Lessons                                                                       Bread of Life                                                            27 March 2021

Zechariah 9:9–12

₉Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

          Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!

behold, your king is coming to you;

          righteous and having salvation is he,

humble and mounted on a donkey,

          on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

₁₀I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim

          and the war horse from Jerusalem;

and the battle bow shall be cut off,

          and he shall speak peace to the nations;

his rule shall be from sea to sea,

          and from the River to the ends of the earth.

₁₁As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you,

I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.

₁₂Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;

today I declare that I will restore to you double.

Psalm 31:9–16

₉Be gracious to me, O Lord,

for I am | in distress;*

         my eye is wasted from grief;

         my soul and my body | also.

₁₀For my life is spent with sorrow,

         and my years with | sighing;*

my strength fails because of my iniquity,

         and my bones | waste away.

₁₁Because of all my adversaries

I have become a reproach,

especially to my neighbors,

and an object of dread to my ac- | quaintances;*

         those who see me in the street |

         flee from me.

₁₂I have been forgotten like one |

who is dead;*

         I have become like a broken | vessel.

₁₃For I hear the whispering of many—

terror on | every side!—*

         as they scheme together against me,

         as they plot to | take my life.

₁₄But I trust in you, | O Lord;*

         I say, “You | are my God.”

₁₅My times are | in your hand;*

rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my perse- | cutors!

₁₆Make your face shine on your | servant;*

         save me in your | steadfast love!

Philippians 2:5–11

          ₅Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ₆who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ₇but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ₈And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ₉Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ₁₀so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ₁₁and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

John 12:20–43

          ₂₀Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. ₂₁So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ₂₂Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ₂₃And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ₂₄Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ₂₅Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ₂₆If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

          ₂₇“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. ₂₈Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ₂₉The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” ₃₀Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine.

₃₁Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. ₃₂And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” ₃₃He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. ₃₄So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” ₃₅So Jesus said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. ₃₆While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”

          When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. ₃₇Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, ₃₈so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,

          and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

₃₉Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,

₄₀“He has blinded their eyes

          and hardened their heart,

lest they see with their eyes,

          and understand with their heart, and turn,

          and I would heal them.”

₄₁Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. ₄₂Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; ₄₃for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.