Scripture for Today | Luke 13:1-17 (with Jeff Sholar)

About this Episode

Opening Song:

Run to the Father by Cody Carnes, Matt Maher, and Ran Jackson

Lyrics:

 I've carried a burden for too long on my own

I wasn't created to bear it alone

I hear Your invitation to let it all go

I see it now I'm laying it down

And I know that I need You

 

I run to the Father

I fall into grace

I'm done with the hiding

No reason to wait

My heart needs (found) a surgeon

My soul needs (found) a friend

So I'll run to the Father

Again and again

And again and again

 

You saw my condition

Had a plan from the start

Your Son for redemption

The price for my heart

I don't have a context

For that kind of love

I don't understand

I can't comprehend

All I know is I need You

 

Oh oh

Again and again

And again and again

Oh oh oh

(Again and again)

 

My heart has been in Your sights

Long before my first breath

Running into Your arms

Is running to life from death

I feel this rush deep in my chest

Your mercy is calling out

Just as I am You pull me in

And I know I need You now

Passage: 

1   There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” 13 And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. 14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” 17 As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.

(Luke 13:1–17 ESV)

Musical Reflection: 

 I Need Thee Every Hour (NEED) by Robert Lowry

Reflection Notes: 

Each stanza of this familiar hymn was written by Annie Hawks as part of a poem. When she showed the composition to her pastor, Robert Lowry, he added the refrain and set the text to music for their congregation to enjoy. The musical lines always tend upward before falling back down, an apt parallel to the textual pleas reaching up to God. 

Prayer:

Let your mighty hand and outstretched arm, O Lord, still be our defense; your mercy and loving kindness in Jesus Christ your dear Son, our salvation; your true and holy Word, our instruction; your grace and Holy Spirit, our comfort and consolation unto the end, and in the end. Amen. 

-John Bradford