The Bigger Picture

Easter 4 at Marsworth – 17 April 2016

Gospel John 10

Alleluia, alleluia. Jesus said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.’ Alleluia.

Further conflict over Jesus’ claims

²² Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter,²³ and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade.²⁴ The Jews who were there gathered round him, saying, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’

²⁵ Jesus answered, ‘I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, ²⁶ but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. ²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.’

³¹ Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, ³² but Jesus said to them, ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?’

³³ ‘We are not stoning you for any good work,’ they replied, ‘but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.’

³⁴ Jesus answered them, ‘Is it not written in your Law, “I have said you are ‘gods’”? ³⁵ If he called them “gods”, to whom the word of God came – and Scripture cannot be set aside – ³⁶ what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, “I am God’s Son”? ³⁷ Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. ³⁸ But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.’³⁹ Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.

⁴⁰ Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptising in the early days. There he stayed, ⁴¹ and many people came to him. They said, ‘Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.’ ⁴² And in that place many believed in Jesus.

Sermon

There are parts of London I know very well. There are other parts I don’t know at all. There are some places I just pass through, on the way to somewhere else, but other than knowing which way to turn in order to reach my destination, I don’t really have much idea about what is there.

You could say my knowledge of London is like a patchwork quilt. I know some of the pieces quite well, and the way from some to others, but the bigger picture eludes me. Sometimes, when I am lost, I suddenly walk into an area I know. I was lost, but then I am found.

Preaching from the lectionary gives us all a patchwork knowledge of Scripture. We know the gospels pretty well. Many preachers tend to help us understand one or other of the Bible readings set for the day. More often than not, it’s the gospel reading they choose to expound. Even then, we know the gospels in chunks, and fail to see the bigger picture. These chunks are what theologians unappetisingly call ‘gobbets’.

Today’s reading from John 10 is hard to understand on its own. When preaching from the gospels, I normally try and set the reading in context, by referring to what came before and what follows after it, but even that doesn’t help much. So in preparing what I could say to you this morning, I had to read chapters 7 to 11. It was interesting to do so, because parts of what I read were unfamiliar to me: it was almost like reading some verses anew, never having seen them before. Other parts I could almost recite by heart. But by reading the whole passage suddenly the pieces of patchwork felt like a quilt.

Chapter 7 starts with Jesus in Galilee. That was his home, where he was known, where he felt safer and more comfortable. It’s the feast of Booths. His advisers told him to move to Judea. They said if he wanted to make an impression, to get his words heard, to become even more famous, he would have to take his message to Jerusalem. Only in the capital would he be taken seriously, for nothing of any importance comes out of Galilee. Only in Jerusalem might be he recognised as Messiah.

At first, Jesus declines and his advisors and disciples go to Jerusalem anyway. The big feast of Dedication is about to be celebrated, and Jerusalem will be thronged with people, so Jesus travels alone and arrives later than his followers.

Jesus’ fame and notoriety had gone before him. The crowds were looking for him. They have heard all about the miracles and mighty words, the uplifting preaching, and his claims to be…his claims to be what? Messiah? Prophet? Magician?

This is what chapters 7 to 11 are all about. Throughout John’s gospel, responses to his claims and messages vary considerably. But that’s the big picture — Jesus’ identity and intentions.

As it’s the festival of Booths, Jesus spends most of his time teaching. Some of the pieces of the quilt are familiar to us. They include:

· I am the living water

· The woman caught in adultery

· I am the light of the world

· I am from above— the Son of Man

· If you believe in me, and do what I say, you are my disciples

· The man born blind receives his sight

· The blind men and the Pharisees

· The blind man who encounters Jesus

· I am the good shepherd

But — our reading today is all about rejection. Jesus is rejected — his life is in danger — he is said to be a blasphemer who deserves to die — at best, he is accused of demon possession.

Jesus then leaves Jerusalem, and crosses the river Jordan to where John the Baptist used to baptise in the early days. He started preaching and teaching there, and some believed in him as the long awaited Messiah.

Here we come upon the bigger picture: there is a tension, throughout John’s gospel (and very probably throughout the entire Bible) between the claims Jesus makes for himself, exactly what those claims are and what they signify, and our human response to them. The people at the festival in Jerusalem showed their frustration by asking:

‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’

Jesus was equally frustrated. He answers them:

²⁵ … ‘I did tell you, but you do not believe.

This particular preacher cannot resolve this tension, nor can anyone argue anyone else into faith with persuasive and convincing words. I could tell you the story of the tightrope walker and his wheelbarrow — it illustrates rather nicely the move from belief into faith — but we haven’t time this morning — ask me afterwards if you want me to tell you the joke.

I can, however, repeat the words of one theologian who summed up the position of the preacher rather succinctly when she said:

“…the preacher can declare the promise that creates and sustains faith -- the promise of the Good Shepherd to give us eternal life, the promise that no one will be able to snatch us out of his hand (10:28).

The preacher can also help hearers discern the Shepherd’s voice amidst all the other voices that clamour for our attention, many of whom claim to speak for God. Those voices are legion, but we do not always recognise how contrary they are to the voice of the Good Shepherd.

The voice of the Good Shepherd is a voice that liberates rather than oppresses. It does not say, ‘Do this, and then maybe you will be good enough to be one of my sheep.’ It says, ‘You belong to me already. No one can snatch you out of my hand.’ Secure in this belonging, we are free to live the abundant life of which Jesus spoke earlier in the chapter: ‘I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly’ “ [1]

Amen

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[1] Elisabeth Johnson — Professor Lutheran Institute of Theology
Meiganga, Cameroon

Easter 2–Holy Communion at Little Brickhill–3 April 2016

Readings Acts 5

²⁷ The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. ²⁸ ‘We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,’ he said. ‘Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.’

²⁹ Peter and the other apostles replied: ‘We must obey God rather than human beings! ³⁰ The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead – whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. ³¹ God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Saviour that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. ³² We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.’

Reading Revelation 1

⁴ John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia:

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, ⁶ and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father – to him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.

⁷ ‘Look, he is coming with the clouds,’
    and ‘every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him’;
    and all peoples on earth ‘will mourn because of him.’
So shall it be! Amen.

⁸ ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’

Gospel John 20

Alleluia, alleluia. Jesus said, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.’ Alleluia.

Jesus appears to his disciples

¹⁹ On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

²¹ Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ ²² And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. ²³ If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’

²⁴ Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’

But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.’

²⁶ A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’

²⁸ Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’

²⁹ Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’

³⁰ Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹ But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Sermon

Tried reading Bible straight through — 2 years + — many plans on Net — ancestry and genocide — different picture of God to NT — Revelation waits at end.

Alan le Grys — best book in Bible — sabbatical to write Commentary — 6 months no work. Students thought him mad.

Apocalypse in Greek — exercises peculiar fascination for some — others repelled by fantastic violent imagery and coded language.

Can I help? — Revelation speaks to our own apocalyptic times. Look at church Bibles:

· Claims to be words of Jesus himself — given to John through an angel — in vision on island of Patmos

· Meant to be read aloud — blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near (1:3)

· In form of a letter to 7 churches in province of Asia — intended to be read aloud — of importance to all who hear the message “the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ” (1:4)

Suffering and conflict are normal — to own Jesus Christ as Lord means terrible persecution, hostility, even death.

Revelation assures its hearers that Jesus is not unfamiliar with what they are going through — does not promise to alleviate suffering any more than in his own life — but stands alongside Christians in their troubles.

Revelation is a word of encouragement to those who are threatened — and exhortation for those who acquiesce with the powers of religion and government in order to avoid any unpleasantness.

Jesus described as:

1. Faithful witness

2. First born from the dead

3. Ruler of all the kings of the earth

God is:

1. The one who was

2. The one who is

3. The one who is to come

Numbers important in Revelation — 3 associated here with God — 7 for the churches — abundance — 12 for Israel.

We have assurance that:

1. God loves us — this knowledge sustains us through suffering and conflict

2. We have been liberated by Jesus’ suffering on the cross

3. In God’s reign of peace, he will wipe away every tear from our eyes.

Jesus is here portrayed as faithful witness — faithful unto death — Jesus testifies to God’s faithfulness to us through his own suffering.

On Doubting Thomas day, when our gospel reading is from John 20, Thomas is not present as Jesus visits the disciples in hiding — what better contrast of faith is there but to compare the account with Revelation? Thomas wanted proof before he would believe — we cannot have that proof but Revelation assures us Jesus is the faithful witness — Alpha and Omega — first and last — who was and is and is to come.