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As the Father, So the Son: Christ the Judge and Giver of Life (Jn. 05:19-30)

Jesus answered and said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, a son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees his father doing; for what he does, his son will do also. 20For the Father loves his Son and shows him everything that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these, so that you may be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes. 22 Nor does the Father judge anyone, but he has given all judgment to his Son, 23 so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life. 25 Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For just as the Fathe...
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Thirty-Eight Years: From Wandering to Restoration (Jn. 05:01-18)

After this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  2 Now there is in Jerusalem at the Sheep [Gate] a pool called in Hebrew Bethesda, with five porticoes.  3 In these lay a large number of ill, blind, lame, and crippled. [4] 5 One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.  6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be well?”  7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.”  8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your mat, and walk.”  9 Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked. Now that day was a sabbath.  10 So the Jews said to the man who was cured, “It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.”  11 He answered them, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’”  1...
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The Lord Is My Shepherd: Promise Made, Promise Fulfilled in Christ (Ezekiel 34:11-16; John 10:11)

For thus says the Lord God: Look! I myself will search for my sheep and examine them. 12 As a shepherd examines his flock while he himself is among his scattered sheep, so will I examine my sheep. I will deliver them from every place where they were scattered on the day of dark clouds. 13 I will lead them out from among the peoples and gather them from the lands; I will bring them back to their own country and pasture them upon the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and every inhabited place in the land. 14 In good pastures I will pasture them; on the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down on good grazing ground; in rich pastures they will be pastured on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will pasture my sheep; I myself will give them rest—oracle of the Lord God. 16 The lost I will search out, the strays I will bring back, the injured I will bind up, and the sick I will heal; but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd them i...
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Agony and Mercy: Christ Answers the Cry of the Penitent (Psalm 6:2-6; Matt. 26:36-46; Luke 22:39-46)

Do not reprove me in your anger, Lord, nor punish me in your wrath. 3 Have pity on me, Lord, for I am weak; heal me, Lord, for my bones are shuddering. 4 My soul too is shuddering greatly—and you, Lord, how long…? 5 Turn back, Lord, rescue my soul; save me because of your mercy. 6 For in death there is no remembrance of you. Who praises you in Sheol? Psalm 6:2–6, one of the seven traditional Penitential Psalms, is a heartfelt plea for mercy from one who suffers not only physically but also spiritually and emotionally.  It is a prayer of the just who, though afflicted, place their trust entirely in God's mercy.  The fear of death expressed here is not merely for its pain, but because—under the Old Covenant understanding—Sheol was viewed as a realm of silence, cut off from the worship and praise of God (cf. Ps. 30:10; Is. 38:18–19).  There is an urgent eschatological longing for God’s saving intervention, not based on personal merit, but on His steadfast love (chesed) and d...
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The Good Shepherd Who Laid Down His Life For His Sheep (Psalm 23; John 10:11)

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. 2 In green pastures he makes me lie down; to still waters he leads me; 3 he restores my soul. He guides me along right paths for the sake of his name. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me. 5 You set a table before me in front of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Indeed, goodness and mercy will pursue me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of the Lord for endless days. Psalm 23 is a psalm of trust in the Lord’s providential care, expressed in the imagery of a shepherd and a gracious host.  The psalmist, traditionally identified as David, proclaims his confidence in God’s guidance, provision, and protection even in the face of danger and suffering.  The familiar opening, “ The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack ” (v.1), evokes the intimate, personal relationship between God an...
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A Chosen People Who Will Not Listen: From the Prophets to Christ and His Church (Jeremiah 7:23-28; Matt. 23:29–35)

This rather is what I commanded them: Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Walk exactly in the way I command you, so that you may prosper. 24 But they did not listen to me, nor did they pay attention. They walked in the stubbornness of their evil hearts and turned their backs, not their faces, to me. 25 From the day that your ancestors left the land of Egypt even to this day, I kept on sending all my servants the prophets to you. 26 Yet they have not listened to me nor have they paid attention; they have stiffened their necks and done worse than their ancestors. 27 When you speak all these words to them, they will not listen to you either. When you call to them, they will not answer you. 28 Say to them: This is the nation which does not listen to the voice of the Lord, its God, or take correction. Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech. From the earliest days of Israel’s history, God has been speaking to His people...
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The Suffering Servant and the Passion of Christ (Isaiah 53:1-12; Matt. 27:27-31)

Who would believe what we have heard? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 He grew up like a sapling before him, like a shoot from the parched earth; He had no majestic bearing to catch our eye, no beauty to draw us to him. 3 He was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, knowing pain, Like one from whom you turn your face, spurned, and we held him in no esteem. 4 Yet it was our pain that he bore, our sufferings he endured. We thought of him as stricken, struck down by God and afflicted, 5 But he was pierced for our sins, crushed for our iniquity. He bore the punishment that makes us whole, by his wounds we were healed. 6 We had all gone astray like sheep, all following our own way; But the Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all. 7 Though harshly treated, he submitted and did not open his mouth; Like a lamb led to slaughter or a sheep silent before shearers, he did not open his mouth. 8 Seized and condemned, he was taken away. Who would have thought any more of his ...
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The Still Small Voice: God’s Presence from Sinai to the Incarnation (1 Kings 19:9-18; John 1:14)

There he came to a cave, where he took shelter. But the word of the Lord came to him: Why are you here, Elijah? 10 He answered: “I have been most zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, but the Israelites have forsaken your covenant. They have destroyed your altars and murdered your prophets by the sword. I alone remain, and they seek to take my life.” 11 Then the Lord said: Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord; the Lord will pass by. There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the Lord—but the Lord was not in the wind; after the wind, an earthquake—but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 after the earthquake, fire—but the Lord was not in the fire; after the fire, a light silent sound. 13 When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, Why are you here, Elijah? 14  He replied, “I have been most zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, but the Israelite...
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Forty Days in the Wilderness: God Provides for Elijah and Jesus (1 Kings 19:1-8; Mt. 4:1-11)

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done—that he had murdered all the prophets by the sword. 2 Jezebel then sent a messenger to Elijah and said, “May the gods do thus to me and more, if by this time tomorrow I have not done with your life what was done to each of them.” 3 Elijah was afraid and fled for his life, going to Beer-sheba of Judah. He left his servant there 4 and went a day’s journey into the wilderness, until he came to a solitary broom tree and sat beneath it. He prayed for death: “Enough, Lord! Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 He lay down and fell asleep under the solitary broom tree, but suddenly a messenger touched him and said, “Get up and eat!” 6 He looked and there at his head was a hearth cake and a jug of water. After he ate and drank, he lay down again, 7 but the angel of the Lord came back a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat or the journey will be too much for you!” 8 He got up, ate, and drank; then strengthened by that fo...
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God’s Promise to David Fulfilled in Christ the King (2 Samuel 7:8-16; Luke 1:32-33)

Now then, speak thus to my servant David, Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to become ruler over my people Israel. 9 I was with you wherever you went, and I cut down all your enemies before you. And I will make your name like that of the greatest on earth. 10 I will assign a place for my people Israel and I will plant them in it to dwell there; they will never again be disturbed, nor shall the wicked ever again oppress them, as they did at the beginning, 11 and from the day when I appointed judges over my people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you: 12 when your days have been completed and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, sprung from your loins, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He it is who shall build a house for my name, and I will establish his royal throne forever. 14 I will be a father to him, a...
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40 Days of Trial: David and Jesus Win Victory Through Faith and Obedience (1 Samuel 17:41-51; Matt. 4:1-11)

With his shield-bearer marching before him, the Philistine advanced closer and closer to David. 42 When he sized David up and saw that he was youthful, ruddy, and handsome in appearance, he began to deride him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog that you come against me with a staff?” Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods 44 and said to him, “Come here to me, and I will feed your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.” 45 David answered him: “You come against me with sword and spear and scimitar, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have insulted. 46 Today the Lord shall deliver you into my hand; I will strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will feed your dead body and the dead bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field; thus the whole land shall learn that Israel has a God. 47 All this multitude, too, shall learn that it is not by sword or spear...
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