the 5th sunday in lent
the PRAYER …
Creator God, you prepare a new way in the wilderness, and your grace waters our desert. Open our hearts to be transformed by the new thing you are doing, that our lives may proclaim the extravagance of your love given to all through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
the READING …
But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.)
john 12:1-8
the DEVOTION …
The story’s told only by John. About the woman “caught in the act.” How she’s brought to Jesus. How they ask Jesus what he thinks. And how he replies. “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first …” He doesn’t minimize scripture. Doesn’t condone sin. Instead, he, simply, advises humility. Something lacking in the selfRighteous.
This week, there’s another story. Again, told only by John. About Judas Iscariot. The one who was about to betray him. The one who didn’t care about the poor. The one who was a thief. But in John, there’s no blood money. No kiss. No suicide. In John, after all is said and done, Judas simply fades away. And I wonder. I wonder if it’s because the gospel-writer takes his own words to heart. “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first …”