(One of hundreds of scenes of glee when the young Beatles
toured the U.S. in concert in the early 1960s.)
Jeremiah 31:31–34
With a Love Like That (You Know You Should Be Glad)
I think we should not overlook
The name of Israel in this book
By Jeremiah, from the south.
It seems this Judah prophet's mouth
Speaks to a time when no one blames
Misfortune on whatever claims
One makes ’gainst others’ views or tribe;
The LORD, instead, will now inscribe
The law he gives upon all hearts—
Both north and south—and thus impart
The knowledge that all people need,
That love is all you need. Indeed!
Scott L. Barton
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
+ + +
John 12:20–33
The Word on My Coffee Cup
The word that's on my coffee cup
On Southwest Air while flying up
Above, in letters large, says, "Lift,"
The smile that it evokes, a gift;
How clever, as it says that I
No coffee benefit up high
Can have until I raise my glass—
No matter what my flying class!
So, Jesus, till he's lifted high,
No benefit can me supply,
Because, by definition, he
Can only save when I'm set free
From fear of losing everything,
And love!—and not to self still cling.
It seems to me his kind of style
Still lifts me up—and makes me smile.
Scott L. Barton
Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
“Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.
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