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Jesus took my place, too…. (devo reflection)

Matthew 27:20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.

Today was one of those days that as I read scripture, a reflection plan was forming in my mind, but as I read commentary, God whispered, “This is what I want you to see, to think about.” Jesus—the innocent Lamb—died in place of Barabbas—an insurrectionist and murderer.

Matthew 27:21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor. “Barabbas,” they answered.

When I read this scripture, I am usually so caught up in what they are doing to Jesus that I don’t consider Barabbas, but Barabbas *is* me, and you, and all of us. He’s absolutely guilty, deserving of punishment, but he is set free because of Jesus. I want to ask, “What does that feel like?”, but I know—I *know*—because Jesus took my place, too.

Matthew 27:22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!”

Lord, Thank You for this new perspective on Your sacrifice and my salvation. I am Barabbas. I am guilty. I deserve the punishment. Yet You take my place. “Thank You” is inadequate. Help me to love others as You love me—deeply, fiercely, completely, and even when they don’t deserve it. Amen.

Matthew 27:26 Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

Have a blessed day.

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Complete trust…. (devo reflection)

Mark 15:1 Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.

What strikes me most in today’s reading is the fact that Jesus says very little in response to the charges brought against Him. He doesn’t try to defend or explain or clear up anything. He trusts His Father. He knows His truth. There is so much power in His silence.

Mark 15:2 “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate. “You have said so,” Jesus replied.

I think about human tendency, my tendency: throw lots of words at the situation, try to explain. Jesus knows they won’t listen, won’t understand. He knows that His Father is firmly in control. He knows that He is in the process of redeeming all of humanity. He knows complete trust.

Mark 15:3 The chief priests accused him of many things. 4 So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”

Lord, Thank You for this beautiful example of complete trust in the Father. Help me, when this world gets loud and insistent about who it thinks I am, help me to stay strong in You alone. You are my refuge. You are my truth. I trust You, Lord. Amen.

Mark 15:5 But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.

Have a blessed day.

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Fully consider the consequences…. (devo reflection)

Matthew 27:3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders.

Have you ever been so focused on something—doing something, having something—that you didn’t fully appreciate the consequences? Matthew 26:16 says that from the time Judas agreed to betray Jesus, Judas watched for an opportunity to hand him over. He was so focused on what he was planning to do that it doesn’t seem he fully considered the consequences.

Matthew 27:4a “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.”

But Jesus does. He even says, at the moment of Judas’s betrayal, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Friend…One more reminder of who Judas is called to be in Christ, a reminder he didn’t heed until it was too late to turn back.

Matthew 27:4b “What is that to us?” they replied. “That’s your responsibility.”

Lord, In the moment of his betrayal, You call Judas friend, You strive to remind him of who he is in You. But he doesn’t listen until it’s too late. I am just as guilty of betraying You in so many ways. Help me to hear Your voice, help me heed Your reminder of who I am in You, who You call me to be. Help me seek You always. Thank You for Your mercy and compassion. Amen.

Matthew 27:5 So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

Have a blessed day.

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Grand intentions…. (devo reflection)

Luke 22:59 About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”

Luke’s account is the only one that includes Jesus turning and looking at Peter after the third denial. He had already been beaten some at this point, so he would have been bloody and bruised. I wonder what Peter saw in that gaze. I wonder what Jesus intended.

Luke 22:60 Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed.

Jesus knew Peter would deny Him. He also knew he would turn back, and Jesus told him that when he did, to strengthen his brothers. Peter probably felt condemnation in that look, but Jesus’s words and actions all point to compassion and mercy instead.

Luke 22:61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.”

Lord, We have such grand intentions at times, though often we fail miserably in the doing. Thank You for Your compassion and mercy. Help us to forgive ourselves and others as You forgive us. Amen.

Luke 22:62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Have a blessed day.

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An answer I have to know for myself…. (devo reflection)

Mark 14:60 Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?”

My students are getting ready for AP exams. They are nervous, not sure they are ready, but I have been with them every day, teaching them, guiding them, preparing them, I know they will be ready, but they doubt. So what does this information have to do with today’s scripture? A lot, I think.

Mark 14:61 But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”

Jesus spent His time with the disciples teaching them, guiding them, preparing them. He didn’t worry about labeling who *He* was. He just made sure they would be ready when the time came. The disciples doubted, but Jesus encouraged: “…I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32).

Mark 14:62 “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Lord, Thank You for showing me who You are again and again—in Your word and in my life. It doesn’t matter who the world says You are. That is an answer I have to know for myself. All my reading and studying and praying has helped me to understand, to prepare, to be ready, so that even in the difficult times, when life makes no sense, I can trust who You are and who You are to me. Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Mark 14:63-64 The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”

Have a blessed day.

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More than the sum of our mistakes…. (devo reflection)

Matthew 26:49-50 Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him. Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.”

These are Jesus’s disciples: one who betrays, one who is impetuous, who acts rashly, one who flees naked. Jesus knows exactly how this scene will go, exactly how these disciples will act, and yet they are His chosen, His beloved. He knows they are more than the sum of their mistakes. He loves them just because they are His. This is the foundation on which He built His church.

John 18:10-11 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear…. Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

We serve a loving, compassionate, merciful Savior. The grace He gives His human, fallible disciples (and His persecutors), He freely gives us. We don’t have to—we can’t—do anything to be enough in His eyes. He loves us simply because we are His. Period.

Luke 22:50-51 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear. But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.

Lord, It is so easy to fall into the lies of the world—that we have to earn Your love, that we have to do something to be worthy of Your mercy. You love us deeply, fiercely just because we are Yours. That simple truth is hard for us to comprehend and trust. Help us, Lord. And thank You for Your undeserved grace. Amen.

Mark 14:51-52 A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.

Have a blessed day.

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With my whole heart…. (devo reflection)

Luke 22:42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

I was raised not to question God. I honestly don’t remember whether this was something I was expressly told in church or a conclusion I reached on my own, but I struggled with it for years (and years and years). Jesus, here, shows what honest, fervent communication with the Father looks like.

Luke 22:43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.

I have prayed before, earnestly, “Lord, I *hate* this situation. I loath it. This isn’t fair. This isn’t right. But I trust You. I love you. I trust that You are making a way in this wilderness, even now. Even through this.” Jesus’s prayer in the garden taught me that the ability to have that kind of gut-level honesty with my Creator is part of a loving relationship with Him.

Luke 22:44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

Lord, Even as You were preparing for death, You were teaching me about how to draw closer to You, how to be earnest in my prayers, even when emotions are high and situations are difficult. Thank You—for the knowledge, for listening to my prayers, for the ability to be honest, even when my soul is in anguish. Help me never to forget that I can always come to You with my whole heart. Amen.

Luke 22:45 When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow.

Have a blessed day.

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Jesus is praying for us…. (devo reflection)

John 17:9 “I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.

I do a lot of praying. Often, praying for others feels like the only thing I can do to love and encourage them. I’m thankful that God doesn’t play a cosmic game of “How fervent is Your prayer?” He is sovereign, loving, merciful. And even when my prayers aren’t answered the way I prefer, I know He is present, He is making a way, He has an eternal, loving plan.

John 17:11 “I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.

What really strikes me in this passage is the fact that Jesus is praying for His disciples. And not only that, He is praying “for those who will believe in me through their message.” That’s us. Jesus is praying for us, thinking of us in His final days. How amazing, how incredible is that?!?

John 17:13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.

Lord, Thank You for Your prayers for the disciples and for us. Thank You that You want so deeply for us to have “the full measure of [Your] joy within [us].” Help us to be one with each other—loving, supporting, uplifting each other—so that we may be one as You and the Father are one. Help us, Lord. Amen.

John 17:20-21 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.”

Have a blessed day.

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Go straight to the source…. (devo reflection)

John 16:17 At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?”

This passage makes me chuckle and shake my head all at once. I know this pattern. I’ve lived this pattern. Asking others, “What did he say? What did he mean?” instead of going straight to the source and asking directly.

John 16:18 They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”

A life lesson here? Don’t stew in confusion. Go straight to the source to find information. A faith lesson? Reading commentary, other people’s words, about the Bible can be a great thing, but I must not neglect spending time in His word personally. He knows my heart. He knows me. He will be present with me as I spend time in His word.

John 16:19 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’?

Lord, Thank You for the reminder that studying commentary is good, but it is no substitute for spending time in Your word. Thank You for the promise of peace in You alone. Cover me with Your peace, Lord. Help me to shine Your light. Amen.

John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Have a blessed day.

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You are seen. You matter. You are not alone…. (devo reflection)

John 15:18-19a  “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own….

It is human nature to want to be accepted, to fit in. It’s hard to feel separated, to feel “othered.” But Jesus tells us in verse 19b that He has chosen us out of the world. It reminds me of the Sanctus Real song, “When I don’t measure up to much in this life, I’m a treasure in the arms of Christ.” This truth is sometimes hard to keep hold of.

John 15:19b …As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

I am a very empathetic person. My heart hurts for those who are hurting. And I’m learning to speak up, ask awkward questions. (Are you ok? Can I pray with you?) It’s my little way of trying to remind others “You are seen. You matter. You are not alone.”

John 15:21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.

Lord, Thank You that You have chosen me out of this world. Thank You for big emotions that sit close to the surface and for the strength to ask awkward questions to help others feel seen, to feel less alone. Help me to shine Your light, to remind others, especially on the difficult days, that we are not of this world, that we are chosen by You. Help me to testify to Your steadfast love. Amen.

John 15:27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

Have a blessed day.