John 10:31-42 - Daily Devotion - 8 August 2026

St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield & Bossley Park

31 At this, the Jews again picked up stones to stone Him. 32 But Jesus responded, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone Me?”

33 “We are not stoning You for any good work,” said the Jews, “but for blasphemy, because You, who are a man, declare Yourself to be God.”

34 Jesus replied, “Is it not written in your Law: ‘I have said you are gods’ ? 35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and the Scripture cannot be broken— 36 then what about the One whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world? How then can you accuse Me of blasphemy for stating that I am the Son of God?

37 If I am not doing the works of My Father, then do not believe Me. 38 But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works themselves, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father.”

39 At this, they tried again to seize Him, but He escaped their grasp.

40 Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had first been baptizing, and He stayed there. 41 Many came to Him and said, “Although John never performed a sign, everything he said about this man was true.” 42 And many in that place believed in Jesus.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

Not long ago, I had a really frustrating conversation with a guy who seemed to be seeking the truth about Jesus, but as the conversation dragged on, it seemed to me that he just wasn’t listening. He had already decided that Jesus was not God become man. No matter where we went in the Bible, he would be looking for the word or phrase that proved Jesus was not God.

That’s what is going on with the Jewish leaders in today’s passage. They have just heard Jesus say, “I and the Father are one.” They didn’t stop to wonder if this might somehow be true, given that Jesus had just opened the eyes of a man born blind, among countless other God-like deeds. They had rejected him, and here was their proof: no one can ever compare themselves with God. Jesus had said a magic phrase they could jump on to prove what they knew all along: “Blasphemy!”

So Jesus quotes Psalm 82:6. In its context, the Psalm says: “I have said, ‘You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High. But like mortals you will die, and like rulers you will fall.” Jesus isn’t trying to prove to them that he is God the Son – they’re literally about to stone him to death, he doesn’t have time for complex arguments! He’s simply showing that their case against him is much weaker than they thought. According to Scripture, there’s a sense in which even sinful people can be compared with God.

Jesus made them pause long enough that he dodged the stones, nothing more. But if they really stopped to look at Jesus’ works and words, they would realise he is so much more than any other god-like person. He is “the one whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world” (v 36).

Today was a reminder that sometimes all we can hope for is to show someone that maybe they haven’t read the Bible as carefully as they think.

But the last few verses were a reminder that sometimes God uses the simplest testimony about Jesus to bring saving faith. Jesus meets others who had heard John the Baptist speak about him. John never did a single miracle. But when those people encountered Jesus, they simply realised: “What John said about him is true!” And they believed.

Pray that over the next month, as we invite people to our church evangelistic events, God might bring many of that second sort of person!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our Senior Minister.

John 10:22-30 - Daily Devotion - 7 August 2026

St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield & Bossley Park

22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple courts in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 So the Jews gathered around Him and demanded, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

25 “I already told you,” Jesus replied, “but you did not believe. The works I do in My Father’s name testify on My behalf. 26 But because you are not My sheep, you refuse to believe. 27 My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

REFLECTIONS

Written by Alex Chen

This passage reassures me when I have doubts, when I see my sin most clearly, when I worry if I'm doing enough of the right things by God. Knowing Jesus as king means being held securely by God. There's full certainty. No one can snatch me from Jesus. No one can snatch me from God's hand. When I trust in Jesus, eternal life is certain. What happens to me in this life – even beyond this life – is in the hands of the God who is greater than anything in this world.

When uncertainty comes into my life – perhaps because of physical pain, or relational hardships, or coming up short at work – I find myself praying earnestly in dependence on God. When I’m experiencing uncertainty, I'm just far more aware of God and his power. As I read this passage, I see all of my life always in God's hand. That leads to two things I want to apply to my own life. When I feel like my life is in a good spot, I would like to give thanks more to God for his provision and for whatever will come. When I'm facing uncertainty, I will practise being dependent. I will ease my anxieties and burdens by speaking to my Father in heaven. I still want to make sure I take responsibility for what is given to me, but know that God is ultimately in control.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alex is one of our Student Ministers.

John 10:17-21 - Daily Devotion - 6 August 2026

St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield & Bossley Park

17 The reason the Father loves Me is that I lay down My life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.”

19 Again there was division among the Jews because of Jesus’ message. 20 Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and insane. Why would you listen to Him?”

21 But others replied, “These are not the words of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

REFLECTIONS

Written by Herman Tu

A fun fact about me is that I am a big hoarder. I love to keep things. I love to keep awards, info sheets, clothes, relics of my high school days, and even sermon outlines. The issue with keeping things is that I also hate giving things up. My coffee machine, my bed, my car. If I am called to give up any of those things, that call provokes fear, anxiety and resistance in me.

But in John’s Gospel, we see just how radically Jesus was willing to give things up.

In this chapter, we see how Jesus divided the Jews because of what he was testifying about. Some of the Jews accused Jesus of being possessed, while others saw how Jesus could open eyes. They are wildly different opinions on him!

So what was Jesus testifying about?

From the beginning of his ministry, Jesus spoke about an “hour” that would come (John 2:4). He was speaking about the hour when he would suffer on the cross to drink the cup of God’s wrath against all humanity, and be declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Holy Spirit by his resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:4). As Jesus spoke to the Jewish people, he was clearing pointing forward to that “hour.”

But the wonderful thing we see in today’s passage is that Jesus carried out this mission of his own accord (v. 18). Even though he knew the horror of what he would endure in his death on the cross, he willingly, voluntarily, and obediently went to the cross to give up his life for us. I can't even give up my coffee machine, but Jesus gave up his life. How great a love is that?

Ultimately, what motivated Jesus was the Father's love for humanity. Jesus received this charge from the Father to lay down his life. God, the Father, so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in HIM will not perish but have eternal live (John 3:16). The Son of God died for us so that you and I can be children of God. That is true love.

Give thanks to God for his amazing love for humanity and pray that you can share this great love with others.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Herman is a member of our Fairfield Evening congregation.

John 10:11-16 - Daily Devotion - 5 August 2026

St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield & Bossley Park

11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf pounces on them and scatters the flock. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired servant and is unconcerned for the sheep.

14 I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me, 15 just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them in as well, and they will listen to My voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Ian Mu

As I was reading this passage I wondered, “What would I actually lay down my life for?” Even just reflecting on the last week, I thought, I couldn't even give the people I love an hour of my time. I didn’t even manage to lay down my time, my comfort and my plans.

Jesus really is a good shepherd because he laid down his life for us. A hired hand might look like he cares for his sheep, but the second danger strikes he is out of there! The false shepherds Jesus talked about are definitely not like the Good Shepherd. A false shepherd is not willing to lay down his comfort for God’s sheep.

If I look at it from our perspective – we are the sheep, so the kind of person we need to follow is Jesus, because he laid down his life for us sheep.

I also really like verse 14 where Jesus says, “I know my sheep.” As I was reflecting on that I thought: Wow, Jesus really does know everything. He knows my struggles and the reason and motivation for those struggles. He knows my thoughts and how I feel. And then I thought: How well do I really know him? When I think about how deeply Jesus knows us, I think how amazing it is that he still chose to lay down his life for us.

That makes me ask myself: Who am I really following? Am I following the Good Shepherd who knows me and still chose to lay down his life for me, or am I following the hired hand who doesn't really care? I am challenged here to fully rely on the Jesus, the only one who cared so much that he laid down his life for me and for all God’s sheep.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ian is a member of our Fairfield Morning congregation.

John 10:7-10 - Daily Devotion - 4 August 2026

St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield & Bossley Park

7 So He said to them again, “Truly, truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Paul Bogg

Recently we had a short discussion in growth group about bucket lists. A bucket list is some list of things you really want to before you die. Stuff like travelling to particular countries, or having certain experiences, or making some kind of accomplishments – at least, typically things that apply to what you can do in the world. I wondered how and why that term came about, and I guess it has something to do with feeling you have led a “full life”. Life is like a bucket, and you want to fill it as full as you can with good experiences. So if you didn’t do these things, you might die feeling like you missed out on something.

Jesus drops a real bombshell in today’s passage: He, and he alone, is “the gate”. Anyone who enters through him is saved and will have life. But not just an ordinary life – in verse 10, he says they will have life “in all its fullness”.

Pondering what it means to have a “full life”, I reflect on my time before I knew the Lord. As a single man, I had the freedom to go places, to travel, to eat whatever I wanted. But I wasn’t happy, and I knew that these experiences didn’t satisfy. There were temporary joys, momentary and fleeting – but nothing lasted.  Coming to church and hearing Jesus himself speaking from the Bible, it was like I could see the pasture in front of me. I could even talk to the sheep. I wasn’t yet in that pasture myself, but I could see that it was good, and I wanted to be there. So – I listened to the Shepherds voice and entered through the narrow gate.

Having been grazing in the pasture for many years now, I can say that now I have a full life. To know the good Shepherd, to come under his guidance, the safety of his protection, fellowship with God himself, fellowship with his flock, I have this deep-seated joy now, an inexplicable satisfaction that my life here on earth is full. I no longer desire the things that I once did – although those things are still good as part of God’s creation, I’m fully content now with all that life has to offer me.

The bucket list promises fullness through check lists. Jesus offers fullness through relationship.  Reflect on your time with him today.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paul is a member of our Bossley Park Morning congregation.

John 10:1-6 - Daily Devotion - 3 August 2026

St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield & Bossley Park

1 “Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 But the one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will flee from him because they do not recognize his voice.”

6 Jesus spoke to them using this illustration, but they did not understand what He was telling them.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

Back in April we read chapters 6 to 9 of the Gospel of John, and this month we’re covering the next block. We’re up to one of my favourite passages, about Jesus being the Good Shepherd. He doesn’t call himself that until a bit later in the chapter, but we know that’s where it’s heading.

I especially love the personal tone of verse 3, where Jesus says the shepherd of the sheep “calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” It’s a beautiful picture of a profound truth: that if you belong to Jesus, you’re not just a nameless, insignificant member of his multitude of followers. He knows YOU – personally, intimately, at the deepest level. And he loves you and leads you to green pastures.

But I was also a bit shocked when I realised the context of this passage. Over the last few chapters of John, opposition and hostility to Jesus have been mounting. In the verses just before today’s passage, some of the unbelieving Pharisees were arguing with Jesus again, because he was accusing them of spiritual blindness.

That means Jesus said these things not just in front of the humble and soft of heart, but in front of hostile leaders. Part of his message was to condemn them, to their faces, as evil, false shepherds of God’s people. He’s reminding them of Ezekiel 34, where God condemned Israel’s spiritual leaders as greedy, selfish, and abusive shepherds of God’s flock. Jesus is saying, “That is ALL of you” – because, as he’ll go on to insist, he is the only Good Shepherd.

That was a good reminder to me that flawed and weak “pastors” or shepherds of the church (like me!) are nothing more than under-shepherds of the Chief Shepherd, Jesus (1 Peter 5:2-4). The flock belongs to him alone, and we pastors are first and foremost exactly the same as the rest of you: sheep who have been called by name to follow the voice of the Good Shepherd.

Pray that all of us would never stop listening to his voice and following him as he leads us to obedience and eternal life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our Senior Minister.

2 Kings 10:12-24 - Daily Devotion - 31 July 2026

St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield & Bossley Park

25 When he had finished making the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guards and officers, “Go in and kill them. Do not let anyone out.”

So the guards and officers put them to the sword, threw the bodies out, and went into the inner room of the temple of Baal.

26 They brought out the sacred pillar of the temple of Baal and burned it. 27 They also demolished the sacred pillar of Baal. Then they tore down the temple of Baal and made it into a latrine, which it is to this day.

28 Thus Jehu eradicated Baal from Israel, 29 but he did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit—the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.

30 Nevertheless, the LORD said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in carrying out what is right in My sight and have done to the house of Ahab all that was in My heart, four generations of your sons will sit on the throne of Israel.”

31 Yet Jehu was not careful to follow the instruction of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.

32 In those days the LORD began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael defeated the Israelites throughout their territory 33 from the Jordan eastward through all the land of Gilead (the region of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh), and from Aroer by the Arnon Valley through Gilead to Bashan.

34 As for the rest of the acts of Jehu, along with all his accomplishments and all his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

35 And Jehu rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoahaz reigned in his place. 36 So the duration of Jehu’s reign over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

There’s an amazing little connection between today’s passage and the opening verses of Matthew’s Gospel. It’s a detail I only learned when I was preparing to preach on Matthew earlier this year, and it blew my mind, so I want to share it with you.

Matthew famously arranges Jesus’ genealogy in three groups of 14 generations each: 14 generations from Abraham to King David, who was a preview of the Messiah; 14 generations from King David to the exile in Babylon; and 14 generations from the exile to Jesus.

But many people say that Matthew has fudged the generations to make Jesus’ line look like a neat, God-ordained pattern. The reason is that it looks like Matthew skips 3 generations. In Matthew 1:8, in the middle of the second group, Matthew says, “Joram was the father of Uzziah.” Joram – or Jehoram, as he is also known – was the king of Judah we met briefly in 2 King 8. But he wasn’t directly the father of Uzziah, he was actually his great-great grandfather. There were three generations of kings in between them: Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah.

So was Matthew fudging? Not at all! The key detail is in verse 30 of today’s passage, where God tells Jehu that because of his faithfulness in eradicating the wicked house of Ahab, “four generations of your sons will sit on the throne of Israel.” That phrase “the throne of Israel” is a very special phrase. In the whole Old Testament, there are only two other kings who said to sit on “the throne of Israel”: King David and his son Solomon. They both ruled over the whole, united kingdom of Israel. After Solomon’s death, the kingdom was divided in two, so from then on, there were parallel kings over Israel in the north and Judah in the south.

But in 1 Kings 9, Jehu assassinates the kings of both Israel and Judah, to end the threat of Baal-worship. And from God’s point of view, that meant that the dynasty of Jehu – this northern usurper – had temporarily replaced the line of King David in Jerusalem. For four generations (which is how long Jehu’s dynasty would last), there would again be a king on the throne of all Israel – so during that time, from God’s point of view, there was a gap in the line of David’s heirs.

Guess how long Jehu’s four generations lasted? They lasted through the reigns of Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah in Judah – the three kings Matthew leaves out of his genealogy of Jesus. Matthew leaves them out because God left them out of his reckoning of Jesus’ royal line.

“As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him” (Psalm 18:30). Pray today that God might grow us all in our conviction that his word is flawless, and that it might lead us to marvel at Jesus and take refuge in him.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our Senior Minister.

2 Kings 10:12-24 - Daily Devotion - 31 July 2026

St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield & Bossley Park

12 Then Jehu set out toward Samaria. At Beth-eked of the Shepherds, 13 Jehu met some relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and asked, “Who are you?”

“We are relatives of Ahaziah,” they answered, “and we have come down to greet the sons of the king and of the queen mother.”

14 Then Jehu ordered, “Take them alive.” So his men took them alive, then slaughtered them at the well of Beth-eked—forty-two men. He spared none of them.

15 When he left there, he found Jehonadab son of Rechab, who was coming to meet him. Jehu greeted him and asked, “Is your heart as true to mine as my heart is to yours?”

“It is!” Jehonadab replied.

“If it is,” said Jehu, “give me your hand.”

So he gave him his hand, and Jehu helped him into his chariot, 16 saying, “Come with me and see my zeal for the LORD!” So he had him ride in his chariot.

17 When Jehu came to Samaria, he struck down everyone belonging to Ahab who remained there, until he had destroyed them, according to the word that the LORD had spoken to Elijah.

18 Then Jehu brought all the people together and said, “Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him a lot. 19 Now, therefore, summon to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. See that no one is missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Whoever is missing will not live.”

But Jehu was acting deceptively in order to destroy the servants of Baal.

20 And Jehu commanded, “Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal.” So they announced it.

21 Then Jehu sent word throughout Israel, and all the servants of Baal came; there was not a man who failed to show. They entered the temple of Baal, and it was filled from end to end.

22 And Jehu said to the keeper of the wardrobe, “Bring out garments for all the servants of Baal.” So he brought out garments for them.

23 Next, Jehu and Jehonadab son of Rechab entered the temple of Baal, and Jehu said to the servants of Baal, “Look around to see that there are no servants of the LORD here among you—only servants of Baal.”

24 And they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside and warned them, “If anyone allows one of the men I am delivering into your hands to escape, he will forfeit his life for theirs.”

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

I struggle to know what to make of Jehu – and I’m sick of all the killing! I suspect we’re supposed to be sickened by it … and yet, we’re told again and again that this was “according to the word that the LORD had spoken to Elijah”.

The dynasty of Ahab in the northern kingdom of Israel had almost eliminated worship of the Lord, and had made it virtually compulsory to worship the Canaanite storm god Baal instead. Earlier this month, I mentioned that in Deuteronomy 13, God had warned his people that any Israelite city that abandoned him to worship other gods would be wiped out. The land of Israel, during the time of the old covenant, was set apart for God’s holy presence, and profaning God’s holiness with idols must bring death.

But it was even worse. King Ahab’s dynasty had even infiltrated the line of King David in the southern kingdom of Judah. King Jehoram – Ahaziah’s father – had married Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab. That marriage alliance was like a poison in David’s line which threatened to derail God’s promises. So maybe Jehu was right to wipe out Ahaziah’s family too … was he?

Yet in Hosea 1:4, after Jehu’s death, God announced that he would judge Jehu’s house “for the massacre at Jezreel,” which is a solid clue that Jehu went beyond God’s command. Maybe he used God’s word as an excuse to kill whoever he wanted, or simply enjoyed the terrible task he was given.

Today’s passage reminded me of a truth that I’m so glad Paul clarifies for us, as Christ’s people: That unlike Israel’s kings, “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against … the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms,” and we fight those spiritual enemies by standing firm in the righteousness of Christ and preaching the gospel so the lost will find life (Ephesians 6:10-17). Pray that we might see the ugliness and evil of worshiping anything other than the true God, and that we might be zealous for the Lord Jesus and his gospel.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.

2 Kings 10:1-11 - Daily Devotion - 30 July 2026

St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield & Bossley Park

1 Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria to the officials of Jezreel, to the elders, and to the guardians of the sons of Ahab, saying: 2 “When this letter arrives, since your master’s sons are with you and you have chariots and horses, a fortified city and weaponry, 3 select the best and most worthy son of your master, set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.”

4 But they were terrified and reasoned, “If two kings could not stand against him, how can we?”

5 So the palace administrator, the overseer of the city, the elders, and the guardians sent a message to Jehu: “We are your servants, and we will do whatever you say. We will not make anyone king. Do whatever is good in your sight.”

6 Then Jehu wrote them a second letter and said: “If you are on my side, and if you will obey me, then bring the heads of your master’s sons to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow.”

Now the sons of the king, seventy in all, were being brought up by the leading men of the city. 7 And when the letter arrived, they took the sons of the king and slaughtered all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu at Jezreel.

8 When the messenger arrived, he told Jehu, “They have brought the heads of the sons of the king.”

And Jehu ordered, “Pile them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until morning.”

9 The next morning, Jehu went out and stood before all the people and said, “You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all these? 10 Know, then, that not a word the LORD has spoken against the house of Ahab will fail, for the LORD has done what He promised through His servant Elijah.”

11 So Jehu killed everyone in Jezreel who remained of the house of Ahab, as well as all his great men and close friends and priests, leaving him without a single survivor.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Andy Rowlands

This isn’t particularly pleasant reading. On the one hand, Jehu rightly recognises that the word of God has not failed, and the Lord has done what he promised. God first announced his judgment against Ahab’s house to Elijah in 1 Kings 19, and he proclaimed it to Ahab himself in 1 Kings 21. Now it has been fully carried out, because God’s word never fails.

On the other hand, God brings it about by the hand of a manipulative and bloodthirsty usurper, Jehu. When God vindicates himself against the idolatry and rebelliousness of the house of Ahab, shouldn’t it be a glorious event, and cause for celebration? The wrath of Jehu leaves me thinking: “Not like this, Lord…” It seems like one wicked king and dynasty is being replaced by a king who is maybe slightly less wicked, but still brutal. In the rest of the chapter, more of Jehu’s true character will be revealed.

When I look out at our world, it’s easy to see similar dynamics at play, just without a clear word from God to commission these deeds. We see those who are strong meting out ‘justice’ against those who are rightly seen as evil; but how much better are their replacements? I think it’s right to have mixed emotions when we see justice being done in our world by those who are flawed and cannot execute perfect justice. On one hand, it is good that people seek and attempt to implement justice. However, so often those executing that justice have mixed motives, meting out imperfect punishments that are too harsh or too lenient.

But I look forward, with great longing, to the day when Jesus will return. He is not a king who delivered justice for his own benefit; instead, he bore the penalty due to us that he might be righteous and a merciful saviour. And when he returns, he will display his perfect justice in the world. On that day, he will make everything right again! And for those of us who call him Saviour, that judgement will be one that we will rejoice in wholeheartedly, as it displays the glory and splendour of our good God.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andy is one of our student ministers.

2 Kings 9:27-37 - Daily Devotion - 29 July 2026

St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield & Bossley Park

27 When King Ahaziah of Judah saw this, he fled up the road toward Beth-haggan.

And Jehu pursued him, shouting, “Shoot him too!”

So they shot Ahaziah in his chariot on the Ascent of Gur, near Ibleam, and he fled to Megiddo and died there. 28 Then his servants carried him by chariot to Jerusalem and buried him with his fathers in his tomb in the City of David.

29 (In the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab, Ahaziah had become king over Judah.)

30 Now when Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. So she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down from a window. 31 And as Jehu entered the gate, she asked, “Have you come in peace, O Zimri, murderer of your master?”

32 He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?”

And two or three eunuchs looked down at him.

33 “Throw her down!” yelled Jehu.

So they threw her down, and her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses as they trampled her underfoot.

34 Then Jehu went in and ate and drank. “Take care of this cursed woman,” he said, “and bury her, for she was the daughter of a king.”

35 But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing but her skull, her feet, and the palms of her hands.

36 So they went back and told Jehu, who replied, “This is the word of the LORD, which He spoke through His servant Elijah the Tishbite: ‘On the plot of ground at Jezreel the dogs will devour the flesh of Jezebel. 37 And Jezebel’s body will lie like dung in the field on the plot of ground at Jezreel, so that no one can say: This is Jezebel.’ ”

REFLECTIONS

Written by Susan Duc

In the lists of popular girls’ names across the world, ‘Jezebel’ has never done well. It’s probably because Jezebel is a name associated in the Bible with idolatry, wickedness and sexual immorality.

We have seen why this is so throughout 1 and 2 Kings. With her husband King Ahab of Israel, Jezebel promoted the worship of Baal amongst God’s people, persecuted God’s prophets and orchestrated the murder of Naboth.

We see even as Jezebel’s end draws near in today’s passage, that she remains unrepentant and defiantly anti-God. When Jehu, God’s appointed instrument for judgment, passes through the city gates, Jezebel flaunts herself and taunts him at her window (v 30-32). Jehu gives the order and the eunuchs by her side throw her down (v 33). Her death is a gruesome and just response for her sin (v 36-37).

Jezebel’s infamy spread so far and wide that in Revelation 2:20, Jesus applies her name to the woman who led the church at Thyatira into sexual immorality and the worship of false gods. Like her predecessor, this New Testament ‘Jezebel’ was unwilling to repent and so Jesus “cast her onto a bed of sickness” (Rev 2:22).

Have you been caught up in sins you are too ashamed to admit? Do you think your sins make you unworthy of love or acceptance? Look at Jezebel – even she was given time to repent. But don’t be like her – trust in God’s goodness, confess your sins and give them to Jesus. “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Susan is one of our assistant ministers.