You seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life

 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum.  And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.  Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.  So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.  But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."  Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.

On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone -- however other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks -- when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.  And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?"  Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."

- John 6:16-27

Yesterday, we read that Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.  Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.  And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.  Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.  Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"  But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.  Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little."  One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"  Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down."  Now there was much grass in the place.  So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.  And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.  So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost."  Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.  Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world."  Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone. 

 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum.  And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.  Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.  So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.  But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."  Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.  This is the fifth sign of Jesus' divinity in John's Gospel.  It is just after Jesus has fed five thousand men, and more women and children.  He has gone to the mountain by Himself alone, as the crowd wanted to take Him by force and make Him king.  We have already noted the parallels with the Exodus in John's sixth chapter.  Here there is a parallel to Moses leading the Israelites across the Red Sea (Exodus 14:15-31), as Jesus walks on the sea as if it were dry ground.

On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone -- however other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks -- when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.  And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?"  Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."   These are the same people who wanted to forcefully make Jesus king, whom He had eluded.  They are those who were fed in the wilderness, and they manage to track Him to Capernaum.  Jesus' saying here is similar to the ways in which He spoke to the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, about the water that made it so one would never thirst.  This crowd has sought to make Him king just because He fed them; it is a misreading of the signs of His divinity.  They have labored to find Him, but they must labor for the food which endures to everlasting life. 

We can think of the parallels with the Exodus suggested by my study bible, and think about these people who have been fed by Christ, and therefore sought to make Him king.  They have followed Him to Capernaum, although with difficulty, as the disciples had set sail without Him.  He teaches them to labor not for the food which perishes, but for that food which endures to everlasting life.  We can think of the Israelites following Moses -- with grumbling and quarrels -- to get to the Promised Land.  But is that what faith is really about?  Is it a journey toward a promise of wealth, food, material abundance that is easy and free?  Again, the Gospel is asking us to think about faith, and Jesus is teaching about faith.  What is it for?  Where does faith come from?  From what is it inspired?  Jesus offers a different kind of food, which He instructs has even more benefits than the physical food with which He's fed them.  That feeding was a sign, of His divinity, of a heavenly origin from which He's come to offer us something more.  But that something more, the food which endures to everlasting life, is a food that feeds something more -- that part of ourselves capable of understanding and perceiving more, of relationship, of love, of the nurturing of soul and spirit.  This is the kind of food He wishes for them to seek, something greater that He offers.   Once again we're drawn into the nature of faith, akin to trust, but even more in the ways that He sparks our thinking.  In Jesus' view, it is a love of God that must draw us to faith, a participation in relationship.  We must be hungry for the life of that kingdom, a kind of heavenly participation in what is offered by the One on whom God the Father has set His seal.  What would that food be that endures to eternal life?  What feeds us something beyond the material and the worldly, gives meaning and dimension to our lives, renders beauty and goodness and our ability to perceive that?  What gives more dimension to relatedness, to love?  This is the food He wishes for us to desire, the thing of greater value He is here to distribute.  If our goal is simply material gain, then what is our faith all about?  In the next reading, on Monday, Jesus will teach just what the specific labor is that He speaks of when He tells the people to labor for the food which endures to everlasting life.  His definition of what constitutes that "work" may surprise you, but there is so much contained in what it implies.

Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"

After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.  Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.  And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.  Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.  Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"  But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.  Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little."  One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"  Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down."  Now there was much grass in the place.  So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.  And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.  So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost."  Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.  Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world."  Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone. 

- John 6:1-15

In yesterday's reading, Jesus continued His discourse to the religious authorities at the Feast of Weeks, after healing the paralytic at the Sheep Gate.  He said, "I can of Myself do nothing.  As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.  If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.  There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.  You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.  Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.  He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.  But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish -- the very works that I do -- bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.  And the Father Himself, who has sent Me, has testified of Me.  You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.  But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.  You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.  But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.  I do not receive honor from men.  But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.  I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.  How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?  Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you -- Moses, in whom you trust.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"

After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.  Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.  And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.  Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.   As we begin reading the sixth chapter of John we enter into a kind of parallel of the Passover and Exodus of ancient Israel.  In Exodus (see Exodus 11-17), there were first signs by God performed against Pharaoh, and then instructions were given on how to be saved at the time of Passover (Exodus 11:1-12:14).   Here, the multitudes are following Christ, we're told, because of His signs.  We note, also, the Passover is near.  The chapter will continue to give us other parallels with the Exodus.  Also noteworthy here is the journey involved:  crossing over the sea, going up on the mountain.

Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"  But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.  Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little."  One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"   My study bible suggests that Christ tests Philip here to increase his faith, and to give Philip needed help to understand Him (see 14:8-10).  Two hundred denarii are over six months' wages for a laborer.  Andrew shows a great faith than Philip.  He knows the prophet Elisha had multiplied bread for 100 men (2 Kings 4:42-44), he offers the food brought by a lad.   Yet, still weak in faith, he questions, "What are they among so many?"  It is Christ who must show the answer.  Again, the scene mirrors a component from Exodus; the people, to follow Christ, have in haste left without taking provisions. 

Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down."  Now there was much grass in the place.  So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.  And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.    So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost."  Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.  This scene is central to each Gospel.  The feeding of five thousand men (and more women and children) is parallel to yet another focus of the Exodus, the feeding of the people in the wilderness with manna from heaven. We note how it mirrors the Eucharist:  Jesus gives thanks and distributes to the disciples, they in turn take it to the people.  "As much as they wanted" indicates the abundance of this food, the grace of God.  The twelve baskets filled with leftover barley loaves mirror the Twelve Tribes of Israel, but also symbolize the food that is going to go to the whole world -- to all the nations -- via the Twelve Apostles.

  Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world."  Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.   My study bible says that although Jesus had performed greater signs than this, the crowds here are so desirous of an earthly Messiah that they declare Jesus to be the expected Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15-19) only when they were filled with earthly things.  Therefore Jesus departs from them, because of their misunderstanding.

What can we take from this central event, so important to Jesus' ministry and to the Gospels?  There is the sense of faith, in that people followed Christ because they felt they had such need for Him, heedless of taking provisions.   It is perhaps because of such a show of faith that both Jesus' compassion and this sign is given to them.  This is the fourth sign in of Jesus' divinity in John's Gospel.  But the whole passage, as my study bible pointed out, is about faith.  We see the levels of faith of the disciples Philip and Andrew.  Jesus challenges Philip's faith, and Andrew's is a little greater, although still not full or complete in terms of truly "knowing" Jesus.  In this sense, this feeding in the wilderness is a picture for all of us.  Everybody may be at a differing level of faith.  Even these chosen apostles are at differing levels of faith, and do not have as yet a "complete" faith.  Faith is something learned, that grows as we go forward in it.  We come to "know" Christ in faith, in the same sense as that we come to know another person through relationship, even someone close to us whom we love as a family member, for example.  The care and feeding of these in the wilderness is an example of just what closeness in faith truly is and becomes:  dependency.  A reliance on faith is something that is with us, within us -- something that serves as help and strength, especially in a time of need or challenge.  When we find ourselves in circumstances beyond our control or understanding, or beyond our experience and seeming ability to cope, it is astonishing what help comes through faith and particularly prayer -- including insight into options we might have that are not obvious nor apparent to us.  Unfortunately, the faith of those who are fed in the wilderness is also, as yet, immature.  We don't really know what they will go on to understand, or even if they all remain followers of Christ in the times to come.  But Jesus has not come to the world to convince people by signs to be His followers, nor to be made king in response.  Nether is His power a thing to be used or coerced in return.  Christ calls us to a kind of faith that is a form of love, and that is entirely voluntary -- not created via compulsion, nor manipulation, nor signs.  His signs are pure grace, a gift -- not a coercion, a promise, or one made for a kind of personal gain.  The gain to Christ is love, faith, and trust, and these come from the heart.

I do not receive honor from men. But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you

 "I can of Myself do nothing.  As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.  If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.  There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.  You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.  Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.  He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.  But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish -- the very works that I do -- bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.  And the Father Himself, who has sent Me, has testified of Me.  You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.  But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.  You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.  But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.  I do not receive honor from men.  But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.  I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.  How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?  Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you -- Moses, in whom you trust.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"

- John 5:30-47

 In yesterday's reading, Jesus answered the religious leadership (after His healing of the paralytic at the Sheep Gate).  He said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.  For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.  Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."

 "I can of Myself do nothing.  As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me."  Jesus speaks again of His relationship to the Father.  He indicates a complete dependence or reliance.  Judgment is in alignment with the Father's will.  His "obedience," says my study bible, is indicative of His human will.  In this He sets an example for all of us.

"If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true."  Jesus begins here an anticipation of what these authorities will ask Him.  They need witnesses to His claims, and they will not accept His own witness.  The "charge" is making Himself equal with God.  Is His witness to Himself true or false?

"There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.  You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.  Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.  He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light."   In Jewish tradition, a valid testimony requires two witnesses (see Deuteronomy 17:6).  Jesus will give four.  Here, Jesus presents His first witness, John the Baptist.  In chapter 3, we read of the Baptist's testimony to Jesus as Bridegroom, "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because the bridegroom's voice.  Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.  He must increase, but I must decrease."  Earlier, he had directed his disciples to Christ.  We note Jesus' praise of John the Baptist as a witness to truth:  "He was the burning and shining lamp" in whose light they were willing for a time to rejoice.

"But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish -- the very works that I do -- bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.  And the Father Himself, who has sent Me, has testified of Me.  You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.  But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe."  The works that Jesus does - the seven signs in John's Gospel (so far we have read of turning the water to wine at the wedding in Cana, the healing of the nobleman's son, and the healing of the paralytic at the Sheep Gate) -- testify to the truth of what He says about Himself.  They bear witness to His unity with the Father.   They are another witness.  Yet another is the Father Himself.  There are those will hear His voice, but these men are not among them.  And here is an important understanding of truth as Jesus speaks of it -- without a love of God within themselves, they are unable to "hear."  They do not cherish the word; they will not respond to His word with love.  Everything implied is about a depth of relationship.

"You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me."  Here is another witness, the Old Testament Scriptures, through which Moses and other witnesses have given testimony.  These men are supposed to be the experts.

"But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.  I do not receive honor from men.  But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.  I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.  How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?  Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you -- Moses, in whom you trust.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"  Here is a key to the refusal of the life in His words:  so much depends on what they, His hearers, love and respect.  And the contrast is given here, as it is elsewhere, between the love of God and love of the honor from other "men."  Where is glory?  And what do we love?  These are the two crucial questions Jesus presents us with.  They can't truly believe Moses, else they would understand Him.

Jesus speaks about relationship:  His relationship with the Father, and the relatedness of those who can truly "hear" and receive His word, as given by the Father, as given to Moses -- that fills the Scripture and the hearts of those who love God.  There is no getting away from relationship.  Truth and relationship are intimately bound up in Jesus' teachings.  Everything depends on what is first in the heart, what we love deeply within ourselves.  Is it the glory of the world that we love most, or the glory of God?  The Scriptures contrast the two, and always ask us to make a choice.  What do we love most?  What do we love first?  What's going to take priority within us?  We really have to pay attention.  The Gospels, and all of the Old Testament Scripture, ask this question over and over again in one form or another.  But Jesus takes it to another level.  Love and truth are intertwined.  Everything starts with relationship. The ability to recognize, to know another, comes from a basic inner decision.  He promises elsewhere, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).   In Mark's Gospel, He tells His disciples, "There is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life" (Mark 10:29-30).  Those who preach an utterly syncretic kind of faith, in which a love of God necessarily means an absolutely trouble-free life, give us a false picture of the challenge Christ speaks about here.  He always asks us to make a choice, to put one thing first.  It may add tremendous benefits and blessings to us, but there is always going to be a choice.  Everything depends on what we love first, and truth is entirely connected up in relationship.  A love of truth is perhaps the greatest asset we have, in the point of view presented to us in these Gospels.  It enables us to really see and to know.  To love truth begins with an even deeper relationship of love with the author of truth, the One who is truth.  It's like a basic chord deep within us that vibrates through everything else, the way that sound and voice truly work.  Let us consider life and the word, what He truly gives us.  What means most to you?

The Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel

 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.  For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.  Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."

- John 5:19-29

Yesterday, we read that there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.   The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.  For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."  Jesus begins the discourse on the nature of the relationship between Father and Son.  The first thing we understand is His total dependence, as Son, upon the Father.  This is not only unity of power but also unity of will.  The will of the Father and of the Son are rooted in love, and the nature of this power is life itself.  Jesus immediately links the power of life with Judgment:  all judgment is given to the Son, and thereby the power of life is also in the Son.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.  Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live."   My study bible says that the dead refers both to the spiritually dead, who will find life in Christ, and to the physically dead, who will rise in the general resurrection.  The great sign of this will come as the seventh sign in John's Gospel, the raising of Lazarus from the dead (11:38-44).  Jesus connects His word with Him who sent Me, the Father.  In this sense, His word is the offer of life itself.

"For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."  The judgment that has been given to the Son also rests in the fact that He is the Son of Man.  As Incarnate Son, fully human and fully divine, and having experienced human death, the risen Christ will have all authority for judgment.

Jesus speaks of His relationship with the Father.  As Son, He shares unity with the Father (and the Holy Spirit) in nature, will, and action.  He speaks of love as the basis and essential "glue" of this relationship:  it is the Father's love for the Son that creates such unity:  He shows the Son all things, and in turn the Son is completely dependent upon the Father.  It reminds us once again that the Son has been given to the world in order to bring the gift of life to the world - out of love for the world (John 3:16).  But this gift is ultimately bound up with the judgment, and it depends, really, on how we respond to the gift.  The gift of life is in the words He's given from the Father, which are given to us.  How do we respond?  Jesus will live His life as human being, experiencing the worst the world has to give, the struggles we face, even death -- and that is one of great suffering, enormous pain, anguish, and humiliation.  And not absent from that death is the uncertainty of how we will respond, what will happen to His followers, the pain of His disciples, and those who love Him and watch from a distance, including His mother.  He knows what human life is about, and life in this world.  He is here to offer us life itself, an everlasting life.   It all depends on how we respond to this offer.  In Luke's Gospel, Jesus asks, "When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?"  Life and death are in His hand, and the words of life are given to us.  All of it is tied up with the love of the Father and the unification of Father, Son, and Spirit.  But so much depends on us.  One may wonder, how great is that love that waits upon our return?

Rise, take up your bed and walk

 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.

And that day was the Sabbath.   The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

- John 5:1-18

Yesterday, we read that after the two days Jesus spent with the Samaritans from the region of Jacob's well (see readings from Thursday, Friday, and Saturday), Jesus departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.  So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus can come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  The traditional interpretation of this passage holds that Jesus goes to the feast of the Old Testament Pentecost (or "Feast of Weeks"), called Shavu'ot in Hebrew (see these readings).  This commemorates the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai.  The references to the Law of Moses found later in the chapter affirm this interpretation.

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. This is a double-basin pool which was believed to have curative powers.  It has been discovered about 100 yards north of the temple area, near the Sheep Gate, says my study bible.  The water for this high-ground pool came from underground springs.  It was used to wash down the sacrificial lambs before they were slain.  It functions as a type of Christian baptism.  My study bible teaches that under the old covenant (as portrayed in the text), a great multitude waited to enter the water for physical healing after an angel touched it.  The waters were special in the sense that they were a way of indirect participation in the animal sacrifices of the temple, as the animals were washed in this same water.  This grace was limited to the first person who entered.  The new covenant gives baptism that is given to all nations as direct participation in Christ's own sacrificial death (Romans 6:3-6) without the mediation of angels.  Baptism thereby grants healing of the soul and the promise of eternal resurrection of the body, and grace inexhaustible.

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  Let us consider what we're told here:  thirty-eight years of suffering.  My study bible cites Chrysostom's commentary, that Jesus singled out this man in order to teach all of us to have perseverance.  It's a kind of judgment against losing hope or patience, particularly in much lesser troubles lasting a far shorter time.

When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  This is the third sign in John's Gospel.  My study bible tells us that Jesus' question ("Do you want to be made well?")  is relevant for several reasons.  First, it makes public the fact that the sick man has kept his faith even in a situation that was seemingly hopeless.   How could a paralytic ever be first into the pool?  Secondly, the Lord takes attention away from the water itself and focuses more on the need we have for someone to help us ("I have no man to put me into the pool," says the paralytic).  This person is Christ, who became human to heal all.  Finally, not everyone who is ill truly desires healing.  Sometimes there are "benefits" to illness to which we may become attached.  For instance, it gives "license" to complain, or to avoid responsibility for one's life, or to continue exciting the pity of others.  It is even possible that avoiding healing becomes a way of ignoring the disease itself and avoiding discovery of what (and Who) we truly need.

And that day was the Sabbath.   The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  My study bible says that although the Law itself does not specifically forbid the carrying of burdens on the Sabbath, this is prohibited in Jeremiah 17:27, and specifically forbidden in rabbinical teachings.  That Christ is Lord over the Sabbath is made clear by His command to "take up your bed and walk" and also by the man's obedience (see also Matthew 12:1-8).  We note once again that in John's Gospel, "the Jews" here refers to the leadership and not to the people in general.  The Gospels really tell us, as so much of the Old Testament does, about the failure of leadership to be true shepherds to the people.  Here, their concern is with their own authority, looking for a violation with which they may accuse.  They want to know who told the paralytic to "take up his bed and walk," and yet ignore completely his healing.

Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.   My study bible says the fact that this man was found in the temple shows his great faith; he had gone there directly to thank God for his cure rather than departing to someone's home or the marketplace.  To "sin no more" seems to me to be an injunction regarding the true honoring of God particularly in response to this healing by grace.  His report to the leadership that Jesus is the one who heals him isn't done maliciously.  Rather it's as witness to Christ's goodness, says my study bible.  Even though the leaders were only interested in the violation of the Sabbath, the healed man emphasizes that it was Jesus who had made him well -- he says nothing about carrying his bed.

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.  This will become the basis for further persecution of Jesus; it is clearly understood by the leadership that His statements imply equality.  In our next reading, Jesus' discourse will continue, elaborating on the cooperative nature of His divine "work."

As in yesterday's reading, which gave us the healing of the nobleman's son, in today's reading we are also taught about faith.  This paralytic has been ill for thirty-eight years.  He awaits, with the others by the Sheep Gate, the stirring of the waters.  Perhaps all this time he's only been waiting for Christ, the One who truly helps Him, as my study bible pointed out.  He shows His faith in returning to the temple to thank God for his healing.  And he's a witness, who testifies to Christ's gift to him.  This is a good example to us, an understanding of right relationship to Christ.  He seeks the glory of God first -- not to celebrate or use the gift for some form of personal gain.  Perhaps it is just in our capacity to understand our lives and the good things in our lives as true gifts is a great clue here.  If we begin to understand "gift" then we start to relate properly to Christ in the sense that we begin to make real sense of grace.  There are countless self-help articles, psychology suggestions, and studies affirming the power of gratitude for our health.  But it's important also to know that gratitude gives us the capacity to recognize not only what is at work in our lives, but also to shift our perspective to know the nature and right relationship we need to what is really all around us.  In this is contained a world of wonder and beauty and delight, something that adds infinitely to our lives.  To honor our Creator is to begin to know love and grace.  That this man is found in the temple is a way of understanding his gratitude for life, for the blessing of being healed, and the glory of the God of Israel.  He isn't confused about Jesus; the fact that Jesus healed him draws him closer to God.  There may be a tie with sinning and this man's past; perhaps this is why Jesus teaches him to sin no more.  But certainly it is not the point of view of the Gospels that sinning is always the direct cause of suffering.  However, to "sin no more" is a part of the appropriate relationship to God, a proper way to honor grace.  It is the stuff of faith.  So let us consider the patience with which we bear affliction, just as the nobleman who was desperate for a cure for his son.  Let us understand what it is to accompany all our affliction with constant prayer, what that means and what that does for our relation to God and to the world.  Grace may be there for us in so many ways.

Go your way; your son lives

 Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.

So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus can come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"
Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

- John 4:43-54

On Saturday, we read that as Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well (see the readings from Thursday and Friday), His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why are You talking with her?"  The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did.  Could this be the Christ?"  Then they went out of the city and came to Him.  In the meantime His disciples urge Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat."  But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know."  Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?"  Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.  Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'?  Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!  And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.  For in this the saying is true:  'One sows and another reaps.'  I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors."  And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did."  So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.  And many more believed because of His own word.  Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."

 Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.   The text tells us that Jesus had spent two days with the Samaritans from the town near Jacob's well, among whom He found "the fields white for harvest," that is, many believers.   To spend so much time among Samaritans is, again, something shocking for a Jewish man of His time and place, but among these people He found great faith, and those who sought Him out.  All four Gospels record Jesus' saying that "a prophet has no honor in his own country," and of this we must make note (see also this saying in Matthew, Mark, and Luke).  Here, it is in part an additional explanation for spending His time with the Samaritan believers.  Earlier, we were told that many "believed in His name" at the festival in Jerusalem, having seen the signs He did, but that Jesus did not commit Himself to any of them; that is, because He knew what was in the hearts of men, He did not entrust Himself to them (John 2:23-25).    This is contrasted with the faith He found in the Samaritans at Jacob's well.

So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus can come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  Again we are given to understand that faith that relies on signs and wonders is not the kind of faith that Jesus is looking for; it's not truly complete faith.  Here Jesus is not addressing the nobleman in particular but rather the people (you is plural both times in this verse).   This kind of faith turns to scorn when miracles cease; faith involves trust, love, and devotion.

The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.   This man's concern was clearly for his child, for whom (as so many who seek help in the Gospels do) he shows a great love and affection.  But his faith in Christ was weak, not understanding that, as my study bible puts it, "Christ is Lord over illness even from a distance."  Nor does he grasp that Jesus would have the power to heal even if the child were to die.  Finally, he asks about when the healing took place, still seeking a kind of proof of Jesus' authority.  Only after this confirmation do he and his whole household believe.  My study bible says, "Thus, in healing the child from a distance, Jesus heals not only the body of the child, but the soul of the nobleman."

This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.   In this second sign reported in John's Gospel (the first was at the wedding at Cana, turning the water into wine), Jesus heals a nobleman's son.  My study bible invites us to understand that He's already revealed that He can see into the hearts of people from a distance (as with Nathanael, see 1:45-48), here Jesus shows that He heals from a distance.  In other words, it is an expression that His divine power knows no earthly limits.

It is interesting to think about the experience of the faith of the nobleman in the story we're given today.  There is a great deal of tension expressed here, although as the Gospel is written quite simply and straightforwardly, it may be difficult for us to discern it.  Think about what it is to have a dying child or one to whom we are deeply attached in such a circumstance.  This is a situation that is dire, perhaps that has come on very swiftly.  Yet Jesus asks a kind of patience, first making the statement, presumably before others as well, that "unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  Perhaps this is a message about the healing, that the faith He seeks is not that which depends upon only such things.  The nobleman then pleas again, more desperately this time for Jesus to come immediately; his child is about to die.  Jesus tells him, "Go your way; your son lives."  But in some sense, the man is still asked for faith.  Jesus doesn't come directly and address and resolve the problem; the nobleman has no way of understanding "factually" whether or not this has happened.  He has only Jesus' word.  He can't see the outcome for himself.  So he's asked to live in faith with some kind of tension, a lack of certainty, or proof.  As he goes, his servants meet him, and tell him that his son lives.  His tension isn't really broken until he asks the servants, seeking to confirm what exactly has happened, the precise time when the child was healed.  (The seventh hour is about one o'clock in the afternoon.)  What we're given in this brief story is a kind of microcosm of what faith asks of us.  Often, our faith calls us simply to wait:  to wait amid great tension, the unresolved tension of living with a problem, an evil, a type of affliction, without having a clear understanding of its nature nor of its solution.  I find that these are the times of our greatest temptation, and also possibly of our greatest triumph.  So much depends upon the faith that we are called upon to cultivate, nurture, and strengthen by simply living with that tension, placing ourselves in the hands of faith, of prayer, of God, and being able to sit in that place without its overwhelming us.  This cultivation of detachment through faith is not a question of stoicism.  It's not a question of being able to fully control our feelings.  It becomes a question of sitting with Christ, turning to God in that time, without an obvious solution or immediate sign or wonder, of being able to hold onto Christ with the tension, even in the midst of it.  We may find ourselves in time of prayer able to "let go" -- even momentarily -- in order to cling to Him or to those who also help us in our faith: ministers and fellow faithful, saints and all the hosts who make up the "great cloud of witnesses" in the living body of faith.  I find that no matter what the problem is that is facing us, no matter what its nature, the capacity for returning to faith in the midst of sustained tension is where God calls us to be as part of a journey of faith.  One may consider the great desire for immediate resolution, for certainty of any kind, and relief of the tension, to be a great temptation, even if it is a natural desire.  At that time we may be provoked to all kinds of action, but we are called to faith:  to living with the tension as we, step-by-step, place our circumstances and faith in the hands of God.  This does not mean we do nothing:  this man has sought Christ.  Prayer is not "nothing," it can be the source of great inspiration for solutions, or avenues of inquiry or pursuit, when we give ourselves a break from the temptation of panic or being overwhelmed, of hopelessness, or helplessness.  But we are always encouraged to find strength in faith without denying what we're feeling, to return to our union and reliance on God, that bond of love, and trust through all things.

Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world

 And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why are You talking with her?"  The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did.  Could this be the Christ?"  Then they went out of the city and came to Him.

In the meantime His disciples urge Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat."  But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know."  Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?"  Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.  Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'?  Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!  And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.  For in this the saying is true:  'One sows and another reaps.'  I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors."

And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did."  So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.  And many more believed because of His own word.  Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."

- John 4:27-42

On Thursday, we read that Jesus and the disciples had come to Samaria, as they are passing through on their way back to Galilee from the Passover at Jerusalem.  Jesus sat at Jacob's well, asking a Samaritan woman to give Him a drink.  He spoke to her, eventually teaching, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst."  She asked Him for some of this water.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here."  The woman answered and said, "I have no husband."  Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly."  The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.  Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship."  Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.  You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.  But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."  The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ).  "When He comes, He will tell us all things."  Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."

  And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why are You talking with her?"  The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did.  Could this be the Christ?"  Then they went out of the city and came to Him.  Jesus' disciples marveled because not only was He speaking to a Samaritan, but she was also a woman alone -- something potentially scandalous for Him.  John's Gospel will give us several incidents in which Jesus' dealings with women were outside the contemporary norms for His society (7:53-8:11; 11:20-33; 20:11-18; see also Luke 8:1-3).  Here, the Samaritan woman to whom He chose to speak becomes an early evangelist.  She testifies to the advent of Christ and brings others to Him.  My study bible notes that according to an early tradition, after the Resurrection she was baptized with the name Photini (meaning, "enlightened one").   With her two sons and five daughters, she went to Carthage to spread the gospel.  Later, under emperor Nero, she was martyred with her family by being thrown into a well.

In the meantime His disciples urge Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat."  But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know."  Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?"  Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work."  Once again, John's Gospel gives us a misunderstanding which Jesus uses as an opportunity to teach.  Jesus fulfills His role as Messiah by doing the will of the Father; this is therefore His food.  Earlier, John the Baptist has spoken of the fullness of His joy at doing the same (see 3:27-30).  My study bible notes this teaches us to do the same without being distracted by earthly cares (6:27; see also Matthew 4:4, 6:25-33).

"Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'?  Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!  And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.  For in this the saying is true:  'One sows and another reaps.'  I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors."  According to St. John Chrysostom, Jesus gives the command "Behold" to the disciples because the townspeople were approaching, ready and eager to believe in Christ.  He compares these foreigners (relative to the Jews) to fields ready for the harvest.  The "white" tips of ripe grain are thought to refer an analogy to all the townspeople, traditionally dressed in white.   My study bible says that this command is also to all believers to look to those around us and to share the gospel with anyone wanting to hear it, regardless of race or ethnicity.  There is no natural barrier to Christ.  No matter what work it is we do for the Lord, we are always entering into others' labors.  We are always a part of the great cloud of witnesses who are also in relation to us, even as we reach to others in His name.  St. Chrysostom teaches that those who sow and reap are the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles, respectively.  The prophets sowed in preparation for the coming of the Messiah, but did not see His coming (therefore they didn't reap).  My study bible says that the apostles did not do the preparation, but would draw thousands to Christ in their own lifetimes.

And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did."  So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.  And many more believed because of His own word.  Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."   The Samaritans are foreigners for the Jews, even detested enemies.  That they are among the first to recognize Jesus as Savior of the world teaches that this gospel is for all people in every nation. 

What does it mean that Jesus is the Savior of the world?  It means more than we think.  The word for "world" in the Greek here is kosmos, and it also means all of creation, the universe.  That includes everything in "the world," all its elements.  If we understand Jesus as Incarnate Christ, the Son, the Word, then we understand Him as creator of the universe.  John's Prologue teaches that the Word was with God, the Word was God, and that all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made (John 1:1-5).  John also writes "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."   Jesus brings life to the world; His mission of redemption is for the whole of what "world" means, and leaves no one and nothing out.  The Creator restores us to life in its fullness, in Him, and this is our light.  So what does it mean, in this context, to consider Christ as Savior of the world?  One would think, first of all, it means our relationship to the cosmos and everything in it is importantly mediated through Christ.  We can think of life as portrayed in the garden of Eden, before sin, and the relationship of human beings to and within the "cosmos," to plants and to animals, as a sort of true natural state in which harmony with both cosmos and Creator is full.  But our understanding of ourselves comes within the sense that darkness is something with which we live, and from which we may choose.  Knowledge of good and evil is something that is a part of our lives, and makes us creatures who must learn to discern, "rational" sheep who must be capable of reason.  To be saved and redeemed then is a way to set us back into right relationship, and more:  to be capable of the choice for light, like "Photini," her name coming from the Greek word for light, phos.  To have this light shining in us is to be given life, to restore life, to build life, to spread life into the world, for the whole of the world.  This salvation plan, redemption, doesn't merely "save" us from darkness, but liberates us to share the light, to go forward into its mission for us, to learn what life really is.  That is always going to involve the mystery He invites us into, like the words that have so much meaning behind them that He reveals.  It's much more than a onetime promise, but rather a life that opens ahead and keeps challenging us with its new avenues and light that shines on ahead so that we take our own lives to new places.  How does His light illumine new things for you today?  It is the whole of the cosmos that is saved, the whole of the cosmos that opens in relation to Him.  That would include the great cloud of witnesses, those who've come before and those who will come after.

The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him

 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here."  The woman answered and said, "I have no husband."  Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly."  The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.  Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship."  Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.  You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.  But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."  The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ).  "When He comes, He will tell us all things."  Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."

- John 4:16-26

Yesterday, we read that when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.  But He needed to go through Samaria.  So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.  Now Jacob's well was there.  Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well.  It was about the sixth hour.  A woman of Samaria came to draw water.  Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink."  For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.  Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?"  For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.  Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."  The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.  Where then do You get that living water?  Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?"  Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.  But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."  The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."


 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here."  The woman answered and said, "I have no husband."  Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly."  The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet."  The woman believes Jesus is a prophet, as He sees into her life.  She's had several husbands, and at this point is living with a man to whom she isn't married.  My study bible says that the Samaritans accepted no prophets after Moses, but awaited the Prophet -- the expected Messiah whom Moses foretold (Deuteronomy 18:15-18).   God is the "knower-of-hearts" (see Acts 1:24, 15:8; also Psalm 17:3, 44:21).   This quality of Christ, already on display earlier in John's Gospel (1:48, 2:24-25), underscores His divine nature.

"Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.  Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship."  The historical dispute between the Samaritans and the Jews focused on the proper place of the temple -- where worship was to take place.  The Samaritans' temple on Mt. Gerizim had been destroyed by the Jews in the 2nd century BC.

Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.  You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.  But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.  God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."  Jesus settles this dispute by focusing on the true manner in which people must worship, and turns her attention to the true nature of God.  The is worshiped in spirit -- in the Holy Spirit, and in truth -- in Christ Himself and according to His revelation.  By teaching that God is Spirit, Jesus confirms, in fact, that God cannot be confined to any particular location.  My study bible says, "Those who receive the Holy Spirit and believe in Jesus Christ can worship God the Father with purity of heart."  To teach that salvation is of the Jews affirms the context and lineage of Jewish spiritual heritage.  My study bible quotes St. Athanasius:  "The commonwealth of Israel was the school of the knowledge of God for all the nations."   What is happening here is that Jesus is testifying that the Messiah, as prophesied among the Jews, has risen from among the Jews.  The gift of salvation is for the world, but it has come to all nations from within Judaism.  The hour that is coming refers in John's Gospel to the death and Resurrection of Christ, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.   This inaugurates the worship of the new covenant.

The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ).  "When He comes, He will tell us all things."  Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."  In the Greek, Jesus says, "I AM [ego eimi], who speak to you."  This is the I AM of the Old Testament, the name of the Lord, the One who is (see Exodus 3:14).  It is the divine Name of God.  My study bible says that its use here indicates a theophany, a revelation of God Himself.  The use of this Name, it says, by a "mere man" was considered blasphemy and also punishable by death (see John 8:58, Mark 14:62).  In Jesus' divinity, the use of this Name reveals unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit; Christ is God Incarnate.

We may remark to ourselves that it is as "remarkable" as anything else in this text that Jesus reveals Himself as Christ to this Samaritan woman!  She's a woman, in the first place.  She's not Jewish in the second (but from among the traditional and despised enemies of the Jews).  And she's not a very "holy" woman either, having had many husbands and now living with another who's not her husband!  What's going on here?  (In our following reading, the disciples will be too dumbstruck to even ask.)   This example in itself is a teaching about salvation coming to the whole world, all the nations, and also about the One who is the heart-knower.  "Heart-knower" is the word used in the Greek, kardiognostes.  It's a good word to know.  As we will see in tomorrow's reading, she will bring others to Christ.  (She will also become a saint and martyr of the Church by tradition.)  But the revelation here should be astounding for all of us.  Every barrier is broken by Christ, and in it is a picture of liberation.  That is, true liberation, via spirit and truth, for all of us.  The One who sees into the heart, who knows everything about us, is not bound by time, either.  He sees into our potentials and our future.  In the Old Testament, the Lord tells Samuel, as he's searching for the one who will be made king:   "Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."  (1 Samuel 16:7).    That's a refusal based on the heart; in today's reading, Jesus' revelation of Himself to this woman is an emphatic bestowal of grace, an opening.  Earlier we've been told that although many believed in His name at the Passover festival, having seen His signs, He did not commit Himself to any of them.  Here, He "commits" -- He entrusts His identity to this woman, far away from the misunderstanding and strife that will happen later in Jerusalem.  The importance of the heart really can't be overestimated.  In Scripture, the heart means the center of our being, the real place of all that we are.  It holds everything about us, and therein the Lord can read us like a book, knowing who we truly are and all that is within us.  It is also the basic place where we truly worship and pray, with the "mind in the heart" as the Orthodox say.  It's the place where we wrestle and struggle with God, with our own failings in the sight of God, with our reconciliation to God, to others, to ourselves.  All this goes to say that as we worship in spirit and in truth, so the heart is the place of the mediation of God for all that we do and choose to be.   It may be strange to consider, but in this way the heart becomes the location not only for what and how we think and feel and believe, but also for the relatedness we have to the world, and to the Kingdom, including the whole host of the communion of saints, the "great cloud of witnesses," as St. Paul will put it.  The revelation Jesus gives to the woman at the well teaches even more deeply than all the Scripture before it that God is truly with us at all times, the One by our side when called, the knower-of-hearts, who may help us through all things in so many ways.  Let us consider what it is to have a heart hardened to all of that, to be blinded to the reality of this Presence, to live as if there is no God who sees.  Let us consider what grace is and does in us and for us, and all the ways in which we may be missing out on what is offered.

Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst

 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.  But He needed to go through Samaria.  So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.  Now Jacob's well was there.  Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well.  It was about the sixth hour.

A woman of Samaria came to draw water.  Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink."  For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.  Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?"  For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.  Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."  The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.  Where then do You get that living water?  Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?"  Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.  But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."  The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."

- John 4:1-15

Yesterday, we read that Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them and baptized.  Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there.  And they came and were baptized.  For John had not yet been thrown into prison.  Then there arose a dispute between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purification.  And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified -- behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!"   John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.  You yourselves bear me witness that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but 'I have been sent before Him.'  He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because the bridegroom's voice.  Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.  He must increase, but I must decrease.  He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth.  He who comes from heaven is above all.  And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony.  He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.  For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.  The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand.  He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.  But He needed to go through Samaria.  So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.  Now Jacob's well was there.  Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well.  It was about the sixth hour.   Jesus and His disciples are journeying northward, from Judea back toward Galilee.  To do so they pass through Samaria.   My study bible tells us that Jacob's well is not mentioned in the Old Testament, although Jacob lived in the area (Genesis 33:19).  My study bible says, "Wells were significant because of their rarity and their value in desert life.  Therefore wells came to symbolize life itself" (see Psalm 36:9-10; 46:4; Isaiah 55:1).  This well continues today to be a shrine, where pilgrims come and can drink from it.  Some personal notes about Jesus in this passage:  He's wearied from His journey, showing His humanity.  The Pharisees are already in the picture, having understood Jesus now has baptized more disciples than John.  The sixth hour is noon; we can imagine the sun and heat.

A woman of Samaria came to draw water.  Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink."  For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.  Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?"  For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. The Samaritans were traditional enemies of the Jews.  They were a mixed race, who worshiped the God of Israel and were also awaiting the Messiah.  But they accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch) as their Scriptures.  Their own temple was built on Mt. Gerizim, destroyed by the Jews in 128 BC.

Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."  The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.  Where then do You get that living water?  Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?"  Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.  But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."  The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."   As used in the ordinary sense, living water means fresh and flowing water, from a stream or spring as opposed to a pond or a cistern.  Here, Christ uses the term with a deeper meaning implied, that of the grace of the Holy Spirit that leads to everlasting life.  My study bible says that this gift not only remains in a person, but also is so abundant that it overflows to others.  The Samaritan woman asks, "Are You greater than our father Jacob?"  Jacob is the patriarch, also called Israel.  As such, he is also a "type" of Christ, says my study bible.  He is the one who struggled with the angel, and also had the vision of the divine ladder, which is a vision fulfilled by Christ -- already referred to by the words of Jesus Himself earlier in John's Gospel as He spoke to Nathanael (see 1:51).  As Jacob gave this particular well for earthly life, so Christ gives the well of the Holy Spirit for eternal life.

Water has been a feature so far all throughout John's Gospel.   After its Prologue, this Gospel begins with the work of John the Baptist, who baptized in the Jordan preparing the people for the Messiah with a baptism of repentance.  It is John who taught his disciples that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit, and already there is an introduction to us likening water and the Holy Spirit.  The first sign we're given by the Gospel also concerns water:  turning water to wine at the wedding in Cana.  Next there is the cleansing of the temple by Jesus; water is not mentioned but water and cleansing go hand in hand.  In chapter 3 Jesus teaches Nicodemus by night, telling him, "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."  Water is the ingredient most essential to human life, and as my study bible has pointed out, those who dwell in the desert are particularly aware of this need.  It is the basic element that forms us and our planet, contained in everything.  It is a good likeness for the Spirit, teaching us of our true need for this living water that Jesus teaches the Samaritan woman about.  In our next reading, this conversation will continue with her.  She will come to be known in the Church as St. Photini in the East, bearing the gifts of this water into her life and that of the Church.  There are other remarkable things about this passage:   the fact that Jesus actually speaks to this woman is notable of itself!  Not only speaking to any woman alone, but to a Samaritan is very strange behavior for any Jewish man of His time.  Perhaps we are witnessing the work of this living water in Christ who bears it to us:  so many restrictions are released; and relationship revealed.  It is the work of pure grace.  His work, and that of the Gospel, after all, is to reveal what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.  Just as Jesus is both God and man, so we see in the element of water combined with Spirit what God can do in synergy with the elements of our world (and in us), what holiness means.  In the purest sense of it, Christ is the Incarnation of Logos, Creator of the world and the cosmos, a gift to all of us.  That gift of our lives, returned to Him, becomes endowed with more life and returned back to us, an infinitely greater and free gift (this is the complete picture of the Eucharist).  What is everlasting life?  What is a fountain of water that may live in us so that we may never thirst?