PENTECOST • 3

Do we see the Lord as our deliverer?

SONGS FOR PRAYER

SET PRAYER

Most holy and eternal God,

you dwell in the heights of heaven,

yet you walk among those who refuse to see you.

Hold out your hand to those who rebel against you,

and free us from the chains that bind us,

that we may be healed by Christ

and proclaim his saving deeds to all the world. Amen.


reading for: Tuesday Night, 14 June

Luke 8:26-39

  • READ

    This week's gospel reading goes back to the Gospel of Luke, and the passage for this week is Jesus healing a demon-possessed man. Let us look at the story in greater detail.

    The story starts with Jesus and his disciples sailing to the country of the Gerasenes, opposite Galilee. When Jesus stepped on land, he met a man who had demons in him, wearing no clothes and living among the tombs.

    Luke 8:28

    When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me."

    This man was under the control of the demons, and the demons begged Jesus not to torment them. Jesus commanded the demons to come out of the man. When the demons begged Jesus not to send them into the abyss but into a herd of pigs feeding there, Jesus agreed to their request. They went into the herd of pigs, and the pigs went into the lake and drowned. When the people living in the city heard of this, they came to Jesus and saw the previously demon-possessed man completely changed.

    Luke 8:35-36

    Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed.

    The man was transformed from a man who wore no clothes hanging out in a tomb to a man who wore clothes and sat at the feet of Jesus. How would the people of the city respond to this miracle? The text tells us that they asked Jesus to depart from them as they were seized with great fear. The man begged that he might be with Jesus, but Jesus did not allow him to do so. Jesus instead commanded him to return to his home and declare the good works of God.

    Luke 8:39

    "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

    This is a story of a demon-possessed man delivered by Jesus from demon possession, and his life was completely changed.

  • REFLECT

    As we read this story, let us reflect on how God has delivered us from bondage in times past. Bondage need not merely be demon possession but can include all kinds of physical and emotional situations. Praise and thank God for how he has delivered you and changed your life.

    Perhaps, some of you might be facing some form of bondage now. Do you feel trapped in your circumstances or relationships? Do you feel powerless to your problems? This passage reminds us that Jesus is our deliverer and that he will surely deliver us from bondage in his plan and his timing.

reading for: Wednesday Night, 15 June

Isaiah 65:1-9

  • READ

    Isaiah 65:1-9 speaks of Jesus, the Lord who is both saviour and judge. Let us look at this passage in greater detail.

    Isaiah 65:1

    I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, "Here I am, here I am," to a nation that was not called by my name.

    Jesus on this earth was ministering to people that did not ask for him, being found by those who did not seek him. He was present to a nation that rejected him and was not called by his name.

    John 1:9-11

    The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

    As John reminds us, Jesus came to his own people, and they did not receive him. Isaiah continues to depict how Jesus is rejected by his people. These rebellious people do not follow after the ways of God, but they constantly provoke God and do not come near God.

    What is the outcome of these rebellious people who do not listen to the Lord? Isaiah declares that they will be judged by the Lord.

    Isaiah 65:6-7

    Behold, it is written before me: "I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will indeed repay into their lap both your iniquities and your fathers' iniquities together, says the Lord; because they made offerings on the mountains and insulted me on the hills, I will measure into their lap payment for their former deeds."

    The outcome of the people who reject the Lord will be judged. Isaiah declares that they will be judged. However, Isaiah also declares that the Lord will not destroy all but there will be people chosen by God to possess the land.

    John 1:12-13

    But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

    Jesus is the Lord who is both saviour and judge. He will not let the guilty go unpunished, but those that come to him will be saved and delivered.

  • REFLECT

    Jesus is both saviour and judge. How will we respond to him? Will we respond to him in rejection and be a people that are not called by his name? Will we be a rebellious people who constantly provoke him? Alternatively, will we be his chosen people who believe in him and receives him? Pray and respond to the Lord.

reading for: Thursday Night, 16 June

Galatians 3:23-29

  • READ

    Galatians is a letter of Paul to the church of Galatia rebuking them for teaching that Christians had to be circumcised in order to know God. Paul reminded his readers and hearers that knowledge of God comes from faith in Christ, who is the deliverer.

    In Galatians 3:23-29, Paul is in the midst of his argument that knowledge of God comes by faith in Christ.

    Galatians 3:23-26

    Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

    Paul writes that the law has its purpose as our guardian until Christ came. The law is not useless and has its place in the purposes of God. However, now that we are under Christ, we no longer need the guardian of the law.

    Galatians 3:27-29

    For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

    In Christ, we have been delivered by our deliverer, Christ. For if we belong to Christ, we are heirs of God according to the promise. The message of Paul is that knowledge of God comes not by the works of the law but by believing in Christ through faith.

  • REFLECT

    Jesus is our Saviour. By believing in him, we have salvation. We are not people of bondage but people who are saved and free because of Jesus. Let us use our freedom not as an opportunity to fulfill our own desires but use this freedom in love and service for one another.

    Galatians 4:13-15

    For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.

    Reflect and pray about one way in which we can love and serve others this week.

reading for: Friday Night, 17 June

Psalm 22:19-28

  • READ

    Psalm 22 is a psalm of calling on God for deliverance. It is a psalm Jesus quotes from on the cross. It starts with the psalmist crying to God asking why the Lord has forsaken him.

    Psalm 22:1

    My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

    This is a psalm in which David and Jesus, the true Son of David, are in a position of anguish. They are not being persecuted and are in great physical pain. However, they knew who their God was, and they trusted in God for deliverance.

    Psalm 22:19-21

    But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog! Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!

    They asked God for deliverance and did not rely on their own means. They did not try to save themselves. On the Cross, Jesus did not seek to save himself even though he could command legions of angels to deliver him. He did not do so but placed himself in the Father's hands, waiting for the deliverance from the Father.

    The psalmist then continues to praise the Lord and declares that the Lord is worthy to be praised.

    Psalm 22:23

    You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!

  • REFLECT

    Will we be like Jesus, who did not rely on his own strength and effort to save himself? He placed himself in the Father's hands and submitted his will to the will of the Father. Pray that we will learn to be obedient to God's will and seek to obey and serve him.

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