Holy Week - Wednesday

Today’s Scriptures: Lectionary selections from the Revised Common Lectionary Year C Isaiah 50:4-9 Psalm 70 Hebrews 12:1-3 John 13:21-32

Today’s Reflection: If I were to ask believers about the things God does for them, protection from shame would probably not make the survey. The passages today make reference to worldly shame and dishonor God’s followers have faced since the beginning of time. God’s ways are not the ways of the world. Though the world subjects the faithful to punishment/persecution it considers shameful, the people who are truly faithful experience reward rather than shame. Such persecution continues, as often as not, from within the Church as believers challenge others who do not believe exactly the same way. Just as the perfection of our faith and the end of our ministry does not come until we reach Heaven, the rewards that overcome the persecution we face during life come as a part of eternity. In this life, we will continue to be tormented for our faith, but as Christ and the cloud of witnesses attest, we possess the strength to survive until that time.

Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org