Daily Studies
Wednesday, April 8
Pray….
O, Lord, you have called us to believe. I believe. Help, thou, my unbelief. Amen.
Read…
John 13:21-35
The background:
We learn that Jesus is “troubled in spirit” because he has just revealed that one of the disciples is going to betray him. Clearly, Jesus struggled with this. The word “troubled” refers to anger or indignation more than anguish or grief. Jesus goes on to explicitly tell them that one of them is going to betray him.
The disciples are perplexed by this revelation. They find it unfathomable.
The disciple, the “one whom Jesus loved” refers to John, the traditionally understood writer of this gospel.
After Judas receives the bread, the Bible says “Satan entered into him.” Bible scholars believe this statement testifies that what is happening here is more than the betrayal of a trusted friend. This is a betrayal of cosmic proportions. This act has to do with what is right and just and what is wrong and unjust. The arrest, conviction, torture and killing of Jesus is wrong on a universal scale.
Jesus then gives the disciples a new commandment or mandate from which we get the word “maundy” from the Latin “mandatum.”
Reflect…
1. This part of Holy Week is filled with emotion. Jesus is angry. The disciples are confused. Judas is caught off guard as Jesus identifies him as the one who is to betray him, something Judas surely did not expect. Why is it important that we learn about how Jesus is to be betrayed? Who does Judas represent? [Theologians love to discuss the drama of this dinner scene. The betrayal that is to come is thought to represent all of humankind in that even for Judas who accompanied Jesus in his whole public ministry and loved him, the temptation to betray is so real that he would succumb to it. In this way, Judas represents all of us who do the very thing we do not want to do.]
2. Jesus offers to his disciples and to all of us a new commandment—to love one another as he has loved us. How has Jesus loved us? How are we to love others in the same way? [Theologians say this commandment is the very hallmark of discipleship. Truthfully, there is nothing easy about loving others as Jesus loved us. Surely for many of us in these “stay at home” days, we are discovering how hard it is to always love one another as Jesus loved us. Jesus sacrificed himself for us. That is how he loved. We are to do the same.]
Act…
Fill in the blank.
Jesus has given us a mandate: to love one another as he has loved us. In doing this, he says, others will know that we are followers of Jesus Christ. Today, I will show others that I am following Jesus by loving others in this specific way: ____________________________________________________________.
Pray…
Thank you, Lord, for loving us so much that you would sacrifice your life for us. Give me the strength and the will to do the same for others. Amen.
Pray….
O, Lord, you have called us to believe. I believe. Help, thou, my unbelief. Amen.
Read…
John 13:21-35
The background:
We learn that Jesus is “troubled in spirit” because he has just revealed that one of the disciples is going to betray him. Clearly, Jesus struggled with this. The word “troubled” refers to anger or indignation more than anguish or grief. Jesus goes on to explicitly tell them that one of them is going to betray him.
The disciples are perplexed by this revelation. They find it unfathomable.
The disciple, the “one whom Jesus loved” refers to John, the traditionally understood writer of this gospel.
After Judas receives the bread, the Bible says “Satan entered into him.” Bible scholars believe this statement testifies that what is happening here is more than the betrayal of a trusted friend. This is a betrayal of cosmic proportions. This act has to do with what is right and just and what is wrong and unjust. The arrest, conviction, torture and killing of Jesus is wrong on a universal scale.
Jesus then gives the disciples a new commandment or mandate from which we get the word “maundy” from the Latin “mandatum.”
Reflect…
1. This part of Holy Week is filled with emotion. Jesus is angry. The disciples are confused. Judas is caught off guard as Jesus identifies him as the one who is to betray him, something Judas surely did not expect. Why is it important that we learn about how Jesus is to be betrayed? Who does Judas represent? [Theologians love to discuss the drama of this dinner scene. The betrayal that is to come is thought to represent all of humankind in that even for Judas who accompanied Jesus in his whole public ministry and loved him, the temptation to betray is so real that he would succumb to it. In this way, Judas represents all of us who do the very thing we do not want to do.]
2. Jesus offers to his disciples and to all of us a new commandment—to love one another as he has loved us. How has Jesus loved us? How are we to love others in the same way? [Theologians say this commandment is the very hallmark of discipleship. Truthfully, there is nothing easy about loving others as Jesus loved us. Surely for many of us in these “stay at home” days, we are discovering how hard it is to always love one another as Jesus loved us. Jesus sacrificed himself for us. That is how he loved. We are to do the same.]
Act…
Fill in the blank.
Jesus has given us a mandate: to love one another as he has loved us. In doing this, he says, others will know that we are followers of Jesus Christ. Today, I will show others that I am following Jesus by loving others in this specific way: ____________________________________________________________.
Pray…
Thank you, Lord, for loving us so much that you would sacrifice your life for us. Give me the strength and the will to do the same for others. Amen.
