Agape Devotions

READ : John 19  Verses chosen for meditation: John 19:6, 30. 6  When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” .. . 30  When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.   REFLECT Michelangelo’s  Pietà （ La Pietà ） is a remarkable marble sculpture of Jesus and Mary at Mount Golgotha. This masterpiece captures the poignant moment when Jesus, taken down from the cross, is tenderly cradled by mother Mary. Rising behind Mary, the upright beam of the cross carries these words, “There they don’t think of how much blood it costs.” Michelangelo’s point was profound: when we contemplate the death of Jesus, we must consider the price He paid.* Chapter 19 accounted on how Jesus was delivered to Pilate to be trial and crucified. Clearly, He was betrayed by His own people, ridiculed, humiliated, abused and finally died. His final dying declarati...

Read John 18 Verses chosen for meditation: John 18: 2-3, 8-9, 10-11, 26-27, 39-40 ESV 2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So, if you seek me, let these men go.” 9 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.” 10 Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.) 11 So Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” 26 One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” 27 Peter again denied it, and at once a rooster crowed. 39 But ...

  TEXT TO REFLECT  “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed." John 17:1-5 REFLECT “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him” . Paraphrased, Jesus was saying to God, “Father, it’s time. Display the bright splendour of your Son So the Son in turn may show your bright splendour. You put him in charge of everything human So he might give real and eternal life to all in his care.”   (The Message) This was a coronation praye...

Read: John 16 No devotional today (Sunday) 

Read: John 14-15 Verses chosen for reflection: John 14:1-7 14 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Reflect John 14 comes after Jesus washed the feet of His disciples and declared that one of the disciples would betray Him. During the Last Supper, Jesus also disclosed on the way that He would be taken away from them. Hence, Jesus assured the disciples that "let...

READ : John 13 REFLECT : What does Jesus mean when He says that we ought to wash one another's feet? Some Christians have taken this very literally and have thought that our Lord was here instituting another sacrament. Jesus is not giving us another sacrament to follow here. But what He means is that just as we need the cleansing and forgiveness of our Lord to maintain the sense of unity and refreshment of spirit in our Christian life, so we need to extend to one another free forgiveness for guilt and for the injury that we may do to one another. We are to be, in the words of Paul,   kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you   (Ephesians 4:32). He knows that it is difficult sometimes to forgive, that the flesh within cries out for revenge. And often we love the feeling of carrying a grudge or of resisting the overtures of other people. But Jesus says that when we are doing that, we are doing what He would not do. We are dema...

READ : John 12:37-50 Verses chosen for meditation: John 12:42-43 42  Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue;  43  for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. REFLECT Today’s reading is a concluding summary of Jesus’ public ministry and the people’s response. John addressed the unbelief of the Jews (John 12:37-43) and there are several reasons for this unbelief. In John 3:19-20, the Jews reject Jesus because of their unwillingness to “come to the light, lest his works should be exposed”. Those who value truth over their own image will come to the light, even if their faults are revealed. But their lives will bring glory to God, as people will see the power of God in their works, despite their weakness. Many Jews could not do this, as they hated the light that would expo...

  Read John 12:1-36 Verse chosen for devotion  25  Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  Reflect Jesus was saying this when some Greeks (Gentiles) went to seek His audience through the disciples. Jesus was again reminding that the time has come for Him to be glorified (and that the grain of wheat must fall on earth and dies, to bear much fruits - and the fruits are the salvation for you and I). But when He said that we must hate our lives to gain eternal life what was he trying to tell us? What is your reaction when you read this? How do you interpret Jesus intention in saying this? Is he asking us to hate our lives? Is he telling us to stop enjoying life as it is? Do we stop living our lives now since they mean nothing to us? Relate Our baggages or our lives? Recently in one of my flight overseas I paid attention (I seldom did so) to the safety briefing by the air stewardess. She reminded...

Read John 11 Verses chosen for meditation: 11: 21 - 22, 35 - 36, 43 - 44 ESV 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”  35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”  43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” Reflect Was Lazarus the first person to be raised from the dead? What's the difference between Lazarus' case and the others that Jesus raised from the dead? Why did Jesus delay himself from coming to Lazarus' aid? Were there other times that he 'delayed' himself? What's the difference between the resurrection of Lazarus and all the others and that of Jesus' resurrection? What are your thoughts on the following two - wo...

  TEXT TO REFLECT So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.” JOHN 10:24-31 REFLECT Have you ever searched in vain for an object, or for a face in a crowd, only to discover later that it was right in front of you, staring you in the face? And you kicked yourself for missing something so obvious? And subsequently, not being able to ‘unsee’ that object anymore because it is now so obvious to you? It is one of those most ...