49. John's Gospel - questions for the journey

Every autumn since starting this project I've turned to a gospel account, and the only one that now remains is John. As is my habit, I've saved the one that I consider the best until last.

1. John the Baptist testifies that Jesus of Nazareth is The One; sent by God before time began, to bring the saving light of God to creation, and though many (including most of his own people) are going to reject him, unexpected folks will respond to this good news

2. Jesus begins to reveal who he is through miracle and sign and to challenge those who question him; water is quietly turned to wine at country wedding, but in the temple at Jerusalem, a fractious confrontational scene is precipitated

3. In conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus surprises the other man by talking of the need for a spiritual rebirth, even for God's chosen people; while John the Baptist surprises his own disciples by confirming that the ministry of Jesus completes and succeeds his own

4. Avoiding the Pharisees, Jesus ends up tired and hungry in a lonely place, and having a conversation with a Samaritan woman, which results in her (and most of her village) becoming followers; an unexpected outcome that refreshes Jesus immensely.

5. On the Sabbath, a man at the temple is able to walk after Jesus tells him to; witnessing this the Jewish leaders ask questions (examining carefully to see if the law has been broken), and Jesus tries to convince them that he does only his heavenly Father's will

6. Traveling through remote Galilee, Jesus feeds the large crowds he attracts; first with donated bread - multiplied miraculously - then offering himself, as the imperishable Bread of Life, which unlike manna in the wilderness, gives life for more than just a day

7. Everyone is divided in what they think of Jesus; no-one can decide if he is he a prophet, the Messiah, a teacher, a misguided fool or demon-possessed, but whether in rural Galilee or the temple at Jerusalem, he continues to tell everyone that he is sent from God to do God's will

8. Jesus continues to teach in the temple, and is tested by the authorities, who cannot accept his claims to be the Living Water sent from God; only a few among the crowds believe in him

9. Jesus challenges the generally assumed connection between illness, disability and sin when healing a man born blind; the Pharisees are so focused on finding sin they cannot accept that the miracle could come from God, and choose to condemn.

10. Day by day at the temple Jesus tries to explain how he has come from God; that he is the Good Shepherd sent to care for the sheep that belong to him, but despite acknowledging his good works, the Pharisees hear only arrogance and he leaves Jerusalem again.

11. After a time Jesus feels called to return to the region of Jerusalem and to perform a very public miracle - raising Lazarus from death; the temple authorities agree that such a sign cannot be covered up or explained away and that it therefore threatens the status of all Jews in the Roman held territory, and so they plot Jesus's death (for the greater good).

12. The story of Lazarus draws diverse crowds to Jesus; who continues to proclaim that he is sent from God, to be light in a dark world, he also begins to explain that his own death is a necessary part of God's plan, accepting public anointing by Mary as a sign of his coming death.

13. At supper the night before Passover, Jesus understands that his death is near; he washes the feet of his disciples and encourages them to follow this example in their love and care for one another, then he sends Judas on his mission of betrayal

14. Jesus comforts his disciples, who are unsettled by the idea of his leaving them; he promises that they have already received all the instruction they need, simply by knowing him, and that God will also send a companion to aid them - the Holy Spirit of Truth.

15. Again Jesus assures his disciples that they and he are branches of the same true vine, growing from God, connected by love; in contrast the people who heard his words and saw the signs but did not respond, are like dead branches, fit only for burning.

16. He tells them plainly, that he is about to leave them, and knows that this will cause them great sorrow, but Jesus promises that his disciples will rejoice again and that everything he's shown them will make perfect sense.

17. As time runs out Jesus offers a prayer to God for his disciples, those in the room and those who will follow because of them; he prays for unity of spirit and for them to know that God's Spirit will be with them always.

18. Setting out to a regular meeting place, Jesus is betrayed, arrested and dragged away, and his disciples fail the first test of their discipleship by abandoning their leader to face an unfair trial alone.

19. Jesus is repeatedly questioned, mocked and whipped for his claims; Pilate is satisfied that his claim to be the king of the Jews is no threat to him and plans to release him, but those bringing the charges insist on crucifixion, and the tortuous sentence is carried out quickly and publicly and Jesus's body is interred in a tomb, all before the end of Passover preparation day.

20. Before dawn on the day after Passover, Mary is alarmed to discover that Jesus's body is gone from the tomb; other disciples confirm her story and gather in secret to discuss the situation - and in the midst of all this chaos and fear, Jesus appears to his disciples and comforts them.

21. A final story of another post resurrection meeting of Jesus and his disciples, where he cooks them breakfast on the shore of the Sea of Tiberius, and affirms Simon Peter in his future ministry.

John's Gospel is so different to the synoptic Gospels. At times Jesus seems remote and otherworldly, but these moments are contrasted by homely stories of weddings and breakfasts, chance meetings and staged events. The question throughout is who is this man? It's left ultimately up to the reader to decide, but the clues are there for those who seek them. One of the keys to understanding the rich language and imagery used in John's Gospel, is a good working knowledge of the prophetic writings of scripture. Jesus constantly refers to himself using prophetic language and imagery, and it's clear that some of his listeners got it and understood, others got it and rejected it, but his closest disciples really didn't get it until afterwards. I've come to see that titles like Messiah, Son of God and Son of Man, although familiar from Christian liturgy, are concepts that I'm only just beginning to make sense of, as my knowledge and grasp of prophetic writing slowly grows. I take hope from the fact that even the closest friends and most devoted followers of Jesus took a while to figure this stuff out. Being a follower of Jesus requires a journey, and such things necessarily take time, but I'm very glad that I started.

33. 1 Chronicles - for list lovers

This is part convoluted genealogy and part story. It contains many, many long lists of names. The lists mostly feature the the significant men in each family, but in amongst them all, some of the wives, sisters and daughters are also named, and some of the stories we get a glimpse of in these rare occurrences are fascinating. Amongst all of the achievements of sons, as warriors and leaders, Sheeran (a daughter of Ephraim) gets special mention for apparently having "built both Lower and Upper Beth-horon and Uzzen-sheerah", the last obviously being named for her. A woman who was credited with building two cities in patriarchal ancient Israel - what a character she must have been?! 

Israel's recorded family lists:

1. The list of all of the families begins with Adam, recording the names of significant tribal leaders, all the way down to Isaac's son, Israel

2. A list of the descendants of Israel, and his son Judah

3. The descendants of David and Solomon from their 'primary' wives are listed

4. An ancient list of the descendants of Judah's line which includes some extra family stories, such as Jabez; named for the pain he caused his mother at birth - he prayed for a life without pain, and God heard him

5. A list of the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half of Manassah, that settled in the promised land; celebrated as fierce Godly warriors (until they forgot God's ways and were driven into exile)

6. A list of the Levite tribes; their roles and the lands allotted to them from within the portions given to the other tribes, in return for organising and leading the worship of all God's people

7. The family lists for Issachar, Benjamin, Naphtali, Manasseh, Ephraim and Asher; many of whom were warriors, leaders and builders in king David's time

8. A more detailed list of the numerous offspring of Benjamin

The story continues after exile:

9. A list of those from the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were the first to resettle Jerusalem after exile and served at God's temple

10. The sad story of King Saul's abandonment of the true God, which lead to his death during battle with the Philistines

11. A list of King David's famous warriors and some of their deeds 

12. A list of the large number of military leaders who wanted to make David king over all Israel; describing how they came to join David when Saul had banished him to the desert

The story focuses on David

13. David wants to bring the covenant chest back to Israel, but loses courage when a mishap costs the life of a friend; he steps back from his plans, fearing God's wrath

14. After establishing himself in Jerusalem with a palace and more children, David successfully drives back the Philistines, guided by God through prayer

15. David makes extensive preparation to move the covenant chest again; this time he puts the priests and Levites in charge and the return to Jerusalem, accompanied by musicians and dancing, is successful - the only sour note is Michel, who is disgusted by her husband's jubilant dancing

16. With a huge festival, a worship tent is established and organised, and a great hymn of thanks and praise to God is sung

The establishing of a temple in David's Kingdom

17. Comfortably established in a palace, David wants to build a proper temple for God; prophet Nathan warns that it is not for him to do this and reassures the King that he is establishing a Godly dynasty, for which David gives thanks

18. David's military successes are celebrated, and the names of his leadership team recounted

19. Although David seeks to keep a peaceful relationship with the Ammonites, they incite a battle and drag the Arameans into it, but it doesn't go well for them

20. The wars continue with the Ammonites and the Philistines;  eventually David wipes out the Ammonites, tearing down their cities

21. An evil spirit inspires David to make a count of the warriors under his command, greatly angering God, who sends a plague across the land, which is only prevented from destroying Jerusalem by David's contrition 

22. Being a warrior not a builder, David gets resources and workers ready to build God's temple, but then assigns the task to his son Solomon

Details for the temple

23. A list of the significant leaders from the 38,000 priests and Levites appointed to serve at the temple by David

24. A list of the leaders from among the priestly and Levite families, who were chosen by lot

25. A list of the musicians, chosen by lot to lead worship and to prophesy through their music

26. A careful list of the gatekeepers, assigned to each entrance to the temple

27. A list of those who reported directly to David; from the highest ranking military officer to the steward who looks after the olive oil stores

28. David makes a formal announcement, before his people and his family, that Solomon will be the one to complete God's temple, and gives to him the written plans

29. Knowing Solomon to be inexperienced, David asks the leaders among the community to commit to the building of God's temple; they respond with such generosity that David breaks into a song of praise and everyone celebrates together with a huge festival to honour God 

There is a little comment, which the CEB translation puts in brackets, in chapter 4: "the records are ancient". I wonder; is this one of those 'margin notes' that you sometimes find in medieval manuscripts? I love the idea of a scribe's comment being saved amidst this text for thousands of years. And I wonder; was the scribe suggesting that the record was unreliable or incomplete? Or simply expressing amazement at how old these records were? Or were they complaining about having to copy out crumbling older texts, and making excuses for possible mistakes..? Interesting to contemplate, and makes the lists more 'real' somehow.

Reading this mostly very dull text was made much easier by my practice of reading during morning prayer. This meant that each day, after poring through tedious lists of names, that meant little to me, I was reminded that by adoption, through the saving power of Jesus, this is my family record too - because as a Christian, Abraham is 'our' father. Perhaps other members of this great family might not wish to acknowledge me, but then, that's often the way with families isn't it?

Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, for he has come to his people, and set them free...

32. 1 Peter - defined by suffering

Evening up the balance a bit by ticking off another new testament book, I have less remaining in the OT now (although they are much longer.) I've always liked Peter, many commentators seem to treat him like a bit of an idiot. I wonder if it's because he was impetuous and working class?

1. To God's chosen strangers, wherever this message finds you; you've been chosen by God, prophets proclaimed it and now Christ is doing a wonderful thing in and through you, so prepare yourselves

2. Remain faithful; you are precious stones in the holy temple that God is building, although others may see you as stumbling stones, and remember that it is through Christ's suffering that you are formed

3. So value your relationships, and work on self-improvement; we should always strive to do the most good, remembering that we are made clean by baptism and saved by Christ's suffering and resurrection

4. The world will not understand you, people will mock you; but you are being called to a different way of living, empowered always by God - learn to rely on this inner strength in these tough times

5. If you are a community leader, then lead humbly, relying on God, the leader of us all; because the accuser is always on the prowl to catch you out.

I send greetings of love and peace to all of you, from all of us, in Christ

Overall this feels like a very affirming message, and I loved the CEB phrase "God's chosen strangers". However, there is a calling to endure suffering, even if it is unjust, which is troubling to modern ears. Such texts can be used dangerously, to justify abuse and oppresion, and it's important to remember both the context of this writing (an empire built on warfare and slavery where there was little justice for the poor and dispossessed) and to focus on the important highlights of what is being said here (God's valuing of the poor and dispossessed, when no one else seems to.)

In chapters 2 and 3, Peter begins by having people look at their closest relationships first, always looking though, for that Christian transformation to spread both beyond those relationships, as well as deep within. And that strikes me as good practice.

Peter is clearly writing to community experiencing suffering, and it will have been suffering that I cannot imagine, in my comfortable life. There's a horrible phrase "it's a dog-eat-dog world", which would have applied much better to Peter's world than it does to mine. In such a context, encouraging charity and kindness among the community of the suffering (from one who's experiencing the same), is an incredible thing. Truly countercultural. How can a Christian like me follow in such footsteps?