Consider the Word, March 11, 2021

Consider the Word, March 11, 2021
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Readings for March 14

• Numbers 21:4-9
• Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22
• Ephesians 2:1-10
• John 3:14-21

 
Collect

Gracious Father,

whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came from heaven

to be the true bread which gives life to the world,

evermore give us this bread,

that he may live in us, and we in him,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 

Reading: John 3:14-21

Jesus said, "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God."

 
Reflection Questions

1. Would you agree that God’s motivation for sending Jesus is not condemnation, but love?
2. What is the hope expressed in this passage?

 
Closing Prayer

Steadfast God,

you reach out to us in mercy

even when we rebel against your holy call

and prefer to walk in disobedience

rather than in the way of your divine truth.

soften our hearts with the warmth of your love,

that we may know your Son alive within us,

redeeming us

and raising us up into your eternal presence. Amen.

 
The Message: John 3:14-21

^13-15 “No one has ever gone up into the presence of God except the One who came down from that Presence, the Son of Man. In the same way that Moses lifted the serpent in the desert so people could have something to see and then believe, it is necessary for the Son of Man to be lifted up—and everyone who looks up to him, trusting and expectant, will gain a real life, eternal life.

^16-18 “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.

^19-21 “This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.”

The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson