Morning Prayer, 29 Jan – John 5:30-47 ~ the Father’s witness

Morning Prayer

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentences – Cuthbert of Northumbria (635-87)

Softly as the dew-fall of heaven, may the Holy Spirit come upon me to aid and raise me, to bind my prayer firmly at the throne of the King of life.

God’s will would I do, my own will bridle; God’s due would I give, my own due yield; God’s path would I travel my own path refuse.

All whom I love, into Your safe-keeping; all that I am, into Your tender care; all that I will be, into Your perfect will.

Morning readings

John 5:30-47 ESV:

“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

“If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

“But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.

“And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

“I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

“Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

Reflections / Prayer:

The Father’s witness

Only God, and those whom he uses, can testify to God. There are four expressions of the Father’s witness: the Baptist, Jesus’ works, Jesus’ words and the Scriptures.

+ John the Baptist, like Jesus, spoke what he heard from the Father… and bore witness to the truth – who is Christ.
+ Jesus’ does the works the Father has given him… divine activity in itself – consistent with God’s own character.
+ Jesus’ speaks only what he hears from the God; to see and hear Jesus is to see and hear God.
+ Jesus is the Word, the point of reference for all the words of Scripture; Scripture is a means to an end – a witness to Jesus the Christ.(The IVP New Testament Commentary Series)

__________

The problem of unbelief

Unbelievers lack the love for God in their hearts. Jesus, on the other hand, is completely centered in God, caring only for God’s glory.

+ Unbelievers care more about human praise, instead of seeking praise from God alone.
+ Unbelievers lack the ability to discern the things of God, because of their pride.
+ Unbelievers embrace the false – accepting folk with no authority outside of themselves.

Jesus accuses them of lacking the love of God and of failing to accept the agent who has come in his name, yet Jesus does so to give them a chance to come to their senses. The judgment he passes is itself an aspect of the grace of God intended for their salvation.
(The IVP New Testament Commentary Series)

__________

Canticle:

Christ, as a light… illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield… overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful. Be in the heart of each to whom I speak; in the mouth of each who speaks unto me. This day be within and without me, lowly and meek, yet all-powerful.

Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you, wherever He may send you. May He guide you through the wilderness, protect you through the storm. May He bring you home rejoicing at the wonders He has shown you. May He bring you home rejoicing once again into our doors.

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

_____________________________________

Peanut Gallery: A brief word of explanation – the general format for Morning Prayer is adapted from the Northumbrian Community‘s Daily Office, as found in Celtic Daily Prayer (see online resources here.) The Scripture readings are primarily from the Gospel of John, with the intent to complete the reading by Easter. Other Scriptures which illuminate the Gospel of John will be included along the way.

Reflections from various saints will be included as their memorial days occur during the calendar year.

On Sundays, I’ll return to the USCCB readings (see online resources here) and various liturgical resources in order to reflect the Church’s worship and concerns throughout the world.

Photo illustrations and music videos, available online, are included as they illustrate or illuminate the readings. I will try to give credit and link to sources as best I can.

Morning Prayer: Psalm 147:14; Leviticus 23:9-11; James 1:17-18 ~ first fruits

Morning Prayer

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentence

One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.

You will find the Lord your God, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Morning readings

Psalm 147:14 NLT:

He sends peace across your nation and satisfies your hunger with the finest wheat.

Jesus Christ had to be accepted by God the Father to fulfill the wave-sheaf offering.

Leviticus 23:9-11 NLT:

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you enter the land I am giving you and you harvest its first crops, bring the priest a bundle of grain from the first cutting of your grain harvest. On the day after the Sabbath, the priest will lift it up before the Lord so it may be accepted on your behalf.”

James 1:17-18 NLT:

Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.

Reflection/Prayer:

On the fourteenth day of the month the Passover Lamb was prepared. After sunset it was eaten, and this began the Sabbath which was a high holy day, the first day of unleavened bread. On the next day, the sixteenth, the day after this Sabbath day when no work was done, a priest would search for the first sprouts of grain in the ground, carry his find back to the Temple and wave them before the Lord as the ‘first fruits’.

Another seven times seven days, a sabbath of sabbaths, makes fifty days, ‘pentecost’, and by then the grain will have ripened untill an armful can be gathered – but for now it is just an early sign of life, first fruits from the earth.

Canticle

Christ, as a light… illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield… overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
_____________________________________

Peanut Gallery: The Morning Prayer readings are from the Daily Office of the Northumbrian Community as available online here… and in the book form, Celtic Daily Prayer available on Amazon.com.

The website and prayer book are rich in prayer resources and I commend them to you. For our purpose here, I will limit my selections to the Morning Prayer resources.

Morning Prayer: Psalm 16:9-11; 2 Chronicles 30:2-5; 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 ~ lamb of God

Morning Prayer

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentence

One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.

You will find the Lord your God, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Morning readings

Psalm 16:9-11 NLT:

No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.

2 Chronicles 30:2-5 NLT:

The king, his officials, and all the community of Jerusalem decided to celebrate Passover a month later than usual. They were unable to celebrate it at the prescribed time because not enough priests could be purified by then, and the people had not yet assembled at Jerusalem.

This plan for keeping the Passover seemed right to the king and all the people. So they sent a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba in the south to Dan in the north, inviting everyone to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover of the Lord, the God of Israel. The people had not been celebrating it in great numbers as required in the Law.

1 Corinthians 5:7-8 NLT:

Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.

Reflection/Prayer:

Jesus and His disciples celebrate the Passover meal a full day earlier than they should, since He knows that if they waited it would not be possible, and He has so desired to share the feast with them, and will not be disappointed. (They are only one day out, after all, and in 2 Chronicles we read how God blessed the reinstitution of Passover even when by force of circumstance His people were a whole month out from the correct date.) Jesus would be on trial all night and nailed to the cross around nine the next morning. Six hours later He died at the exact time when the Passover lambs were also killed.

At the sunset the Preparation would be over and the Passover Feast would begin which must be observed as Sabbath (Leviticus 23:4-8) known as the first day of unleavened bread. Any leaven is carefully hunted for and swept out of a Jewish home before these seven days begin. The soldiers are urged to break the legs of crucified men so they will die more quickly and be removed before the Feast Sabbath begins: Jesus is already dead by now.

He is carried hastily to a borrowed tomb, observed by the women. Between the Feast and the usual weekly Sabbath they have time to prepare the spices for His embalming, then early on the first day of the week, when it is already ‘the third day since all this took place’ they hurry to the tomb and find him gone. Death could not hold him.
_______________________________

Lamb of God – Twila Paris

Your only Son, no sin to hide / But You have sent Him from Your side / To walk upon this guilty sod / And to become the Lamb of God

Oh, Lamb of God, sweet Lamb of God / I love the holy Lamb of God / Oh, wash me in His precious blood / My Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God

Your gift of love, they crucified / They laughed and scorned Him as He died / The humble King, they named a fraud / And sacrificed the Lamb of God

Oh, Lamb of God, sweet Lamb of God / I love the holy Lamb of God / Oh, wash me in His precious blood / My Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God

I was so lost, I should have died / But You have brought me to Your side / To be led by Your staff and rod / And to be called a lamb of God

Oh, Lamb of God, sweet Lamb of God / I love the holy Lamb of God / Oh, wash me in His precious blood / My Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God

Oh, wash me in His precious blood / My Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God

Canticle

Christ, as a light… illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield… overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
_____________________________________

The website and prayer book are rich in prayer resources and I commend them to you. For our purpose here, I will limit my selections to the Morning Prayer resources.

Morning Prayer: Psalm 136:1-12; Exodus 13:1-15; Mark 14:14-16 ~ faithful love

Morning Prayer

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentence

One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.

You will find the Lord your God, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Morning readings

Psalm 136:1-12 NLT:

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords.
His faithful love endures forever.

Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skillfully.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who placed the earth among the waters.
His faithful love endures forever.
Give thanks to him who made the heavenly lights—
His faithful love endures forever.
the sun to rule the day,
His faithful love endures forever.
and the moon and stars to rule the night.
His faithful love endures forever.

Give thanks to him who killed the firstborn of Egypt.
His faithful love endures forever.
He brought Israel out of Egypt.
His faithful love endures forever.
He acted with a strong hand and powerful arm.
His faithful love endures forever.

Festive Seder table with wine, matza and Seder plate.

Exodus 13:1-15 NLT:

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Dedicate to me every firstborn among the Israelites. The first offspring to be born, of both humans and animals, belongs to me.”

So Moses said to the people, “This is a day to remember forever — the day you left Egypt, the place of your slavery. Today the Lord has brought you out by the power of his mighty hand. (Remember, eat no food containing yeast.) On this day in early spring, in the month of Abib, you have been set free. You must celebrate this event in this month each year after the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites. (He swore to your ancestors that he would give you this land — a land flowing with milk and honey.) For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast. Then on the seventh day, celebrate a feast to the Lord. Eat bread without yeast during those seven days. In fact, there must be no yeast bread or any yeast at all found within the borders of your land during this time.

“On the seventh day you must explain to your children, ‘I am celebrating what the Lord did for me when I left Egypt.’ This annual festival will be a visible sign to you, like a mark branded on your hand or your forehead. Let it remind you always to recite this teaching of the Lord: ‘With a strong hand, the Lord rescued you from Egypt.’ So observe the decree of this festival at the appointed time each year.

“This is what you must do when the Lord fulfills the promise he swore to you and to your ancestors. When he gives you the land where the Canaanites now live, you must present all firstborn sons and firstborn male animals to the Lord, for they belong to him. A firstborn donkey may be bought back from the Lord by presenting a lamb or young goat in its place. But if you do not buy it back, you must break its neck. However, you must buy back every firstborn son.

“And in the future, your children will ask you, ‘What does all this mean?’ Then you will tell them, ‘With the power of his mighty hand, the Lord brought us out of Egypt, the place of our slavery. Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, so the Lord killed all the firstborn males throughout the land of Egypt, both people and animals. That is why I now sacrifice all the firstborn males to the Lord — except that the firstborn sons are always bought back.’”

Mark 14:14-16 NLT:

At the house he enters, say to the owner, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ He will take you upstairs to a large room that is already set up. That is where you should prepare our meal.” So the two disciples went into the city and found everything just as Jesus had said, and they prepared the Passover meal there.

Reflection/Prayer:

The family is gathered for the Seder meal, and a young boy asks the question that demands the recounting of the story of the miracle of the exodus, a story rehearsed from generation to generation.

‘Why is this evening
different from all other evenings?’

‘Because we were once slaves
of the Pharoah of Egypt;
but the Lord heard our voice:
He felt our sorrow
and understood our oppression;
with His outstretched arm
He led us out of Egypt,
Then we were at last free.
Blessed is the Lord
who promised salvation to Israel:
He has kept His promise
and kept the Covenant
He established with Abraham.’

Canticle

Christ, as a light… illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield… overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
_____________________________________

The website and prayer book are rich in prayer resources and I commend them to you. For our purpose here, I will limit my selections to the Morning Prayer resources.

Morning Prayer: Psalm 40:7; Isaiah 58:9; Hebrews 10:7 ~ here I am

Morning Prayer

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Opening sentence

One thing I have asked of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.

You will find the Lord your God, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Morning readings

Psalm 40:7 NLT:

Then I said, “Here I am, I have come — it is written about me in the scroll.

Isaiah 58:9 NLT:

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

Hebrews 10:7 NLT:

Then I said, ‘Here I am — it is written about me in the scroll — I have come to do your will, my God.’”

Reflection/Prayer:

God desires to look at us with open face and say, ‘Here I am and I am here for you.’ The Hebrew word for this is ‘Hineni’ – and there are familiar stories of people responding to God in this way. Hineni means, ‘I’m ready, Lord: I’ll go if you send me; I’m listening, Lord, tell me what You would have me know.’

‘Abraham!’
‘Hineni,’ he replied.
‘Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there.’
Isaac says to Abraham, ‘Father?’
‘Hineni?’
‘The fire and the wood are here, where is the lamb for the sacrifice?’

God called to Moses, from the bush that was burning, ‘Moses! Moses!’
And Moses said, ‘Hineni.’

A voice called in the night. The child Samuel gave answer: ‘Hineni – what do you want?’

‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Me?’ said the voice from the midst of the throne.
And Isaiah responded, ‘Hineni.’

Lord God, help us to be willing and available, open to your call, to say, ‘Hineni, Adonai. Here I am.’

Canticle

Christ, as a light… illumine and guide me. Christ, as a shield… overshadow me. Christ under me; Christ over me; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Christ as a light; Christ as a shield; Christ beside me on my left and my right.

Blessing

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
_____________________________________

The website and prayer book are rich in prayer resources and I commend them to you. For our purpose here, I will limit my selections to the Morning Prayer resources.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: