Jesus & the Gospels
Blog posts that unpack the story of Jesus as told within the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Thursday, 24 December 2009 02:00 | and posted in Jesus & the Gospels
Yet in thy dark streets shineth, The everlasting Light...* The theme of “light” is found right through the Christmas story. From the glorious light of the angels appearing to shepherds; to the small piercing light of the star guiding the Wise Men; to the fantastic words that the old prophet Simeon spoke over Jesus, just a few weeks old: He is a light to reveal God to the nations (Luke 2:30-32).
Tuesday, 15 December 2009 12:27 | and posted in Jesus & the Gospels
After the Samaritan woman in John 4:15 asks Jesus to give her living water I’d expect Jesus to say “Fantastic, here you are!” or perhaps even, “You have chosen well, woman.” But no! Jesus starts talking about the woman's husband. In fact John never says that Jesus give this woman living water.
Strange hey?
Why offer something you’re not going to give? That doesn’t sound like Jesus to me…
But then I had a recent revelation. What if the rest of Jesus’ conversation with this Samaritan woman is about the process of Jesus’ giving and the woman’s receiving of this living water?*
Monday, 30 November 2009 18:51 | and posted in Jesus & the Gospels
Oh, just imagine... a huge gulp of Glasgow tap water, bottled three days before and left in a hot car continuously since then and drunk by no less than three different people... absolute heaven...
Hang on! That's not quite the dream is it!? Yet, in our lives we so often settle for the bottle of Glasgow tap water, rather than the chilled bottle of pure Evian. We put up with counterfeits rather than the real deal. In John 4 the Samaritan woman has done exactly that. Her hurt and pain and shame causes her to walk to the well and draw water at the hottest time of the day in order to avoid meeting or conversing with anyone else along the way.
Tuesday, 25 August 2009 21:02 | and posted in Jesus & the Gospels
When was the last time you went to a well to get water?
What about your parents? Or your brother or sister?
In our Western society we do not need to visit wells to meet our basic need of water. We simply visit the kitchen or the bathroom or our second bathroom or the water closet… We turn on a tap and instantly water flows out - as much or as little as we desire!
What this observation highlights is how far removed we are from the world of the Samaritan woman in John 4:7. To get to grips with what God may want to communicate through this story, we will need to come up with some contemporary equivalents...
Wednesday, 31 December 2008 01:00 | and posted in Jesus & the Gospels
The modern-day city of Bethlehem sprawls over the Judean hillside. As you look at the horizon you can see a huge man-made volcano-shaped mountaintop dominating the skyline barely three miles away. Two thousand years ago a circular palace had stood on this mountaintop that rose 14 metres into the air with a single tower standing an additional 15 metres higher. No expense had been spared on this magnificently luxurious palace come heavily fortified-fortress that was called The Herodian after its creator King Herod.
Wednesday, 24 December 2008 01:00 | and posted in Jesus & the Gospels
We hear about Bethlehem again in Micah 5:2 – it doesn’t say much so I’ll quote it here! "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
Wednesday, 17 December 2008 01:00 | and posted in Jesus & the Gospels
Once in royal David's city stood a lowly cattle shed, where a mother laid her baby in a manger for his bed: Mary was that mother mild, Jesus Christ her little child.
Have you ever connected the first line of this Christmas carol with Bethlehem? Have you ever wondered why it’s significant that Jesus was born in a town with a link to David?
Wednesday, 10 December 2008 01:00 | and posted in Jesus & the Gospels
Father God closed his eyes, stretched out his hand and waved his pointed index finger over a map of Israel.
“Jesus can be born…. There!” he said as he dropped his finger on to the map.
Lifting up his finger and peering underneath he found the name Bethlehem.
“Bethlehem. Hmmmm, that’ll do,” Father God mused.
Wednesday, 03 December 2008 01:00 | and posted in Jesus & the Gospels
We all like to feel safe and secure. That can be at home, with our friends, at an SU holiday, at our Gran’s. We all need somewhere where we know we will be warm, relaxed and comfortable. This is why the men in Jesus’ story built themselves a house. To Jesus listeners this would have been a normal everyday sight; men building houses for their families. Putting in the time and energy that was required to build a home that would withstand the heat, the cold, the rain, and would house adults, children and animals.
Wednesday, 26 November 2008 01:00 | and posted in Jesus & the Gospels
The path was overgrown and narrow, at times so narrow it was hard to see the way ahead. It seemed like no one had been this way before, but I guess someone must have been or there wouldn’t be any path at all. We travelled on. At times it was slippery and treacherous; we had to keep our eyes on the way ahead. The undergrowth had invaded the path at some points, we had to cut and hack our way through to follow the path. There was a strong sense of excitement and adventure as we moved along this narrow path. We turned a corner and ahead of us was the most incredible waterfall – thundering into the river below. No one else was around. So few had come this way before and few would come in the future. Only these few would see what we now saw.