Devotion for Tuesday in Holy Week, April 7
John 12:37–38, 42–50 | I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.
He said the same thing before: “God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” (3:16)
We know that Jesus came as light into the world (v. 46), exposing (hence judging) the evil that darkness cloaks. It is as if he lifted up a huge rock and so put into view a million rotten things. Exposure is a key part of his ministry. But the reason he did this and the reason God planned it was to help us at the most fundamental level.
I need saving, I need saving every A.M. from worry about the day. I need saving at lunch time so I can carry on with courage. I need saving in the late afternoon so I’ll be ready for the curve balls that come at the end of the day. I need saving in the evening, in order to love my family—love them more than my work, sacrificially, patiently, unselfishly. And I need saving late at night, so I won’t be up all night worrying about tomorrow.
We need the peace that comes from being saved. We are saved from judgement—Jesus makes that clear—so we have, truly, nothing to fear. Peace can enter in where anxiety lived before. He really came for this to happen.
PRAYER
Oh Lord,
make me bold enough to ask you for help,
let me run into the arms of my savior.