Devotional Resources
This section will continue to expand so as to provide a variety of devotional materials for individual and/or group use.
Feeding the five thousand
1. PREPARE
Prayer
Use your own words to offer this meditation to God.
Bible reading
Read Mark 6 vv. 30 – 44.
Background information/commentary
The return of the twelve apostles
Jesus had sent his twelve apostles out to teach and heal in the territory of Galilee which lies on the west side of the Lake of Galilee (Mark 6. 7-13). When they returned and reported back to Jesus at his base in Capernaum on the northwest shore of the Lake, he recognised that they were tired out and needed to rest. There was no chance of resting where they were because, as Mark tells us,”…many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat” (6:31). So Jesus decided that they must go away to a deserted place for rest. The chosen spot was an area to the north-east of the Lake of Galilee.
The ten lepers
1. PREPARE
Prayer
Use your own words to offer this meditation to God.
Bible reading
Read Luke 17 vv. 11 – 19.
Background information/commentary
The word ‘leper’ is used in the East to cover a variety of diseases, from skin conditions of the psoriasis type, to bone tuberculosis, to true leprosy. (1) True leprosy is a chronic infectious disease now known to be caused by the organism Mycobacterium leprae. According to the World Health Organization, the first known written reference to leprosy is dated 600 BC. Throughout history, people with leprosy have often been ostracized both by their communities and their families. Untreated, leprosy can cause progressive and permanent damage to the skin, nerves, limbs and eyes. (2)
Healing of the man born blind
1. PREPARE
Prayer
Use your own words to offer this meditation to God.
Bible reading
Read John 9.
Background information/commentary
The traditional Pool of Siloam
For some centuries people have visited what was thought to be the location of the Pool of Siloam where Jesus sent the blind man. The pool is in the southeast corner of Jerusalem. In the 19th century the pool was found to be connected with a long water tunnel that ran to the Gihon Spring. The tunnel was identified as Hezekiah’s tunnel. It is about 1,800ft (554m) long. (1)