Daily Devotion

10th March – Do you want to be healed?

Audio

Preparation

Today is Monday, the 10th of March. It is the sixth day in the Season of Lent. Take a moment to pause and be still.

We open with the collect from the first Sunday of Lent:

Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness,
and was tempted as we are, yet without sin:
give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your Spirit;
and, as you know our weakness,
so may we know your power to save;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

Psalm Reading

The appointed Psalm for today is Psalm 11:

In the Lord I take refuge;
how can you say to my soul, “Flee like a bird to your mountain,
for behold, the wicked bend the bow;
they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark
at the upright in heart;
if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord ’s throne is in heaven;
his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man.
The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked
and the one who loves violence.
Let him rain coals on the wicked;
fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds;
the upright shall behold his face.

Scripture Reading

The Scripture Reading for today is taken from John 5:1-18. It is about the healing of an invalid man by the Pool of Bethesda. Here, we read verses 13 to 18:

Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”

The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

Reflection: What is the Sabbath? To the Jews, the religious leaders of Jesus’ time, it was a day of prohibitions. A day full of “No-s”. So, understandably, they were upset when the invalid man who had been lame for thirty-eight years said, on this day, “yes” to healing, “yes” to walking, “yes” to Jesus.

What if the Sabbath was a day for meeting God? A day of “Yes” to Him and His invitations. The invitation into wholeness, which shares the same root word as holiness; the invitation into sonship and family with God as our Father; the invitation to share in the divine life of Christ as fully as He shared in our humanity.

“Do you want to be healed?” That was Jesus’ invitation to that invalid man lying by the pool of Bethesda. This is also Jesus’ invitation to us all wherever we may be. What say you to His invitation today?

Prayer: Let us learn to pray in the words that Jesus had given us:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and forever.
Amen.

Link to the full Morning Office