Tag: holy wednesday

These short meditations may be used as personal devotions, school devotions, or devotions at the beginnings of church meetings.

Monday of Holy Week

Verses and Prayer

All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way,
but the LORD has laid on him the guilt of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

Almighty God, grant that in our failures and weaknesses we may be restored through the passion and intercession of your only-begotten Son; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Reading: Matthew 22:41-46

On Monday of Holy Week, Jesus taught in the Temple courts and was challenged by his enemies.

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The Son of David.” He said to them, “Then how can David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet’?” “So if David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” No one was able to answer him a word, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions. (EHV)

Prayer

O God, Son of God, you took on yourself our nature and suffered death on the cross for us. By your Passion you have set us free from eternal death. Preserve us in your grace; through your mercy, O our God, you are blessed, and live and govern all things, now and forever.
Amen.

Blessing

The LORD is good to all. His compassion extends over all he has made. (Psalm 145:9)
Amen.

Tuesday of Holy Week

Verses and Prayer

He was pierced because of our rebellious deeds. He was crushed because of our guilt.
The punishment to bring us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

Almighty and everlasting God, grant us grace as we meditate on the passion of our Lord that we may there find the forgiveness of our sins; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. 
Amen.

Reading: Matthew 24:36-51

On Tuesday of Holy Week, Jesus taught in the Temple courts and instructed his disciples about faithfulness.

“No one knows when that day and hour will be, not the angels of heaven, not even the Son, but only the Father. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be when the Son of Man returns. In fact, in the days before the flood people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the very day that Noah entered the ark. And they did not realize what was coming until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be when the Son of Man returns. “At that time two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left. So be alert, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: If the master of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. You also need to be ready for this reason: The Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect him. “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master finds doing this when he returns. Amen I tell you: He will put him in charge of all that he has. But if that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ and he begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will return on a day when he does not expect it and at an hour he does not know. The master will cut him in two and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (EHV)

Prayer

O God, Son of God, you took on yourself our nature and suffered death on the cross for us. By your Passion you have set us free from eternal death. Preserve us in your grace; through your mercy, O our God, you are blessed, and live and govern all things, now and forever.
Amen.

Blessing

May your mercy, O Lord, be on us, even as we wait confidently for you. (Psalm 33:22)
Amen.

Wednesday of Holy Week

Verses and Prayer

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth.
Like a lamb he was led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent in the presence of her shearers, so he did not open his mouth.  (Isaiah 53:7)

Almighty God, grant that we who are continually afflicted because of our evil deeds may be freed by the passion of your only-begotten Son; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Reading: Matthew 26:1-16

On Wednesday of Holy Week, Jesus may have rested. Matthew gives us a flashback to Jesus being anointed at Bethany and Judas beginning his plot.

When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, “You know that after two days it will be the Passover, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas. They plotted together how to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. But they said, “Not during the Festival, or else there might be a riot among the people.” When Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, a woman approached him holding an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume. She poured it on his head as he was reclining at the table. But when his disciples saw this, they were upset and said, “Why this waste? This perfume could have been sold for a lot of money and given to the poor.” Jesus was aware of this and said to them, “Why are you causing trouble for this woman? She has done a beautiful thing for me. You are always going to have the poor with you, but you are not always going to have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Amen I tell you: Wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.” Then one of the Twelve, the one named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver. From that time on Judas was looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus. (EHV)

Prayer

O God, Son of God, you took on yourself our nature and suffered death on the cross for us. By your Passion you have set us free from eternal death. Preserve us in your grace; through your mercy, O our God, you are blessed, and live and govern all things, now and forever.
Amen.

Blessing

Blessed be God, who has not turned aside our prayer or turned aside his mercy from us! (Psalm 66:20)
Amen.

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All Scripture is taken or modified from The Holy Bible: Evangelical Heritage Version.

The opening prayers are the Historic Collects for the days of Holy Week, freely modified from The Lutheran Hymnal.

The closing prayer is a Mozarabic Collect for Holy Week.