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Sound & Season is a daily audio devotional designed to connect the routine moments of life to the rhythms of the Church seasons.
This is Sound and Season. It's Thursday, 26th day of Lent. Our passage today comes from the gospel of Mark chapter 10 verses 32 through 52. And they were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid.
Jeffrey Heine:And taking the 12 again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him saying, see, we are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles, and they will mock him and spit on him and flog him and kill him and after 3 days he will rise. And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you. And he said to them, what do you want me to do for you? And they said to him, grant us to sit 1 at your right hand and 1 at your left in your glory. Jesus said to them, you do not know what you are asking.
Jeffrey Heine:Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? And they said to him, we are able. And he said to them, the cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized. But to sit at my right hand or my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. And when the 10 heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John.
Jeffrey Heine:And Jesus called to them and said to them, you know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them, but it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the son of man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. And they came to Jericho, and as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples in a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth he began to cry out and say, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me.
Jeffrey Heine:And many rebuked him telling him to be silent, but he cried out all the more, Son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stopped and said, call him. And they called the blind man, saying to him, take heart, get up, he is calling you. And throwing off his cloak he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, what do you want me to do for you?
Jeffrey Heine:And the blind man said to him, Rabbi, let me recover my sight. And Jesus said to him, go your way, your faith has made you well. And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Jeffrey Heine:Our reflection for the day comes from the 4th century theologian John Chrysostom. He erased the curse. He triumphed over death. He opened paradise. He struck down sin.
Jeffrey Heine:He opened wide the vaults of the sky. He lifted our first fruits to heaven. He filled the whole world with godliness. He drove out error. He led back the truth.
Jeffrey Heine:He made our first fruits mount to the royal throne. He accomplished so many good deeds that neither I nor all humanity together could set them before your minds in words. Before he humbled himself, only the angels knew him. After he humbled himself, all human nature knew him. You see how his humbling of himself did not make him have less, but produced countless benefits, countless deeds of virtue, and made his glory shine forth with greater brightness.
Jeffrey Heine:God wants for nothing and has need of nothing. Yet when he humbled himself, he produced such great good, increased his household and extended his kingdom. Why then are you afraid that you will become less if you humble yourself? Lord, hear our prayer, and let our cry come to you. Let us pray.
Jeffrey Heine:Oh God, strengthen us as we put our trust in Christ today. We can do nothing good apart from you, so bring us close. Bind us in your love, and show us the way of your righteousness. Jesus, by your death you took away the sting of death, so that all who trust in you can awake in your presence and likeness forever. Remind us today of the goodness of your mercy that comes to us through your cross, and renew our confidence in the certain hope of life eternal with you.
Jeffrey Heine:Oh lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Glory to the father, and to the son, and to the holy spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.