Corona Devotionals

What would Jesus say to us today? ..."but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’  ( 6)  Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things.  ( 7)  But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.  ( 16)  Jesus went on to say,  “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”   (17)  At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying,  ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’  and  ‘Because I am going to the Father’ ? (19)  Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them...  (20) " Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief...

A little while back I got sick and it took me down.  For a few days, I felt like I was barely existing.  The only thing that made me feel better was sleep...and the daily phone call that my mother-in-law made to check in on me.  Each day until I was better, once-a-day her call would come and her voice would wash over me with authentic compassion for my recovery.  Every day when I hung up from her daily check-in call, I almost came to tears at the beauty of someone loving me with that much compassion. Compassion is a special thing.  It can't be faked, given superficially, or demanded.  Like love, compassion can only be given willingly.  And when it is, it's powerful. ~~~ I know some other women that shared their compassion at a time when someone needed it.  You know them too:  Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph,  the mother of Zebedee’s sons  and many others. Jesus had been betrayed by one of His disciples. ...

Now the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread were only two days away, and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were scheming to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him.  ( 2)  “But not during the festival,” they said, “or the people may riot.”  ~Mark 14:1-2 ~~~ What is truth? ( John 18:38) Is truth hiding the procedures and obstructing the due-process of an innocent man ( Son of Man )?  Is truth conducting il- legal processes under guise of "legal", and under the cover of (literal and figurative) darkness so that the public neither knows or can be informed of the (illegal) actions taking place? The Son of Man indeed goes just   as it is written of Him, but   woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed !  ~Matthew 26:24 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him,  “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs?  ( 53)  Ev...

Lord, you knew it all along... In the garden of Gethsemane, when your   soul was  overwhelmed with sorrow   to the point of death (Matthew 26:38) , and  you asked God, " My Father, if it is possible, may this cup  be taken from me"... You knew it all along... and Y ou (obediently) finished that plea with, " Yet not as I will, but as you will"  (Matthew 26:39). Lord, You knew it all along.  ~~~ Lord, You knew it all along. You knew that Peter would deny you three times the night before you were crucified ( “Truly I tell you,”  Jesus answered,  “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”  ~Matthew 26:34)...  but you also knew that You would forgive Peter (three times) and reinstate Him in heart and spirit.   When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter,  “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”   “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”   J...

I hope that like the woman with the alabaster jar , we can pause  for Jesus today.  We can adorn  our Lord with our affections today.  We can stop worrying (or even considering) what others think of our devotion to Jesus, and we can just be devoted to Jesus today . While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.   (4)  Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume?  ( 5)  It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.   (6)  “Leave her alone,”  said Jesus.  “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.  ( 7)  The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you wi...

A lot can happen in a week.  And a lot did happen in Jesus' last week (sometimes called "Passion Week" or "Holy Week"). On Sunday, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, being praised by the Jewish people while they worshiped Him as their Messiah. On Sunday evening, Jesus went to the the Temple, and drove out those who were dishonoring God within it's walls ( Matthew 21:12-13 ). On Monday. he cursed the fig tree ( Matthew 21:18-21 and Mark 11:12-14 ).  On Tuesday, Jesus was questioned about His authority ( Matthew 21:23-27, Mark 11:27-33, Luke 20:1-8 ),  He went back to the temple to teach ( Matthew 21:28-23:39, Mark 12:1-44, Luke 20:9-21:4 ), and that Tuesday evening, He was a nointed at Bethany ( Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9, John 12:2-11 ). On Wednesday, the plot against Jesus was formed: ( Matthew 26:14-16, Mark 14:10-11, Luke 22:3-6 ), and on  Thursday, Jesus shared in the Last Supper with His disciples ( Matthew 26:17-29, Mark 14:12-25, Luke 22:7-20, ...