Category: Daily Prayer

John 12:1-8 has been our lectionary study passage this week. The lectionary is a set of readings designated for each week of the year according to the liturgical season and lists an Old Testament reading, a Psalm, a Gospel lesson and an additional New Testament passage. This particular lesson from John’s Gospel has been teaching us about serving and sacrifice.

Jesus modeled both of these in His words and actions while He was here on earth. He taught and showed us how important it was for us to care for others, putting their needs above our own. This is often hard for us, and people say it goes against our human nature. That was exactly Christ’s point! He calls us to avoid our “human” nature and remember that we are God’s children, made in His image.

In this scripture we read about Mary anointing Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume as an act of serving and sacrifice. During the Last Supper Jesus washed the disciples’ feet as an act of serving. Painter and pastor Kenneth Wyatt writes “If the symbol of our faith were not the cross, the towel and basin to represent Christian service would be most appropriate.” Christ sacrificed His life to pay the price for our salvation and calls us to take up our cross and follow Him.

Gracious God, help us to fully appreciate the serving and sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. Make us strong that we may follow Him to do as He taught us. Amen.

Please read John 12:1-8 this morning. Several times this week I have mentioned the danger of selectively reading a single verse. Now there’s absolutely nothing wrong with reading or memorizing single verses of Scripture, it’s just that without reading the whole story we may miss important parts of the lesson.

Jesus has begun His final journey to Jerusalem, knowing that death at the hands of the mob, the religious leaders and the government awaits Him there. He is undeterred, but pauses for a moment of relaxation with close friends for dinner in Bethany. However, even in this happy time, there is conflict.

Mary anoints Him using expensive perfume, an act of love that shows her devotion. Judas protests that it is a waste and Jesus steps in to share what is coming in the next week, reproving Judas for his accusation. He teaches them that what one does for Him in love is between them and not for another to analyze or criticize.

We too may fall into this trap that prevents us from working together as the body of Christ, worrying about what someone else is doing or how they are doing it. This only distracts us from our call to love one another and make disciples of all the world. To disrupt our ministry, Satan doesn’t need to destroy us, only to divert or divide us.

Loving Lord, give us clarity to see the work You have for us, and the focus to complete it, not being distracted by what others do. Help us to be supportive of the ministry of our brothers and sisters, knowing that their work is as important as our own. Amen.

“You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” John 12:8

Once again we encounter the danger of quoting a single verse without the rest of the passage. Jesus is not telling us “the poor will always be here, so don’t worry about them”, just the opposite! This statement is part of His reprimand to Judas, warning of His impending death and the importance of learning His teachings before that happens.

Jesus in essence says to Judas “the poor have always been here, now when it suits your purpose you say you worry and use them as a weapon?!” Are we guilty of this as well, only concerned about an issue when it benefits our position? We must always be on guard that we genuinely care for others and not seek to advance our own cause through them.

Jesus taught that others are not tools to be used to support our arguments, but our beloved siblings, part of His family and deserving of our care. May we always put their well-being above our own comfort or cause.

Gracious God, You call us to love each other, being connected through You as brothers and sisters. Help us to see everyone in this way, and to care for them as Jesus does. Amen.

“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.”
John 12:7

Judas protested Mary’s “waste” of expensive perfume (John 12:4-6), but Jesus defends her with another prophecy of His impending death. How often are we on either side of this conflict? Is it wrong to build a beautiful church when the money could be used to alleviate poverty? Is it wrong to support the food bank when the church roof is falling in?

This is the danger of looking at a single verse and a single issue and attempting to apply it to everything. We need to read scripture in the context of the whole passage and understand it in the connection we have with Jesus. He knows our hearts, and in this story Judas’ heart is not in the right place. First and foremost, he doesn’t care about the poor, he is angry that he won’t have the chance to get the money that the perfume might have brought, and he attacks Mary because of it.

Jesus knows that Mary is worshipping Him in truth and love, and He defends her with the warning about what is to come very soon, His passion and death. We must not be like Judas, selfish about what we could do with resources that rightfully belong to Him. Jesus knows our intentions and if we follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, rather than our earthly desires, He will always defend us as He did Mary.

Heavenly Father, help us to remember the sacrifice Jesus made for us in order that we might be saved. Make us good stewards of the gifts we have been given, that they might be used in love, according to Your will. Amen.

But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages. ” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. John 12:4-6

It is easy to use Judas as the villain in every story. We know what he did and find it convenient to think He was always evil. But Jesus chose him, why would He pick someone like that as a disciple? Is it possible that Judas was different once and made bad choices over time?

As humans, we should be keenly aware that none of us are purely good and none of us are purely evil. It was almost certainly that way with Judas as well. However, rather than accepting Jesus’ offer of salvation, Judas became focused on himself and what being part of the group could do for him.

We must be careful that we don’t fall into the same trap, being more concerned with earthly things, even when they seem like loving activities. In the first story of Mary and Martha hosting Jesus (Luke 10:38-42), Martha is preoccupied with preparing the home and the meal – not bad things at all, but Jesus tells her Mary has made a better choice by sitting to listen to Him. We must take care to pay attention to our Savior first and foremost, hearing His teachings over any worldly activity.

Loving Lord, help us to focus on You before anything else. May all our actions flow from our relationship with You and not any desire of our own. Amen.

Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
John 12:3

Jesus knew that His path led to Jerusalem and His death at the hands of the mob, but that didn’t deter Him from going. Only a few others had picked up on this fact; He had told them all that this was to happen but they didn’t understand or didn’t want to understand. However, Mary does and demonstrates her love and care for Jesus with a sacrifice of expensive perfume, and an act of service by wiping His feet with her hair.

How often are we like the others, either not understanding because we haven’t paid attention or not wanting to understand, ignoring the lesson we have been given? Jesus taught what is required of His followers – sacrifice and service to God and one another. We must be willing to give and love as Jesus did in order to be followers of The Way.

Loving Lord, we are sorry when we don’t understand due to our lack of attention or our lack of care. May we be aware of Your call to sacrifice and service in order to bring Your kingdom here on earth. Amen.

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. John 12:1-2

We don’t often think of Jesus having close friends, other than perhaps His disciples, but Mary, Martha and Lazarus of Bethany are mentioned frequently in the Gospel. Jesus needed the love and support of friends as much as any of us. Through this relationship He demonstrated the importance of being connected to others and to God.

God so wants to be part of our lives! He wants us to accept the love He has for us, and also accept the responsibility that connection requires. Just like having close friends requires time and attention, so does our relationship with God. Making time for Him is essential to our faith and our ability to share the Good News with others.

Find time to spend in conversation with the Lord through prayer and searching the scriptures. Your life will be enriched and you will be blessed!

God of love, we want You in our daily lives. Make us faithful in our spiritual practices that we may be closer to You and to our brothers and sisters. Amen.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Everything Paul has taught us this week points to this. You could also say everything the Bible says points to this. God loves us so much He is willing to do amazing things in order to reach us and bring us back.

This passage (2 Corinthians 5:16-21) shows that in Christ we are a new creation, and the things of the past can be left behind us. When we accept the forgiveness and love He offers, we can become part of what He is doing in the world. Jesus came to be our model that we might learn to be like Him and continue His work.

What are you doing to be part of this kingdom mission? We must pray for strength to complete the hard tasks that face us and love to be able to work together. Jesus expects us to put Him and others first, ahead of our own wants and needs that the Good News of salvation might be shared with all the world.

Wise and wonderful God, we are lost and broken without Your healing forgiveness. Let us see that we are your children, forever connected to You and our brothers and sisters, invited to be new creatures through Christ’s sacrifice for us. Amen.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

God sent Jesus to carry our sin that we could be made clean and reconnected to Him. Such a sacrifice is unthinkable to us. We might be willing to give our lives for our loved ones, perhaps for a noble cause. But Jesus came to give His life for the whole sinful world, for everyone, for all time. In Romans 5:7 we read “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us”.

God was willing to give up His only son. Jesus was willing to give up His very life. What are we willing to give up in order to be saved? What draws us away from be reconciled with our loving Father? We need to acknowledge our sin and leave it with Jesus, doing as He commanded us to “go and sin no more”.

Gracious God, through Christ’s sacrifice for us we are made whole again, ready to be part of Your plan for creation. May our lives be changed, and in turning to You may we find our purpose – to share Your love with all the world. Amen.

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

(2 Corinthians 5:20)

Christ’s ambassadors – what a glorious and humble calling! Jesus loves us, and trusts us enough to carry on His ministry here on earth. We are His partners in saving the world, not through any merit or strength of our own, but through His grace to reconcile us to God.

In this new relationship we have roles and responsibilities depending on our gifts and our call. All of us have something to offer for the work of the kingdom, and Christ is counting on us to accomplish our mission, individually and collectively. Let God work through you that our brothers and sisters might know Him better.

Gracious God, we are called to be part of Your plan, the tools You use here on earth to work Your will. May we be willing and useful in the spread of the Good News. Amen.