Year A

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.

Jan 24 2025

Sweet Mystery of Life—and Death

Martha cried out, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died!” What had she been thinking and discussing with Mary during the days of her brother’s illness and now after his death? Surrounded by friends, she did not find the one friend that she was looking for—he who had the ability to help. She may have whispered, “Jesus, where are you? Where are you right now when Mary and Lazarus and I so need you?”

Have you ever been in a situation in which someone who could have chosen to help you would not? Someone who is in a position of authority—who you thought had your back and did not? The betrayal cuts deeply, causing anguish, high blood pressure, anger, grief, hurt, and sleepless nights—in short, a crisis of trust in the one who could have helped, but did not. Where was he/she when I needed him/her?

We don’t always know why things work out as they do. Human beings let us down. Sometimes it feels as though God lets us down— our prayers are not answered as we expect. These are our personal crucifixion moments. We may later see clearly why things happened and God is glorified; these are resurrection moments. Sometimes we never know why, and life and death remain a mystery.

In today’s story, the Lord did finally show up. Then he quaked with grief. Jesus wept. For the sake of his friends, he called Lazarus out of the tomb. It was personally perilous for him to do so. But out of love, he revealed his power. At the same time, he was about to take the pains of the world upon himself. When he saw his friends’ grief, did that reveal how much they would suffer from his upcoming death? No wonder he trembled.

Consider/Discuss

Every person has foretastes of death and resurrection in this life. In difficult moments, how have you (or have you not) identified with Martha’s whisper, “Where are you, Lord?”
In bleak moments, we may be tempted to give ourselves (and others) glib answers that do not satisfy or are suspect or hollow, shallow answers like “God wanted another angel in heaven” or “Well, it was God’s will.” Or . . . How does that artificial certainty belittle the mystery dimension of God and life? How else could we respond more truly to the puzzlement of betrayal and/or grief?

Living and Praying with the Word

Lord, I hope you don’t mind the honesty, but sometimes it feels as though you aren’t showing up. We need you. We believe that you are the Resurrection and the Life; help our unbelief. Give us the strength to cling tightly to your steadfast love when life bears down hard. Most of all, thank you for taking our pains upon yourself. Ezekiel’s dry bones give us hope in this parched valley. We look forward to the day when you bring us to a new and fresh life, good and gracious God.

Jan 24 2025

Scripture Study for

In Ezekiel’s time, Israel was in exile, estranged from God. Thus in his vision of the “dry bones” (37:1–14), he sees Israel as truly dead. This “death” easily led to despair of eventual reconciliation with God and a return to life. In response to doubts of God’s continued love of them, Israel receives divine assurance that although they are dead now, the time of alienation will come to an end. Israel will be restored to God and to the land. This spiritual rebirth is characterized as resurrection from the grave. God confirms that Israel remains “my people,” and will certainly bring them back to life: “I have promised, and I will do it.”

For Saint Paul, physical and spiritual death are inherently related. Bodily death is ultimately the result of sin—the body is dead because of sin. In Christ, the Spirit of God brings life first by attending to the condition of sin, conquering it and “replacing” it with righteousness, spiritual life. This same Spirit is also able to raise the physical body from the dead, as the Spirit did for Jesus. The Spirit of Christ, belonging to those who have turned away from “the flesh” (a metaphor for all that is in us opposed to the will of God), resurrects us from both spiritual and physical death.

When Jesus hears that his friend Lazarus is ill, he first says that the illness will not end in death. One gets the impression from this that he is not worried that Lazarus will actually die, which would explain his delay of two days before returning to Bethany. Yet Jesus knows in fact that Lazarus has died in that time, and we realize that he has allowed this to happen so that he can “awaken him.” In this final and most dramatic sign, Jesus allows the death of Lazarus so that he can publicly raise him from the dead. Such a feat is intended to provoke belief that he is who he has been claiming to be all along, the one sent by God, who alone has the power to give life.

Jan 24 2025

Led by the Light

In some places in the U.S., flowers are blooming and the sun is shining: spring has come. Here at my house in the Midwest, it is still late winter. This particular week in March is when I plant my tomatoes and my peppers in my seed room. I suspend bright lights two inches above the flats to keep them warm. Where light glows, the plants spring upward when they germinate. Did you know that seeds with no light will grow in any direction—sidewise, upward, or upside down?

Similarly, people in nursing homes or hospitals, having only artificial lightbulbs, can lose track of the natural rhythms of night and day. Third-shift workers may experience that same disorientation. The body does not know when it is dark and when it is light.

I recall a disoriented time in my life at seventeen. The world felt directionless. Was there was a purpose to anything that I did? I remember thinking, as we sped down the interstate, “If I opened the door and fell out of this car and died, nobody would really care.” I had a vague sense of God’s care, but that love was like a weak light bulb far away.

The Letter to the Ephesians calls us from darkness to light: “Live like those who are at home in the daylight.” Jesus touches the blind man’s eyes and he sees. The “light of the world” changes things. He did for me. I hope that he has done so for you.

Yet some may prefer the darkness, Jesus says. Nobody enjoys being directionless, so other directions are marketed to “save us,” to lift us from darkness to light —from football to coffee, yoga, and massage therapy. But can any “thing” truly replace Jesus as Savior, the true light of the world?

Consider/Discuss

Depression and despair are growing in our culture. Suicide and drug use rates have lowered life expectancy. How do we help those we love to transform from a perception of God as “a weak light bulb far away” to the radiant Love who is near? What can we personally do to be Jesus’ light to a world that feels hopeless and directionless?
When have you ever felt like the man born blind? When have you experienced Jesus as the light who brings you out of that darkness? Personal stories are most effective in bringing about transformation. Could you share that story with someone who is feeling as though he or she lives in the shadows?

Living and Praying the Word

Jesus, light of the world, thank you for leading us through dark valleys and out of despair. Like young David, anoint us to follow you wholeheartedly wherever you direct. We want to sprout. We want to grow. We want to bear fruit that will nourish others. Help us to grow always toward your light.