The Daily Guide-The Daily Devotional grow. pray. study. The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection of Leawood, Kansas, United States for Sunday, 20 March 2016 – "Prayer Tip: The Power of a Suffering King"
Daily Scripture:
John 18:1 After Yeshua had said all this, he went out with his talmidim across the stream that flows in winter through the Vadi Kidron, to a spot where there was a grove of trees; and he and his talmidim went into it. 2 Now Y’hudah, who was betraying him, also knew the place; because Yeshua had often met there with his talmidim. 3 So Y’hudah went there, taking with him a detachment of Roman soldiers and some Temple guards provided by the head cohanim and the P’rushim; they carried weapons, lanterns and torches. 4 Yeshua, who knew everything that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Whom do you want?” 5 “Yeshua from Natzeret,” they answered. He said to them, “I AM.” Also standing with them was Y’hudah, the one who was betraying him. 6 When he said, “I AM,” they went backward from him and fell to the ground. 7 So he inquired of them once more, “Whom do you want?” and they said, “Yeshua from Natzeret.”
John 19:16 Then Pilate handed Yeshua over to them to have him put to death on the stake.
So they took charge of Yeshua. 17 Carrying the stake himself he went out to the place called Skull (in Aramaic, Gulgolta). 18 There they nailed him to the stake along with two others, one on either side, with Yeshua in the middle. 19 Pilate also had a notice written and posted on the stake; it read,
YESHUA FROM NATZERET
THE KING OF THE JEWS
20 Many of the Judeans read this notice, because the place where Yeshua was put on the stake was close to the city; and it had been written in Hebrew, in Latin and in Greek.
Prayer Tip"
At first glance, it is amazing to me that the crowds in Jesus’ day were able to go from crying “Hosanna in the Highest!” upon his entrance into Jerusalem and just one week later cry out: “Crucify Him!” To me, this dramatic contrast points to the fact that following Jesus left people living in a certain tension. To me, faith seems to depend on a willingness to dwell in the tension. Think of the crowd gathered for the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem. Sure, the scriptures point out that the people proclaimed “Hosanna in the Highest!” but we don’t get a lot of insight into what people were thinking... the things they whispered to their friends and family members on the walk home.
I imagine their thoughts might have gone something like this: Why doesn’t he look more prestigious? This isn’t the Messiah my grandparents told me about! Do people think I am crazy for getting caught up in the Jesus hype? There has to be some sort of magic in the “miracle” stuff. Does Jesus even care about me? He seems to pick favorites; I have issues but he popped in to see my neighbors and missed me! What are the consequences for aligning myself to closely with this Jesus guy?
As we come to worship Jesus this Palm Sunday, many of us come with mixed feelings akin to that first “Palm Sunday.” We have all encountered faith crises in our life that leave us asking tough questions and doubting God. So often, we give up faith in order to escape the tension it creates within us. Ask yourself: What difficulties are you facing that make you willing to throw in the towel on your faith?
This week, my prayer challenge for us is to realize the ways we would have been/are complicit with the words of the followers in that crowd. We, like those in the crowds, can be fickle. We can be easily swayed and grow tired of keeping the faith. Spend some time today asking God for forgiveness for the ways you have wandered away from following Christ. Commit to praying for the tensions in your life, asking God for strength and endurance to dwell in the tension that faith often creates.[Katherine Ebling-Frazier, Pastor of Prayer]
March 20, 2016 Sermons on the Gospel of John “The Power of a Suffering King”
Scripture:
Jesus went out with his disciples and crossed over to the other side of the Kidron Valley. He and his disciples entered a garden there… Judas brought a company of soldiers and some guards from the chief priests and Pharisees. They came there carrying lanterns, torches, and weapons.
Jesus knew everything that was to happen to him, so he went out and asked, “Who are you looking for?” They answered, “Jesus the Nazarene.” He said to them, “I Am.” (Judas, his betrayer, was standing with them.) When he said, “I Am,” they shrank back and fell to the ground…
John 18:1-7
It was about noon on the Preparation Day for the Passover… Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified. The soldiers took Jesus prisoner. Carrying his cross by himself, he went out to a place called Skull Place (in Aramaic, Golgotha). That’s where they crucified him—and two others with him, one on each side and Jesus in the middle. Pilate had a public notice written and posted on the cross. It read “Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews.” Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city and it was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek.
John 19:16-20
Jesus: “I AM”; Peter: “I’m not”
MONDAY 3.21.16 John 18:1-27
The authorities arrested Jesus. Peter, who said, “I’ll give up my life for you” (John 13:37), bravely drew his sword to defend Jesus. Had he kept fighting, he’d likely have died. But living for Jesus proved harder. Questioned by possibly hostile people, he three times denied that he knew Jesus—just as Jesus had warned he would (cf. John 13:38). The Gospel of John gives the most complete record of Jesus’ “trial” before Pilate. John 18:15-16 probably shows why—the gospel writer “was known to the high priest,” and so went in and heard the proceedings.
• As we’ve read John’s gospel, we’ve studied Jesus’ “I Am” statements (claiming God’s name from Exodus 3:14). Facing armed soldiers hunting “Jesus the Nazarene,” Jesus again said, “I Am.” Conversely, asked if he was a disciple of Jesus, Peter desperately said, “I’m not” (verses 17, 25). How do you self-identify in relation to Jesus, if at all? How can you allow God to empower you to live beyond the fear that paralyzed Peter?
• The soldiers took Jesus, not to a public court, but to the powerful high priest’s lavish home.
(See a model of what Caiaphas’ house may have been like by clicking here.) Peter, a simple fisherman from Galilee, probably found even the physical setting overpowering.
What things intimidate you or cause you fear? In what ways are you building a stronger, more resilient sense of your true identity, based on Jesus’ lordship?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I don’t like looking odd, facing ridicule, or standing alone. Keep me connected to your presence today, so that I can draw on your strength if I’m called to take an uncomfortable stand. Amen.
“My kingdom doesn’t originate from this world”
TUESDAY 3.22.16 John 18:28-40
The religious leaders carefully stayed ritually “clean” as they schemed to kill their God (in the person of Jesus). When Pilate, the Roman procurator, asked why they’d come, they exposed the
“kangaroo court” nature of Jesus’ “trial” by saying, “The Law doesn’t allow us to kill anyone.” Jesus refused to grovel or plead, as most prisoners would have, but simply declared his heavenly origin to Pilate. Pilate tried to find a politically palatable way to free a clearly innocent man.
• Who would dare answer Pilate as Jesus did: “My kingdom doesn’t originate from this world…. I came into the world for this reason: to testify to the truth”? C. S. Lewis wrote that a mere man who made such claims “would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell.”1 Pilate focused on his political career; the religious leaders reviled Jesus for
blasphemy. How does your heart respond to Jesus’ claims: lunatic, liar, or Lord and God?
• Pastor Hamilton wrote, “John’s account depicts Jesus as a King whose Kingdom is not like those of this world. It is a Kingdom that transcends geographic boundaries and even time. It is a Kingdom made up of all who believe in him, and seek to love God and neighbor. It is a Kingdom of truth, light and life.”2 What appeals to you about belonging to that kind of Kingdom? Do any of the qualities of Jesus’ Kingdom challenge you in any way?
Prayer: Lord of all, you came to testify to the truth, including the truth about who you are and where you came from. I believe the truth to which you testified, and I worship and follow you. Amen.
1C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity. (New York: Scribner, 1952, p. 41.)
2Adam Hamilton, John: The Gospel of Light and Life. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015, p. 125-126.)
Pilate asked Jesus, “Where are you from?”
WEDNESDAY 3.23.16 John 19:1-12
The religious leaders insisted—“we have a Law, and according to this Law he ought to die because he made himself out to be God’s Son.” Jesus had suffered much, flogged and abused by the Roman soldiers (cf. John 19:1-5). But the enemies who hated and feared him wanted
more. Even Pilate, a jaded Roman politician, thought perhaps something otherworldly was at work, and asked Jesus, “Where do you come from?” (John 19:9) Locked in their earth-bound outlook, the religious leaders never asked themselves if Jesus’ claim might be credible.
• Pilate avoided a riot, kept local rulers happy, upheld Roman power—all at the “small” cost of torturing and killing one innocent peasant rabbi. How did Jesus and Pilate’s dialogue in 19:7-11 show the contrast between external power and inner moral strength? When might you have to choose between pleasing a human power (even if it’s “just” social or family pressure) and doing what’s right? How do you nurture the God-given sensitivity and moral strength to do what’s right?
• “When Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, ‘Here’s the man’” (John 19:5). John seems to have planted a double meaning in this scene. On the one hand, we’ve mocked and hurt this man—won’t you pity him? Yet there was also a note of grudging admiration—somehow this man’s dignity and self-possession show us what it means to be human. How can Jesus, “the man,” help to sustain and strengthen you when you face relational or physical pain?
Prayer: Loving Lord, Pilate said, “Here’s the man,” and the religious leaders snarled “Crucify him.” You’re still “the man,” and I want to follow you, not crucify you. Come into my heart, Lord
Jesus. Amen.
Pilate: “Here’s your king.” Jewish leaders: “Crucify him!”
THURSDAY 3.24.16 John 19:13-22
Pilate asked, “Do you want me to crucify your king?” Turning their backs on not just their nation but their God, the religious leaders said, “We have no king except the emperor.” Pastor Hamilton wrote, “In a very real sense, this wasn’t Jesus’ trial at all; it was the trial of Pontius Pilate and the religious leaders…. because of Pilate’s concern for himself, he sent Christ to die. He may have helped his political career, but he failed the test.”1 Pilate sentenced Jesus to the cross. God in the flesh, without sin or fault, was condemned to die a brutal death.
• The sign on Jesus’ cross read “Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews.” Wavering in executing a guiltless man, Pilate now (too late) took a firm stand about the sign’s wording.
But John saw more—written in Latin, Greek and Aramaic, the sign proclaimed Jesus as king in the three great languages of the ancient world. What kind of a king reigns from a cross? What has to happen in your heart to allow you to serve that kind of king?
• At almost any other time, the religious leaders in Jerusalem would have said they hated Rome’s control, and the claim of Rome’s emperors to be divine. Yet in their fervor to see Jesus condemned, they shockingly declared, “We have no king except the emperor.” Are
there earthly “emperors” to whom you are tempted to give your loyalty today, above your loyalty to God? What can help you to always hold God as the supreme ruler in your heart?
Prayer: Loving Jesus, I pledge allegiance—first, above all else—to you and your kingdom. Deliver me from the urge to seek earthly power or influence by compromising that allegiance. Amen.
1Adam Hamilton, John: The Gospel of Light and Life. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015, p. 126-127.)
Jesus said, “It is completed,” and “he gave up his life”
FRIDAY 3.25.16 John 19:23-30
With Jesus on the cross, Roman soldiers gambled for his clothes (cf. Psalm 22:18). To them, crucifying criminals was routine. Jesus entrusted his mother to the care of “the disciple whom he loved.” He, the source of “living water” (cf. John 4:14) said he thirsted. John underlined Jesus’ identity as “our Passover lamb” (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:7) by specifying a hyssop branch (cf. Exodus 12:22). Then Jesus said, “It is completed” and died. At infinite cost, God’s great saving work for humanity was completed.
• Pastor Hamilton wrote, “In John, the final words of Jesus were ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30 NRSV). I had often interpreted those words to mean that Christ was exhausted and defeated. But then I learned that in Greek the phrase is expressed in just one word: tetelestai. That word is a shout of victory announcing that a battle has been won, a mission accomplished.”1 What kind of victory had Jesus won on the cross? In what ways has that victory changed your life for the better?
• “Good Friday,” we call this day—not because humans crucifying Jesus was in any way “good,” but because God’s transforming love brought eternal good out of that awful act. Let focused time with God make this a truly good Friday for you. Join today’s prayer vigil at Resurrection’s Leawood or West campuses, or the Good Friday service at Resurrection Downtown. For detailed information, go to www.cor.org/Easter.
Prayer: Loving Lord, on this Good Friday, I bow at the foot of your cross, and I commit myself anew to Jesus the Nazarene, the king of my life. Amen.
1Adam Hamilton, John: The Gospel of Light and Life. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015, p. 136.)
“In the garden was a new tomb”
SATURDAY 3.26.16 John 19:31-42
In the Genesis 2 story, human life began in a garden. In John 18:1 John alluded to Genesis by saying Jesus went into a garden. (People often speak of the Garden of Gethsemane, but none of the other three gospels used the word “garden.”) After Jesus’ death, John recorded that two secret, wealthy followers of Jesus provided for his burial. Again he noted that there was a garden where Jesus’ body was laid to rest. As Pastor Hamilton wrote, “Perhaps God the gardener, who took on flesh in Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection, has gone about setting the world aright. He has come to repair the garden.”1
• Note how final Jesus’ burial felt. No one said, “Let’s not waste the spices—he’ll be alive again on Sunday.” To Jesus’ followers it felt as though evil won, good lost, and death (as always) triumphed over life. What have been your darkest times, moments when hope
seemed gone and despair held you in its grip? Are you facing an awful situation or problems that seem insoluble right now? On this Saturday, join Jesus’ first followers in feeling deeply how dark this world can be. But do so in the trust that, in God’s world,
despair and darkness NEVER have the last word. Tomorrow is Easter.
Prayer: O God, for light in the darkness, for hope in the face of despair, for eternal life now and beyond death, I thank you and praise you. Create your new life in me. Amen.
1Adam Hamilton, John: The Gospel of Light and Life. (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015, p. 156-157.)
Family Activity: Jesus came to show God’s love to all people. Create a “Love one another” collage. Gather a piece of poster board, magazines, scissors, glue and markers. Invite one family member to write the title “Love one another” on the poster board. Ask each person to cut out pictures of various people, or draw pictures of them, and fasten them to the poster. When your family has completed the poster, take a moment to wonder aloud what the lives of these
different people are like. Say, “Often in everyday life we make assumptions or judgments about people we know and people we don’t know. God calls us to love all people with his love. How can we each do a better job of following the example of Jesus and sharing God’s love with the world? Ask God to help you do this.
Prayer Requests
Praise for the birth of Charles Joseph, 3/8
Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
• Joy Hilliard Donoho on the death of her mother, Ruth Stephen, 3/15
•Vicki Lyons on the death of her mother, Ruth Kenney, 3/14
•Sean Ryan and family on the death of his parents, Michael and Mary Ryan, 3/7 and 3/9
•Elektra Hendrickson on the death of her mother, Nikki Smith, 1/23
The Daily Guide-The Daily Devotional grow. pray. study. The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection of Leawood, Kansas, United States for Saturday, 19 March 2016 - “I pray they will be one, Father”
To support the goal of reading the whole gospel of John during Lent, some of the daily readings are longer than typical for the GPS. We encourage you: have an extra cup of coffee, use your lunch break—find a way to hang in there and read the entire gospel.
Daily Scripture: John 17:
20 “I pray not only for these, but also for those who will trust in me because of their word, 21 that they may all be one. Just as you, Father, are united with me and I with you, I pray that they may be united with us, so that the world may believe that you sent me. 22 The glory which you have given to me, I have given to them; so that they may be one, just as we are one — 23 I united with them and you with me, so that they may be completely one, and the world thus realize that you sent me, and that you have loved them just as you have loved me.
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am; so that they may see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 Righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you, and these people have known that you sent me. 26 I made your name known to them, and I will continue to make it known; so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I myself may be united with them.”As Jesus ended his prayer, he asked God to empower “those who believe in me because of their word” to live united in love. In other words, he prayed for Christians through the ages, including you. He didn’t pray for unity based on human “niceness,” but on a truly cosmic reality he invited all to take part in: “I pray they will be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you” (verse 21).
- Scholar N. T. Wright wrote, “Imagine some great figure of the past….who you respect and admire. Imagine that historians have just found…a letter from the great man. And imagine that it was talking about—you! How would you feel? That is how you should feel as you read verse 20. Jesus is talking about you. And me.”1 Just hours before he went to the cross, King Jesus was confident his kingdom would endure, prevail over the world’s hatred, and in time reach you. How does your heart respond when you realize that Jesus prayed for you?
Lord Jesus, make me a living, breathing answer to your prayer. I open my heart to the work of your Holy Spirit. Guide me as I seek to share your love and grace with everyone I meet. Amen.
Family Activity:
Read John 15:1
“I am the real vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 Every branch which is part of me but fails to bear fruit, he cuts off; and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes, so that it may bear more fruit. 3 Right now, because of the word which I have spoken to you, you are pruned. 4 Stay united with me, as I will with you — for just as the branch can’t put forth fruit by itself apart from the vine, so you can’t bear fruit apart from me.
5 “I am the vine and you are the branches. Those who stay united with me, and I with them, are the ones who bear much fruit; because apart from me you can’t do a thing.
Yvonne Gentile serves on The Church of the Resurrection staff as the Director of Connections. Yvonne directs the team that helps people get connected into the life of the church through service, studies, group life, and other ways of involvement.
The gospels tell us that Jesus prayed often, but today’s passage of Scripture is one of the few in which we are given a glimpse into whatJesus prayed. Jesus prayed for his disciples and for all who would come to believe in him because of the disciples’ words and actions — that’s us! And what was Jesus’ prayer for us?
Jesus prayed that we would be “one” just has he and God are one, working together with him to redeem the world. There is a specific purpose to this oneness — that people would see the love of God reflected in the way we treat one another, and through us, experience the love of God in their own lives. Our human nature is to focus on our differences and criticize what we don’t like or don’t understand. Jesus calls us to live a different kind of life.
I was reminded recently that the call to love one another isn’t a call to feel love, but a call to livein a loving way. Likewise, the call to unity isn’t a call to always agree with one another. It is possible to disagree with someone — to be true to our own opinions, feelings and beliefs — and treat the other person with respect and dignity at the same time. The Apostle Paul wrote these words in his letter to the Ephesians: “…I encourage you to live as people worthy of the call you received from God. Conduct yourselves with all humility, gentleness, and patience. Accept each other with love, and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together.”
May we each live that kind of life — worthy of our calling — humble, gentle, and patient, accepting others with love (even when we disagree). Then our lives will reflect the love of God,so that the world will know that God loves them, just as God loves us.
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The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
The gospels tell us that Jesus prayed often, but today’s passage of Scripture is one of the few in which we are given a glimpse into whatJesus prayed. Jesus prayed for his disciples and for all who would come to believe in him because of the disciples’ words and actions — that’s us! And what was Jesus’ prayer for us?
Jesus prayed that we would be “one” just has he and God are one, working together with him to redeem the world. There is a specific purpose to this oneness — that people would see the love of God reflected in the way we treat one another, and through us, experience the love of God in their own lives. Our human nature is to focus on our differences and criticize what we don’t like or don’t understand. Jesus calls us to live a different kind of life.
I was reminded recently that the call to love one another isn’t a call to feel love, but a call to livein a loving way. Likewise, the call to unity isn’t a call to always agree with one another. It is possible to disagree with someone — to be true to our own opinions, feelings and beliefs — and treat the other person with respect and dignity at the same time. The Apostle Paul wrote these words in his letter to the Ephesians: “…I encourage you to live as people worthy of the call you received from God. Conduct yourselves with all humility, gentleness, and patience. Accept each other with love, and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together.”
May we each live that kind of life — worthy of our calling — humble, gentle, and patient, accepting others with love (even when we disagree). Then our lives will reflect the love of God,so that the world will know that God loves them, just as God loves us.
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Download the GPS App
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
913.897.0120
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