Lesslie Newbigin on John 3:16

"God's love is known to us because he has given is only Son that whoever believes might have life. The uniqueness and the universality are counterparts of each other. To reject both in the alleged interest of mutual tolerance among the world's religions is to deny the message at its center. If there are many different revelations, then the human family has no center for its unity...Each of us is - n the end - shut up in his own world of ideas. He must find God in the depths of his own being because there is no action of God by which he gives himself to be known by us.

The uniqueness ("his only Son") corresponds to the universality ("whoever") because God is love in action."

(p. 43, Lesslie Newbigin, 'The light has come: An exposition of the fourth gospel')

Already and not-yet in John

To the Samaritan woman:

"the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him" (4:23)

To the Jews:

"an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live" (4:23)

To the Disciples:

"the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone." (16:32)

So "the hour" in John seems to be Christ's death and resurrection and the breaking in of that Old Creation death and New Creation life into our present.

A vast and gracious tide

I heard a wonderful sermon by one of our elders this Sunday on Jesus' words from the cross, "I thirst" (John 19:28). Linking Jesus' cry to Ezekiel (!) he took us to the Valley of Dry Bones in chapter 37, but then to the New Temple in chapter 47:1-12:

Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side.

Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. And he said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?”

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. And he said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the [Dead] sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”

Where before there was death, dryness and undrinkable salt water, now there is life, floods and fresh water. But this came at the cost of Jesus going thirsty (John 19:28), drinking sour wine (vv. 29-30), and dying in the place we should have been. From his side "blood and water" spilled out for us to drink and live (John 4:14; 6:54).

Here is love, vast as the ocean,
Lovingkindness as the flood,
When the Prince of Life, our Ransom,
Shed for us His precious blood.
Who His love will not remember?
Who can cease to sing His praise?
He can never be forgotten,
Throughout Heav’n’s eternal days.

On the mount of crucifixion,
Fountains opened deep and wide;
Through the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed a vast and gracious tide.
Grace and love, like mighty rivers,
Poured incessant from above,
And Heav’n’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love.

I'm away for a couple of weeks at a camp, so no blogging here for a while.

With many thanks to Mr Hulse.

The bronze serpent

"the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses and said, 'We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.' So Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said to Moses, 'Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.' So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live." (Numbers 21:6-9)

"as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." (John 3:14-15)

These passages were favourites of the Lutheran reformers. They often appear in their writings and also their art. Philip Melanchthon's coat of arms (above) was even the bronze serpent on a pole.

It was a favourite of theirs because it was a clear demonstration of what faith is. Faith is simply looking to Christ, specifically Christ crucified, and trusting the promise that if you look to him you will be saved.

However, I've always found the story in Numbers a bit odd. Perhaps it is just me, but why a bronze serpent?

I think the answer struck me yesterday. The serpent on the pole is a rigid and lifeless serpent. Jesus lifted up on the cross is a dead man. In Numbers God is promising the death of that which causes death and so life as a result. In John he is also promising the death of the law which causes us death so we can enjoy life as a result.

Looking at a dead serpent is not very palatable and looking at a dying man isn't either. But if that means the death of death, then it becomes a Good Friday.

Meetings at the well

Genesis 24: Abraham's servant and Rebekah

The young woman was very attractive in appearance, a maiden whom no man had known. She went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up. Then the servant ran to meet her and said, "Please give me a little water to drink from your jar." She said, "Drink, my lord." And she quickly let down her jar upon her hand and gave him a drink.

Genesis 29: Jacob and Rachel

While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she was a shepherdess. Now as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother's brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother's brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well's mouth and watered the flock of Laban his mother's brother.

Exodus 2: Moses and Zipporah

Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock.

John 4: Jesus and the Samaritan Woman

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." ... The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."

I've some detailed thoughts on the connections between John 4 and Genesis 24 here.

Today I'd just like to note that Jesus begins by testing the Samaritan Woman, as Rebekah was tested by Abraham's servant. Through that test Rebekah was shown to be worthy of being Isaac's wife and the Samaritan unworthy of being a member of Jesus' bride. As well as this moral worth, Rebekah is physically beautiful. The Samaritan woman has had 5 husbands, and it is probably fair to speculate that she was past her prime by this stage.

However, Jesus doesn't reject this woman. Like Jacob and Moses before him he acts as a saviour. They provided water from the well, but Jesus provided living water.

Faith is how we feed

Listening to: Mozart: Violin Concertos

[This is an attempt to explain why only those with faith are saved by putting it in the context of the nature the salvation itself. I'm a bit torn whether I've succeeded. Let me know your thoughts if you have any]

1. God lays on a meal for everybody, no matter who they are

In the Parable of the Great Banquet, Jesus begins by encouraging generosity to all types of people.  He says that ““when you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbours, in case they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind” (Luke 14:12-13).

It is obvious why Jesus needs to say this isn’t it?

We are nice to those people that we want to be nice to us in return.  Who among us can say that we treat the shop attendant with the same attention we do someone interviewing us for a job?  We will buy a round for someone who we know has a record of buying rounds for us, but we won’t do the same for someone who never offers to get us a drink.

Or we can be prejudiced against whole classes of people who we don’t identify with.  Historically we have treated those of a different race as second class citizens, but perhaps now are more likely to express contempt towards those both above and below us on the class ladder.  Paul seems to be combating just that attitude in 1 Timothy 2 when he encourages the Christians to pray for their political leaders, because God cares for ‘them’ as much as ‘us’.  Although for them it may have been even tougher given the oppression they would have experienced from their leaders.

Like Paul, Jesus sees that how we treat other people will mirror how we believe God treats people.  Often we are tempted to feel that God loves people like ‘us’, not people like ‘them’, and we think that justifies us in our lack of love to those people.  Where we do that we need to be sorry and change because God should be our model and is not like that.  God loves “all” people, as Paul says.

Jesus illustrates how God loves all people in this Parable of the Great Banquet.  He compares “the Kingdom of God”, or as Paul would say it “salvation”, to a great banquet.  It is not a bring-your-own meal and it is not beans on toast, instead it is a lavish feast provided entirely at God’s expense.

And this feast is not just for God’s friends or those who have something to offer him.  He has “made everything ready” for “many” people, even those who we read later in the parable don’t like him very much.  

God models just what Jesus says that we should do.  Love everyone and happily share what we have with everyone.

2. The meal is Jesus and he gives life

But what is the banquet that God puts on?  The disciple in verse 15 talks about “bread”, which doesn’t sound all that lavish.  But in John 6 we learn what type of bread is on offer.

Jesus explains that he is “the bread of God” (v.33) who gives “life”.  When we eat food we are nourished and sustained in life.  The difference with this bread is that Jesus gives not just “life” but “eternal life”.  Normal bread fills us up for a little while but then we need more to keep on living, but in contrast if we eat “the bread of God” then we shall “never hunger” (v.35).

I often feel it is a bit weird and disgusting that Jesus is talking about himself as food to be eaten.  When it says that the disciples said in response that “this is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” (v. 60) I have to sympathise with them.

It is pretty offensive that a lamb is slaughtered so we can eat it, but it is even more offensive that Jesus is crucified so that we can eat him. There is no getting round that. You cannot prettify death, but Jesus’ death is the major event of the Gospels and Christianity as a whole so you cannot avoid talking about it.

But as well as an offensive image, there is a sense in which this is the most beautiful image you could imagine. It is a beautiful thing when someone empties their fridge to lay on a meal when you visit. It is an even more beautiful thing, although also more tragic, when a single mother goes out to work all the hours she can manage to put food on the table for her family. It is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard of that Jesus died so that everyone can have eternal life. That is why it is at the centre of what Christians believe.

It is interesting how Jesus defines life in John’s Gospel though. The image of food suggests that Jesus is just the source of life. However, later in the same Gospel he also says that he is “the life” itself (14:6).

Jesus explains that “eternal life” doesn’t mean just existing for a long time, living a life of leisure or having lots of stuff. Instead he defines it in terms of a relationship: “this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ” (17:3).

If Jesus stayed dead to give us life, then that would be no kind of life at all. One of the best things about life is the people, but the very best thing, and source of all other good things, is knowing God and his Son, Jesus. The reason that Christians celebrate Easter is that Jesus was raised from the dead after 3 days being dead, so that we could have a relationship with him and his Father by his Spirit.

Jesus Christ is the feast that God the Father has put on for us, and his company at the table is what makes it worth looking forward to.

3. God invites people to the meal through people speaking about it and eating bread and drinking wine

God has provided a feast which he wants every single person to come and enjoy. But how will people come and enjoy it?

In the first place they need to know that there is feast to enjoy.

In the Parable of the Great Banquet Jesus says that the host sends out his servant to tell everyone that the banquet is ready to be enjoyed (14:17). In a similar way at the end of every Gospel Jesus says that the invitation to him is to go to all the nations. It is not just for the Jews, because God wants everyone to come, so the disciples will have to pass on the message to people all over the world (Matt 28:18-20, Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; John 20:21).

This message is passed on by preaching and by the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, all of which have a fundamental role in the life of all Christians. When Paul preached he said he aimed to preach “Christ crucified” (1 Cor 1:22). Not advice, not rules on how to live and not philosophy, but an offer of a death to give us life. Jesus’ death is also prominent in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper which originates from when, the night before he died, Jesus told the disciples to regularly eat bread and wine as his body and blood given for us.

When the bread is broken in two at the front of a church meeting, or when we hear someone talk about how Jesus died so that we could live knowing him, then we are invited to come and eat at the feast. We will only get tasters now, but when Jesus comes again then we will sit down to a great feast (as many other Bible passages talk about).

It is a sobering thought that if people do not receive the invitation they will not come to the feast. If we love people like God loves them then as his servants we will carry out the task Jesus gave to his disciples at the end of each Gospel and go to every corner of the earth to tell people invite people along. And that is what thousands of Christians have done, even if like Jesus it cost them their life.

4. Eating the meal by faith

This odd concept of eating Jesus, even though it is rich and meaning-packed, begs an important question: ‘how do we eat someone who is alive but we cannot see?’

Jesus makes clear what he means by eating in John 6:35-40. To eat him is to come to him (the feast) and we do that by believing in him.

In the Parable of the Great Banquet the invitation goes out to lots of people who come up with excuses not to come. But why would someone not want to come to a free party?

You only don’t accept an invitation because you believe that the alternative is better. If you don’t think you will enjoy the company, or that the food won’t be that good you make your excuses and don’t come. That is what lots of people do in Jesus’ parable. They thought that staying at home has more to offer than Jesus.

As any host the Father is offended by this. He has been the great giver, but people refuse to receive the gift. It is irrational and morally reprehensible, but people do that to other people and they do that to God. God is angry with those who despise his beloved Son.

The offer still stands until Jesus comes again though. Jesus says that he is offered “so that one may eat of it and not die” (John 6:50). It is important to remember that the reason people will die in hell is because they have chosen to refuse the invitation to eat. This seems mad, but people do have their reasons. They refuse the gift of salvation in Jesus because they that they have a better offer of salvation somewhere else.

That people do not hear about this great feast is a terrible tragedy and the fault of the church. That people hear about this great feast and yet believe it to be a poor offer not worth taking up is also a tragedy, but it is their fault not God’s.

The truth is stark, but if you don’t believe you don’t eat and you don’t live. But if you do believe Jesus is the bread of life he promises and you do eat of him visibly at the Lord’s Supper and by invisibly by listening to the Bible taught, then you will live and feast with him when he comes again.

Taste life in John's Gospel

I would encourage anyone with a spare couple of hours to read the Gospel of John looking out for what Jesus, through John, wants us to know about “life”.

Jesus calls his Father “the living Father” (6:57). Like all beings that have life he is not inactive but outgoing and like human fathers he gives life to his child, Jesus (6:57). However, unlike human fathers who give life in the act of conception and maybe through loving nurture, God the Father is always giving the Son life by his Holy Spirit. It doesn’t say that he “gave” life to Jesus in the past tense because from the very beginning the Son has been with the Father (1:1-2). As the early Christian church taught, the Son was “eternally begotten of the Father”. The alternative would mean that there was a time when the Father was not giving life - which would actually mean that he was static, dead, and not “the Father” because he didn’t have a Son!

So, God the Father and Son are living and always have been.

But, what does it mean to be living?

Clearly, until Jesus became a man God did not have a pumping heart or electricity pulsing through his brain. But we all know that there is more to life than organic mechanisms. Relationships are at the heart of what it means to be living, so Jesus shows the depth of his understanding in describing life for human beings to be found in knowing him and his Father (17:3). Within God the Trinity, Jesus lives for his Father, and his Father lives for him. As parents often say that their children are their “life”, God the Father could say the same for his Son.

But we recognise that while there is something good about someone looking for their life in other people, whether children or lovers, there is also something self-destructive. Jesus saw that clearly in the woman that he met by a well in Samaria (4:1-45). She had married five times and was now living with a sixth man. We don’t know the details but it is clear that by her fault, their fault, or perhaps nobody’s fault she was not finding in men the life that she wanted. When Jesus offers her “living water” that won’t just quench her thirst for a while but satisfy forever she longs to have it (4:10-15). We are just the same as that woman. Looking for life in other people or things we may be satisfied and feel ‘alive’ for a while, but as time passes we either find they don’t satisfy as they used to, or they’re taken away. Nothing lasts, but everything seems to die in the end. We are all thirsty for lasting life - or as John’s Gospel calls it, “eternal life”.

But the Son doesn’t experience this thirst for life when he lives for his Father. His Father is God and has infinite resources of life and joy that leave the Son eternally and infinitely alive. If we want to have our thirst quenched we will have to receive from this heavenly well too.

Thankfully Jesus is his Father’s Son. As the Father has life in himself, he has given it to his Son to have the same (5:26). And as he loves to give life to his Son, the Son also loves to give life to us (4:14, 4:50, 10:28, etc). So with the Father and by the Holy Spirit, God the Son made the world (1:10). A world reflecting the character of its maker and teeming with life.

But as well as life, we sadly also experience death in this world. In the book of Genesis, God teaches us that the reason for this is because he cut us off from the “tree of life” - that is from a close relationship with himself - because we chose to rebel against him. Humanity didn’t trust him to provide us with life, so we tried to take over the world so we could provide for ourselves. Like the woman at the well we started looking for life somewhere other than God. God had only ever done us good and had unfailingly given us life but we were ungrateful and disobedient because we didn‘t trust him to keep on providing and we thought we could do better on our own.

This is the world we all find ourselves in now. There is life and goodness, but there is also death and evil. The Bible is clear that the death and evil is our fault, but that God has lovingly kept on giving us some life and goodness to keep us going. But this imperfect and short life that we know by experience is not the end of the story, because God did not just create, but became a creature. That is the story we find in the Gospels. God the Son became flesh (1:14)!

But why would God who is life and light come into the darkness that we know all too well (1:5) and die as we die under judgement?

Jesus says that he came into this world scarred by death to give us “abundant life” (10:10). All through John’s Gospel Jesus is explaining how he gives life (4:14, 4:50, 10:28, 11:43, 17:2).

God is a god who just keeps on giving, despite our ingratitude! That is truly amazing. But what is even more amazing is how he gives and how much he gives.

Jesus does not just dole out life from heaven, or just give us what he has to spare. He gives us all the life that he has because that is the only way that the death in our world can be overcome. As I have said the Bible teaches that death is in the world because of the rebellion that we have staged against the giver of life. This rebellion and lack of trust is what the Bible calls sin. To get rid of death so that life can be given again sin has to be got rid of first. So right at the beginning of John’s Gospel, John the Baptist recognises that Jesus came to take away the sin of the world by being “the Lamb of God” (1:29).

To twenty-first century Britons, “the Lamb of God” is a strange title to give Jesus, but to the Jews of Jesus’ day it was loaded with meaning. Being a lamb to the Jews meant being a sacrifice. So John was saying that Jesus came to be a sacrifice of a life that would take away our sin and death. Strikingly, right at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry John the Baptist was pointing to Jesus’ death. This was not just a prediction but was Jesus’ own intention from the very beginning (10:18). As a consequence all four Gospels are dominated by Jesus’ deliberate journey to death on a cross.

But from the larger context of John’s Gospel it emerges that John the Baptist had in mind a particular lamb sacrifice. Once a year, at Passover, Jewish families killed a lamb in the place of their eldest son. John the Baptist understood that Jesus, the Son of God, had come to die as the ultimate lamb in the place not just of one person, but of all the world.

In order to benefit from the Passover sacrifice the Jews used to eat the lamb that they had killed in the place of their son. Shockingly to the Jews that he met, Jesus says that those who want to benefit from his sacrifice have to do something similar. They have to eat him (6:51-58)!

Why does Jesus say something so disgusting?

In the first place, he says it because food is how we live. Without the energy we get from food we would die, and Jesus is saying that without him we will also die.

Secondly, by referring so starkly to his “flesh” and “blood” he is pressing home that in order for us to live he had to die. This food didn’t grow on supermarket shelves but cost him dearly.

Although it may not have been clear to the Jews listening to Jesus, it was clear to John the Gospel-writer that Jesus didn’t mean that his body was going to be carved up for the disciples to eat after he died on the cross. As we find out later in the Gospel, although Jesus died he was laid in a tomb and raised to new life in his own body, so we must “eat” him in a different way.

But how can we eat Jesus?

Many people think that in order to get eternal life we have to do something like exercise. We have to work hard at being the best person we can be and if we finish in the top few we will win a prize. But when Jesus says that to get eternal life we have to eat then that should make us realise that this is entirely the wrong way to think about things.

Instead of impressing, we get eternal life by receiving Jesus as a gift. Right at the beginning of the Gospel, John writes about people who “receive” Jesus by believing him (1:11-12). Throughout the Gospel John says that those who “believe” in Jesus have life (3:15, 4:50, 6:47, 11:26). Then at the end of the book John explains that the whole reason that he wrote it was that “you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life” (20:31). To eat Jesus you have to believe that he is good to eat, which means believe that he is who he says he is and that he can give life.

Jesus may be drawing a parallel with the story of how humanity lost life in the first place in the Garden of Eden. In the Garden of Eden God provided a “tree of life” which Adam and Eve ate from in order to live. They distrusted God’s promise that this tree would give them life and thought they would do better eating from another tree. Similarly we have a choice. Do we believe that Jesus can give us life by his death, or will we believe the promises of the advertisements we see, or the advice we hear, that we can get life somewhere else?

Jesus gives us his own life for free. There is nothing we have to do to enjoy it, simply take and eat and enjoy. But there are other things we can trust to give us life. Careers take our time, possessions take our money, religions take our good works, but none of them give us what they promise. Jesus said that he is “the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through [him]” (14:6). As we have mentioned at the beginning “life” and relationship “to the Father” are the same thing. Without believing the Son that he is “life” from the Father we will “perish” (3:16), and be judged by the God the Father (3:36, 5:29) who will not tolerate us calling his beloved Son a liar. Without his sacrificial death to take away our sin, we remain stuck with the consequences of the choice of humanity from Adam to the present day to disbelieve God and chose the wrong meal. So like Adam and Eve, we will remain hungry and thirsty, dissatisfied, and ultimately we will decay and die.

How much better to chose life? To chose a relationship with God the Father who is more awe-inspiring than the universe he created and more loving than anyone we have ever met. To chose to know Jesus as our brother who was willing to die for us even when we disregarded him. To chose to receive God the Holy Spirit to live with us (14:17). God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit united in giving us themselves at such great cost!

It may seem odd that Jesus presents himself as a free gift which we just need to receive. Jesus predicts that believing his offer for life may mean that people mock you or worse (15:18-20). Believing Jesus also means we will trust him when he says that the best thing for us to do with our lives is to love people to the extent that he loved us (13:34). That cost him his life, so if we believe him we will seek to give up all that we have for the sake of other people, including our money, time and care.

In some ways this is a ‘cost’ of believing in Jesus. But as when a husband gives himself to his wife she shares his possessions along with him, we will one day also share in all that he possesses. As the bride of the owner of the universe the church will be given the whole earth to share with him. All those things that we may end up giving up when we believe Jesus’ radical promise to provide all we need to live, we don’t really give up because we will receive them all back when we are married to Jesus when he comes again (cf. 3:29, 2 Cor 11:12, Eph 5:29-32, Rev 19:7). Jesus gave up everything, even his life, and yet was given everything including his life back again from the Father as a gift. As followers in a similar way we may lose everything but we will also receive everything, and more, back from the Son when we are raised from the dead (4:14, 4:50, 5:29, 10:28, 11:43, 14:19, 17:2). As Jesus says, whoever “loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (12:25).

So if you want to have the life Jesus promises, in relationship with his living Father and by his Spirit, then we must come to him (5:40), look to him (6:40), listen to him (5:25), and believe him. There is no other place to find eternal life (6:68), and there is no better life to live than one of perfect relationship with God and each other (Chap 17).

“Taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Psalm 34:8).

Giving and receiving in John

The Father gives to his Son:

• His testimony that Jesus is his Son (5:36)
• all things into his hand (3:35, 13:3)
• "all judgment" and "authority to execute judgment" (5:22-27, 17:2)
• works to accomplish which testify about him (5:36)
• the church (6:37-39, 10:29, 17:2, 6, 9-12, 18:9)
• "a commandment—what to say and what to speak" (12:49)
• words (17:8)
• glory (8:54, 17:22)
• the cup [of wrath] (18:11)
• works to do (17:4)

The Father gives to the church/world:

• His Son (1:12, 3:16)
• life (5:21)
• true bread from heaven (6:32)
• whatever you ask (11:22, 15:16, 16:23)
• another Helper (the Holy Spirit, 14:16)

The Son gives to the church/world:

• The results of all the signs (wine, sight, healing, bread, life from the dead) and the testimony they contain.
• the right to become children of God (1:12)
• grace upon grace (1:16)
• The Spirit without measure (3:34), the Spirit of truth (14:17), the Holy Spirit (20:22)
• Living water (chapter 4)
• "[eternal] life" (5:21, 6:33, 9:24, 10:28, 17:2, 17:24)
• "bread for life" or "his flesh" (himself, 6:27,6:51-52)
• "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." (13:34)
• his peace (14:27)
• the word he has been given by the Father (17:8, 17:14)
• the glory he has been given by the Father (17:22)
• His testimony (3:11, 32)

The Spirit gives to the church/world:

• life (6:63)

Interesting points:

• Jesus says he does not receive glory from people (5:41)
• Jews receive glory from one another but not God (5:44)
• It is the Pharisees who encourage the blind man to "give glory to God"(chap 9)
• Moses gives to the church/world
• the law (1:17; 7:19)
• bread from heaven (or so the Jews thought, 6:32)
• circumcision (7:22)

What strikes me is that everything that the Father gives to his Son he gives to us - the Spirit, life, words, authority, even the work of giving up our lives for the sake of others. The great commission of the Gospel of John really is "As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you" (20:21).

Coming and going in John

Two big questions in John's Gospel: Where did Jesus come from? Will you come to him?

He come from the Father and you will come if he calls you and the Father gives you to him.

As John the Baptist waited eagerly for the first advent, we are to wait eagerly for the second, crying "Come, Lord Jesus! All the while we testify to others that he has already come and inviting people to come to him

• Christ "came to that which was his own" (1:11)
• He "came from the Father" (1:14, 13:3, 16:28)
• Jesus invited John two disciple of John to "come...and...see" where he was staying (1:39) and invited Philip to follow him (1:43)
• Philip found Nathanael and invited him to "Come and see" whether Jesus was the one promised (1:46)
• Jesus explained that as light he had "come into the world", but that some people would not "come into the light" (3:19-20, 12:46)
• John the Baptist had been waiting eagerly for the Christ to come from heaven (3:27ff)
• The Samaritan woman knew that the Christ was "coming", but Jesus explained that he was already here. She went back to her town and invited the people there to "Come, see a man" (4:25-29)
• Great crowds come to Jesus (6:5) and he feeds them miraculously so that they become convinced that he is "the Prophet who [was] to come" (6:14)
• Jesus explains that he is the bread that "comes from heaven" and that "He who comes to me will never go hungry" or thirsty (6:33, 35; 7:37). He then explains that it is those that his Father gives to him who will come to him, and that he will never turn away any who come (6:37, 44, 65)
• Jesus starts explaining he is going where the disciples cannot come (7:34)
• Some people wonder how the Christ can "come from Galilee" (7:41-52), just as Philip had wondered if anything "good can come from" Nazareth (1:46)
• The Pharisees say they don't know where Jesus came from, although the blind man who had been given sight thinks it is obvious he is from God (9:29ff).
• Jesus warns that night is coming (9:5) as he later warns that the "ruler of this world is coming" (14:30)
• Jesus is invited to come to Lazarus's tomb, he comes and then calls to Lazarus to "come out!" Lazarus obeys, just as the all those will obey when he calls everyone from their tombs on the last day (5:28f).
• Jesus promises that when he is lifted up he will draw all people to himself (12:32)
• Again, he explains he will be going away, but that he will come back (14:28). In the meantime he will send the Holy Spirit (15:26).
• He finally sends the church to go into the world like he did (20:21).

Christ who lives in the future, and the church's mission to prepare the world for the future to arrive

When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Structurally, it is clear that Jesus' packed statement of John 13:31-35 is explicated by the disciples asking a series of questions which Jesus answers in 13:36-14:31.

Peter: “Lord, where are you going?”

Jesus: You can follow me later

Peter: “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

Jesus: You won't lay down your life. I will prepare the place ON YOUR BEHALF to prepare the destination.

Thomas: “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

Jesus: I am the way to the Father.

Philip: “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”

Jesus: The Father, and so the Kingdom/New Creation, is already present in me. I will send the Spirit to help you when I'm gone and you can no longer see the Father in me physically.

Belief -> missionary miracles

Prayer -> receiving

Loving -> obeying

I will appear again after the resurrection to those who love me though.

Judas (not Iscariot): “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?”

Jesus: Because God only makes his home with those who love and obey me.

It still isn't crystal clear to me, but this is the line of logic I see going on behind Jesus' answers:

1. I'm going to die an Old Creation death, and then live a New Creation life in the presence of the Father.
2. You can't follow me all the way yet because you are not yet made holy, but I will go as your representative ahead of you.
3. However, you can see the Father and the New Creation life already in me as it bursts out even in this likeness of sinful flesh.
4. When I'm living a full New Creation life in heaven you will still be able to see me by faith given by the Holy Spirit whom I will send.
5. As those who have been reborn and love God, I will be able to give you fuller experience of New Creation life and the presence of the Father after I have been resurrected, because you will be holy enough to be in the presence of such life.
6. However, the world cannot experience me in my New Creation life because I will be so burning in holiness that I would be Christ-the-judge to them (in contrast to pre-cross when I am their suffering servant). Out of mercy, as I did in the Tabernacle, I will hide my holy presence for a time to give them time to repent.
7. However, as you follow me you will repeat the same story. For now you will live a life of self-sacrifice and suffering servanthood with your glory as children of God veiled. In this role you will represent me to the world by a life of loving obedience and miracles.

That's a bit hastily written and I'd like to write that up neatly, but what do you reckon? Seems to tie together a lot of the Bible, and this passage in particular.

Categories to apply:

• sinful/holy
• servant/judge
• Old Creation/New Creation
• death/life
• suffering/glorified

Basically, Jesus is further down the road than the church on every count and prepares the way for us. Because the world is still at the starting point, the church mediates the destination to them because if Jesus was present now there would be no time to repent.

PS I'm sorry for the note-taking form of this post. I wanted to write it up but when I'm going to be short on sleep tonight finishing off some law study I couldn't justify editing. Thought it maybe of interest though - some significant stuff.

Reflection on the five solas in John

Christ alone

The Father granted his Son to have life in himself (John 5:26). He is the bread of life sent by God and gives life to the world (6:33), but you will not find life anywhere else (John 6:53). Sure you may 'live' for a while, but the kind of life that you possess will be constantly running dry and you will be thirsty again, and the life that Jesus gives is inexhaustible (John 4, 6:26).

Scripture alone

The Scriptures bear witness about Jesus, and for that reason have eternal life in them (John 5:39, 46). Jesus is the content, but also the speaker of the word of God, and listening to him moves you from death to eternal life (John 5:24). The work of the Word of God has not been completed, and won't until Christ calls us from the grave at the resurrection of the dead (5:25), but it still performs that daily work in us now.

Faith alone

Jesus is the greater manna which God provided to the empty handed, starving Israelites in the desert. They received at as a gift and didn't even benefit from working harder than others in trying to gather up, and store the food they had been given (so they wouldn't have to trust entirely on God's provision the next day). Similarly, the one work we need to do is to believe Jesus is the Christ (6:29). This means simply to gaze on Christ, like the Israelites in the wilderness gazed upon the bronze serpent, to receive healing by God's provision (6:40; 3:14-15).

Grace alone

In Christ there is grace alone - he is bursting full of it (1:14). The law was given through Moses, and apart from Jesus it accuses us, but there is no accusation in Christ (5:45). If we set our hope on anything, even the good Christian gifts of church membership and knowledge of the Scriptures but have not got Christ we will only face accusation. Anything we do in our own flesh, will only turn to dust in our hands, but the Spirit resting on Jesus (1:32) and then poured out on us by his word gives us life (6:63).

To the glory of God alone

We seek recognition (respect/glory) from other people, but that is not really worth anything despite what the fashion shops are telling us. Jesus isn't in need of an ego boost from other people either, and we shouldn't think that our worship performs that purpose (5:44). Perhaps then a better way is the way of Oprah and L'Oreal - I'm worth it. Total self-respect might be the glory that is worth something, but really we know that is "nothing" too. Jesus doesn't glorify himself because he recognises that too (John 8:50, 54). He doesn't grasp the tree of life, or the manna in the wilderness, but gives up his glory and his life - trusting that God will give him life and glory 3 days later. Glory from God the Father is the only glory that is worth anything (5:44, 12:43). God the Father glorified the Son, because of the worthiness of the Son to receive glory (8:54; 16:14 17), and by grace that glory overflows to his church (17:22). But God the Father is himself glorified in this act of glory-giving so that he may be all in all (13:31-32; 14:13).

[prompted by Glen and Pete's comments]

When to talk about election

Phil Ryken says:

The famous American Bible teacher Donald Grey Barnhouse (1895–1960) often used an illustration to help people make sense of election. He asked them to imagine a cross like the one on which Jesus died, only so large that it had a door in it. Over the door were these words from Revelation: “Whosoever will may come.” These words represent the free and universal offer of the gospel. By God’s grace, the message of salvation is for everyone. Every man, woman, and child who will come to the cross is invited to believe in Jesus Christ and enter eternal life.

On the other side of the door a happy surprise awaits the one who believes and enters. From the inside, anyone glancing back can see these words from Ephesians written above the door: "Chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world." Election is best understood in hindsight, for it is only after coming to Christ that one can know whether one has been chosen in Christ. Those who make a decision for Christ find that God made a decision for them in eternity past.

But I've been thinking. My impression on reading John recently was that Jesus taught election to unbelieving Jews to explain why they didn't accept him. I'll think about it some more.

Why people believe in John's Gospel

This is just about every reference I can find reading through John's Gospel about why people believe. If I've missed any, let me know. I'd be interested if anything strikes you.

• John the Baptist "came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him" (1:7)
• Jesus revealed God (1:18)
• Jesus is revealed because of John's baptism of people (1:31) and by the Spirit descending and remaining on him (1:33)
• Nathanael believed because Jesus said "I saw you under the fig tree" (1:50)
• Disciples believed because of the miracle at Cana (2:11)
• When Jesus was risen they believed "the Scripture AND the word that Jesus had spoken" (2:22)
• Many believed in Jesus when they saw his miracles (2:23)
• He who believes Jesus agrees God is true (3:33)
• Samaritans believed because of the testimony of the Samaritan woman at the well that he knew her past (4:39)
• Then the Samaritans believed because they heard Jesus for themselves (4:41-42)
• Jesus criticises the official at Capernaum for only believing if he sees a sign (4:48), but then believes his word alone (4:50) and then believes again when he sees evidence of the miracle (4:53)
• the person who believes Jesus' word and the Father's testimony has eternal life (5:24)
• John the Baptist is a testimony to Jesus (5:32). But he relativises that as man's testimony, which he appeals to only so people will be saved (5:34). A greater testimony comes from the Father who testifies to who Jesus is by the miracles he gave to Jesus (5:36) and the OT (5:39). To have the Father's word abiding in you means you will believe Jesus (5:38)
• You can't believe if you seek glory from men rather than God (5:44)
• Believing Moses and believing Jesus are inseparable (5:46-47)
• Jesus implies he is his own miracle proving his identity. He is the equivalent of both the manna and Moses. Believing he is the food and eating of him proves he is the food by satisfying. (6:30-40)
• Peter says that they believed and so came to know that Jesus was the Holy One of God (6:69)
• If anyone wishes to obey God then he will know Jesus is from God (7:17)
• People believe Jesus because of the number of miracles he performs (7:31)
• Jesus says that there are two testimonies to who he is. The Father and himself. If you know Jesus you will know the Father (8:14-19)
• People will know who Jesus is when he is crucified (8:28)
• People believe in Jesus because of his teaching (8:30) but Jesus says that they will only "know the truth" if they "abide" in his word (8:31)
• The Jews ought to believe because he tells the truth (8:46), but actually they don't believe exactly because he tells them the truth (8:45)
• The healed blind man is astonished that the miracle of his healing is not sufficient proof for the Pharisees because God only hears his worshippers (9:30).
• People listen to Jesus because as his flock they know him as their good shepherd (10:4-27).
• The works of the Father that Jesus does bear witness to him (10:25), and people don't believe them because they are not part of his flock (10:26). He encourages them to believe on account of either his words or the miracles (10:38).
• People believe John the Baptist's testimony about Jesus, despite John the Baptist performing no miracles (10:41-42)
• If Martha believes Jesus promises her she will see the glory of God (11:40).
• Jesus prays aloud for the raising of Lazarus so that people will believe in him (11:42).
• Many people believe because of Lazarus (12:10-11)
• Some people don't believe despite seeing the miracles (12:37)
• People don't believe because God has blinded them (12:4)
• Belief in Jesus, is primarily belief in the Father (12:44)
• Jesus predicts Judas' betrayal so that when it happens the disciples will believe in him (13:19)
• People will know Jesus' disciples are his disciples by their love for one another (13:35)
• Jesus asks the disciples to believe him, or believe on account of the miracles (14:11)
• Jesus will make himself to his disciples and not the whole world by sending the Spirit for the Trinity to live in the person who loves Jesus and keeps his word (14:23)
• Jesus predicts his ascension and the sending of the Spirit so that when it happens the disciples will believe (14:29)
• Jesus obeys the Father (by dying?) so that the world will know that he loves the Father (14:31).
• The disciples claim to believe Jesus on the basis of his non-figurative teaching (16:29-30), despite Jesus saying the his teaching is figurative at that time (16:25), although it won't be when he sends the Spirit. Jesus doubts that they really believe already though (16:31).
• The disciples came to know that Jesus is of the Father because of his words (17:6-8)
• People will come to believe through the Apostles speech and by their unity (17:20-21).
• John claims that he has seen the events and knows they are true so his readers should believe on his testimony (19:35).
• Thomas doesn't believe on the testimony of the other disciples (20:25), but believes when he sees the risen Christ (20:28). However, Jesus implies that he should have believed on the disciples' testimony alone, and that others who believe without seeing are blessed (20:29).
• John explains that he recounts the miracles of Jesus so that his readers may believe (20:31).

Some reflections:

• Belief in the Father and the OT is inseparable from belief in Jesus.
• The testimony of John and the Samaritan woman is of secondary importance to the testimony of Jesus to himself and the testimony of the Father in miracles and the OT. But it is valid.
• Belief, obedience and humble searching after God are inseparable.
• Believing is only the beginning. In some cases knowledge of Jesus as the Holy One of God, and seeing the glory of God comes later. Also belief on the basis of testimony of other men, or of miracles, can grow into belief on the basis of Jesus' own words.
• It is implied that people can only fully know who Jesus is after his death and resurrection and the sending of the Spirit.
• Belief in Jesus is not an end in itself but should lead to belief in the Father.
• Belief is dependant on supernatural work of opening blind eyes, and only belongs to the elect.
• The disciples loving unity and spoken testimony is how people are expected to believe after Jesus has ascended.

Water and the Spirit in the Gospel of John

"for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel...I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'" (1:31-33)

"When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have no wine.' ... Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, 'Fill the jars with water.' And they filled them up to the brim. And he said to them, 'Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.' So they took it. When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, 'Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.'" (2:3-10)

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." (3:5)

"A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink.' ... The Samaritan woman said to him, 'How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?' (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, "Give me a drink," you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.' The woman said to him, 'Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.' Jesus said to her, 'Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.' The woman said to him, 'Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.'... God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." (4:7-24)

"Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, 'Do you want to be healed?' The sick man answered him, 'Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, 'Get up, take up your bed, and walk.' And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked." (5:2-8)

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him....It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life." (6:53-63)

"On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, "Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."' Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." (7:37-39)

"[Jesus] anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing." (9:6-7)

"He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, 'Lord, do you wash my feet?' Jesus answered him, 'What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.' Peter said to him, 'You shall never wash my feet.' Jesus answered him, 'If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.' Simon Peter said to him, 'Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!' Jesus said to him, 'The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.'"(13:4-11)

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth (14:15-17)

"After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), 'I thirst.' A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, 'It is finished,' and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit... one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water." (19:28-34)

"Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.' And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'" (20:21-22)

A few things to notice:

• The connection between water, wine, blood, thirsting and washing with Spirit and life.
• Jesus gave up his Spirit and his life in order to give us both. He became thirsty so that we may never have to thirst again. He gave up his Spirit so he could baptise us with it.

"There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins..." (Cowper)

Praying to the Son?

Listening to: The Unthanks on Myspace

Should you address prayers to the Son, or just the Father?

I'm not entirely sure, but think the best answer is summed up nicely by Tim Chester:

"The unity of the Trinity means we can address prayer to the Son and the Spirit - the Son and the Spirit are truly God and so can truly receive prayer. But the norm in the New Testament is to address prayer to the Father through the Son by, or with the aid of, the Holy Spirit." (p. 39, The Message of Prayer)

In relation to this discussion I found the following references in the Gospel of John, intriguing.

"Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." (14:13-14)

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser... Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me... If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you...I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you." (15:1-16)

"you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy... So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full." (16:20-24)

Most exciting was to see that the parable of the true vine is so much about prayer.

Stairways to heaven

Listening to: Bob Dylan: Blood on the Tracks

The people of Babel said to themselves "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens" but YHWH saw the ladder they had created and said "Come, let us go down [it?] and there confuse their language" (Gen 11).

At Bethel Jacob dreamed of "a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!" God stood at the top and blessed Jacob below (Gen 28).

Samson's father, Manoah, made a burnt offering to YHWH and "the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar" (Judg 13).

Centuries later Jesus promised his disciples "you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man"

Jesus, by his sacrificial offering of himself, is a ladder down which God's ministering spirits come to serve God's people (Heb 1:14). If we build alternative ladders angels will use those to come to us as well, but they may not be coming to serve.

Praying in Jesus' name

"In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God." (John 16:26-27)

We often talk about Christ's intercession and rightly rejoice in that. We also rejoice that we can come into God's presence covered by Christ's righteousness and cleansed by his blood.

But it's amazing to understand what this does not mean. It does not entirely mean, as a wonderful friend recently prayed, that we thank God that when we pray God does not see us but only sees his Son. Don Carson comments:

Jesus wants his followers to understand that the phrase in my name does not mean that they are thereby distanced from God. It does not mean that they are restricted to asking Jesus for things... Far from it: the Father himself loves you, and needs no prompting from the Son.

John Calvin comments:

This is a remarkable passage, by which we are taught that we have the heart of God as soon as we place before Him the name of His Son.

I think that's fairly wonderful.

We get the best of both worlds. We get to come to the Father ourselves and be heard by him because of his love for us AND Jesus himself, as he does a few verses later in John 17, prays for us. So that we are not alone, and don't need to fear that if we forget to confess one particular sin, or pray for our neighbour's salvation that God's good plan for his people will fail.

We must work the works

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' Jesus answered, 'It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. (John 9:1-4)

This man was not blind 'just' so Jesus could show his power in healing him. He was blind so that he may make the journey of faith that he makes in John 9 from believing Jesus is 'The man called Jesus' (v.11) to a 'prophet' (v.17) to 'from God' (v.33) to 'Lord' who he worships (v.38). The work is not the miracle of healing but the miracle of faith.

It is also not just something that Jesus did. That is why 'we must work the works of him who sent me'.

Jesus promises we will do 'greater works' than the works he does (14:12). Jesus says the works which the Father does he does in him he does by 'the words that I say to you'. Therefore the 'greater works' are the preaching of the Gospel. That is not only why one man was born blind but why suffering continues even today.

We rightly want to see suffering end, but God allows it to continue because he is 'patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance' (2 Peter 3:9). But night is coming...

Rebekah and the Samaritan Woman

There are some remarkable parallels between Rebekah in Genesis 24 and the Samaritan Woman in John 1:1-45.

The descendants of Nahor were part of Abraham's family but somewhat removed, geographically and by faith. Terah, Abram and Lot left Ur of the Chaldeans possibly leaving Nahor with idolatry (Josh 24:2), but certainly leaving him behind in their journey to the promised land. The Samaritans were also the awkward family members to the Jews in Jesus' day, related but with their own land, and their own faith.

They share several other literary connections:

• Both involve a man alone on a journey in a land of the estranged family.
• Both men meet a woman at her local well and ask her straight out for a drink (Gen 24:17; John 4:7).
• The reactions of each of the women differ markedly. One is defensive and suspicious, and one is gracious and open.
• Both men have offer something wonderful to the women.
• The reaction of both women is finally to run back to town and describe what has just happened.
• The town welcomes Jesus and ask him to stay with them for two nights. The city of Nahor also welcomes Abraham's servant and persuade him to stay with them for a night.

In addition both narratives are concerned with marriage, and a marriage into the covenant line, with the promised seed of Abraham.

The Samaritan woman is not just another individual but representative of Samaria, and all the nations. She has had many husbands and not accepted that salvation comes from the Jews (cf. Jer 3:8; Hos 4:15 etc). If you see that then the women's next response to Jesus ('Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship') becomes not just a random theological riposte to try and gain the offensive, but illustrative of exactly how she has had different husbands. Jesus points her beyond the covenant with the old Jerusalem, to himself as the new Jerusalem where the nations will flood too (e.g. Jer 3:17). She has had many husbands, but he is the bridegroom that will really satisfy, as John the Baptist has only just declared (John 3:29).

Do you think I'm drawing lines which are not there?

I really don't think I am, but realise I haven't explained it as fluently as it deserves. Hopefully you get the picture though.

Anointing of Jesus

"I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her." (Matthew 26:13)

I think I ought to do a list of episodes which appear in every single one of the four gospels. I don't think there can be many and arguably this one isn't one as the four accounts of Jesus being anointed do not all tally nicely and there seems to be more than one event described in the NT. But anyhow, I have always found this phrase in Matthew's account weird. But I think the sermon I heard at church on Sunday has hinted at a reason behind it.

Of course the anointing is to burial and that is explicit in 3 of the 4 accounts. However could it not also be an anointing of Jesus as King? It is like David and Saul but as different as he is different yet similar to them. It is an anointing to death, through which comes glory; an anointing by a lowly woman and not a mighty prophet or priest.

I don't know, I'm just musing.