Lifted Up

Hebrews 5:5-10; John 12:20-33

The writer of Hebrews suggests that Jesus is of the order of Melchizedek.  It is an obscure reference, to the  priest who blessed Abram.  Psalm 110 picks this up as well, and it seems to be a way to demonstrate an old old way as if it is new again.  Which is what I am interested in doing here, for we are looking at the cross today, and there are many theologies of atonement, but the one I will explore I believe is one of the earliest, with its simplicity, that has come to a greater understanding these days.

I do not believe that any of the theologies of atonement or the cross are wrong, but rather a unique view of a great mystery that cannot be completely understood.  Prof. Mark Heim explains it by saying the actual cross is three dimensional and thus when you look at it at one angle the other side is not visible, but that does not mean it doesn’t exist, it is part of this great mystery.

As the Hebrews writer suggests, not only is Jesus designated by God from an old line, he went as a perfect sacrifice via submission and obedience.  The writer even suggests that He “learned obedience through what he suffered,” which is hard to phantom.  However, that demonstrates to me that Jesus was fully human and thus understood something divine on the cross when he was lifted up.

Lifted up for John seems to have a double meaning for he does not separate the resurrection from the cross. In this pericope, John makes it clear he is referring to Jesus being lifted-up on the cross, yet we only are aware of this cross moment because of the resurrection.

In the news, Trayvon Martin is much of the discussion.  He was no perfect boy, but he was certainly innocent of deserving death.  I do believe there are demons of racism and anxiety, and I am certain that one civilian following another is not standing one’s ground.  It is so very tragic.  If Trayvon survived we would be able to have his witness.

Jesus the perfectly innocent man, who was tempted to enter our desires of a worldly kingdom.  Who told Peter to put the sword away despite being scared of the tree he was to be hung on.  Jesus was not just a good man, but acted and taught that participation in rivalry was not the divine way.  He desired people to love the neighbor as they would love themselves. And be perfect as the heavenly Father is, raining on the righteous and unrighteous. 

He did nothing but teach love, healed all who wanted healing, and taught peace, and the authorities of the state and the religion condemned him to death.  He followers fled.  Alone though on that cross he drew us all to Him.  For we would have the witness of the victim.  The witness that did not come back with the heavenly hosts (army), did not command his Disciples to guerilla warfare, or even with a judgment.  He came back and said, Peace be with you, demonstrating the scars and thus the love and forgiveness the Divine has for us all. 

It is sad and awfully tragic we do not have Trayvon’s witness, as he certainly did not deserve death for being a  black youth with a hoodie.  It reminds me that I have been drawn to the salvation of Jesus, for His perspective as victim, questions the individual and corporate sins that pave the earthly realm through rivalry.

The victim saved us and forgave us, so we would have no more death. 

Peace

 

Isaiah 40:1-11; Mark 1:1-8

Isaiah tells the exiled people, to expect, to repent, because the comforter is coming. This voice is to come from the wilderness. That is literally where they would need to pass through to return to the Promised Land. They had lost not only their land but much of the structures that held them together as the “chosen people.” War brought them in exile, and even though

The Persians eventually send the Hebrews back to Jerusalem and the Promised Land. God I am sure was at work, yet the Persians were not naïve. They understood the importance of having a grateful ally near Egypt and on the coast of the Great Sea. This was military, economic, and political advantage, to have restored the Hebrew people to Canaan.

Not long after they were restored to the Promised Land they most have forgotten the comforter, God, was near, for they turned from the covenant. Depending on military and political boundaries for identity is the problem.

Identity as the people of God is not a matter of the state, it is expecting God and thus turning to God. Expecting the messiah to establish the Kingdom of David again, is repeating the same problem. The Jews understood the oppression of Rome under the title of Pax Roma. This peace established by the state can only go so far. Peace established by mandate, by gun, by oppression does not last long. Those in exile lived in peace but not in harmony. Those that lived behind the iron curtain lived in peace but not in harmony. Peace that God wants is a peace that surpasses all understanding, and includes harmony as well as no war.

So when John comes on the scene, he is baptizing on the border, in the Jordan, repentance. Not to usher in the Kingdom, but because it is near. Because John expects the coming comforter, Jesus, we turn to God. This is the peace we are to expect everywhere we go. John though is not actually leading us through the wilderness to a new land. He is on the edge of the Promised Land, and consumes the wonderful wild honey of the land of Milk and Honey. And he consumes the locusts of the land of slavery and from the decimated fields. John is preparing the way of a greater peace that cannot come from a state, a church, or humanity. Save one, the one that saves.

Jesus will bring peace not through calling the heavenly hosts. Not by leading an army. Not through violence or political mandate. Jesus does it and call us to follow him as our earliest known Hymn states as Paul records it in his letter to the Philippians:

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
   did not regard equality with God
   as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
   taking the form of a slave,
   being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
   he humbled himself
   and became obedient to the point of death—
   even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8)

If we are of the same mind and give ourselves to Christ. To each other we will find peace. We are being called to our boundaries, to our learning edges, and we should expect God there, for God is near. To expect is to live in hope and not despair. To expect is because you know God is.

We expect God, not to do what we want. We expect to see God everywhere we turn thus we turn to God, repentance. Peace

December 2011 Newsletter

There is a chill in the air and lights are strung. We are preparing for Christmas, and there is an excitement, especially for children. Within the preparation we will experience stress, but hopefully we will also experience great hope, peace, love, and joy. Certainly the reason for the season is Jesus who is our certain hope and love giving us joy and peace that surpasses all understanding. However, the excitement of the shopping, parties, and even traditions can distract us from Emmanuel.

The scriptures keep me focused and one of my favorite is from the beginning of John, as he explains how important it is having Jesus take on human form, Incarnation:

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” ’) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known. (John 1:14-18)

John makes it clear that we here on earth are able to know the Glory of God through only His Son Jesus. It was necessary for Jesus to be fully human as well as fully divine as to demonstrate God’s great love for humanity. Therefore during this season we prepare for Jesus coming into the world, not simply as a memory of a birthday celebration, but how Jesus breaks through the darkness everyday from the beginning, today and forever, as John writes earlier in his Gospel about Jesus, “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (1:3-5)

As the chilly busy days of December turn to night, I am reminded of the incarnation by the numerous Christmas lights. Each string of lights reminds me that Christ Jesus is in our lives in numerous and various ways. Each by themselves may be lost in the hustle and bustle of the “holiday” demands, but together it is obvious that the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, is the light in all our lives that cuts through the darkness, providing us with hope, peace, love and joy.

In Christ’s Service,

Pastor JC

Called

John 10:1-10

Jesus tells us he is the shepherd at that gate and then emphasizes He is the gate, when the disciples did not understand.  Jesus tells us that only through the gate can you enter the sheepfold.  That thieves and bandits jump the fence and use violence.  In our contemporary language we see thieves and bandits as synonyms, but in the Greek thief does refer to someone who is stealing for their own benefit, while the word bandit would be better translated as insurgent,  someone doing crimes for political reasons.  Because some were waiting for a military messiah to save the people from the Roman occupation, it was a wonderful how Jesus combines both a petty thief and “bandit.”  Jesus goes on in the chapter to say He is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life, completely in contrast to those calling for a military response to oppression.  

That does set the scene for what Jesus says in these verses, He is the gateway to the sheepfold.  That is not simply to heaven as it is sometimes stated, but to the church (thus eventually to heaven).  This is an important nuance, for the church is called out of the society by Jesus and only Jesus.  The sheepfold represents the church and we are to enter it by following Jesus’ call to us, just as the disciples did when He said to them at the sea of Galilee, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” (Mark 1:17) 

Jesus calls us to be the church.  The word “church” comes from a Middle English word referring to the “Lord’s House.”  Today we do use the word to mean the building in which we worship, but we understand that the church is not simply the building and/or what occurs in the building.  Rather it is the mission of the Body of Christ that defines church.  In our Bible the word “church” is used once by Jesus.  Jesus says in Matthew 16:18, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”  Now it sounds like Jesus is using the term church as a building, at least in a metaphor, as He will build it on a rock.  Of course when we use the word “rock” to refer to a person, it is a metaphor about their character, but more importantly the word we translate as church does not have the same root as the English word, it is not a word for a building at all.  The word is more closely related to the definition of church we have come to understand, the mission of the Body of Christ.

The word is Ecclesia and it was a word used to describe a group of people gathered or assembled.  Specifically gathered and assembled for a specific, generally political reason.  Not unlike how we assemble people for jury duty.  The word refers not to a physical building at all, but a group gathered for a specific purpose.  Called.  The church is inherently the group called and those assembled by Jesus. 

I believe that the prophet Isaiah understood this when he wrote,

Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’ (Isaiah 6:6-8)

Jesus the Good Shepherd, the gate, calls each of us, and has triumphed over death with the last needed sacrifice.  The altar has been appeased, so that our sins are blotted out and our guilt departed, so we can hear Jesus asking and calling.  We answer, “Hear am I; send me!”

The Eighth Day

John 20: 1-8

We gather this Sunday to celebrate Resurrection Day; Easter.  I often talk of Resurrection Moments, and I believe these moments are easily distinguished, but very hard to define.   Thus I am going to share three such moments.  I would say that if a gathered group of Christians started naming such moments we would have millions to share and probably greater.

The first I want to share is that of Ottist Murduck’s death.  He was 99 and a great Christian as well as an active member at First Christian Church of Durant.  He had a Do Not Resuscitate order, but it was not on file correctly at the hospital, so when he went Code Blue on Thursday the doctors and nurses kept him alive.  I talked to Ottist’s son on that Friday, and at first his son was unhappy about that glitch.  Yet that Friday his son was able to be with Ottist as he passed away as well as friends and I was able to pray with him as well.  With the DNR misfiled Ottist had family near him, and I believe that is a resurrection moment. 

The second example seems so less deep and even silly, but I know for me this example was very important in my life.  I was not sure where I was going in life and I felt very far from God.  I happen to be living in Manhattan, and if you know anything about taking the Subway, it is rare to pass the turnstile and have your train be right there.  The subway is the best way to travel in the city, but generally you do need to wait for your train for a few minutes.  If your train was there right when you entered the tunnel it would probably be the first thing off your tongue when you arrived (not unlike a parking spot right in front if you drive into the city; you will need to take my word).  Well this one week I seemed to be charmed for the trains were always on hand.  By Wednesday, I felt like I could walk to the edge of the platform and on Thursday I felt like if I did not know where I was going in life I knew God was with me.  That was the moment.  It is not that God makes sure I travel quickly and easily, simply try to fly through New Orleans with me, but that week made me know God’s presence.

The third, is a story of my mom.  She survived and battled ovarian cancer.  She was still wearing her wig months after her last chemo therapy, and she was driving the two hours to visit my family.  During the drive a semi kicked up a large piece of metal that went through her windshield, missing her by inches.  Luckily she had her eyeglasses on as the glass from the windshield was all over her.  Somehow she made it to the median, and two men who witnessed the accident pulled over to offer help.  She reports that they were more freaked out then she was, she even asked if they thought she could continue her trip.  She was trying to brush the glass of her clothes, and finally told the men not to laugh, as she removed her wig and used it to brush of the glass.  It was the last time she wore that wig, she looked death in the face twice that year; resurrection.

Again we can tell stories for days that I would say are resurrection moments and we know what they are even if we cannot define it.  Sometimes the moments are seen as the moment after the fact, such as all those above I shared.  Each of those moments were seen as being part of the Kingdom of God, Resurrection, afterwards.

Let me share with you this story of the Hebrews on their journey from slavery in Egypt to the promised land.  They were wining about being thirsty.

I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.’ Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.  Exodus 17:6

Well that is a miraculous story, but let us look at how Paul interprets this same story.

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.  1 Cor. 10:1-4

Well Paul sees that the rock was Christ, that the Hebrews were given water by Christ.  A resurrection moment.  The Gospels of Mathew and Luke share the birth of Jesus and so does the Gospel of John in verse 14 where John writes the Word became flesh, but even before that John makes it clear that Christ was with God in the beginning. 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. John 1:1-5

Thus according to John, Paul is correct to interpret the great events such as the water from a rock is the work of Christ, as Christ has been with and is God from the start.  These resurrection moments have been happening throughout history and are not only for humanity but for all of creation.

John writes that there were many signs of Jesus and could not be contained in his book, not unlike our own moments we know.

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. John 20:30-31

This also makes us look at the signs that John does include and we discover that there are seven signs.  Water into wine, healing of the noble man’s son, healing the lame man, feeding of thousands, calming the storm, blind man receives sight, & the resurrection of Lazarus.  Seven is an important number and you cannot help think of creation, so Jesus’ resurrection will be the eighth sign, the eighth day. 

There were Jews in Jesus’ day that were waiting for the “eighth day,” and for them it was the Last Day, the resurrection.  However, Jesus’ resurrection demonstrates that the Kingdom of Heaven does come and touch this earthly world.  We do have resurrection moments where God, Christ, the Holy Spirit,  allow us to know God today. 

Jesus is our Rock, Jesus is the living water, and we get to live the eighth day even when we go through our normal week. 

Emmanuel

John 11:1-45

Preparing for this sermon I was pondering about clichés about not being present, and I thought about how it is important to train a new driver to change a tire.  It may not be as important now with mobile phones, but we do it because we realize that we will not be present when it happens to someone, and we learn the skill because we realize we will not have the teacher present.  So while I was pondering this example, I received an email from my wife that said her phone was not working.  She had tried to turn it off and back on, because it was not working correctly, and it would not restart.  On the rare occasion, this would occur she would hand the phone to me to deal with, but of course this time I was in the office.  I emailed back that she should take the battery out for a minute and it should work.  Forty-five seconds letter I received an email with just the word “how.”   I wanted to be there, or at least phone her, because trying to explain how to take the back cover off in written words escaped me.  I was just about to respond, it is the back cover and I will be home shortly, when the message “never mind I figured it out” arrived in my inbox.  Sometimes it is simply important to be there.

Paul wrote much of our New Testament, and all of it is in the form of epistles.  We have no record of his sermons or even straight theological writing, rather all of the writings we have are because Paul could not be there (wherever there was).  His letter to Philemon, Paul needed to convince Philemon to take back his slave, Onesimus, as a brother in Christ and not simply as a slave.  Paul had to make sure the churches he started did not get swayed by the Judaizers who came trying to have the churches follow the Torah as well as Jesus.  Paul simply could not be everywhere, Paul was limited by being a human like us.  It is interesting that all of our written records of his work are these letters he wrote because of that limitation.

In this story of Lazarus’ death, Jesus is not present.  It is also clear in this story that Jesus is both fully human and fully divine.  His humanity is present by his physicality, in that He was not able to be there for His friend.  Jesus was delayed and needed time to travel when he was able, and there was the concern by His friends about those that wanted Him dead.  Yet Jesus knew He would “awaken” Lazarus, which only the Divine could know.  Jesus demonstrated great emotion as well.  Even knowing that Lazarus would walk again on earth, Jesus was moved by his feelings to cry.  This to me demonstrates His humanity, and reminds me of how He was angry in the temple and His passionate prayer to His Father in the garden prior to the cross.  And in this scripture Jesus tells us He is the resurrection and calls Lazarus out of the grave, fully divine. 

Martha went out to met  Jesus knowing he was coming to town and she greets him with this statement, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  Jesus responds that Lazarus will rise again, and Martha responds with a very good Jewish answer, and answer you would expect from a Pharisee, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”  The resurrection was believed by Jews, but it was something that would happen far off, on the last day.  Jesus turns that idea around, that it is something far off and distant, by stating, and her response in John 11: 25-27:

Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’

Clearly, the resurrection is started on earth and does not wait for the end of all time.  Jesus has changed this idea of time.

Yet they still see Jesus as being only physically present.  That His healings and miracles needed His presence.  This is clear by Mary’s similar statement to Jesus, when she arrives and kneels at His feet, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  I do believe Jesus weeps because of the emotions of His own, and those around Him for the death of Lazarus, I cannot help and wonder if He is also sad that these friends do not understand.  They believe Jesus has to be present for God’s Glory to be present, and that does seem to be true until the Holy Spirit is sent to gather us as the church, the Body of Christ.

During the Christmas season we often hear of Mathew’s translation of Isaiah 7:14, in Mathew 1:23:

Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
   and they shall name him Emmanuel,
which means, God is with us.

Emmanuel is the Hebrew words that mean God with us, and during Christmas we are always pointing out the importance of God’s incarnation as Jesus the baby.  This does not change, Jesus is the incarnation of God.  God with our physical limitations, such as not being able to be everywhere at all times.  God with emotions.  God incarnate.  John’s account of of Lazarus's resurrection reminds us that Jesus is both divine and human.

Paul talks about being untimely born because he was not able to meet the incarnate Jesus, but only the resurrected Christ.   I must admit that at first I feel the same way, for if I did have a time machine, I would want to go to Bethlehem when Jesus was born, hear His preaching, witness the miracles and healing, break bread with Him, mourn His tragic and violent death, be in the upper room when he comes to show himself to Thomas.  Then I do remember that I am part of the post Pentecost Church.  I am part of the Body of Christ, the Resurrection and the Life.  That we are doing the work of the Father who sent Jesus and gave us the Holy Spirit so that everyone will know God is with us.

Light of the World

John 9

July 7, 1974 a woman pregnant with her second child had a vivid dream she would not be able to find her husband when she gave birth and that the child would be born with a heart problem, which there was no reason for her to believe.  On July 8th she did go into labor and as you might have guessed, by the fact that I shared this story, her husband was not found.  Thus when she was told by the doctors that her newborn girl would need heart surgery, her comfort came from that dream, that vision.  God was with her during such a hard time.

In this chapter, Jesus, is asked about the man born blind, if it was the man’s parents or his sin that caused him to be born blind.  Jesus clearly answers them “Neither.” Which is also confirmed by his statement in Luke 13:2-3:

He asked them, ‘Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.

Jesus is clear that an ailment or suffering is necessarily connected to sin of a individual or their family.  I could not imagine my God would punish children because of their parents or grandparents, nor can I believe newborn know sin.  Yet within the Old Testament there are many times that the writers did attribute a military loss or the exile as a punishment from God.  Thus they seemed to believe that sins could cause punishment for others. 

Many of the prophets do talk about punishment for the entire chosen people for living in sin, however they do begin to understand that it is not about passing sin, but an individual.  A great example of this is when Ezekiel is warning that a punishment is coming and he says (14:14) “even if Noah, Daniel, and Job, these three, were in it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, says the Lord God.”  Showing that only an individual can save themselves, and Jeremiah goes on in chapter 31 to talk of a new covenant that will be on our individual hearts. 

The Pharisees don’t interpret sin as Ezekiel and Jeremiah are trying to demonstrate.  Their interpretation is rule oriented.  They call Jesus a sinner, because He healed on the Sabbath, not because of the miracle or even his identity claims.  They are concerned only about the rules for to them it is about the societal order not the relationship with God.  When Moses brought the covenant down to the people it was in response to their liberation that the people would follow the covenant with God.  Once powers and principalities got involved it became follow the rules to prove your in relationship with God.

One could follow exacting directions to get through a pitch black room or field, but it is much easier with light.  Jesus defines sin as not having a relationship with the one “who sent me.”  And that while it is day Jesus is the light of the world.  Jesus made it clear that ailments and suffering are not directly because of sin, but rather allow God’s work and glory may be known in the healing and comfort God provides.  For my mom in 1974 with that vision that comforted her and the miracle of the surgeons working on my sister with Jesus’ guidance and the miracle of the man being able to see because of Jesus opening his eyes, are signs of Jesus as the light.  If you are in relationship with Jesus you will be able to see the righteous path (no creed or rules as the only compass) but using only the rules of the power and principalities as your light one may say “we see,” and Jesus says “your sin remains” (v. 41). 

We need Jesus as our Vision, our Dream!

Deeper Well

John 4:5-42

In every town in America there is at least one pizzeria.  I grew up in Connecticut where pizza originated, specifically New Haven.  There you still need to ask for mozzarella for the original pies, only had shaved parmesan.  And I, like many others, is passionate about how pizza should taste.  Even within a town people have passionate opinions about different shops in the area.  And how you like your pizza is generally how you were first exposed to it, so if humans are so passionate about pizza pies, you know how much more passionate they are about religious ideas.

The Samaritans were not liked by the Jews, yet they worshipped something closer to Judaism then any of the Gentiles.  The Samaritans thought they were more pure then the Jews who returned from exile.  This tension between the two groups is only exasperated by the fact they both claim to worship the One true God.  We find Jesus in their geographical area, sitting alone at Jacob’s well. 

Within this scripture Jesus crosses that boundary, but He also clearly crosses the boundary of gender, and with a woman with a reputation.  She comes to the well for her water at midday, while the women without a past, would come in the early morning and late evening, to avoid the sun, and even to enjoy the fellowship.  This woman might have even worried when she saw a man at the well and considered turning back.  She may have thought she would just look down and quickly get the water she needed, but she was shocked when Jesus asked her for water.  So shocked she simply stated “the elephant in the room” and said, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?”  Jesus quickly turns the question around and eventually states and proves that He is the Messiah the Christ.  This is often what we pull from this scripture, but it is also important to see how the context amplifies His identification.

There is certainly tension that Jesus is talking to a woman but mostly that she was Samaritan as well.  The tension between the two religions is evident by her statement

‘Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. (vv. 19-21)

Jesus tells her it will not continue to be worship in specific geographical areas, and with His reference to Living Water one would recall when the Jews were wandering through the desert and were crying out for water.  They were at Mount Sinai (or Horeb as it is also called) when this occurred:

From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses, and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’ Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?’ But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?’ So Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.’ The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.’ Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’ (Exodus 17:1-7)

The Jews received water for life there as well as the Ten Commandments.  The covenant, which they carried in the tabernacle before creating the Temple in Jerusalem.  Those that were exiled also discovered that God was with them wherever they would go, however this tension between the Jews and Samaritans, seems to claim God a geographically bound.

The prophet Jeremiah wrote:

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

And this is what Jesus is fulfilling with His statement about the Living Water. 

Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.’ (John 4:13-14)

Like the covenant on our hearts, this living water will be with us wherever we go.  And this well is tapped by Jesus death and resurrection.

C. S. Lewis wrote many great works, and one of these works was a children’s story.  It was to be an allegory for the Christ Narrative for Children.  The title is The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and it is the only children’s book I have ever observed quoted by scholars.  The scene that I want to bring us to, is the death and resurrection of the story’s Christ figure, the Lion, Aslan.  One of the brothers (sons of Adam), Edmund, had betrayed his siblings and his life is due the witch.  Aslan makes a deal that his life would be taken instead.  Anslan goes to the ancient altar for this death willingly, with only the daughters of eve as witnesses.  He is abused and killed.  And as the sisters mourn he does come back to life and the altar broke.  Anslan then explains to the girls that there was a “deeper magic.” If someone willing goes to the altar for someone else, they will be saved and the altar will be destroyed.  For it can only happen once.  It is true that Jesus’ time on the cross has brought forth a deeper well, of Living Water.

God will cross all boundaries to love us.  It may be geographical, gender, and/or reputation, but because of this Deeper Well that Jesus has opened within us with His time on the Tree, we have water for eternal life.