Listen here.
Welcome to
Devotions for Worship where we meditate on the appointed Scripture readings for
the upcoming Sunday. I am Pastor Eric Tritten from Gloria Dei Lutheran Church
in Hudson, OH.
Thank you for
being with me today.
We’re very near the
half-way point of the Lent, and, as we’ve seen previously, Jesus continues to
point to His impending death and resurrection in our reading this week. He uses
one of the events when Moses was leading Israel in the wilderness as a parallel to his death – the raising of the
bronze serpent in the wilderness in Numbers 21. We’ll read that lesson next
time.
The Gospel
reading for this Sunday also has one of the most well-known, a most beloved
passages of the whole Bible in it. The reading is from John 3, and it includes John
3:16 – For God so loved the world….
Let’s read the
lesson.
The Gospel for
the 4th Sunday of Lent is John 3:14-21 (ESV)
The Reading:
John 3:14-21
And as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
15 that whoever believes in him may
have eternal life.
16 "For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not
perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into
the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved
through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but
whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in
the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the
light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the
light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked
things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be
exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so
that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God."
(Jn. 3:14-21 ESV)
Comments
The events that
Jesus references here, that we’ll read next time we come together, are about a
time that the people of Israel rebelled against God and against Moses, and God
sent poisonous serpents among them to bite them. When they cried out for mercy,
God instructed Moses to make a serpent out of bronze, to place it on a pole,
and He promised that everyone who looked upon the serpent would be healed if
they had been bitten.
Jesus is saying
that He will be like that serpent: lifted up so that those who look upon Him
with faith will be saved from the death that is slowly creeping through our
veins because we are sinners.
This is a very
powerful image that Jesus presents, and it is made all the more meaningful
because Jesus explains why He would be lifted up like this. He will be lifted
up so that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life because, “God so loved
the world.”
God’s desire is
not to condemn us, to kill us, or to see us destroyed. His will is that we
would believe in Jesus and be saved through His self-sacrifice on the cross.
His death is our life. He became the picture of what we deserved because of our
sin, and as He hung on the cross He defeated death for us by dying in our
place, and through faith in Him, we receive life … and not just life, but
eternal life.
Meditate on that
very familiar verse today: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only
Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Let
it ruminate in your mind, and remember to see it as the reason Jesus died for
you.
Prayers
Our prayer today
is the collect for 4th Sunday of Lent out of Concordia Publishing
House’s hymnal entitled Lutheran Worship.
Let’s pray.
Almighty God, our
heavenly Father, your mercies are new every morning, and though we have in no
way deserved your goodness, you still abundantly provide for all our wants of
body and soul. Give us, we pray, your Holy Spirit that we may heartily
acknowledge your merciful goodness toward us, give thanks for all your
benefits, and serve you in willing obedience; through Jesus Christ, your Son,
our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
forever. Amen.
Memory Verse:
Joel 2:13 - Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious
and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents
over disaster. (Joel 2:13 ESV)
Thank you so much
for using Devotions for Worship, I pray that our time together has blessed you
and given you something to meditate on – some reminder of God’s grace to rattle
around in your brain – for the rest of the day.
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favor? If you got something out of this devotional time, would you like and/or
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God bless you!
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