Lent - Day 14 - The Greatest Miracle

Lent Devotions from Concordia University 2025

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Getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.” And he rose and went home. 

When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men. As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.

Matthew 9:1-13

Matthew chapters 8 and 9 hold an accumulation of at least nine different miracles depending on how exactly you number the accounts. In the midst of all these miracles, Matthew records what he probably considered the greatest miracle of all: That Jesus, the Son of God, would turn to him, a sinner, and say, “Follow me.” For all the miracles that take place, there is no greater miracle than being called to faith, and given the gift of life. Take time today to reflect on that miracle which the Holy Spirit has worked in your life.

Prayer:

Merciful Father, 

                       Through Jesus Christ You have called me from death to life. What a lifesaving miracle that is. Thank You for that gift. Amen.

Easter Sunday - Day Forty-Seven - Restoration

Lent Devotions from Concordia University 2024 - Last Day

4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.
John 21:4-6

Our Lord is good and gracious. With each resurrection appearance, we see different facets of how Jesus works to re-gather his scattered flock, heal sorrows, speak peace, fill with the Spirit, and restore them to what he desires to do through them.

Three times Peter denied Jesus. Three times Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” The first two times, Jesus asks if Peter loved Him sacrificially, the last time he asks if Peter loves him as a friend. Surely Peter was right when he responded, “Lord you know everything; you know that I love you.”

Why does Jesus press so hard on Peter? Jesus moves Peter to a point of honesty about his human nature in order to keep him from relying on himself or anything else. He invites Peter to trust in him alone. Jesus’ grace was already there. God had already accomplished the work that reconciled Peter. But Jesus had much more in store.

Sin can bring a double calamity. First, there is the sin itself which causes discord in our lives and relationships. Then there is the way that our sin and guilt are always before us. This tempts us to doubt that we have been raised to new life in Christ. Our sin can keep us from the work that God wants to do through us. Once we are actually convicted of sin, we often find it hard to let go. This is not from God!

With every sin Jesus announces, “You are forgiven, I have redeemed you.” Continuing with his gracious compassion, he says, “Trust in me. Rely on me. I have things for us to do together in the lives of others. Follow me.”

Prayer:

As Peter declared, "Lord, You know everything; You know that I love You.” Help me to ever hold fast to You and follow You wherever You lead. Amen.

Reading Further - John 21:1-25

1 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. 8 The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.

9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” 23 So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”

24 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.

25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

Following After

     Listen, dear friends, to God’s truth, bend your ears to what I tell you. I’m chewing on the morsel of a proverb; I’ll let you in on the sweet old truths, stories we heard from our fathers, counsel we learned at our mother’s knee. We’re not keeping this to ourselves, we’re passing it along to the next generation - God’s fame and fortune, the marvelous things he has done.
     He planted a witness in Jacob, set his Word firmly in Israel, then commanded our parents to teach to their children so the next generation would know, and all the generations to come - Know the truth and tell the stories so their children can trust in God, never forget the works of God but keep his commands to the letter.
Psalm 78:1-7 The Message

I've been reminiscing for the last 10 days or so. Another of my friends passed away and his service was this evening. He was about 15 years older than me and we swapped stories for several days in the last two weeks of his life. I thought I knew quite a bit about him, but I found out tonight, I'd only discovered just below the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. I knew he'd had a full life, a faithful wife who preceded him in death who he loved until HIS last breath, and that his was an intentional life. He lived with purpose.

His one concern was that perhaps he had not left a path clear enough for his daughter and granddaughter to see their way to Jesus. I told him if that path - however short or long - led him to Christ then it was clear enough for them to see and we prayed that their eyes and hearts would be wide open to see what God had for them.

We must be intentional about teaching our next generations about Jesus. We cannot leave it to this world to teach them. We must lead the way for those who are watching where we're going. Judges 2:7 tells us, And the Israelites served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and the leaders who outlived him—those who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel. Then Joshua died and they buried him and in verse 10 we read, After that generation died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel. One generation was all it took and they were separated from God - doing evil in His sight. 

So, the question is, are we following after that which will cause those who are following after us to follow after Christ?

Prayer:

Father,

           Forgive us for ever misstep we have made along the way. According to Your Word, please make straight the way and plain the path so that we can leave good imprints as we follow You and our generations follow after. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Simply

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.
Matthew 9:9 NLT

Simple verse. Seemingly simplistic in nature. 

Follow Me. 
Okay. 

Trust me, there was nothing simple about that at all. 

Tax collectors in Jesus' time had a reputation for cheating the people. They worked for the Romans, charging (and often over-charging) their own countrymen the taxes imposed by the Roman government. It was a lucrative business for the tax collector, and the Jews hated them. Matthew was a tax collector. So, when Jesus said, Follow Me, and Matthew did, Matthew immediately became unemployed.  

You'll notice, Matthew did not question Jesus. "Where are You going?" 
"What's my role in this?" 
"Who's funding this?" 
"Are we getting paid?" 
"Let me see if I can get the time off..."  

None of that. Jesus simply said and Matthew simply got up and did. 

Oh, that we would simply do the same...

Prayer:

Father,
         We pray as Jeremiah prayed, We know, Lord, that our lives are not our own. We are not able to plan our own course. So correct us, Lord, but please be gentle. We want to follow Your steps. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Follow Me +

[Jesus speaking] Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.

John 12:26 NLT

Not too long ago, I had the privilege of having a heart-to-heart conversation with a non-believer who really did not have a clue who God is in all His glory and majesty. He believed “good” people should get to go to heaven simply for being good to others. I told him that would be nice, but that’s not how it worked. 

I explained to him the only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ – by confessing our sin, then believing that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, accepting His sacrifice on the cross for our sin, and finally to confess with our mouths and believe in our heart that Jesus is Lord and God raised Him from the dead. My friend didn’t like that because he knew people who were always kind to others and gave to charities and helped others, but they didn’t believe in Jesus. He thought they should get to go to heaven. I was praying in my heart during the whole “defense” of what he believed, asking for the right words to say in response… and this is the analogy God provided.

I have a very good job. My boss lines out what I’m to do and if I expect a paycheck – what I believe is my just reward for doing what’s expected of me – then I do what I’m supposed to do. And if I don’t, I can also expect to lose my paycheck. You see, it’s not my company, so I can’t make up the rules to suit my likes and dislikes, to be what I want them or don't want them to be. I have to follow the rules established by the authority to be able to reap the benefits of being employed.

Who do you think created heaven? Who do you think it belongs to? Who do you think is the Boss there?  

To all three questions, he replied unequivocally, “God.” 

So I asked him, If God created heaven, and heaven belongs to Him, and God is the boss there, then He makes the rules, and His rule book clearly states that the only way to heaven is through Jesus. There is no other way in.

My friend had never thought of God in that capacity. He thought of Him as a kind of good luck deity that would follow US around, and be at our beck and call, blessing us when we did something good. However, neither God nor His Son said they would follow US. Jesus DID say they would be with us always, but that’s because He first said, Follow Me.

Prayer:

Father,

          We are so wrong. Forgive us for our rebellion when we want to lead You and want You to follow and bless what we want. Lord, we choose to follow You. Give us a clear understanding of who You are in Your fullness and help us to walk in Your steps. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen