The Readings for March 30, the 3rd Sunday in Lent, 2014

First Reading: 1 Samuel 16:1–13

The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons."  ²Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me." And the LORD said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.'  ³Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you."  ⁴Samuel did what the LORD commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, "Do you come peaceably?"  ⁵He said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice." And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD's anointed is now before the LORD."  ⁷But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart."  ⁸Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one."  ⁹Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, "Neither has the LORD chosen this one."  ¹⁰Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, "The LORD has not chosen any of these."  ¹¹Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?" And he said, "There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here."  ¹²He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; for this is the one."  ¹³Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.

Second Reading: Ephesians 5:8–14

⁸For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light —  ⁹for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true.  ¹⁰Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord.  ¹¹Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.  ¹²For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly;  ¹³but everything exposed by the light becomes visible,  ¹⁴for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

"Sleeper, awake!

Rise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you."\

Gospel: John 9:1–41

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth.  ²His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  ³Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God's works might be revealed in him.  ⁴We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.  ⁵As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."  ⁶When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man's eyes,  ⁷saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.  ⁸The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?"  ⁹Some were saying, "It is he." Others were saying, "No, but it is someone like him." He kept saying, "I am the man."  ¹⁰But they kept asking him, "Then how were your eyes opened?"  ¹¹He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' Then I went and washed and received my sight."  ¹²They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know."

¹³They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.  ¹⁴Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.  ¹⁵Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, "He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see."  ¹⁶Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?" And they were divided.  ¹⁷So they said again to the blind man, "What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened." He said, "He is a prophet."

¹⁸The 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  ¹⁹and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?"  ²⁰His parents answered, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind;  ²¹but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself."  ²²His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue.  ²³Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him."

²⁴So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, "Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner."  ²⁵He answered, "I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see."  ²⁶They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?"  ²⁷He answered them, "I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?"  ²⁸Then they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.  ²⁹We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from."  ³⁰The man answered, "Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes.  ³¹We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will.  ³²Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.  ³³If this man were not from God, he could do nothing."  ³⁴They answered him, "You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?" And they drove him out.

³⁵Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"  ³⁶He answered, "And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him."  ³⁷Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he."  ³⁸He said, "Lord, I believe." And he worshiped him.  ³⁹Jesus said, "I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind."  ⁴⁰Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, "Surely we are not blind, are we?"  ⁴¹Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, 'We see,' your sin remains.

The Greek Text, John 9 - Pr. Fourman

John 9:1-41

v1 παραγων (παραγω) pres. part. "as he went along" - The participle is adverbial, temporal.

ek + gen. "from [birth]" - Expressing source / origin. A more Semitic way of putting it would be "from the mother's womb", cf. Matt.19:12. Blindness from birth underlines the seriousness of the condition and also stifles the argument that the man's condition is a consequence of sin.

  

v2 τις ημαρτεν (αμαρτενω) aor. "who sinned ....?" - Exodus 20:5 certainly encouraged the notion that the stain of a parent's sin may infect a child, but the book of Job makes it clear that there is no direct correlation between a particular sin and sicknes

v3 ινα + subj. "so that [the work of God might be displayed]" NIV has the hina clause expressing purpose, but such a reading implies that God made the man blind so that Jesus could heal him. It is more likely that the clause expresses result. The man's blindness provides an opportunity for Jesus to be the light of the world. The man's blindness has nothing to do with his, or his parent's sin; "but because of his blindness, you will see God perform a miracle for him".

  

v4 ημας pro. "we" - The use of the plural here by Jesus may be original, although some manuscripts have "I". If the plural is original, Jesus is including his disciples.

εργαζεσθαι (εργαζομαι) pres. inf. "[must] do the work" - often used to express divine necessity.

ερχεται (ερχομαι) pres. "[night] is coming" – A predictive present, "it will soon be night."

v5 φως ειμι του κοσμου "I am the light for the world".

v6 ειπων (ειπον) aor. part. "when he had thus spoken".

επτυσεν (πτυω) aor. "he spat”. It was commonly held that saliva had curative powers, but its use was later banned in Jewish circles due to its use in the magical arts so saliva, as with dirt, may also have implied ritual impurity and that Jesus here is defying Jewish sensibilities and healing independently of the prevailing notions of ritual cleanliness. Also the day Jesus does this on is Sabbath; further indication he intended to attack Jewish religious sensibilities.

v7 νιψαι (νιπτω) aor. imp. "wash" – the aorist probably indicates the command expects an immediate response. Note the parallel with 2 Kings 5:10-13.

την κολυμβηθραν του Σιλωαμ "the pool of Siloam" - The pond for the diverted waters from the spring of Gihon that flows through Hezekiah's tunnel; most likely the "lower pool".

απεσταλμενος (αποστελλω) perf. pas. part. "having been sent”. John typically explains Semitic words, here a word based on the root slh, "to send" = the waters sent from Gihon.

v8 οι θεωρουντες (θεωρεω) pres. part. "those who had [formerly] seen him". The present tense probably indicates continuous action, ie. they regularly saw him begging.

ο καθημενος (καθημαι) pres. part. "who used to sit [and beg]".

v9 ελεγον (λεγω) imperf. "claimed" - said. The use of the imperfect indicates that numerous comments were made of the man.

εγω ειμι "I am [the man]" -. An interesting use of a phrase that Jesus enjoyed using as well. Here it mean, "I am the man who used to beg ".

v10 ηνεω/χθησαν (ανοιγω) aor. pas. "opened" - were opened. The sense is "how is it that you now see?"

ελεγον imperf. "they demanded" - imperfect indicating a continuous request.

v11 ο λεγομενος (λεγω) pres. pas. part. "the one being called…”."

επεχρισεν (επιχριω) aor. " rub on, anoint” lit. "smeared it on my eyes".

v12 εκεινος "this one” - a rather rude form of address.

  

v13 αγουσιν (αγο) act. "they brought" a passive sense, reinforcing the idea that those who knew the man insisted that he come with them to see the religious authorities.

v14 likely an editorial comment serving to explain the increased hostility of the religious authorities. 

v16 παρα + gen. "[this man is no man of God." because he does not obey the Sabbath law, cf. Deut.13:1-5. In strict accordance with the law, Jesus should have properly waited till the first day of the week to perform the healing, since the man's condition was not life threatening.

ου τηρει (threw) pres. "he does not keep [the Sabbath]"

ποιειν (ποιεω) pres. inf. "[how can a sinner] do" - The infinitive is complementary.

v17 προφητης "prophet" - thinks Jesus is an Elisha type, or like Moses, the one who precedes more likely he sees Jesus in a general sense, as a special person obviously a man of God.

  

v18 ουκ επιστευσαν (πιστευω) aor. "did not believe".

εφωνησαν (φωνεω) aor. "they sent/called”. the investigation of the parents is obviously undertaken without their blind son being present.

v19 For stylistic reasons the NIV divides this Greek sentence into two sentences separated by "they asked". "Is this your son who you say was born blind?" RSV.

v21 ηνοιξεν αυτου τους οφθαλμους "opened his eyes" ημεις "we the pronoun is emphatic; “ask him, ηλικιαν (a) "he is a grown-up ".

v22 συνετεθειτο (συντιθημι) pluperf. "[the Jews] agreed together. The pluperfect indicates that the decision to act against anyone who acknowledged Jesus was made well before these events.

αποσυναγωγος adj. "put out of the synagogue" - excommunicate. John is probably referring to a total excommunication of believers from Israel - a banishment. There were other more formal disciplinary banishments which could last a week or a month and which did not bar a person from religious services. 

v24 εκ δευτερου "a second time" - An uncommon temporal use of εκ to form this idiomatic phrase.

δος δοξαν τω θεω "give glory to God" - The sense is probably "swear by God to tell the truth".

v25 αμαρτωλος (ος) "he is a sinner" - Jesus did heal on the sabbath so his legal standing under the law is something the blind man is unable to debate.

ων (ειμι) pres. part. "I was" - The participle is probably concessive, "although ......, yet", ie. he concedes the point that he was blind and that a possible sinner set about to heal him, yet the result is that he now sees. What does that say about this man Jesus?

  

v27 ουκ ηκουσατε (ακουω) aor. "you did not/would not listen"

ακουειν (ακουω) pres. inf. "[why do you want] to hear" - μη "no” a rhetorical question in the Greek expecting a negative answer, "You don't want to become his disciples, do you?"

  

v28 ελοιδορησαν (λοιδορεω) aor. " they hurled insults" 

  

v29 ουκ οιδαμεν ποθεν εστιν "we don't even know where he comes from" Most commentators suggest that the "where" is his home town, eg. yet 7:27 indicates that the Jewish authorities do know that Jesus comes from Nazareth and given that no one will know where the messiah comes from, it is obvious (to them!) that Jesus is not the messiah. It is quite possible that we have here a general statement as to Jesus' lack of divine association and therefore, authority.

  

v31 αμαρτωλων ο θεος ουκ ακουεω "God does not listen to sinners" in the sense of those in rebellion against God, that is God does not answer the prayers of those who are against him.

τις θεοσεβης adj. "the godly man" - a devout person is one who does what God wants them to do.

  

v32 εκ του αιωνος "[nobody] has ever [heard]" – a temporal use of the preposition εκ −  there is no record in any canonical writings of a person regaining their sight who was 

γεγεννημενου (γενναω) perf. pas. part. "[of a man] born [blind]"

  

v34 και συ διδασκεις ημας "how dare you lecture us!" – there isalot of outrage I this story. 

  

v35 ευρωμ (ευρισκω) aor. part "when he found [him]" 

v36 και τις εστιν, κυριε "who is he, lord?

ινα + subj. "so that I may" πιστευσω (πιστευω) aor. subj. " that I may come to put my faith in him."

  

v37 εωρακας (οραω) perf. "you have already seen him".

ο λαλων pres. part. "[he is] the one speaking [with you]".

  

v38 προσεκυνησεν (προσκυνεω) aor. "he worshiped"

v39 κριμα (α ατος) "judgment/decision” - Jesus does not come into the world to judge the world, 3:17, yet, as a result of his coming, judgment takes place. In the face of God's revelation, people separate into two groups; what Bultmann called "the paradox of the revelation, that in order to bring grace it must also give offence.”

οι μη βλεποντες (βλεπω) pres. part. "the blind [will see]".

οι βλεποντες "those who see [will become blind]" -.

  

v40 μη "[what, are we blind too?]" - no. The Greek implies an expected negative answer to the question, "we are not blind, are we?" The expected answer would be "of course not." The truth, of course, is that they are blind.

  

v41 ουκ αν ειχετε αμαρτιαν (a) "you would not be guilty of sin" - you would not have sin. Most commentators take "sin" in the Old Testament sense of "guilt", "you would not be guilty" but the play on words makes the point that those who are aware of their guilt, who recognize it, can seek forgiveness and find it in the Son of Man, while those who deny their guilt, deny their condition of loss, their blindness, remain in a state of sin, blind, and under condemnation.

Can you Trust an Ex Blind Man? - Pr. Kruse

“Until they became conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious.” 

“I enjoy talking to you. Your mind appeals to me. It resembles my own mind except that you happen to be insane.” 

— George Orwell

This text is not about being blind. Surprise. Verse 26 should give anyone a clear hint that what really is at stake here is faith in Jesus and the transformation that results from it. Those who “see” have a different perspective than their neighbors who are “blind.” 

By the time of the Feast of Booths (7:1-2) speculations about Jesus are stirring. He has healed the man at the pool of Bethesda - a Sabbath healing with trouble ensuing, as attested in 7:23-24. There has been the walking on the water, a rather private miracle, and the feeding of the 5,000, a rather public miracle. Water has been turned into wine, an obscure miracle but it lead to some disciples leading to some sense of faith in Jesus. There has been a healing of an “official’s” son (4:46ff) which has come and gone without comment and aftermath. 

The healing at Bethesda and  feeding of the 5,000 were slightly different. When Jesus heals on the Sabbath an argument has to break out. It is just necessary in the confines of the law and a plot to seize and kill him is hinted at. (5:18) When the feeding of the 5,000 happened, multitudes tasted, saw, and were mesmerized. They not so much follow Jesus as hound him. They are fascinated by what Jesus can supply toward the life of this world. (6:26) Jesus gives the famous bread of life sermon. It is so successful that many of his disciples turn their backs on him at the end of it. (6:66)

But, by the Feast of Booths the question is nonetheless in the air: Could this be the Christ? (7:25) The irony is that the word comes by conspiracy theory. The people know that the authorities want to kill him but he is walking around unafraid at the feast in Jerusalem. “Could it be that the authorities know he is the Christ,” (7:26) that is why they don’t dare seize him but they also are withholding the information from the people? The authorities send officers to arrest him but they don’t do so. They too are fascinated with Jesus. So, the authorities take council what to do. Who shows up at that council? Nicodemus, who becomes the voice of reason, justice, and due process. They silence him with the words: “Are you from Galilee too?” Apparently, the story is that prophets and Messiahs do not come from Galilee. (7:52) Hey! Didn’t Nathaniel have the same opinion? (1:46)

What follows is a long discourse on who is able to witness to Jesus. (Chapter 8) That chapter might well leave us with the question: “if you believe you are an offspring of Abraham, should you not be a witness to Jesus for certainly Abraham and all the prophets witness to him as does the Father himself?” 

If you say: “No,” because you claim to be a child of Abraham and wise in these things then you prove yourself to be blind, in the metaphorical sense of the word. (9:41) If you say: “yes,” then you do not belong in the Gospel of John, for Jesus neither sought or needed the testimony of people. But, the Spirit would eventually give witness to him. (7:39) For now in the story, all faith is conditional.

Chapter 9 contains a miracle enigma. Yes, it is a healing story but it is also a story of judgement.  (9:39) Remember, we have been in chapter 8 were a credible “witness” to the authority and identity of Jesus has been debated hotly. What are we hunting for in chapter 9? [cue the jeopardy theme] A credible witness to the man’s identity, origin, and place in life. The devil is the Father or Lies (8:44) and Jesus has accused the authorities of being the devil’s children. What is the assumption of the authorities? Simple: Everyone is lying. How do they know this? Well . . . 

I grew up in a small town in northern Germany. Like small towns everywhere and at every time, people lived close to each other. As result, people made each other their business. Being a recluse was not possible since your reclusiveness was everyone’s biz. We all lived a somehow public life and we were all talked about and we all talked about each other. I think they call that “community.” It just is. 

The defense mechanism in community is to have part of who you are and how you are protected and private. As kids, we were told very clearly that what was discussed at the kitchen table stayed there. But, it only applied to our kitchen table, not anyone else’s though that was never said. It was just assumed. There was always a bit of keeping things in the darkness involved in living in a small town in my youth. It added layer of: “What is actually going on in those peoples’ minds,” to every conversation or situation. Speculation is a fertile field for evil and temptation. Contractual “darkness” is a deep well were evil is conveniently kept until it is full to overflowing. From it flow waters of death. Jesus gives drink that causes the heart to bring forth rivers of living waters. (7:39)

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. (3:19)

To what extent can people be trusted? The Pharisees in our story trusted no one. They do not trust the healed man, they do not trust his parents, they do not trust their own officers, they do not trust Nicodemus, they do not trust Jesus. The question must be asked: If you really do not trust anyone here on earth and expect dark secrets in all the hearts that you meet, how will you relate to God? In that state of mind does not the sentence: "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,” make perfect sense and does that temptation not say to you that God cannot be trusted either? 

The way we maintain our relationships with people is a clue to the way we treat our relationship to the Almighty. The blind man in his healed state was eventually ejected from the community. His presence exposed a flaw in the authorities. They did not know how to explain Jesus and the healing made it obvious. His last reply was basically all true and the authorities probably even taught the very same thing. But they cannot abide having their kitchen table thoughts exposed. If they expel this man from their midst because he has unwittingly exposed them, what will they do with God? The way we maintain our relationships with people is a clue to the way we treat our relationship to the Almighty.

After this, Good Friday is the only option left for the authorities. They are blind and not fit to be the shepherds of these people. Jesus will now speak of the Good Shepherd. (10) He will drive home the point that he is the Son in the raising of Lazarus. He must die. He does not fit in our darkness. He is too bright. (1:1-5)

He came down to his own - A story with footnotes. John 4:5-42 - Pr Kruse

  

Ad Infra 1,2 (do follow the footnotes, please)

A biblical conversation kind of story3 retold in Seven4 cycles.

Cycle one 5

“What have you done with your life?” 6

“Does anyone actually have the right to ask that of anyone else? I might be out of place, but you are out of line asking.” 7

Cycle two 8

“Does not God have the right to ask what you have done with the gift of life given to you?”9

“God? Don’t even go there. Show me how “God” has made anything easier— ever. Life is one thing after another — and it is complicated too — and I am doing fine”10

Cycle three11

“So, you have been trying the same thing over and over again and it hasn't worked, then you tried nothing and it didn't work either, then you dabbled loosely in everything and it hasn't mattered. You tried all those. So, tell me, how would you see or possibly recognize God if ever you met up? How do you know whether God and life don’t meet?”12

“Show me a religion that works. Please, do. I dare you.”13

Cycle Four 14

“Do you pray?”15

“I am spiritual but not religious, but I am really interested in Jainism right now.”16

Cycle Five17,18

“Tell me: How many religions you, as a “non religious” one, have toyed with so far? It was 5, right? And you have taken none of them serious. When true commitment was demanded, you started looking for something else that suited you.”19

“You know a lot about me. This is supernatural. Are you a swami or a prophet?20 I always thought that religions were basically bunk and that we needed to get in touch, so to speak, with the divine nature.  All religions have a chunk of truth in it — they are all like the so called “wise” blind men trying to figure out the elephant. We just have to agree to disagree here.”21

Cycle Six22

“What if you made up your own religion or piece one together out of the many? Would you not be the so-called wise man behind the elephant thinking the elephant was soft, warm, and mushy? And if you run around wildly, will you ever really touch your elephant long enough to understand any of it?23 Would it surprise you then that there is only one God and that one of the —what you like to call —“religions”24 is actually right? You are living a life of excuses to not do anything and you are likely to die that way. You will and must now meet God and it is the God of Abraham.”25

“It will all become obvious in the end. God will come down here one day and clean up.”26

Cycle Seven 27

“That time is now and it starts right here!”28

She rushes back to the town square.29 “Don’t ask me why, but I have just had a mystical experience. You got to come and listen to this guy. I know, I know, I followed nothing seriously ever, but you need to meet him. Could he be the Messiah?” 30

 --------------------------

1 Latin for: “to what is below.” It is also the title of a book that uses this strategy to say anything important in footnotes. Annoying but useful. I forgot the author’s name, by the way.

2 Be prepared to be annoyed 

3  John 4:5-42

4 Seven cycles because that is what the original has. 

5 "Give me a drink."  

 "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" 

6  Give me a drink might just be John’s way of Jesus asking what fruit she and her faith has born.

7 She is out of place at noon at the well or maybe at the well at the inappropriate time, but he, being there at the right time, ought not be talking to her as he ought to assume that she is wife or daughter of another man and he has no permission to speak to her. 

8 "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."  

 "Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?  12Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?”

9 A fairly blunt hint: You are speaking to God. She will take it as a pickup line. 

10 Wells are work, work, work. They might give you water to drink — after you clean it — but they are work. You either go there to get enough water to run the house, and you have to go evening and morning, or you go there to draw water for the folks — which is why the time for the men at the well is mid day. So, Jacob gave them a well. Big deal. It is all work. So Jacob is also father in faith — not Abraham, really? — What has he really done for us lately? All we have is this dumb old well. 

11 "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,  14but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life."  

"Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”

12 When religion is one thing after another and just seems everyday it is natural to go “seeking.” She was probably not doing that in John, but then she is a Samaritan, a religion known to include “Judaism and . . .” Let us not forget that the kings of Israel like Herod were happy to be seen as Jew, but liked Roman religion for political purposes as well. “There is nothing new . . . “ Quo’eleth. 

13 It is hard to tell if she is really ready for something substantial or just sarcastic. Maybe it is a bit of both.

14 "Go, call your husband, and come back."  

"I have no husband.”

15 This is not about marriage. It is about faithfulness and Faith itself. 

16 She is right. She has no faith to speak of, none that has a claim on her at least. She dabbles in it

17 and Jesus calls her on it.

18 "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband';  18for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!"  

"Sir, I see that you are a prophet.  20Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem."  

19 In her time and place religion was more about being there and doing what is expected of you. Unless one converted to Christianity. Then all heaven broke loose. The question of true commitment is valid for her and our time, tough, and Jesus seems to be asking it here in John.

20 She is getting the hint that she is sitting in front of someone who “knows.” It is not clear that she has come to the point of acknowledging that she is speaking to God 

21 though she senses the possibility and it frankly scares her. She sees the need to fog the conversation a bit by getting in esoteric arguments about religion. 

22 "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.  22You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.  23But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.  24God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."  

 "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us."  

23 OK: The elephant needs some explaining. It is a rather arrogant Indian tale about a shah who blinded three wise men he had taken hostage in a foreign land. Then he set them loose to discover an elephant. The first touched the trunk and thought the elephant to be like a large snake, the second touched the leg and found it to be like a tree, the third was about 20 feet behind the elephant, on the ground, and proclaimed: “An elephant is soft, warm and mushy!” It is an arrogant tale because it supposes that the observer, the shah, knows what the wise men are contemplating. It is conveniently used to say: “What use do I have of wisdom?”

24 Scary Quotes 

25 In other words: If you are looking for light, child of this dark world, commit to and believe in God and to Jesus Christ (Jn 14:1)

26 To find something, you must be in the right place and you must be at the right place at the right time. Looking for your glasses under the passenger seat of the car only makes sense if you have lost your glasses. They may be there once you loose them there but they won’t be there right now if you won’t lose them until next Sunday right before church. It’s simple Einstein. It is a time issue, just as their meeting is. She is not supposed to be there in time. It is noon. He is not supposed to be there in time either, according to her. It is not the end and she would like to stall coming face to face with Messiah or God until further notice. She is not looking for Messiah right now. He can be here, at another time, as far as she is concerned. But both, and this she still denies, have a right to the “there:” She as a human being and Jesus as Son of God and Messiah. I guess it would be more comfortable to have God at a distance, both in time and space?

27 “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”

 “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?”

28 What explanation is yet needed? He reveals himself as the Messiah she says she is waiting for. She is now faced with God the Son at the well. Time and space have collapsed on her. She isn’t supposed to be there in the eyes of the world but she is. He is not supposed to be there in the eyes of the world, or at least not yet, but he is. He, as a faithful man, ought not talk to her but he does. He ought not talk to her, as the God of Abraham, as she is neither prophet nor patriarch. She ought not talk to him as a human but does. She is not a priest, yet she talked with the almighty and lived. In John, it seems that meetings with Jesus are transformational. Before the cross they evoke faith or rejection. After the resurrection they evoke conversion.(Jn 20:24-29 but also Acts 9:1-18)

29 I was going to have her rush into the men’s locker room at the local college faculty health club at first but that makes no present day sense. In her time the market square, around noon, was men’s territory only

30 and arguing about the Messiah or religion was men’s prerogative only. But time and place have somehow been transcended. The Messiah is present and after the resurrection must be assumed to be so always. Her invitation, imperfect and out of place — the market square — and out of time — she should not to be there right then — and out of character — she was neither priest nor prophet — it might have been, it caused a meeting of many with Jesus and as a result transformation of many. 

The Texta for Sunday, March 16th, 2014, the 2nd Sunday in Lent

First Reading: Genesis 12:1–4a

Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.  ²I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  ³I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

⁴So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him.

Second Reading: Romans 4:1–5, 13–17

What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh?  ²For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.  ³For what does the scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness."  ⁴Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due.  ⁵But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness.  ¹³For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.  ¹⁴If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.  ¹⁵For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.

¹⁶For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us,  ¹⁷as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations") — in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

Gospel: John 3:1–17

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.  ²He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God."  ³Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above."  ⁴Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?"  ⁵Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.  ⁶What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.  ⁷Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.'  ⁸The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."  ⁹Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?"  ¹⁰Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

¹¹Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony.  ¹²If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?  ¹³No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.  ¹⁴And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,  ¹⁵that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

¹⁶For 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.

¹⁷Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Yeah. Right!

The linguistics professor was lecturing about the function of double negatives: “In English, a double negative becomes a positive. In contrast, in Russian, a double negative remains a negative, only it becomes a really, really strong negative. There are no examples of a double positive becoming a negative, though.” From the back of the room a voice was heard: “Yeah, right . . .” - found on Facebook.

We are plowing well turned fields again this Sunday. John 3:1-17 is not only well known and memorized, it is also a frequent visitor in our lectionary cycles. We have wrestled with it so much that we should have wrestled it safely to the ground and ought to be breaking its arms by now. Or maybe it has us in a hold — who can tell.

God sent the Son into the world — let us dwell on that motion for now. The last word: “World,” comes up in 79 verses in John. (I think if you click here you will get to an inter web search  http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?search=world&version1=ESV&searchtype=all&limit=none&wholewordsonly=no&startnumber=51 ) The other Gospels use it less than 10 times each. 

Following how that term: “World,” is used in John is a bit of a rabbit hole, so take the red pill and you will see how deep this rabbit hole goes. (Yes, a “Matrix” reference)

Actually, there are a few observations that may help us. The world is not condemned . . . well actually it might be, but that is not Jesus’ doing nor apparently did God send Jesus as condemnation. No, it will condemn itself. (3:18)

Second: there is a bunch of judging going on. Jesus was sent as judgement, (9:39) but not to judge. (12:47) In the latter verse, there will be judgement but it will come by the word Jesus has spoken, because it is God’s word, and those who are judged will judge themselves by it, maybe because they hear it but misuse it, maybe because they reject it.

Third: There will be someone called the Advocate or Helper. The Advocate will convict, and judge but not condemn: 

“8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”

In other words, the Advocate will make sure that the world knows that it is walking in darkness and that, if it ends up condemned it is its own doing and its on bloody fault. 

Fourth: there is a “Ruler of this world,” who is a dark force and there are children of darkness who love darkness rather than light but do so because they are blind and there are  children of light who see things for what they are. (the episode of Chapter 9 is about them) 

Fifth: Jesus is in the world as a light. (1:1-13) So are those who have heard and followed him and have been made clean by his word. Jesus brings God’s word again and in turn, God’s word in not understood but through Jesus. To claim to know but not acknowledge Jesus is to walk in darkness. (8:31-59, 14:1-7) The obverse is also true: If you truly understand the word of God you come to Jesus. (6:37)

Six: In John, Jesus’ mission is to be the light and he gladly accepts it, hence the rejection to beg: “Father save me from this hour.” (12:27) This is the Love that God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, have for the world. It, the world is dark and under the rulership of the prince of darkness, but they aim to save it by showing the world how dark it actually is. (The red pill again — yes, that Matrix reference . . .)

The whole irony thing that John is famous for, the subtle sense that the whole Gospel might just be gnostic because it seems to be saying one thing but relying on an unspoken thing that only the few know to actually understand what is being said might actually be quite simple: It is in the 90’s and the church has been booted out of the synagogue. But church and synagogue claim the same heritage. They speak the same language but the mean different things by what they say — again and from above don’t mean the same thing except when they do or don’t when they aren’t but then, you know, or do you? The language is the same but the meaning is not. In the words of Inigo Montoya: “You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.” (Princess Bride) 

Conversion has stopped among the Jews — perhaps. All that is left is enmity and arguing. Whatever space the empire had allowed for the Jews to be peculiar, if the empire actually ever did that, has collapsed on the church which is now open to the charge of being anti emperor by claiming another Lord. They sing the same Psalms. They claim the same Abraham. 

What does one do? Becoming Amish is one option. The other is to love the world for what it is, engaging it, and always praying for its conversion. Dom Helder Camara once wrote that his most ardent prayer was for the Prodigal Son’s older brother. He always prayer that he would “go in.” Our Springfield Ohio colleague, Bill Zimmann sometimes asked with a smile: “Do you think God loves the devil?” The strange answer, at least from John, might actually be: “Yes.” It is the devil who has condemned himself, has been judged by his deeds, and lives as one convicted — no wonder he is always angry. 

It is naive to think that loving the world will instantaneously change it or that proclamation and even teaching will convert it instantaneously. The story of Thomas speaks to this. Yet, the work is before the church: Live in this world. Love it a bit. Don’t fall for its lies or adopt its ways. Be light. Be love. (St Terese Lisieux) The linguistics professor was lecturing about the function of double negatives: “In English, a double negative becomes a positive. In contrast, in Russian, a double negative remains a negative, only it becomes a really, really strong negative. There are no examples of a double positive becoming a negative, though.” From the back of the room a voice was heard: “Yeah, right . . .” - found on Facebook.

We are plowing well turned fields again this Sunday. John 3:1-17 is not only well known and memorized, it is also a frequent visitor in our lectionary cycles. We have wrestled with it so much that we should have wrestled it safely to the ground and ought to be breaking its arms by now. Or maybe it has us in a hold — who can tell.

God sent the Son into the world — let us dwell on that motion for now. The last word: “World,” comes up in 79 verses in John. (I think if you click here you will get to an inter web search  http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?search=world&version1=ESV&searchtype=all&limit=none&wholewordsonly=no&startnumber=51 ) The other Gospels use it less than 10 times each. 

Following how that term: “World,” is used in John is a bit of a rabbit hole, so take the red pill and you will see how deep this rabbit hole goes. (Yes, a “Matrix” reference)

Actually, there are a few observations that may help us. The world is not condemned . . . well actually it might be, but that is not Jesus’ doing nor apparently did God send Jesus as condemnation. No, it will condemn itself. (3:18)

Second: there is a bunch of judging going on. Jesus was sent as judgement, (9:39) but not to judge. (12:47) In the latter verse, there will be judgement but it will come by the word Jesus has spoken, because it is God’s word, and those who are judged will judge themselves by it, maybe because they hear it but misuse it, maybe because they reject it.

Third: There will be someone called the Advocate or Helper. The Advocate will convict, and judge but not condemn: 

“8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”

In other words, the Advocate will make sure that the world knows that it is walking in darkness and that, if it ends up condemned it is its own doing and its on bloody fault. 

Fourth: there is a “Ruler of this world,” who is a dark force and there are children of darkness who love darkness rather than light but do so because they are blind and there are  children of light who see things for what they are. (the episode of Chapter 9 is about them) 

Fifth: Jesus is in the world as a light. (1:1-13) So are those who have heard and followed him and have been made clean by his word. Jesus brings God’s word again and in turn, God’s word in not understood but through Jesus. To claim to know but not acknowledge Jesus is to walk in darkness. (8:31-59, 14:1-7) The obverse is also true: If you truly understand the word of God you come to Jesus. (6:37)

Six: In John, Jesus’ mission is to be the light and he gladly accepts it, hence the rejection to beg: “Father save me from this hour.” (12:27) This is the Love that God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, have for the world. It, the world is dark and under the rulership of the prince of darkness, but they aim to save it by showing the world how dark it actually is. (The red pill again — yes, that Matrix reference . . .)

The whole irony thing that John is famous for, the subtle sense that the whole Gospel might just be gnostic because it seems to be saying one thing but relying on an unspoken thing that only the few know to actually understand what is being said might actually be quite simple: It is in the 90’s and the church has been booted out of the synagogue. But church and synagogue claim the same heritage. They speak the same language but the mean different things by what they say — again and from above don’t mean the same thing except when they do or don’t when they aren’t but then, you know, or do you? The language is the same but the meaning is not. In the words of Inigo Montoya: “You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.” (Princess Bride) 

Conversion has stopped among the Jews — perhaps. All that is left is enmity and arguing. Whatever space the empire had allowed for the Jews to be peculiar, if the empire actually ever did that, has collapsed on the church which is now open to the charge of being anti emperor by claiming another Lord. They sing the same Psalms. They claim the same Abraham. 

What does one do? Becoming Amish is one option. The other is to love the world for what it is, engaging it, and always praying for its conversion. Dom Helder Camara once wrote that his most ardent prayer was for the Prodigal Son’s older brother. He always prayer that he would “go in.” Our Springfield Ohio colleague, Bill Zimmann sometimes asked with a smile: “Do you think God loves the devil?” The strange answer, at least from John, might actually be: “Yes.” It is the devil who has condemned himself, has been judged by his deeds, and lives as one convicted — no wonder he is always angry. 

It is naive to think that loving the world will instantaneously change it or that proclamation and even teaching will convert it instantaneously. The story of Thomas speaks to this. Yet, the work is before the church: Live in this world. Love it a bit. Don’t fall for its lies or adopt its ways. Be light. Be love. (St Terese Lisieux)