Daily Devotional • July 1
A Reading from Luke 22:63-71
63 Now the men who were holding Jesus began to mock him and beat him;64 they also blindfolded him and kept asking him, “Prophesy! Who is it who struck you?” 65 They kept heaping many other insults on him.
66 When day came, the assembly of the elders of the people, both chief priests and scribes, gathered together, and they brought him to their council. 67 They said, “If you are the Messiah, tell us.” He replied, “If I tell you, you will not believe, 68 and if I question you, you will not answer. 69 But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” 70 All of them asked, “Are you, then, the Son of God?” He said to them, “You say that I am.” 71 Then they said, “What further testimony do we need? We have heard it ourselves from his own lips!”
Meditation
When we think about it, we probably all feel we are generous people. Giving can be manifested in many ways, through money or physical help to someone in need, the giving of our time or lending an ear when someone we know is anxious, it could be giving moral support to a friend, or turning our hearts to prayer for someone who is in desperate need.
When Jesus was grabbed and taken into custody by the chief priests, elders, and temple captains, the people were in desperate need. Jesus Christ was willing to give all his energy and heart to us—his all. Jesus Christ did not have to give his all, but it was his nature to give freely and without reservation. Do we give freely?
There are many examples in the Gospels of Jesus giving a miracle of healing to someone in desperate need. Are we giving of our love, or withholding of forgiveness? Are we giving truth to spiritual values, or seeking wealth and power? Try for one day to give your all for someone who is desperately in need, to empathize with Jesus Christ. Allow that light to shine through for others to see and feel the warmth of it.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
All Saints’ Episcopal Church, San Diego, California
The Diocese of Nasir – Province of the Episcopal Church of South Sudan
