A Daily Lent

Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent Daily Reading : John 10:31 – 42 Focus Passage : Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" "We are not stoning you for any good work," they replied, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God." (Jn. 10:31 – 33) The persons who wanted to stone Jesus appraised him as “a mere man.” We may find those words hard to fathom, knowing from hindsight what we do about Jesus. But we make similar appraisals about persons every day. We misjudge. We label. We categorize using all sorts of criteria and prejudice. Those standing with stones in their hands, feeling threatened by Jesus, considered him a “mere man.” We pigeon-hole those we see on street corners, in grocery stores, and sitting on park benches in all sorts of ways. Our characterizations over-generalize and fail to notice...

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent Daily Reading : John 8:21 – 30 Focus Passage : But he continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world." (Jn. 8:23) Jesus said to those pressing him, “You are of this world; I am not of this world.” The tone sounds harsh, especially given the context of the passage; however, I believe he implies no condemnation to being “of this world.” We are each “of this world.” Our humanity plants us in “this world.” Being “of this world” simply means that we are shaped by the structures of the “world,” that the society in which we live exerts tremendous influence on us, that our culture provides us a framework with which we do life. In a sense, you might think of this framework as a lens through which we see the world and life. Those who lived in Jesus’ first century world had a structure in which they lived, just as those of us who live today have a framework or paradigm with which we l...