W H A T D O Y O U S E E K ?

Seeing -and Perceiving- the Lord

John 20:1-18

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Peter then came out with the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; and stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, and the napkin, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rab-boni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Easter is a time for many different experiences and memories to come to mind. Many of us find ourselves remembering family times of great joy from the past, of an Easter Sunday when you came to church in bright pastels and new shoes, perhaps the only new shoes you’d get that year; and you remember seeing the first open blossoms on the dogwood trees. These are the kinds of things that are firmly fixed in our minds as being associated with Easter.

The fact is these things often clutter our minds and memories to the point where it is difficult for us to remember what this day is really all about. I think there is a reason for this.

Memories are one thing. Experiences can be quite another.

What I mean is this. Easter is not meant to be a memory. We are not supposed to remember last Easter, or ten Easters ago or even the first Easter. Easter is an experience that is offered to us in the present, and has meaning for us today, here and now, if we will be open to what the Lord shows us in this joyful time.

Consider then the message that is offered in the gospel of John. It is the first day of the week, and Mary Magdalene has gone to the tomb of Jesus early in the morning, to grieve and mourn this one man who had not used her. She loved Jesus, and Jesus loved her. Upon arriving, however, even though it was still dark, her eyes saw an awful sight; the cover of the tomb had been removed.

Mary’s reaction was one of horror and distress, for she assumed that someone, some ghoul perhaps had taken his body away to do even more vile things to his corpse than they had done while he was alive. Jesus had been scourged with 39 lashes, a crown of thorns had torn his scalp, and he had been hung on the cross. After his death he had been pierced in his side with a Roman spear, leading to a gruesome issue of blood from this wound. In horror, Mary ran to tell Peter and John what had happened. They in turn came to see for themselves.

They came to see . . . Three different words for “seeing” are used in this passage. Unfortunately, they are all rendered the same way in English; yet they have different shades of meaning which ought to be distinguished. Verse 5 says that John, looking in, “saw” the linen cloths lying there in the tomb. The word here (blepo) indicates ordinary physical sight. The next verse, where Peter “saw the linen wrappings lying there, [and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself]” (theoreo) means to observe or take note of. In verse 8, still yet another word is employed, when it is said of John, “He saw and believed.” Here the verb is eidon, denoting inward perception.

John not only saw. He understood. He grasped the significance of the evidence before his eyes. The graveclothes indicated to him that Jesus was alive. The Lord’s natural body of flesh and blood, which had been laid in the tomb on Friday, had been changed by God’s transforming power into a spiritual body; as such, it had passed through the graveclothes without disturbing them.

This is what John perceived, and accordingly he believed. It has been said by one commentator that the design of this chapter is to illustrate the passage from sight to faith. In the case of John, sight passed quickly to faith. For Peter and the others, it happened later. For Mary, it happened very soon, and apart from what she had seen with her eyes. That is a rather remarkable story too, and is the second part of this message from John’s gospel.

What Mary saw with her eyes did not move her to faith; she thinks the body has been removed to another place. The appearance of the two angels neither allays her grief nor moves her to believe in the resurrection. In fact, when Jesus does appear she does not recognize him. Only when he speaks her name does she believe. This fulfills what John had earlier said about Jesus the Good Shepherd: “I know my own, and my own know me.” (10:14) Jesus calls us by name, and we recognize his voice.

You see, Mary is different from John the Beloved Disciple. Unlike John, Mary comes to faith not by the evidence of empty tombs and abandoned grave cloths, not by the revelation from angels, and not even by the sight of the risen Christ. Mary came to faith by his word, a word that prompted the memory of a relationship which had already been formed and which, by the resurrection, was vindicated and sealed as an abiding one without end. My beloved friends, this is how we too come to faith! Not by empty tombs, but by the word of God in scripture and as it is proclaimed. Easter alone is a marvel; Easter for those who have followed all the way, even to Golgotha, is a confirmation of trust, a promise kept. This tells us, Yes, there is a new future awaiting you, in Christ.

Why shouldn’t we believe, even though we have not seen literally? For we do have the opportunity to see with faith. Faith, after all, is what really matters. Years ago there was a film made called “The World in Darkness” which told the story of an archaeologist who was excavating in Jerusalem, near the Mount Calvary area. One day he announced that he had discovered the tomb where Jesus had been laid- it was not empty. In it, he said, was a mummified corpse, which he put on exhibition.

People crowded to see the corpse, and the news that Christ had not risen from the dead quickly spread around the world. Whereupon, everything that bore the name of Christ or a trace of his memory, was doomed to extinction. Churches and cathedrals were demolished. Monasteries were emptied of their monks. Missionaries were withdrawn from their territories. New Testaments and crosses were burned. The world was plunged into a state of incredible gloom and depression. The world was in deep shock. Christianity could not endure apart from the mystery of the Resurrection.

Finally, in the midst of this spiritual darkness, the archeologist confessed on his deathbed that he had told a lie; the tomb had been empty!

Its only a speculation, this movie; we should know that our faith alone is all that matters, that spiritual insight which John had when he looked in and really saw what had occurred; that faith that Mary displayed when Jesus called her name.

Jesus is alive. He calls out to us; he calls us by name. The speaking of a person’s name can be such an intimate thing; it can convey almost any emotion. When a mother speaks her newborn child’s name over and over again, it is full of wonder and joy and love. When that same mother speaks the child’s full name, the parental emotion of weary frustration comes through unmistakably. We can speak a name and convey sympathy. When someone is lost and we shout their name, anyone can hear the anxiety and fear in our voice. A name is spoken at a funeral and it is covered with grief. Two people in love say each other’s name and it is as if those names had never been spoken before.

Jesus only said the name “Mary,” but the way he said it was enough to stop her tears, and her fears, and renew her faith. He said only “Mary,” and this is what she heard: “I am alive, and I love you.”

That’s what Jesus says to you today. And every day.

Every Sunday when we come to church we seek to relive that day, the first day of the week. It is why we worship on Sunday. But we don’t always experience the reality of Easter. We have to realize that Easter is the offer of God’s power for life in the here and now. It is something we can possess and have. It is not something old, to be recalled, but something ever new, meant to be a part of our present daily living. For Jesus came to offer us life, and for us to have life more abundantly.

Easter does not return us to the past. Easter opens up for us a new future. It is the future that we must open ourselves to, it is for this future that Christ empowers the church with new life for the present. New life, new power, new spirit, and a new heart. We are not meant to be a people who remember Easter, but a people who experience and live Easter every day.

Journey’s End?

The Sunday of the Passion/Palm Sunday

Matthew 26:14-27:66

Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.

Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where will you have us prepare for you to eat the passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain one, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at your house with my disciples.’” And the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the passover.

When it was evening, he sat at table with the twelve disciples; and as they were eating, he said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” And they were very sorrowful, and began to say to him one after another, “Is it I, Lord?” He answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the dish with me, will betray me. The Son of man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.” Judas, who betrayed him, said, “Is it I, Master?” He said to him, “You have said so.”

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night; for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter declared to him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” Jesus said to him, “Truly, I say to you, this very night, before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And so said all the disciples.

Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go yonder and pray.” And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.” And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, thy will be done.” And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I shall kiss is the man; seize him.” And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Hail, Master!” And he kissed him. Jesus said to him, “Friend, why are you here?” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him. And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest, and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. But all this has taken place, that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples forsook him and fled.

Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. But Peter followed him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with the guards to see the end. Now the chief priests and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward and said, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.’” And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But Jesus was silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his robes, and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. Why do we still need witnesses? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” Then they spat in his face, and struck him; and some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?”

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a maid came up to him, and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” And when he went out to the porch, another maid saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” And again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.” After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you are also one of them, for your accent betrays you.” Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the cock crowed. And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death; and they bound him and led him away and delivered him to Pilate the governor.

When Judas, his betrayer, saw that he was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying, “I have sinned in betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” And throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed; and he went and hanged himself. But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since they are blood money.” So they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”

Now Jesus stood before the governor; and the governor asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus said, “You have said so.” But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he made no answer. Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge; so that the governor wondered greatly.

Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. And they had then a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you, Barabbas or Jesus who is called Christ?” For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much over him today in a dream.” Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the people to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified.” And he said, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified.”

So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the praetorium, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe upon him, and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on his head, and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spat upon him, and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe, and put his own clothes on him, and led him away to crucify him.

As they went out, they came upon a man of Cyrene, Simon by name; this man they compelled to carry his cross. And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull), they offered him wine to drink, mingled with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his garments among them by casting lots; then they sat down and kept watch over him there. And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus the King of the Jews.” Then two robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and one on the left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him; for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabach-thani?” that is, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “This man is calling Elijah.” And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” And Jesus cried again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and the rocks were split; the tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe, and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

There were also many women there, looking on from afar, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him; among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body, and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock; and he rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb, and departed. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the sepulchre.

Next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ Therefore order the sepulchre to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.” So they went and made the sepulchre secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.[1]

[1]The Revised Standard Version, (New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.) 1973, 1977.

“For God’s Glory!”

The Fifth Sunday in Lent, Year A

John 11:1-45

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness is not unto death; it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by means of it.”

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go into Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were but now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any one walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if any one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” Thus he spoke, and then he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awake him out of sleep.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead; and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary sat in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. And even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world.”

When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying quietly, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Then Mary, when she came where Jesus was and saw him, fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled; and he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb; it was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. I knew that thou hearest me always, but I have said this on account of the people standing by, that they may believe that thou didst send me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” [1]

We are nearing the end of our Lenten Journey with Jesus, as he has set his course towards Jerusalem and his appointment with his destiny on the cross of Calvary. We are in danger of running ahead of him – we anticipate the end, when what is truly important during these 40 days is the journey.

Take for instance, this climactic story which recounts the last of Jesus’ signs and wonders. Here Jesus shows us his true identity, it is a story so familiar that we tend to rush to the end of it – the raising of a dead man, Lazarus. We really need to hear the story in its fullness in order to appreciate it. It is so easy to overlook the beginning of this story, which might yield a clue as to what John intended for us to hear, and God’s purpose in Jesus’ very curious behavior.

What is intriguing about the beginning of this story is the fact that Jesus is intentionally tardy, that he plans his schedule so as to arrive on the scene late. Tardy is a bad word to our ears . . . Jesus receives word that Lazarus is ill in the village of Bethany, but John makes it clear that Jesus was in no hurry to respond. In fact, John draws attention to Jesus’ delay. John says that even though Jesus loved Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha, nevertheless Jesus waited two days after he heard the news to go to Bethany (John 11:5-6). By that time, of course, it is too late. Lazarus is dead.

Both Mary and Martha pour salt into the wound by pointing out to Jesus that his tardiness has cost a life. “Lord, if you had been here,” they both say, “my brother would not have died” (John 11:21, 32). Indeed, Jesus was not there, intended not to be there, and Lazarus did die. John waves a flag over this fact so that we will not miss it.

Our temptation is to judge Jesus harshly here. What kind of person would dally around while a friend lies dying? What could possibly have kept Jesus where he was while Lazarus, whom he loved, sweated out his last few breaths on his deathbed? What Jesus did seems to be a violation of basic human compassion – not to mention a scorning of the elementary instincts of pastoral care. Why, in heaven’s name, we ask, was Jesus late?

And that, it turns out, is precisely the question that John wants us to ask. Why in heaven’s name was Jesus late? John knows that if we keep asking that question, we will discover something profound about Jesus and about God’s ways in the world. But what? What good can we possibly find in Jesus’ tardiness?

Part of what we will find is that Jesus sometimes saves us by being absent rather than present, at least not present in the ways we demand or expect. Later in the Gospel of John, Jesus tells his disciples that he will soon depart from them. “You will look for me,” he says, “[but] where I am going, you cannot come” (John 13:33). This announcement that Jesus plans to separate himself from the disciples causes fear, perhaps even panic, to set in. The disciples cannot imagine being apart from Jesus. They plead that they will be lost without him (John 14:5), beg to be allowed to follow him (John 13:37), but Jesus refuses. He clearly intends to be their Lord by being absent from them.

What this means is that Jesus will be obedient to God’s will and not theirs. Jesus will accomplish the saving work of God and not their small and local understanding of who he should be. They want him to be the leader of their little band, but Jesus is the light of the whole world. They want him to teach them, guide them, heal them, protect them, save them; Jesus teaches, guides, heals, protects, and saves all humanity. They want him to respond to their immediate concerns, but his mission is not captive to their sense of what is urgent. He is their Lord because he is Lord of all.

On Sunday morning, July 17, 1966, arguably the most newsworthy worship service in the world that day was held in St. Peter’s Cathedral in Geneva. A great congregation had gathered, including Christian leaders from all over the globe. Reporters from around the world were present to cover this event. The service had been planned as a part of the World Council of Churches’ Conference on Church and Society, and there was an exceptional air of expectation that day since the sermon for the morning was to be delivered by the world famous civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

But Dr. King did not show up for the service. The hymns were sung, the prayers were prayed, and the ecumenical affirmations were spoken, but the pulpit was empty that day. Dr. King was absent. He had canceled his trip to Geneva because racial rioting had erupted in the city of Chicago, and his presence was needed there as a mediator. He sent a video tape of an excellent sermon to Geneva, and it was pointed out that “even more powerful than his sermon that day was the simple fact of the preacher’s absence.”

“Even more powerful . . . was the preacher’s absence.” In other words, Dr. King chose to be absent in a place where he was expected to be present because of his larger sense of mission. If he had been a politician looking for a photo opportunity, he would no doubt have shown up in the Geneva pulpit, smiling for the cameras, rather than risking his life and reputation amid the chaos of Chicago’s violent streets. But given the wider scope of Dr. King’s ministry, what appeared on the surface to be the most important place for him to be, St. Peter’s Cathedral, was not, in fact, where his vocation took him.

In an even deeper sense, Jesus’ mission goes deeper than our limited definitions of urgency. A man was dying. More than that, it was Jesus’ friend Lazarus who was dying. Lazarus’ body grew weak, hot with fever. Mary and Martha were wringing their hands with worry. The whole village of Bethany was troubled. Naturally, from Bethany’s perspective, this was the most urgent, important, life or death crisis in all of creation, and Jesus should have dropped everything in the world to be there. But Jesus will not drop the world; he will save it, all of it. Jesus is not controlled by illness and death, even his dear friend Lazarus’ illness and death; to the contrary, Jesus is the one in control. Jesus does not jump when illness and death say “jump,” he conquers illness and death for the entire human race.

Not only will Jesus not allow illness and death to set his agenda, neither will Jesus allow death to be the ruler of time. In the world as we know it, death is in charge of time. When the hospital’s intercom crackles with the message, “Code Blue,” a signal that a patient has suddenly gone into cardiac arrest, all normal time ceases. Physicians and nurses abruptly interrupt their customary duties and rush with emergency equipment to the afflicted patient. Routines are halted; all other activities must wait. Death has sounded the alarm and pushed the stem of the stopwatch, and all must urgently obey death’s timetable.

But not Jesus. He gets the “Code Blue” on Lazarus, receives the word that the old clockwatching slavedriver death has punched in “911” and his immediate presence is demanded. But Jesus does not respond to death’s timetable. Jesus is Lord over death and Lord of all time. No longer will death set the times and seasons, but only God. So, Jesus takes his time, because it is, after all, his time. He is the Lord of the Sabbath, and he is the Lord over Monday, and Thursday, and all the ticking minutes and desperate seasons of life. He is Lord over all time. He was there in the beginning, before all time, and through him all creation, including time, came into being.

There is a couple in Arkansas who have given their six-year-old son strict instructions to come home from playing every afternoon no later than 5 p.m. He was allowed to play with his friends, but his parents are quite serious about his curfew. If he is not home by 5 p.m., they begin to worry and call around the neighborhood to find out where he is. The boy knows this, though, and is careful to arrive every day on time.

One April Monday, however, the day after Daylight Saving Time went into effect, the boy was late coming home. When he finally arrived, a few minutes before 6 p.m., his mother scolded him for being late. “You know you are to be home by five,” she said, “and here it is nearly six.”

Puzzled, the little boy pointed out the window. “But the light,” he protested, “the light; it’s the light that tells me when to come home.”

Realizing what had happened, his mother smiled and gently explained that the day before, the time had been changed, that everyone had reset their clocks and, now, the daylight lasted longer.

The boy’s eyes narrowed. “Does God know about this?” he asked suspiciously.

In a childlike way, this little boy shared John’s theological vision. Time finally belongs not to human beings, not to the corruption of illness and death, but to God. We know what time it is not by death’s clock, but by Jesus’ light. Jesus arrived at Bethany on his schedule, not death’s. When he got to the tomb of Lazarus, now dead four days, Jesus, the Lord of past, present, and future, reached into the future of his resurrection victory and reversed the past of Lazarus’ death, thereby displaying the glory of God in the present.

“God so loved the world,” John writes, “that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him” can change their clocks. Instead of watching the clock, wondering when death will finally come calling to stop the hour hand from moving, those who believe recognize that Jesus came calling with life eternal. When Jesus at last came calling on the little village of Bethany, it was the common verdict that he was woefully late. But when Lazarus danced away from the tomb of death, with the light of eternal life in his eyes, the wold world could see that Jesus was right on time.

[1]The Revised Standard Version, (New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.) 1973, 1977.

“...The Devil Made Me Do It!”

The First Sunday in Lent, Year A

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴But he answered, “It is written,

‘Man shall not live by bread alone,

but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,

‘He will give his angels charge of you,’

and

‘On their hands they will bear you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Begone, Satan! for it is written,

‘You shall worship the Lord your God

and him only shall you serve.’”

Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him. [1]

Do you recall the television show “Laugh-In”? There was a comedian, Flip Wilson, on the show from time to time who developed a very funny female character named “Geraldine” who was always getting into trouble. One of the hosts would play straight-man to “Geraldine” and invariably back her into a corner with regards to her behavior. At that point to the delight of the audience, “Geraldine” would say, “The Devil made me do it!”

So what does it mean to be tempted by the Devil?

We begin the Sundays in the season of Lent at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry among us. He has just been baptized by his cousin John in the preceding verses, and the Bible tells us that:

... Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came...

Isn’t that typical? Just when you want to do right, just when you want to make a fresh start at life or something in life, the tempter comes and starts to push your buttons.

Isn’t it good to know, we who are tempted, that Jesus knows personally what it means to hear the tempter’s voice, alluring and touching the soft spots the conditions and the individuals present. The “tempter” is at his elbow, arrogant and confident that Jesus, too, has his limits and price, even though he is the Messiah. As the ultimate “penetrator,” the tempter is certain that he can come up with just the thing that will do him in! “Bread” when he is hungry? Power and possessions perhaps to fill up a searching, or, hopefully, an “overly-ambitious” life? This carpenter has the same buttons to push that are built into every human.

Most of us think that if there is one thing we know about in life, it’s temptation. If there’s one theological word that does not need to be rescued from abstraction, that connects firmly and vividly to our everyday experience, “temptation” would be the one. We face temptation all the time. Temptation hangs in our environment like flu virus, always threatening to break down our resistance. We are tempted to break our diets, flirt with somebody at work, finesse the chemistry test, cheat on our taxes, gossip about a friend, lie on our way out of trouble ... you name it. We are always being tempted to do what we know we shouldn’t do. We don’t need any instruction about temptation. Temptation we know about.

But, do we really? Do we really know what temptation is?

One Sunday school teacher has said that, “The best measure of a person is what you would do if you knew no one would ever find out.” When you take away all the lust for reward and all the fear of punishment -- no one will ever find out -- what you do in life grows out of who you understand yourself to be. That’s pretty close to what its all about.

But the deepest temptation is not the urge to misbehave, to do what we know we shouldn’t do, but rather the enticement to compromise our baptismal identity, our Christian identity, our disciple identity, to be who we are not called to be.

That’s the message in this story of Jesus’ temptation. The devil is not tempting Jesus to misbehave. He is not tempting Jesus to steal a wallet, or sneak a peek at a Playboy magazine, or cheat on his taxes, or pick a fight with his neighbor. It’s deeper than that. The devil is tempting Jesus to ignore his baptism, to deny who he is, to forget that he is the child of his Father in heaven.

It is significant that Jesus comes to the temptation immediately from his baptism, when the skies opened and a voice from heaven said, “You are my beloved Son, the one with whom I am well pleased.” That’s who he is. “You are my beloved Son. You are the heir to the identity and mission of my people. You are my prophet, my priest, my anointed, my suffering servant. You are the one I am sending down the long and painful road to Jerusalem. You are the one I am calling to drink the bitter cup of sacrifice. You are the one I am delivering into the hands of those who will kill you. You are the one I am sending to bear the cross for the salvation of all people. You are the one to whom I am entrusting the promise of redemption. You are the one. You are my beloved Son, and I am well-pleased with you.”

It is, then, when Jesus’ vocation and identity are most clear that he comes to the season of his tempting. It is precisely Jesus’ identity that the devil seeks to destroy. That, after all, is what temptation is all about. Notice how the tempter begins, “If you are the Son of God ...” He could have attacked directly: “You are not the Son of God,” but he was too crafty for that. Much better to generate self-doubt -- “If you are the Son of God” -- since self-doubt is the cancer that eats away at identity.

The devil picks away, then, at Jesus’ sonship, at his baptismal identity. The three temptations -- to turn stones into bread, to throw himself down from the top of the temple and to worship the tempter -- are not enticements to do bad things; they are, at root, invitations to be somebody else, to live some life other than that of the beloved son of God.

What’s wrong with eating when you’re hungry? What’s wrong with turning stones into bread? Later Jesus would turn 2 loaves into a feast for 5000! What’s the difference? What’s wrong with doing a few miracles? “Throw yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple, and God will send his angels to save you.” Isn’t this the same Jesus who would walk on water and heal the incurable and raise the dead? And What’s wrong with political power and authority? Do we not proclaim this Jesus to be the Lord of lords and King of kings?

These were the temptations of Jesus. These were his buttons the tempter was pushing. The tempter has offered Jesus power, position and privilege, but at a price. And Jesus was not going to compromise his ministry, his calling, his purpose, his Father’s will.

That’s what temptation is; to be disobedient. Jesus knew that bread alone won’t make life livable. Miracles have their place, but not when you use them to try to make God your “monkey on a chain.” And “the world” is not the devil’s to give. He does control many who live in, and keeps the world filled with misery and strife, but the Devil, Satan, does not own it.

We belong to Jesus. We are called of God to serve him. We have been bought at a great price. When we realize this, as Jesus did, we too can resist the temptations that come our way. We too can stand firm in our faith. We too can triumph over the tempter!

[1]The Revised Standard Version, (New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.) 1973, 1977.

<>Questions in the Night
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<>The Second Sunday in Lent, Year A

John 3:1-17

Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither it goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can this be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand this? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen; but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man. And 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.”

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.[1]

When I first started studying sermons, one of my teachers at Duke pointed out that Billy Graham has essentially preached from one text for over 40 years, and that is John 3:16. And why not? Dr. Graham is, after all, an evangelist, and his responsibility is to present to all who would hear him the gospel, the good news, and there is no better summary of the good news than John 3:16. In the context of this story, however, some larger themes are brought to our attention.

The first occurs in the verses that introduce Nicodemus. He was a Pharisee, even more than that, a ruler, one of the Sanhedrin, who came to Jesus by night, and stated that he and others “know” Jesus as Rabbi, “a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.”

In a sense, his words sound like those of the widow of Zarepheth who, observing and benefiting from the miracles Elijah had been performing in her house, exclaimed, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is true” (1 Kings 17:24). The inability of Nicodemus to see beyond that level of identification leads to Jesus’ discussion about the need to be “born from above.”

What that is saying is that Jesus is born from above, and that teaching is reinforced in verse 13 where Jesus says that he is “the one who descended from heaven.” This reminds us of the first chapter, the Prologue, where Jesus is identified as the Word that was with God and indeed was God, and then became flesh to “pitch his tent” among us. Jesus’ identity, not as a teacher come from God but as one born from above, provides the basis for this entire dialogue. That is the first theme of importance for John’s theology, that Jesus comes from above.

Second, the possibility to be born from above is held out to others. Nicodemus is startled by this teaching because he could not grasp John’s dual meaning of being born from above and being born again. Imagining his adult body making its way back into his mother’s womb raised the rational question: How? What can birth “from above” be? How is the blowing wind like birth in the Spirit (v.8)? And whatever does John mean by birth of water and the Spirit (v.5)? Who can be expected to comprehend a religious tradition of centuries like the Jewish with these kinds of outlandish examples?

His question gives Jesus the opportunity to explain the mystery of the Spirit and to chide the Pharisee over his inability to grasp this possibility. Even in the Bible of Nicodemus, what we call the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament, several instances of God’s Spirit or breath or wind brought people to life. Adam, at first nothing more than a construction of dirt, came to life when God breathed into his nostrils the divine breath of life (Genesis 2:7). The valley into which Ezekiel was thrust was full of dry bones, and what brought them to life was the wind of breath that came into them (Ezekiel 37:1-10). Nicodemus must have slapped his hand into his forehead and cried, “I should have known!” Jesus, after all, was well-versed in the prophets. Just before the story of the dry bones, Ezekiel speaks:

“A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.” Ezekiel 36:26-27

And in the verse before that:

“I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.”

The reference to “born from above” along with water and the Spirit (v. 5) surely looks at the sacrament of baptism as the means by which this miracle is achieved. The second theme in John’s theology is, therefore, the gift of life that God gives through Jesus Christ, even after people have been born physically into the human race.

That gift of eternal life comes through faith because the Son of Man was lifted up just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. The allusion to Moses’ act (see Numbers 21:4-9) recalls the time in the wilderness when the people of Israel complained about the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. Their murmuring led them straight into a nest of serpents whose venom was capable of killing off quite a number of people. At the pleading of those Israelites, Moses prayed to the Lord, and the Lord instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent, elevate it on a pole, and whenever the stricken folks beheld it, they “lived.” Jesus’ own death on a cross, being lifted up, became the means by which people of faith would live, even eternally.

Third, God’s love for the world is the divine motive for the sacrifice of his Son. As verses 16 and 17 conclude the passage, they form a “synonymous parallelism”. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life” is no different from “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” The doubling of this sentence serves to reinforce its meaning. [like “Amen, Amen” or “Truly, Truly”]

The point is that Salvation and life are one and the same in John’s Gospel. Even talk of the kingdom of God ceases with the opening words to Nicodemus. Thereafter, John speaks of life rather than the kingdom, and it has to do with salvation for the world. It was for this reason that God sent Jesus into the world and that Jesus sent his disciples (17:18). It is small wonder that the people in Samaria, having seen and heard Jesus for themselves, will announce that “this is truly the Savior of the world” (4:42). Not Israel, not the church, but the world is the arena into which Jesus is sent and to which Jesus sends the world. Not Israel, not the church, but the world is the object of such love that God gives his Son. That is a key theme in John’s Gospel, and because of it we can never be satisfied with simply maintaining the institution of the church.

This concern of John’s Gospel with the whole world sounds just like God’s concern in the call of Abraham and Sarah. It is not simply the blessing of Israel that God has in mind but the blessing of all the families of the land and then even of all the nations of the earth.

[1]The Revised Standard Version, (New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.) 1973, 1977.

Proof of God’s Love

The Third Sunday in Lent, Year A

Romans 5:1-11

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.

While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man—though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received our reconciliation. [1]

Paul was a man in touch with God and with his contemporaries and with himself. He wrote so knowingly of our human condition and of God’s act of redemption in Jesus Christ, to people he himself had never seen, never preached to, never known except second handedly, by word of mouth. The more amazing thing is that what he said is still true today.

The supreme spiritual questions of life are, “How can one get into a right relationship with God? How can one feel at peace with God? How can one feel close to God when his Law, as contained in the Hebrew scriptures, the Ten Commandments, the Word of the Prophets, serves mainly to remind us how sinful we are, how far we are in missing the mark?” The answer to these questions is to be found in the good news about Jesus Christ. In Romans 3:21-26 he writes:

But now, apart from law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed, and is attested by the law and the prophets, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith. He did this to show his righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over the sins previously committed; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.

He picks this up again in our scripture lesson for today; “...we are justified by faith (and therefore) we have peace with God.” This is not by any merit of our own, but purely, completely, solely, it is an act of God: as Paul puts it in Ephesians 2:8: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God-- , a gift made real and visible in his son Jesus Christ, who came to us in the hour of our need, suffered and died to justify and reconcile us with God’s Law, to give us peace. As a hymn puts it,

“It was love that took my place on the Cross of Calvary;

It was grace, marvelous grace, that paid my ransom full and free

Over sin, without, within; I have the victory

Through grace, marvelous grace, that lives in me.”

That is the gospel in a capsule, and it is said even more simply by Jesus in his talk with Nicodemus in John 3:16 as we read last week: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

Because of God’s love, we have peace with him, and access to his grace, and we have the hope of sharing in his glory.

Before Jesus came, it was as if there was no hope, no peace, no sense of God’s concern or his grace. But now, because he did come, and did suffer, and did die and lives even now, we are privileged to experience these gifts of God.

No matter what our circumstances, whether happy or sad, in rejoicing or in sorrow, even in suffering, we have that hope, that peace which God in his love for us has given to us (Romans 5:3-5)

“And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”

But you may say, “I don’t experience the sureness of that hope; I don’t know the peace of God that passes understanding; I don’t even know for sure that I have a place in heaven, for I feel so unworthy of God’s grace.” I have heard that many times before; I have felt that way myself. You are not alone in these feelings. John Wesley recorded similar feelings in his journal. What changed that attitude? What gave him the assurance of God’s love, what transformed his unbelief into faith? Wesley wrote:

“In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s Preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. If felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”

You see, there is proof of God’s love for us. In your case it may not be so dramatic, and we all have doubts from time to time. Paul illustrates it well beginning with verse 6:

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.”

And our ultimate hope is fully assured; for as “now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God.” The wonder of it all is that Jesus Christ freely laid down his life for us when we were yet sinners and hostile to God, even to the point of being enemies of God! Yet,

“ if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.”

The fact that Jesus Christ died for us is the final proof of God’s love. It would be difficult enough to get a person to die for someone just; it might be possible for someone to be persuaded to die for some great and good principle; a person might have the greater love that would make them lay down their life for their friend. But the wonder of Jesus Christ is that he died for us when we are sinners and in a state of hostility to God. Love can go no further than that.

Rita Snowdon relates an incident from the life of T. E. Lawrence. In 1915 he was journeying across the desert with some Arabs. Things were desperate. Food was almost gone, and water was at its last drop. Their hoods were over their heads to shelter them from the wind which was like a flame and full of the stinging sand of the sandstorm. Suddenly someone said, “Where is Jasmin?” Another said, “Who is Jasmin?” A third answered, “That yellow-faced man from Mean. He killed a Turkish tax-collector and fled to the desert.”

The first said, “Look, Jasmin’s camel has no rider. His rifle is strapped to the saddle, but Jasmin is not there.” A second said, “Someone has shot him on the march.” A third said, “He is not strong in the head, perhaps he is lost in a mirage; he is not strong in the body, perhaps he has fainted and fallen off his camel.” Then the first said, “What does it matter? Jasmin was not worth ten pence.” And the Arabs hunched themselves up on their camels and rode on.

But Lawrence turned and rode back the way he had come. Alone, in the blazing heat, at the risk of his life, he went back. After an hour and a half’s ride he saw something against the sand. It was Jasmin, blind and mad with heat and thirst, being murdered by the desert. Lawrence lifted him up on his camel, gave him some of the last drops of precious water, slowly plodded back to his company. When he came up to them, the Arabs looked in amazement. “Here is Jasmin,” they said, “Jasmin, not worth ten pence, saved at his own risk by Lawrence, our lord.”

That is a parable. It was not good people Christ died to save but sinners; not God’s friends but people at odds with him.

We are not worthy of this love. Yet it is the character of our loving God to extend his mercy and grace to all. “Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heaven to earth come down.” Let us respond to God’s love with love for God. Let us not forget the awesome sacrifice he made for us on the Cross of Calvary. Let us commit ourselves to God, to never take his love for granted.

[1]The Revised Standard Version, (New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.) 1973, 1977.

Sight- and Insight
The Fourth Sunday in Lent, Year A

John 9:1-41

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from his 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 made manifest in him. We must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day; night comes, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” As he said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man’s eyes with the clay, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar, said, “Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is he”; others said, “No, but he is like him.” He said, “I am the man.” They said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash’; so I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. The Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” There was a division among them. So they again said to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight, and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if any one should confess him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age, ask him.”

So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, “Give God the praise; we know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “Whether he is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you too want to become his disciples?” And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” The man answered, “Why, this is a marvel! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if any one is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that any one opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who speaks to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe”; and he worshiped him. Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard this, and they said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains. [1]

One of the hardest facts to accept about the Christian life when one first comes to a commitment to live each day in Christ is the realization that being a Christian does not mean that everything is going to be perfect and effortless from that point on.

I remember when I was a teenager and made my acceptance of God’s gracious love and began to try to live as a Christian, as did a number of my friends, some got very disenchanted very quickly as they found that all their troubles did not disappear once they accepted Christ. In fact, many found that new problems began to crop up, problems related to being a Christian witness- people who are not Christian who were your friends don’t always understand this change that comes about in one’s life, and the tendency is to mock and chide.

Being a Christian is not the end of life’s problems, it is a way to look at those problems and come to a different and better solution. But for some people, their initial spiritual blindness turns them off to any possibility of growing and moving towards wholeness in God.

Our lesson illustrates this very well. It is a drama of the grace of God as it enters into the blind man’s life, uninvited, as it were. Did you notice how at every point in the story, as his problems got worse, to the point where family and community and church cast him out, his confession of faith grew. Slowly but surely , as the drama unfolds, the blind man’s eyes are opened as to who and what Jesus really is- Messiah, Lord, Teacher, Friend, and Comforter. This story symbolizes every person’s dawning understanding of Jesus.

First, the blind man recognizes Jesus as a man. He sees in Jesus a humanness that reaches out to him in his misery and suffering and treats him as a fellow human being. It is fair to recognize that Jesus is a human being among human beings, that he knows our problems and troubles in a personal way, because he has experienced life just as we have.

Second, the blind man began to recognize in Jesus a spirituality that led him to state that he thought Jesus was a prophet (a prophet is one upon whom the Holy Spirit of God rests). Too many of us today are content only to recognize the great prophet in Jesus. It is easy to see in him one who has brought God’s message to us. Clearly, Jesus lived a life that was close to God; he also lived a life which spoke of a clear, personal and intimate knowledge of God. Thus we too, can state, “He is a prophet.” But is that all?

As God’s grace continued to unfold for the man born blind, he came to realize that Jesus was more than just a prophet. He realized that human words and notions are simply inadequate to describe Jesus. As God’s grace unfolded in his life, even as he saw his former life crumble all around him, he discovered the greatness of Jesus. Ultimately he was able to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!

Can we do the same? Can we look beyond our naive blindness as we look to God as the great problem solver to the larger reality that God in greatness enables us to become people of sight, and spiritual insight, equipped by the Messiah, Lord, Teacher and Comforter to become whole in Christ?

That is what we mean when we say, “Thy grace is sufficient unto me.” That is what we understand when we pray with the Psalmist,

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want...Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me (NOT precede me!) all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

[1]The Revised Standard Version, (New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.) 1973, 1977.

What Do You Seek?

John 1:29-41 Epiphany 2, Year A

There is much being said in God’s word today, much that is central and important for us to share as we consider what it means to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. For to be a disciple is to be in ministry with Jesus. In Isaiah we have that wonderful struggle with the call to the prophetic ministry that Isaiah shares with us, giving us insight into the frustrating nature of God’s call. God provides assurance to the prophet by reminding him that he was called from the womb of his mother to be the servant of God, in order “to bring Jacob (the nation) back to him, that Israel might be gathered to him.”

In John’s Gospel, however, we have some very important questions to hear and to seek answers for if we would be serious about our call as disciples and ministers of the Lord Jesus Christ. John says: “Behold the Lamb of God!” Jesus says: “What do you seek?” The two disciples say: “Where are you staying?” Then Jesus says: “Come and See.” Then finally Andrew says to Peter: “We have found the Messiah.”

Thus does the gospel of John begin: with these interesting, intriguing, and disturbing statements/questions. The beginning of discipleship begins with one dealing with these very questions: Who is Jesus? What do we want? What is required of us? Are we willing to take the risk? If we are, what will we find?

John the Baptist no doubt surprised his own following when he announced that Jesus was the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. That perhaps meant more to them than to us: they saw lambs, especially pure, unblemished lambs, as prime sacrificial animals, acceptable to God in the rituals of the temple. They would have thought about the sacrificial Passover Lamb. They also would have been very aware of the use of such a lamb on the annual day of atonement, when such a lamb was driven out of the city and into the wilderness with a bell around its neck to symbolically if not literally carry away from the people their cumulative sins. The lamb belonged to God, was dedicated to God, and its sacrificial death benefited the people in their understanding of the scheme of things.

But here is a man, Jesus, whom John declares to be THIS lamb. The Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. And John knew. He knew what happened to those sacrificial lambs. He was a witness to Jesus, and his witness would cost him his life. Jesus is the one, the Lamb of God, the son of God.

But what do we want? Andrew and presumably John were disciples of John the Baptist and heard his witness. They were curious, and left John to follow Jesus: Jesus sees them, senses their curiosity, and asks, “What do you seek?” Not “what do you want,” or “why are you following me,” but right to the point Jesus asks: “What do you seek?” You see; its a good question.

John’s gospel is a little like a comedy; Andrew and John don’t tell Jesus what they are seeking after, they evade his question. They say, “Where are you staying?”

We today are just like Andrew and John, we are hesitant to respond to Jesus; because we may not be able to say what it is that we are seeking.

In any case; Jesus issues the invitation: “Come and see.” And it is an invitation that requires a response, doesn’t it? We may not know what it is that we want, but even so we have to take a leap of faith if we are to find out if it is Jesus that we want, if following Jesus is going to fulfill our wants. Where are you staying; what have we got to do? What is required of us? Come and see, says Jesus. Take a chance. Come and see. In another way we have heard Jesus say, “Follow me. Wherever I lead you. Come.”

Jesus doesn’t promise what we’ll find if we come to see. Or does he? St. Paul reminds us as he did the Corinthians that we are “called to be saints together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours...” and he gives thanks to God for the “grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus”; and finally he reminds us that “you are not lacking in any spiritual gift” because “God is faithful.” So we may be assured that following Christ, accepting his invitation to “Come and see” may be chancy, may involve risk; but is worth the chance/risk!

When we are willing to take the chance, when we are willing to risk it all, then we have the possibility of finding what the disciples found. Andrew first went and found his brother Peter. He said to him, “we have found the Messiah.” And he calls us, for we are the church, those called out (ekklesia) of the world to be God’s people in the world; spiritually one in their quest to see Jesus: the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world; the son of God; teacher (Rabbi); Messiah.

Jesus calls us yet. He invites us to come and see. Take that step of faith; overcome your inhibition to respond to the Lord’s question to your heart, “what do you seek?” Step out on faith, come and see your Lord.