Contemplative Bible Reading

John 6:29 (New English Translation) Jesus replied, “This is the deed God requires—to believe in the one whom he sent.” Pretty simple. What does God require of me? Of each of us? Believe in the one whom He sent, i.e., believe that this Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Son of God sent to the […]

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John 10:24 (New Living Translation) The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” The people didn’t know—for sure. The people wanted to know—at least they claimed to want to know. Hey Jesus, hit us with a baseball bat (again, […]

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John 2:19-20 (New Living Translation) 19 “All right,” Jesus replied. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 “What!” they exclaimed. “It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple, and you can rebuild it in three days?” Some very important persons were upset with how Jesus was behaving in […]

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John 1:26b (New Living Translation) John told them, “…right here in the crowd is someone you do not recognize…” The word “recognize” has at least two meanings that could apply here. One is, “acknowledge the existence, validity, or legality of.” John is saying, “You don’t acknowledge that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, i.e., the […]

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John 7:25 (New Living Translation) Some of the people who lived in Jerusalem started to ask each other, “Isn’t this the man they (our leaders) are trying to kill?…” The leaders of the Jews in Jerusalem wanted to kill Jesus of Nazareth. What is a little surprising is that lots of just plain folks seemed […]

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John 7:14-15 (New Living Translation) 14 Then, midway through the festival, Jesus went up to the Temple and began to teach. 15 The people were surprised when they heard him. “How does he know so much when he hasn’t been trained?” they asked. Could Jesus read? I Googled that question and found a large number […]

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John 3:21 (American Standard Version) But he that doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, that they have been wrought in God. Another well-known passage in an older translation. We don’t use this language anymore. In some sense, these words have been pushed to the back corner of […]

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John 1:4 (American Standard Version) In him was life; and the life was the light of men. Let’s look at a familiar passage in what today is an unfamiliar translation. I don’t see well in the dark. I guess that is an understatement as I can’t see anything in the absence of light. God made […]

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John 19:11 (New Living Translation) Then Jesus said, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. Jesus is talking to Pilate. Pilate is having one of those days when you ask yourself, “What did I do to deserve this?” Pilate is hanging out in his political […]

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Acts 12 (New Living Translation) 5 But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him. 11 Peter finally came to his senses. “It’s really true!” he said. “The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!” 15 […]

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