John 15: 9 – 17

Lord, your Word is a tree of life that offers blessed fruit in abundance.

Like the rock gushing water in the desert it is for each of us a refreshing fountain.

“All ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink.”

Today’s text is clearly divided into two parts.  We will reflect and pray on each part separately.

* *

⁹Jesus said to his disciples:

“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.  Remain in my love.

Remain in my love.  ¹⁰If you keep my commandments you will remain in my love,

just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.

¹¹I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

It is easy to see how the opening and closing statements are linked.  Try reading them as a unit.  Jesus loves us in the same way as the Father loves him.   We could never have worked this out for ourselves.  No wonder Jesus had to spell it out for us.

Sadly, there are many people whose relationship with God is based on fear.  Jesus tells us plainly that we should experience great joy from how we relate to God.  Our religion should be a joyful experience.  In fact, our God is a God who brings joy.

In the centre part there is mention of commandments.  You may well say, “What commandments?”  A short look through the chapters that come before and follow this text will give us the answer.

13: 34  I give you a new commandment: As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.

Now that is really straight forward.  Oh yes, Jesus sets a really high standard, but the rewards will be so great.  It is so easy to say, “I love my neighbour”.  It is quite a different story to really put it into practice.

Way back in the time of Isaiah 600 BC God complained,  “This people honours me with their lips alone, though their hearts are far from me.”  Is 29: 13

Things had not changed much in Jesus time.

“This people honours me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human rules.” Mk 7: 6

James has really sound advice for us.

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God our Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their difficulties and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”  Jm 1: 27  This is how we will “remain in my love”.  

PRAYER

O praise the Most High, Jerusalem!

Praise your God!

For God strengthens the bars of your gates, blessing your children within you,

establishing peace in your boarders, feeding you with the finest wheat.

You send out your word to all the earth.

You make your word known to your people.

You have not dealt thus with any other nation; you have taught us your decrees.

* * * * * *

 ¹²This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you.

¹³A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends.

¹⁴You are my friends, if you do what I command you.  ¹⁵I shall not call you servants anymore, because a servant does not know his master’s business: I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father.  ¹⁶You did not chose me, no, I chose you;  I commissioned you to go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last; and then the Father will give you anything you ask him in my name. 

¹⁷What I command you is; to love one another.

* *

In this second part of the gospel Jesus leaves us in no doubt as to what his commandment is.  Love one another.  And James has told us plainly what this means in practice.

In verse 13 we find the expression “lay down his life”.  My preference is to read it as,  “Dedicate his life to his friends”.  Certainly this is what Jesus did during his life time.  We too are called to the service of others in a variety of ways.  The Christian way is service.

Jesus chooses us, he offers us works of service, he asks us to go out and to bear fruit.  He calls us to live in such a way that the world will be a better place for our having been in it.  In this way our fruit will last and Jesus words will come true:

“I have overcome the world.”  Jn 16: 33b

PRAYER

Sing and joyful song to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God for having made us worthy

to share the inheritance of the saints in light.

God has delivered us from the power of darkness

and transferred us into the kingdom of God’s beloved son, Jesus.

Jesus is the image of the invisible God.  Col 1: 12 – 20

John 10: 11 – 18

Lord help us to realise  that to read the gospel with an open mind is to see beyond all possibilities of doubt that You, Jesus, came to bring us, not only a new life, but also, a new power of acting upon our world.

It is true, that the development of the world can be influenced by our faith in Christ, then Lord, let this power flow through your Word to us and though us to others.

We need to look back at Chapter 9 to understand the context in which John places the teaching about the Good Shepherd.  (Jn10: 1-10; 11-18; 27-30)

Chapter 9

Jesus is the central character.  On the one side of him is the blind man who Jesus cured.  He represents the flock who have heard the voice of the shepherd and come to him.  On the other side are the authorities.  They did nothing to help the blind man, and when he did find help they drove him out.  It is into this uncaring, hostile situation that John inserts the “Good Shepherd” teaching, and what a contrast it is!

READ

Now read the text from your bible, slowly and attentively, a number of times.  Try reading it out loud to yourself so that you can listen to it.  This often helps us to a better understanding of the text.

Did you notice that the story starts with:

¹⁰I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full.

Jesus comes into this world so that life will become so much easier.  He did not come to make it harder; more rules to keep; more obligations.  No!  He came so that we would be able to live better, kinder, more useful lives.

¹⁸ .. this is the command I have been given by my Father.

* * * * * *

In chapter 9 we saw Jesus’ way of doing things compared to the behaviour of the authorities.  The same comparison is made in this text.  We see the attitude of the “Good Shepherd”, compared to that of the “hired man.”

Note the stark contrast between Jesus (Good Shepherd) and the authorities (the hired man).

“Jesus lays down his life for his sheep.”  We can express this in a number of ways.

He devotes his life to us.

The Good Shepherd brings life to his sheep (us).

Jesus invites us to share to share his close relationship with this Father.

Jesus devotes his whole life to ‘my having life to the full’.

His Father has given him a command, a commission, to reveal God and thus save the world. He accepted this command and was faithful to it to the end. ¹

He cares for us.

In contrast we have those who are ‘hired”.

They do not recognise that the sheep are their concern.

They abandon.

They run away and scatter instead of helping and building up people.

They make life harder, rather than, making serving God a joyful experience.

Who are we going to follow?

* * * * * *

In the middle of this reading we have a most important teaching.

¹⁴I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep. 

¹⁶And there are other sheep I have that are not of this fold, and these I have to lead as well.  They too will listen to my voice, and there will be only one flock, and one shepherd.

We have just compared the Good Shepherd (Jesus) with the hired man (the authorities)

Now we are again reminded that:

“¹⁴I am the good shepherd;”

Jesus is the Good Shepherd.

God is the Good Shepherd.

“¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father”

(Knowing in the Bible is a deep, intimate, committed relationship.)

We are called into the very same relationship with Jesus as he has with his Father.  We are invited to know the Father and Jesus.  This means that Jesus wants us to enjoy a special friendship with him and the Father.

Here are a few questions to help you reflect on your God:

Do I really know God?

What do I know about God?

Describe what you believe about God; not just what somebody has told you, but what you have experienced about God.

Here is a description of God from Luke’s Gospel. Lk 6: 36 – 38

³⁶Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

³⁷Don’t be a judge of others and you will not be judged;

do not condemn and you will not be condemned;

Forgive and you will be forgiven;

                    ³⁸Give and it will be given to you, and you will receive in your sack good               measure, pressed down, full and running over.

Makes your think!!

In the second part, verse 16, we are reminded that following Jesus is not the exclusive right of the few.  Jesus is quite emphatic that ALL are called.  All humanity is called to union with our God.  A God who places no limits on his love.  Jesus shares this love with us and sends us out to share it with others.

* * * * * *

Our prayer and reflection can be summed up in the following scripture texts:

¹⁰I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full.

this is the command I have been given by my Father. (and I give it to you)

13: 34 – 35

I give you a new commandment: love one another.  As I have loved you, so you should love one another.

Surely this is another of the keys to the Kingdom of God. Mt 16: 19

1               Fallon M;  The Gospel According to John,  p 198

John 6: 60 – 69

Father, you wait for us until we are open to you.

We wait for your Word to make us receptive.

Attune us to your voice, to your silence.

Speak and bring your Son to us – Jesus – the Word of your peace.

Up to now Jesus has presented himself to us as:

41 … I am the bread that came down from heaven.

48 … I am the bread of life.

This is the way he refers to his way of life, the message that he brought to humanity and that he continues to put before us.

In today’s reading we find how people responded to Jesus message.  As you read the text below you will become aware that there were many people who were not prepared to accept the teachings of Jesus.  All text that refers to this rejection of Jesus has been printed in red.

Time to read Jn 6: 60 – 69

60 After hearing his doctrine many of the followers of Jesus said, “This is intolerable language.  How could anyone accept it?”  61Jesus was aware that his followers were complaining about it and said, “Does this upset you?  62What if you should see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before?  63It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh has nothing to offer.  The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.  64But there are some of you who do not believe.”  For Jesus knew from the outset those who did not believe, and who it was that would betray him.  65He went on, “This is why I told you that no one could come to me unless the Father allows him.”  66 After this, many of his disciples left him and stopped going with him.  67 Then Jesus said to the Twelve, “What about you, do you want to go away too?”

68 Simon Peter answered, “Lord, who shall we go to?  You have the message of eternal life, 69and we believe; we know that you are the Holy One of God.”

This must have been a terrible experience for Jesus. There was so much opposition to him.  All that he taught was considered “intolerable”. Then the people voted with their feet and left.  What was it that had so upset his followers?

For the answer to this question all we need to do is page through the gospels.  Here are just some of the teachings that people would not accept.  Many of these teachings of Jesus are still not accepted.

The place of women in the kingdom.

The first person to fill the role of disciple in Mark’s gospel is Peter’s mother-in-law.  “She ministered to them.”  (Mk 1: 31)  The second was a pagan and his mission was to the pagans.  “Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him.”  (Mk 5: 20)  The message is clear.  Women are welcome in the kingdom and all are equal in the kingdom.  No longer will they be discriminated against.  As if that was not enough, Jesus announces that Pagans are welcome and that they will play an important role in the proclaiming of the Kingdom.  Take note you men!  Women and pagans are busy being disciples long before the apostles are sent out in Mk 6: 7.

The  Twelve were sent out to preach “repentance”.  (Mk 6: 12)  Repentance in Scripture means a complete change of heart.  We are called to change our thinking and our attitudes.  Remember how we saw Jesus accept Jew and Pagan alike at the beginning of Chapter 6.  (Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary time.)

In today’s text we are well aware that many of Jesus’ disciple were not prepared to change.

Take a few minutes to read Lk 6: 35 – 38.  On first reading this looks like sound like some very challenging teaching on the part of Jesus – “love your enemies”.  This is correct.  There is another interpretation of this text.  Read this text again as a description of how God behaves and how he wants us to behave.

Elsewhere he challenged the experts when he proclaimed:

“The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”  (Mk 2: 27)  Is it any wonder that Jesus lost so many of his friends?

“Do you want to go away too?”

These words are addressed to us every time we go to the Eucharist.

The Vatican Council tells us:

“The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures just as she venerates the body of the Lord, since from the table of both the Word of God and of the Body of Christ she unceasingly receives and offers the faithful the bread of life, especially in the sacred liturgy.”

To receive the Eucharist means to be assimilated with Christ, to identify with and accept his teaching, his Word.  When we respond “Amen” after receiving Communion we are in effect saying, “Lord, who shall we go to?  You have the message of eternal life, 69 and we believe”.

Father, you wait for us until we are open to you.
We wait for your Word to make us receptive.
Attune us to your voice, to your silence.
Speak and bring your Son to us – Jesus – the Word of your peace.

READ
Go to your Bible and read this text several times. At this stage please concentrate on the
disciples and then on Jesus. Take note of the number of times ‘disciples’ is mentioned.

I found that the word ‘disciples’ is mentioned five times.
Imagine yourself in an early Christian community listening to this text. Your attention is
caught by this repetition. There is no doubt in your mind who Jesus is addressing: all His
disciples, especially you.

READ the text once more. This time I ask you to try to identify how the disciples change or do not change as the story unfolds. We call this process of change, “Movement”. Look carefully at then as the story begins – doors are closed, fear. Can you see any change in their emotions and attitude as the story progresses? Does this story have a happy ending?

You may have experienced a similar change / movement in your life. Perhaps you can see
how this happened in a relationship you experienced.

******
I have selected some relevant parts for you to read now.

19In the evening of the same day, the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the
room where the disciples were for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20and showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy when they saw the Lord, 21and he said to them again, “Peace be with you.”
……

26Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them. The
doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. “Peace be with you” he said.
……

30Therewere many other signs that Jesus worked and the disciples saw, but they are not recorded in this book.
******

Use your imagination, placing yourself in the story as one of the disciples.

As Jesus enters the community of disciples they are completely turned in on themselves.

The prevailing emotion is one of fear. They are terrified of the authorities. However there
are other reasons for their fear. I am sure that most of them are full of guilt, after all, only a few women and one man stood by Jesus during his crucifixion. Just imagine the shame and concern they feel when Jesus appears. What is he going to say? How hurt and angry is he be?

Jesus appears. There is dead silence. The tension mounts. What is going to happen? And
then Jesus speaks. “Peace be with you.” See the surprise on their faces. They are astounded.

Experience the relief. All burst into applause, greetings are shouted back and forth, their joy explodes.

Not one word of blame or condemnation. Their friendship with him seems to be just the
same. No wonder there is “joy” among them. This seems too good to be true, but it is true.
The disciples still find it difficult to believe that it is true. Jesus sensing their doubt reassures them by repeating, “Peace be with you.”

“Eight days later” – the first day of a new week. Do not read this literally. Remember that
God completed his creation in a week. John is telling us that Jesus is busy with transforming the lives of his disciples. Jesus realises that we can only change slowly and so he allows plenty of time for the disciples to realise that he still loves them and will continue to do so.

“Eight days later”, nothing has changed. The doors are still closed. The disciples’ minds
are still closed. They have not yet let go of their fears and guilt. They have not yet forgiven
themselves. Jesus has to reassure them once again – “Peace be with you.”

This is a time of struggle for Jesus’ disciples. How hard it is for them to realise that Jesus
forgives them unconditionally?

It is Thomas who leads the way. He is surrounded by a community of people who have not
yet been able to accept that they have been forgiven. He is the first to “see” and understand
the message of Jesus – we are forgiven. There Jesus stands, wounds and all, and all
hear Jesus say, “You are forgiven.” Thomas, alone, can fully absorb this. He responds,
completely accepting this FORGIVING GOD:

“My Lord and my God.”

The story is not over. Jesus has a very special message for all of us.

TEXT
As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.”
22After saying this he breathed on them and
said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

23For those whose sins you forgive, they
(Go and forgive as you have been
are forgiven; forgiven by me today.)
for those whose sins you retain, they are retained.”

MESSAGE

(I was sent to lighten people’s burdens, you go and follow).

(Receive the Spirit of Forgiveness).

(Go and forgive as you have been forgiven by me today).

Everyone of us is called to live as Jesus did. We are called to forgive – ourselves and others.

FORGIVENESS is one of the “keys of the Kingdom of God.” Mt 16: 19 By forgiving we
make the Kingdom of God present in the world. If we do not forgive!!! What a mess our lives will be!!!

Just look around the world and see what happens when we refuse to/cannot forgive – Israel and the Palestinians – the conflict in Afganistan – the decades of pain when there is no forgiveness in families.

John tells us that eventually the disciples “saw”.
The disciples understand that Jesus forgives them.
God forgives them.
This is the “sign” – a mighty deed.
We too are forgiven.
We too can and should forgive in the same way.
(We too can do mighty “signs”.)

Let us now pray in the words of this scripture.
Jesus, peace be with you and may there be peace/forgiveness between you and me. Give
us the grace to bring peace/forgiveness to all those who surround us. May I be a person of
peace/forgiveness. Jesus, I hear you saying to me, “Doubt no longer but believe.” Help me to believe that our God is not like me. I find it so hard to forgive. Our God is forgiveness itself. Jesus stir me, so that I may have a forgiving heart, just as you have.

The story of the healing of the leper (Mk 1: 40 – 45) applies a Law set down in Leviticus, “The person who has a leprous disease¹ shall .. cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ .. He shall live alone:  his dwelling shall be outside the camp.”  (Lev  13: 45 – 46)  During Jesus’ time on earth most people, including the religious authorities, were convinced of the validity of this Law.  Clearly the authors of Leviticus drew an unwarranted conclusion from their understanding of God’s purity.  They thought that lepers (and other classes of people) had to be separated from the community.  Believe it or not, Leviticus 13 begins, “Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron!”  God said no such thing.  Jesus’ example directly contradicts this law.  He teaches us that we should not be casting out the lepers but healing them with love and compassion.

⁴⁰A leper came to him (and kneeling down) begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.”  ¹Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, and (looking beyond the disease to the person) touched him, and said to him, “I do will it.  Be made clean.”  ⁴²The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.

⁴³Then, warning him sternly, he dismissed him at once.  ⁴⁴Then he said to him, “See that you tell no one anything, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them.”

⁴⁵The man went away and began to publicise the whole matter.  He spread the report abroad so that it was impossible for Jesus to enter a town openly.  Jesus remained outside in deserted places, and people kept coming to him from everywhere. (Mk 1: 40 – 45)

Mark arranges his stories in groups of three.  He challenges us to search out the common theme that connects them. In Chapter 1 the man with the unclean spirit is cured in the synagogue. (21)  The cure of Simon’s mother-in-law comes next (29), followed by the healing of the leper.  The man, the woman and the leper are all people who have been declared unclean and then marginalized.  The man with the unclean spirit should never have been in the synagogue.  Simon’s mother-in-law is not important enough to have a name – as a woman she has no standing in society.  The leper is totally excluded from society and does not even rank as part of humanity.

Do you know how it feels to be excluded?   Watch young boys picking teams and you will begin to understand.  See the look on the faces of the “last, ‘useless’, five or six”; and then the joy when they are spared the humiliation of being the least wanted.

Jesus’ response to the leper’s request is to be, “Moved with pity.”  However, if one reads carefully, it is possible to sense Jesus’ indignation and anger at a system that creates outcasts.  He does not hesitate to flout this inhuman interpretation of the Law.  The text says he “touched him.”  A better translation is, ‘he embraced him.’  Jesus knew that there would be consequences to his actions.  The moment he touched the leper he himself was classified ‘unclean’ and had to remain “outside in deserted places.”  By identifying with the leper Jesus is now the leper.  No wonder he asked the man not to talk about his cure.

Jesus’ disregard for an unjust Law struck a chord with many right-thinking people.  They too ignored the strictures that were placed on Jesus and “people kept coming from everywhere.”

The Law, at its best, recognizes God to be “merciful and gracious, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”  (Ex 34: 6)  As Jesus reaches out to the leper we recognize these qualities of God reflected in his life.

Who were the first people to share in Jesus mission?   Simon and Andrew.  They were the first chosen.  Their first mission only starts in Mark 6: 7.

The story of the healing of Simon’s mother-in-law concludes with, “Then the fever left her and she ministered to them.”  This does not mean she made the supper.   She devoted herself to bringing the Good News to her family, friends and neighbours.  After the healing of the pagan demoniac he was instructed to, “Go home to your family and announce to them, all the Lord in his pity has done for you.”  (Mk 5: 19)  A woman and a pagan the first active apostles!!

Now there is a lesson for us!!

1. Leprosy refers to any skin condition and not Hansen’s disease.

Mark 14: 1 – 15: 47

We will use Mk 15: 21 – 41 for our prayer and reflection.

Father, we thank you for the gift of your Holy Word.  May it be a lamp to our feet, a light to our paths, joy to our hearts and strength to our lives.

Jesus’ death must have been a terrible experience for his followers.  All their hopes had been dashed.  How could such a good person, as Jesus, suffer such a miserable and degrading death.  As you read through 15: 21 – 32 you will soon become aware of the emotions and confusion that must have filled the minds of the disciples.  How they must have tried to make some kind of sense out of what had happened.  This struggle went on for some considerable time.

Just look at the confusion that existed in Mark’s mind.

• He mentions crucified seven times.

• Jesus is mocked seven times.

• Could Jesus have had a more terrible death? He was stripped naked; “they shared out his clothing.”  He died between, “two robbers.”

No wonder Mark could not make any sense out of this tragedy.

²¹The soldiers led Jesus out to crucify him.  They enlisted a passer-by, Simon of Cyrene, father of Alexander and Rufus who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross.  ²²They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which means the place of the skull.  ²³They offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he refused it. ²⁴Then they crucified him, and shared out his clothing, casting lots to decide what each should get. ²⁵It was the third hour when they crucified him. ²⁶The inscription giving the charge against him read: “The king of the Jews”. ²⁷And they crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left. ²⁹The passers-by jeered at him: they shook their heads and said, “Aha!  So you would destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days!  ³⁰Then save yourself: come down from the cross!”  ³¹The chief priests and the scribes mocked him among themselves in the same way: “He saved others” they said, “he cannot save himself. ³²Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down from the cross now, for us to see it and believe.” Even those who were crucified with him taunted him.

Can you imagine Mark (long after Jesus death), head down, hands holding his head, his eyes closed, his heart broken. And so it was with all Jesus disciples. How long it took for Mark to bring this tragedy to prayer we do not know. Eventually he started to pray about it. Still there was no light, no understanding. He persevered and then, one evening, as he prayed Ps 22 he began to understand what had happened. Here in this psalm he started to find some answers.

PSALM 22

15: 34

²My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

Why so far from my call for help, from my cries of anguish?

15: 29 – 30

15: 31b

⁸All who see me mock me;

they curl their lips and jeer;

they shake their heads at me:

⁹You relied on the Lord – let him deliver you,

if he loves you, let him rescue you.”

15: 24

So wasted are my hands and feet

¹⁸that I can count all my bones.

They stare at me and gloat;

they divide my garments among them;

²⁰But, you Lord, do not stay far off;

my strength, you, come quickly to help me.

²¹Deliver me form the sword,

my forlorn life from the teeth of the dog.

²²Save me from the lion’s mouth,

my poor life from the horns of wild bulls.

God, rescue me, and I will be so grateful; all people will be grateful.

²³Then I will proclaim  your name to the assembly;

in the community I will praise you.

for my clothing they cast lot.

God’s  Kingdom is established

²⁸All the ends of the earth

will worship and turn to the Lord.

All families of nations

will bow low before you.

³⁰All who sleep in the earth

will bow low before God.

³¹And I will live for the Lord.

From the opening cry of anguish;

²My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

to

they divide my clothing among them;

we listen to a person sinking into the depths of pain and suffering.  The psalmist’s distress is Jesus’ distress, is Mark’s suffering, it is also yours and mine.

Just when things cannot get worse, Jesus turns to the Father, the Father who he has always trusted;

“You Lord, do not stay far off;

my strength, you, come quickly to help me.

We express our relief and gratitude at how God intervenes in our lives.

 “I will proclaim your name,

I will praise you.”

This gratitude shifts to an ecstatic experience – in Mark’s words we are astounded and we say so.

²⁸All the ends of the earth will worship and turn to the Lord.

(Everybody will turn to God.  Everyone will be united with God.

Goodness is becoming ever more present in my life and in the lives of my community.)

Now pray Psalm 22 out loud using the text above.

PRAYER

Astounded and Astonished

I pray

God my Father,

²⁸All the ends of the earth

will worship and turn to you Lord.

In you Mother,

All families of nations

will bow low before you.

With you Father,

³⁰All who sleep in the earth

will bow low before God.

And Me

³¹I will live for You.

“This man was a son of God”

To read the gospel with an open mind is to see beyond all possibilities of doubt that You, Jesus, came to bring us, not only a new life, but also, a new physical power of acting upon our world.

John’s Gospel is structured as follows:
Prologue            1: 1 – 18
The Book of Signs    1: 19 – 12: 50
The Book of Glory    13: 1 – 20: 31
The Passion    18: 1 – 19: 42
Epilogue            21: 1 – 25

To-day’s reading occurs at the division between the Book of Signs and the Book of Glory.  As you read you will soon notice that the Glory of God / Jesus is often mentioned.  Let us try to understand what this Glory of God means. We will find the answer in Jn 15: 8.

“By this is my Farther glorified, that you bear much fruit.”

This is fantastic.  It is left to us to bring glory to God and we do that, not be doing anything extraordinary, just by being the best people we can.  Jesus has told us how easy this is:

Love yourself – Love your neighbour – Love God

I am sure you will notice how frequently “glory of God” is mentioned.  This must be very important.  John tells us that it is through service to others that we follow Jesus and bring glory to God.  This is why John places service in the middle of the text.

This may be a good time to read the text as it has been set out for you.  Be aware of how it is divided up.

The Whole World – Comes to Jesus

19Then the Pharisees said to one another, “You see, there is nothing you can do; look, the whole world is running after him.”

20Among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks.  21These approached Philip, who came from Bethsaida in Galilee, and put this request to him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”  22Philip went to tell Andrew, and Andrew and Philip together went to tell Jesus.  23Jesus replied to them: “Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Parable

24I tell you, most solemnly, unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies it remains only a single grain; but if it dies it yields a rich harvest.  25Anyone who loves his life loses it; anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for the eternal life.

Service

26If a man serves me, he must follow me, wherever I am, my servant will be there too.  If anyone serves me, my Father will honour him.

27Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say: Father save me from this hour?  But it was for this very reason that I have come to this hour.

Jesus conquers all evil

28Father, glorify your name!” A voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29People standing by, who heard this, said it was a clap of thunder; others said, “It was an angel speaking to him.” 30Jesus answered, “It was not for my sake that this voice came, but for yours. 31Now sentence is being passed on this world; now the prince of this world is to be overthrown.

World to Jesus

32And when I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all men to myself.” 33By these words he indicated the kind of death he would die.

Everyone of us has been blessed with all sorts of gifts.  Each of us has something special to offer to those around us. The person who has a gift for mathematics can easily help the person who struggles with it. A mother is serving God, and brings glory to God as she cares for her children. ”

Right at the beginning we have Jesus’ enemies admitting that “the whole world is running after him.” He goes on to tell us that ‘Greeks’ wanted to see Jesus. These people represent the pagan world. They really wanted to get to know Jesus and to live their lives following Jesus’ example. It is not surprising that they first approach the two apostles who had Greek names.

“Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Try to feel how excited Jesus must have felt when he was introduced to the Greeks. He must really have been excited by this good news. We too will be excited as we realise just how many good people there are bringing glory to God.

You may well say, “But what about all the evil in the world?” Nobody will deny the existence of evil. However, listen carefully to Jesus’ answer to this question.

“31Now sentence is being passed on this world;
now the prince of this world is to be overthrown.”

Jesus is giving us the assurance that good is going to win.

Surely this is what John is speaking about when he tells us that Jesus will “draw all people to himself.

There is no question of condemnation.

God sent his Son into the world,
not to condemn the world,
but so that through him the world might be saved.  Jn 3: 17

One last word about the meaning of the parable. Nothing will happen if the farmer leaves the mielie seeds in his shed. However if he takes the trouble to plant and water the seeds a great crop will be harvested. We too must not be satisfied with where we are in our spiritual lives.  Let us plant the Word of God, scripture, in our lives. Come, we will commit ourselves to grow in the Word each day. We are promised rich rewards – we will get to know Jesus and “God will be glorified”

John 3: 14 – 21

Introduction

Note:  I have taken the liberty of slightly re-arranging this text, so as to make the meaning clearer.

Note: It will help our understanding of the story of Nicodemus if we Read and Reflect on:

• The ‘Wedding Feast of Cana’, which deals with a spirituality that has lost its life, joy and spirit.  It has become an empty formula, Jn 2: 1 – 11;

• The ‘Cleansing of the Temple’ which speaks of the hindering and frustration of a Good Relationship with our God.  This relationship has been reduced to a market place mentality, Jn 2: 13 – 22.

N.B.  Today, we will learn how Nicodemus grew in his relationship with God.  This story will help us to grow in our own relationship with God.

Prayer

Bless the Lord, my soul;

all my being , bless his holy name!

Bless the Lord, my soul;

do not forget all the gifts of God,

Who pardons all your sins,

heals all your ills,

Delivers your life from the pit,

surrounds you with love and compassion,

Fills your days with good things;

your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Merciful and gracious is the Lord,

slow to anger, abounding in kindness.

God does not always rebuke,

nurses no lasting anger,

Has not dealt with us as our sins merit,

nor rewarded us as our sins deserve.  Ps 103: 1 – 5; 8 – 10

Look what a good God we have!

Tell God how wonderful He is.

Read today’s story out loud so that you get a really good idea about who is in the story and what they are telling us.

When you are finished stand up and proclaim:

“This is the Word of the Lord.”

‘This is the inspired Word of God.’

(By the way, did you notice that “believe” comes up five times.  “Believe”;  means to ‘trust’ somebody fully.)

The Story of Nicodemus

Just for a moment let us travel back in time using our imagination. We are in a small house in Ephesus. The date is sometime between 90 and 100 AD. The writer of John’s gospel is looking back on the life of Jesus and how the influence of Jesus has changed his way of thinking. Over the years that he has been a Christian he has come to realise what a wonderful God we have. He has travelled a long way in his growing understanding of the God of Jesus. No longer does he see God as a blood and thunder, avenging God.

He has discovered with absolute certainty that; “God loves him, and always will.” He responds so positively to this that people around him notice a change in his way of relating to them. He has become kinder, more tolerant and considerate. People see him becoming more Christ-like. Gradually the truth “we are made in the image of God” shines out through him.  Gen 1: 26

This is the story of every Christian.  Each one of us is Nicodemus.

It is not surprising that Nicodemus comes by night. “Night”, describes how he originally saw his relationship with God. All seemed to be darkness. It was difficult to see his relationship with God as life-giving. Indeed, if truth be told, his image of God was terrifying. God was watching, there were any number of mistakes that God could use to send him to hell for all eternity.

Everything has changed now. John uses this story about Nicodemus to tell us all about the wonderful God he has come to believe in.

John 2: 13 – 25

Father, you gave St Jerome and St Paula delight in their study of Holy Scripture.  May we find in your word the flood of salvation and the fountain of life that you have promised, through Christ Our Lord.

Read John 2: 13 – 25 from your Bible.  Do this a number of times so that you become familiar with the text.  We often think that we know the text and thus fail to read it carefully.  God has a message for us today, so do not block him by failing to listen to his Word.

Once more pray our prayer before praying Scripture.

John’s Gospel

This story must have been extremely important to the early Christians.  It appears in all the Gospels.  (Mk 11: 15 – 19; Mt 21: 12 – 13; Lk 19: 45 – 46)  On the face of it what Jesus did should have been seen by the authorities as little more than a minor disturbance by a foolish conservative.  At most, it deserved a few days in jail, ‘to allow this hothead to come to his senses’.  It should have been seen as an empty gesture, after all, it was business as usual the next day.  So why the extreme reaction:

“The chief priests were looking for a way to kill him”;   Mk 11: 18

“The chief priests wanted to arrest him”;   Mt 21: 46

“The chief priests kept looking for a way to kill him”?  Lk 19: 47

Obviously we must look for a deeper, symbolic meaning if we are to understand this story.  It is time use our imagination.  See Jesus walking into the temple and looking at this scene.  The temple worship was big business.  At Passover 18000 lambs were slaughtered.  Roman money with its image of the emperor “god’ on it could not be used in the temple.  It made sense to have the money changers on hand and of course the profits from all these transactions went to the controlling family of the chief priests.  At Passover, Jerusalem at least trebled its population so the profits to be made were great.  It was not just this that made Jesus so angry.  So what was it?

In part two of the Sermon on the Plain, we learn from Jesus what God is like.  “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you… do good to them, and lend expecting nothing back.” Then you will be great and you will be children of  the Most High, for He himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful”. ” (Lk 6: 27; 35-36)

One can read this passage and the one that follows as a challenge to good behavior or as a list of God’s qualities.  ^37.“Stop judging … Stop condemning … Forgive….  Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap.  For the measure with which you give will in return be measured out to you.”  (Lk 6: 37-38)

This is Good News, the Gospel, Jesus brought us.  What a wonderful God we have!  He is generous to a fault, lavishing mercy, gifts and forgiveness on us, simply because he loves us.

How is it that so many of us have such a negative picture of a threatening, punishing, vengeful God? For over a thousand  years the Hebrews  lived among  pagan peoples,  who believed  that their “gods” had very little interest in their well-being.   They feared dire consequences should the gods not be kept happy.

Scripture scholars tell us of early revelations of a radically different God.  “But the Lord said (to Moses), ‘I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry.”              (Exodus 3: 7)  Unlike the Pagan gods, Yahweh is deeply concerned with our well-being.  He tells Moses and us, “I will be with you.”  (3: 12)  God assures us, “I will free you.. I will rescue you.. I will take you as my own people.. I, the Lord, am your God.”  (Ex 6: 6 – 7)  “I will set my Dwelling among you, I will be your God and you will be my people.”  (Lev 26: 11 – 12)  This is the same God, who John tells us, “..became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (Jn 1: 14)  Our God has always been close to us and always will be.

Throughout the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament we find three characteristics of God.  The Hebrew words are; “hesed” (God’s loving kindness, mercy); “emet” (God’s faithfulness); and “raham” (compassion; this word derives from the word for ‘womb’   and speaks of the tenderness of God’s love).  God’s relationship with us is described in the same terms as a mother’s love for her unborn child.

“With everlasting love  (hesed) I will have compassion (raham) on you says the Lord, your Redeemer  … For the mountains may depart.. but my steadfast love (hesed) shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion (raham) on you.”  (Is 54: 8, 10)

“Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance; who does not persist in anger forever, but delights rather in clemency (hesed), and will again have compassion (raham) on us, treading underfoot our guilt?  You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins;  you will show faithfulness (emet) to Jacob, and grace to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from days of old.  (Mic 7: 18 -20) ¹

We come across these qualities of God hundreds of times in the Old Testament.  In the New Testament, we have the story of the Good Samaritan showing compassion and mercy to an injured man. (Lk 10: 33, 37)

With such a loving, merciful and faithful God, it is strange that our behavior/responses should give God cause to cry out in pain “O my people what have I done to you, or how have I wearied you?” (Mic 6: 3)  and in the Song of the Vineyard,… “What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done?” (Is 5: 4)

In spite of our waywardness our God remains a shepherd, feeding his flock.  In his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in is bosom.  (Is 40: 11)  He assures us that our offences are brushed away like a cloud and our sins like the mist.  “Return to me,” he says, “I have redeemed you.”  (Is 44: 22)

As we face the ups and downs of life, our God encourages us:  “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine.”  (43: 1)

1. Fallon M;  Gospel according to Luke, p44