Daily Reading and Meditation

Scripture:  John 5:31-47

31 If I bear witness to myself, my testimony is not true; 32
there is another who bears witness to me, and I know that the
testimony which he bears to me is true. 33 You sent to John, and
he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Not that the testimony which
I receive is from man; but I say this that you may be saved. 35 He
was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice
for a while in his light. 36 But the testimony which I have is
greater than that of John; for the works which the Father has
granted me to accomplish, these very works which I am doing, bear
me witness that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent
me has himself borne witness to me. His voice you have never
heard, his form you have never seen; 38 and you do not have his
word abiding in you, for you do not believe him whom he has sent.

39 You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you
have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; 40 yet
you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 41 I do not
receive glory from men. 42 But I know that you have not the love
of God within you. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do
not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will
receive. 44 How can you believe, who receive glory from one
another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? 45
Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; it is Moses
who accuses you, on whom you set your hope. 46 If you believed
Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do
not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

Second Reading:  Exodus 32:7-14

7 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down;
for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt,
have corrupted themselves; 8 they have turned aside quickly out of
the way which I commanded them; they have made for themselves a
molten calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said,
`These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land
of Egypt!'” 9 And the LORD said to Moses,
“I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people;
10 now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against
them and I may consume them; but of you I will make a great
nation.”

11 But Moses begged the LORD his God, and
said, “O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot
against your people, whom you have brought forth out of the land
of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should
the Egyptians say, `With evil intent did he bring them forth, to
slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of
the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath, and repent of this evil
against your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your
servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, `I
will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and all
this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants,
and they shall inherit it for ever.'” 14 And the LORD
repented of the evil which he thought to do to his people.

Meditation: Do you know the joy of the Gospel – the good

news of Jesus Christ – and a life freely submitted to the
wisdom and knowledge of God’s word? Jesus’ opponents refused to
accept his authority to speak and act in the name of God. And they
refused to believe that he was sent from the Father in heaven.
They demanded evidence for his claim to be equal with God. Jesus
answers their charges with the supporting evidence of witnesses.
The law of Moses had laid down the principle that the unsupported
evidence of one person shall not prevail against a man for any
crime or wrong in connection with any offence he committed (see
Deuteronomy 17:6). At least two or three witnesses were needed.

Witnesses to Jesus’ true identity
Jesus begins his defense by citing John the Baptist as a witness,
since John publicly pointed to Jesus as the Messiah and had
repeatedly borne witness to him (see John 1:19, 20, 26, 29, 35,
36). Jesus also asserts that a greater witness to his identity and
equality with God the Father are the signs and miracles he
performed. He cites his works, not to point to himself but to
point to the power of God the Father working in and through him.
He cites God the Father as his supreme witness.

Jesus asserts that the Scriptures themselves, including the first
five books of Moses, point to him as the Messiah, the promised
Savior. The problem with the scribes and Pharisees was that they
did not believe what Moses had written. They desired the praise of
their own people and since they were so focused on themselves,
they became blind-sighted to God. They were so preoccupied with
their own position as authorities and interpreters of the law that
they became hardened and unable to understand the word of God.
Their pride made them deaf to God’s voice.

God reveals himself to the lowly of heart
Scripture tells us that God reveals himself to the lowly, to those
who trust not in themselves but in God alone. The lowly of heart
listen to God’s word with an eagerness to learn and to obey. The
Lord Jesus reveals to us the very mind and heart of God. Through
the gift of the Holy Spirit he opens our ears so that we may hear
his voice and he fills our hearts and minds with the love and
knowledge of God. Do you believe that God’s word has power to set
you free from sin and ignorance and to transform you to be like
him?

Saint Augustine of Hippo (430-543 A.D.) wrote:

“As Christians, our task is to make daily progress
toward God. Our pilgrimage on earth is a school in which God is
the only teacher, and it demands good students, not ones who play
truant. In this school we learn something every day. We learn
something from commandments, something from examples, and
something from sacraments. These things are remedies for our
wounds and materials for study.”

Are you an eager student of God’s word and do you listen to it with
faith and obedience?

“Lord Jesus, fill me with your Holy Spirit that I may listen to
your word attentively and obey it joyfully.”

Psalm 106:19-23

19 They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a molten image.
20 They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that
eats grass.
21 They forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in
Egypt,
22 wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the
Red Sea.
23 Therefore he said he would destroy them — had not Moses, his
chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath
from destroying them.

Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Christ is our Master who
teaches us, by Augustine of Hippo, 354- 430
A.D.

“There is a Master within Who teaches us. Christ is our Master,
and his inspiration and his anointing teaches us. Where his
inspiration and his anointing are lacking, it is in vain that
words resound in our ears. As Paul the Apostle said: ‘I planted
the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.’ Therefore,
whether we plant or whether we water by our words, we are nothing.
It is God Who gives the increase; His anointing teaches you all
things.” (excerpt from Sermon on 1 John 3,13)

Scripture quotations from Common Bible: Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1973, and Ignatius Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 2006, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.  Citation references for quotes from the writings of the early church fathers can be found here.

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