{"id":3323,"date":"2017-05-06T19:55:28","date_gmt":"2017-05-06T23:55:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/?p=3323"},"modified":"2017-05-05T11:58:43","modified_gmt":"2017-05-05T15:58:43","slug":"daily-devotional-for-may-7-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/?p=3323","title":{"rendered":"Daily Devotional for May 7-13"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunday
\nJohn 5:1-15 on the healing of paralyzed man laying at the pool hoping to be the first to enter when the angel stirred the water.<\/p>\n

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ORTHODOX STUDY BIBLE NOTES…<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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This double-basin pool, believed to have curative powers, has been discovered about 100 yards north of the temple area, near the Sheep Gate. The water for this high-ground pool came from underground springs and was used to wash down the sacrificial lambs before they were slain. The pool functions as a type of Christian baptism. Under the old covenant, a great multitude waited to enter the water for physical healing after an angel touched it . The waters were special in that they were a way of indirectly participating in the animal sacrifices of the temple, since the animals were washed in the same water. Yet the grace was limited to the first person to enter. Under the new covenant, baptism is given to all nations as a direct participation in Christ\u2019s own sacrificial death without the mediation of angels. Baptism thus grants healing of the soul and the promise of eternal resurrection of the body, and its grace in inexhaustible.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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According to St. John Chrysostom, Jesus singled out the man who had waited for thirty-eight years in order to teach us to have perseverance, and as a judgment against those who lose hope or patience in much lesser troubles lasting a far shorter time. The Lord\u2019s question is relevant for many reasons. (1) It made public the fact that the sick man kept his faith even in a situation that was seemingly hopeless, for how could a paralytic ever be the first into the water? (2) The Lord draws attention away from the water and toward the need we have for a man to help us. This is fulfilled in Christ Himself, who became Man to heal all. (3) Not everyone who is ill actually desires healing. Sadly, some may prefer to remain infirm in order to have license to complain, to avoid responsibility for their lives, or to continue exciting the pity of others. Although the Law itself does not specifically forbid the carrying of burdens on the Sabbath, this is prohibited in Jer 17: 23 and explicitly forbidden in rabbinical teachings. That Christ is Lord over the Sabbath is made clear by His command (v. 8) and by the man\u2019s obedience . As is often the case in John\u2019s Gospel, the term Jews here refers to the leaders and not to the people in general (see note at 2: 18\u2013 21). Notice the malice of these leaders, for they focus solely on the Sabbath violation, asking the man, \u201cWho is the Man who said to you, \u2018Take up your bed\u2019?\u201d but ignoring altogether the miraculous healing. 4 That the man was found in the temple shows his great faith, for he had gone there directly to thank God for his cure rather than departing to someone\u2019s home or to the marketplace.<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Monday<\/div>\n
Acts 7 \u00a0(Stephens address which summarized the Old to New Covenent<\/div>\n
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2\u00a0<\/sup>And he said, \u201cBrethren and fathers, listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, <\/span> 3\u00a0<\/sup>and said to him, \u2018Get out of your country and from your relatives, and come to a land that I will show you.\u2019<\/span>[a<\/a>]<\/sup> <\/span> 4\u00a0<\/sup>Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell. <\/span> 5\u00a0<\/sup>And God<\/i> gave him no inheritance in it, not even enough<\/i> to set his foot on. But even when Abraham<\/i> had no child, He promised to give it to him for a possession, and to his descendants after him. <\/span> 6\u00a0<\/sup>But God spoke in this way: that his descendants would dwell in a foreign land, and that they would bring them into bondage and oppress them<\/i> four hundred years. <\/span> 7\u00a0<\/sup>\u2018And the nation to whom they will be in bondage I will judge,\u2019<\/span>[b<\/a>]<\/sup> said God, \u2018and after that they shall come out and serve Me in this place.\u2019<\/span>[c<\/a>]<\/sup> <\/span> 8\u00a0<\/sup>Then He gave him the covenant of circumcision; and so Abraham<\/i> begot Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day; and Isaac begot<\/i> Jacob, and Jacob begot<\/i> the twelve patriarchs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tuesday<\/p>\n

9\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cAnd the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him <\/span> 10\u00a0<\/sup>and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. <\/span> 11\u00a0<\/sup>Now a famine and great trouble came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers found no sustenance. <\/span> 12\u00a0<\/sup>But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. <\/span> 13\u00a0<\/sup>And the second time<\/i> Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph\u2019s family became known to the Pharaoh. <\/span> 14\u00a0<\/sup>Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him,<\/i> seventy-five[d<\/a>]<\/sup> people. <\/span> 15\u00a0<\/sup>So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers. <\/span> 16\u00a0<\/sup>And they were carried back to Shechem and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a sum of money from the sons of Hamor, the father<\/i> of Shechem.<\/span><\/p>\n

17\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cBut when the time of the promise drew near which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt <\/span> 18\u00a0<\/sup>till another king arose who did not know Joseph. <\/span> 19\u00a0<\/sup>This man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live. <\/span> 20\u00a0<\/sup>At this time Moses was born, and was well pleasing to God; and he was brought up in his father\u2019s house for three months. <\/span> 21\u00a0<\/sup>But when he was set out, Pharaoh\u2019s daughter took him away and brought him up as her own son. <\/span> 22\u00a0<\/sup>And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wednesday<\/p>\n

23\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cNow when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. <\/span> 24\u00a0<\/sup>And seeing one of them<\/i> suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. <\/span> 25\u00a0<\/sup>For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. <\/span> 26\u00a0<\/sup>And the next day he appeared to two of<\/i> them as they were fighting, and tried to<\/i> reconcile them, saying, \u2018Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?\u2019 <\/span> 27\u00a0<\/sup>But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, \u2018Who made you a ruler and a judge over us?<\/span> <\/span> 28\u00a0<\/sup>Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?\u2019<\/span> [e<\/a>]<\/sup> <\/span> 29\u00a0<\/sup>Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.<\/span><\/p>\n

30\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cAnd when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord[f<\/a>]<\/sup> appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. <\/span> 31\u00a0<\/sup>When Moses saw it,<\/i> he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, <\/span> 32\u00a0<\/sup>saying,<\/i> \u2018I<\/span> am<\/i> the God of your fathers\u2014the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.\u2019<\/span> [g<\/a>]<\/sup> And Moses trembled and dared not look. <\/span> 33\u00a0<\/sup>\u2018Then the L<\/span>ord<\/span> said to him, \u201cTake your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.<\/span> <\/span> 34\u00a0<\/sup>I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.\u201d\u2019<\/span> [h<\/a>]<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

35\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cThis Moses whom they rejected, saying, \u2018Who made you a ruler and a judge?\u2019<\/span> [i<\/a>]<\/sup> is the one God sent to be<\/i> a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the Angel who appeared to him in the bush. <\/span> 36\u00a0<\/sup>He brought them out, after he had shown wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thursday<\/p>\n

37\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cThis is that Moses who said to the children of Israel,[j<\/a>]<\/sup> \u2018The L<\/span>ord<\/span> your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear.\u2019<\/span> [k<\/a>]<\/sup><\/span><\/p>\n

38\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cThis is he who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the Angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with<\/i> our fathers, the one who received the living oracles to give to us, <\/span> 39\u00a0<\/sup>whom our fathers would not obey, but rejected. And in their hearts they turned back to Egypt, <\/span> 40\u00a0<\/sup>saying to Aaron, \u2018Make us gods to go before us;<\/span> as for<\/i> this Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.\u2019<\/span>[l<\/a>]<\/sup> <\/span> 41\u00a0<\/sup>And they made a calf in those days, offered sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands. <\/span> 42\u00a0<\/sup>Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\u2018Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices<\/span> during<\/i> forty years in the wilderness,<\/span><\/span>
\nO house of Israel?<\/span><\/span>
\n43\u00a0<\/sup>You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch,<\/span><\/span>
\nAnd the star of your god Remphan,<\/span><\/span>
\nImages which you made to worship;<\/span><\/span>
\nAnd I will carry you away beyond Babylon.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

44\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cOur fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, <\/span> 45\u00a0<\/sup>which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the days of David, <\/span> 46\u00a0<\/sup>who found favor before God and asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. <\/span><\/p>\n

Friday<\/p>\n

47\u00a0<\/sup>But Solomon built Him a house.<\/span><\/p>\n

48\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cHowever, the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

49\u00a0<\/sup>\u2018Heaven is<\/i> My throne,<\/span><\/span>
\nAnd earth<\/span> is<\/i> My footstool.<\/span><\/span>
\nWhat house will you build for Me? says the L<\/span>ord<\/span>,<\/span><\/span>
\nOr what<\/span> is<\/i> the place of My rest?<\/span><\/span>
\n50\u00a0<\/sup>Has My hand not made all these things?\u2019<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

51\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cYou<\/i> stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did,<\/i> so do<\/i> you. <\/span> 52\u00a0<\/sup>Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, <\/span> 53\u00a0<\/sup>who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.<\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Saturday<\/p>\n

54\u00a0<\/sup>When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their<\/i> teeth. <\/span> 55\u00a0<\/sup>But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, <\/span> 56\u00a0<\/sup>and said, \u201cLook! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

57\u00a0<\/sup>Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; <\/span> 58\u00a0<\/sup>and they cast him<\/i> out of the city and stoned him.<\/i> And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. <\/span> 59\u00a0<\/sup>And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God<\/i> and saying, \u201cLord Jesus, receive my spirit.\u201d <\/span> 60\u00a0<\/sup>Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, \u201cLord, do not charge them with this sin.\u201d And when he had said this, he fell asleep.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sunday John 5:1-15 on the healing of paralyzed man laying at the pool hoping to be the first to enter when the angel stirred the water. ORTHODOX STUDY BIBLE NOTES… […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-orthodox-daily-devotional","has_no_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3323"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3325,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3323\/revisions\/3325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orthodoxinsight.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}