The Yoke of Life

‘But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market-places and calling to one another, “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.” For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon”; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!” Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.’

At that time Jesus said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’
Matthew 11.16-19, 25-end

Matthew 11:16-30 is split into three parts:

Part 1 – verses 16 to 19
Part 2 – verses 20-24
Part 3 – verses 25-30

Our reading today misses out part 2; this is, of course, widely available in any good Bible. This whole section of teaching from Jesus starts off (at the beginning of Matthew 11) after the sending out of the disciples, which we have looked at over the past two weeks.

So, Jesus’s disciples have set off to proclaim and live the Gospel and Jesus gave them space to do this by going to other towns to teach when He is asked a question by the disciples of John the Baptist, who is now in prison. Jesus tells them to report back that the prophecy regarding the Messiah is being fulfilled. Jesus then speaks about John, likening him to Elijah and bringing us to part 1 of today’s Gospel.

Jesus rebukes, or if you prefer, sternly tells off, those who are displeased with or who do not accept the ministry of John the Baptist and Himself.

He points out how picky, choosy and uncertain His current generation were about receiving God’s message and His messengers … I imagine this would be much the same if He were instead addressing today’s generation.

He points out that those who want to criticise will do so no matter what; whether it was John the Baptist teaching them, Jesus Himself, or someone completely different – if they want to find fault they will and likewise if they want to refuse to listen to God’s voice both when it comes through in a serious way or a joyful way they will. Basically, if what is being said does not suit them and is not what they want to hear they will reject it.

Jesus then quotes some of the criticisms and insults that had been made about Him and in doing so turns them on their head. What started as a jibe and a condemnation becomes a title of honour and we praise our Lord, thanking Him for being our friend – a friend of sinners.

Jesus then highlights that those who are wise are proved so by their actions. These are those who accept both Jesus and John for who they were and who they were called to be.

Like Moses leading thousands of people out of Egypt towards God and preparing them for the promised land, John led thousands of people to repentance, preparing the way for the Messiah.

Like Moses taught the people to discern God’s will for their lives and to obey His commands, Jesus taught, worked, loved, and rose again to show us the way back to the Father.

Which brings us to the missing part 2. Here Jesus has stern rebuke for the cities which had witnessed both John’s ministry and mighty works and despite these still are unrepentant and disregarded Him. Neglect is just as bad as persecution.

And so we reach part 3, where Jesus praises those who do receive His message.

As Jesus communicates here with His Father there is a strong sense of joy. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit communicate and commune with each other with joy. Not happiness, which is nothing like joy and which is fleeting but true joy. Joy is a far deeper and enduring state of being centered around connection, meaning and purpose, and which can be maintained even during difficult times.

Jesus responds positively to God choosing those that the world would deem unlikely to respond to His message, but don’t forget the wider context of the rising rejection of Jesus and His messengers, especially by the elite.

This section of the passage shows us more about the relationship between God the Father and God the Son, between whom there are no secrets. No one knows the Son as well as the Father and no one knows the Father as well as the Son. There is a difference in the way the Son knows the Father to the way we know Him.

God the Son and God the Father are equal whereas we know God because He lowers Himself so that we might know Him.

Jesus has authority and this is shown as He calls us to Him with the words “Come unto me”. This invitation is open to all. None are excluded. Jesus calls those who are burdened and those who recognise that they need to come to Jesus and rely on Him instead of attempting to struggle on by themselves. By burdened Jesus refers to the burdens that we take on ourselves whereas by heavy laden He is referring to those that others have put upon us.

Jesus extends the invitation further saying take my yoke upon you and learn from me. We must come as disciples to learn, willing to be guided by Jesus and not merely for what we can get out of it.

The Israelites and ancient Jews used the idea of a yoke to mean someone’s obligation to God. They had:

the yoke of the kingdom
the yoke of the law
the yoke of the command
the yoke of repentance
the yoke of faith
and the general yoke of God.

Jesus is simplifying this. He is saying stop over – complicating it with all these yokes. The yoke you need to take is my yoke. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.

Let’s take a closer look at the yoke of Jesus:

It is easy and light … unless we turn away from it.
It is not connected with worries or concerns forbidden to us.
It doesn’t include any of the burdens we choose to add ourselves.

Jesus invites us to let go of the extra burdens we like to hold on to. We don’t like to let go of things but these burdens are not part of the yoke of Jesus and are just weights we refuse to release.

Jesus is gentle and lowly of heart. Throughout His ministry He shows His servant heart and His qualification to bear our burdens for us.

Jesus promises that if we take on His yoke we will find rest for our souls. God previously offered this promise to those who follow Him. “Thus says the Lord: ‘stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; walk in it and you will find rest for your souls’…” (Jeremiah 6:16). And Jesus now repeats this promise in His own name.

With Jesus bearing it with us the yoke is easy and the burden is light. Alone it could be unbearable, but we are not alone. It does not mean we will have an easy life lounging in front of a pool sipping a refreshing beverage. It does not mean that there are lighter demands. It does mean entering into and being in a discipleship.

If your yoke is uncomfortable, if your burden is heavy, then it is not Jesus’s yoke or burden and you have not let Him bear it. Instead you are holding onto it like grim death. Like A Christmas Carol’s Scrooge and Marley choking under the weight of the chains they forged in life.

Give it to Jesus, let Him bear it. Take on His yoke. Ultimately, it’s up to you, that’s what free will is. Do you want to be Scrooge before his conversion – weighted down by the chains of his own making, or after his conversion – a new human in Christ? For as Jesus says ‘My yoke is easy and my burden is light’.

My yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Photo by Suat Tu00fcfenk on Pexels.com)

You’re Welcome!

‘Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple-truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.’
Matthew 10:40ff

These verses from the Gospel of Matthew continue the preparation Jesus is giving the disciples for their mission.

Jesus is explaining that to receive a messenger of Christ is spiritually identical to receiving Christ Himself and, by extension, God the Father. The disciples are to act as envoys or ambassadors of Jesus, extending His ministry and performing the same works that He is doing. The disciples are to share in Jesus’s poverty and homelessness, “taking with them no money or extra clothing and depending solely on others for hospitality and sustenance”.

In the verses prior to this passage we learnt that the disciples should expect to experience, at some point, the same hostility Jesus often did and that they must be willing to put Jesus’s mission ahead of family and other loyalties. But we also learnt that this comes with a promise from Jesus that whoever loses their life for His sake will find it.

These instructions, commission and promise were not uniquely for those first disciples but also for us today.

The Old Testament promises prophets a great reward in heaven and that the righteous will shine like the sun in the Father’s kingdom. ‘Little ones’ is being used here to refer to Jesus’s disciples and links with the parable of judgement – “I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink”; “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me.” It is also interpreted as children both literally as little children and also to us as children of God. The reward put aside for the little ones is more like an inheritance in that it is not earned but a pure gift. Those that welcome and care for the needs of the least, welcome and care for Jesus and become heirs to all that the Father has to give.

Just as Jesus was sent by God the Father to carry His authority and message, the disciples (and us) are sent by Jesus. By welcoming and listening to the ‘sent disciple’, people are actually receiving Christ.

Being sent means acting as a direct representative. Think about a Foreign Embassy in, say, London. Within the boundaries of that Embassy in London is the country the Embassy belongs to. Let’s take the Embassy of Finland as an example. Within the walls and boundaries of the Embassy of Finland is actually Finland. So a little bit of Finland resides in London, England. If we welcome the representatives of that Embassy, who are direct representatives of Finland we welcome all of Finland. Whereas, if we reject those representatives we are rejecting all of Finland.

We are in Christ and He is in us. We are ambassadors or representatives of Christ. If people reject us they are rejecting Christ. And that response displays how those people receive God. It doesn’t say anything about us but about them and that response forecasts how they will be received by God.

God loves us. We are His children and He protects us. He is sending us out to witness to our brothers and sisters and bring them back into our family.

We are sent by God. Jesus sends His disciples out to proclaim and live the word. The church is a sent church. This mission – sending – by Jesus not only is the church but is everything the church is, does and is supposed to be/do.

The church is not supposed to be confined to a building for an hour on a Sunday morning. It is not supposed to be confined to a specific service, whether that be Holy Communion, Praise and Worship or something else.

It is supposed to go out into communities, into the world, relying on and trusting God one hundred percent; living and proclaiming the word.

To be followers of Christ means being sent. So, what does being sent mean?

Being a sent church means no longer waiting for people to walk through its doors. Instead, it functions as a missionary community that scatters into the world, bearing the very presence and authority of Jesus to the neighbourhoods, the workplaces, the schools, homes and cultures it enters.

When you step into your community to serve, speak grace, or build relationships, the people you encounter are effectively encountering Jesus Himself.

We are not all sent to be wandering missionaries, reliant on others for food and shelter but that does not make us exempt from fulfilling The Call. Jesus promises that even providing a small act of care, as simple as providing a cup of cold water, done in His name carries profound spiritual weight.

The entire baptised people are sent into the world to tell and embody the good news of Jesus Christ to others with humility and vulnerability and prepared for rejection.

What if we stop expecting people to come on their own initiative through those aforementioned church doors?

What if we truly took our calling seriously and took the Gospel to them?

What if we truly believed that we take the presence of Christ to every person we encounter, to every home, workplace, neighbourhood that we enter?

What if we saw every conversation as an opportunity to speak words of grace?

What if every interaction was an opportunity to embody Christ’s love for our neighbours?

We may not always receive a positive response when we take the risk of reaching out but you may be surprised at how many are ready to receive and just need us to reach out; no matter how humble our efforts.

The wages of sin are death but, just as whoever loses their life for Jesus finds it, whoever welcomes you welcomes Christ.

Calling and Love

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot and all the possessions that they had gathered and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran, and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east, and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on by stages toward the Negeb.
Genesis 12: 1-9

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with Jesus and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.”

While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she was saying to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that moment. When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread through all of that district.
Gospel of Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

Have you noticed how it is always busy people that Jesus calls?

When He calls us to do something, He calls us away from something else. He calls ordinary people out of the ordinariness of their lives. They are not being called because they have nothing to do and are just sitting there twiddling their thumbs. Jesus doesn’t call people who do nothing.

Every one of the disciples Jesus called were busy people and were in the middle of their normal work at the time they were called. Peter and Andrew were fishing. James and John were mending their nets. Levi (who becomes Matthew), as we read in the first part of the Gospel passage, was in the middle of his work collecting taxes.

It is not that they don’t have anything else to do. It is that the most important thing to do is to hear and obey the Saviour’s call. Jesus, our Saviour, says “Drop what you are doing and follow me”. And the correct and best response is, of course, to get up and follow Him.

Matthew did not choose Jesus. Matthew was rather busy collecting taxes and was not contemplating following anyone.

Jesus chose Matthew. Not only did He choose Matthew but He did not grant the option of thinking it over. Jesus chose Matthew and told him to follow then and there. And Matthew got up and followed Him. Jesus calls us to do the same. No thinking time. No preparation time. No advance training – the only available training is on the job as we go! Just drop everything and follow Him.

When Jesus called Matthew, Matthew got up and left his desk. He left behind the symbol of his profession and the root of his sinfulness. We are never called to something without being called away from something else. We cannot come into full discipleship if we are unable to let go of what Jesus is calling us to leave behind.

In the passage from Genesis 12 Abram is called by God to leave his country, his kin, his father’s house and travel to an unknown land that God would show him. He was called to leave his past behind and to put his trust fully in God for the future. You cannot get to what God has for you without letting go of where you are and what is holding you back and following Him. It is not what Jesus sees in us that makes us worthy of following Him, but what He puts in us when we obey His command.

Jesus also said “I desire mercy not sacrifice. Go and find out what this means”.

Hosea 6:6 says “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice.”

The Hebrew word used is “hesed”. I desire hesed not sacrifice. Hesed is translated as steadfast love, mercy, goodness, kindness, compassion and loyalty. Jesus, God, desires all these things from us; not just sacrifice. And here, the meaning of sacrifice is tithing. Gifts given to God and used to support the priests leading worship. Tithing is important to God. I remember reading about a church in Africa where, as the choir sang, the people brought their offerings to God; mostly grain and produce. The people did this with great joy and enthusiasm, giving to God a portion of whatever they had. Tithes and offerings are important to our worship and important to God. But, they are not more important than our steadfast love and mercy.

What do we tithe? What do we give to God? Is it our time? Our talents? A portion of our income or possessions? Volunteering to help our community? All of these are a form of tithe and sacrifice, but, whilst they are important to God, they are not as important as our steadfast love and mercy.

Let us imagine that you help out at the food bank on a Monday morning, preparing and handing out food parcels to the hungry. This is a tithe and a sacrifice. But, whilst you are doing this work, are you gossiping with the other volunteers? Are you speculating about our new Priest in Charge to be? Making assumptions about what he is like without having met him and without waiting to find out? Are you googling him, claiming to know all about him, his experience and his qualifications, even though you haven’t actually read his C.V? Are you judging and claiming you know precisely what he will do before he has even got here? Are you gossiping about other people you know? About those you are serving?

If so, where is the love, the mercy and the kindness? It is noticeably absent from this scenario and, sadly, it is exactly what occurred on Monday and so we pray for them.

God wants us to sacrifice our time, our talents, a portion of our treasures or income, but not at the sacrifice of our steadfast love and mercy.

Our time, talents and money are no substitute for our steadfast love towards God and our neighbours or for our kindness and mercy.

God shows us, and it is detailed over and over again in scripture, the kind of steadfast love and mercy that is important to Him. He is not asking anything of us that He has not already given us.

There is a story about Gandhi. A mother asked him to talk to her son about giving up sweets. He agreed but weeks went by. The mother asked him why he had not yet spoken to her son. Gandhi replied that he still intended to speak with her son but that he was finding it harder to give up sweets than he had expected. The mother realised that Gandhi could not and would not ask someone else to do something he was not already doing and so the conversation with her son could not take place until Gandhi himself had managed to give up sweets.

Like this story about Gandhi, God only asks of us what He has already given us. God gives us and shows us that His steadfast love and mercy for us endures forever and will be with us all the days of our lives.

God demonstrated this by giving us His Son. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believeth in Him shall not perish but will have everlasting life.

And Jesus demonstrated God’s steadfast love and mercy over and over again.

We not only have the example of the calling of Matthew in our readings but also the healing of the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years and the resurrection of the synagogue leader’s daughter.

Jesus showed the same mercy to everyone whether they believed in Him or not. His love and mercy really are unconditional and for everybody.

He called sinners, He healed the sick, He raised the dead, He spoke against injustice, He showed us how to love with a steadfast, merciful, kind, pure, good, everlasting love that knows no bounds. God loves us completely, unconditionally with an endless love that is for everyone.

Drop everything!

Let it go!

Follow Him!

Pentecost

Pentecost – the day the Holy Spirit was sent to be with us forever – is about much more than we realise. It is about the reversal of division, about overcoming human limitations, about the power to forgive and about continuous ministry.

It is the culmination of a series of events that began a long long time before. Let’s start with the reversal of division.

The Tower of Babel

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.’ And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.’ The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And the Lord said, ‘Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.’ So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. [Genesis 11:1-8]

Instead of obeying the Lord God and allowing Him to be their God, the people gathered to build the tower. This was much more than our concept of a tower and was to be a man-made sacred mountain on which humanity intended to live and be gods themselves.

Humanity shunned the Lord God and His plan to restore Eden through them, and so God scattered humankind, dividing them with different languages, wanting to start again.

Israel did not actually exist at this point. God then selected Abram; a man from the very heart of the rebellion. It is through God’s covenant with Abram that Israel was created from Abram’s descendants.

In this covenant, God said that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through Abram and his descendants. This shows the intention of God; that despite His decision to punish the nations of the earth, the Israelites would serve as a mediator for the return of the True God with a trail leading the nations back to God through Israel and The Messiah.

When the Holy Spirit came, as described in Acts, as wind and fire, this links back to the images used for God’s presence in the Old Testament.

But more than that are the signs that the reunification, the reversal of division, is in progress whilst pointing to the division point. The flaming tongues were divided, and the crowd formed from all the nations, were confused. The tongues are distributed amongst the disciples as they are commissioned to preach the good news.

As the people heard about Jesus and His resurrection and became His followers, they carried the news back to their nations. The people are being reunited and reconciled with God through the Holy Spirit.

This is part of the continuous mission. To witness and call the people back to God.

The Holy Spirit unites people across boundaries. It replaces judgement and division with understanding, unity and peace.

So, what about the overcoming of human limitations?

The Holy Spirit provides the inner strength needed to work through hurts, resentment and shame. This allows forgiveness as an act enabled by the Holy Spirit instead of human effort on its own.

Forgiveness is also part of the continuous mission as we are called to continually release grievances, heal relationships and extend the same forgiveness to others as that we receive from God.

Which brings us to the power to forgive.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you”. And with that He breathed on them and said “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” [John 20: 19-23]

As Christians we are obliged to forgive. It can be difficult to forgive. It can be difficult to forgive others. It can be difficult to forgive ourselves.

Forgiveness – forgiving does not mean forgetting. It does not mean making excuses or trying to justify what occurred. It does not mean that there won’t be consequences. It is about whether those involved can move forward in life or whether they are imprisoned by being unforgiven.

If we choose for sins to be retained we choose a state of unforgiveness and living in darkness. To live in such darkness is our choosing not God’s choosing.

The Holy Spirit gives us power to forgive. It opens doors and allows us to live in the light.

The Lord breathes the Holy Spirit on us and gives us a new life, a new heart and a new mission:

Go and forgive!

Peace is not possible without forgiveness. Love is not possible without forgiveness.

At Easter we celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord. Just like Jesus did not stay in the tomb His instructions didn’t either. He instructed us to love, to forgive, to reconcile, to love God, to love our neighbours and to love our enemies.

The highest form of love is forgiveness.

Forgiveness is unconditional love. It is not only loving those who are easy to love but also those who are difficult to love.

Jesus arrived in that locked room and said to His disciples “Peace be with you” He was telling them that they did not need to be afraid of Him, that He loved them and that He forgave them.

Go in peace! Go and forgive!

Tongues of Fire (Photo by Marek Piwnicki on Pexels.com)

Three Promises

John 14:15-21

Our Gospel reading today is a passage of three promises. The promise of Jesus that He will not leave the disciples (or us) as orphans. The promise of the Holy Spirit that the Father will send His Spirit to dwell in us. And the promise of the Father that whoever obeys Jesus’s commands and loves Him will be loved by the Father and both God the Father and God the Son will make their home with us.

God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit want to be with us on earth because they want us to be with them in heaven.

When we obey God’s word and fulfil our mission, God comes to us and great things happen. Barriers are broken, enemies are reconciled, disease is cured, addiction is conquered, hope is established, people are blessed, communities are formed, unity is established and church happens.

When God sends the Holy Spirit discouraged people cheer up, dishonest people clean up, sour people sweeten up, gossipers shut up, conflicted people make up, sleeping people wake up, lukewarm people fire up BUT most of all the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all the world, is lifted up.

What do we picture or imagine when we think of the Holy Spirit? When we think of Him, what do we think He looks like?

We have an image we apply to God the Father, whether consciously or subconsciously. In the Old Testament we have, amongst many others, the imagery of the burning bush, the fiery and cloudy pillars. We have the imagery of God as the brightest light, and, thanks to the film industry there is of course the image of God as the kindly old man on a cloud with a long white beard. However, we personally imagine God when we try to box Him into a particular image, there are many solid concepts that we apply.

We have an image we apply to God the Son. Jesus incarnated as human gives us a very definite image of God in man shape. The exact image is often influenced by works of art and our own society as we imagine Him looking more like our own rather than taking into consideration the human heritage and society He was born into. And, of course, for both God the Father and God the Son, we take the verse from Genesis that tells us that we were created in God’s own image and reverse it to mistakenly try and make God like us. However, again, regardless of how we personally imagine Jesus, we have a solid concept for Him.

But do we have the same solid concept of the Holy Spirit? Or is one of the reasons we do not refer to the Spirit as much as we should because we have less of a clear image in our minds of how to personify Him.

The Holy Spirit is the breath of God. He dwells in us. He has appeared as a dove and as tongues of fire. Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit in very solid concrete terms. All mentions of the Holy Spirit in the Bible are very concrete, very solid, very real.

Jesus is, again, preparing His disciples for His departure. It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster for them.

Jesus prepares them for His death. Jesus is betrayed by one of their intimate group. Jesus is arrested, tried, tortured, crucified. He dies and is placed in the tomb, rises from the dead and is again with His disciples but now He is saying they have to say goodbye again as He is going back to the Father.

Confusion, betrayal, fear, terror, loss, sadness, grief, surprise, joy, relief and now they are looking loss in the face again.

But Jesus wasn’t leaving His disciples, or us, bereft of God. He was preparing the way for the Holy Spirit to be with and dwell in us.

The Lord is here. His Spirit is with us. Ever present in our lives.

Jesus, God the Son, brought comfort, help, guidance and healing to the people He met. God the Holy Spirit brings comfort, help, healing and confidence in God’s continued and eternal presence. The Holy Spirit is the embodiment of God, dwelling within each one of us who have become united with Christ through our salvation; transforming us and growing us so that we can be a blessing to others and to the world.

Some one once described the Holy Spirit as “the present-tense of God”: not the God of history, not the God of the future, but the God of the here and now, active in our lives. Through the Holy Spirit we experience God on a day to day basis as He keeps us in God’s presence every moment of every day, sustaining us and our faith.

As the Holy Spirit works more and more in our lives we increasingly become obedient to God’s will for our lives.

Jesus says “If you love me you will keep my commandments … and those who love me will be loved by the Father”.

Do you love Jesus?

We are not talking about a “pink and fluffy” kind of love.

Jesus wants our obedience, our actions, our devotion. Love for Jesus is about following His call on our lives. Authentic love for Jesus is shown by how we live to Him and how we live with each other.

Love for Jesus begins with emotion but as it deepens it moves to obedience and devotion.

And so we must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit working within us, changing us, transforming us, drawing us closer to God.

The Lord is here. His Spirit is with us. Change is coming!

Holy Spirit (Photo by Ann H on Pexels.com)

The Merry Month of May …

…May is a month of rebirth, inspiration and excitement; a time of profound growth, renewal and divine grace.

“What a busy world we live in.

Everyone is full of cares.

Worries, stress and strain of living.

Nothing done, yet time is scarce.”

As we see more signs of Spring and more signs that we are moving into Summer, we have the opportunity to pause …

… to pause and reflect …

… to pause and renew …

But, for this to have any positive effect on our lives we must truly understand what that means.

Renewal is the beautiful, often slow, sometimes painful, work of God stripping away our ways of being that we think feel safe but which, ultimately, are not our truest selves. It is God stripping those away, layer by layer, to reveal the glory He placed inside us.

By glory I don’t mean fame, influence, ego, or self importance; but a “crucified” kind of glory. One which comes through surrender.

Resurrection cannot be experienced without death. We need the cross!

If we allow God into our hearts we cannot limit Him to just the part we want Him to see. We must surrender to Him our whole selves, good and bad, happy and sad, our ingrained patterns and our hidden fears. Then we have to allow Him to transform us.

It’s not about becoming better but about becoming “God’s original masterpiece”; becoming who God originally created us to be.

Freedom and renewal begins in admitting we are deeply flawed and desperately in need of a Saviour. It begins in surrender.

Ephesians 4:22-24 “To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

So, how can we achieve this?

Slowly and repeatedly. Renewal is a slow plodding process of pain, death and reconfiguration, well before any energy and encouragement bursts onto the scene. To be made new or to be remade new means something needs to change and change is not easy. It needs to happen everyday. It happens by the Grace of God but we have a significant part to play. We must, daily, reflect, pray and act. We must also open ourselves to humility. We must emulate Jesus – what would Jesus do? We must trust in God and in His loving ways. We must stop resisting and pass our burdens to God, allowing Him to provide.

True renewal requires releasing old ways, habits or pains. It is an act of “composting” old habits and letting them die in order to nurture new growth.

Embrace change! It is, after all, a daily requirement of being a Christian; and it’s coming whether you like it or not!

May (Photo by Gamontat Om on Pexels.com)

The Shepherd and The Gatekeeper

Genesis 7, Acts 2:42ff, Psalm 23, 1 Peter 2:19ff, John 10:1-10

As is so often the case, whilst it might not initially seem like it, our Old Testament and New Testament readings go hand in hand.

Our Old Testament reading details the onset of The Great Flood; representing God’s righteous judgement on a corrupt world and His merciful salvation of Noah’s family.

Indeed, its key themes are the finality of God’s judgement when it comes and the Ark as a type of Christ – a place of absolute sanctuary, provided by God.

There is the invitation into safety: “Come into the Ark” – a final invitation to salvation, not merely survival but true salvation and sanctuary prepared by God. It is a promise of protection. When God sends judgement He also provides total shelter for His people.

God closed the door of the Ark signifying that the time of mercy and warnings has passed. It is a seal of safety for those who accepted God’s invitation and finality for those who remain outside.

Of course, there is also the obedience of Noah, like a sheep steered by a shepherd, who only entered the Ark once he was commanded, completing a long and difficult task of faith.

The Ark highlights a stark contrast between salvation for the obedient and judgement for the rebellious; mirroring the finality of Judgement Day.

In our New Testament readings we are like sheep who have gone astray. Jesus describes Himself as the Shepherd and the Gate for the sheep. Like the Ark, Jesus is concerned with keeping His people, His sheep, safe and cares deeply for them. Both Jesus and the Ark are protectors, gatekeepers and shepherds.

A shepherd tends, herds, feeds and guards their sheep.

Some denominations call their church leaders Pastors. Pastor is the Latin word for shepherd.

Shepherds lead sheep by building trust, using vocal cues, and employing protective, guiding techniques. Often they work in groups, working together to share the responsibilities.

Sometimes they lead the sheep from the front, such as leading them to pasture, breaking a trail, clearing danger, and demonstrating a safe path.

Sometimes the shepherd leads from behind to guide and protect the sheep from danger, keeping the flock together from the rear and allowing the fastest to go first to direct the herd’s overall movement. Herding the sheep instead of expecting them to follow.

By walking opposite to the flock, shepherds can push them into a new direction.

To contain or direct them, shepherds might walk along the side of the sheep, keeping full view of the flock.

Shepherds focus on providing security and nourishment, which ensures the sheep trust them enough to follow.

And, of course, there is the famous shepherd’s crook, which is used to guide, separate, or protect the sheep. The distinct hook at the end is used for managing, catching and guiding sheep by their necks or legs without causing injury. It is especially useful for catching lambs or holding a sheep in the pasture. The long handle is used to guide the sheep through the gates, separate, or steer them without getting close enough to scare/frighten them.

It also supports the shepherd, like a hiking pole, when travelling across rough, uneven or steep terrain.

The shepherd can also use the crook as a defensive weapon against predators to protect the flock or to shake fruit from high branches or to part thick undergrowth.

This highlights how deeply a good shepherd knows their sheep and how well they know their shepherd. The sheep know the shepherd’s voice. The shepherd brings security and life. Jesus as the Shepherd and Gatekeeper is the protector and provider, offering security and life, in direct contrast with the Pharisees or “thieves” who come to steal, kill and destroy.

The gate and the shepherd work together. The function of the gate is to keep the sheep together during the night, safe from predators. During the day the gate is opened so that the shepherd can guide the sheep to pasture. It is important to emphasise that the gate is not a gate of exclusion. It is not to keep out other sheep. Jesus said “I have other sheep that do not belong to this field. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” The gate is purely to guard against all that threatens the sheep.

Not only do the gate and shepherd work together but they are one and the same. Hence, Jesus using both in this teaching. Many get confused by this but it is simpler than it seems.

Let me tell you about an Arab shepherd. This shepherd was not a christian and did not know the Bible. But he did know his sheep and was showing off his flock to a scholar, and also showed off the penned area where his sheep slept every night. “And when they go in there” the shepherd said proudly, “they are perfectly safe”.

But then the scholar noticed something and said, “Your sheep sleep in that pen and yet I notice that the pen does not have a gate on it”.

“Yes that’s right,” the shepherd replied, “I am the gate”.

“What do you mean?” the man asked.

“After my sheep are in the pen, I lay my body across the opening. No sheep will step over me and no wolf can get in without getting past me first. I am the gate.”

The other interesting part of this passage from John is verse 6: “This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.”

There are many shepherds in the Old Testament, Moses, Rachel, David are just a few. Shepherding was a common job at the time. In addition, the shepherd/sheep metaphors are used over and over again throughout the Old Testament. Yet, despite this, the Pharisees, the people who claimed to be experts in the Old Testament, didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about. They did not understand because they did not believe.

The role of the good shepherd is to take care of the sheep, to protect the sheep, to lay down their life for the sheep and to love the sheep. There is no better metaphor to describe the nature of Jesus’s bond with His people. He is a gentle shepherd who leads His sheep.

On the other hand, Jesus is calling the Pharisees “bad shepherds”. They were the very people who were supposed to spiritually nourish and protect the people of God and yet they were leading the people astray. Jesus was comparing these false teachers to thieves, robbers and strangers. He is saying that His sheep, the sheep of the true shepherd will not be controlled by the pharisees.

Jesus is saying, just in a different way, the same thing that He says in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Enter salvation through the Jesus Gate. Be a Jesus Sheep, in the sanctuary of the Ark, tended, herded, fed, cared for and guarded by the Jesus Shepherd; and receive abundant everlasting life, green pastures, still waters, peace and joy.

Shepherding Sheep (Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com)

Doubting Thomas

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’ But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’ A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.
The Gospel of John, chapter 20 starting at verse 19

This reading is the one from which the name Doubting Thomas originates.

I always feel sorry for Thomas. He was an extremely faithful disciple. Indeed, in an earlier passage from John, when Lazarus has died and the other disciples do not want to go with Jesus back to Judea, it is Thomas who persuades them; and even says “Let us also go, that we may die with him”.

Again, when Jesus explains He is going to prepare a place in His Father’s house for His followers, it is Thomas who had the foresight to ask “Lord, we don’t know where you are going so how can we know the way?” This gained us that vital answer from Jesus that He is the way, the truth and the life; revealing that Jesus is the only path to God, moving the focus from a physical location to a spiritual relationship.

In that locked room where all the disciples except Thomas were gathered, Jesus appeared to them. He stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After saying this, Jesus showed His disciples His hands and His side.

Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Let’s be clear on this, the disciples had already had the testimony of the empty tomb with the folded grave clothes from Peter and John. They had had the testimony of the women and from Mary who had seen the risen Christ. Yet Jesus still joined them in the room although all the doors were locked and showed them His wounds before they recognised Him.

Thomas, on the other hand, by not being with the other disciples had missed out on seeing the proof of the resurrection that the others had been shown freely by Jesus without having to ask for it.

Thomas, like the others had been, was in mourning for Jesus.

When we look at it this way, it does seem a little unfair that Thomas should be dubbed for all time The Doubter when he merely asked to experience the same as the others had already received.

Thomas is a wonderful gift to us … and we are, and should be, so thankful for the gift of Thomas.

He demonstrates true love, loyalty and faithfulness in going back to Judea with Jesus, even if it meant death, and persuading the other disciples to do likewise.

He demonstrated wisdom and courage in asking Jesus how we find our way to His Father’s house; which gifts us the teaching and understanding that Jesus is the way and we must follow His example and become like Him.

It is because of Thomas that we can be reassured that it is okay to have doubts.

Doubt can, after all, serve to bring us to deeper faith and understanding. It can be an invitation to ask sincere questions which can lead to a stronger relationship with God. Doubt is questioning that seeks answers. Honest questions are part of the spiritual journey for many. “Thinking is believing and believing is thinking” is a crucial part of our faith.

Thomas, by declaring “my Lord and my God” when Christ reappeared and showed Thomas His wounds, was the first person to explicitly acknowledge Jesus’s divinity.

Thomas was an enthusiastic apostle full of great fervor, an extremely human figure, close to each of us, symbolizing the doubts that can lead to greater awareness and the uncertainty that nurtures faith.

When the disciples scattered after Pentecost to bring the news of new life in Christ to all, Thomas went east, first to the Persians and then to India. From there he eventually reached the Malabar coast (present -day Kerala).

Thomas was completely filled with the Light of the Resurrection. In this light, full of the deepest faith and belief, Thomas was martyred in Chennai, India, in 72AD.

In a kind of paradox, Thomas’s death turned his statement from the events of Lazarus’s death and resurrection into a prophecy, for Thomas did indeed die to go with Christ.

Thomas The Apostle viewing Jesus’s wounds.

Mothering Sunday 15th March 2026

Mothering Sunday – the day put aside for visiting one’s “mother” church (the main church or cathedral in the area and often the one in which they had been baptised), to reaffirm their faith and family ties symbolised in the return to the source of their spiritual upbringing. This allowed servants and apprentices a rare day off to visit their families and bring gifts.

This festival is tied to the church calendar and occurs three weeks before Easter, on the fourth Sunday of Lent – also known as Laetare Sunday (Rejoice Sunday). Laetare Sunday is the Sunday on which we are offered a break from the Lenten Fast and as such it was a perfect day for those getting that rare chance to visit their families.

Over time, the honouring of the Virgin Mary and the mother church grew into a broader celebration of all mothers and those fulfilling the role of a mother figure.

It is not a coincidence, therefore, that our readings today involve mothers. In Exodus we are reminded of Moses’s Israelite mother and the Egyptian princess who adopted and mothered him. Our Psalm refers to God looking after His children, Colossians talks about how to live with one another. Luke reminds us of Jesus as a baby being presented at the Temple and the words of Simeon about Jesus’s death for our salvation. And John takes us to that point where the sword did indeed, metaphorically, pierce Mary’s soul. As Jesus is dying on the cross He sees His mother and the disciple John and He demonstrates His love and care for His mother by putting His mother into John’s care, ensuring she would be looked after by putting John in the position of being as a son to Mary and granting her permission to be as a mother to John.

Today is not, however, a celebration for everyone. For some it is incredibly difficult for various reasons. Some long for a child and are unable to become mothers. Some have lost children through death or circumstances. Some have lost their mother through death or Dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease or similar conditions. Some are at conflict with their mother or never knew one at all.

Our Gospel reading from Luke acknowledges this as Simeon warns Mary of the pain and suffering she will experience. As Mary watched her son dying on the cross she would have remembered Simeon’s words and finally understand their meaning. I’m sure that Mary would have given anything to swap places with Jesus and die in His place. It’s something many parents say – that they would die in place of their child and is part of the protective instinct built into the love between parent and child.

Our reading from John’s Gospel also acknowledges the part suffering plays as it links the pain of motherhood with the pain of the crucifixion.

As parents, we experience anguish over our children many times throughout our lives. As children, there comes a time when we anguish over our earthly parents. For those who have lost their own children or parents, Mary can be an important figure of compassion and solidarity as one who identifies with deep pain.

As Mary thinks about Jesus, He is thinking about His mother and knows how much she is suffering. Also, Mary was a widow and Jesus was concerned that no one would care for her. Even as He was dying Jesus was concerned for those whom He loved. And so He gives His mother to John and John to His mother.

Why was Jesus so concerned for His mother? After all, He had both brothers and sisters who were still alive.

Both Jesus’s mother Mary and His disciple John believed in Him and His mission. They believed He was indeed the Son of God and Saviour of the world. This is in direct contrast to Jesus’s brothers. In John 7:5 we are told “Not even His brothers believed in Him.”

Jesus created a new family in the shadow of the cross. At the foot of the cross, as Jesus’s blood is shed, Mary and John formed the church in their relationship with each other, offering each other comfort, strength, encouragement and hospitality.

We are all blood relatives – not through our own blood but through the blood Jesus shed on the cross.

Mothering Sunday is a time we can give thanks for those who cared for us but it is also a time to give thanks for mother church, formed through the blood of Christ at the foot of the cross; where we find comfort and support, encouragement, hospitality and love. It is also a time we can give thanks for our church family – our relatives through Jesus’s blood.

But Mothering Sunday also helps to widen our view. In addition to reminding us of the mother church, it reminds us of the parenthood of God, who is both mother and father combined when it comes to His parenting of us, His children.

God’s love for us is so huge, strong and faithful. It transcends the closest bond between parent and child.

Even when we go through times of suffering, anxiety or confusion. Even when we feel like the world is closing in on us. Even when those who care for us don’t understand or help how we need them to. Even when we feel alone and forgotten; God is with us and will never forsake us.

We can give to Him all our fears, our grief, our disappointments, our sufferings and He will bear these burdens with us. We are loved with an eternal love, just as we are. We are God’s children and He is mother and father to us in a way that brings healing, peace and fullness of life.

Let us pray: Loving God, we thank you for children and those in the role of mother. Be with those who are grieving because they have no mother; be close to those who are struggling because they have no children; be near to those who are sad because they are far apart from those they love. Let your love be present in every home, and help your church to have eyes to see and ears to hear the needs of all who come.

Jesus, like a mother you gather your people to you; you are gentle with us as a mother with her children. Despair turns to hope through your sweet goodness; through your gentleness we find comfort in fear. Your warmth gives life to the dead, your touch makes sinners righteous. Lord Jesus, in your mercy heal us; in your love and tenderness remake us. In your compassion bring grace and forgiveness, for the beauty of heaven may your love prepare us. Amen

A gift of flowers and chocolates (Photo by Dana Garcia on Pexels.com)

Living Water

From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarrelled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?” But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the LORD, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The LORD said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarrelled and tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”
Exodus chapter 17, verses 1-7

Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying 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 no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem. “Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “| know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.” Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” “Why are you speaking with her?” Then the woman left her water-jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to him. Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labour. Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour.” Many Samaritans from that city believed in Jesus because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there for two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Saviour of the world.”
John, chapter 4, verses 5 – 42

When we are looking at passages from the Bible, it often helps to put them back into context. At the beginning of this passage from the Gospel of John, Jesus is on His way back to Galilee from Jerusalem. His popularity is increasing, much to the annoyance of the religious leaders of the time, and a conflict is brewing. But it is not yet time for this to take place and so Jesus removes Himself and He takes the unpopular route through Samaria.

Most Jews travelling on similar journeys would take a different route to avoid Samaria. To say that Jews and Samaritans did not get on is an understatement. The city of Sychar was ancient Shechem, the capital city of the Samaritans and the location of Jacob’s well, as was a lot of Jewish history. For example, this is where Abram first came when he arrived into Canaan from Babylonia, where God first appeared to Abram in Canaan, and renewed the promise of giving the land to him and his descendants, where Abram built an altar and called upon the name of the Lord, where Jacob came safely when he returned with his wives and children from his sojourn with Laban, where Jacob bought a piece of land from a Canaanite named Hamor, for 100 pieces of silver, where Jacob built an altar to the Lord, this was the plot of ground that Jacob gave his son Joseph, and where the bones of Joseph were eventually buried when they were carried up from Egypt. This is where Joshua made a covenant with Israel, renewing their commitment to the God of Israel and proclaiming, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Jesus, as God in human form, experienced the same tiredness and thirstiness we all do after a very long walk; and He experienced the same relief at a chance to finally sit and drink. Even better, a Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water and so He could ask her to draw water for Him to drink. By asking the woman for a drink enables the interaction that follows. Jesus drew upon the woman’s curiosity making her more curious about Him, more curious about God and more curious about what it is Jesus can give. Jesus often speaks to us as if we were more spiritual or understanding than we actually are. He does this on purpose in a manner similar to “If you knew more, you would pray more.”

Knowing that everyone in the local town or villages would use this well daily for the water they needed to drink; Jesus used being thirsty as a metaphor for spiritual need and longing and promised that the water He gives will become a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. The effect of this water creates something good, something life-giving in the heart of the one who drinks it.

The response of the Samaritan woman was logical, but not yet spiritual. She wanted to avoid the work of coming to the well every day. “Jesus, if you want to make my life easier and more convenient, then I’m all for it. Give it to me!”

The conversation moves on to the life of the Samaritan woman. Jesus wants her to confront and admit her sins.

Having discussed the woman’s life, the conversation moves on to worship. Jesus states “You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship”. He sets Jews and Samaritans in sharp contrast. And He associates Himself quite definitely with the Jews. Like all faith that tries to combine elements of different religions, the Samaritans worship what they do not know. The Samaritans also only accepted the first five books of the Hebrew Scripture, taking the bits of scripture they wished to, and rejecting the rest.

Jesus pointed out that a time was coming when worship would no longer be focused on places. The greater work of Jesus would bring a greater, more spiritual worship. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth: With these words Jesus described the basis for true worship: it is not found in places and trappings, but in spirit and in truth.

Though this woman was a sinner, Jesus revealed Himself to her. Jesus reveals Himself to sinners. The Samaritan woman was so impressed by the love of Jesus that she now sought out her fellow villagers, even when they had treated her as an outcast before. Jesus displayed so much love that she felt safe with Him even when her sin was exposed. It’s important that people today likewise have a safe place to confess their sin, repent, and put their trust in Jesus.

The woman’s invitation was effective. The people came when she told them who Jesus was and how He had impacted her life with their brief conversation.

The disciples had gone into the Samaritan village to get food, and, having returned, wanted Jesus to eat what they brought to Him. Jesus wanted His disciples to know that, whilst food and rest is important, life was more than those things; that man does not eat by bread alone. Jesus found great satisfaction in doing the will of God even when He was weary. In fact, the conscious doing of God’s will refreshed the weary Jesus.

Jesus then used the idea of food and harvest to communicate spiritual ideas. The idea of harvest meant that there were many people ready to be received into the Kingdom of God, and that the disciples should see themselves as workers – reapers – in that harvest. “As he was speaking, the Samaritans were leaving the town and coming across the fields toward him. The eagerness of the people the Jews regarded as alien and rejected showed that they were like grain ready for harvesting.” He who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, hence both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.

Many of the Samaritans of that city came to believe in Jesus as the Messiah of God because of the word of the woman who testified. Jesus stayed there two days teaching and many more believed.

Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. “Not of the Jews only, but of the Samaritans, and of the whole Gentile world.”