Daily Office Readings for Friday of Proper14: Year 2
Morning, Psalm 102; Evening, Psalm 107:1 to 32;
Judges 14:20 to 15:20; Acts 7:17 to 29; John 4:43 to 54:
“Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. So he asked them the hour when he began to recover, and they said to him, “Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him.” The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole household. Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.” (John 4: 50 – 54)
Once again we see that Jesus does not have to be physically where the trouble or sickness is to fix the problem or heal the sick. All our Lord Jesus has to do is say the word, and it is done.
But let me also draw your attention to the fact that the man “believed” the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. As I have said many times before, believing is everything. As I have studied the language and culture of antiquity, I find that the word trust is the more definitive word for what we have as the word believe. The man with the dying son “trusted” in our Lord Jesus. And so do I.
Notice that the word faith is not a word that any English Christian translation of the Bible uses in the Gospel according to John. Faith is a noun. Faith is the word used in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke). John’s Gospel wants action. Believing (or trusting) is a verb. This again is why I crafted my own personal statement of faith. Here it is (again):
“I Trust in the Creating Word through the Holy Spirit of the Incarnate Word, in whom we live and move and love and have our being, and to whom, we all must give an account.”
How would you sum up your faith, or just your outlook about life? Try to write a simple sentence that says what you believe, or trust in. My own creed does not replace our Prayer Book Nicene Creed, or Apostle’s Creed. It is just a quick explanation of what I believe that can be said while standing on one foot, or in an elevator. My faith statement has evolved as I have pondered over the years. So might yours also, as you ponder anew what Christian life means to you.
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done” (Genesis 2:1 and 2). So, for this evening and tomorrow day my friends, Shabbat Shalom.
What is Shabbat? Intro to the Jewish Sabbath – YouTube
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine, and our schools. And, as we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
Let us pray:
O most holy Lord Jesus, through whom all life has its existence, help each of us to trust more and more in your word, that same word that sustains the life you brought into being. Help us dear Lord Jesus, for without your help we are lost. We trust in you Lord Jesus; Amen.
onewhoponders 