Faith

Catching the bull by its tail; Jesus confronts the Jews- 5th Week of Lent – Wednesday – John 8:31- 42

So this is a classic case of catching the bull by its tail. The result is obvious; you get bull shit! Not a great way to begin a gospel reflection but it makes the silliness of the Jews quiet evident. Jesus is doing some straight talk; the Jews are on an emotional trip to nowhere.

It is for this reason, that by the time we arrive at the end of Chapter 8, it becomes obvious that the two have divergent paths of thinking. Jesus will finally utter the great words, “Before Abraham was, I AM” and with one swift move will declare to the Jews that HE IS GOD. The Jews will hear a blasphemer and pick stones to kill Him.

In yesterday’s pericope, Jesus reached a point of frustration when He said to the Jews, “why do I speak to you at all?” But hardly has He finished venting His frustrations at their lack of understanding, than He gives them one more shot and tries convincing them, all over again. It’s amazing how the Lord never gives up on us!

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Art/ Heritage

BEHIND THE ‘SEEN’: ‘Entry of Christ into Jerusalem’ by Anthony Van Dyck is our Art reflection for Palm Sunday.

Another painter reconciled to the pages of art history is Anthony Van Dyck. He was born in 1599 in Antwerp to a flourishing family of a silk merchant. A child prodigy, at the age of 16 he had already set up his own art studio. Next he was the master in the Guild of St. Luke at Antwerp. Hailed for his dexterity in portrait painting, he soon went places. In 1620, he visited London, next Genoa and Venice painting imposing portraits of the wealthy. He was also a court artist to Archduchess Isabella, Frederick Henry, Dutch Prince of Orange and Charles I, King of England.

Van Dyck portraits were also flattery at times. This is best expressed by Electoress Sophia of Hanover when she first met Queen Henrietta Maria of England. She wrote, ‘Van Dyck’s handsome portraits had given me so fine an idea of the beauty of all English ladies, that I was surprised to find that the Queen, who looked so fine in painting, was a small woman raised up on her chair, with long skinny arms and teeth like defence works projecting from her mouth.’

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Faith

Listening or Hearing? 5th Week of Lent- Tuesday- John 8: 21-30

The frustration is pouring out and this time it’s not the Jews. Yup! It’s Jesus. His exact words are, “why do I speak to you at all?” (I kid you not, those are His exact words). Maybe its not a statement of frustration as much as it is of judgement, and if so, what’s got Him all riled up?

Jesus is in the treasury of the temple and has declared Himself to be ‘the light of the world’ to the Jews who were quite evidently, spiritually blind. This blindness is manifested in their line of questioning, “where is your Father?” This will prompt Jesus to clearly indicate that He is the Son of the Heavenly Father and that ‘He is from above and they are from below.’

Did they get the point? Absolutely not! So they carry on with their mindless three and four word questions; ‘Who are you’?, ‘Where is your Father?’ ‘Is he going to kill himself?’ In response to these questions Jesus makes some extraordinarily explosive statements. In verse 23 He repeats those controversial ‘I am statements’, which end with judgement; if they don’t believe that He is ‘I am’ then they will die in their sin of disbelief. Jesus simply declared Himself to be God.

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Faith

Free to go but not to sin- 5th Week of Lent- Monday- John 8: 1-11

This seems like a set up from the word go.Jesus has returned to the temple after spending the night at the Mount of Olives and now settles down to teach. They bring to Him a woman who had been caught in adultery and parade her in front of everyone.

Common sense would wonder how come they ‘caught her in the act of adultery?’ Surely her sin could not have been committed in full view of every one. This is no act that one commits in a public place, which begs the question, ‘where is the man?’ There is no such thing as adultery where only one party is guilty. Yet only she is brought before Jesus, ‘caught’ as it were, in the act.

The Pharisees seem to have found company in their attack against Jesus. They are joined by the scribes. These men are mentioned 58 times in the gospel, usually in opposition to Jesus. The scribes were not a religious group, but simply secretaries who copied and kept records. At the time of Jesus, they were called to assist the Jewish religious readers by reading and explaining the Jewish scriptures.

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Faith

Dead Man Walking; the raising of Lazarus – 5th Sunday of Lent – Year 1- John 11: 1-45

Lazarus is dead! Jesus is late by four days but reading it I don’t seem worried. The problem with this narration lies in the fact that we know the end of the story. But imagine if you did not; imagine yourself to be Martha or Mary, disappointed that the Lord did not act in time. What’s the point of having Jesus as a friend, if He does not come to our aid when we need Him?

God’s delays are not denials. Take that in for a moment. He has a plan and a purpose. Let’s place this gospel in context. Chapter 11 is bang in the middle of John’s gospel. This is the last sign that He will perform; a foreshadowing of His own death and resurrection.

From Chapter 13, Jesus will begin His ‘farewell discourse’; a private discussion with His disciples. Until now, He has been teaching everyone in public. In John’s gospel, this sign is the turning point in the life of Jesus. The other three gospels (called synoptics), the cleansing of the temple was the reason for the Jews wanting to kill Him. But here in the gospel of John, the Jews want to kill Him because He raised Lazarus to life.

Jesus delays this trip; in a way it seems to be a bit cruel to the ones He loved dearly. After all He worked miracles for those who did not even ask for it, like the cripple. These were people He loved; so why did He delay? Was it because at the end of chapter ten we are told that the Jews wanted to stone Him? Not at all! In John 11:8, when He announces His intention to go to Bethany, His own disciples dissuade Him, for fear of the Jews.

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