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How Should I Pray, Week 2, Day 4

by David Joynt on August 22, 2018


LUKE 19:29-54

Jesus never condemns anyone in his three years of ministry, except for the spiritual leaders of Israel. We have these criticisms in Matthew 23 and Luke 19:29-54. This is remarkable! He does not condemn the hometown crowd in Nazareth, even when they become a lynch mob. He does not condemn Pilate at the trial, the disciples when they are obtuse or overambitious, or even John the Baptist, his forerunner, when John questions his ministry. John 3:16, the Bible’s most famous verse, is followed by John 3:17: “Jesus came into the world not to condemn the world but to save it!” Condemnation cannot open someone’s heart, win someone’s trust, or change someone’s mind. Jesus’ Kingdom works differently—overcoming evil with good.

Prayer

Gracious God, Help me to overcome evil with good. Hold back the words of condemnation that spring forth when I am injured, or threatened, or criticized. Be gracious to spiritual leaders whom Jesus evaluates with special seriousness. I ask in the name of him who did not condemn others. Amen.

 

About the Author
David Joynt

Dave Joynt began his service as a pastor at Valley Presbyterian Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona in September 2014. This meant a move away from the Northeast, where he has a long history, growing up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and then serving congregations in Delaware and New Jersey for a total of 23 years.

Dave was nurtured in a great church in Bethlehem where his parents, Anne and Carey, served as elders. He graduated in classics from Lehigh University where his Father taught, and then from Oxford, where he met his wife Julia. Ordained in 1988, he completed a Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1993.

He and Julia have a son, Tristan, and a daughter, Madeleine.

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