30 April 2026 - Christos in charge

Today's Readings
(Audio)

But so that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
The one who ate my food has raised his heel against me.
From now on I am telling you before it happens,
so that when it happens you may believe that I AM.

The reason his disciples were going to be able to believe in him was not because he prevented the betrayal of Judas, but rather because he told them about it before it happened. Such is to say that since he knew these precise details he could have avoided it if he so chose. But rather he calmly and deliberately accepted it as a necessary part of his Father's plan. So too, often, in our own lives. We are explicitly promised that we will not be spared difficulties in this world. Jesus said, "In the world you will have tribulation", but also that, "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace" (see John 16:33). He did not choose an easy escape for himself, nor did he ask for one on his disciples' behalf: "I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one". The real reason they would be at risk from the evil one was not because of their circumstances. Rather, the danger would be that they would let the circumstances overwhelm their trust in Jesus. Things might often seem dire. Would they believe their own impressions and emotions about things or would they instead cling to what Jesus revealed in advance? It was precisely the fact that the crucifixion unfolded exactly as Jesus predicted that was meant to be a concrete demonstration of his divinity. He is also more than able to reveal himself in our own difficult circumstances if we continue to trust what he tells us about how they fit into his larger plan. Basically, as long as we refuse to believe that Jesus himself was taken by surprise, or that he somehow lost control, we can have peace no matter what we face.

Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master
nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him.
If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it.

One symptom of believing that Jesus is not in control is that we will begin to slack on our duty to be servants. The inherent corruption of people and institutions, the virtue signaling of the disingenuous, and many other things will make us wonder what after all is the point of continuing to pursue excellence. If circumstances are bad and are going to remain bad, why try? Why, unless it really is a part of the plan, a part of the dying that is required before the resurrection? Even the Church itself will often contend with corruption just as it did with Judas at the beginning. But even this is not outside of the scope of providence. Even from this God is able to bring great good.

We can see from the evangelization efforts made by the disciples in Acts that the main question, the thing that matters most, is what we believe about the identity of Jesus himself. Do we believe the superficial appearance of the circumstances? Or do we believe that narrative of hope that ran through David and the prophets and found fulfillment in when he came to live among us?

From this man’s descendants God, according to his promise,
has brought to Israel a savior, Jesus.

Phillips, Craig, and Dean - The Great I Am

 

29 April 2026 - not to condemn

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Whoever believes in me believes not only in me
but also in the one who sent me,
and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me.

Responding to Jesus was different from responding to another teacher, leader, or spiritual guru. A response to him reflected more than a mere personal preference about learning styles. Jesus was not speaking merely human words with which could legitimately disagree or which might be wrong. He spoke exactly the words the Father desired him to speak. Even in the way he interacted with others he perfectly revealed the nature of the Father's heart. Apart from this revelation there were not other sources of light, only different degrees of darkness. 

I came into the world as light,
so that everyone who believes in me might not remain in darkness.

People were entrusted with freedom to decide whether to remain in the darkness or come into the light. But judgment was fundamentally about where one finally stood. So if one had embraced the light, that choice would be ratified. If the darkness, likewise. 

And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them,
I do not condemn him,
for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world.

It wasn't as though Jesus had something personal against those who would be condemned. Rather, he simply told the truth about the way things were. He explained that salvation was only possible through him, since he was uniquely united to the Father, and therefore able to bridge the otherwise infinite gap between heaven and earth. He gave his audience a map or guide explaining what was necessary to experience salvation. They were free to ignore it, free even to walk straight off the cliffs it clearly demarcated. 

the word that I spoke,
it will condemn him on the last day,
because I did not speak on my own,
but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak.

He was not interested in watching people choose the darkness and then saying I told you so after the fact. He was not making the Father's word known only in order to make people more accountable, more liable to judgment. Rather, the purpose of his Father's plan was also his own. His Father's heart was that people would listen, respond, believe, and so be saved. And so this was the heart of Jesus as well. The Triune God did not delight in the death of the wicked (see Ezekiel 33:11) but rather desired all to be saved and come to knowledge of the truth (see First Timothy 2:4). What they desired for humanity, the reason for the commandments, for the mission of Jesus, for his words, was that humanity might regain what was lost in the Garden of Eden: eternal life, together with God forever.

We are meant to desire for ourselves and others that which God wants for us. We can see that the early Church shared the priority of Jesus regarding spreading the message of salvation far and wide. But the reason they were so successful is that they allowed themselves to be docile to the Holy Spirit, just as Jesus himself was docile to the Father.

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,
“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul
for the work to which I have called them.”

If we were this open to having our lives directed and orchestrated from above we could be sure that the Church would not look so lifeless and impotent as it in fact often does in our day. As Pentecost approaches let us try to open our hearts more to the Spirit, to listening to him, and then allowing ourselves to be used by him, together with a community of like minded Spirit-filled individuals to pray us on our way on this God-given path.

Paul Wilbur - Let Your Fire Fall

 

28 April 2026 - explain like i'm five

Today's Readings
(Audio)

How long are you going to keep us in suspense?
If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.

He had already told them who he was, that he was the one uniquely sent by the Father. They acted as though they couldn't understand and effectively asked Jesus to explain it like they were five. The suggestion was that if he spoke plainly enough they would have no choice but to accept his testimony. But that was not in fact the case. Their protests of incomprehension were disingenuous. 

Jesus answered them, “I told you and you do not believe.
The works I do in my Father’s name testify to me.
But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep.

The problem was not fundamentally one of the intellect, but rather one of the will. They had been invited to allow themselves to be drawn by the Father so as to recognize the voice of his designated shepherd. They had seen signs sufficient to validate what Jesus said of himself. Yet they still obstinately persisted in hardness of heart. They sought to shift the blame to Jesus. But they had been given enough to discover the truth if they wished.

My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.

Those who questioned Jesus may have been more interested in a Christ anointed for military conquest rather than one whose mission was more in keeping with that of a shepherd. Most likely, and this is like many of us, they did not fancy themselves as similar to sheep, and did not wish to evince the docility that was characteristic of such. Sheep seemed to be basically fluffy bundles of incompetence and weakness, antithetical to those who took pride in their great learning. However, only those who would let themselves be as sheep unto Jesus their shepherd could receive the rewards of his care and protection. They were the ones who would receive all the blessings promised in the twenty-third psalm. In particular, they were the ones who would not need to fear in the dark valley of death because he was present with them and said, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish".

The question might arise as to whether it was better for the Judeans to trade their apparent freedom for such security. But the false freedom that they would lose was not such as could ever satisfy them. It was a freedom of license, tending to addiction, dissipation, and eventual despair. By renouncing such freedom they would gain a still greater freedom of the daughters and sons of God. The freedom of falsehood is really nothing better than the demanding to drive on the wrong side of the road and closing one's eyes to the oncoming traffic. It is the freedom of stepping off a cliff and pretending gravity will make an exception this time. False freedom creates instability and fear. But the true freedom given by Jesus tends toward peace and confidence.

No one can take them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.

Just as Jesus was absolutely confident and at peace because of his relationship to his Father, so too can we be in him. There is no force outside of our own will that can take us from the hand of our God. Paul wrote of this in his letter to the Romans:

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (see Romans 8:38-39).

Elevation Worship - There Is A King

 

 

27 April 2026 - zero sum game?

Today's Readings
(Audio)

I am the good shepherd.
A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

In general, most shepherds worked for their own livelihood and that of theirs families. They expended effort because they had to take care of themselves. They had their own problems about which to worry. If they ever did anything brave or heroic to protect the sheep it was nevertheless not the sheep who were their primary concern. If they didn't take care of themselves, they thought, no one else would. Only Jesus, because he abided in the abundance of the Father, did not need to make a choice between himself and others. He didn't have to provide for himself or protect himself. His life was thus able to become, entirely and completely, a gift. It's true that other shepherds did not do this, not because they were bad shepherds, but because they were not the good shepherd. Good in this sense was like when the rich young man called Jesus good teacher, and Jesus responded that none were good save God alone (see Mark 10:17-19). It was a goodness of a different order, properly only to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It was the goodness that resulted from noncompetitive transcendent abundance.

A hired man, who is not a shepherd
and whose sheep are not his own,
sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
and the wolf catches and scatters them.

A hired man had to choose between himself and his sheep. And as Jesus says, he typically chose himself. This wouldn't have been a problem in an idyllic paradise with no wolves to threaten the sheep. But this was no longer such a world. Sin, death, and the devil, conspired against everyone. They used vice, addiction, and fear of death to manipulate and control people. In the face of such opposition the shepherds, who were not so strong as to triumph against such foes, fled to self-protection. This they did although they had been called by God to struggle heroically for the sake of the sheep. But at heart, they too were sheep in need of a shepherd. What were they to do but try to make the best of things and earn their promised pay?

I am the good shepherd,
and I know mine and mine know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;
and I will lay down my life for the sheep.

Jesus had a deeper relationship with his sheep than was possible for any of the hired help. He had knowledge of them was so complete that it was how the sheep were in fact created. It was that knowledge that continued to sustain them in being moment to moment. How might we describe knowledge of this kind? We get a glimpse of it from Jeremiah when God said to him, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you" see Jeremiah 1:5). The psalmist also sang of this mystery:
 
Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance;
in thy book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them (see Psalm 139:16)

The mystical knowledge of Jesus expands not only to what we now are but even unto our fullest potential. Thus when we allow him full access to ourselves and acquiesce to his desires for us, when we begin to believe what he tells us is true about ourselves, rather than what the world and the devil tell us, his knowledge transforms us ever more fully into what we are meant to be. This is the mutual gaze of love described by Paul:

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (see Second Corinthians 3:18).

That transformative gaze of mutual mystical knowledge is the same one spoken of by John in his first epistle: "we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is" (see First John 3:2). We are meant to be so transformed by his loving gaze that we begin to experience a similar abundance to what he himself feels from being known by the Father. The more we have this experience the more we are able to make gifts of our own lives, without counting the cost. The cost, from that vantage point, is only temporary. It can no longer threaten our true treasure, that which matters for eternity, God himself.

Dan Schutte - You Are Near

 

26 April 2026 - gatekeeping?

 

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate
but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.

The Pharisees and other religious leaders were among those who attempted to climb over elsewhere. Whereas Jesus won over the crowds by acting and speaking to them with sincerity and truth, others tried to poach his flocks by insinuating that he was incompetent or evil. They tried trickery and subterfuge to gain his sheep for themselves. But for all of their human cleverness they were lacking the key factor in the success of Jesus. He had the gatekeeper to open the gate, the authenticate his ministry in the minds and the hearts of the crowds. His Father drew those who were willing so that they could come to believe. The gate had in fact been prepared by previous generations of prophets, who promised the eventual coming of the messiah. Those prophecies, and thus the gate itself, corresponded only and exactly to Jesus himself. Not only that, but every human heart was also made so as to desire his coming. Jesus was the key designed to unlock all of those hearts that would otherwise remain closed. That is why people resonated so deeply with his words, and noted in him an authority that others did not possess. Many Pharisees and others were deeply envious of this rapport of Jesus with the crowds. After all, no matter how clever they were or how hard they worked they could never have the connection Jesus had his followers. 

When he has driven out all his own,
he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him,
because they recognize his voice.

The sheep of the flock of Jesus are drawn to him by the Father. In his presence they learn to recognize his voice. He knows more about them than any rival claimants to the title of shepherd, knows not only their names, but their deepest identities. His sheep feel seen by him, and in being seen, they feel his overwhelming love for them. They are known, known in their strengths and their weaknesses, warts and all, and yet are loved no less for their imperfections. There is no other gaze like the gaze of the good shepherd. Thus the sheep feel entirely confident to entrust themselves to his care.

I am the gate.

Jesus is both the way and the destination. Others sought the sheep out of short-sighted self-interest. They act beneficently toward them only long enough to get them to lower their guard so that they could begin to exploit them. They basically desired to possess the sheep for the sake of their own pride and self-image. There was no way that such shepherds could lead the sheep to any truly desirable pastures. Contrast this with Jesus, who came not to be served but to serve, not to exploit the sheep, but to save them. Rather than taking their lives to build himself up he laid down his own life for their sakes. To be fair, he had come to do something that only he could do. Only he possessed life in abundance. Only he was capable of sharing it with the flock. 

There are so many thieves in our world that desire to steal our joy and slaughter the life of grace in our souls. Only Jesus gives us life in abundance. But this is not merely a slogan, or a good title for a potential best seller in the genre of Christian literature. The life we are given is not merely a metaphysical reality that, while true, does not impact the experience of our daily existence. Rather, it is meant to transform us entirely. We should be noticeably different because of Jesus, just as Jesus himself was different from all others because of his Father.

For you had gone astray like sheep,
but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

As sheep we are prone to stray and to forgot, neglect, or minimize the blessings of the Lord. But sheep are not valued for their indefectability. It is rather docility that is the quality that is valuable. If we have strayed, well, we are sheep, not superheroes. The important thing to do at such times is to allow ourselves to be led back to our shepherd. He never ceases to call and chase after us, no matter how lost we become. He is not doing this job for his own sake and thus he does not hold a grudge against sheep for acting as sheep tend to act. Even if we've forgotten, he still holds the keys to our hearts. His words can once again do for us what they did for the crowd in Acts:

Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart,
and they asked Peter and the other apostles,
"What are we to do, my brothers?"

Most of us have already been baptized. But we may need to reconnect with that baptismal grace through repentence. If we do so there is nothing which cannot be forgiven, no sheep so lost that he cannot return to the fold. We may not have been open to the gift of the Spirit when we first received it. Even if we were, we may well have squandered his fruit. But it is not too late to open ourselves to him once more. What he was not free to do then because of our limited understanding or engagement he still has the power to do now. What may now be embers can be fanned into flames. This is good to remember as we move into the latter part of the Easter season and head toward Pentecost. It is precisely his gift of the Spirit that is the fullest expression of the abundant life he desires for all of his sheep.

Peter Furler - Psalm 23

 

25 April 2026 - mission dynamics

Today's Readings
(Audio)

Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.

We note the way Jesus expressed this command. More specifically, we note what he did not say. He did not say, "Go and use your cleverness and intellect to debate, argue, and persuade". He did not say, "Use your popularity and charm to sway those susceptible to emotional manipulation". He did not propose any of the normal human strategies that would be used to spread a merely human ideology. Of course his followers would also debate at times. The sermons of Peter and that of Stephen in the book of Acts both have intellectual and rhetorical aspects to them. And it is natural that the likability of many of the early disciples was also instrumental in helping them to establish relationships and spread the good news. But none of this was the primary plan as Jesus expressed it. Rather, he said something more along the lines of "Tell them how good it is and show them it works". It was not going to finally come down to how smart, charming, or persuasive they were since God would work with them and confirm the word as they proclaimed it.

These signs will accompany those who believe:
in my name they will drive out demons,
they will speak new languages.
They will pick up serpents with their hands,
and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.
They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

When the Kingdom breaks through it is as though a whole new dimension of reality has opened. Things that previously seemed impossible become possible. Whether this takes the form of miracles and supernatural signs or the more subtle workings of grace in human hearts it is clearly of a different order from the normal workings of reality elsewhere. People begin to give when there is nothing in it for them, they love even their enemies, they forgive even those who have heart them the most deeply. Apparently intractable addictions are overcome. Longstanding negative patterns of thought, speech, and behavior are transformed. Sorrow that is the natural result of life in a fallen world begins to give way to the joy that results from being connected to a higher one. We do not say this to overly spiritualize the miracles. God definitely did and still does move in power when such revelations actually help to move the will of nonbelievers to faith. He does not do so for entertainment, especially not for the entertainment of Christians who already have faith. But we see in the story of Thomas that there are no lengths to which Jesus will not go to reveal his resurrection to those with otherwise unbridgeable doubts.

Then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them,
was taken up into heaven
and took his seat at the right hand of God.

It wasn't as though he left and then left matters to the disciples. No, what he did was to claim the higher vantage point that was his right, his heavenly throne. From that point of view he would direct the Church on earth, and provide whatever support we might need to accomplish the mission entrusted to us.

We might wonder our own experience of trying to share the Gospel frequently seems so different from that described by Mark. We do not often feel as though we have much guidance. We are not often aware of heavenly help as we attempt, often awkwardly and inarticulately, to tell others about Jesus. But even in these instances we can be confident that God is at work, directing things from behind the scenes. He helps us to say things we would not have otherwise thought to say. And he opens the hearts of others to hear us. Yet it works still better if we have a practiced partnership with him. If we are used to listening to his word and conversing with him in prayer we will be more docile to his guidance when we really need it. He will give us the words we need when we need them. But we will be more open to those words if we are already used to listening to him and can more easily recognize his voice.

It is only when we are accustomed to the way God's providential hand directs both the universe and our lives, accustomed to it by repeated practice of cooperation with him, that we will trust him enough to do what Peter suggests in our first reading.

Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.

When we begin believe that he cares for us we also start to trust him enough to let him handle our worries. We are still sometimes tempted to try to reclaim them for ourselves and start worrying again. But each time we do, we can remember his love and give them back to him once more. We can know that he will do a better job with them and bring about results that surpass anything we could manage on our own. 

The favors of the LORD I will sing forever;
through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness.

 

Newsboys - The Mission

 

24 April 2026 - in the Flesh

Today's Readings
(Audio)

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
“How can this man give us his Flesh to eat?”

Bread and other forms of food were one thing. Food and drink were well known symbols, representing the reception of God's word and his wisdom (for instance in Sirach 15:1-3 and Proverbs 9:4-6). Jesus had deployed a similar metaphor when he said, "I have food to eat that you do not know about" and went on to clarify that "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work" (see John 4:32-34). The crowds therefore accepted the literal level of Jesus' meaning, which referred to the multiplied loaves. And they understood the context of the spiritual meaning about wisdom. Although the centrality of Jesus himself as bread in this context was still more than the wanted to accept. But when he shifted his metaphor to refer, suddenly, to Flesh, they were lost and disoriented as to what he meant. The purely physical was one thing. And the spiritual at least made sense. But the Sacramental and sacrificial dimension was beyond them. After all, it seemed to be at least superficially repulsive. It seemed inelegant compared to the pure abstraction of spiritual meaning. As far as they were concerned the incarnational element Jesus now raised placed too much emphasis on the carne, on the Flesh. They revealed their subconscious assumption that for them the world was divided into separate spheres of physical and spiritual that could not finally be bridged. The world of physicality seemed too messy God to truly dwell therein. Further, it seemed that consuming Flesh necessitated destruction, an inherently abhorrent concept. It required that the substance first be sacrificed before it could be shared. This was done with lambs and other animals precisely because it was too horrible and graphic to be done to men. We remember the angel that stayed the hand of Abraham when he was about to offer Isaac. All of this pointed to something necessary, but something as yet not accomplished. Isaac had not, in the end, been offered and "it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (see Hebrews 10:4). It was impossible to solve the problem from the physical side of things with mere representation. Even actual human life was insufficient to pay the unpayable debt owed by our race. But it seemed that the Spiritual side was too pure for it to somehow supply what was lacking. Until Jesus. Until he suggested that it was precisely him, precisely his Flesh that would do this.

Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink his Blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my Flesh and drinks my Blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.

The Flesh and Blood of Jesus poured out would accomplish something that neither man, nor disembodied divine wisdom could do separately. Taken in the metaphorical sense, the bread of wisdom did point the way to immortality. But it did so because the bread was eventually revealed to be Jesus himself, the wisdom of God incarnate. Thus receiving that bread was receiving his self-sacrifice on the cross. Those who were wise in the ways of God before Jesus came into the world were led by wisdom to look forward to his coming, and to hope in him, as did the prophets. But those of us who have come after are invited to come to Jesus himself, to taste and see the goodness of what he did for us.

Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.

Through the Eucharist Jesus gives us access to a higher and divine form of life. The communion that he naturally shares with the Father and the Spirit becomes a gift to those who share in the banquet of the sacrifice of the lamb of God, which reestablishes our own communion with God that had been offline since Eden. His Flesh becomes the source of a new and higher form of life that does not neglect of negate the physical but which will ultimately raise it up and transfigure it in the Resurrection of the Body on the Last Day. It is this food that finally undoes the curse incurred at Eden, and all of the subsequent curses as well. It even reveals that curse to have been a happy fault, since without it we may never have received a gift so great.

Damascus Worship Featuring MarySarah Menkhaus - Body And Blood