Category: Daily Prayer

Our scripture this week is John 20:19-31.

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
John 20:26-27

Jesus returns to ensure all His disciples have the chance to see Him. For whatever reason, Thomas was not with them when Jesus first appeared. He came back after just one lost sheep, as He promised He would.

We don’t know what motivated Thomas to his statement of “unless I see…I will not believe” (John 20:25) but Jesus won’t let that stand. He returns not to berate Thomas but to give him what he needs that he may believe. Jesus went to the cross for us, now He ensures we know His sacrifice was genuine and effective.

There is a saying “Jesus loves us as we are, but He loves us too much to leave us there”. This is the situation with Thomas. Jesus calls us to move from the danger of our unbelief to a place of safety in His love, becoming an active part of the work of His kingdom.

Loving Lord, we are often bewildered by the things of the world, led in ways that do not bear fruit for you. Help us to be strong in our faith, believing fully in Your gift of salvation. Amen.

Our scripture this week is John 20:19-31.

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus ), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
John 20:24-25

“Doubting” Thomas gets a bad rap in my opinion. Yes, he said what he said, but I believe that he is only asking for the same witness the other disciples have received. In the previous chapter we hear Mary tell those assembled that she has seen the Lord, but there is no mention of rejoicing and believing by the disciples then.

It seems important that those who knew Jesus as a human, who knew he had died, see Him resurrected. He appears to many of His followers in different gospel accounts that they may believe and be blessed to go share their testimony of the risen Christ. This is their charge, to relate to others what they have seen.

Everyone after that generation relies on the truth that Jesus appeared to them and told them to share the Good News with us. Their faith and obedience to His call is what has spread the gospel across the ages and around the world. Now it is our turn, to continue to pass on in faith the gift of salvation we have been given.

Gracious God, it is a wonderful and amazing thing that You call us to be the bearers of the Good News. Make us strong in Your word, that we may share Your love with the world. Amen.

Our scripture this week is John 20:19-31.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
John 20:21-23

Jesus reassures the disciples that His peace is with them and breathes the Holy Spirit onto them. He then instructs them about the forgiveness and retention of sins, which sounds like a pretty awesome power. It certainly is, and perhaps as we often do, we misunderstand what He is teaching.

Did Jesus really give us the power to forgive sin or not forgive it? Well, yes…but with authority comes responsibility and consequences. What did Jesus teach when Peter asked about forgiveness? “Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:21-22).

Jesus taught that forgiving each other was essential to our salvation, not their’s! God will certainly look at their sin, but He will also question our lack of forgiveness in disobedience of the command we were given. We need to see forgiveness not as a power, but as something we give freely as God has forgiven us.

Heavenly Father, help us to forgive others as You forgive us. May we be right with Your kingdom by following Jesus example of forgiveness. Amen.

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
John 20:19-20

It is hard to imagine the rejoicing that occurred when the disciples saw Jesus for the first time since the resurrection. Yes, Mary had told them about seeing Him at the tomb, but with the trauma of the Crucifixion, it was difficult for them to believe. Now they were believers as well, and would face the same difficulty Mary had experienced – sharing the joy of the risen Christ with others.

We are notoriously hard to convince creatures in some ways and too easily mislead in others. An evil meddler tells us we can be like God and we fall into sin by believing him. Jesus Christ tells us He must die and be raised for our salvation, and we have to think about it. That’s the situation in which we and the disciples find ourselves.

They will all go out as Jesus charged them to do, telling His story and sharing God’s love because they believed in Him and rejoiced. We are called to the same task today, and like them, we can rejoice in the hope that Jesus brings us. We can all be changed because of His sacrifice, living new lives in Him.

Gracious God, in Your love and mercy, You sent Jesus to save us all. Thank you for the love He brought us, may we be faithful to the call to share the Good News with everyone. Amen.

Our scripture this week is John 20:19-31.

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Now Thomas (also known as Didymus ), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
John 20:19-31

The appearance of Jesus to the disciples brings the reality of the resurrection to them. However, Jesus tells something very important to Thomas and the rest (and us) when He says “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”. That would be everyone from that time on.

Jesus came to be with us as a human in a specific time in our history and in a particular geographical location. If we didn’t live then and there, we didn’t get to meet Jesus as a human being. The key to His ministry continuing is in His Great Commission to all of us.

Jesus said “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” – calling us to do as He has done, spreading God’s love to everyone that they might be saved. He gave us a pretty awesome responsibility! Jesus must have a lot of confidence in us, to leave it up to all of us to share the Good News with the world.

Loving Lord, we rejoice in Your resurrection and the call You place on our lives. Help us to be the disciples You need to share Your story and Your love with everyone. Amen.

Our scripture today is John 20:1-18.

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
John 20:1-18

Resurrection is a word we don’t use a lot in everyday conversation. The dictionary tells us it means “the rising of Christ from the dead or the rising again to life of all the human dead before the final judgment” (Merriam-Webster.com). That’s a weighty definition and an even heavier concept for us.

Yet Jesus told us exactly what it meant and how it would happen. He told us about His death and resurrection (Matthew 16:21, Mark 8:31, Luke 9:22) and ours (John 6:40). The disciples were often confused by these teachings and we still find it difficult to understand.

The beauty of Christ’s promise to us is that we don’t need to have a complete understanding; only to believe in Him and His never-ending love for us. Sometimes our overwhelming desire to know gets in the way of our faith. Jesus said “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going” (John 14:1-4). As long as we put our faith in Him, He will return for us. Alleluia, Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Holy Lord, on this the day of Resurrection, we rejoice with all creation at Your victory over death. May we love each other as You first loved us, and go in Your name to make disciples of all the world. Amen.

Our scripture for today is John 19:38-42.

Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
John 19:38-42

Jesus is laid to rest not by His disciples or family but by two men we know little about before this. Joseph of Arimathea is mentioned in all four Gospel accounts of the burial (Matt. 27:57, Mark 15:43, Luke 23:50 and today’s reading). Nicodemus appears only in the Gospel of John, but is mentioned in chapter 3 as the Pharisee who came to Jesus by night and was taught about being born again. We meet him again in John 7:50 where as a member of the Sanhedrin (the Jewish ruling council) he reminds fellow members they must hear Jesus before they judge Him.

They take Jesus’ body and prepare it for burial according to Jewish customs, and place it in the garden tomb. This is where we find ourselves on Holy Saturday, watching and waiting. The disciples were hiding in fear after Jesus’ death, which is why a wealthy man and a Pharisee, both secret disciples, take responsibility to care for His body.

Today we are also “in hiding” to curtail the spread of the virus that is rampant around us. Like the disciples that day, we can’t all gather together as we’d like. However, we know the love of Jesus, demonstrated by His willingness to go to the cross for us. Let us continue to watch and wait, out of love for Him and each other.

Loving Lord, we are amazed at what You have done for us, deeming us worthy of Your sacrifice. May we wait patiently for the joy that will come, when we can tell the world of Your power and glory, and Your love poured out for us. Amen.

Our scripture for Good Friday is John 18:1-19:42, a long passage that is difficult to read or hear, because it documents our failure as humans to accept Christ when He came for us. It tells of His suffering and death in order to save us from our sin and our ungratefulness. I encourage you to read it today to be aware of the seriousness of our wrongdoing and the righteous sacrifice Christ offered for us.

Now it’s easy to say “we weren’t there, it wasn’t us” but if we are truthful with ourselves and each other, we know that we are as guilty as those who watched. When we have not cared for the last, the least and the lost among us, we have abandoned Him. When we have not shared His love in the world, we have cried “Crucify Him!” and when we do not follow His teachings, we follow the jeering crowd to Calvary.

Jesus knows our weakness and even in His torment, He asks “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). We can’t forgive each other for petty offenses, but Christ forgave the sin of the whole world! May we weep with those at the foot of the cross, knowing the One who loved us best has died for us.

Lord Jesus, we are sorry for the evil we do. Help us to see that You have freed us from sin and it no longer holds us. By Your love, we have been saved. Amen.