Lenten Devotion

The sign of the cross may be made by all in remembrance of their Baptism.

In the name of the Father and of the † Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom
and the power and the glory
forever and ever. Amen. Matthew 6:9-13

Old Testament: Exodus 9:1-28

¹ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me.
² For if you refuse to let them go and still hold them,
³ behold, the hand of the LORD will fall with a very severe plague upon your livestock that are in the field, the horses, the donkeys, the camels, the herds, and the flocks.
⁴ But the LORD will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt, so that nothing of all that belongs to the people of Israel shall die.”’”
⁵ And the LORD set a time, saying, “Tomorrow the LORD will do this thing in the land.”
⁶ And the next day the LORD did this thing. All the livestock of the Egyptians died, but not one of the livestock of the people of Israel died.
⁷ And Pharaoh sent, and behold, not one of the livestock of Israel was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.
⁸ And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from the kiln, and let Moses throw them in the air in the sight of Pharaoh.
⁹ It shall become fine dust over all the land of Egypt, and become boils breaking out in sores on man and beast throughout all the land of Egypt.”
¹⁰ So they took soot from the kiln and stood before Pharaoh. And Moses threw it in the air, and it became boils breaking out in sores on man and beast.
¹¹ And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians.
¹² But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had spoken to Moses.
¹³ Then the LORD said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me.
¹⁴ For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth.
¹⁵ For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth.
¹⁶ But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.
¹⁷ You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go.
¹⁸ Behold, about this time tomorrow I will cause very heavy hail to fall, such as never has been in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.
¹⁹ Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safe shelter, for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.”’”
²⁰ Then whoever feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses,
²¹ but whoever did not pay attention to the word of the LORD left his slaves and his livestock in the field.
²² Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, so that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man and beast and every plant of the field, in the land of Egypt.”
²³ Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt.
²⁴ There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.
²⁵ The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field.
²⁶ Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.
²⁷ Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time I have sinned; the LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong.
²⁸ Plead with the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” (ESV)

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New Testament: Hebrews 2:1-18; John 12:1-23

¹ Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
² For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,
³ how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,
⁴ while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
⁵ For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking.
⁶ It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him?
⁷ You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor,
⁸ putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.
⁹ But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
¹⁰ For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
¹¹ For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,
¹² saying, “I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”
¹³ And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.”
¹⁴ Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
¹⁵ and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
¹⁶ For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.
¹⁷ Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
¹⁸ For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

¹ Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
² So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table.
³ Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
⁴ But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said,
⁵ “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”
⁶ He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it.
⁷ Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.
⁸ For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
⁹ When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.
¹⁰ So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well,
¹¹ because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.
¹² The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem.
¹³ So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”
¹⁴ And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,
¹⁵ “Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”
¹⁶ His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.
¹⁷ The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness.
¹⁸ The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.
¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”
²⁰ Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.
²¹ So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
²² Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.
²³ And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. (ESV)

Mary anoints Jesus with costly oil, filling the house with a fragrance that points to His burial. Christ is the captain of our salvation who was made perfect through suffering. He shared in our flesh and blood so that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

Prayer of the Day

Almighty God, grant us grace so to pass through this holy time of our Lord's Passion that we may obtain the pardon of our sins; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Closing Prayer

O God, who desires not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his way and live, graciously accept the repentance of Your people, and grant them Your forgiveness; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.