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Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries
by Pastor Ken Klaus, Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour "Last Requests" for Saturday, April 29, 2017
1 John 4:19 - We love because He first loved us.
The doctors at Denmark's Aarhus University Hospital had told Carsten Flemming Hansen that he had a ruptured aortic aneurysm. Then they told the 75-year-old Hansen that he was too sick to have surgery.
Translating the doctor's words so everybody can understand -- those MDs were telling Hansen he had days, maybe hours, to live. The news got Hansen thinking. He asked himself, "Do I have a last wish? Is there something I want to do with the time left to me?" Eventually, Hansen came up with an answer to his question. He told his nurse, Rikke Kvist, "I wish I could have one last cigarette and a glass of wine."
Now to you and me, that may sound like a frivolous last request. No matter how nurse Kvist might have felt personally, she decided to try and fulfill her patient's wish. That meant she had to petition the hospital for an exemption to their ironclad "no smoking" policy.
The hospital officials agreed when Nurse Kvist said she could wheel Hansen and his bed out to the hospital balcony. A few days later the hospital released a touching photo of Hansen, surrounded by his family, enjoying his smoke and a glass of white wine, as the sun set.
Now, Mr. Hansen's request might not be yours. It certainly isn't mine.
That being said, the story got me wondering: if the physicians told me my time on this earth was extremely limited, what would I do? What would be my last request? Would it be something as simple as a glass of wine and a sunset? Would it be the kind of wish that called for months of planning and a small fortune to make a reality?
Seriously, take a moment and ask yourself what would you do if you were limited to 24 hours?
Did you ever think of the requests Jesus made in His last 24-hour-period with His disciples? There are a number of things He requested:
1. He told His disciples they ought to serve others.
2. He asked them to stay awake with Him in the Garden.
3. He prayed that if it were possible the "cup of suffering" might be taken away from Him. (It was a wish followed by another wish, namely, that the Lord's "will be done.")
4. From the cross, He asked His Father to forgive the sins of those who put Him there.
5. He asked John to take care of His mother.
You will note that very few of Jesus' requests centered on Himself. Most of them were concerned with the physical and spiritual future of those He was leaving behind. From the mouth of anyone else, it would be a surprising list.
Coming from the Savior -- whose entire life was spent saving a lost and sinful world -- it is not a shock. It's the kind of thing our heaven-sent Redeemer would do.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, for Your thinking of sinners, I give thanks. For living Your life to save those sinners, I praise Your Name. For making me a saved soul, I shall always be in Your debt. May I acknowledge that debt in serving You every day of my life. In Your Name. Amen.
The story upon which this Daily Devotion is based was written by Evann Gastaldo for Newser on April 20, 2017. The website where the parent article can be found is: www.newser.com/story/241104/patients-last-wish-granted-a-cigarette-and-a-glass-of-wine.html
In Christ I remain His servant and yours,
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker Emeritus of The Lutheran Hour
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible in a Year Reading: 1 Samuel 17-18; Luke 20:27-471 Samuel 17:1 The P’lishtim rallied their troops for war, assembling at Sokhoh in Y’hudah and setting up camp between Sokhoh and ‘Azekah in Efes-Damim. 2 Sha’ul and the men of Isra’el assembled, set up camp in the Elah Valley and drew up their battle line opposite the P’lishtim. 3 The P’lishtim occupied a position on one hill and Isra’el a position on another hill, with a valley between them.
4 There came out a champion from the camp of the P’lishtim named Golyat, from Gat, who was nine feet nine inches tall. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he wore a bronze armor plate weighing 120 pounds. 6 He had bronze armor protecting his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was as big as a weaver’s beam, and the iron spearhead weighed fifteen pounds. His shield-bearer went ahead of him. 8 He stood and yelled at the armies of Isra’el, “Why come out and draw up a battle line? I’m a P’lishti, and you are servants of Sha’ul, so choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he can fight me and kill me, we’ll be your slaves; but if I beat him and kill him, you will become slaves and serve us.” 10 The P’lishti added, “I challenge Isra’el’s armies today — give me a man, and we’ll fight it out!” 11 When Sha’ul and all Isra’el heard those words of the P’lishti, they were shaken and terrified.
12 Now David was the son of that Efrati from Beit-Lechem in Y’hudah named Yishai. He had eight sons; and in the time of Sha’ul he was old — the years had taken their toll. 13 Yishai’s three oldest sons had followed Sha’ul to battle; the names of his three sons who went to battle were Eli’av the firstborn, next to him Avinadav, and the third Shammah. 14 David was the youngest; the three oldest followed Sha’ul. 15 David went back and forth from Sha’ul to pasture his father’s sheep at Beit-Lechem. 16 Meanwhile, the P’lishti approached with his challenge every morning and evening for forty days.
17 Yishai said to David his son, “Please take your brothers five bushels of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread; hurry, and carry them to your brothers at the camp. 18 Also bring these ten cheeses to their field officer. Find out if your brothers are well, and bring back some token from them. 19 Sha’ul and your brothers, with all the army of Isra’el, are in the Elah Valley, fighting the P’lishtim.”
20 David got up early in the morning, left the sheep with a helper, took his load and set out, as Yishai had ordered him. He arrived at the barricade of the camp just as the troops were going out to their battle stations and shouting the war cry. 21 Isra’el and the P’lishtim had set up their battle lines facing each other. 22 David left his equipment in charge of the equipment guard, ran to the troops, went to his brothers and asked if they were well. 23 As he was talking with them, there came the champion, the P’lishti from Gat named Golyat, from the ranks of the P’lishtim, saying the same words as before; and David heard them. 24 When the soldiers from Isra’el saw the man, they all ran away from him, terrified. 25 The soldiers from Isra’el said [to each other], “You saw that man who just came up? He has come to challenge Isra’el. To whoever kills him, the king will give a rich reward; he’ll also give him his daughter and exempt his father’s family from all service and taxes in Isra’el.” 26 David said to the men standing with him, “What reward will be given to the man who kills this P’lishti and removes this disgrace from Isra’el? Who is this uncircumcised P’lishti anyway, that he challenges the armies of the living God?” 27 The people answered with what they had been saying, adding, “That’s what will be done for the man who kills him.” 28 Eli’av his oldest brother heard when David spoke to the men, and it made Eli’av angry at him. He asked, “Why did you come down here? With whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is! You just came down to watch the fighting.” 29 David said, “What have I done now? I only asked a question.” 30 He turned away from him to someone else and asked the same question, and the people gave him the same answer.
31 David’s words were overheard and told to Sha’ul, who summoned him. 32 David said to Sha’ul, “No one should lose heart because of him; your servant will go and fight this P’lishti.” 33 Sha’ul said to David, “You can’t go to fight this P’lishti — you’re just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth!” 34 David answered Sha’ul, “Your servant used to guard his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear would come and grab a lamb from the flock, 35 I would go after it, hit it, and snatch the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned on me, I would catch it by the jaw, smack it and kill it. 36 Your servant has defeated both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised P’lishti will be like one of them, because he has challenged the armies of the living God.” 37 Then David said, “Adonai, who rescued me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will rescue me from the paw of this P’lishti!” Sha’ul said to David, “Go; may Adonai be with you.”
38 Sha’ul dressed David in his own armor — he put a bronze helmet on his head and gave him armor plate to wear. 39 David buckled his sword on his armor and tried to walk, but he wasn’t used to such equipment. David said to Sha’ul, “I can’t move wearing these things, because I’m not used to them.” So David took them off. 40 Then he took his stick in his hand and picked five smooth stones from the riverbed, putting them in his shepherd’s bag, in his pouch. Then, with his sling in his hand, he approached the P’lishti. 41 The P’lishti, with his shield-bearer ahead of him, came nearer and nearer to David. 42 The P’lishti looked David up and down and had nothing but scorn for what he saw — a boy with ruddy cheeks, red hair and good looks. 43 The P’lishti said to David, “Am I a dog? Is that why you’re coming at me with sticks?” — and the P’lishti cursed David by his god. 44 Then the P’lishti said to David, “Come here to me, so I can give your flesh to the birds in the air and the wild animals.” 45 David answered the P’lishti, “You’re coming at me with a sword, a spear and a javelin. But I’m coming at you in the name of Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of the armies of Isra’el, whom you have challenged. 46 Today Adonai will hand you over to me. I will attack you, lop your head off, and give the carcasses of the army of the P’lishtim to the birds in the air and the animals in the land. Then all the land will know that there is a God in Isra’el, 47 and everyone assembled here will know that Adonai does not save by sword or spear. For this is Adonai’s battle, and he will hand you over to us.” 48 When the P’lishti got up, approached and came close to meet David, David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the P’lishti. 49 David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, and hurled it with his sling. It struck the P’lishti in his forehead and buried itself in his forehead, so that he fell face down on the ground. 50 Thus David defeated the P’lishti with a sling and a stone, striking the P’lishti and killing him; but David had no sword in his hand. 51 Then David ran and stood over the P’lishti, took his sword, drew it out of its sheath, and finished killing him, cutting off his head with it.
When the P’lishtim saw that their hero was dead, they fled. 52 The men of Isra’el and Y’hudah got up, shouting, and pursued the P’lishtim all the way to Gat and the gates of ‘Ekron. The wounded P’lishtim fell down all along the road from Sha‘arayim to Gat and ‘Ekron. 53 After chasing the P’lishtim, the army of Isra’el returned and plundered their camp.
54 David took the head of the P’lishti and brought it to Yerushalayim, but he put the armor of the P’lishti in his tent.
55 When Sha’ul saw David go out to fight the P’lishti, he said to Avner, the army’s commander, “Avner, whose son is this boy?” “By your life, O king,” Avner replied, “I don’t know.” 56 The king said, “Find out whose son this boy is.” 57 As David returned from killing the P’lishti, Avner took him and brought him to Sha’ul with the head of the P’lishti in his hand. 58 Sha’ul asked him, “Young man, whose son are you?” David answered, “I am the son of your servant Yishai the Beit-Lachmi.”
18;1 By the time David had finished speaking to Sha’ul, Y’honatan found himself inwardly drawn by David’s character, so that Y’honatan loved him as he did himself. 2 That day, Sha’ul took David into his service and would not let him go home to his father’s house any more. 3 Y’honatan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as he did himself. 4 Y’honatan removed the cloak he was wearing and gave it to David, his armor too, including his sword, bow and belt. 5 David would go out, and no matter where Sha’ul sent him, he was successful. Sha’ul put him in charge of the fighting men; all the people thought it good, and so did Sha’ul’s servants.
6 As David and the others were returning from the slaughter of the P’lishti, the women came out of all the cities of Isra’el to meet King Sha’ul, singing and dancing joyfully with tambourines and three-stringed instruments. 7 In their merrymaking the women sang,
“Sha’ul has killed his thousands,
but David his tens of thousands.”
8 Sha’ul became very angry, because this song displeased him. He said, “They give David credit for tens of thousands, but me they give credit for only thousands. Now all he lacks is the kingdom!” 9 From that day on, Sha’ul viewed David with suspicion.
10 The following day an evil spirit from God came powerfully over Sha’ul, so that he fell into a frenzy in the house. David was there, playing his lyre as on other occasions. This time Sha’ul had his spear in his hand; 11 and he threw the spear, thinking, “I will pin David to the wall!” But David dodged out of the way twice. 12 Sha’ul became afraid of David, because Adonai was with him and had left Sha’ul. 13 Therefore Sha’ul put him at a distance from himself by making him commander over a thousand; his goings and comings became public knowledge. 14 David had great success in all his ways; Adonai was with him. 15 When Sha’ul saw how very successful he was, he became afraid of him. 16 But all Isra’el and Y’hudah loved David, because they knew about all his campaigns.
17 Sha’ul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merav. I will give her to you as your wife; only continue displaying your courage for me, and fight Adonai’s battles.” Sha’ul was thinking, “I don’t dare touch him, so let the P’lishtim do away with him.” 18 David’s response to Sha’ul was, “Who am I, that I should become the king’s son-in-law? I don’t have any kind of a life, and my father’s family has no rank in Isra’el.” 19 However, when it was time for Merav Sha’ul’s daughter to be given to David, she was given to Adri’el the Mecholati as his wife. 20 But Mikhal Sha’ul’s daughter fell in love with David. They told Sha’ul, and it pleased him. 21 Sha’ul said, “I’ll give her to him, so that she can entrap him, and the P’lishtim can do away with him.” So Sha’ul said to David, “Today you will become my son-in-law through the second [daughter].” 22 Sha’ul ordered his servants to speak privately with David and say, “Look, the king is pleased with you, and all his servants like you; so become the king’s son-in-law.” 23 Sha’ul’s servants said this to David; but David replied, “Do you think being the king’s son-in-law is something to be treated so casually, given that I’m a poor man without social standing?” 24 Sha’ul’s servants reported back to him how David had responded. 25 Sha’ul said, “Here’s what you are to say to David: ‘The king doesn’t want any dowry; he wants a hundred foreskins of the P’lishtim, so that he can have vengeance on the king’s enemies.” For Sha’ul was hoping to have David killed by the P’lishtim. 26 When his servants said these words to David, it pleased David to become the king’s son-in-law. Even before the time [for him to be married], 27 David got up and set out, he and his men, and killed two hundred men of the P’lishtim. He brought their foreskins and gave all of them to the king in order to become the king’s son-in-law. Then Sha’ul gave him Mikhal his daughter as his wife.
28 Sha’ul saw and understood that Adonai was with David and that Mikhal Sha’ul’s daughter loved him. 29 This only made Sha’ul the more afraid of David, so that Sha’ul became David’s enemy for the rest of his life.
30 The leaders of the P’lishtim would attack; but whenever they attacked, David was more successful than any of Sha’ul’s servants; so that David acquired a great reputation.
Luke 20:27 Some Tz’dukim, who say there is no resurrection, came to Yeshua 28 and put to him a sh’eilah: “Rabbi, Moshe wrote for us that if a man dies leaving a wife but no children, his brother must take the wife and have children to preserve the man’s family line.[Luke 20:28 Deuteronomy 25:5] 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife and died childless, 30 then the second 31 and third took her, and likewise all seven, but they all died without leaving children. 32 Lastly, the woman also died. 33 In the Resurrection, which one’s wife will she be? For all seven were married to her.”
34 Yeshua said to them, “In this age, men and women marry; 35 but those judged worthy of the age to come, and of resurrection from the dead, do not get married, 36 because they can no longer die. Being children of the Resurrection, they are like angels; indeed, they are children of God.
37 “But even Moshe showed that the dead are raised; for in the passage about the bush, he calls Adonai ‘the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz’chak and the God of Ya‘akov.’[Luke 20:37 Exodus 3:6] 38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living — to him all are alive.”
39 Some of the Torah-teachers answered, “Well spoken, Rabbi.” 40 For they no longer dared put to him a sh’eilah. 41 But he said to them, “How is it that people say the Messiah is David’s son?” 42 For David himself says in the book of Psalms,
43 ‘Adonai said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’[Luke 20:43 Psalm 110:1]
44 David thus calls him ‘Lord.’ So how can he be David’s son?”
45 Within the hearing of all the people, Yeshua said to his talmidim, 46 “Watch out for the kind of Torah-teachers that like to walk around in robes and be greeted deferentially in the marketplaces, the kind that like to have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets, 47 the kind that swallow up widows’ houses while making a show of davvening at great length. Their punishment will be all the worse!”
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Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
CHANGE THEIR WORLD. CHANGE YOURS.
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
CHANGE THEIR WORLD. CHANGE YOURS.
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.
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