Lent

Jan 30 2025

Scripture Study for

The search for the new king and the choice and anointing of David open a new chapter in the story of the Israel. Each step of the way is determined by God, making this a history of salvation. God decided from which family the kings would come, and even which son would be chosen from that family. No one in Jesse’s family even considered David as a viable candidate, but God did. It seems that God often chooses the least likely to accomplish great deeds. Once David was anointed king, the spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, confirming the choice of him to rule the people.

The binary opposition of light/darkness is a very significant theme. The Ephesians are told that before they knew Christ, they were so much a part of darkness that they were actually identified with it. Having accepted Christ, they are now identified with the light that comes from the Lord. They are told that they must now live as children of that light. There is a play on the difference between virtuous behavior that can be plainly seen, because it is done in the light, and shameful behavior that is hidden in the secret of darkness. The Ephesians are to hold fast to the new life that has been given to them and live in the light.

The account of the healing of the man born blind is filled with the symbolism of darkness/light, blindness/sight. The man was born blind and so he lived his life in darkness. However, his ultimate insight into the identity of Jesus was rewarded with the gift of sight. In a very real sense, the man is now a new creation, both physically with sight and spiritually with faith. The Pharisees, on the other hand, enjoyed the power of sight, but they were blind to the great powers exercised by Jesus. Furthermore, when given the opportunity to move into the light of faith, they chose the darkness of disbelief.

Jan 29 2025

Going in the Right Direction

You rarely hear anyone use the word “hellbent” these days, but it could easily be used to describe the Jewish people before the Babylonian empire destroyed their capital city of Jerusalem in 587 B.C., along with the temple, and then sent its people into exile. Second Chronicles tells a sad story: Judah’s princes, priests, and people had all turned away from the Lord. They had become a people hell bent on self-destruction. So finally, the Lord cut them loose.

Of course, the story does not end there. A new dawn comes with the ascendan cy of the Persian empire under its leader Cyrus, who looked more kindly on the Jewish people, allowing them to return home to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. And we are reminded that the hand of a merciful God is behind this.

Ephesians also speaks of a God rich in mercy, who loved us “even when were dead in our transgressions,” and who “brought us to life with Christ . . . raised us up with him, and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:5–6, 10). For the author of Ephesians this has already happened. It might not feel that way to us much of the time, but faith calls us to see ourselves as “God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus.”

Imagine if we tried living out of that vision for the coming week! Imagine if we really took seriously that God truly loved the world so much that “he gave his only Son” to bring us all eternal life (see John 3:16)

Consider/Discuss

Do you recognize God as a God of unending mercy who loves us—all of us?
How can this Lent be a season of conversion for the whole community?

Responding to the Word

Merciful God, you sent your Son to bring us to the fullness of life, now and hereafter. May this season of Lent be a time when we recognize increasingly what it means to choose to live in the light of Christ. Give us the courage to do so each day.

Jan 29 2025

Scripture Study for

The first reading is quite poignant as it describes how, despite the sinfulness of the people, God was moved to compassion. Again and again prophets were sent to this corrupt nation, but to no avail. Not only did the people ignore the prophets, they actively derided them. Because of this callous contempt, the avenging anger of God was unleashed. The demise of the monarchy, the collapse of the temple system of worship, and the deportation of the people were the inevitable consequences of this hardhearted obstinacy. The reading ends on a note of hope. The people are told to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple.

The image of God that is sketched in the first verses of the reading from Ephesians is very dynamic. God is rich in mercy; has great love for us; has brought us to life, raised us up, and seated us with Christ in glory. Unable to save our selves, we receive our salvation as a pure gift from God. The contrast between the graciousness of God and human inadequacy is drawn in bold strokes. When we were dead in sin, God made us alive in Christ. Why? Not because we deserved it, but because God is rich in mercy, because God loves us.

Jesus declares that just as healing came to those who looked on the bronze serpent that Moses raised up (Numbers 21:8–9), so life eternal comes to those who believe in the Son of Man, who was raised up in both ignominy and exaltation. Although the world was created good, it often stands in opposition to God and consequently is in need of being saved. God’s love for the world is so deep that nothing is spared for its salvation, not even God’s only Son. This Son, Jesus Christ, is the true light, and those who choose him live in that light, or live in the truth; those who do not believe are in darkness.

Jan 29 2025

The Woman of Sychar

When I saw him coming, I was afraid. I had just dropped my bucket into the well and was pulling it up. What was a Jew doing here? Sychar was not a stopover for the Jews. It was in Samaritan territory. Jews hated Samaritans, and the feeling was returned. This went back centuries.

I could tell he was tired. It was almost noon and a scorching day. When he asked for a drink, I couldn’t refuse. Even so, I asked him, “How can you, a Jew and a man, ask me, a Samaritan and a woman, for a drink?” “You have the bucket,” he said, smiling.

As I was handing him a ladle of water, he said: “If you knew who was saying, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked me for one.” I just stared at this riddle maker. Then I pointed out the facts: I had the bucket and the well was deep. End of discussion.

But it wasn’t. He began to talk about water that satisfies thirst and water that doesn’t. And then he said, “Whoever drinks the water I give will never thirst. I will give them water that gushes up into eternal life.”

You know, I believed him. I can’t explain why. That’s not all he said that day. We talked about my life, his work, and a day when Jews and Samaritans would be able to worship together. That was really a dream, I told him. But it wasn’t. After his death—and resurrection—it came about. It turned out he was living water after all.

Consider/Discuss

What do you thirst for?
How is Jesus life-giving water for you?

Responding to the Word

Jesus, you are life-giving water that quenches our soul’s thirst. You continue to meet us during our days, speaking to us so we might know you and what you would do for us. Like the Samaritan woman, may we welcome you and speak to you from our hearts.

Jan 29 2025

Scripture Study for

God responds to the people’s murmuring with the miracle of water from the rock. These were the very people whom God had miraculously delivered out of Egyptian bondage. Yet they suggest that their rescue was done, not out of God’s loving-kindness, but so that they will die of thirst in the wilderness. In their insolence they cry out their challenge: “Is the Lord in our midst or not?” (Exodus 17:7). Since the people did not recognize God’s reassurance in the signs and wonders of the past, God performs yet another one. Why does God endure such thanklessness, rebellion, and audacity? Because God is kind and merciful. Paul tells the Christians in Rome that they have not justified themselves. Any righteousness they might possess originates in God. In fact, they were sinners, alienated from God, when Christ died for them and gained access for them to the grace that placed them in right relationship with God. Through his sacrifice, Jesus opened the way for them to approach God. They may have been brought by Jesus to the threshold of God’s presence, but they themselves must take the step over that threshold. They do this by faith. With this step of faith they no longer stand in enmity; they now stand in grace, in peace with God. This is true righteousness. The story of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman includes the discourse on living water. He asks for water when in fact he is the one who will give water. “Living water” refers to divine bounty, suggesting that this living water seems to have a very special character. The living water metaphor itself has a long and rich history in the religious tradition of Israel. It was a gift from God when the people were thirsting in the wilderness (Exodus 17:3–7). The prophets employed it to refer to the spiritual refreshment that flowed from the temple (Ezekiel 47:1; Zechariah 14:80). In each of these instances, living water is a principle of spiritual life.