Recap

So far in John, we've read through the prologue and started Jesus' public ministry. The most unique of the four gospels, John's gospel focuses on the divinity of Jesus. The prologue identified Jesus as both 'the Word' and God. He existed before creation and took on flesh to dwell with his creation. He's described as the light found in Genesis 1, and both the tabernacle and the Passover lamb found in Exodus.

John the Baptist prepared the way for him as Isaiah prepared the way for the Lord, but we didn't read him baptise Jesus as we did with the other gospels. Nor do we read him go into the desert to resist the temptation of Satan. Jesus is God on earth. He's the one who baptises and is so far above Satan that any ‘temptation’ is far too insignificant to mention. He called his first disciples, who recognised that he was the Messiah immediately.

Then we saw Jesus interact with four Jewish institutions. The first is a wedding in Cana. There he performed his first miracle, turning water into wine. He produced over 100 litres of the highest quality wine, showing the generosity of the kingdom of God. Like a marriage is a covenant between husband and wife, Jesus is ushering in a new covenant.

Then, in Jerusalem, he interacted with the second, the temple. He cleared it of its corrupt traders. When the religious leaders asked him by what authority he did this, he tells them that he will destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days. He was talking about his own death and resurrection, but the religious leaders misunderstood him. They were too focused on their temple, not realising that the new temple was standing in front of them.

The third was a Rabbi, a teacher, who visited Jesus late at night. This Rabbi, Nicodemus, was a supporter of Jesus, and praised him for being such a great teacher. But Jesus explained to him that what people need isn’t new teaching, but new lives. They need to be born again. Jesus has come to give people new life.

The fourth was a sacred well, a place of community and a symbol of the Jews' history. There, Jesus met with a Samaritan woman. During this conversation, Jesus described himself as living water. He is bringing an era where people can worship wherever they are because they are worshipping through the spirit.

Then came Jesus’ second miracle. He healed the son of an official, pointing to the fact that Jesus’ kingdom being one of health and life. 

John 5-8

The next section of Jesus’ ministry focus on four different Jewish holy days or festivals. The first is the ambiguous ‘festival of the Jews’. It’s unclear what festival this was meant to be, but as we see later in the passage, this day was also the Sabbath, the day of rest dedicated to the Lord.

As Jesus is walking through Jerusalem, he comes across a pool named Bethesda where the blind, lame, and paralysed congregate. Noticing one man who had been lame for thirty-eight years, Jesus walks over and tells him to get up, take up his mat, and walk. The man is instantly healed and does exactly as Jesus has said.

The religious leaders are furious that this man was carrying a mat from one place to another on the Sabbath. This was a day of rest. No work, no matter how small, was allowed. Note the legalism of these leaders. A man is walking for the first time in thirty-eight years, and all they care about is the fact he’s carrying around a mat on a day of rest.

Eventually, these religious leaders found out it was Jesus who healed the man and come challenge him as well. But Jesus points out to them that just as his Father, God, works on the Sabbath, so will he. The author John later refers to this miracle as one of Jesus’ signs (John 7:23-31). This sign points to God being Jesus’ Father, and therefore Jesus being equal to God.

This idea annoys the religious leaders, and Jesus seems to double down on this. He explains that he only ever does what he sees his Father do. The Father is a God of life, and so Jesus has come to give people life as well. But Jesus also offers a warning. Just as the Father has given him the mission to bring life, he has also been given the right to judge between good and evil. And one day those who have done evil will face his judgement.

Then Jesus points to John the Baptist. These people were willing to go and listen to John, but John’s ministry was to point towards Jesus, and they want nothing to do with him. They pride themselves on their reading of scripture, believing it will bring them life, but the one that scripture points to is here and they reject him. Jesus tells them that this is evidence enough that they don’t really love God. If they loved God, then they would love his son.

In John, we see a different nature to Jesus. When people begin to doubt him, he seems to go out of his way to antagonise them. This is likely to filter people out in the same way as Jesus' parables in Mark and Matthew. Jesus doesn’t mind if he turns away those who have already decided not to believe in him.

The next section is a series of stories said to have happened around the Passover.

Jesus is surrounded by a large crowd and his first concern is to make sure they are all fed. He decides to test his disciples by asking them how they are going to feed them all. The disciples argue it’s not possible. It would take far too much money.

Andrew points to a young boy who has five loaves and a couple of small fish. So Jesus gets everyone to sit down, prays over the food, and then breaks it into pieces. Miraculously, the food begins to multiply in people’s hands and before long everyone is fed with twelve baskets left over.

The author John describes this as another one of Jesus’ signs, making this one number four. This sign points to the abundance in Jesus’ kingdom. There is no scarcity with Jesus. There is always enough. We then get a similar story found in Matthew and Mark directly after their feeding of the five-thousand.

Jesus sends his disciples ahead on the boat and then joins them later by walking on the sea. The fact that John has included this along with the feeding of the five-thousands suggests they are part of the same sign. Just as Moses fed the people in the desert and split the sea, Jesus feeds the multitudes and walks on water.

But John wants to twist that idea slightly. Travelling elsewhere, more people begin to follow Jesus, hoping that he will provide bread for them too. Jesus challenges them, saying that they’re not here because they believe in him. Rather, they just want him to feed them.

They respond saying they will believe in him if he proves himself to them. He should feed them just as Moses fed their ancestors. But Jesus points out it wasn’t Moses who fed their ancestors, but God. And Jesus is offering them bread, but his bread is not physical bread but the bread of eternal life.

Here we get the first of Jesus’ ‘I am’ statements, a reference to God’s name back in Exodus 3:14. Jesus is the bread that God is offering people so they may live. The people seem wilfully to misunderstand Jesus, and act like he’s talking about cannibalism, so Jesus antagonises them more by using their line of thinking. He tells them that they need to eat of his flesh and drink from his blood if they want to live.

For those of us now familiar with the gospel stories, we can see that he is talking about the communion meal. But there are many of Jesus’ followers that don’t understand and decide to stop following Jesus there. Remember, these are people that are likely only there for Jesus’ miracles, not because they believe in him. While Jesus’ going out of his way to be difficult seems harsh, it effectively gets rid of those who aren’t serious about their faith.

Turning to the twelve, Jesus asks if they will leave too. But the disciples have understood enough. They know that Jesus is the one who offers eternal life, and so they’re not going anywhere.

All of these stories are meant to be read as happening around the Passover. At the original Passover, the Israelites had their final meal in Egypt. It was the eating of this meal and the panting the blood of the cooked lamb across their door that saved them from death. They were then led by Moses out of Egypt and across the Red Sea, and provided food in the wilderness.

Now, Jesus is serving as the Passover lamb. It is his body that gives life, and his blood that saves from death. And he that will lead the people through the chaos waters to the new promised land and sustain them.

Psalm 103

This psalm is attributed to David and falls into the category of praise psalm.

Psalm 103:1-5 - A call to bless the Lord

Psalm 103:6-14 - The Lord is righteous and just

Psalm 103:15-19 - Human lives are short but the Lord’s love is eternal

Psalm 103:20-22 - A call to bless the Lord

The psalmist starts with a call to bless the Lord. They are speaking primarily to themselves, “Bless the Lord, O my soul”. While blessing the Lord, the psalmist also encourages themself to remember all that the Lord has done for them. He forgives sins and heals diseases. He’s the one who has redeemed the psalmist’s life and crowned them with love and mercy. The Lord satisfied the psalmist and renewed their youth.

The psalmist then turns to focus on the Lord’s righteousness and justice. The Lord cares about the oppressed and made himself know to Moses and the people of Israel. He is merciful and gracious. Slow to anger. This is a reference to Exodus 34:6-7.

Continuing to riff of that Exodus passage, the psalmist explains that the Lord will not always be angry with his people, nor give them the punishment they deserve. This is because he is a loving God who removes our sins from us and has compassion on us.

Next, we see the psalmist reflect on human nature. Our live are short. We’re like flowers who flourish in one moment and then are blown away by the wind the next. In contrast, the Lord’s love is eternal for those who are loyal and obedient, faithful to his commandment. The Lord can do all this because he reigns as king over all creation.

So the psalmist ends with a call to bless the Lord, but this time to the heavens. They call out to the council of spiritual beings who support the Lord and encourage them to bless him in all that they do.

The psalm is a reminder to us and to all creation of the nature of the Lord. He reigns over all, and in his reign he is loving and patient, ready to forgive sins and restore his people.