The Saturday after the Third Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on June 27, 2026 by under
Scripture: St. John 8:42-47 (NKJV)
8:42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. 43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”
Devotion
“You are of your father the devil…” As some would say, “Them’s fightin’ words.” Jesus’ words would hardly be classified as friendly. And yet, they are! Jesus makes it abundantly clear that you are either with Him and His Father, or you are against Him and His Father, just as the devil is against God. You either believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, thereby having salvation, or you don’t. There is no middle ground when it comes to faith in Jesus.
So what is it that still makes these words friendly? Jesus’ words serve as a warning, a loud and clear warning, to the church leaders of that time. If they did not confess their sin of following the devil, they would most certainly face God’s condemnation. Such warnings from Jesus do not come from hate, but from love. “Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’” (Ezek. 33:11).
God’s desire is for people to repent and trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. That is why Jesus told His disciples just prior to His ascension to preach “repentance and remission of sins” (Luke 24:47). God’s call to repent is out of His love for mankind.
Collect: O God, the Protector of all that trust in Thee, without Whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us Thy mercy; that Thou being our Ruler and Guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal; 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.
