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Strength in Suffering

Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2:21

When eighteen-year-old Sammy received Jesus as Savior, his family rejected him because their tradition was of a different faith. But the Christian community welcomed him, offering encouragement and financial resources for his education. Later, when his testimony was published in a magazine, his persecution intensified.

But Sammy did not stop seeing his family. He visited whenever he could and talked with his father, even though his siblings cruelly prevented him from participating in family affairs. When his father fell ill, Sammy overlooked his family’s slighting and attended to him, praying his father would get well. When God healed him, the family began to warm up toward Sammy. Over time, his loving witness softened their attitude toward him—and some of his family members became willing to hear about Jesus.

Our decision to follow Christ may cause us difficulties. Peter wrote, “It is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God” (1 Peter 2:19). When we undergo discomfort or suffering because of our faith, we do so because “Christ suffered for [us], leaving [us] an example, that [we] should follow in his steps” (v. 21).

Even when others hurled insults at Jesus, “he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly” (v. 23). Jesus is our example in suffering. We can turn to Him for strength.

Dear Lord Jesus, help me to follow Your example in my conduct and in suffering for You.

When we suffer for Jesus, He comes to walk us through it.

INSIGHT

Why would God allow those He loves to be chased from their homes and homeland? (1 Peter 1:1–2). According to Peter, their plight was a chance to show their faith in the goodness of God who calls all of us to something far more wonderful than material comfort and security. What other reasons does Peter offer?

By |2018-03-29T17:14:17-04:00April 8th, 2018|
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Basin of Love

After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet. John 13:5

One day in physics class many years ago, our teacher asked us to tell him—without turning around—what color the back wall of the classroom was. None of us could answer, for we hadn’t noticed.

Sometimes we miss or overlook the “stuff” of life simply because we can’t take it all in. And sometimes we don’t see what’s been there all along.

It was like that for me as I recently read again the account of Jesus washing His disciples’ feet. The story is a familiar one, for it is often read during Passion Week. That our Savior and King would stoop to cleanse the feet of His disciples awes us. In Jesus’s day, even Jewish servants were spared this task because it was seen as beneath them. But what I hadn’t noticed before was that Jesus, who was both man and God, washed the feet of Judas. Even though He knew Judas would betray Him, as we see in John 13:11, Jesus still humbled Himself and washed Judas’s feet.

Love poured out in a basin of water—love that He shared even with the one who would betray Him. As we ponder the events of this week leading up to the celebration of Jesus’s resurrection, may we too be given the gift of humility so that we can extend Jesus’s love to our friends and any enemies.

Lord Jesus Christ, fill my heart with love that I might roll up my sleeves and wash the feet of others for Your glory.
Because of love, Jesus humbled Himself and washed His disciples’ feet.
By |2018-03-22T09:34:49-04:00March 29th, 2018|
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Who Is This?

Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Luke 19:38

Imagine standing shoulder to shoulder with onlookers by a dirt road. The woman behind you is on her tiptoes, trying to see who is coming. In the distance, you glimpse a man riding a donkey. As He approaches, people toss their coats onto the road. Suddenly, you hear a tree crack behind you. A man is cutting down palm branches, and people are spreading them out ahead of the donkey.

Jesus’s followers zealously honored Him as He entered Jerusalem a few days before His crucifixion. The multitude rejoiced and praised God for “all the miracles they had seen” (Luke 19:37). Jesus’s devotees surrounded Him, calling out, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” (v. 38). Their enthusiastic honor affected the people of Jerusalem. When Jesus finally arrived, “the whole city was stirred and asked, ‘Who is this?’ ” (Matthew 21:10).

Today, people are still curious about Jesus. Although we can’t pave His way with palm branches or shout praises to Him in person, we can still honor Him. We can discuss His remarkable works, assist people in need, patiently bear insults, and love each other deeply. Then we must be ready to answer the onlookers who ask, “Who is Jesus?”

Lord, may my life and my words express what I know about who You are. I want others to see You in me and to know You too.
We honour God’s name when we live like His children.

INSIGHT

Do you sometimes struggle with finding the right words and right time to speak about Jesus? Your concern and hesitancy may be from God. There is a time to speak and a time to be quiet (Ecclesiastes 3:7). The Spirit knows the difference. Sometimes He is in the quiet moments and thoughtful actions that prepare the way for words later. Sometimes He enables us to fill a silence so ripe for words that if we don’t gently express our confidence in Jesus, it might feel as if even “the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40).

By |2018-03-22T09:03:51-04:00March 25th, 2018|
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National Treasure

Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Matthew 21:9

When an advertiser altered a photo of Michelangelo’s famous marble sculpture of the biblical hero David, Italy’s government and gallery officials objected. Picturing David with a military rifle slung over his shoulder (instead of his slingshot) would be a violation—“like taking a hammer to it or worse,” a cultural official said.

In first-century Jerusalem, David was remembered as the shepherd-songwriter and soldier-king of Israel’s fondest memories and greatest hopes. Prophets foretold that David’s descendant would finally defeat the enemies of Israel. So, centuries later, when crowds welcomed Jesus as the Son of David (Matthew 21:6–9), they were expecting Him to lead the revolt that would overthrow their Roman occupiers. Instead Jesus knocked over the tables of temple money-changers to restore His Father’s house as a house of prayer for all nations. Israel’s leaders were furious. This wasn’t the kind of Messiah and Son of David they were looking for. So without realizing what they were doing, they called for Roman executioners to take a hammer to the hands and feet of the true glory of Israel.

Instead of stopping them, Jesus let Himself be lifted up on a cross of shame—defaced and disgraced. Only by resurrection would it be known that the true Son of David had defeated His enemies with love and enlisted the children of all nations to spread the word.

Father in heaven, it’s hard to admit. But it’s true. We get so confused. We try to protect the images we love more than the love You consider priceless.
Jesus shows that God is always better than our expectations.

INSIGHT

Establishing Jesus as the Son of David is critical to Matthew’s gospel account. He begins his gospel by saying, “This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham.” This description traces Jesus’s lineage through Joseph back to David and beyond. Additionally, in Matthew’s gospel Jesus is called the Son of David by two blind men (9:27), a Canaanite woman (15:22), and two more blind men (20:30–31). Since the theme of Matthew’s gospel is that Jesus is the King of the Jews and Matthew’s primary audience was the Jewish people, it was important for Jesus to be identified as the Son of David and heir to David’s throne. Jesus’s royal identity makes it all the more tragic that the response of the mob at His cross mocked Him as King of the Jews (27:29, 42) instead of placing their trust in Him.

What is your response to Jesus?

For further study, see the Discovery Series booklet Is Jesus God? The Answer Matters at discoveryseries.org/q0205.

Bill Crowder

By |2018-01-18T11:27:11-05:00February 1st, 2018|
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Growing a Servant’s Heart

I am among you as one who serves. Luke 22:27

It was a long day at work. But when I got home, it was time to start my “other” job­: being a good dad. Greetings from my wife and kids soon became, “Dad, what’s for dinner?” “Dad, can you get me some water?” “Dad, can we play soccer?”

I just wanted to sit down. And even though part of me really wanted to be a good dad, I didn’t feel like serving my family’s needs. That’s when I saw it: a thank-you card my wife had received from someone at church. It pictured a bowl of water, a towel, and dirty sandals. Across the bottom were these words from Luke 22:27: “I am among you as one who serves.”

That statement of Jesus’s mission, to serve those He came to seek and save (Luke 19:10), was exactly what I needed. If Jesus was willing to do the dirtiest of jobs for His followers—like scrubbing His followers’ no doubt filthy feet (John 13:1–17)—I could get my son a cup of water without grumbling about it. In that moment, I was reminded that my family’s requests to serve them weren’t merely an obligation, but an opportunity to reflect Jesus’s servant heart and His love to them. When requests are made of us, they are chances to become more like the One who served His followers by laying down His life for us.

Lord, sometimes it’s hard to serve others’ needs. Help us to become more like You, willing to express Your love in the many opportunities we have to serve those around us each day.
God’s love for us empowers us to serve others.

Our Daily Bread welcomes writer Adam Holz! Meet Adam and all our authors at ourdailybread.ca/authors/.

INSIGHT

Not only did Jesus model a servant’s heart, serving was an ongoing theme in His teaching—and one that His disciples consistently forgot. In one of Jesus’s last public discourses He said, “The greatest among you will be your servant” (Matthew 23:11). Then in John 13:1–17 He modeled that attitude by washing the disciples’ feet—embracing a task usually reserved for the lowest servant in the household. However, just hours later, the disciples argued about which of them deserved the highest position! (Luke 22:24). Tragically, this dispute took place as they were walking to Gethsemane, where the events leading up to Jesus’s time of suffering would begin.

How does reflecting on the heart of our Master and His call for us to be servants encourage you when you are called to serve others?

Bill Crowder

By |2018-01-08T16:08:14-05:00January 10th, 2018|
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Jesus Loves Maysel

Read: 1 John 4:7–16 | Bible in a Year: Daniel 1–2; 1 John 4

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us. 1 John 4:10

When my sister Maysel was little, she would sing a familiar song in her own way: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells Maysel.” This irritated me to no end! As one of her older, “wiser” sisters, I knew the words were “me so,” not “Maysel.” Yet she persisted in singing it her way.

Now I think my sister had it right all along. The Bible does indeed tell Maysel, and all of us, that Jesus loves us. Over and over again we read that truth. Take, for example, the writings of the apostle John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21:7, 20). He tells us about God’s love in one of the best-known verses of the Bible: John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

John reinforces that message of love in 1 John 4:10: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” Just as John knew Jesus loved him, we too can have that same assurance: Jesus does love us. The Bible tells us so.

Dear Lord, thank You for the assurance that You love us. We are filled with gratitude that You love us so much that You died for us.
Jesus loves me! This I know.

INSIGHT

Do you wish you could believe God loves you? Or does the thought seem childish and self-centered?

John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23), must have heard his Teacher say that only those who become like a little child would enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 18:2–4). John took those words personally, but didn’t apply them just to himself. He wrote about the Father who loves all of us (John 3:16; 1 John 4:14–16). With great maturity and childlike certainty he reminds us that believing God is love and loves us personally is what gives us reason to love Him and one another.

Mart DeHaan

By |2017-11-29T14:02:38-05:00December 5th, 2017|
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Helicopter Seeds

Read: John 12:23–33 | Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 16–17; James 3

Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. John 12:24 

When our children were young, they loved trying to catch the “helicopter seeds” that fell from our neighbor’s silver maple trees. Each seed resembles a wing. In late spring they twirl to the ground like a helicopter’s rotor blades. The seeds’ purpose is not to fly, but to fall to earth and grow into trees.

Before Jesus was crucified, He told His followers, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. . . . [U]nless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:23–24).

While Jesus’s disciples wanted Him to be honored as the Messiah, He came to give His life so we could be forgiven and transformed through faith in Him.  As Jesus’s followers, we hear His words, “Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me” (vv. 25–26).

Helicopter seeds can point us to the miracle of Jesus, the Savior, who died that we might live for Him.

Lord Jesus, we are amazed by Your love. Give us grace to serve You today as we long to do.
Jesus calls us to give our lives in serving Him.

INSIGHT

Our passage today occurs shortly after Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. On that day Jesus rode into town on a donkey’s colt as a large crowd, who had traveled to the city to celebrate the Passover, threw palm branches on the road before Him shouting, “ ‘Hosanna!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ” (John 12:12–15). Though Jesus came as a king, He knew that the people cheering Him on were expecting a savior to free them from Rome, not a savior who would suffer for their sins. He was the kernel of wheat who must die so His kingdom could grow (v. 24).

Alyson Kieda

By |2017-11-07T12:05:55-05:00November 21st, 2017|
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An Encounter with Stones

He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. Isaiah 53:5

After centuries of war and destruction, the modern city of Jerusalem is literally built on its own rubble. During a family visit, we walked the Via Dolorosa (the Way of Sorrow), the route tradition says Jesus followed on His way to the cross. The day was hot, so we paused for a rest and descended to the cool basement of the Convent of the Sisters of Zion. There I was intrigued by the sight of ancient pavement stones unearthed during recent construction—stones etched with games played by Roman soldiers during their idle moments.

Those particular stones, even though likely from a period later than Jesus, caused me to ponder my spiritual life at the time. Like a bored soldier passing time in idle moments, I had become complacent and uncaring toward God and others. I was deeply moved by remembering that near the place I was standing, the Lord was beaten, mocked, insulted, and abused as He took all of my failure and rebellion on Himself.

“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” (Isa. 53:5).

My encounter with the stones still speaks to me of Jesus’s loving grace that is greater than all my sin.

Lord Jesus, through Your great sacrifice for us, we find forgiveness, healing, and hope. Thank You that we live today and forever in Your love.

Our sin is great—God’s grace is greater.

INSIGHT

In their context, few Old Testament prophecies of Jesus look like clear predictions. For the most part, it is only by reading backward that we can see how Jesus brought fullness of meaning to words that were mysterious in their own time. Yet when read in light of Jesus, these words can now be life-changing.

Isaiah’s prophecy of the Suffering Servant is an example of this. Many in Israel believed it was their own persecuted nation that was bearing the sins of the world. Only by looking back can people like us realize that “we” were the ones who unwittingly demanded the death of our own God and Savior (Zech. 12:10–14).

As hard as it is to admit, this is the kind of grief that is for our good and comfort. This is how we can read words that were once so mysterious and see how much our God loves us. 

Mart DeHaan

By |2017-10-03T15:45:27-04:00October 18th, 2017|
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