Faith

Temple Tantrums- Saturday, 4th Week of Lent-John 7:40-53

So here is the Pharisaic logic; if the Pharisees or the authorities do not believe in Jesus then the believing crowds who do, are accursed. This sounds more like sour grapes or perhaps bitter ones. So intense is the bitterness, that anyone who remotely defended Jesus incurred the wrath of the Pharisees.

It was now confrontation time and no longer were the Pharisees willing to sit around like ‘sheep with a secret sorrow’, they had turned into ‘bulls in a china shop’ tearing down any one who remotely supported Jesus. Nothing would stop their anger and if there was no stone in sight to stone Him they might have even torn down the temple themselves, to gather stones.

So am I exaggerating? Absolutely not! In the gospel of John, the plot to kill Jesus thickens. Today’s gospel highlights one of those many incidents. We are in the temple, that will give you location and it is the seventh day, the last day of the festival of tabernacles; that would give you occasion. The temple was obviously full and Jesus picks the moment.   

‘The last day of the feast of Tabernacles was the day when the priests took water from the spring of Siloam and circled the altar seven times. The crowd carried branches of myrtle and willow twigs tied with palm in the right hand and a citron or lemon in the left as signs of harvest’. (JBC)

When Jesus announced that he was the living water and the believer should drink from Him, it caused a stir. We are told that many began to see Him as a ‘prophet’ or ‘Messiah’ though some doubted his origins and hence disqualified Him from being the anointed Davidic Messiah. It is amazing that even the temple guards do not arrest him. ‘For no one has spoken like this.”

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Spare the rod, spoil the child? Friday, 4th Week of Lent-John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

So here is a twenty first century observation that has not changed since Jesus first uttered these words. “”You know me and also know where I am from. But the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true.” In short Jesus is telling us that we know ABOUT HIM (hopefully) but OF HIM OR THE FATHER WE KNOW NOTHING.

Jesus never minced words and perhaps because we live in a ‘positively affirmed’ society we don’t like ‘negative stokes’. Should we spiritually spare the rod and spoil the child? Not so for the Lord! When the Jews needed to be confronted, He did not hold back. So, have we exalted the notion of the ‘sweet heart of Jesus’ and smothered the reality of Jesus in the temple, whip in hand; and for that matter done the same with today’s text?

Let me place today’s text in context. The first thing you will notice is that verses 3-9 and 11- 24 are not included. So let me fill you in. Jesus has left Jerusalem for Galilee as the Jews sought to kill Him. From the text, it seems clear, that they were seeking ‘any’ opportunity to kill Him. We are told that the eight day long Jewish festival of Tabernacles was near. It is here that our saga of ‘knowing’ and ‘unknowing’ begins.

It is clear that ‘His brothers’ know ‘about Him’ but don’t ‘know him’. The brothers of Jesus want Him to go to Jerusalem so that His ‘works may be seen’. Clearly they wanted to bask in His glory and popularity, something akin to the secular world’s demands. Scripture tells us that sadly even His brothers did not believe Him (verse 5).

When Jesus does join the festivities in Jerusalem, He does so privately, for He seeks not His glory. We are told He arrives somewhere in the middle of the festival and bang smack in a divided opinion of Him. Some were ‘complaining about Him’, some said He was ‘a good man’, some more called Him ‘a deceiver’; a word which translates as ‘satan’.

To discredit Him, (and this brings us to the main portion of today’s text) the Jews seek to ‘expose’ His lineage. They want to reveal what they ‘know about him’! “They know the physical location of His hometown and they know ‘about Him’ yet they don’t know Him or the Father” and He states this plainly.

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Jesus in the dock- Thursday, 4th Week of Lent –John 5:18, 31-47

Yesterday, Jesus began His keynote speech; today He will end it by presenting us with His testimony and credentials. Surely, after declaring that He was equal to God, the Jews would have demanded that Jesus present some evidence as proof of His claims.

In the face of such criticism, Jesus presents His testimony. In order to clearly understand the text, one must be at least faintly familiar with the Jewish legal system. Schnackenburg tells us that, “the Jewish legal procedure was not based on the interrogation of the accused but on the examination of witnesses”.  Deuteronomy 19:15 also stipulated that no one could testify on his own behalf; a charge that the Jews bring against Jesus again, in chapter 8:13. At the same time, no accused could be convicted on the witness of one person.

In his book, ‘Jesus on trial’, A. E. Harvey makes an interesting observation. In situations where there was only one witness, “the court would simply have to make up its mind whether to take the accused’s word or not”. For such a ‘self-testimony’ they might require an oath on the ground that God would then punish the person if he lied on oath (cf. Gen 31:50). Because Jesus appeals to His Father’s testimony, He is in essence, providing such an oath. 

Jesus fulfils both requirements; He provides ‘three testimonies’ and makes a statement of oath, with the Father as His witness.  Jesus begins by testifying about Himself. It is not that His testimony is not true (verse 31), but that the Jews do not consider it to be true. So He goes on to his second witness, namely John the Baptist.

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‘The Apprentice’ who never gets fired – Wednesday, 4th Week of Lent- John 5: 16- 30

You are listening to Christology from the very lips of Jesus not some theologian. Jesus is discussing his equality with the Father and he does this in a number of places in the gospels.  It is this teaching combined with his healing of the cripple on the Sabbath that triggers off the plot to kill Jesus (verse 18)

In this pericope, we see two sections describing the activity of the Son; namely that he ‘gives life’ and he ‘judges’. It is through Jesus that one goes to the Father, He is the ‘true agent of the Father’ (JBC) but he is also an excellent ‘apprentice’. All through the gospel of John in 7:18, 8: 28 and 14: 10 he will tell us that He never acts on his own authority but only on what he hears from the Father.

It is the mission of Jesus, mandated by the Father, to ‘give life’ to those who believe. But there will also be those who refuse to believe, like the Jewish authorities, and they will find themselves under judgment.  So while Jesus, in humility, presents himself as the ‘apprentice’ He undoubtedly is equal in purpose, performance, power and praise with the Father.

He is equal in purpose when he tells us that “His Father is still working and so is He”. He is equal in performance when He says, “The Father loves the Son and shows him all that He is doing”. He is equal in power when He says, “Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever He wishes.” He is equal in praise when he says,” So that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father.”

And yet He is the humble apprentice before His Father for he can do “nothing on his own except what He sees the Father doing.” (Verse 20) So what’s our take away from all of this? Christ is calling us to imitate Him.  We are called to imitate Him like a humble apprentice.

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Crippling faith- Tuesday, 4th Week of Lent- John 5: 1-16

Announce a ‘healing service’ in your Church and you will have to provide for many more chairs. Lead your congregation in prayer before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and you may have to take away a couple of benches. Ironic but true! The gospels don’t mince words, “its a wicked generation that wants a sign.” The gospel of John teaches us that Jesus’ words are the real source of faith and not the signs (John 4:50).

Let’s look at some of the issues that this Gospel raises. Why did Jesus choose this cripple? Why not the rest? We are told that ‘many invalids’ lay there (5:3) and there were great ‘crowds’ (5:13). What about the intention of the cripple? He does not seem to even want to be healed! To Jesus’ question, “do you want to be made well”, he launches into his problems (sounds like us) rather than a direct yes that should have been on the lips of one suffering for “thirty eight years”.

Clearly this cripple was ungrateful, if not a coward. He does not know who Jesus is, but does not care to ask.  When confronted by the Jewish authorities, he blames Jesus; thus deflecting and absolving himself from breaking the law, by carrying his mat. On being found by Jesus who cautions him not to sin again, he rushes to the Jews to tattle that it was Jesus who healed him, thus revealing his identity and consequent ‘persecution of Jesus by the Jews.’

So why choose an ungrateful, un-cooperative, scheming cripple when there was so many that Jesus could heal. The miracle narrative is part of a greater text (5: 1-47), and serves merely as an ‘occasion for a discourse on Jesus’ relationship to the Father and His power to give life.’ In simple words, the ‘sign’ or miracle as we would call it, is merely a tool to discuss a larger issue, namely the divinity and nature of Christ’s words and actions. In this case, the Lord is calling us to believe in HIS WORDS AND NOT LIVE FOR MIRACULOUS ACTIONS!

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