Friday after Laetare Sunday
Posted on March 24, 2023 by under
Scripture: St. John 6:60-65 (NKJV)
6:60 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”
61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. 65 And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
Devotion
This may be hard to accept, but it is not hard to understand. The thought of eating the flesh of the Son of Man and drinking His blood was doubtless shocking to most of Jesus’ Jewish hearers. They saw consuming any blood as a clear sin against God. The Mosaic Levitical laws made it clear that the blood was God’s exclusively, because it contained the life of the creature, and thus could not be taken or consumed by man.
“What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending where He was before?” Then they would have all the more reason to take offense, for the Son of Man will ascend to where He was before by going to the cross, to a criminal’s death. When Jesus has ascended where He was before, He will bestow the Spirit on those who believe in Him. The Spirit will lead those who believe into all truth. He will enable the believer to understand that the flesh of Jesus is in fact the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, given for the life of the world. The Spirit will recall and confirm in the believer the divinity of the words of Jesus which gave His flesh this significance and power; thus the Spirit will give life.
Prayer: Grant, we beseech Thee, Almighty God, that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily deserve to be punished, by the comfort of Thy grace may mercifully be relieved; 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 Season of Lent
Almighty and Everlasting God, Who hatest nothing that Thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of Thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through 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.
