Wednesday 21 April 2021

Today is Wednesday the 21 April, in the third week of Easter.

The choir of Holy Sepulchre London, directed by Peter Asprey, sings ‘Otche Nash’, the Lord’s Prayer.

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of John.

John 6:35-40

Jesus said to the crowds, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.  But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.  Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away;  for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.  And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.  This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day."  

Jesus begins here by talking about hunger and thirst – to people who probably knew real hunger and real thirst as an ordinary part of their lives.  But are there other things, apart from food and water, that you find yourself hungering and thirsting for?  What are those things?

How does it feel to have Jesus present himself to you as the Bread of Life? – the one with whom you will never go hungry again – the answer to all your deepest longings? 

As you hear the passage read again, notice how much Jesus is promising us here – and promising you.  Listen especially for the promise he ends with.

“And I will raise them up on the last day.”  Speak to the Lord for a few moments now about what that promise means to you, and how you want to respond.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.