Patrick Comerford
We are now in the last two weeks of Lent, and this week began with the Fifth Sunday in Lent (Lent V), sometimes still known as Passion Sunday.
Later this evening, I have a meeting of the Town Centre Working Group in Stony Stratford. But, before today begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:
1, reading today’s Gospel reading;
2, a short reflection;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;
4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.
John 8: 21-30 (NRSVA):
21 Again he said to them, ‘I am going away, and you will search for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.’ 22 Then the Jews said, ‘Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means by saying, “Where I am going, you cannot come”?’ 23 He said to them, ‘You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.’ 25 They said to him, ‘Who are you?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Why do I speak to you at all? 26 I have much to say about you and much to condemn; but the one who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.’ 27 They did not understand that he was speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me. 29 And the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.’ 30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.
Today’s Reflection:
The conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders in Jerusalem continues in the Gospel reading at the Eucharist (John 8: 21-30). In today’s reading, they become exasperated with Jesus and they challenge him, ‘Who are you?’ (verse 25).
Jesus tells them that when they lift him up, they will know who he is. With the benefit of hindsight, we know he is talking about the cross, but they are even more perplexed.
Jesus says in these verses, ‘I am going away, and you will search for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come’ (verse 21). The people around him respond with confusion, asking, ‘Is he going to kill himself?’ (verse 22).
They do not understand what Jesus is really saying. He continues, ‘You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he’ (verses 23-24).
In this reading, Jesus emphasises that without faith in him, there is no understanding or salvation. The people listening try to comprehend his words with logic, but their confusion shows how difficult it is to grasp spiritual truth without faith.
Then in verse 28, Jesus makes a powerful statement: ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realise that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me.’
We are ten days away from Good Friday, and here Jesus is referring to his crucifixion, when he will be ‘lifted up,’ just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness to bring healing. When Jesus is lifted up on the cross, he will draw all people to himself, offer hope to a desperate, suffering and divided world.
Today’s Prayers (Tuesday 8 April 2025):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is ‘Healthcare in Bangladesh.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday with a Programme Update by Suvojit Mondal, Programme Director for the Church of Bangladesh Community Healthcare Programme in Dhaka.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Tuesday 8 April 2025) invites us to pray:
Pray for strength, wisdom, and compassion for the healthcare workers, volunteers, and staff who dedicate themselves to this mission, as well as for the leadership of the moderator and deputy moderator, whose guidance and administrative support enable the clinic’s smooth operation.
The Collect:
Most merciful God,
who by the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ
delivered and saved the world:
grant that by faith in him who suffered on the cross
we may triumph in the power of his victory;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post Communion Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ,
you have taught us
that what we do for the least of our brothers and sisters
we do also for you:
give us the will to be the servant of others
as you were the servant of all,
and gave up your life and died for us,
but are alive and reign, now and for ever.
Additional Collect:
Gracious Father,
you gave up your Son
out of love for the world:
lead us to ponder the mysteries of his passion,
that we may know eternal peace
through the shedding of our Saviour’s blood,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday’s Reflection
Continued Tomorrow
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
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