Lent: Day 27

Some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean when he says, ‘A little while, and you won’t see me, and again a little while, and you will see me;’ and, ‘Because I go to the Father’? We don’t know what he is saying.”

Jesus understood what they wanted to ask him, and said to them, “Do you wonder what this means? You will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she gives birth, suffers because her time has come. When she has delivered the child, she doesn’t remember the anguish anymore because of her joy that a baby is born. You now suffer, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

“In that day you will ask me no questions. Whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give you. Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full. I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. But the time is coming when I will no more speak to you in figures of speech, but will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in my name; I don’t say I will pray to the Father for you, for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me, and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father, and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.”

His disciples said to him, “Now you speak plainly without figures of speech. Now we know that you know all things, and don’t need for anyone to question you. By this we believe you came from God.”

Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? The time has come that you will be scattered, each of you to your own place, and you will abandon me. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world.”

Reflection

The disciples had listened to Jesus for three years, but still struggled to understand what he meant by his death and resurrection. This was not the triumphant Messiah they had been told to expect. Have your expectations ever gotten in the way of seeing God at work in your life? Have you ever had sorrow turn to joy? 

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for your comforting presence in the midst of my sorrow.

Lent: Day 26

“When the Counselor I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will testify about me. You will also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.

“These things I have told you, so you wouldn’t stumble. You will be put out of the synagogues. Yes, the time is coming when whoever kills you will see it as a service to God. They will do these things because they have known neither the Father nor me. I have told you these things, so when the time comes, you’ll remember I told you about them. I didn’t tell you these things earlier, because I was with you. Now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart. 

I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage I go away, for if I don’t go away, the Counselor won’t come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. When he has come, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment; about sin, because they don’t believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to my Father, and you won’t see me anymore; about judgment, because the prince of this world has been judged.

“I have yet many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now. However when the Spirit of truth has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he will not speak from himself; whatever he hears, he will speak. He will declare to you things that are coming. He will glorify me, for he will take from what is mine, and will declare it to you. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said he takes of mine, and will declare it to you. A little while, and you will not see me. Again a little while, and you will see me.”

Reflection

 

More than simply a comforting sense of God’s presence, the Holy Spirit plays an active role in the lives of believers, bestowing spiritual gifts, developing spiritual fruit, guiding and directing. Can you think of times when you have sensed the Holy Spirit’s presence and power in your life? Can you tell the difference between your own ideas and those coming from the Holy Spirit? 

Prayer: Fill me with your Spirit, Lord, that I might make a difference in the lives of others.

Lent: Day 25

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit. You are already pruned because of the word I have spoken to you. Dwell in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself, unless it dwells in the vine, so neither can you, unless you dwell in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you dwell in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you don’t dwell in me, you will be cut off like a branch that withers; these are good only to gather, throw into the fire, and burn. If you dwell in me, and my words dwell in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.

“In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples. Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Dwell in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will dwell in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments and dwell in his love. I have spoken these things to you that my joy may dwell in you, and that your joy may be made full.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another even as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, to lay down your life for your friends. You are my friends, if you do what I tell you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant doesn’t know what the master does. I have called you friends because everything I heard from my Father I have made known to you. You didn’t choose me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should last; whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give you.

 “I tell you to love one another. If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. You are not of the world because I chose you out of the world. Therefore the world hates you. Remember the word I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his lord.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they would keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for my name’s sake, because they don’t know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they wouldn’t have been guilty; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 

Whoever hates me, hates my Father also. If I hadn’t done among them the works no one else did, they wouldn’t have been guilty. But now have they seen and hated both me and my Father. This fulfilled what was written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’

Reflection

 

The word “dwell” appears repeatedly in this passage, and is sometimes translated as “abide,” “remain,” or “live in.” This intimate connection with Jesus allows us to be fruitful even when the world stands in opposition to us. What does this idea of “dwell” look like in your life? Would you say your connection with Jesus is becoming more intimate or that you are drifting apart? 

Prayer: Draw me close to you, Lord, that I might increasingly dwell in your love and extend your love to others.