Names of Jesus—Justice, Doctor, and Bread :: Throwback Thursday

  • April 25, 2019
  • /
  • John Tillman

Psalm 36.7-9
How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!
   People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house;
   you give them drink from your river of delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
   in your light we see light.

From John:
During Holy Week we looked at a section of this work by Nicetus of Remesiana. We will read the middle part of it today, and the rest on our next Throwback Thursday reading.

Reflection: Names of Jesus—Justice, Bread, and Doctor :: Throwback Thursday
By Nicetas of Remesiana (335-414)

He is called justice because through faith in his name sinners are made just; and redemption, because he paid the price in his blood to buy us back— we who had been so long lost.

He is called bread, because by his gospel he fed the hunger of our ignorance; and a stone, both because on him the serpent left no trace and because he afforded us protection.

He is the doctor who came to visit us and cured our weakness and our wounds; the fount of living water, because by the “bath of regeneration” he cleanses sinners and gives them life. He is peace, because he brought together those who lived apart, and reconciled us to God the Father. He is the Resurrection, because he will raise all bodies from their graves; and the judge because it is he who will judge both the living and the dead. He is the door, because it is by him that those who believe enter the kingdom of heaven.

These many names and titles belong to one Lord. Take courage, therefore, O man of faith, and plant your hope firmly in him. If you would learn of the Father, listen to this Word. If you would be wise, ask him who is Wisdom.

When it is too dark for you to see, seek Christ, for He is the Light. Are you sick? Have recourse to him who is both doctor and health. Would you know by whom the would was made and all things are sustained? Believe in him, for he is the arm and right hand. Are you afraid of this or that? Remember that on all occasions he will stand by your side like an angel.

If you find it hard to meet face to face the high majesty of the Only-begotten, do not lose hope. Remember, he was made man to make it easy for men to approach him. If you are innocent, like a lamb he will join your company. If you are saddened by pagan persecution, take courage. Remember that he himself went like a lamb to the slaughter, and, priest that he is, he will offer you up as a victim to the Father. If you do not know the way of salvation, look for Christ, for he is the road for souls. If it is truth that you want, listen to him, for he is the Truth. Have no fear whatever of death, for Christ is the Life of those who believe.

Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Know this: The Lord himself is God; he himself has made us, and we are his; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. — Psalm 100.2

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Numbers 2 (Listen – 3:47) 
Psalm 36 (Listen – 1:29)

Thank You!
Thank you for reading and a huge thank you to those who donate to our ministry, keeping The Park Forum ad-free and enabling us to continue to produce fresh content. Every year our donors help us produce over 100,000 words of free devotionals. Follow this link to support our readers.

Read more about Names of Jesus—Priest, Lamb, and Vine :: Throwback Thursday
In the Holy Scriptures there are many names and titles which are applied to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus.

Names of Jesus—Priest, Lamb, and Vine :: Throwback Thursday

Read more about Remember Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ, as he is attested for us in Holy Scripture, is the one Word of God which we have to hear and which we have to trust and obey in life and in death.

Remember Jesus Christ

Prayer for Enemies

  • April 24, 2019
  • /
  • John Tillman

Psalm 35.12-13
They repay me evil for good
   and leave me like one bereaved.
Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth
   and humbled myself with fasting.

Reflection: Prayer for Enemies
By John Tillman

How quickly do we celebrate our enemies’ sufferings? Should we, rather, pray for them instead?

In today’s reading from Psalms, David describes a scenario in which he hears of a sickness that has struck his enemies. Instead of leaping for joy, or wishing for prolonged or worsening suffering on them as we might expect, the man after God’s own heart takes to his knees in prayer on behalf of his enemy.

In his commentary on the Psalms, Charles Haddon Spurgeon conjectures that this psalm may have been written during the time in which David was both fleeing from Saul and, simultaneously, continuing to support the king.

David had been a man of sympathy; he had mourned when Saul was in ill health, putting on the weeds of sorrow for him as though he were a near and dear friend. His heart went into mourning for his sick master. He prayed for his enemy and made the sick man’s case his own, pleading and confessing as if his own personal sin had brought on the evil.

Some may think it strange to pray for one who seems irredeemable; one who rejects any criticism and leans on pride. But this is just the kind of person David prays for.

David models for us in this psalm the essence of what Christ teaches about loving one’s enemies as oneself. Jesus is echoing David when he commands his followers to love their enemies and forgive those who do wrong to us.

We need not worry about prayers being wasted, no matter their subject. According to Spurgeon, “Prayer is never lost. If it bless not those for whom intercession is made, it shall bless the intercessors.”

May we redouble our efforts to pray for our communities and our leaders. We may pray for the “worthy,” knowing in our hearts that none truly are worthy, and that even the Pharisees loved those who loved them. But let us make special efforts to pray for the “unworthy.” Let us pray with renewed commitment for our enemies, our villains, our heretics, our corrupt officials, our attackers, and those who scoff at the mention of prayer.

When we do, we are following most closely in the footsteps of Jesus, coming close to the heart of God as David did, and following the emotional journey of God, who while we were sinners demonstrated his love for us through Christ.

Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
I will bear witness that the Lord is righteous; I will praise the Name of the Lord Most High. — Psalm 7.18

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Numbers 1 (Listen – 6:21) 
Psalm 35 (Listen – 3:21)

Thank You!
Thank you for reading and a huge thank you to those who donate to our ministry, keeping The Park Forum ad-free and enabling us to continue to produce fresh content. Every year our donors help us produce over 100,000 words of free devotionals. Follow this link to support our readers.

Read more about The Sign of Jonah and The Cross
He was willing to die to save the idol-worshiping sailors in the boat, but when Nineveh repented and wasn’t destroyed, Jonah pouted like a child for the destruction of his enemies.

The Sign of Jonah and The Cross

Read more about Daily Bread for Others :: Worldwide Prayer
We pray for people throughout the world who suffer either from hunger, disease, war, or other calamities, that they may find relief in you, because, wherever you went Jesus, you did good.

Daily Bread for Others :: Worldwide Prayer

The New Day :: Worldwide Prayer

  • April 23, 2019
  • /
  • John Tillman

Psalm 34.1-3
I will extol the Lord at all times;
   his praise will always be on my lips.
I will glory in the Lord;
   let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the Lord with me;
   let us exalt his name together.

Reflection: The New Day :: Worldwide Prayer
By John Tillman

Every year, the dark of Winter begins to recede as the light of Christmas comes. The Church set the celebration of Christmas at the point of the winter solstice specifically for the teaching metaphor astronomical science provided.

Easter however is set around a historical date and time. Easter and the dates directly related to it, are the only celebrations of the church year that happen on the dates they actually occurred.

Easter’s date, at least at the beginning, was related to the date of Passover, which was set, not by any calendar of modern or ancient man but, by God. In many ways, Easter is the true beginning of the Church year. It is where the fresh newness of life springs up. It is where the root of the church sprouts.

So, although most of our readers are not blessed with the tropical climate of Trinidad, we join today in this joyous prayer, thanking God for the return of life, the return of warmth, and for the strength to walk into a new day with all its struggles and challenges. As this prayer asks, may we worship, slow down, and live in fruitfulness.

Prayer of joy for a new day from Trinidad
Lord, on this new day you have given me,

Let me worship you…
With thanksgiving for the life giving warmth of this tropic sun
In song with the morning wind rustling the leaves
In dance with the chatter of birds and the buzz of bees

I praise you for these songs and sounds of joy.

Lord on this new day you have given me,

Slow me down…
Lead me to restful retreats in the midst of this busy life
Guide me to truth and protect me from sinful dangers
Uphold me as a living sign of your presence in my life.

Let me be eager to tell of your eternal goodness.

Lord on this new day you have given me,

Let me live…
By your grace to face the challenge and the hardships.
With your joy to celebrate that all things come from you.
With divine compassion to reach all those who need your love.

I pray for the fruit, gift, and fullness of your Holy Spirit.

In the name of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I pray.

Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he has done for me. — Psalm 66.14

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Leviticus 27 (Listen – 4:45) 
Psalm 34 (Listen – 2:14)

Thank You!
Thank you for reading and a huge thank you to those who donate to our ministry, keeping The Park Forum ad-free and enabling us to continue to produce fresh content. Every year our donors help us produce over 100,000 words of free devotionals. Follow this link to support our readers.

Read more about A New Day :: Worldwide Prayer
Every day is a new beginning
Every day is a new challenge
Every day is a new opportunity
Every day is a new invitation to trust you…

A New Day :: Worldwide Prayer

Read more about The Eighth Day
The first day of the week, most commonly called the Lord’s day—the kyriaka or dominica—was taken as a celebration of the three great events of salvation history: creation, resurrection, and consummation.

The Eighth Day

Easter—The Happy Beginning

  • April 22, 2019
  • /
  • John Tillman

Psalm 33.1-3
Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous;
   it is fitting for the upright to praise him.
Praise the Lord with the harp;
   make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.
Sing to him a new song;
   play skillfully, and shout for joy.

Reflection: Easter—The Happy Beginning
By John Tillman

We return again this Easter Monday as last, to consider the challenge of N.T. Wright, in Surprised by Hope, to celebrate Easter fully. After all, Easter is not a happy ending. It is a happy beginning.

I regard it as absurd and unjustifiable that we should spend forty days keeping Lent, pondering what it means, preaching about self-denial, being at least a little gloomy, and then bringing it all to a peak with Holy Week, which in turn climaxes in Maundy Thursday and Good Friday…and then, after a rather odd Holy Saturday, we have a single day of celebration.

… Is it any wonder people find it hard to believe in the resurrection of Jesus if we don’t throw our hats in the air? Is it any wonder we find it hard to live the resurrection if we don’t do it exuberantly in our liturgies? Is it any wonder the world doesn’t take much notice if Easter is celebrated as simply the one-day happy ending tacked on to forty days of fasting and gloom? It’s long overdue that we took a hard look at how we keep Easter in church, at home, in our personal lives, right through the system. And if it means rethinking some cherished habits, well, maybe it’s time to wake up.

Easter is not the “end” but the beginning of our new, joyous life in Christ. We don’t get to go back to “normal” even if we go back to what we gave up for Lent. Normal is dead. Going back to normal means crawling back into the tomb. If we are to live in Christ, it must be a new kind of living.

If, like Cleopas, we try to find happiness and joy by going back to Emmaus, Jesus will intercept us. If, like Peter and the other disciples, we try to find fulfillment going back to fishing for fish instead of fishing for men, Jesus will call to us from the shore with breakfast cooking on a fire.

Easter is a season in the church calendar, not a day. But in our lives, it can be an evergreen season that blooms throughout the year. Let us abandon our destinations for his, and let us leap out of our boats, swimming to shore when he calls.

Let us see what the risen Christ will say to us today.

Prayer: A Reading
“Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?” There they found the Eleven assembled together with their companions, who said to them, “The Lord has indeed risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then they told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognized hi at the breaking of bread.  — Luke 24.32-35

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Leviticus 26 (Listen – 6:22) 
Psalm 33 (Listen – 2:08)

Thank You!
Thank you for reading and a huge thank you to those who donate to our ministry, keeping The Park Forum ad-free and enabling us to continue to produce fresh content. Every year our donors help us produce over 100,000 words of free devotionals. Follow this link to support our readers.

Read more about Waking up to Easter
“Waking up” to Easter may be a disruptor to our ordinary lives. If we are honest, we’d rather get on with the world now. We want to go back to winning at life and move past all of this gloomy suffering and servanthood.

Waking up to Easter

Read more about Tomb of the Unknown Savior
Mary of Bethany may have been the only disciple who realized Jesus was about to die a sacrificial death. But it seems only his enemies remembered that Christ also promised to come back to life.

Tomb of the Unknown Savior

The Prayer From the Cross

  • April 19, 2019
  • /
  • John Tillman

Psalm 30.11-12
You turned my wailing into dancing;
   you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
   Lord my God, I will praise you forever.

Reflection: The Prayer From the Cross
By John Tillman

On the day the Church now calls Good Friday, when Jesus hung on the cross and cried out, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani,” people were confused about what he meant. Some even thought he was crying out to Elijah.

Truthfully, we don’t know exactly what was in Christ’s mind, and we also don’t know that he wasn’t thinking multiple things all at the same time, as most humans do in stressful and painful situations.

The clearest, simplest explanation that I lean toward is that Jesus was intentionally quoting Psalm 22, which appeared in our reading plan on Palm Sunday. Jesus knew that most of his audience would recognize the quote and understand that he was referencing the entire psalm. If I said, “To be or not to be,” many people would recognize that I was referencing Hamlet’s entire monologue and its meaning. People less familiar with Hamlet might be confused. Some might think it was from some other source, such as an Arnold Schwarzenegger film.

So, on this Good Friday, we will join Christ in his suffering, praying excerpts from this psalm prayed on the cross, ending with excerpts from Psalm 30 from our reading for today.

Make these psalms our prayer, today and over Holy Saturday as we await the joy of resurrection morn.

Praying with Christ, from the Cross (Psalm 22):
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
   Why are you so far from saving me,
   so far from my cries of anguish?

All who see me mock me;
   they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
“He trusts in the Lord,” they say,
   “let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
   since he delights in him.”

Yet you brought me out of the womb;
   you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.
From birth I was cast on you;
   from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

You who fear the Lord, praise him!
  For he has not despised or scorned
   the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
   but has listened to his cry for help.

Future generations will be told about the Lord.
They will proclaim his righteousness,
   declaring to a people yet unborn:
   He has done it!

Weeping may stay for the night,
   but rejoicing comes in the morning.

You turned my wailing into dancing;
   you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.

Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And are so far from my cry and from the words of my distress?  — Psalm 22.1

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Leviticus 23 (Listen – 6:31) 
Psalm 30 (Listen – 2:41)

Today’s Readings
Leviticus 24 (Listen – 2:58) Psalm 31 (Listen – 3:11)
Leviticus 25 (Listen – 7:41) Psalm 32 (Listen – 1:34)

Thank You!
Thank you for reading and a huge thank you to those who donate to our ministry, keeping The Park Forum ad-free and enabling us to continue to produce fresh content. Every year our donors help us produce over 100,000 words of free devotionals. Follow this link to support our readers.

Read more about Joy in The Way of the Cross :: Throwback Thursday
You will find the joy of the Lord comes as you go on in the way of the Cross. It was one who had nobody all his own on earth who said, “If I am offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice.” (Philippians 2.17)

Joy in The Way of the Cross :: Throwback Thursday

Read more about Where Martyrdom Begins Part 1
It’s easy to think that when Jesus referred to laying his life down for his friends, he was referring to his imminent death on the cross. But stopping there simplifies what Jesus did — and what he said — into one single act.

Where Martyrdom Begins Part 1