Saturday, March 10

Walking in the Light

Narrative Lectionary Daily Devotions written by Kace Leetch from Clergy Stuff.

The people have been waiting many generations for a promised Messiah. They hoped Jesus was this Messiah who would save them from Rome and restore them to their unfettered life with God. They tried to understand what the Messiah was -- who the Messiah was, but their understanding was limited. Although Jesus had spent his entire ministry turning their understanding of the things of God on its head, this they still didn't get. Jesus was still turning upside down the limitations of what their Messiah would and could be. More than deliverance from Rome, the Messiah would deliver them from sin and death, and would restore them into right relationship with God for eternity. Jesus was beginning to shed light on this new reality, and was asking them to trust in his words and walk in his light of truth.

Narrative Lectionary Text: John 12:27-35

“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. The crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” Jesus said to them, “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going."