Lent Devotions 2021

Read: Mark 15:22-24 Reflect: Golgotha - the place of the skull - would have been a place deeply linked to death. We don’t know whether it got the name from its appearance or whether it was a place where people were regularly executed. We do know, though, that it is a place that carries great sadness, grief, loss, shame and death.  Jesus does not shy away from this place. He does not choose to run and hide, to send for angels or to be sacrificed in a place more fitting for a king. No. His act of sacrifice happens in a place of death and sorrow. This act reminds us that Jesus finds us in our most sorry state, wherever that may be. Jesus does not shy away from our guilt, our pain, our suffering, our shame and our grief. He comes and finds us there and, ultimately, redeems it to the glory of His name. As with His birth, when He chose to enter our world in the filth of a lowly stable (where He was also offered myrrh), He chooses an impure and sorrowful place to save the world. Respond: Lord

Read: Mark 15:16-20 Reflect: Two of the scariest verses in the Bible, for me, are verses 17 and 18 in today’s passage: ‘They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!”’ It’s scary because of the accuracy of the soldiers’ words with their hearts in completely the wrong place. They clothed Jesus in a purple robe (a sign of royalty, which He is) but they did it mockingly. They crowned Him as Lord, but with a crown of thorns. They hailed Him as King, but sarcastically. In one sense they said the right words and did the right things, but not because they believed them to be true or significant. We face falling in the same trap. We may say the right things - “Hail Jesus the King!” - , crown Him as Lord - but not of my heart -  or bring expensive sacrifices and still miss the mark. May we recognise Jesus as the true King of all, and may we respond accordingly. Respond: Lord Jesus, thank you

Read: Mark 15:6-11 Reflect: The story of Barabbas and Jesus is a really clear and visual reminder of what exactly Jesus did for every one of us. Barabbas was guilty of his crimes: insurrection and murder. His execution was justified according to Roman law. But Jesus is taken to the cross in his place. Even though Jesus was innocent, He took on the suffering and shame of the cross in Barabbas’s place. And in ours. Isaiah prophesied that this would happen: ‘But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.’ (Isaiah 53:5-6 - NIV). Respond: Lord Jesus, thank you for your great sacrifice. Thank you that you took on the punishment for my sins. Thank you for paying the price that I may be blameless and pure before the Father. Please help me remember your sac

Read: Mark 14:60-62 Reflect: In one of the few times Jesus spoke after His arrest He announces Himself to be the Son of God. That is no little thing. Ironically, this truth is one of the pieces of “evidence” the high priest uses to justify Christ’s crucifixion. Essentially Jesus is crucified for speaking the truth.  We know from yesterday’s passage that Jesus was truly human. Today we find that He was also truly divine: He was God. This was necessary to bridge the gap between us (humans) and God (divine) because we (humans) were unable to bridge the gap or give anywhere near to sufficient sacrifice. Without Jesus there would still be a great divide between us, but because of Jesus we can be reunited with God Himself. Respond: Lord Jesus, thank you for bridging the gap between us and God. Thank you for stepping into this world, away from your throne in heaven, to not just be with us, but to bring us to you. Amen. Remind: ”Not only do we not know God except through Jesus Christ; We do no

Read: Mark 14:32-34 Reflect: I find it encouraging to read how Jesus said He felt overwhelmed. We might think it strange that Jesus (being truly God) would feel overwhelmed, but this speaks to the very human nature of Jesus. He wasn’t just a God pretending to be human. He was well and truly fully human. He felt the things we feel. He experienced the world through the senses we have. He felt pain. He felt distressed. He felt the joy of community and the sadness of betrayal. That’s why we can take all our feelings and experiences to Him, knowing that He understands. Hebrews 4:15 explains it beautifully: ‘For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet he did not sin.’ Respond: Lord Jesus, thank you that you were truly human. Thank you that you suffered like we suffer. Thank you for stepping into our world and not just skimming over it like a false god might. Amen. Remind: “Nothing can

Read: Mark 14:23-24 Reflect: In the Biblical times a covenant would be sealed (made official and binding) in blood. Jesus makes another link with Passover where the blood of a sacrificial lamb saved the Israelites from death in Egypt. Jesus takes this one step further by making the covenant not just binding to Jews, but to all who would receive it. This, of course, is a binding covenant that no one and nothing can break. One sacrifice made for the forgiveness of many sins. Respond: Lord Jesus, thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you that nothing can take me from the reach of your grace and forgiveness. May my life testify to the freedom I find in your covenant. Amen. Remind: “Because God is the living God, He can hear; because He is a loving God, He will hear; because He is our covenant God, He has bound Himself to hear.” ~Charles Spurgeon~ Photo by   Stephen Rheeder   on   Unsplash

Read: Mark 14:22 Reflect: The Passover rites were observed by Jewish people since their rescue from Egypt (Exodus 12). Jesus takes the bread and changes its meaning to reflect the salvation work He has come to do. By offering the disciples bread Jesus gives them (and us) something to remember and celebrate His sacrifice by. Though they did not know it at the time Christ’s body would be broken like the bread was broken, and offered to all who would accept it. And like bread we need to accept it and take it up daily (Matthew 6:11). Respond: Lord Jesus, thank you that your body was broken for me. I accept your offer of salvation again. Amen. Remind: ”Bread of Life? Jesus lived up to the title. But an unopened loaf does a person no good. Have you received the bread? Have you received God's forgiveness?” ~Max Lucado~ Photo by   Maria Ionova   on   Unsplash

Read: Mark 14:3-9 Reflect: Worship is an act of giving rather than receiving. It is true that we get a lot during times of worship, but that should be a welcome side-effect of two-way communication than the actual aim. We can learn a lot about worship by looking at the woman’s example in today’s passage. She made the effort to come to Jesus. Her act of worship (pouring out an alabaster jar of pure nard) was costly - nard was really expensive. She went all-in with her worship - she broke the jar to pour out all of the nard, holding nothing back. Her focus was Jesus and no one else - she poured out the perfume on Christ’s head, no one else’s. Even though it seemed odd and wasteful to other guests, Jesus recognises her heart and her act of worship and accepts her offering gladly. We can learn so much from her example as we approach God in worship today. Not everyone can buy expensive offerings, but that’s not what Jesus wants. All He wants is sincere and wholehearted surrender when we com

Read: Mark 13:35-37 Reflect: I can tell you from personal experience that nothing moves faster than a parent who has put their kids to bed, opened up a snack for watching TV and heard the kids’ bedroom door open. I become a ninja while hiding snacks when I hear my daughter come out of her room unexpectedly. That’s why my ears are always finely tuned to the sound of her bedroom door. I often wonder whether we (Christians) tend to be a bit more lax when it comes to God’s kingdom and what we’re supposed to do in it. When Jesus tells His disciples -and everyone- to watch, He is telling them to be ready. Not in order to know when He is coming back, but to keep up the intensity of our relationship with Him. We’re encouraged to view our faith, our relationship with Christ, as a current state of being; more than just something to look forward to after we die. It starts now and continues throughout our lives. Respond: Lord Jesus, thank you that you are with me now by your Spirit. Please help me

Read: Mark 13:5-6 Reflect: Two days before our wedding I was tasked to pick up the table flowers. While waiting for the market to open, I came up with a fiendish prank: I would call my wife pretending to be the flower shop owner and tell her there was a problem. I was so good that it took some serious convincing (and apologising) that all was okay. That was before we got married. If I would try that now (I would not dare...) my wife would see through my deception in moments. In today’s passage Jesus warns His disciples to not be deceived. ‘Many will come in my name… and will deceive many’ (v. 6). How will we be able to discern what is Jesus and what is not? I think it is only by knowing Jesus intimately. Jesus says in John 10:27 that His sheep listen to His voice, He knows them and they follow Him. The key to keep from being deceived is to get to know Jesus intimately before the deception comes by reading the Bible, praying, and listening to His voice through the Holy Spirit. May we al

Read: Mark 12:41-44 Reflect: In 2001 I was part of an outreach team in Mozambique. We stayed in a very remote village. I was incredibly surprised and challenged by the generosity of people we would class as impoverished by Western standards. They gave from the very little they had to make us feel welcome, even though we had more than enough to start with. Today’s passage tells the story of a widow who gave all she had to the temple. Compared to the vast amounts of money the richer people gave out of their wealth, the widow’s two copper coins would have been close to nothing. However, Jesus notices her gift. He notices because God is more concerned about our hearts than the number of zeros at the end of our tithing cheque. This woman gave “all she had to live on” (v. 44).  Jesus noticed this woman’s gift because it came from the heart and cost everything she had; a similar gift to what He would give on Good Friday. Respond: Lord Jesus, thank you for your generosity. Thank you for caring

Read: Mark 12:28-31 Reflect: We (humans) love specifics, don’t we? We love clarity. That’s why, I think, the Pharisees had 613 rules in their law. Some applied only to men, some only to women. Some were positive (the ‘Thou Shalt’ commandments), others were negative (the ‘Thou Shalt Not’ kind). Some of them were very specific. Interestingly however, having more rules makes following them more complicated. That’s why a Pharisee asked Jesus what the most important one was. Jesus boiled it down to two rules: Love God by loving your neighbour. That’s it. Simple enough, but really hard to do. These two rules apply to each one of us personally. Love is a verb; it requires action. When we love, it shows. It manifests in some way. The way I love God and my neighbour may not look the same as your love for God and your neighbour. Sometimes love looks like patience. Sometimes it looks like courage. Sometimes it has a smile. Sometimes it looks like a lot of work. And that’s okay, as long as we love

Read: Mark 11:27-33 Reflect: Lots of people asked Jesus questions and explanations in His time on earth. Nicodemus (a Pharisee) came to Jesus late at night and asked Him questions, and Jesus gladly taught him (John 3). Christ’s disciples asked Him questions about the parables He told, and Jesus gladly explained. However, we see in today’s passage that Jesus chose not to explain himself to the Pharisees asking about His authority. I can only imagine that it’s because of their hearts that He chose not to give them a straight answer. They had ulterior motives and Jesus saw right through them. They were also more concerned about what the people might think than hearing and accepting the truth. Let us learn from this interaction to always come before God with open hearts, in truth and sincerity. We can never trick Jesus or coax an answer out of Him with sweet talk. He knows us too well. Let us be honest and sincere in our dealings with God. Respond: Lord Jesus, thank you that you want us to

Read: Mark 11:25 Reflect: Christ ends His teaching on prayer by talking about forgiveness. Not the forgiveness God shows us, but the forgiveness we need to show one another. Jesus is essentially saying that it is no use worshipping God if we hold on to hurt, bitterness and resentment. We have to let go of those things to free up our hands in order to receive God’s forgiveness. Forgiveness is not easy. The hurt, pain, disappointment, bitterness and anger are often far easier to cling to than we would like to admit. However, Jesus tells us that if we hold on to those things, we are missing out on the freedom and joy that He offers. Forgiveness is not pretending the hurt or the wrong never happened. Forgiveness is also not just saying all is okay. Forgiveness is letting go of the bitterness that a wrong brings so that it doesn’t control us. Carrying resentment and anger around is a heavy burden, but there is great freedom, peace and joy in forgiving others. Respond: Lord Jesus, thank you

Read: Mark 11:8-11 Reflect: As Jesus enters Jerusalem for the last time before His crucifixion, a crowd of people notice and they react accordingly. Little did they know that the cries of ‘Hosanna!’ (which means ‘save!’) that came from their lips would be exchanged for ‘Crucify Him!’ in a couple of days. I find it both challenging and comforting to see how their cries to ‘save!’ were answered. I bet no one expected that God would work salvation through a crucifixion. But for the moment we have a triumphant Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey. We can welcome Jesus into our hearts in the same way! We can recognise His sovereignty and grace and respond accordingly. Let us praise Him wherever we are with whatever means we have. Respond: Lord Jesus, thank you that you are victorious over sin and death. Please help me understand what your victory means for me, and lead me to live a life honouring your name. Please keep me from turning against you when it becomes less convenient to follow yo

Read: Mark 10:24-27 Reflect: I always thought this passage meant that I’d be more easily saved than a rich person. That’s not true, though. In the run-up to today’s passage we find the story of the rich young man who wanted to be saved. He followed all the rules, but felt that this was still not enough. Jesus tells him to let go of his wealth, an answer that disappointed the young man. Jesus says that it’s really difficult for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. Seemingly impossible. What I’ve come to learn is that it’s not just money and wealth that can keep me from entering into God’s kingdom. Anything can become more important than Jesus: money, status, power, sex, work, family, religion. Every time I choose to make anything more important than God, I essentially choose not to enter God’s kingdom. But there is always hope with God. Jesus comforts His disciples by saying that though it is impossible for people to save themselves by merit, it is not for God, because “all things

Read: Mark 10:13-16 Reflect: There are two things that stand out for me in today’s passage. The first is how Jesus welcomes the children. He does not welcome them because of their eloquent prayers, their offerings of worship, their deep and generous pockets or their holy living and fruitfulness. No. He welcomes the little children as they are . And to such as these, Jesus says, belongs the kingdom of heaven. We can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence (Heb 4:16), like a child would, with no pretence. The second is how we (adults) can have an impact on the lives of children. A study at Johns Hopkins University in the 1960’s found that the top five fears of children then were: 1) Animals, 2) Being in a dark room, 3) High places, 4) Strangers, 5) Loud noises. In the 1990’s this changed to 1) Divorce, 2) Nuclear war, 3) Cancer, 4) Pollution, 5) Being mugged. I don’t think things have changed for the better since then. We must be conscious of the world we’re creating for our child

Read: Mark 9:50 Reflect: I have a bit of a sweet tooth. Caramel is one of my absolute favourites. That’s why it was quite interesting to come across salted caramel when I moved to the UK. It wasn’t something I knew in South Africa before, so I was rather sceptical at first. Surely salt and sweet do not go together! So I was pleasantly surprised when I tried it. It wasn’t bad at all! It was rather good, actually! When Jesus tells His disciples to ‘have salt among yourselves’ (v. 50) I imagine He means to bring out the best flavours in one another. To encourage one another into greater holiness, into greater intimacy with God, into living lives that better point to and glorify God. Salt is great for enhancing all the flavours in our community, but too much salt isn’t helpful. That’s why having salt among ourselves should always be aligned with an effort to stay at peace with each other. Respond: Lord Jesus, thank you that you have placed me in a community of believers. Thank you for your

Read: Mark 9:33-35 Reflect: We (humans) love to measure things, don’t we? We measure our performance at work to see if we deserve that raise or not. We measure how tall our kids have grown. We measure someone’s value (often subconsciously and falsely) by how well they’re dressed or the car they drive. We love to measure success by numbers: annual income, memberships, attendance, viewers, likes, etc. It’s not all bad to measure things. Measuring some things can be useful in making adjustments to do better in future. However, sometimes our measurements are warped. This seemed to be the case for the disciples who argued about which of them were the greatest. They must have known it wasn’t good to compare themselves, because when Jesus asked them about it they kept quiet. Then Jesus gives them the true way to measure themselves: service. It seems counter intuitive, but Jesus says that if you want to be first, you have to be ‘the servant of all’ (v. 35). The perfect example of this is, of c

Read: Mark 9:23-24 Reflect: Many people mistakenly think that faith (putting your trust in God) is one of those things that you either have or not. An all-or-nothing type of thing. Like an on/off switch. Today’s passage tells us a different story. A boy’s father asks Jesus to take pity on them and help them if He can. Jesus replies ‘everything is possible for one who believes’ (v. 23). The boy’s father exclaimed, ‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’ Jesus does not send the man away for lack of faith, but heals his son. It shows us that Jesus didn’t expect a full measure of faith from the man, but that a partial faith was enough at that time. The same applies to us. We are not expected to have mountain-moving faith right now, but we are expected to have enough faith to take the next step of faith. And then the next. And then the next.  In the same way that courage is not the absence of fear, I believe that faith is not the absence of doubt, but the intentional placing of trust