Devotional
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Daily Readings: John 19 and Psalm 35 It’s Good Friday, and Christians in every corner of the globe will spend the day today reflecting on the events recorded in John 19 (also Matthew 27, Mark 15 and Luke 23) I invite you to set aside about an hour some time during the day today to…
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Daily Readings: John 18 and Psalm 34 In John 18, Jesus was arrested. But it soon becomes evident that while He placed Himself under the physical control of the authorities, He was never controlled by them spiritually. John records His arrest in such a way as to report three times that Jesus confessed: “I am…
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Daily Readings: John 17 and Psalm 33 As we make our way through Holy Week, we skip ahead to John 17 today and are supremely privileged to overhear Jesus at prayer. In love for His disciples, He prays for them (v.6-19), and, in love for all those who will believe in Him through their witness,…
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Daily Readings: John 13 and Psalm 32 The night of Jesus’ betrayal had arrived. Judas had negotiated his price and was awaiting his moment. The rest of the apostles were oblivious. The day had been long, and many preparations had been made for the evening meal. Everyone was tired, and in their weariness they had…
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Daily Readings: John 12 and Psalm 31 When Jesus entered Jerusalem that final week, His popularity was massive. The Pharisees said of Him: “‘…Look how the whole world has gone after him!” (v.19). To top it all off, the account of His calling Lazarus out of the grave had even reached the ears of some…
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Daily Readings: John 2 and Psalm 30 Remember that the Gospel of John presents seven miraculous signs performed by Jesus to reveal His identity. In John 2 we find the first of these signs. By turning water into wine at the wedding of an unnamed friend or family member, who was evidently not well-enough-off to…
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Daily Readings: John 1 and Psalm 29 Today we begin our journey through John’s Gospel. We will read it slightly out of chronological chapter order by virtue of taking a detour to chapters 12-19 next week, so that we can focus on the events of Holy Week as recorded in John. The Gospel of John,…
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Daily Readings: Matthew 28 and Psalm 28 And then, at dawn on the Sunday after His horrifying death, the Lord Jesus was raised from the dead by the power of God. The moment of the resurrection is never described in the Gospels, because it happened ‘behind closed doors’ in the sealed tomb. There were no…
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Daily Readings: Matthew 27 and Psalm 27 It all happened so quickly after Jesus was betrayed, arrested, abandoned and falsely accused that Thursday night (Matt. 26). Early on the Friday morning, shortly after the rooster crowed the third time, Jesus was already hauled off to the palace of Pilate, the Roman governor. Standing alone and…
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Daily Readings: Matthew 26 and Psalm 26 In Matthew 26, Jesus faced a huge variety of responses. Radical opposition (v.1-5), indignant misunderstanding (v.8-9) and murderous betrayal (v.14-16) contrasted deeply with lavish love (v.6-7) and great generosity and kindness (v.17-19). Judas tried to fool Jesus (v.20-25), while Peter was only fooling himself (v.31-35). And eventually, the…
