Monday Devotional: February 24, 2025

Bible Reading: Luke 9:37-43 (NRSVUE)

³⁷ On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. ³⁸ Just then a man from the crowd shouted, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son; he is my only child. ³⁹ Suddenly a spirit seizes him, and all at once he shrieks. It convulses him until he foams at the mouth; it mauls him and will scarcely leave him. ⁴⁰ I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.” ⁴¹ Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” ⁴² While he was being brought forward, the demon dashed him to the ground in convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. ⁴³ And all were astounded at the greatness of God.

Why do I have to go back to work on Monday? I’m always a little despondent about the whole transition from worship on Sunday to work on Monday. I have to deal with all the petty things that my vocation entails. I run up the mountain in worship on Sunday and then find myself in the valley on Monday morning.

Jesus has just experienced a singular unique event with Moses, Elijah, and God on the mountain. Then we read, “On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him.” Isn’t that just perfect? From the peace and comfort on Sunday to the craziness of rush-hour traffic on Monday. Why can’t those crowds of people get their needs met somewhere else?

It’s hard not to hear a little exasperation in Jesus’ response to his disciples’ inability to meet the needs of the crowd. He says, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you and bear with you?” Didn’t I call you to take care of that so I didn’t have to deal with it? Don’t you know that you’re in the wrong department for that issue? Didn’t I answer that same question for you last week? And yet amidst exasperation with the crush need around him, Jesus heals a boy of his unclean spirit.

That’s the kind of mountaintop experience I want to have: the kind where I come back down into the valley, and while the needs still drive me s little crazy, I’ve got renewed strength and determination to bring healing to those around me.

Prayer

God of the weekday crowd, give me patience with the needs that sometimes feel like they are going to crush me. Use me to bring healing to my friends, family, community, and world. Amen.

By Tom Arthur, The Upper Room Disciplines 2013, page 58.

Bible Study

“Following Jesus” By Laura Wittman

Session Title: Forgive Like This
Focal Passage: Matthew 18:15-35
Purpose Statement: To forgive other as God has forgiven us.

Questions:

• When have you experienced conflict or disagreement in a relationship and worked to restore it? What do you find most helpful in such a situation?
• What does it mean for us to treat those with whom we can’t reconcile as “Gentiles and tax collectors”?
• When have you had to offer forgiveness repeatedly? How were you able to do that? What were the results?
• How does Jesus’ parable about the servants and their debts change your understanding of forgiveness? Does our unwillingness to forgive others affect God’s willingness to forgive us?

Zoom Session

Monday, February 24, 2025, from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

(For Zoom Link, send an email to [email protected])

In-Person Session

Wednesday, February 26, 2025, from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm, Conference Room, McGee Building.