Habakkuk - the Complaining Prophet!

This mini sermon is based on the following readings: Habakkuk 2: 60-20 and Mark 7:31-37

We could well be forgiven for having missed the book of Habakkuk which, at just three chapters long, is hidden towards the end of the prophets in the Old Testament. We could also be forgiven for struggling to get a handle on Habakkuk's message which is so full of poetic imagery and seemingly harsh injunctions from God. But the book of Habakkuk, when placed in its context, has much to offer us today in the face of the troubles and sufferings of the world.

Habakkuk was written by a prophet based in Judah around five hundred years before the birth of Christ, around the same time the prophet Jeremiah was writing. Habakkuk is living in a time of great turmoil and tragedy. Judah is invaded, the people are sent into exile from Jerusalem and the nation, as the people know it, ceases to exist. It is a time of violence and disaster and it is into this situation that Habakkuk speaks.

Habakkuk by F.O.Salisbury from bbc.co.uk

And Habakkuk doesn't just speak to God, he challenges God. Habakkuk is somewhat unique among the prophets for directly questioning God's wisdom. Habakkuk, in the first chapter of the book, complains 'how long will I cry to you and you will not hear? I cry out to you Violence and you do not save'. Habakkuk's challenge to God echoes another strand of writings from the Old Testament, the wisdom literature such as the book of Job and Ecclesiastes, which is not afraid to ask the tough questions of faith in the face of suffering and loss.

The book reminds us that God is quite able to handle our questions and even our accusations and our reading comes from God's reply to Habakkuk's complaints. God challenges Habakkuk to see the human hand in the suffering of the world and to take this seriously. He also gives Habakkuk a message of peace and hope that, eventually, 'the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea'. Then the violence and suffering of the world will end. We can see in the third chapter of Habakkuk that the book was used in public worship in Israel. Here a psalm is presented that was originally set to music. It serves to reassure the people that their prayers are heard and that one day transformation will come.

We are given a taste of this transformation in our reading from Mark's gospel. It is no coincidence that Jesus comes as a healer and that Jesus' ministry is one marked by both physical and spiritual restoration and release. It comes quietly, so quietly that Jesus even tells people not to talk about it, but they nonetheless can't help but talk about it because 'he even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak'. Mark's account of Jesus shows us a foretaste of what Habakkuk hoped for, an end to suffering in the world.

In our turbulent times we too can draw lessons, and ultimately hope, from these ancient writings that still speak today.

The Last Supper

Two thousand years ago a man sat down with his friends and ate a meal.It could be argued that no meal has echoed down the centuries quite like this one. That meal is the Last Supper and this moment is remembered by churches around the world by eating bread and wine in memory of the man who first did it, Jesus.

If you haven’t read the account of the Last Supper before, or would like a refresher, then you might like to turn to the gospel of Mark in the New Testament and have a read of chapter 14 verses 12 to 26.Theories about the Last Supper, and how we should practice our remembrance of it in the church today, are widespread and numerous. It seems there are as many opinions as there are grains of sand on the seashore! But perhaps there is more to draw from the accounts of the last supper than a simple set of rules of how we should or shouldn’t conduct our church services.

Picture the scene: The tension is rising in this group of 12 friends. Their leader, friend and spiritual teacher Jesus has been confronted by the authorities many times.They are aware that Jerusalem is not a safe place for him to be yet he insists on going there to celebrate the Passover, an important festival in the Jewish calendar (see Exodus 12 for its origins).Two of the disciples head into the city early to prepare a space for the celebratory meal, the others follow.The meal starts off well. They sit back in their chairs, enjoy each others company and then suddenly the man who called this motley crew together changes the atmosphere. “One of you will betray me,” he says.

The reaction of these friends and disciples of Jesus is fascinating. They immediately ask the question ‘Is it me?’ I think this, and Jesus’ response, says something big about us and God.
The disciples loved Jesus, they had given up their homes and livelihoods to follow him and yet they still thought to themselves and said out loud, “Could it be me that betrays him?” I think we universally know this potential in ourselves.Words slip out of our mouths that we wish hadn’t. We make wrong choices out of anger, sadness and disappointment. We wish we could take things back, daily sometimes.

But what is really interesting is Jesus’ response to this rag tag bunch, none of whom is confident that they are not his betrayer.He picks up a loaf of bread and says ‘Take it, this is my body,” and a cup of wine saying “This is my blood which is poured out for many.”
Jesus sees their inability to be what even they want to be, to even know if it is they who would betray the one they love.Later that evening he tells them they will be scattered like sheep when he is taken from them, a prediction that comes true alarmingly quickly after this cosy meal among friends.And to Peter, one of his closest friends he says, “Tonight, you yourself will deny me three times.”

It is with this full knowledge that Jesus performs these powerful symbols of what is to come, his death within days on the cross–An act to unite people ever falling short with God who desires to give them a fresh start as many times as they need it. This offering of bread and wine at the last supper is the gospel in a moment. In this act Jesus says, I know you fail, that you can’t even be sure of yourself, but here is the solution: “Take, eat – it is given for you.”

Sometimes Christian life can feel like you are ever striving. Striving for a perfection that even you know you cannot reach.This story shows us that God knows full well our struggles and our inabilities. It is into this reality that he offers himself, going to die knowing that the closest people to him will run from him at the time he needs them most.

And to this he says, I have the answer. The answer is me.

This post originally appeared on the Underground Blog in 2010. I recently rediscovered it and now that the Underground has closed down it seemed like a good idea to give it a new, permanent home. Thanks for reading.

Present Moment, Perfect Moment

I've just started reading a book by Thich Nhat Hanh called Peace in Every Step. I'm always very interested in anything people like Thich Nhat Hanh have to say. He is both a deeply spiritual man abounding in peace and joy but also deeply involved in the daily sturggle of his people against poverty and war. Peace isn't an abstract concept or a nice warm feeling when your village is being stormed by rebels. Anything that comes out of that scenario has a depth and a reality to it that makes it worth hearing.

In Christian teaching Jesus stresses that the only thing we can really change is ourselves. Why go round trying to change others when you haven't even dealt with youself? If we want peace then we must be peace. War originates in the hearts and minds of people like us. If we hate then we contribute to the human created disasters we see, and are devastated over, on the news. We, by getting our own house in order, can contribute to a better, fairer world. Well, that's what I think anyway.

That's why I take this stuff seriously and see time investing in my own sanity and well being as important. I usually spend Monday mornings this way if I can, setting myself up for the week and setting intentions for how I want to tackle the week ahead. Today, after reading Peace in Every Step, I was reminded of the importance of being in the present monent. This is another thing that resonates with what Jesus taught, why worry about tomorrow when you cannot extend you life by even a single hour? All we really have is now. The past is gone, the future isn't here yet. So I spent half an hour just breathing and being where I am - in my house, in my pyjamas, on a slightly grey autumn day.

When I was travelling I was always in the present moment, there was so much to absorb, where else would you be? I tasted everything with the enthusiasm of someone who knew this might be my one and only chance to walk round a market in Madrid or eat gelato in Florence. I was deeply, deeply happy. But back at home it can feel like that is all slipping away and the days become so mundane again. But perhaps that is because we aren't really seeing them, too busy caught up in our thoughts and worries and so life just passes us by.

I loves taking photos on holiday, it made me see the detail in everything I was looking at and savour it. So this morning I walked around my ordinary place and took some snaps.

Snaps of ordinary things like the flowers in the corner of the room...

 

 

And the carpet beneath my bare feet...



The chilli that finally went red....

 

 

Piles of colourful felt....



A bathroom companion...

 

 

Crumpled bed sheets....

 

The things I love about home...



 

 

Where I 'make use of my time'....(and clearly don't dust much!!)

 

Present moment, perfect moment.

 

Don't Judge a Book by its Dodgy Pamphlet

When I first read any of the New Testament gospels it was from a dodgy looking pamphlet that one of my well meaning, but rather irritating, Christian friends had left lying around my house in an effort to convert me. God bless them, it was a noble effort, but it really wasn't getting anywhere. I ignored the pamphlet of Matthew's gospel for a good six months until a series of events sparked by a rather eventful pub outing lead to me picking it up from its dusty corner of my student apartment and giving it a look.



Needless to say I wasn't reading it in Greek back then!

I immediately had to rip the covers off, far too embarrassed to be reading anything that looked that naff (really, Christian publishers, enough with the dewy eyed lambs already!) and swallow my nagging feelings of annoyance at somehow vindicating my friend for having left it there. I didn't own a Bible except an illustrated childrens one I had been given at Primary School and hadn't even considered cracking that open since it was handed to me age nine.

My reaction, then, to this sad looking pamphlet took me rather by surprise. It actually contained some quite good stuff. It was the teaching that grabbed me first.

‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? ….So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.' (from Matthew 6)

Good stuff eh? I started to catch a voice in there, of someone really quite interested with a depth and wisdom that I knew I was very much seeking in my own life. As I read more and, horror of horrors, went into a shop and, very red faced, purchased a Bible I heard more and more of this voice, in the different gospels, in the Jewish prophets, all through the book. It was pretty exciting.

It is a strange thing as an adult to come to some of the stories of the Bible in a church that is so familiar with them they sometimes can't even hear them any more. This was the case none more so that the crucifixion stories. I merrily plodded my way through the gospels, drinking in the teaching and laughing (yes, the gospels are actually intentionally funny some times!) at some of the wry remarks of Jesus. I really started to like this guy. He was wise, sure, but kind too. This voice emanating from the page was so very kind. But not in soft, lamb hugging, kind of way. He had a razor sharp tongue and no issue putting people in their place if need be. But he was good, the best really, and like no one I had read about before.

Like a kid watching Narnia and not really getting the whole 'Aslan comes back to life thing' I got to the crucifixion scenes and they knocked me sideways. Sure I knew the story but the narratives are brutal and by now this guy had found a place quite firmly in my heart. I cried a bucket load for someone I didn't even know. I still do in fact, even now when I come back to them for study or in a service, I want to run in like Lucy in Narnia and wrap my arms around him and it make it all ok.

Something in the story sums up so much loss to me. The cruelty of humanity to humanity. How we tear down and destroy even what is good and beautiful. How we are filled with this anger somehow, this alienation and we act it out in such violence and turmoil. And then the loss, the terrible grief that comes with being human. The disciples run away and the women, including Jesus' mother, watch on as he is taken away and beaten and killed. That deep seated horror at the finality of life is summed up in that story for me somehow. That moment when everything is lost.

And then of course comes the resurrection. That great stumbling block that scholars are still arguing about in universities today. I've written my reasons for taking something that seems so utterly fanciful seriously before. But needless to say here there comes up the other part of these stories that has captivated me so very much. They are sown through and sprinkled with hope. At the end of Matthew's gospel I felt like I had been on an epic journey. Met this wonderful new person, learned amazing new things and then horror upon horror lost him in the cruellest way only to find him back again and saying these wonderful words,

'And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age'.

What a story, what a book.

He is risen? I'm confused

I remember when I first started going to church in my early twenties and I decided to visit the church where I had been baptised as a baby on what happened to be Easter Sunday. I entered the church and all the lights were turned off. After navigating the whole 'this is my pew' minefield I sat down somewhere unoccupied and waited for the service to begin.

The vicar processed in and lead the congregation, whom I followed behind dutifully, outside of the church where the he lit a candle and said 'He is risen!' to which everyone replied 'He is risen indeed!' I look around the garden, wondering if I had missed something and half expecting to see the risen Jesus amongst the shrubbery. That service left me utterly baffled as a church newbie and I can quite understand how all the pronouncements of 'He is risen' leaves much of the population equally baffled today.

The thing about the resurrection is that it all sounds rather barmy. We all know people don't rise from the dead so it must be a fairy story, right? Well for me, no. It's become the most important story I've ever heard. I'll say it once again, I am no theologian, but these are the thoughts that I bring to Easter Sunday and how I have made sense of 'He is risen' for myself.

 

Day 40 - The final of the Lent Photo Diary. Light breaks in.

 

Nature

I studied Biology as an undergraduate and, perhaps rather oddly given most people's idea of science and religion as utterly divided, it really set me up for eventually developing a belief in God. In what I saw in the natural world resurrection made perfect sense. The natural world is full of examples of things needing to die to truly come to life. Many Mediterranean ecosystems require fire to release health, vitality and new life into the plant life. The land looks utterly destroyed but the fire sets long dormant seeds into action and it springs back stronger than before. There is something irrepressible about life that I learned about while studying Biology. It is constantly evolving, constantly finding a way. I never found the Easter story to be that far from what I was seeing around me.

The disciples

The second reason I believe in the resurrection is the story of the early disciples and it grows more and more as I study the history of Christianity. Those early days were just remarkable. In the first instance the disciples of Jesus fled the scene and yet within a few weeks they were wandering the land telling a very peculiar story about Jesus having risen from the dead. Lots of reasons have been given for what might have lead to this intense and fast emerging movement. Perhaps they were just unwilling to let the whole movement go after Jesus died, perhaps they had a mass delusion.

 

The question is, if created, where did such a strange belief emerge from? There had been plenty of 'Messiahs' before who has been dispatched and whose followers simply moved on and found a new person to follow. In the Jewish context and religion into which Jesus came people were certainly anticipating a Messiah but not one that would suffer and die and certainly not one that would rise from the dead. It seems a strange belief to create and to have emerged as quickly as it did.

When it did emerged it raised A LOT of conflict. Nearly all of the first disciples were executed for the claims they made about Jesus. That seems an awfully long way to go for something you cooked up together from nothing rather than simply finding another 'Messiah-to-be' on which to pin your hopes.

Experience

My last reason comes from my own experience of living a resurrection life through this maddening and wonderful faith I've found. Through it I have found joy, purpose and a depth of life that I never imagined let alone thought possible. The Apostle Paul in one of his letters writes of the resurrection, 'Where, O Death, is your sting?' In my life this isn't just a nice thought, it is a reality that allows me to face up to the darkest places with the firmest hope. The resurrection is utterly central for me and at the heart of everything I believe and do.

So that's my resurrection story and what it means to me, I hope it adds some thoughts into your own mix.

Wishing you a very Happy Easter for you and yours.

Good Friday - worth it?

This Easter week has been dominated for me by thoughts of Syria. I found myself in the Good Friday service looking up at a large wooden cross in the centre of the chapel and full of the most intense anger. Anger at all the things I had been reading and writing about. Too frustrated to pray one more prayer for the world in the face of such inexplicable suffering. Angry even at the symbol before me. The barbarity and pain of it, of this event that stands at the centre of my faith. Perhaps that's not the right thing to say, even less so to God as I did this Good Friday, but I am of the school of saying it as it is (have you noticed?!) and no more so than to the Almighty. I reckon he can handle it, don't you? At the heart of my plea this Easter was, is there no other way than this?

When I read the gospel accounts I find myself drawn to Peter. He is simultaneously fiercely devoted to Jesus, and clearly they are great personal friends, as well as getting it so very wrong so very often to the point of denying his friend. I see a kindred spirit in him. He is described as the first to really understand who Jesus is but he is also the one who, when trying to prevent Jesus from going to Jerusalem where he was so clearly in danger, is told by Jesus to 'Get behind me, Satan'. Peter speaks his mind and sometimes he gets it so perfectly right and other times so monumentally wrong. Oh yes, I know that feeling.

The incident where Jesus rebukes Peter for trying to prevent him going to Jerusalem, and ultimately to his death, has stuck with me this week. If I had of been there I think I would have said the same thing. How can you see your friend, your companion, go to their death without protest? Even believing what I do about Jesus, that here was God in human form, and believing what I do about his death, that he was gathering us to himself by paying the penalty for the things we have done wrong, for that level of human destructiveness that has lead to conflicts like Syria, even knowing this - I still want to drag him back from his fate. I still want there to be another way, any other way than this.

But through it all this Cross, the heartbreaking, overwhelming, brutal love of God is the only answer to the kind of suffering I see in the world that has ever compelled me. I can't ignore suffering, or transcend it, or say it's just the way it is. It shakes me to my core and I always want to respond that way. When I railed against God in that chapel I heard a gentle whisper say, 'They are worth it'. I opened my eyes and looked around me at the faces of all my friends and colleagues all so free, so unique, so wonderfully and intensely worth creating and saving. That God is willing to come himself, to take on the worst that humanity can do, frames my question in a new light. And the love that I feel that cries out for any answer but this finds itself so enlarged and overwhelmed by his love that I find myself this Easter standing at the foot of that cross and echoing back what to him what I hear him saying to me. That you, my God, are worth it.

Lent Photo Diary - Part 10

Day 34: John 18 :1-12 Jesus' Arrest

Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, ‘For whom are you looking?’ They answered, ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’Jesus replied, ‘I am he.’

 

This window seemed cell like to me and made me think of those hours Jesus waited to be put on trial after his arrest.

Day 35: John 18:12-25 Peter denies Jesus

'Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, ‘You are not also one of his disciples, are you?’ He denied it and said, ‘I am not.’ One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, ‘Did I not see you in the garden with him?’ Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.'

 

By the warmth of the fire Peter denies knowing Jesus just as he has promised he would never do. It is all the more amazing to read this knowing that Peter went on to be one of the most important founders in the early church so soon after this incident.

Day 36: John 18:28-40 Jesus is sentenced to death

'After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, ‘I find no case against him. But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?’ They shouted in reply, ‘Not this man, but Barabbas!’ Now Barabbas was a bandit.'

This window of people carrying planks of wood reminded me that we all have a part in this moment. 

Day 37: John 19: 1-16 Jesus is beaten

'Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and striking him on the face.'

 Day 38: John 19: 19-37 Jesus is crucified

'There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them......he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.'

Lent Photo Diary - Part 9

Day 27: John 14: 1-16 God's house has many rooms

'Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me.  In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?'

One of the biggest revelations for me in the early days of my journey of faith was that rather than sitting on a cloud somewhere silently seething against me God was actually welcoming me in to everything I was looking for.

 

Day 28: John 14:15-31 The Spirit of Truth

 

'Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.'

 

 

In this passage Jesus promises that he will send the Holy Spirit to be with his followers, his friends, when he is gone. The Holy Spirit is often depicted as a dove. This passage describes this intimate connection with God through his Spirit as an indwelling of peace.

 

Day 29: John 15: 1-12 Jesus, the Vine

 

'I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.'

 

 

There are two things that strike me here. One if that we are all connected by virtue of being connected to the one vine from which we are branches. Second that a branch broken off does nothing but fall to the ground. It is only by being part of the whole that it draws the strength and sustenance that it needs to survive and it is only by being connected to God that it has any life at all. According to this passage no man really is an island!

 

Day 30: John 15:12-27 Love One Another

 

‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.'

 

 

We've heard this before in John's Gospel which makes me think it is kind of important! We have heard that we are one, branches from the same vine and this is how we are to live together. Easy Peasy! Errr.....

 

Day 31: John 16:1-16 Guidance from above comes within

 

'When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.'

 

 

This picture of the Holy Spirit reminds me of one of my favourite poems by Emily Bronte called The Visionary. It reads, 'The little lamp burns straight, its rays shoot strong and far: I trim it well, to be the wanderer's guiding star.' I don't know about you but I'm a bit of a wanderer and I'm thankful to have the guidance described here.

 

Day 32: John 16: 16-33 Sorrow into Joy

 

'So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.'

 

 

Jesus talks about his death and the grief and sorrow that will overtake his friends. What a terrible conversation to have to have. But he also promises new joy, new hope, greater than anything they have ever felt before. Like bright yellow daffodils opening after the darkness of winter.

 

Day 33: John 17: 1-4 To Know God

 

'And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God'

 

I'm going slightly off the brief for this last entry by not posting a photo in a photo diary! But here's the thing: there is no image I can put here to really show God. Anything I do post will be one tiny angle on what is essentially uncapturable. So I'm leaving it blank and saying along with this passage - Go and know God for yourself, this is eternal life.

 

 

Back tomorrow for the last few days of the diary! x

 

 



 

Lent Photo Diary - Part 8

Day 23: John 12: 12-19 Jesus enters Jerusalem to celebration and acclaim
 
^'The next day the great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord—the King of Israel!’

 

John's story now moves into the final events in Jesus' life. He is cheered into Jerusalem but even while this is happening he is warning his disciples of the things that are to come.

 

Day 24: John 12: 20-50 From death comes life

 

'Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.'

 

 

 

This time of year always reminds me of this truth. Even though the trees have been barren and seemed dead they burst into life again.

 

 

Day 25: John 13:1-34 Love one another

 

'I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’

 

 

How often do we get this one wrong, eh? This is my college community where I am trying to love. How about yours?



Day 26: John 13:36-8 Jesus predicts that Peter will betray him

‘Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times.'

Poor Peter. He has such good intentions here but deny his friend he does. His is a great lesson to us though. We all mess up, we can all be forgiven - and forgive one another.

Lent Photo Diary - Part 7

Day 19: John 11:1-27 The Death of Jesus' friend Lazarus

Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.'

 

These words are so raw and it is exactly how we respond when terrible, inexplicable things happen. 'If you were really there God then this would never have happened.' I took a photo of pins because that is what grief feels like to me. Sharp.

 

Day 20: John 11: 27-44 Jesus weeps

 

'They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’  Jesus began to weep.'

 

 

Pretty much my whole theology of suffering comes from this verse. When he saw his friend had died, Jesus wept. By this I know God understands my suffering and supports me in my tears. And so I took a self portrait on a sad day.

 

Day 21: John 11: 45 - end It is better for one man to die...

 

But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, ‘You know nothing at all! You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.’

 

 



This passage is fascinating as it is thought that this is a historical reason that Jesus was executed. His behaviour, particularly his reputation as a miracle worker, lead to concerns that he was leading the people astray and would draw the attentions of the Roman authorities. The globe makes me think of all those empires that have risen and fallen and all those who have fallen because of it.

 

Day 22: John 12: 1-11 A big ol' vat of perfume is poured on Jesus!

 

'Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.'

 

 

It is thought that Mary did this sensing the growing tension around Jesus and fearing for his life. Whatever her reasoning she lavished him with love. It would be like pouring a hundred bottles of Chanel over him!

Lent Photo Diary - Part 6

Day 16: John 9:1-12 A muddy episode!

‘The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash.” Then I went and washed and received my sight.’

 

I love how many of the signs in John's account involve ordinary things. Bread, water and now mud. God in the everyday, even in a muddy field.

Day 17: John 9:13-end Now I see

'He answered, ‘I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.’

What a story. This photo was taken shortly after dawn which is how I image the man in this story feeling. There is just darkness and then suddenly the dawn. I was blind but now I see.

 

Day 18: John 10:1-21 The good shepherd

 

'The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.'

 

 

Following anyone is a risk. Following through a narrow gate, even more so. Who knows what is on the other side? Being called on by the voice of one you trust is a different matter however, that is the voice of the good shepherd.

 



 





Lent Photo Diary - Part 5

Day 13: John 7: 25-end Where on earth is this chap from?!

"Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee."

 

Yes, I'm using a Hanson album cover to illustrate the life of Jesus, God in everything remember?! In the last section we learnt that one of the question marks over Jesus was that he was an extraordinary teacher but had never been taught. Now his family background is questioned. Jesus, it seems, was from the 'Middle of Nowhere' and no one, particularly the authorities, seemed quite sure what to make of him.

 

Day 14: John 8:1-11 The woman caught in adultery

 

 "Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."

 

 

What a story this is. A woman is dragged out into the street, condemned and on the road to execution. In a single line Jesus pulls the rug out from under her accusers, from under all of us when we look at another and judge or condemn. Extraordinary.

 

Day 15: John 8:12-end Light of the World

 

 "Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life."

 



Brilliant light, bright light, perfect light.

 

Back in a few days!

 

x





Lent Photo Diary - Part 4

Day 10: John 5: 16-47 Jesus and his Father

 

 ^"Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise."

 

 

Calling God 'Father' was pretty remarkable in Jesus' time. In fact, no one had really done it much before. He makes big claims in this passage of unity with his Father in heaven, in purpose, action and thinking.

 

This picture is a typical symbol of the Trinity found in churches. One shape, three points, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

 

 

Day 11: John 6 Five thousand people get lunch!

 

"Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted."

 

 

Thirst dealt with, now John begins to talk about Jesus as the 'bread of life'. At Cana the wine overflows, at the well in Samaria the living water never runs dry, here on the mountain the bread fills the people until they are fully satisfied. What are you hungering for?

 

 

Day 12: John 7: 1-24 The teacher who never went to Uni!

 

"About the middle of the festival Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. The Judeans were astonished at it, saying, ‘How does this man have such learning, when he has never been taught?’"

 

 

The irony of this passage is not lost on me. Here I am studying away for a degree in Theology, surrounded by books and up to my eyes in essays all to talk about a man who is notably described as not having been taught! It good to look back on the founder of this thing, to remember that appearances can be decieving and where real wisdom and authority comes from.

 

Thanks for stopping by! See you in a few days!

 

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Lent Photo Diary - Part 3

Day 7: John 4: 1-24 The Samaritan Woman at the Well

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'.

 

You may be noticing a theme of water here. First the water into wine and now Jesus is speaking to a Samaritan woman and promising her water that will leave her never thirsty again. This statue spoke of that kind of thirst to me. What are you thirsting for?

 

Day 8: John 4: 43 to end Jesus heals a Royal Official's son

 

Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.’  The official said to him, ‘Sir, come down before my little boy dies.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your son will live.’

 

 

This is the second of Jesus' miracles recorded in John's gospel. Oddly enough the fact that people believed that Jesus performed miracles is one of the most widely accepted facts in New Testament scholarship. The question isn't whether this was his reputation but rather what these incidences were all about. Was he a first century Darren Brown or was he who he said he was?

 

Day 9: John 5: 1-18 Jesus heals a paralyzed man

 

When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’ The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me.’

 

Jesus said to him, ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk.’ At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.

 

 

The man in this story is laying by a pool in Jerusalem known for its healing properties. He is described as laying under the 'porticoes'. I imagine these abandoned people laying there under this massive, grand structure and it seems like such a stark contrast.The vulnerable and the powerful and the two meeting in such an extraordinary way in this enounter.

 

Thanks for reading, see you in a few days!