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Multimedia Lent Devotional – Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

April 1, 2025

2025:

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent:

  • Scripture (Don Vick) – Isaiah 49:8-15
  • Reflection (Karen Sculley)
  • Prayer (Dawn Roberson)
  • Videos: John 5:17-30
  • Music: “God of Comfort” (CH Worship) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiNbBuZrJ7c

Isaiah 49:8-15 – Thus says the Lord: In a time of favor I have answered you, on a day of salvation I have helped you; I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages; saying to the prisoners, “Come out,” to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves.” They shall feed along the ways, on all the bare heights shall be their pasture; they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. And I will turn all my mountains into a road, and my highways shall be raised up. Lo, these shall come from far away, and lo, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Syene. Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones. But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.” Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.

A 2022 Gallup poll reports that, although 89% of Americans say they believe in God, only “four in ten believe God can intervene on people’s behalf.”

Isaiah’s prophecy is very relatable. Today’s passage offers copious evidence and assurances that God is present and active in the world, and that God is present and active among the people.

“favor” … “salvation” … “I have answered you” … “I have helped you” … “I have kept you” … God has brought freedom to prisoners, shone light in the darkness, made pathways through difficult terrain … the Lord has fed us, lead us, guided us, protected us, provided for us … God has given us reasons to sing and rejoice … the Lord has comforted us and has compassion on us.

When we are too sad, too angry, too lonely, or too tired, we might be tempted to think that “The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.” The whole world seems to be aware of one another’s troubles these days. There is no end to negative news, poisonous posts, and ruinous reports. There’s always another voice telling us 1000 more ways in which the sky is falling. And maybe it is. There is certainly plenty of stuff out there to make us anxious, fearful, or worried. But don’t focus on the world’s bad news. Focus on the good news, the life-giving words of God: “I will not forget you.” Hebrews 13:6 – “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” And Jesus reassures us in Matthew 28:20 – “Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

2024:

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent:

John 5:17-30 – “Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is still working, and I also am working.’ For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God. Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished. Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life. Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.’”

When Jesus said the words in today’s text, he had just healed a paralyzed man, and he did this on the sabbath. The Jewish religious leaders were upset about this. The rabbis of Jesus’ day had no trouble acknowledging that God is always working, even on the sabbath, because God sustains the universe every single day. But in this encounter, Jesus’ words crossed a line. Jesus makes a claim that his works are the works of God, which would make his defense quite reasonable as to why he did things like healing people on any day of the week, including the sabbath. If this were true, it would also mean that Jesus was God, and that’s why the religious leaders were upset. They were focusing their attention and actions on truth, well, actually, their perception of truth. They were so sure they had it right that they completely missed the wonder of what just happened. Jesus had just healed a man who had been an invalid for 38 years so that “he took up his mat and began to walk!” This. Is. A. Miracle!

Jesus could have “played it safe” by only healing people on non-Sabbath days. Jesus could have stayed in the comfort zone of only interacting with people deemed “socially acceptable.” I wonder why Jesus chose to heal this particular man on this particular day, a person whom he saw, heard, met, conversed with, touched, embraced, healed, and loved? Did he intentionally move towards the person whose mobility was minimal, whose suffering was the most severe, whose isolation was unimaginable? Faith is often spelled r-i-s-k. God is always calling us away from playing it safe, out of our comfort zones. Like Jesus, may we see, hear, meet, converse with, touch, embrace, heal, and love those on (or even outside) the very margins of society. May God awaken us from our aloofness and apathy, and may we care for others with kindness and compassion.

2023:

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent:

  • Scripture (Bart Parker) – Psalm 145:8-9, Psalm 145:13-14, Psalm 145:17-18
  • Reflection (John Trotter)
  • Prayer (Nancy Penton)
  • Videos: John
  • Music: “How Deep the Father’s Love” (David Wesley)

Each short Multimedia Lent Devotional is an invitation to set aside time each day during the season preceding Easter. Lent is a solemn 40-day period we observe as we seek to draw near to God prior to the great celebration of Easter. During Lent,

  • we intentionally practice sober reflection, serious repentance, and sincere restitution, in which we more fully recognize our brokenness as humans, looking always to Jesus Christ as our Savior and sanctifier;
  • we seek to live lives marked by simplicity, self-denial, and surrender, in imitation of Christ Jesus, who fasted for 40 days in the wilderness before He began His public ministry;
  • we look for ways in which we express love for neighbors and nations in need in practical ways through generously giving of our time, talents, and treasures.

This collaboration is brought to you by Liberty Vineyard Church

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