Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America

Wednesday after the Eighth Sunday after Trinity Sunday

Posted on July 28, 2021 by Pastor Dulas under Devotions
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Scripture: St. John 5:30-38 (NKJV)
 
5:30 I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.
 
31 “If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. 32 There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. 33 You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. 35 He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.
 
36 But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.
 
37 And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. 38 But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.
 
Devotion
 
St. John the Baptist bore witness to the coming of the Christ, but the authority of the Christ was in no way contingent on the testimony of John. John was sent to baptize and to proclaim the coming of the Messiah, but this was for the sake of the people, that they might repent before the Christ was revealed to them.
 
Our Lord teaches clearly that He did not need John to ‘vouch’ for Him; instead, Jesus notes that Jews had made inquiry of John and therefore they should believe the testimony of the one who was a prophet and more than a prophet (Matt. 11:9).
 
The Jews were infuriated because they perceived that “He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.” (John 5:18) The miracles demonstrated that Jesus is who He says that He is: “…for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.” This was testified to in every one of the Christ’s miracles, but above all, in the work of the atonement which the Christ performed on the altar of the cross (Heb. 13:10-12). Those who, by the work of the Holy Spirit, believe that which is taught concerning Christ’s atonement, receive the forgiveness of sin.
 
Prayer: Grant to us, Lord, we beseech Thee, the Spirit to think and do always such things as are right; that we, who cannot do anything that is good without Thee, may by Thee be enabled to live according to Thy will; 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.

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