are days that we can never get back, words we can’t erase, opportunities missed, and times when we have certainly failed. Yet in Christ, all is never lost. But somehow all is gained. In him alone we are accepted, transformed by his death, changed by his life. In him alone we are adopted, received as children of God, and loved as heirs of the promise. Do not despair. Go and follow."  Jill Carattini 

SHAME

"Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote that shame “is overcome only [...] through the restoration of a fellowship with God and men. [...] In shame man is reminded of his disunion with God and with other men.”(5) Peter and Paul—each using a version for the word for peace—both thought enough of the topic as to exhort different church bodies regarding it. “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”(6) For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days [...] let him seek peace and pursue it.”(7) The Biblical mandate is clear, and we are without excuse when it comes to extending the olive branch, no matter how hard."  Lowe Finney, Slice of Infinity

REST

"If Jesus thought it necessary for Him & His disciples to rest from time to time, who are we to think we can get by without it?"  Archibald Hart, Men's Devotional Bible