Rev. Jean's Bible Study

 John 1:35-51 Photo by Janice Balesic This story of the first disciples marks the beginning of the difference between the synoptics* and John’s gospel.  Peter and Andrew were named among the twelve disciples but not Philip and Nathaniel.  The two communities shared some traditional knowledge but not all.  If we are inviting people to think about our church, our community, our ideas or our perspective, can we learn anything from how Jesus approached people who were not familiar with his ideas.  “What are you looking for?”  seems to be a good starting point.  No one wants to listen to anything unless it answers some of their questions or speaks to their worries.  “Come and see” is an invitation but not a threatening one.  I wonder what we have in our lives that is worth “coming to see.”  Does our faith make our lives more fulfilled, our children more secure and loved, our hope more firm, our families more peaceful, our hearts more gene...

John 1:1-34 This prologue for all its beauty and truth also draws the lines quite distinctly.   Jesus is the one source of all light and life.   John was important but only as a prophet sent to prepare the way for Jesus.   Jesus is the light of the world but the world refused to accept him, even his own people refused to accept him.   Moses may have given us the law, but if you want grace and truth and to know who God really is, then you have to believe in Jesus. Those who do believe in Jesus become children of God.   The rest, (Jews, the Baptist’s followers, the world) are forever lost in the darkness of their own choosing.   We may read these lines (or most of them) and find in them only truth and beauty but it is wise to be so categorically sure of who is right and who is wrong?   Can we express our truth with confidence—Jesus is the light of the world—without assuming that all those who disagree with us are misinformed, obstinate, foolish or sinf...

photo by Liam Edwards (unsplash)  I don ’t think anyone would argue that the times we live in are not divisive, antagonistic, uncertain and polemical.   An historian might tell us that times of upheaval and rapid, radical change are always so.    The societies that lived around the Mediterranean Sea in the first century were experiencing such a time.  A quick google search will tell you that the first centuries were a time of Pax Romana, but that peace was gained and maintained by violence and the exploitation of most of the population.  In far-flung Palestine at the turn of the era as the republic was crumbling and the empire was being established, the rural population to which Jesus spoke knew not peace and prosperity but economic upheaval backed by political and military oppression.  There gap between the rich and poor widened as wealthy landowners drove small farmers off their ancestral lands.  The competing politicians of Rome used Israel as ...