Christ Church Mandurah Resources

JOHN 11: 1-45 As we know, Jesus is making his way to Jerusalem, and along the way there are many encounters with those who accept him and those who reject him. But it is this encounter with his friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus which precipitates the plot against Jesus’s life.   By raising Lazarus, Jesus is identified as a threat to those who hold all the power.   If Jesus can raise the dead, what are they going to do about him?   People are beginning to believe in Jesus because of his words and his miracles. The ra ising of Lazarus is a sign story: Jesus will act in his own time, and when he is ready.   And the second sign is to reveal God to the people.   What is occurring, according to Jesus, is an opportunity for God’s glory to be revealed.       This is a painful passage because it depicts many raw emotions.   We read it in the context of what we know will happen to Jesus – but his friends are stumbling along blindly, having no idea of where things are leading.

Hebrew 12: 1-12 The readings we have heard this evening are from the NRSV Bible. Some of you may be familiar with the Message version of the Bible translated by Eugene Peterson. In the Message version, verses 1 and 2 should be read thus: Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! I hope that you all

John 4: 5-42 Today as we approach the halfway point of the Lenten period, we can see that each Sunday the readings have been about Jesus and the conversations he has with the people he meets. Jesus and Satan, Jesus and Nicodemus and now Jesus and Samaritan woman gathering water. Perhaps like me you can remember this gospel passage from your Sunday school, but this is one of those passages which invites us to look beyond the superficial. It is not about water at all, it is about inclusion in the kingdom of god. It is no wonder that the disciples were shocked at times by Jesus behaviour. Jesus could be very determined and provocative, and this is one of those occasions. Jesus has been ministering to the Jews, his own people, and now he is not only traveling in gentile territory, he 2 is having a conversation with a woman who is a stranger to him, something a good Jewish man would not do And to make matters worse, she appears to be the kind of woman other people go out of thei