I am an emeritus professor from Cornell University and was a Commissioned Lay Preacher in the Presbyterian Church (USA). For many years I have followed the Daily Lectionary as printed in the Mission Yearbook of my church. For each day of a two-year cycle, the lectionary lists four psalms and three other scriptural passages--usually one from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament. My practice is to copy down a verse or two from one of the psalms and from each of the other three passages. After I have written out all four selections, I reflect upon them, rearrange their order, and incorporate them into a meditation. Sometimes I retain much of the original wording; sometimes all that remains of a selection is an idea that was stimulated when I read the original words. All selections are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. For the Daily Lectionary, see the link below.

You Ate Ashes Like Bread, Lord Jesus--Jan. 14, 2014


 You became like one of us, Lord Jesus,
people who know good from evil, but who
are unworthy of you; and you stood among us.

You are the pioneer of our salvation; and you ate
ashes like bread, mingled tears with your drink.
In you God brought many children to glory.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 42; 146; 102; 133
Gen. 3:1-24
Heb. 2:1-10
John 1:19-28

Selected Verses

Ps. 102:9
For I eat ashes like bread,
          and mingle tears with my drink…

Gen. 3:22a
Then the LORD God said, "See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil…"

Heb. 2:10
It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

John 1:26-27
John answered [the priests and Levites sent by the Pharisees], "I baptize with water.  Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal."

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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