Week 4

 

(#22) 1/22

    Jesus’ First Journey to Jerusalem

John 2:13

The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

 Jerusalem was about a hundred-mile journey from Capernaum and it is likely that Jesus and his companions walked that distance.  Jews saw the temple in Jerusalem as God's home on earth.  We can imagine Jesus traveling with his family and disciples to celebrate the first Passover since beginning his ministry.  He is fresh from his first miracle and a relaxing few days by the sea.  It must have been a delightful journey. Jesus’ home on earth is in our hearts.  We can travel with him whenever we like.  

Reflection/Discussion:

How are we different when we travel with Jesus? Principles of Love:

Opening

 

Pray Through the Day:

Open our hearts

To your love

   

(#23) 1/23

              Jesus Cleanses the Temple(Matthew, Luke and Mark place this passage after Jesus’ final entry into Jerusalem.  The reflection for those passages is on 9/28) 

John 2:14-17

In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.  Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.  He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!”  His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

 There was clear justification for the moneychangers and merchants to be in the temple.  They made it convenient for people to obtain what was needed to complete the ritual sacrifices for Passover.  The pollution of the temple’s spiritual environment only becomes evident when viewed through eyes of love.  Jesus is outraged that profit making has shoved love aside and he takes clear action to restore honor and dignity to his father's house. The temple in Jerusalem no longer exists. (According to historians and scripture scholars, the Romans destroyed it in AD 70 before this gospel was written.) Jesus has moved God's home from the temple to our hearts.  Just as merchants filled the temple in Jerusalem, economic and material striving competes for space in our hearts.  We can justify the room these things take up in our lives because they bring comfort, convenience, and security.  Jesus sees us through eyes of love.  Might he wish for us to drive greed and materialism from our hearts with the same zeal that he used to cleanse the temple?   

Reflection/Discussion:

How does materialism interfere with love? Principles of Love:

Commitment; Opening; Decision; Vision

 

Pray Through the Day:

Help us to love

When our will is weak

  

           

 

(#24) 1/24

Jesus Predicts the Temple Will be Rebuilt

 

John 2:18-22

The Jews then said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?”  Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”  The Jews then said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?”  But he was speaking of the temple of his body.  After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Material wealth and worldly power require vast resources and years of effort to build and maintain.  If they are destroyed, we may not be able to rebuild them in our lifetime.  Love deepens and strengthens over time.  If there is injury in love, repairs can begin with a simple decision and clear realization of what really matters in our lives.

  

Reflection/Discussion:

What keeps us from rebuilding love that has been damaged? Principles of Love:

Decision

 

Pray Through the Day:

Help us always

To choose love

   

(#25) 1/25

              Jesus Ministers in Jerusalem

  

John 2:23-25

When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing.  But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people  and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone.

 

Contrary to the popular saying, love is NOT blind.  True love sees the larger picture more clearly; it does not rush forward when risks and danger dictate otherwise.  Love that lasts is patient, compassionate, and aware of limits and hazards.  Real love recognizes the importance of timing and readiness.  Jesus knew he had much yet to do, and it was clear to him that Jerusalem was not ready for him at this time.

  

Reflection/Discussion:

How is “love” that is described as blind different than the love of Jesus? Principles of Love:

Vision

 

Pray Through the Day:

Open our eyes

To deepen our love

    

(#26) 1/26

   Jesus Talks With Nicodemus

John 3:1-8

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.  He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.”  Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”  Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?”  Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.  What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’  The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

  Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night because he is afraid of the judgment of his fellow Pharisees.  It is no surprise that his first words to Jesus are "We know."   The Pharisees were convinced that they “had it made” with God because they were born into the Jewish heritage and followed all the rituals and customs of Jewish tradition.  They thought they knew what God wanted. Jesus tries to jar Nicodemus from the “stuckness” of the Pharisees’ narrow-mindedness but Nicodemus interprets his words literally.  Jesus intends a much deeper meaning.  Love is a gift from God that begs to be raised and nurtured. Being born of the spirit requires us to commit to allowing God's love to grow and develop in our heart.   

As humans we can never fully know God.  As long as we remain on earth, we will never completely understand where his love comes from or what precisely will happen after it passes through us to another. 

  

Reflection/Discussion:

How can we raise and nurture God’s love in our hearts? Principles of Love:

Humility; Nature

 

Pray Through the Day:

Help us be humble

So we may love

    

(#27) 1/27

     Jesus Tells Nicodemus About Eternal Life

 

John 3:9-21    

Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”  Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony.  If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 

 

“No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.  And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.  For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.   Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 

 

“And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.  For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed.  But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

 Pharisees were judgmental toward others because they were certain of their own place in the kingdom.  They knew the details of Hebrew scripture but missed the larger message, which is evident in a pattern that repeats itself throughout the Old Testament.  When the Israelites hearts were open, God was with them and they prospered.  When they closed their hearts, God seemed to recede into the background and they struggled and suffered.  The Pharisees believed in God from a worldly perspective, which shut out the light of his love.  Their self-assured certainty and judgmental attitude kept them in the dark and led them to view Jesus, the true light from God, as a threat.   

Belief in Jesus involves much more than intellectual agreement.  Closed-minded certainty is precisely what Jesus confronted in Nicodemus.  God sent Jesus into the world to show us how to love.  To believe in Jesus is to believe in love.  True belief requires that our hearts are born from God's love, a love that grows and matures based on our choices and actions.  Jesus is more interested in what is in our hearts than he is in our grasp of abstract mental constructs.  To believe in Jesus is to "do what is true" and to "come to the light."  It is an ongoing journey that begins with our birth in God's love.

  

Reflection/Discussion:

How do we distinguish the true light of God from worldly messages that claim to lead us to God? Principles of Love:

Opening; Humility

 

Pray Through the Day:

Open our hearts

To your love

   

(#28) 1/28

       Jesus and John the Baptist in Judea

 

John 3:22-36

After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he spent some time there with them and baptized.   John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim because water was abundant there; and people kept coming and were being baptized —John, of course, had not yet been thrown into prison.

 

Now a discussion about purification arose between John’s disciples and a Jew. They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” John answered, “No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven. You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of him.’  He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled.  He must increase, but I must decrease.” 

 

The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is above all.  He testifies to what he has seen and heard, yet no one accepts his testimony.  Whoever has accepted his testimony has certified this, that God is true.  He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.  The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in his hands.  Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God’s wrath.

 John is a model of the true servant of God.  His deep humility allows him to recognize the difference and distance between God and us.   God loves each one of us personally, to the depth of our being.  This love has been made clear to us through Jesus.  Only Jesus is aware of the full depth and scope of his father’s love - we cannot begin to imagine it and any description we attempt only diminishes it.   Faith is belief in what we do not know.  The uncertainty of faith makes room in our hearts for God’s love.  Ego undermines faith by creating an artificial bottom, which puts limits on our ability to receive God’s love in our life.  Humility opens us to the depths and wonder of his love. Without humility, our hearts are shallow ponds that are affected by every wind and ripple.  John shows us the importance of being open to the immeasurable depths of the love of our creator that help us to withstand whatever storms the world brings to us.  

Reflection/Discussion:

How do ego and self-interest creep into our religious practice? Principles of Love:

Humility; Opening

 

Pray Through the Day:

Help us be humble

So we may love