Reflect

 John 6:51-58

Abiding, it is another thing in John to stay with. Another imagery we have to take in and ponder. What does it mean to abide in Jesus? It means if we want to truly intake the bread and wine we must look at Jesus life in John. Who was Jesus? What does it mean to believe, which is the core of taking in and abiding in Jesus for John.

In South Sudan I was teaching a pastors class and part of this was looking deeply into the Biblical stories of Jesus. We were reading from John and my translator was reading from the Moru and translating into English as he read. We were working in John on the reading of the stormy sea. He got to the part where the disciples ask Jesus into the boat and he read it this way, "they asked Jesus in with their whole hearts." I said read that again and he did. I told him how brilliant it was for the translator to interpret it this way. Its not in the original Greek, its not in the English, but the translator knew John and the importance of belief in Johns gospel.

This is what we are trying to unearth today in John. It means we need to look more closely at the stories of Jesus in John to understand how to be disciples of Jesus. So what have we looked at so far? The wedding in Canada is where it all starts. Jesus changes water into wine for a bride and groom. No gift is too small. No everyday celebration is too unimportant for God to show up at. This is what we learn from this.

Next is Jesus encounter with Nicodemus and we learn no question is too unimportant not to answer. It may be our understanding takes time, but believe we are loved, deeply by God. So much that Jesus was sent to bring life and light and the Spirit. So we may not understand where the wind blows but we understand and can abide in the belief we are loved.

Last one we will look at today is the woman at the well. A woman, a Samaritan, a questionable person because she is coming to the well in the heat of the day. Yet Jesus speaks to her and her life is changed forever. She takes the living water Jesus offers and pours it out for the whole village and they all come to believe because of her. 

Each of these teaches us about how deeply we need to look into these and others in John. We have really only scratched the surface today because these examples have so much more to tell. Abide, eat, chew, truly taste each and every one because they are bursting with the flavor of what it is to listen. Listen deeply and abide in Jesus. It is no something we do lightly or easily. It requires us to sit and intentionally slowly bite into each and every layer of flavor so we may begin to understand the love of God in Christ.