EmmDev 2022-03-31 [Journey to the Cross] Sign #3: A lame man

Sign #3: A lame man

We know the story of the man by the Bethesda Pool.

What is fascinating is to look at how persistent Jesus is in trying to heal the whole person...

Let's look at the man first.

The first clue we have to his brokenness is in the question Jesus asks him: "Do you want to be well?" Under normal circumstances this question would seem like a no-brainer. My response would probably be: "(With respect) Duh! Of course I want to be well."

But the man's response is telling: "There's no-one to help me..."

He takes no responsibility for himself. He has become dependent in every sense of the word.

The next clue we have is that when Jesus heals him and he gets into trouble for carrying his mat on the Sabbath, he doesn't celebrate the miracle, he immediately blames Jesus but can't identify Him.

The final clue to His brokenness is that when Jesus follows up with him, he rushes straight to "the Jews" (John's code for the Pharisees - (or the "religious mafia" as I call them.)) It is clear that the man's dependency syndrome is still in place and he decides to throw his lot in with the Jews by becoming an "informer" and betraying the One who healed him. He has remained a cripple in his heart...

(It's interesting that John gives us a mirror image of this man in John 9 in the story of the man born blind who, when healed by Jesus, stands up for him.)

But it is Jesus' love and persistence that grabs me here.

• Out of all the people lying at the pool, Jesus chooses this man, who turns out to be ungrateful and traitorous.
• Jesus, in His initial question to the man, indicates that he knows the man's deepest brokenness. Being well would mean taking responsibility. The man may not be ready.
• Jesus heals him anyway - the man is to have the choice and Jesus doesn't make it for him.
• Jesus follows up with him. He affirms that the man is well - that he doesn't need to be a dependent. But the man decides he'd rather be in the Jews' good books and so he betrays Jesus to them.

When we share the gospel with people, they still have their own choices to make. Sometimes, even when people experience the miraculous, they can harden their hearts. This should not deter us. It didn't deter Jesus. He continued to reach out and to follow up.

So should we... 

When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,  and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.' " So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?" The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  (John5:1-15 )

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EmmDev 2022-03-30 [Journey to the Cross] Sign #2: The Official's Son

Sign #2: The Official's Son

There is so much that is interesting about this second miraculous sign that John records for us.

Jesus is back in Galilee, having been in Jerusalem and traveling through Samaria along the way. John is clear: The Galileans are gathered around Jesus because they are looking for more miracles. 

Then there's high drama: a royal official approaches Jesus with the plight of a son who is severely sick. For a moment we expect a repeat of Jairus' daughter - a desperate rush to the house and the possibility that Jesus may not get there in time. 

The crowd press in - anticipating high drama. They're the rubber-neckers and the ghouls who feed on drama and tragedy. It's clear that they are frustrating Jesus at this point and He rebukes them: "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe!"

The father of the sick boy is persistent: "Come before my child dies!"

At this point Jesus does something unexpected - He heals at a distance...
"You may go. Your son will live."

What a let-down for the paparazzi! No drama, no fireworks, a total and utter anti-climax!

But there was something about the way Jesus said it, because the father "took Jesus at His word and departed." What love and peace did the father see in Jesus' eyes? What authority and power did he sense in Jesus' voice? What comfort and reassurance did he encounter from Jesus' presence? I'm sure that moment was burned into his heart and soul for the rest of his life!

John records the detail that the paparazzi didn't see... on the way home the father gets the message that his son has been healed and that the time coincided with Jesus' pronouncement of healing.

I can only imagine that the father continued to follow Jesus. I imagine him catching up with John at some point and telling him the story: "Remember when my son was sick and Jesus said he would be healed? Well, let me tell you what happened."

What stories might we tell of how God healed us in unexpected and undramatic ways?

When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there. Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe." The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies." Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live." The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour." Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed. This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee. (John4:45-54)

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EmmDev 2022-03-29 [Journey to the Cross] Sign#1: Water into Wine

Sign#1: Water into Wine

When John wrote his gospel, he was selective about the material he included and acknowledged that there were many things that Jesus said and did that he could not include in his portrayal of Jesus' life and ministry.

There are seven miracles of provision and healing in John's Gospel. They reveal His nature and purpose. For the next couple of days we'll be looking at them...

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This weekend I was best man at a wedding. Along with the sense of "love is in the air" you could also sense something else... As individuals the couple were much loved and friends and family had watched the romance develop. The sense that pervaded ceremony and reception was one of great delight.

I think it is significant that Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding. (They probably contributed to the wine running out!) It is also significant that Jesus attended the wedding feast. He had an important ministry to fulfill and we would not have criticised Him if He'd sent an apology... But in His mission to be God-with-us, Jesus attended the wedding - I believe it affirmed the couple, their friends and family as well as the institution of marriage, but also I believe that there was a similar sense of delight in Jesus' heart...

I think He looked at the couple and felt joy and delight for them, but I believe He was also thinking about another wedding, the wedding of the Church to the Lamb. The earthly wedding pointed to a cosmic one and I'm sure Jesus watched and participated in the festivities with a deep and profound delight.

However, when the wine ran out and Mary points out the couple's predicament, Jesus is strangely hesitant: He was reminded that the cost for wine at the cosmic wedding feast would be the blood of the Groom - the blood of the Lamb.

But then He turns His focus to the current wedding and He turns the jars of water for ceremonial washing into high quality wine. The water represents our shortcomings - we are unworthy and unclean - in need of washing. It gets turned into wine - a symbol of blessing, abundance and life. (Just think of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof singing "Le Chaim" ("To Life") with a glass of red wine in his hand.)

Jesus' first miracle speaks to our most important human relationship (that of marriage) and promises God's help to turn the water of human effort into the wine of God's abundant blessing. But I believe it does more: It is the bittersweet reminder that the Groom delights at the prospect of marrying us as His bride, but that this marriage will cost Him...

On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine." "Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. "My time has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet." They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now." This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him. (John2:1-11)

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EmmDev 2022-03-23 [Journey to the Cross] The Messiah's Invitation

The Messiah's Invitation

Nicodemus came to Jesus at night... Was he just curious?

Or was he hungry and thirsty for righteousness - desperate for something that the Pharisees and the Jewish Council couldn't give him?

Jesus cuts straight to the point:

Entering God's Kingdom isn't an inherited right or something that happens by loose association. It's not something that comes to us by default if we live good lives.

Entering God's Kingdom happens by new birth and Jesus goes on to explain it with three images:

• It's a Second Birth - a new beginning. It is followed by growth and leads toward maturity where we "have children" by leading others to God.
  
  
• It's a Spiritual Birth. Blaise Pascal talked about the "God-shaped hole" inside all of us. Being born-again is to invite God's Spirit to fill that hole.
  
  
• It's a Mysterious Birth. You can't see the wind, hold the wind or tell the wind where to blow. Being born again means that we are no longer our own - we belong to Him. We go where the wind blows.

Jesus was announcing the coming of a Kingdom.

Entry into His coming KINGDOM (where His will is done) is initiated by an event or a process (that in my case took a few months) where I had to recognise that:

- This life is not enough and I can't find fulfilment in myself.

- There is a God-shaped hole in me and I need Him

- Being born-again means I throw myself into an amazing voyage where I'm not in charge but His Wind takes me into the life He has prepared for me.

Nicodemus came at night: frightened of what others thought. We meet him again in John 7 - half-heartedly trying to stand up for Jesus. He appears a last time in John 19 carrying an armload of spices to bury Jesus. My picture is of Nicodemus in the "spiritual womb" he's hungry and thirsty and instinctively knows that Jesus holds the answers, but he just won't let go, he doesn't let the birth happen and that's just a great pity.

Do you know someone like that? 

In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. " "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." (John3:3-8)

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EmmDev 2022-03-22 [Journey to the Cross] Jesus the Teacher

Jesus the Teacher

Matthew records a significant portion of Jesus' teaching in Matthew 5-7. In these incredible chapters we encounter Jesus as the teacher who truly shows us firstly, what God is like and secondly, how we should live.

In His teaching Jesus overturned incorrect assumptions, deepened vital truths and opened new doors in our understanding of Faith and Life.

His final parable is a sober warning: Build your life on solid truth.

It's easy to get into a rut.

It's easy to just go with the flow and build how and where everyone else is.

It's easy to think that we know better or that we'll fix it later.

But building our lives well takes work.

Finding solid rock to build on isn't always convenient.

Solid rock takes work when we're making foundations.

Solid rock can seem like overkill.

Jesus is clear - the rains will come. The floods will rise.

We need to build well.

Sometimes when we're building a marriage or a family, it is easy to say, "we'll do the rock stuff later..." The problem is... once the house is up, it's hard to move it onto rock or to pour concrete where there was sand. To build a house upon the rock, we have to do it from the very start.Walking in the truths that Jesus taught is is the most important thing we can do in our lives and we should start early.

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.  But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. (Matthew7:24-29)

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EmmDev 2022-03-18 [Journey to the Cross] Called

Called

The background to this passage is that Jesus had been teaching and the crowds were crowding him. And so He uses Peter's boat as a floating pulpit. When he had finished, He told Peter to throw the nets on the other side of the boat. Peter was skeptical - he was a fisherman, Jesus was a carpenter. But he obeyed and caught the biggest catch of his life!!

His response is a one I can identify with: The moment he recognises God's glory at work in Jesus, Peter is convicted of his own brokenness. This is not an uncommon reaction - the closer we get to the Light, the more clear our own failures and the stains of our sin become. As the bright light of Christ's holiness shines on him, Peter realises his own desperate shortcomings.

In his heart of hearts Peter knows that he has fallen short and that he will continue to fall short. He knows his own failures only too well! He is painfully aware of his tendency to doubt, to shoot his mouth off, and to lose his composure. He knows his own brokenness and in the pages of the gospels we see him fail in all three of the above areas.

Jesus does not dwell on our failures. Knowing all that Peter would do, knowing that Peter would fail, our Lord still attributes worth and value to Peter. He still has a plan for Peter and purpose for Him. He entrusts Peter with a job - to be a fisher of men. In spite of us, even though we will fail, and even in the light of our track-records, Jesus wants to use us and hopes for the best from us.

POSTSCRIPT: Three years later Peter and Jesus are once again standing on the beach. Peter has indeed failed - he doubted Jesus and tried to keep Him from the cross. He lost his composure and cut of the ear of the high priest's servant. He made promises he couldn't keep and denied Jesus three times. But Jesus is still not going away. He has not given up on Peter. Three times - once for each denial - Peter gets to declare his love for Jesus and three times over Jesus says `Feed my flock` Our worth comes from our Lord's attribution of purpose and value, and not from our failures!     

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners.     Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. (Luke5:4-11)

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EmmDev 2022-03-17 [Journey to the Cross] Forty

Forty

Forty is a lovely number in the Bible - it symbolises a time of preparation and letting God break through to/for us. Just some examples:

- Moses was on the mountain with God for 40 days

-It took the spies 40 days to search out the promised land

-The Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness

-Goliath taunted Israel for forty days before being killed by David

-Elijah walked for forty days to Mount Horeb

-Jesus fasted for 40 days in the wilderness at the start of His ministry

Waiting is hard!

- We feel powerless and out of control

- We end up having to confront the worst in ourselves

- We often discover that our faith is shallower than we thought

Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness. Waiting.

After the waiting came temptation - but I think the waiting can be tempting too. You can watch a lovely video and song about Jesus' fast and temptation at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWKRhk-yYI0

As we prepare for Easter, there is waiting.

This waiting brings to mind the times we have waited outside an operating theater, waited for test-results, waited for a response to a job-application, waited for a lost child to come home, waited for forgiveness after an apology.

Waiting is hard - but Matthew reminds us that Jesus waited too and was tempted face to face by Satan. He knows what we are going through. He waits with us. 

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." (Matthew4:1-3)

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EmmDev 2022-03-16 [Journey to the Cross] Light

Light

Jesus is the Light of the World.

In his Prologue John is systematically revealing Christ. He uses two concepts: Light and Logos (Word/Reason). He starts at Transcendence:  God before time - God who creates. Then he moves to Expectation: God is coming into the World! Finally he unpacks Immanence: God is near - He has entered our World.

John refers to Jesus as the light in three ways:

1. Light at Creation: In the first part of the prologue, where he talks about the Glory of Christ before the creation of the world, John says: "Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of humankind.  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it."
   
   We often "fast-forward" to the Incarnation when we interpret these words. but we need to recognise that just as God said "Let there be Light" at the creation of the world, He also, by creating us in His image, was pouring His life and light into us. It's as though Christ put a lamp in each of our souls and lit it.
   
   Adam and Eve did not understand their importance as light-bearers and, misled by Satan, tried to be like God and, in so doing, snuffed out the lamp in their souls. But the darkness could not overcome the light and we continued to long for the light.
   
   
2. Light at Incarnation: John announced that the "Light was coming into the world..." By His Immanence (coming near) Jesus was the light that reignited the lamps of our souls. By His Birth, Death, Resurrection and Ascension Jesus is the One who is able to save and redeem us. He is the light that shines in our darkness.
   
   
3. Light that gives light: "The True light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world." Not only was Jesus the One who made us light-bearers at Creation, and not only did He re-light our lamps through His death and resurrection, but His life guides and leads us. He showed us how to live and love. He showed us how to shine.

Jesus is the light of the world! 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of humankind. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. (John1:1-9)

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EmmDev 2022-03-15 [Journey to the Cross] Baby, Boy, Messiah

Baby... Boy... Messiah

In our Lenten Journey to the Cross, we've been looking at the Old Testament hopes of a coming Messiah. From this week onward, we will be walking the streets of Bethlehem, Nazareth and Jerusalem and the beaches and hillsides of Galilee with Jesus, a carpenter from Nazareth. He is the long-awaited Messiah, the Son of God and the Son of Man.

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As she rushed towards Jerusalem with her husband Joseph, Mary berated herself: "I shouldn't have taken things for granted - I should have checked! Just because He's God's Son planted in my womb doesn't mean that he isn't also a fragile 12 year old who could get hurt, kidnapped or killed."

And this is the profound mystery of the incarnation isn't it?

God-with-us but wearing the fragile skin of a baby, the pre-adolescent acne-prone skin twelve-year old boy, and the leathery work-worn skin of and adult carpenter. 

God comes to live with us. 
It's as confusing for us as it must have been for Mary. 
On the on hand: Deity. 
On the other hand: Frailty.

And in-between these two extremes Deity and Frailty we find wisdom, mercy and grace:

• His words and parables pointed to an eternal kingdom. 
• His healings and exorcisms spoke of mercy. 
• His reproofs were loving and kind: "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?"
• His rebukes were fiery and uncompromising "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!"
• His life of obedience earned Him the cross and salvation for us.

Like Mary, we should treasure the moments of His incredible life in our hearts.

After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they travelled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.  After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.  Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.  When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you." "Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men. (Luke2:43-52)

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EmmDev 2022-03-09 [Journey to the Cross] Suffering

Suffering

When we share our faith with others, one of the most frequent objections that emerges is "Why would a loving God allow suffering?"

It's a tough question.

Theologians have even placed these kind of questions into a category we call "Theodicy" (Questions about the justice of God in the face of evil, suffering, pain and injustice.)

Isaiah 53 offers an incredible answer to these questions:

God enters our suffering and defeats suffering by suffering.

Sound incredible? Hard to imagine?

It may seem that Isaiah thinks so too when he asks "Who has believed our message" but his parallel line asks "and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?" And then he goes on to describe the Messiah growing up like a tender shoot and then suffering. To paraphrase him, Isaiah is saying: "It may seem hard to believe, but actually it's plain for all to see - just look at that the tender shoot that grew up and then suffered. Look at the cradle and the cross.

Christianity doesn't offer a cheap answer for the question of theodicy. The answer it provides is incredibly expensive:

What did God do about suffering?

- He entered it - became a tender shoot

- He experienced it like one of us (no special treatment, no beauty or majesty.)

- He suffered: He was despised, rejected and he sorrowed making suffering a companion.

- He took up your and my suffering - and we did not recognise it

- And by His wounds He heals us.

Stop and consider this great truth: "God enters our suffering and defeats suffering by suffering." And then bow your head in humble adoration and pray "Lord, I can barely grasp what this cost You - Thank You for this most expensive answer to our pain."

Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.  (Isaiah53:1-5)

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