The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries of Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "The Serving King" by Rev. Wayne Palmer for Wednesday, February 24, 2016
TEXT: A dispute arose among them as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest (Luke 22:24).
Read John 13:1
It was just before the festival of Pesach, and Yeshua knew that the time had come for him to pass from this world to the Father. Having loved his own people in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 They were at supper, and the Adversary had already put the desire to betray him into the heart of Y’hudah Ben-Shim‘on from K’riot. 3 Yeshua was aware that the Father had put everything in his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God. 4 So he rose from the table, removed his outer garments and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 Then he poured some water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the talmidim and wipe them off with the towel wrapped around him.
6 He came to Shim‘on Kefa, who said to him, “Lord! You are washing my feet?” 7 Yeshua answered him, “You don’t understand yet what I am doing, but in time you will understand.” 8 “No!” said Kefa, “You will never wash my feet!” Yeshua answered him, “If I don’t wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 “Lord,” Shim‘on Kefa replied, “not only my feet, but my hands and head too!” 10 Yeshua said to him, “A man who has had a bath doesn’t need to wash, except his feet — his body is already clean. And you people are clean, but not all of you.” 11 (He knew who was betraying him; this is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”)
12 After he had washed their feet, taken back his clothes and returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me ‘Rabbi’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because I am. 14 Now if I, the Lord and Rabbi, have washed your feet, you also should wash each other’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, so that you may do as I have done to you. 16 Yes, indeed! I tell you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is an emissary greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.
18 “I’m not talking to all of you — I know which ones I have chosen. But the words of the Tanakh must be fulfilled that say, ‘The one eating my bread has turned against me.’[
John 13:18 Psalm 41:10(9)
] 19 I’m telling you now, before it happens; so that when it does happen, you may believe that I AM [who I say I am].How often are we so preoccupied with our own honor and glory, our reputation and well-being that we pass by hurting people all around us?
In tomorrow's devotion we will read what Jesus said about this dispute. But today we focus on the action He took in response. As we just read in John's Gospel, Jesus rose from the table without a word. He silently removed His outer garment, wrapped Himself in a towel, then stooped down and began to wash each of their feet like the lowliest household servant. Peter almost prevented Jesus from washing His feet because it seemed so beneath Him.
But Jesus insists. And He teaches them this is not the time for quarreling and arguing about our importance and our fame. It's time to focus on the people around us who need our encouragement, support and attention. More importantly, it's time to focus on Jesus: to contemplate His astonishing love and the tremendous sacrifice He is freely making for us and all people.
THE PRAYER: Lord Jesus, whenever I start to compare myself to others and promote my own recognition and glory, please stop me in my tracks. Remind me that You came as our Servant, submitting like a slave, and now that You have saved me, may I truly serve others in Your Name. Amen.
Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
Psalm 90: (0) A prayer of Moshe the man of God:
(1) Adonai, you have been our dwelling place
in every generation.
2 Before the mountains were born,
before you had formed the earth and the world,
from eternity past to eternity future
you are God.
3 You bring frail mortals to the point of being crushed,
then say, “People, repent!”
4 For from your viewpoint a thousand years
are merely like yesterday or a night watch.
5 When you sweep them away, they become like sleep;
by morning they are like growing grass,
6 growing and flowering in the morning,
but by evening cut down and dried up.
7 For we are destroyed by your anger,
overwhelmed by your wrath.
8 You have placed our faults before you,
our secret sins in the full light of your presence.
9 All our days ebb away under your wrath;
our years die away like a sigh.
10 The span of our life is seventy years,
or if we are strong, eighty;
yet at best it is toil and sorrow,
over in a moment, and then we are gone.
11 Who grasps the power of your anger and wrath
to the degree that the fear due you should inspire?
12 So teach us to count our days,
so that we will become wise.
13 Return, Adonai! How long must it go on?
Take pity on your servants!
14 Fill us at daybreak with your love,
so that we can sing for joy as long as we live.
15 Let our joy last as long as the time you made us suffer,
for as many years as we experienced trouble.
16 Show your deeds to your servants
and your glory to their children.
17 May the favor of Adonai our God be on us,
prosper for us all the work that we do —
yes, prosper the work that we do.
Leviticus 1:1 Adonai called to Moshe and spoke to him from the tent of meeting. He said, 2 “Speak to the people of Isra’el; say to them, ‘When any of you brings an offering to Adonai, you may bring your animal offering either from the herd or from the flock. 3 If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he must offer a male without defect. He is to bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, so that it can be accepted by Adonai. 4 He is to lay his hand upon the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. 5 He is to slaughter the young bull before Adonai ; and the sons of Aharon, the cohanim, are to present the blood. They are to splash the blood against all sides of the altar, which is by the entrance to the tent of meeting. 6 He is to skin the burnt offering and cut it in pieces. 7 The descendants of Aharon the cohen are to put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. 8 The sons of Aharon, the cohanim, are to arrange the pieces, the head and the fat on the wood which is on the fire on the altar. 9 He is to wash the entrails and lower parts of the legs with water, and the cohen is to cause all of it to go up in smoke on the altar as a burnt offering; it is an offering made by fire, a fragrant aroma for Adonai.
10 “‘If his offering is from the flock, whether from the sheep or from the goats, for a burnt offering, he must offer a male without defect. 11 He is to slaughter it on the north side of the altar before Adonai; and the sons of Aharon, the cohanim, are to splash its blood against all sides of the altar. 12 He is to cut it into pieces, and the cohen is to arrange them with the head and fat on the wood which is on the fire on the altar. 13 He is to wash the entrails and lower parts of the legs with water; and the cohen is to offer it all and make it go up in smoke on the altar as a burnt offering; it is an offering made by fire, a fragrant aroma for Adonai.
(ii) 14 “‘If his offering to Adonai is a burnt offering of birds, he must offer a dove or a young pigeon. 15 The cohen is to bring it to the altar, snap off its head and make it go up in smoke on the altar; its blood is to be drained out on the side of the altar. 16 He is to remove the food pouch and its feathers from its neck and discard it on the pile of ashes just east of the altar. 17 He is to pull it open with a wing on each side, but without tearing it in half. The cohen is to make it go up in smoke on the altar, on the wood which is on the fire, as a burnt offering; it is an offering made by fire, a fragrant aroma for Adonai.
2:1 “‘Anyone who brings a grain offering to Adonai is to make his offering of fine flour; he is to pour olive oil on it and put frankincense on it. 2 He is to bring it to the sons of Aharon, the cohanim. The cohen is to take a handful of fine flour from it, together with its olive oil and all its frankincense, and make this reminder portion go up in smoke on the altar as an offering made by fire, a fragrant aroma for Adonai. 3 But the rest of the grain offering will belong to Aharon and his sons; it is an especially holy part of the offerings for Adonai made by fire.
4 “‘When you bring a grain offering which has been baked in the oven, it is to consist of either unleavened cakes made of fine flour mixed with olive oil or matzah spread with olive oil. 5 If your offering is a grain offering cooked on a griddle, it is to consist of unleavened fine flour mixed with olive oil; 6 you are to break it in pieces and pour olive oil on it — it is a grain offering. (iii) 7 If your offering is a grain offering cooked in a pot, it is to consist of fine flour with olive oil.
8 “‘You are to bring the grain offering prepared in any of these ways to Adonai ; it is to be presented to the cohen, and he is to bring it to the altar. 9 The cohen is to remove the reminder portion of the grain offering and make it go up in smoke on the altar as an offering made by fire, a fragrant aroma for Adonai. 10 But the rest of the grain offering will belong to Aharon and his sons; it is an especially holy part of the offerings for Adonai made by fire.
11 “‘No grain offering that you bring to Adonai is to be made with leaven, because you are not to cause any leaven or honey to go up in smoke as an offering made by fire to Adonai. 12 As an offering of firstfruits you may bring these to Adonai, but they are not to be brought up onto the altar to make a fragrant aroma. 13 You are to season every grain offering of yours with salt — do not omit from your grain offering the salt of the covenant with your God, but offer salt with all your offerings.
14 “‘If you bring a grain offering of firstfruits to Adonai, you are to bring as the grain offering from your firstfruits kernels of grain from fresh ears, dry-roasted with fire. 15 Put olive oil on it, and lay frankincense on it; it is a grain offering. 16 The cohen is to cause the reminder portion of it, its grits and olive oil, with all its frankincense, to go up in smoke; it is an offering made by fire for Adonai.
---------------------The Lutheran Hour
660 Mason Ridge Center Drive
St. Louis, Missouri 63141, United States
1-800-876-9880
www.lhm.org
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St. Louis, Missouri 63141, United States
1-800-876-9880
www.lhm.org
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