Saint Louis, Missouri, United States - Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "The Resurrection Is More than Myth" Friday, 6 June 2014 Now Jesus had spoken of His death, but they thought that He meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."(John 11:13-15)
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
The salvation story of Jesus Christ reaches around the world. So
that the readers of our Daily Devotion may see the power of the Savior on a global scale, we have asked the volunteers of our International Ministry Centers to write our Friday devotions. We pray that the Spirit may touch your day through their words.In Christ, I remain, His servant and yours,
Kenneth R. Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
Many times we ask ourselves what resurrection means to us and how can we share this great good news with our brothers and sisters who may not understand what God has done to save us.
You see, some people may take the Bible's resurrection accounts as being hard things to understand. For them anything beyond their mind's grasp is difficult to believe. Once, Thomas made a strong argument, which said unless he could see the Lord from his own eyes and touched His wounds, he would not believe in the resurrection. (See John 20:24-31.)
Thomas is not alone. Sometimes, even Christians may think like Thomas when they take the resurrection of the Lord lightly or when they are influenced by the world, which maintains it is impossible to prove the resurrection.
In the story we take to study today, Lazarus, who was a close friend of Jesus, was sick. He was sick even to his death. Did the Lord show His compassion once He got this news of Lazarus' illness? A few days ago, when I received the bad news that my younger brother had passed away from blood cancer, I was deeply saddened, and I longed to see him one last time. Did Jesus feel and act that way?
Similarly, does Jesus feel that way about us? After all, our time is coming, and there is nothing we can do to stop it.
It is precisely when death is near, or has come for someone near us, that we need to hear what Jesus said about death. He said, and He meant, that death is just a sleep, which we have.
But Jesus said more. He maintained death is a sleep from which He can raise us.
You know, there was a time when we were dead in our sin. That is no longer true. We no longer are condemned to eternal death. Because of Holy Spirit-given faith, we who were dead are made alive in Him, who raises us from the dead by the power of His sacrifice and the redemption price Jesus paid on the cross, and through His life.
By God's grace, we are saved. That is something we can believe because our beloved Lord always is true and faithful to us. Equally true is His promise that He will raise us on the last day. (See John 6:53-58.)
By faith we know God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to come and save us from our sin. He died on the cross so that our sins would be paid for. Now, by His grace, we forgiven sinners strive to live our lives according to His will.
The power of resurrection has now become the power of hope in our lives. We are no longer living in the fear of death. Because the Lord lives, we can now face tomorrow with the peace which says, because of the risen Lord, we, too, shall rise!
THE PRAYER: Father, we give thanks for the living Word, which has been given to us. May Your Spirit always be with us and lead us to live in the hope of the resurrection. Grant that we no longer live in fear. Instead, keep us trusting You and Your Word. Please grant that those who are lost today may learn to trust in Jesus and the resurrection He gives. This I pray in Jesus' Name. Amen.
Biography of Author: Today's international devotion was written by Rev. Vannarith Chhim, who is married to Dalis, a Christian education consultant. They have two daughters, Jessica (7) and Ruth (4). Pastor Chhim lives in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. There he serves as president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cambodia (ELCC), as a national co-coordinator of Lutheran Heritage Foundation, as Theological Training coordinator of Luther's Institute of SE-Asia (LISA), as the director of the Cambodia Lutheran Association, and as the speaker on the Law and Gospel program: The Answer to Life, which is sponsored by Lutheran Hour Ministries-Cambodia. In this country of nearly 15 million people, LHM-Cambodia, known in-country as Cambodia Christian Media Center, uses both Bible Correspondence Courses (BCC) and Equipping the Saints (ETS) to share the Good News of Jesus and educate Cambodians on Christian teachings. Similarly, musical events, films, the Internet, and text messaging are all employed to engage young people with a message of hope. This center also provides clothing and other material supplies to school-age children. For more on what's going on in Cambodia, check out its blog at lhmcambodia.wordpress.com.
To learn more about our International Ministries, click here or visit www.lhmint.org.
In Christ I remain His servant and yours, Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
Psalms 109:1 God of my praise, don’t remain silent,
2 for they have opened the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of deceit against me.
They have spoken to me with a lying tongue.
3 They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
and fought against me without a cause.
4 In return for my love, they are my adversaries;
but I am in prayer.
5 They have rewarded me evil for good,
and hatred for my love.
6 Set a wicked man over him.
Let an adversary stand at his right hand.
7 When he is judged, let him come out guilty.
Let his prayer be turned into sin.
8 Let his days be few.
Let another take his office.
9 Let his children be fatherless,
and his wife a widow.
10 Let his children be wandering beggars.
Let them be sought from their ruins.
11 Let the creditor seize all that he has.
Let strangers plunder the fruit of his labor.
12 Let there be no one to extend kindness to him,
neither let there be anyone to have pity on his fatherless children.
13 Let his posterity be cut off.
In the generation following let their name be blotted out.
14 Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered by Yahweh.
Don’t let the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15 Let them be before Yahweh continually,
that he may cut off their memory from the earth;
16 because he didn’t remember to show kindness,
but persecuted the poor and needy man,
the broken in heart, to kill them.
17 Yes, he loved cursing, and it came to him.
He didn’t delight in blessing, and it was far from him.
18 He clothed himself also with cursing as with his garment.
It came into his inward parts like water,
like oil into his bones.
19 Let it be to him as the clothing with which he covers himself,
for the belt that is always around him.
20 This is the reward of my adversaries from Yahweh,
of those who speak evil against my soul.
21 But deal with me, Yahweh the Lord,[a] for your name’s sake,
because your loving kindness is good, deliver me;
22 for I am poor and needy.
My heart is wounded within me.
23 I fade away like an evening shadow.
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak through fasting.
My body is thin and lacks fat.
25 I have also become a reproach to them.
When they see me, they shake their head.
26 Help me, Yahweh, my God.
Save me according to your loving kindness;
27 that they may know that this is your hand;
that you, Yahweh, have done it.
28 They may curse, but you bless.
When they arise, they will be shamed,
but your servant shall rejoice.
29 Let my adversaries be clothed with dishonor.
Let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.
30 I will give great thanks to Yahweh with my mouth.
Yes, I will praise him among the multitude.
31 For he will stand at the right hand of the needy,
to save him from those who judge his soul.
110: A Psalm by David.
1 Yahweh says to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet.”
2 Yahweh will send out the rod of your strength out of Zion.
Rule among your enemies.
3 Your people offer themselves willingly in the day of your power, in holy array.
Out of the womb of the morning, you have the dew of your youth.
4 Yahweh has sworn, and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is at your right hand.
He will crush kings in the day of his wrath.
6 He will judge among the nations.
He will heap up dead bodies.
He will crush the ruler of the whole earth.
7 He will drink of the brook on the way;
therefore he will lift up his head.
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 109:21 The word translated “Lord” is “Adonai.”
Psalm 138: By David.
1 I will give you thanks with my whole heart.
Before the gods,[a] I will sing praises to you.
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple,
and give thanks to your Name for your loving kindness and for your truth;
for you have exalted your Name and your Word above all.
3 In the day that I called, you answered me.
You encouraged me with strength in my soul.
4 All the kings of the earth will give you thanks, Yahweh,
for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5 Yes, they will sing of the ways of Yahweh;
for great is Yahweh’s glory.
6 For though Yahweh is high, yet he looks after the lowly;
but the proud, he knows from afar.
7 Though I walk in the middle of trouble, you will revive me.
You will stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies.
Your right hand will save me.
8 Yahweh will fulfill that which concerns me;
your loving kindness, Yahweh, endures forever.
Don’t forsake the works of your own hands.
Footnotes:
a. Psalm 138:1 The word elohim, used here, usually means “God” but can also mean “gods”, “princes”, or “angels”.
John 16:1 “These things have I spoken to you, so that you wouldn’t be caused to stumble. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time comes that whoever kills you will think that he offers service to God. 3 They will do these things[a] because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But I have told you these things, so that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you about them. I didn’t tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I don’t go away, the Counselor won’t come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he has come, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment; 9 about sin, because they don’t believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to my Father, and you won’t see me any more; 11 about judgment, because the prince of this world has been judged.
12 “I have yet many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now. 13 However when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; but whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take from what is mine, and will declare it to you. 15 All things whatever the Father has are mine; therefore I said that he takes[b] of mine, and will declare it to you. 16 A little while, and you will not see me. Again a little while, and you will see me.”
17 Some of his disciples therefore said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you won’t see me, and again a little while, and you will see me;’ and, ‘Because I go to the Father’?” 18 They said therefore, “What is this that he says, ‘A little while’? We don’t know what he is saying.”
19 Therefore Jesus perceived that they wanted to ask him, and he said to them, “Do you inquire among yourselves concerning this, that I said, ‘A little while, and you won’t see me, and again a little while, and you will see me?’ 20 Most certainly I tell you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. 21 A woman, when she gives birth, has sorrow, because her time has come. But when she has delivered the child, she doesn’t remember the anguish any more, for the joy that a human being is born into the world. 22 Therefore you now have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.
23 “In that day you will ask me no questions. Most certainly I tell you, whatever you may ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full. 25 I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. But the time is coming when I will no more speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name; and I don’t say to you, that I will pray to the Father for you, 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father, and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.”
29 His disciples said to him, “Behold, now you speak plainly, and speak no figures of speech. 30 Now we know that you know all things, and don’t need for anyone to question you. By this we believe that you came from God.”
31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 Behold, the time is coming, yes, and has now come, that you will be scattered, everyone to his own place, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 33 I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world.”
Footnotes:
a. John 16:3 TR adds “to you”
b. John 16:15 TR reads “will take” instead of “takes”
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