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  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.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?

Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease

 After these things 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."

- John 3:22-36

  Yesterday, we read that Jesus taught Nicodemus, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."

 After these things 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.  Again, we see the very early importance of holy baptism to the ministry of Christ, right from the beginning.  We note that it was Jesus' disciples who baptized (John 4:2).

 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!"  We see in this "dispute" an exchange, a kind of  hand-off, between the old and the new covenants.  It's not surprising that the dispute would be about purification.  John's baptism is not the same as Jesus' baptism.  Later in John's Gospel, the Pharisees will make a similar observation, but with an entirely different response and point of view (John 12:19).   As a prophet, John recognizes what is happening.

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."  By tradition, John is called the friend (or "best man"), and Christ is the bridegroom.  The bridge is the Church, or rather the "people of God."   My study bible says, "John confesses his role in the coming of the Messiah -- that he is witness to the wedding of Christ and His people, and thus he rejoices in that celebration."   As prophet, John fully realizes his place in the unfolding of the spiritual history of Israel (as the "people of God"), as friend of the bridegroom, and rejoices in its fulfillment.

"He must increase, but I must decrease."  John's humility serves forever as an example to all of us.   We note that in his humility he is completely accepting of God's plan of salvation, and his particular role in it.  As my study bible says, "He renounces all earthly glory and reputation for the sake of Christ.  By allowing Christ to increase in him, John himself finds true glory."  It is also a statement of the "decrease" of the old covenant, and the arrival of the new.  My study bible says, "As the law vanishes, the grace of Jesus Christ abounds."  In the liturgical calendar, East and West, the days commemorating the nativity of Christ and John the Baptist reflect this transition.  John's commemoration is on June 24th, when the sun begins its decrease.  Christmas is celebrated at the time the sun begins to increase.

"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."  John's words here reflect Jesus' teaching in yesterday's reading, above, as Jesus spoke of God's love and the gift of grace -- and what it is to refuse it. 

 John the Baptist accepts his place in the scheme of things.  As a prophet, his humility is exemplary, but it's not that different from goals we can set for ourselves.  What does it mean to accept God's will, or to know the word of God?  We understand John's life as a prophet as one devoted to God.  He practiced a kind of radical poverty in his humility, dressed in the skins of animals, and eating food from nature (see Matthew 3:4).  But this form of self-emptying isn't what made him a holy person; it is what enabled him to "hear the voice of God," so to speak.  John's humility is about taking away what is extraneous and focusing on mission, on his devotion to God.  This is the true role of a prophet.  In the Old Testament, many false prophets are named.  They are those who would prophesy for kings for money and favor, for a high social position.  The true prophets, by contrast, were often outcasts -- out of favor for the ways in which they would speak up against the policies of the powers that be.  With a person of great power, that often means against a "personality."  Jesus, of course, is a towering example of the kind of humility we have to understand from Scripture.  The authority with which Christ speaks is His own, that of the Son -- but everything is conferred by the Father.   In today's reading, the Baptist teaches us all that "He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure."  Everything comes back to the one thing necessary, that which makes every sacrifice worthy, God.  Humility, then, is all about a life so devoted to God that everything that gets in the way of understanding the role we're asked to play is considered extraneous.  That is not going to be a "one size fits all" proposition.  Jesus contrasts His life and that of His disciples with John the Baptist and his disciples in Luke chapter 7:  "For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’  The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’"  Jesus finishes with this conclusion:  "But wisdom is justified by all her children.”  Saints will come and have come in all kinds of forms and appearances, with many tools for teaching, and myriad stories of their lives.  Each one is unique, but this is the design of God.  All share one thing:  a radical humility before God, stripping away the concerns of life that hinder this complete devotion, whatever they may be.  John and Jesus are perceived as widely different types of persons by their own society and in their own time, yet each serves God in the ways that they are asked, within the roles they are meant to play in the identity that comes from God.  It is in this that John says his joy is fulfilled.  Jesus is Son, the Christ, while John is the last and greatest of the Old Testament type prophets.  And so it has to be with each one of us.  Our "mission" is to find that place we're asked to be in, and to let go of the things that get in the way of that fulfillment.  In this sense, each one of us is called to the exemplary humility of the Baptist.  We might not all look the same or do the same things, but we can each find our place in the salvation scheme of things.  And while each may not be perfect, our own journey of repentance and transformation remains "our journey" -- the way.  From the examples we find in Scripture, we can't expect that everyone will understand, nor that whatever way we're led in our own lives will reflect everybody else's road.  But one thing remains steady:  the need for humility, considered the greatest virtue.  John's Gospel also teaches us about joy.  At the Last Supper, Jesus will teach the disciples,  "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.  These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full"  (John 15:10-11).  He will say also, "Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full" (16:24).  It is through humility that our asking is proper, and that our joy is full -- when we find the commands for ourselves of which Jesus speaks, and thereby "abide in His love."  Right from the beginning, we have the example of the Baptist.  Let us consider what it might mean for us, that Christ "increases" in us.  What, therefore, will decrease?

For God so loved the world

 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."

- John 3:16-21

Yesterday, we read that when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.  There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."  Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"  Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."  Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?  Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  Why is the Son given to be "lifted up" on the Cross?  It is from love, and love for the whole world.  This doesn't leave out anything, this love.  It is for the "whole world."  It refers back to what was discussed in yesterday's reading:  in this sense there is nothing that is left out of the Resurrection.  In the tradition of the Church, it is the world that is being transformed, that holds the Resurrection, and that will be changed at the end of the age.  In this sense, once again, we have an affirmation that out of the love of God, the whole of the world holds the promise of the Resurrection within it, the true abundance of everlasting life.  This is the gift of love that is present to us.

"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."  What is faith?  It is trusting in the Son, a depth of relationship that allows even participation in the life of Christ.  The gift of Christ the Son is a gift of salvation.  We are not stuck in our sins, our imperfection, our failures in life.  We're here in our faith -- He's here -- to lift us up with Him, to give us this Resurrection, this everlasting life that is present to us and permeates the life of the world by faith.  The "condemnation" is the failure to believe as this is the key to grace; the lack of faith leaves one out of the gift of salvation, an inner rejection of the gift.

"And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."  This is a very spiritual pronunciation, and a kind of mystery.  What is it within us that determines what we love?  Jesus seems to be saying there is a basic internal choice very deep within us:  do we have a passion for spiritual truth?  Or is there something we love better?  Light is that truth; darkness is not just its absence, but a kind of covering or obscuring, a signifier of a lack of love of that light.

It's in John's Gospel that Pilate asks, "What is truth?"  From the beginning of this Gospel, we are introduced to the Light, and that Light is synonymous with truth.  He invites us to understand that the truth about which the Gospel is speaking isn't just a "fact," and it's not just a conclusion.  It's more than that.  Truth is the light, and it is the Light (note the capital L).  In this context, we can say theologically that Truth is a Person, the Person of Christ the Son.  If this is too wild to wrap one's head around, we must think of this Person as Logos, Creator, the Word.   In this sense, truth is also something, or someone, we love.  It goes to the heart of who we are, and asks us the most deep question possible:  what do we truly love?  It goes to the heart of Jesus' teaching that you cannot serve God and mammon.  Ultimately there is a question of priorities.  At some point in time, we're asked to make choices.  What we understand of the truth, of this light, is that it's not just a nominal belief system, not just an intellectual assent to a set of ideas.  This is a much deeper relationship than that.  It's not a political party membership card, and it's not just the way we identify ourselves to others.  This is about what is deepest in our hearts and where we make our most basic choices.  It's about what we truly love.  In that sense, this is all about spiritual truth.  So many people want to separate "spirituality" from "religion."  But what seems to have been forgotten on many levels is that we have religion so that we remember and shore up the truth within ourselves, the spiritual life that always needs nurturing.  Religious practices are intended to nurture that spiritual life.  The two are meant to go hand in hand, and are not really separate.  So let's ask again:  what is it you really love?  Christ speaks throughout the Gospels of the hypocrisy of those who show outwardly a "spiritual" appearance, but are inwardly something else.  What is it, then, that brings our deeds to light, as He speaks about in today's passage?  To whose light do we come in order to see ourselves truly? Whose light is it that gives us the way to a better life?  And in whose light and overwhelming love are we led to see and know who we are?  These are the real questions here, and they all teach us about what we reject when we prefer darkness instead.  The uncompromising joy in that light is the unconditional love we may experience that teaches us who we are and asks us to live in that truth and bear its fruit.  How can we say "no" to that?  This is where Jesus teaches us about what we love the most, after all.