Festival of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist
Posted on December 27, 2023 by under
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 2:6-10 (NKJV)
2:6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But as it is written:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
Devotion
St. John, the Apostle and Evangelist, emphasized the truth and light of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the very wisdom that St. Paul writes about in 1 Corinthians. It is from God, not from the wisdom of man. It has been given to man from the beginning. Adam and Eve received the promises of the Seed. The people throughout the Old Testament were taught to keep the faith in those promises and look for God’s help and power as He fulfilled His promises. Now we have the ongoing history of His wisdom and power as it has been revealed by His Spirit in the Gospel of Christ crucified for our salvation.
Apart from this wisdom we would not know that the Baby born to blessed Mary was the Word of God made flesh. We would not understand that He was the very strength of God that would overcome worldly powers and save man from sin and death. Apart from God’s Spirit and enlightenment, we would be like so many others who pridefully and foolishly say there is no God, Jesus was not born of a virgin, and that His death was just the consequences of Him being a social trouble-maker.
But as we have been made alive in His Holy Spirit, we believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and we understand the deep wisdom of God that is proclaimed in His glorious Gospel!
Collect: Merciful Lord, we beseech Thee to cast the bright beams of Thy light upon Thy Church, that it being instructed by the doctrine of the blessed Apostles, may so walk in the light of Thy truth, that it may at length attain to the light of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord
Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that the new Birth of Thine Only-Begotten Son in the flesh may set us free who are held in the old bondage under the yoke of sin; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
