This Sunday we’ll be reading a long passage, John 4:1-30.

It’s one of my favorite stories from the New Testament.  It’s the longest conversation that Jesus has with someone recorded in the gospels. It’s delightful to me because it is so outrageously improper and scandalous in almost every detail. The fact that Jesus is talking to a woman in public (something not done and especially by a rabbi) – the fact that she is a Samaritan (the folks North of Judean territory whom the Jewish people hated) – the fact that she has a history of serial marriage and divorce – it’s like a perfect storm of cultural and religious taboos which Jesus unhesitatingly dives into.

John’s gospel is trying to instruct us that if we want to know what God is like we have to look at Jesus – if we want to know what God is doing we have to look at what Jesus does. This is a startling picture of God indeed. A God who’s love is not restricted by any boundaries enforced by culture or religion.

Have you ever felt far from God – ashamed or embarrassed by choices you’ve made or the lot you find yourself in? Does this picture of God tell you anything about how God views those who are outcasts?

She arrives at the well at noon – in the heat of the day. Most people would do that chore early in the morning or late in the afternoon when the sun wouldn’t be as hot. What does this tell us about her place in the village society? Have you ever felt like her?

Jesus knows all her secrets – by her admission, he knows everything she’s ever done. Does he seem mad at her in this conversation? Does he tell her to get her life together or change some things before he offers her the living water of a new life?  What does that tell you about God’s disposition toward you?

As the church – as those who represent this Christ – do we represent this sort of scandalous grace very well? Who are the Samaritans of our culture and time? What can we learn about how we should be interacting with the world around us in light of what Jesus does in this story?

There’s an awful lot of stuff in this passage – layers of stuff. We’ll pick out a few gems, but take your time and read this over. Try on the characters for size – the woman, the townsfolk of Sychar, the bewildered disciples who find their Rabbi talking with a strange woman in public.  It should be an interesting study – hope to see you there!

By the by – I did a retelling of this story in my webcomic Rabbi Encounters – you can read it HERE.

What does it mean to follow someone? It really depends on the context. If you follow someone on Twitter it simply means you have an interest in keeping up with what that person writes in 140 characters or less. If you follow a football team, it basically means you’re a fan – you cheer for them and wear their team logo on your person.

To be a follower of Jesus implies much, much more. Jesus’ first disciples will be the topic of our study in the gospel of John this Sunday.  We’ll be reading John 1:35-51.

To really understand the dynamic of what is transpiring in this text, we need to become familiarized with the 1st century practice of rabbis and their disciples. Here is an EXCELLENT article about that subject. Please, please do yourself a favor and take the time to read it.

As you read this account of Rabbi Jesus gathering his first Talmidim (disciples, followers) – what do you observe about following Jesus; what did it meant to them? Did they have questions, and what were they? What was their first order of business after they met Jesus? What significant thing happens with Simon (whose name means sinking sand) – and what might it imply for him?

As the disciples tell their friends about Jesus – what is the invitation they give?

What would you invite others to “come and see” about Jesus?

Here are the songs for this Sunday from the Eastgate Hymnal – its a good practice to meditate on what we’ll sing together and heighten our sense of worship.

“Love Song”
“Bless Your Name”
“There is No One”
“No Other Name”
“From the Inside Out”

This Sunday as we continue our study in the gospel of John, we’ll be reading John 1:19-34. 

This is the start of the narrative proper. Without any sort of deeper introduction, we get thrown into the middle of a scene that is already underway – there is conflict and tension, and we have to be familiar with the other gospel accounts to even understand who we’re reading about and what’s going on.

Here is an excellent source of information about John the Baptist, not only from Scripture, but also quotes from the ancient Jewish historian Josephus. I highly recommend you taking the time to read it.  It is very possible that John the Baptist was influenced by, or even in direct contact with the Essene community. It’s likely that his practice of baptism evolved from their practice of ritual cleansing.  Here’s a cool breakdown of the religious movements that dominated the cultural landscape of Jesus’ day.

John is sent to sound an alarm that Messiah is not just at hand, but here. His purpose is to encourage the right response from the covenant people of Israel. As we read this section of the narrative – what do you learn about John the Baptist’s view of himself, and how does that instruct us about how we should view ourselves in light of Christ?

What do we learn about Jesus and the Messiah’s ministry from John the Baptist? How does that effect us – what does it mean to our lives as 21st Century Christians?

Hope to see you Sunday!

If I were to obtain a retinal scan, a copy of your driver’s licence, your fingerprints, a sample of your DNA and your Social Security number…I would probably be able to positively identify you as a person. Those things are routinely used for security and courtrooms to identify people – but they are wholly impotent in defining a person’s identity – defining who they really are.

Personal identity is such a murky subject – philosophers and doctors of psychology have spent vast amounts of time studying this idea and have yet to come to a fully agreed upon means of drawing out one’s personal identity. So many different factors play into this as well – ethnicity, gender, culture, the nation we live in – but all of these are subservient to the core of who we really are.

It’s odd that answering that question is challenging – why are we so in the dark about something so intimate?

We’re going to consider this theme as we continue our study in the Gospel of John, reading John 1:6-13 this Sunday.

John the Baptist is introduced, but he is plainly described as NOT being the Light that shines in the darkness. There is a lot to consider there, especially as it touches church culture and leadership – but if we think about finding identity, what does that tell us about where our search should begin?

V12 in the Message version is so wonderful to me. I believe Peterson hits the target. V12 reveals who we really are…or at least, who we are meant to be.  This reveals who God is – and how is God revealed in this verse?  This reveals who we are. Does this make any difference in your life, or especially your self-awareness? Does knowing who you are in God’s pattern for life change anything about how you understand your life? If so…how?

I’m really stoked about this section – and I’m looking forward to digging into it!

If you haven’t been there, you should check out The Eastgate Hymnal – a 21st century hymnal. The songs we’ll be singing this Sunday are: Forever ; Holy is the Lord; Beautiful Lord; As Children; and You Are My King  – check out the lyrics and read the meditation to be prepared to enter into our corporate worship time.

See you Sunday!

Well…if we make it through these floods, this Sunday we’ll be introducing a new study which will take up our Sundays for many weeks to come. We’ll be embarking on an exploration of the Gospel of John.

I struggled a lot with how to introduce this study. We can’t read John like the other three, synoptic gospels. I thought about just posting a poem…but that seemed a little too ambiguous and maybe even pretentious. However, it is vital that we not approach the Gospel of John like a textbook or a documentary. John’s gospel isn’t intended to educate us as it is to introduce us to….well, to God.

John is basically saying through his account – “If you want to know who God is, or what He is like, take a long look at Jesus.”

That’s what we will set out to do. Through John’s selected vignettes, we will get a different view of Jesus than we find in Matthew, Mark or Luke. John wrote his gospel much later than the other three (which had been circulated for years by the time John’s writing), and it’s clear that he had had a lot of time to think over and draw some conclusions about the things he witnessed and experienced.

This Sunday we’ll be reading John 1:1-5, the prologue.

What other famous passage of Scripture starts with “In the beginning…”? What does that tell us about John’s account of Jesus?

John begins by talking about the Word – eternal, creator, light and life. He will later identify the Word as Jesus. The Greek word for…well, word, is Logos. If you feel like it, you might want to read an interesting Wikipedia entry on the very complex ideas that word carried in the 1st Century Greco-Roman world, as well as in Israel.

What significance to you find in  John using a word that was this meaningful in the ancient world to describe Jesus?

If you were to describe the opening of this gospel, would you say it was a) a curtain rising on an epic drama;  b) walking in on a movie that’s already started;  c) hearing a familiar song sung in a foreign language?

That’s enough stuff to think over for now. Hope to see you Sunday.