Home > Reading > Daily Reading – March 29, 2023

John 10:1–18 (Listen)

I Am the Good Shepherd

10:1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”


Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Lent

Most years, I provide “End of Life” seminars for my parishioners, always encouraging them to spend time arranging their affairs, including providing guidance for others at the time of one’s death.
At one point, my wife, Susan asked, “Have you done the same?””

I was convicted, so I took some time to consider how I might organize things in my life to make it easier, a bit, for my family at the time when the Lord calls me from this earthly existence, to the Church Triumphant. This includes guidance for my family regarding funeral service and burial! Far from being a morbid or troubling exercise, it brings a certain peace for me, my wife and my children. I have chosen the Good Shepherd theme for my funeral, with the Gospel reading above to be read and every Good Shepherd hymn to be sung. There are few themes in Holy Scripture more comforting and encouraging than to hear that our Lord, Jesus, is the good shepherd who not only lays down his life for the sheep, but “takes it up again”!
 
While visiting the Holy Land last summer, we saw many shepherds, still in Israel and Jordan, tending their flocks. Our guide told us of a time when a tourist saw someone walking behind the sheep, driving them on. “I thought the shepherd walked in front, leading the sheep,” the person asked. “Yes,” responded the guide. “But that’s not the shepherd—that’s the butcher, and he walks behind the sheep, driving them to slaughter!” The message ought not be lost on we who are the Lord’s sheep today! Are we following the Good Shepherd, or are we being driven to slaughter by thieves, robbers, false teachers, butchers?

May Lent be a time of hearing and listening to the voice of our Shepherd, Jesus—as He leads us to abundant life and eternal life!
 

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for being our Good Shepherd. Lead me and guide me through this season of Lent and the times and seasons of life, that I follow You always. Amen.

Devotion written by the Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel

Jeremiah 25:30–38 (Listen)

30 “You, therefore, shall prophesy against them all these words, and say to them:

  “‘The LORD will roar from on high,
    and from his holy habitation utter his voice;
  he will roar mightily against his fold,
    and shout, like those who tread grapes,
    against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31   The clamor will resound to the ends of the earth,
    for the LORD has an indictment against the nations;
  he is entering into judgment with all flesh,
    and the wicked he will put to the sword,
      declares the LORD.’
32   “Thus says the LORD of hosts:
  Behold, disaster is going forth
    from nation to nation,
  and a great tempest is stirring
    from the farthest parts of the earth!

33 “And those pierced by the LORD on that day shall extend from one end of the earth to the other. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall be dung on the surface of the ground.

34   “Wail, you shepherds, and cry out,
    and roll in ashes, you lords of the flock,
  for the days of your slaughter and dispersion have come,
    and you shall fall like a choice vessel.
35   No refuge will remain for the shepherds,
    nor escape for the lords of the flock.
36   A voice—the cry of the shepherds,
    and the wail of the lords of the flock!
  For the LORD is laying waste their pasture,
37     and the peaceful folds are devastated
    because of the fierce anger of the LORD.
38   Like a lion he has left his lair,
    for their land has become a waste
  because of the sword of the oppressor,
    and because of his fierce anger.”

Romans 10:14–21 (Listen)

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for

  “Their voice has gone out to all the earth,
    and their words to the ends of the world.”

19 But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says,

  “I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation;
    with a foolish nation I will make you angry.”

20 Then Isaiah is so bold as to say,

  “I have been found by those who did not seek me;
    I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me.”

21 But of Israel he says, “All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people.”

John 10:1–18 (Listen)

I Am the Good Shepherd

10:1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”


Morning Psalms

Psalm 5 (Listen)

Lead Me in Your Righteousness

To the choirmaster: for the flutes. A Psalm of David.

5:1   Give ear to my words, O LORD;
    consider my groaning.
  Give attention to the sound of my cry,
    my King and my God,
    for to you do I pray.
  O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice;
    in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.
  For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
    evil may not dwell with you.
  The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
    you hate all evildoers.
  You destroy those who speak lies;
    the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
  But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
    will enter your house.
  I will bow down toward your holy temple
    in the fear of you.
  Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness
    because of my enemies;
    make your way straight before me.
  For there is no truth in their mouth;
    their inmost self is destruction;
  their throat is an open grave;
    they flatter with their tongue.
10   Make them bear their guilt, O God;
    let them fall by their own counsels;
  because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
    for they have rebelled against you.
11   But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
    let them ever sing for joy,
  and spread your protection over them,
    that those who love your name may exult in you.
12   For you bless the righteous, O LORD;
    you cover him with favor as with a shield.

Psalm 147:1–12 (Listen)

He Heals the Brokenhearted

147:1   Praise the LORD!
  For it is good to sing praises to our God;
    for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.
  The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
    he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
  He heals the brokenhearted
    and binds up their wounds.
  He determines the number of the stars;
    he gives to all of them their names.
  Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
    his understanding is beyond measure.
  The LORD lifts up the humble;
    he casts the wicked to the ground.
  Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
    make melody to our God on the lyre!
  He covers the heavens with clouds;
    he prepares rain for the earth;
    he makes grass grow on the hills.
  He gives to the beasts their food,
    and to the young ravens that cry.
10   His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
    nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
11   but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him,
    in those who hope in his steadfast love.
12   Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem!
    Praise your God, O Zion!


Evening Psalms

“”Hans Nielsen Hauge, Renewer of the Church, 1824″”, “”John Keble, Priest, 1866″”

This daily prayer and Bible reading guide, Devoted to Prayer (based on Acts 2:42), was conceived and prepared by the Rev. Andrew S. Ames Fuller, director of communications for the North American Lutheran Church (NALC). After several challenging years in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been provided with a unique opportunity to revitalize the ancient practice of daily prayer and Scripture reading in our homes. While the Reading the Word of God three-year lectionary provided a much-needed and refreshing calendar for our congregations to engage in Scripture reading, this calendar includes a missing component of daily devotion: prayer. This guide is to provide the average layperson and pastor with the simple tools for sorting through the busyness of their lives and reclaiming an act of daily discipleship with their Lord. The daily readings follow the Lutheran Book of Worship two-year daily lectionary, which reflect the church calendar closely. The commemorations are adapted from Philip H. Pfatteicher’s New Book of Festivals and Commemorations, a proposed common calendar of the saints that builds from the Lutheran Book of Worship, but includes saints from many of those churches in ecumenical conversation with the NALC. The introductory portion is adapted from Christ Church (Plano)’s Pray Daily. Our hope is that this calendar and guide will provide new life for congregations learning and re-learning to pray in the midst of a difficult and changing world.

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