Links for today’s readings:

Read: Ezra 2 Listen: (5:25)
Read: Revelation 1 Listen: (3:43)

Scripture Focus: John 14.26-27

26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Reflection: Conflict-Free Holidays – Peace of Advent

By Erin Newton

Jesus was born during the Pax Romana—the peace of Rome. It was a period between wars and a time of relative prosperity. Peace is nearly always thought of as the antithesis to conflict or war. And the Bible refers to peace as the future hope during the midst of pain and suffering.

When we think about God coming to dwell among us, the peace of Advent usually includes the vision of a conflict-free eternity. It is this Prince of Peace who brings the promise to eliminate combat and end all struggles.

We long for the days without strife and without war. It is an age-old plea. The psalmist cries out, “Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war” (Ps. 120.6-7).  

Not only does peace bring us wholeness, it is meant to bring us freedom from conflict. But that is far from reality. We enter this Advent season with wars raging across the oceans, conflicts brewing among friends and family, war and strife growing between neighbors—we are a far cry from peace it seems.

The baby lying in a manger would become a man who warned that peace would not always be reality. The cost of following Christ may mean division among friends, families, and neighbors. It is the sword that He warned was coming to disrupt so-called peace. Sometimes the conflict we face is because we have chosen to follow Christ, and the so-called peace of our world was simply a dishonest harmony.

So how do we wait this week meditating on the peace of Advent? I think we look to Christ’s birth as the inauguration of the future peace. It is the “already but not yet” peace we are promised. The gears are set in motion even when the grinding clamor of war reverberates worldwide. The first peace to be won was that within our souls. And it continues to win the war of souls.

And then we see the peace he has left with us. The peace he promised would be with us is a non-earthly peace, peace mediated through the Holy Spirit. Yes, national wars and domestic battles continue today. But peace is possible through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is by His power we can seek peace, and sometimes, win peace. Let us seek peace and wait expectantly.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Look upon your covenant; the dark places of the earth are haunts of violence. — Psalm 74.19

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more about The Arm of Flesh versus the Prince of Peace

How can we tell the difference between Sennacherib’s propaganda and Hezekiah’s true faith?

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Scripture Focus: John 12.16
16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him. 

Reflection: Not Getting It
By John Tillman

John tells us that nearly everything Jesus said and did, and what was done to him was written about in the scriptures. Yet, it still surprised everyone. They did not get it.

Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, “You worship what you do not know,” and in some ways that is true of all generations before Jesus.

In the stories of every patriarch, prophet, priest, or king, we see moments God surprised them. There were twists and turns in the biblical narrative when God’s unsuspected, and sometimes counterintuitive, plans and purposes were revealed.

Jesus’ enemies, disciples, and followers had been waiting for the Messiah to come. The religious leaders studied the scriptures diligently, searching for him. (John 5.39-40) The Samaritans, hated by the Jews, still believed in the Messiah and waited for him. (John 4.19-26) The Magi traveled from distant lands looking for him. (Matthew 2.1-2) They all had expectations that came from scripture and prophecy.

Some things nearly everyone got right, starting with the place of his birth, Bethlehem. Herod’s scholars knew exactly where to send the searching Magi. (Matthew 2.4-8) When Phillip told Nathanael that he thought Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah, Nathanael scoffed that nothing good could come from Nazareth. (John 1.45-46) Later, opponents of Jesus also considered Nazareth, in Galilee, a location that disqualified Jesus from being taken seriously. (John 7.52)

Jesus said to Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20.29) The disciples saw and touched Jesus, but in some ways, we see more of Jesus through the written gospels and the rest of the New Testament than they did at that time. There was more to be revealed.

“We did not get it,” John says. (John 12.16)  “We did not understand what Jesus was doing or saying. We did not understand what was happening because we did not understand what had been written.”

If the learned religious leaders who opposed Jesus and the earnest disciples who were so close to him could make errors, we can too. To take God seriously is to follow him humbly. To be surprised by God is to know him better than we did before.

If God surprised men and women all through the scriptures, he will surprise us. God has surprises in store for you this year. Humbly examine your assumptions and look for the unexpected.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Search for the Lord and his strength; continually seek his face. — Psalm 105.4

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

Today’s Readings
Job 12 (Listen 2:21) 
John 12 (Listen 6:26)

This Weekend’s Readings
Job 13 (Listen 2:27) John 13 (Listen 5:06)
Job 14 (Listen 2:23) John 14 (Listen 4:13)

Monday’s Readings
Job 15 (Listen 3:23) John 15 (Listen 3:20)

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Read more about Mary and Judas
Mary did the theological math. She gave her offering knowing Jesus was about to give his life. Judas did some math as well. He realized that he didn’t want to follow

Scripture Focus: John 5.2-11 (HCSB)
2 By the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda in Hebrew, which has five colonnades. 3 Within these lay a large number of the sick—blind, lame, and paralyzed [—waiting for the moving of the water, 4 because an angel would go down into the pool from time to time and stir up the water. Then the first one who got in after the water was stirred up recovered from whatever ailment he had].

5 One man was there who had been sick for 38 years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had already been there a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to get well?”

7 “Sir,” the sick man answered, “I don’t have a man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.”

8 “Get up,” Jesus told him, “pick up your mat and walk!” 9 Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.

Now that day was the Sabbath, 10 so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath! It’s illegal for you to pick up your mat.”

11 He replied, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

From John on textual additions: The earliest manuscripts of John’s gospel do not have verse four and the last part of verse three. Those like me, who grew up with the KJV or NKJV, might wonder what happened to it. Using passages like this as “evidence,” some spread panic, claiming that mysterious forces are cutting verses from the Bible, but there’s no mystery about it, and nothing is cut or missing.

You’ll find verse four in the NIV, NASB, and ESV footnotes. The Holman Christian Standard Version puts it in brackets […]. (See the NIV and HCSV side-by-side here: John 5.3-6) The footnotes clarify that the oldest manuscripts don’t have these words. Modern scholars haven’t deleted words from scripture—ancient scholars added them. Modern scholars have only noted the changes.

The scribes who made this addition must have realized that John’s original audience already knew about the purported healing properties of the pool, but others would not. Neither the inserted background info nor modern scholars’ decision to note the change is nefarious. The Bible is proven more reliable and trustworthy when scholarship advances in this way, especially in the New Testament documents. Instead of being panicked, we can be more secure in the translations we have today than ever.

Reflection: The Waiting Man
By John Tillman

The scribes’ textual addition in verses three and four tells us that an angel stirred the waters, imbuing them with temporary and limited healing power. Only one person quick enough to react in a competitive race for healing could access this power. For 38 years, over and over, the waiting man lost this race.

Some, including myself, have questioned or doubted the man’s commitment or faith. When he said no one helped him and others beat him into the pool, was he making excuses or just facing facts? Was he lazy? Was he complacent? Even Jesus asked, “Do you want to get well?”

This man saw others healed. He saw them walk away on strengthened legs, seeing with formerly blind eyes, and praising God with formerly mute mouths. Of course, he believed. Of course he had faith. Imagine the faith a person with paralyzed legs needed to throw one’s body into a pool. If healing did not instantly occur, one risked drowning. Perhaps the man experienced a scare like this during his 38-year wait. Perhaps he was tired of trying, but he kept showing up—waiting and watching for 38 years.

What have you waited for and watched for? What blessings have you prayed for that landed in others’ laps? Can’t we relate to how bitterness and doubt would creep into this man’s heart? Jesus is patient with the man, healing him even though he doesn’t seem to know how to ask and barely seemed grateful.

What pools have you been waiting around that never seem to be stirred? Are you growing complacent or bitter? Are you ready to give up? Is your heart paralyzed instead of your legs?

Instead of throwing ourselves into pitiless pools that may or may not heal us, we can throw ourselves into the willing and waiting arms of Jesus. Jesus is also a man who waits and he is ready and waiting for us to turn to him.

Instead of stirring the water, Jesus stirred up the man himself and the ripples and waves spread through the city. I pray that Jesus will stir up your heart and mine, un-paralyze us and send us into our cities.

This year, I pray that Jesus would come to you and me and whisper, “Do you want to get well?” 

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me out of all my terror. — Psalm 34.4

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

Today’s Readings
Job 5 (Listen 2:29) 
John 5 (Listen 5:42)

This Weekend’s Readings
Job 6 (Listen 2:56)  John 6 (Listen 8:27)
Job 7 (Listen 2:23)  John 7 (Listen 5:53)

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