Thank you for listening, and for making this journey from ashes to alleluia together.

If this daily time in Scripture has been a gift to you, I would be grateful to hear from you. You’re welcome to reach out to me by email [email protected] or leave a note wherever you’re listening.

And as this season comes to its close, may the Word you have heard continue to dwell richly in you in the days ahead.

John 13:1-17, 31b-35

1 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 The devil had already decided that Judas son of Simon Iscariot would betray Jesus. And during supper 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 got up from supper, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

  12 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had reclined again, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. 16 Very truly, I tell you, slaves are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”

  31b “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33 Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 13:21-32

21 Jesus was troubled in spirit and declared, “Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.” 22 The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. 23 One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining close to his heart; 24 Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. 25 So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. 27 After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “Do quickly what you are going to do.” 28 Now no one knew why he said this to him. 29 Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the festival,” or that he should give something to the poor. 30 So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

  31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.”

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

18 The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written,

 “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

  and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of the proclamation, to save those who believe. 22 For Jews ask for signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to gentiles, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

  26 Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to abolish things that are, 29 so that no one might boast in the presence of God. 30 In contrast, God is why you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Ashes to Alleluia: Daily Scripture for Lent is a brief daily podcast offering the simple gift of God’s Word during the season of Lent. Each episode begins with a quiet invitation to pause and take one deep breath, followed by the reading of Scripture appointed for the day, and concludes with a short blessing. There is no commentary- only space to listen, receive, as we walk together from repentance toward resurrection through these forty days.

Isaiah 42:1-9

 1 Here is my servant, whom I uphold,

  my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

 I have put my spirit upon him;

  he will bring forth justice to the nations.

 2 He will not cry out or lift up his voice

  or make it heard in the street;

 3 a bruised reed he will not break,

  and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;

  he will faithfully bring forth justice.

 4 He will not grow faint or be crushed

  until he has established justice in the earth,

  and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

 5 Thus says God, the Lord,

  who created the heavens and stretched them out,

  who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

 who gives breath to the people upon it

  and spirit to those who walk in it:

 6 I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;

  I have taken you by the hand and kept you;

 I have given you as a covenant to the people,

  a light to the nations,

  7 to open the eyes that are blind,

 to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

  from the prison those who sit in darkness.

 8 I am the Lord; that is my name;

  my glory I give to no other,

  nor my praise to idols.

 9 See, the former things have come to pass,

  and new things I now declare;

 before they spring forth,

  I tell you of them.

Ashes to Alleluia: Daily Scripture for Lent is a brief daily podcast offering the simple gift of God’s Word during the season of Lent. Each episode begins with a quiet invitation to pause and take one deep breath, followed by the reading of Scripture appointed for the day, and concludes with a short blessing. There is no commentary- only space to listen, receive, as we walk together from repentance toward resurrection through these forty days.

Ashes to Alleluia: Daily Scripture for Lent is a brief daily podcast offering the simple gift of God’s Word during the season of Lent. Each episode begins with a quiet invitation to pause and take one deep breath, followed by the reading of Scripture appointed for the day, and concludes with a short blessing. There is no commentary- only space to listen, receive, as we walk together from repentance toward resurrection through these forty days.

Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19

 1 I love the Lord, who has heard my voice,

  and listened to my supplication,

 2 for the Lord has given ear to me

  whenever I called.

 12 How shall I repay the Lord

  for all the good things God has done for me?

 13 I will lift the cup of salvation

  and call on the name of the Lord. 

 14 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord

  in the presence of all God’s people.

 15 Precious in your sight, O Lord,

  is the death of your servants.

 16 O Lord, truly I am your servant;

  I am your servant, the child of your handmaid; you have freed me from my bonds.

 17 I will offer you the sacrifice of thanksgiving

  and call upon the name of the Lord.

 18 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord

  in the presence of all God’s people,

 19 in the courts of the Lord’s house,

  in the midst of you, O Jerusalem. 

Ashes to Alleluia: Daily Scripture for Lent is a brief daily podcast offering the simple gift of God’s Word during the season of Lent. Each episode begins with a quiet invitation to pause and take one deep breath, followed by the reading of Scripture appointed for the day, and concludes with a short blessing. There is no commentary- only space to listen, receive, as we walk together from repentance toward resurrection through these forty days.

Hebrews 10:16-25

[After the Holy Spirit says,]  16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them

  after those days, says the Lord:

 I will put my laws in their hearts,

  and I will write them on their minds,”

17 and he adds,

 “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

  19 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Ashes to Alleluia: Daily Scripture for Lent is a brief daily podcast offering the simple gift of God’s Word during the season of Lent. Each episode begins with a quiet invitation to pause and take one deep breath, followed by the reading of Scripture appointed for the day, and concludes with a short blessing. There is no commentary- only space to listen, receive, as we walk together from repentance toward resurrection through these forty days.

Psalm 31:9-16

9 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble;

  my eye is consumed with sorrow, and also my throat and my belly.

 10 For my life is wasted with grief, and my years with sighing;

  my strength fails me because of affliction, and my bones are consumed.

 11 I am the scorn of all my enemies, a disgrace to my neighbors, a dismay to my acquaintances;

  when they see me in the street they avoid me.

 12 Like the dead I am forgotten, out of mind;

  I am as useless as a broken pot. 

 13 For I have heard the whispering of the crowd; fear is all around;

  they put their heads together against me; they plot to take my life.

 14 But as for me, I have trusted in you, O Lord.

  I have said, “You are my God.

 15 My times are in your hand;

  rescue me from the hand of my enemies, and from those who persecute me.

 16 Let your face shine upon your servant;

  save me in your | steadfast love.”

Ashes to Alleluia: Daily Scripture for Lent is a brief daily podcast offering the simple gift of God’s Word during the season of Lent. Each episode begins with a quiet invitation to pause and take one deep breath, followed by the reading of Scripture appointed for the day, and concludes with a short blessing. There is no commentary- only space to listen, receive, as we walk together from repentance toward resurrection through these forty days.

4 The Lord God has given me

  a trained tongue,

 that I may know how to sustain

  the weary with a word.

 Morning by morning he wakens,

  wakens my ear

  to listen as those who are taught.

 5 The Lord God has opened my ear,

  and I was not rebellious;

  I did not turn backward.

 6 I gave my back to those who struck me

  and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;

 I did not hide my face

  from insult and spitting.

 7 The Lord God helps me;

  therefore I have not been disgraced;

 therefore I have set my face like flint,

  and I know that I shall not be put to shame;

  8 he who vindicates me is near.

 Who will contend with me?

  Let us stand in court together.

 Who are my adversaries?

  Let them confront me.

 9a It is the Lord God who helps me;

  who will declare me guilty?

Ashes to Alleluia: Daily Scripture for Lent is a brief daily podcast offering the simple gift of God’s Word during the season of Lent. Each episode begins with a quiet invitation to pause and take one deep breath, followed by the reading of Scripture appointed for the day, and concludes with a short blessing. There is no commentary- only space to listen, receive, as we walk together from repentance toward resurrection through these forty days.

--

Psalm 27

Psa. 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation;

whom shall I fear?

The LORD is the stronghold of my life;

of whom shall I be afraid?*

27:2 When evildoers assail me

to devour my flesh—

my adversaries and foes—

they shall stumble and fall.

27:3 Though an army encamp against me,

my heart shall not fear;

though war rise up against me,

yet I will be confident.*

27:4 One thing I asked of the LORD;

this I seek:

to live in the house of the LORD

all the days of my life,

to behold the beauty of the LORD,

and to inquire in his temple.

27:5 For he will hide me in his shelter

in the day of trouble;

he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;

he will set me high on a rock.

27:6 Now my head is lifted up

above my enemies all around me,

and I will offer in his tent

sacrifices with shouts of joy;

I will sing and make melody to the LORD.

27:7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud;

be gracious to me and answer me!

27:8 “Come,” my heart says, “seek his face!”

Your face, LORD, do I seek.

27:9 Do not hide your face from me.

Do not turn your servant away in anger,

you who have been my help.

Do not cast me off; do not forsake me,

O God of my salvation!

27:10 If my father and mother forsake me,

the LORD will take me up.

27:11 Teach me your way, O LORD,

and lead me on a level path

because of my enemies.

27:12 Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,

for false witnesses have risen against me,

and they are breathing out violence.

27:13 I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD

in the land of the living.

27:14 Wait for the LORD;

be strong, and let your heart take courage;

wait for the LORD!