Psalm 95, 31
Deuteronomy 7: 12-16
Titus 2: 1-15
John 1: 35-42
Support us, O Lord, with your gracious favor through the fast we have begun; that as we observe it by bodily self-denial, so we may fulfill it with inner sincerity of heart; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
I marvel at the inner knowledge of the disciples in the Gospel passage for today. They know. “We have found the Messiah.” They are so sure. “We have found the Messiah.” Some of the disciples have questions about Jesus’s identity later on, but we cannot deny them at this moment. John says, “Here is the Lamb of God.” And they believe. Later, when Jesus questions them about who they think he is, they try to defer to what others say. How often are we swayed by what other people say? We take the opportunities to follow what other people think and not our own hearts. Lent is a good time to stop and examine why we do some of our habits. Do we do this for our own motivations or because other people think it is a good idea? The passage from Deuteronomy reminds us of all the blessings that God promises the people of Israel if they follow his way. We pray for the inner sincerity of heart to be able to say for ourselves, “We have found the Messiah.”
The Reverend Elizabeth Yale