John 16:4-16 (spring AD 30, Thursday evening of Passion Week) “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.” (v.12) Most of us don’t think of God as someone who sugarcoats things. And in once sense he doesn’t – the truth will always be conveyed as the truth, the whole … More Day 120: You can’t handle all the truth.
John 15:18-16:3 (spring AD 30, Thursday evening of Passion Week) Our experience of becoming a Christian involves choosing Christ, and we come from all kinds of different places to get there. Some through trauma, some in comfort; some through reason, some through emotion; some gladly, some with initial reluctance; some through reading, some through talking. … More Day 119: The encouragement of chosenness
John 15:1-17 (spring AD 30, Thursday evening of Passion Week) The connection between love, obedience and the presence of God was hammered home in our last reading, and in this section Jesus pointed out what is at stake: our eternal destiny and joy. Us being with God now, and his being with us now, is … More Day 118: A circle of joy
John 14:15-31 (spring AD 30, Thursday evening of Passion Week) This is a great passage for: Those who claim that the idea of free salvation by grace through faith is a recipe for disobedience and a license for immoral behaviour Those who claim that because of grace, the way we live is relatively unimportant, or … More Day 117: The promise of presence
John 14:1-14 (spring AD 30, Thursday evening of Passion Week) As Jesus spoke the words, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me” (v.1) he knew that he was minutes from arrest and hours from death. His primary concern was for the welfare of his disciples, even as … More Day 116: You and God: Relationship or Lifestyle?
Luke 22:17-23, 31-38 We all need people in our lives who will stand by us no matter what, and most of prize having people who will look for opportunities to offer words of affirmation. (I say most of us, because others don’t need such input.) Every single one of us needs people in our lives … More Day 115: Hard truths, soft hearts
John 13:1-20; (spring AD 30, Thursday evening of Passion Week) Humble, even humiliating, service for others, placing yourself lower in status than them, should be part and parcel of being a Christian. That’s the application Jesus gives in verses 12-15 for his washing of the disciples’ feet. The foot-washing itself was symbolically useful because it … More Day 114: Wash someone’s feet today
Luke 22:24-30 (spring AD 30, Thursday of Passion Week) We all have that friend. The one who makes people laugh without seeming to have much of an idea why. That’s the benign side of when people lack self-awareness. The disciples in this story show more of the malignant side of that coin. The lack of … More Day 113: A duty of service
Luke 22:7-16 (spring AD 30, daytime on Thursday of Passion Week) Thursday of Passion Week was – not coincidentally to God’s planned and symbolic timing – the annual Passover festival. Jews then – as now – celebrated the saving of a million Jews from Egyptian slavery in about 1500 BC. The word ‘Passover’ refers to … More Day 112: The Passover Lamb
Matthew 26:1-16; (spring AD 30, Tuesday of Passion Week) According to the murderers’ schedule in verse five, they were planning to have Jesus killed after many people had gone out of Jerusalem back to their homes in other parts of the country. i.e. they planned to kill Jesus a week later than they did. What … More Day 111: A question of values
Paul T Reynolds 