God the Father

Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, "If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." They answered him, "We are the descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, 'You will become free'?" Jesus answered them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in a household forever, but a son always remains. So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free. I know that you are descendants of Abraham. But you are trying to kill me, because my word has no room among you. I tell you of what I have seen in the Father's presence; then do what you have heard from the Father." They answered and said to him, "Our Father is Abraham." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works of Abraham. But you are trying to kill me, a man that has told you the truth that I heard from God; Abraham did not do this. You are doing the works of your father!" So they said to him, "We have one Father, God." Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and am here; I did not come on my own, but he sent me." 

Lord Jesus, you tried to explain to the Jews that the Father sent you and has told you many things. But, they keep saying that they are the descendants of Abraham, and God is their Father. They do not understand that you are the Son of the Father and are truly One. Help us, Lord, to possess the true faith that speaks to hearts through your words. Amen.

"I AM"

Jesus said to the Pharisees: "I am going away and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come." So the Jews said, "He is not going to kill himself, is he, because he said, 'Where I am going you cannot come?" He said to them, "You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins." So they said to him, "Who are you?" Jesus said to them, "What I told you from the beginning. I have much to say to you in condemnation. But the one who sent me is true, and what I heard from him I tell the world." They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father. So Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, But I say only what the Father taught me. The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him." Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.

Consideration: "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM." Remember, the sun covered the clouds and the darkness swallowed up the light. Then, at the moment he offered up his soul to the Father, a massive earthquake rattled the land. "The Son of Man...The Great I AM!!!"

"Do not Sin"

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. But early in the morning he arrived again in the temple area, and all people started coming to him, and he sat down and taught them. Then the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery and made her stand in the middle. They said to him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?" They said this to test him, so that they could have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger. But when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Again, he bent down and wrote on the ground. And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him. Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She replied, "No one, sir." Then Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore."

Lord Jesus, the act of this woman was a grave sin, and yet, you defended her. Confronting her accusers by simply pointing out to them their transgressions as well. We too have sinned and fallen from grace. Thank you for showing mercy to this woman, and we pray as well that in your loving compassion, that you will extend your mercy to every sinner that calls upon your holy name. Amen.

"The Glory of God Revealed"

Jesus became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Sir, come and see." And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, "See how he loved him." But some of them said. "Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so this man would not have died?" So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the dead man's sister, said, "Lord by now there will be a stench; He has been dead for four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me." And when he said this, he cried out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, "Untie him and let him go." Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him. 

Consideration: "Lazarus, come out!" And behold..."The Glory of God Revealed"

The Glory of God / Part 1

The sisters of Lazarus sent a word to Jesus, saying, "Master the one you love is ill." When Jesus heard this he said, "This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it." Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister, and Lazarus. So that when he heard that he was ill, he remained two days in the place where he was. Then after this he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea." When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know whatever you ask of God, God will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise," Martha said, "I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world."

Consideration: Jesus declares his love for, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. He proclaims that Lazarus will rise again, and that everyone who dies, or lives, and believes in him, will never die.

"This is the Christ"

Some in the crowd who heard these words of Jesus said, "This is truly the Prophet." Others said, "This is the Christ." But others said, "The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he? Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will be of David's family and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?" So a division occurred in the crowd because of him. Some of them even wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why did you not bring him?" The guards answered, "Never before has anyone spoken like this man." So the Pharisees answered them, "Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him." But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed." Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them, "Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?" They answered and said to him, "You are not from Galilee also, are you? Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee," Then each went to his own house.

Consideration: The Guards: "Never before has anyone spoken like this man." Nicodemus: "Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?" The Crowd: "This is truly the Prophet." Others said, "This is the Christ." Amen.

Jesus Affirms

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 on him, because his hour had not yet come.

Consideration: Jesus affirms who he is and who sent him. For this reason, the Jews wanted to kill him. But his hour had not yet come, so they did not lay a hand on him.