March Pastor's Ponderings

The Gospel lessons we are hearing from John this season of Lent, are stories of people who are seeking to understand God’s truth. Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night, the Samaritan woman at the well comes to Jesus at noon, the man blind since birth, Jesus seeks, Mary and Martha come to Jesus when he arrives at the tomb of Lazarus. These people hear the words of Jesus or they experience the wondrous miracles of Jesus – they become changed people. Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman at the well do not understand at first. The woman at the well however does have an epiphany, she realizes that Jesus does indeed offer ‘Living Water’ and she goes out to share the Good News. Not many of us are like the Samaritan woman, or the man blind from birth. We do not boldly go forth and proclaim all that Jesus has done. Even if we are as devoted as Mary and Martha, we may underestimate the power of Jesus in our lives; we may short change what Jesus tells us, we may have blinders on. The blinders of preoccupation, of doubt, of despair. But Jesus does not abandon us, Jesus will patiently and lovingly come back to us. In all these stories from the Gospel according to John, Jesus never offers derision or disdain to those who come to seek him out or who he encounters. Jesus is present with them as they grapple and come to grips with just what sort of person Jesus is, and just what he offer us.

Nicodemus is more like us. He is a seeker, he is trying to fathom just what kind of person Jesus is. Is Jesus a prophet, a teacher, a miracle worker, is he indeed the ‘Son of Man’ and ‘Son of God’? With Nicodemus, it will take time for him to understand who Jesus really is. Nicodemus will defend Jesus from unjust accusations and after the crucifixion he will care for the body by bringing spices and aloes. Nicodemus is afraid to become a disciple of Jesus; he is afraid to totally commit himself to follow Jesus. Yet in the end he will serve Jesus and care for him. He will serve Jesus in a way that no respectable pharisee would ever do for anyone. He will care for the body of Jesus.

During our Lenten journey we also try and fathom just what sort of person is Jesus and just how do we relate to Jesus? It is not easy to try and fathom the truth of Jesus. We are unique in our understanding of how Jesus comes to us and how Jesus relates with us. We may be slow to realize who Jesus is, like Nicodemus. We may have an epiphany of Jesus like the Samaritan woman at the well, we may have a life changing experience with Jesus and be challenged by others who are skeptical, like the man blind from birth. We may be followers of Jesus and at times lose our way, or lose hope like Mary and Martha. We are not given promises that our journey of understanding Jesus in our lives and our relationship through Jesus to God is an easy process. On the contrary it is at times difficult, frustrating, even painful, yet even in times such as these we encounter Jesus.

Our Lenten journey is a time of contemplation and reflection upon our lives and how Jesus relates to us. As we engage in Holy Week we will experience the entire spectrum of where we encounter God. We encounter God as we experience the joy and ecstasy of Jesus’ joyful entrance into Jerusalem. We encounter God as we understand the intimacy we have with Jesus as he washes the disciple’s feet on Maudy Thursday. We encounter God as we experience the pain of betrayal, hostility, despair and abandonment, as Jesus is crucified on Good Friday. We encounter God as we experience the promise and love of God for us with the joy of the resurrection of Jesus on Easter. This spectrum of emotions we encounter in our life, Jesus experienced . We can know Jesus in any one of them as well as countless others we experience in life. Jesus is with us, Jesus knows our joy, our despair, our pain, our frustration. Jesus promises to be with us, he promises us God’s love and a time when we will know and share the glory of God with all the saints, past and present.

Pastor Robert