Category: Bible Reading & Meditation

” ‘I am completely trapped,’ Susanna groaned…’Yet it is better for me to fall into your power without guilt than to sin before the Lord.’ ” –Daniel 13:22, 23 We need many more Susannas in our culture of death. These Susannas will refuse to compromise with the sinful ways of the world, the flesh, and the devil. They will “live by the Spirit” (Gal 5:25) and defeat the temptations of the devil through the Spirit working within them (Gal 5:17). These Susannas will have an indefatigable hope, which will never leave them disappointed (Rm 5:5). They will trust in the...

“They were posing this question to trap Him, so that they could have something to accuse Him of.” –John 8:6 Jesus saved an adulteress from being executed (Jn 8:1ff). He made sure that justice was not done. In doing this, He did nothing for the victims of the adulteress’ sin-crime. Jesus seems to have disregarded the broken hearts of the spouse or spouses cheated on, the disturbed and confused families traumatized by the adultery, and the moral climate of that society further warped by sin. Jesus’ mercy to the adulteress seems unjust to, and even merciless to, her victims. However,...

“One of their own number, Nicodemus (the man who had come to Him), spoke up to say, ‘Since when does our law condemn any man without first hearing him and knowing the facts?’ ” –John 7:50-51 In John’s Gospel, Nicodemus is introduced as “a member of the Jewish Sanhedrin” who came to Jesus at night (Jn 3:1-2). Later, Nicodemus is referred to more briefly and discreetly as “the man who had come to [Jesus]” (Jn 7:50). After Jesus’ death, Nicodemus came to bury Jesus and is again referred to as “the man who had first come to Jesus at night”...

“Once His brothers had gone up to the festival He too went up, but as if in secret and not for all to see.” –John 7:10 Two weeks from today will be Good Friday, and we will be in the midst of the Triduum, the three most holy days of the year. We are on the threshold of the glorious Easter season. Jesus will be going up to the festival of His Resurrection, “but as if in secret and not for all to see” (Jn 7:10). At His Resurrection, He was “completely changed in appearance” (Mk 16:12) and few recognized...

“If you believed Moses you would then believe Me, for it was about Me that He wrote.” –John 5:46 We must believe in the Word of God in its fullness. For example, if we don’t believe the part of the Bible attributed to Moses, called the Pentateuch, we won’t believe Jesus and what He said through His body, the Church, in the New Testament. Jesus said: “If you believed Moses you would then believe Me, for it was about Me that he wrote. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how can you believe what I say?” (Jn...