Morning Prayer - A Heart That Recognizes You

Good morning, Jesus,

As I read about you today, I see how even then you were a cause of division among people. Your word was so powerful that it left no one indifferent. Some immediately recognized something more in you.

“On hearing his words, some of the people said, ‘Surely this man is the Prophet.'” (John 7:40)

Others, however, were immediately trapped by their own preconceptions and knowledge. They looked for you in their own little boxes, in their own expectations, and because they did not find you there, they rejected you.

“Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” (John 7:42)

Lord, you are the fulfillment of all promises

They were right, Lord. The Scripture did indeed speak of Bethlehem.

“‘But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.'” (Micah 5:2)

And it spoke of David’s root.

“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.” (Isaiah 11:1)

They knew the words, but they did not recognize the Word who stood before them. Their knowledge clouded their vision.

Protect me, I pray, from the pride that thinks it knows everything about you and thus misses you entirely. Give me the simple heart of the guards who said, “No one ever spoke the way this man does.”

They did not know the prophecies, but they recognized God. The Pharisees, who appealed to the law, were missing the essential thing: fewer rules, more love.

Give me the courage to come out of the shadows

And then there is Nicodemus. A man torn between fear and faith. He had already come to you in secret, under the safe cover of night.

“He came to Jesus at night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.'” (John 3:2)

In his heart he knew, but aloud he only dared to timidly defend the principles of the law. And immediately they attacked him with the same logic of prejudice with which they attacked you.

His colleagues dismissed him with the question, “Are you from Galilee, too?” It was the same spirit that asked:

“‘Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?’ Nathanael asked. ‘Come and see,’ said Philip.” (John 1:46)

Lord, how quickly we are ready to judge by appearances, by origins, by labels. I ask you, protect me from this hardness of heart and this blindness that sees only what it wants to see.