Lent: The bread of life

Lord of my life and Lord of my death And you belong to Christ, And Christ belongs to God. 1 Corinthians 3:23   Read John 11:20—27 The question of life and death is before me. The question of healing, and of how long I have still to live this life. It is bound up with…

Lent: The bread of life

This body The one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus,  And bring us with you into his presence. 2 Corinthians 4:14   Read 2 Corinthians 4:7—12 This body of mine will soon be ready for its daily rest. It does not go on forever. It stops and restarts. It’s the…

Lent: The bread of life

I am the Father’s gift to the Son Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, And anyone who comes to me I will never drive away. John 6:37   Read John 6:30—35 Here is a little slice of life, what goes on in any crowd gathered around Jesus, maybe around some of…

Lent: The bread of life

The widow’s offering Blessed are you who are poor, For yours is the kingdom of God. Luke 6:20   Read Mark 12:41—44 This woman is one of the very special people of my life. I should like to follow her home, to leave the crowd at the temple behind, to see where she lived. I…

Lent: The bread of life

Properly hungry When you give it to them, they gather it up; When you open your hand, they are filled with good things. Psalm 104:28   Read John 6:30—35 I know hunger. I know it when I miss one meal. I call it ‘gnawing hunger’ because it eats into me. It speaks to my body.…

Lent: The bread of life

Wretched ingratitude Bless the Lord, O my soul, And do not forget all his benefits. Psalm 103:2   Read Exodus 16:1-9 It is a most remarkable thing that I can have this for my evening reading, this ancient record. It is from Israel’s treasured scripture. How come they preserved it? Like so much else in…

Lent: The bread of life

More than the catering Bread of heaven, bread of heaven, Feed me now and evermore. William Williams   Read John 6:4-14 I wonder why the writer slips in the time note that the Passover was near. All the attention had to be on how to get the people catered for, and there wasn’t much of…

Lent: The Lamb of God

The Lamb has broken the seal To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb Be blessing and honour and glory and might. Revelation 5:13   Read Revelation 5:6-12 The scroll is sealed. The purpose, the point, the goal, the meaning, the direction, the significance of all things is all sealed up. This…

Lent: The Lamb of God

The suffering of the faithful Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I want, but what you want. Mark 14:36   Read Jeremiah 11:18—20 Tonight I take for my meditation the plight of Jeremiah, misunderstood in the face of his own people. He saw the faithlessness of the times in which he lived. He…

Lent: The Lamb of God

Finding those who belong Then I will teach transgressors your ways, And sinners will return to you. Psalm 51:13   Read Acts 18:5—11 Paul was a doughty customer. Even when he was warned by a messenger from God that he was heading for persecution if he went up to Jerusalem, it did not stop him…