Loading today's devotional...
No devotional available for this date.
The Lamb Who Knew and Still Walked Forward
Where We Are
We close the fourth week of Lent on this Saturday with the tension mounting in Jerusalem. All week, the evangelist John has shown us Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles, teaching openly while the authorities plot in secret. Yesterday, the Book of Wisdom laid bare the logic of the wicked who conspire against the just one. Today, the prophet Jeremiah echoes that same pattern from his own life, and the division over Jesus reaches a breaking point.
The Word
Jeremiah describes himself as a trusting lamb led to slaughter, unaware of the plots against him. His enemies want to destroy him and cut off his name from memory. Yet Jeremiah entrusts his cause to the Lord, "who judges justly, who tests the heart and the mind." In the Gospel, the crowd at the Feast of Tabernacles is split. Some call Jesus a prophet; others insist he is the Christ. The Pharisees and chief priests send temple guards to arrest him, but the guards return empty-handed, struck by his words. Then Nicodemus, one of their own, speaks up: "Does our law condemn a man before it first hears from him?" They mock him for it.
Continue Reading
Sign in to read the full devotional and receive it in your inbox each morning - a quiet moment of reflection to start your day.
By signing in, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
Reflect
Jeremiah's image of the innocent lamb is one of the most poignant foreshadowings of Christ in the Old Testament. What makes it so powerful is not just the innocence, but the trust. Jeremiah did not know about the plots against him at first, yet even after learning the truth, he did not flee. He placed his cause in God's hands.
Jesus, of course, knew exactly what awaited him. He walked into Jerusalem with full knowledge of what the authorities intended. The lamb imagery carries forward, but with a deeper dimension: Christ is not a victim caught unaware. He is the one who chooses to lay down his life.
The scene with Nicodemus is worth lingering over. Here is a member of the Sanhedrin who dares to ask a simple question of fairness, and he is immediately ridiculed. "Are you also from Galilee?" they sneer. It takes courage to speak up when the room has already made up its mind. Nicodemus does not make a grand declaration of faith here; he simply asks for due process. Sometimes faithfulness looks like one quiet question in a hostile room.
As Lent enters its final stretch, both readings ask us: when we see injustice gathering momentum, do we stay silent, or do we find the courage to speak?
Living It
Nicodemus did not deliver a sermon or stage a protest. He asked one honest question at a moment when everyone else had already closed their minds. That single question, "Does our law condemn a man without hearing him first?" was enough to interrupt the machinery of condemnation. Today, look for a moment where one calm question could shift a conversation toward truth. You do not need to win an argument or change the world by sunset. Sometimes faithfulness looks like Nicodemus: quiet, imperfect, still working out your own understanding, but present in the room when it matters. What small act of courage is the Spirit asking of you today, and what is stopping you from taking it?
Prayer
Father, like Jeremiah, we want to trust you even when we cannot see how things will turn out. Like Nicodemus, we want the courage to speak for what is right, even when the crowd disagrees. Strengthen our resolve as we journey toward Holy Week. Help us walk forward in faith, knowing you hold our cause in your hands. Amen.
Today's reflection draws from Jeremiah 11:18-20 and John 7:40-53 (CPDV), per the Ordo Lectionum Missae.
Signed in as ·
