Use this devo as you are able, in whole or in part. Don’t feel compelled to read it all. Simply read and meditate upon whatever catches your attention. The goal is enjoying time with God through His Word and in prayer. Questions about the devotional elements?

Call to Prayer

Prayer of Confession

Crucified Lord, this week help me to remember how you sustained, in body and soul, the anger of God against the sin of the whole human race. Thank you for standing in my place, setting me free from eternal condemnation, and gaining for me God’s grace, righteousness, and eternal life. Amen. (Prayer based on the Heidelberg Catechism, Question 37)

*Prayer borrowed from Philip Reinders’ Seeking God’s Face: Praying with the Bible through the Year

Lent Devo: Backyard Pilgrim

Throughout Lent this year we will follow along over the next 40 days with quotes from Backyard Pilgrim by Matt Canlis which gives us a daily Bible Path (the story of God’s redemption) and Parish Path (a literal path through town where you can walk and ponder what God has shown you through his Word).

Day 36: “Questioning Sonship” | Read: Matthew 27:39-40, 43

BIBLE PATH

Jesus’ death is the atoning sacrifice for human sin, but the question at the foot of the cross was not about sacrifice, but sonship. Notice the question behind the temptations hurled at Jesus: “Come down now from the cross, if you are the Son of God, ” and “Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’”

Remember how Satan probed and tempted Jesus back in the desert: “ If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread” (Luke 4:3) and “ If you are the Son of God . . . throw yourself down from here” (Luke 4:9). The cross is now Satan’s most opportune time to tempt the world—and tempt Jesus himself—to doubt his sonship. But against this tide of mocking, Jesus is leaning forward into his Father. In the Holy Spirit’s strength, Jesus is resisting the taunts to prove himself. Jesus is waiting for the Father to vindicate his Son when and how he sees fit. He is living “not on bread alone” (Matthew 4:4), nor by any comfort that can be seen. Jesus is living by the identifying baptismal word of his Father: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22).

The crowd demanded that Jesus prove his sonship by coming down from the cross. It is because Jesus is God’s Son that he stayed there. Jesus is determined to rescue God’s lost children, humans he first helped create and one of whom he has now become. Nails didn’t keep Jesus on the cross. His love for you did.

For you, here I AM . . . believing my Father’s word.

PARISH PATH: 

If you are a Christian, don’t fall prey to the devil’s temptation to doubt it. You are not a Christian because of something you did, but because of all the things Jesus did for you. If you are not a Christian, consider becoming one now by praying this prayer:

Lord Jesus Christ, I believe you are God’s Son. Please help my unbelief. Forgive me for the ways I have mocked or ignored you. Lead me to my baptism. Lead me to live by your baptismal word, and so resist the crowd’s, the devil’s, and my accusatory own. Let me be born again. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon Devo

Our series in James has concluded. Stay tuned for what’s next! 

(p.s. I’m pretty excited about it!)

Evening Prayer of Examen

• Where did you move with or feel close to Jesus today?
• Where did you resist or feel far from Jesus today?
• Where is Jesus leading you tomorrow? Ask for joy as you follow him.

Benediction