[This sermon was delivered as a dramatic narrative]
The elderly man held the attention of the dimly lit room. His thick, guttural accent was as strong as when he was on the boats with his brother in Galilee.
They had been known as the ‘Sons of Thunder’ then, a name given to them by Jesus Himself.
Jesus… if only they had seen then what they knew about Him now…
The people in the room waited for him to retell the story. They had heard it every time he visited as he travelled around all the cities and gatherings of the followers of Jesus around Asia Minor. They waited, because they knew it was worth the wait…

It was the Fest of Tabernacles, and the week before Passover. Jerusalem was bursting with pilgrims, about ten times bigger than its usual population.
Jesus had denied the attention of the crowds for so long. But this one day He attracted the greatest attention of the city during the greatest event, the Feast of Tabernacles and the week before the Passover.

• The word had gotten out that Jesus was back, would enter Jerusalem in public defiance of the Jewish authorities.
• The crowds built up in anticipation, including those pilgrims from Galilee who had been part of the 5000 fed by Jesus in the wilderness, and those taught by Jesus on the Mount.
• Jesus instructed His disciples to bring the donkey back to Him to ride on… they laid their coats on it for Him to sit on…
• The crowds brought out the ceremonial palm branches prepared for the celebrations of the Festival, and then broke off the branches and leaves and laid them on the road before Him.

•  “Hosanna”, the crowd had cried. “God saves, God save us!” was their cry.
• “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!”
• Somehow they had known, although Jesus never allowed them to call Him ‘King’ or ‘Messiah’.

It happened just as Zechariah had said, twenty generations beforehand…  if only they had known.

As they drew near to the city, the people who marched with Jesus told the stories about Lazarus to those who came out of the city to welcome Jesus.

• “He raised the dead man, you know.”
• “What dead man?”
• “That man, right there. Lazarus. Go and ask him. He’ll tell you.”

Others, though, ground their teeth in anger as the crowds swirled around the man sitting on the donkey, riding up into Jerusalem and the heart of the Festival.

• “Now what are we going to do?” they asked each other.
• “The whole world has gone after Him.”

More conflict followed, and more divine revelations. A voice from heaven.

• He washed their feet…
• The supper in the Upper Room…
• The bread broken… the wine offered… body… blood… the new covenant.

If only they had known.
 
But now they did know, and he had been commanded by his King, Jesus the Christ, to tell the story, to tell the nations.

• To tell so all people would hear, and find in Jesus the freedom He promised of life to the fullest, of light in the gathering darkness in this world.
• To tell of the sacrifice of Jesus on that Roman cross just days after crowds had cried out “Hosanna! God saves, God save us!”
• To tell of the impossibility of Jesus’ resurrection and ascension.
• To tell of the anticipation of Jesus’ return, just as certain as that day when He rode the donkey into the city.
• To share the Holy Spirit, the gift of God, to give them understanding and confidence in sharing the story. To help him remember… to know what he now knew, about Jesus, God the Son.

 
But he remembered Jesus as the friend, the carpenter who had laughed at him and with him out on the boat, on the road, in the fields, in the towns and cities, who called him and his brother James “the Sons of Thunder”. The Teacher with unrivalled authority, the miracle worker and the Master with power over demons and sickness.
He remembered the night Jesus was arrested, the day Jesus died, and running through the streets of Jerusalem early in the morning to find the tomb empty.

He was the disciple that Jesus loved, and his name was John.

He wanted to see His friend Jesus again, whichever way it would happen. But he knew Jesus would return to this world again, and it would not be on a donkey, but riding on the clouds, with trumpets and angels shouting “Hosanna! God saves, and God has saved us!”
John looked around the room at those who had gathered in secret, careful of spies and traitors who would see them arrested and even killed just for meeting with him.

He opened his mouth, and in his distinct Galilean accent, he said “Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.”

Here is an intriguing encounter, not just because of the extraordinary nature of the miracle, but because it remains untold in the other three Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. There are some interesting reasons put forward about why this is so… (Leon Morris’ commentary on John’s Gospel gives an extensive treatment to this).

Jesus was a long way away from Bethany where Lazarus had become ill, and eventually died. Mary & Martha had put the call out to Him to come, with the assumption that Jesus would immediately come, and their brother Lazarus would be healed.
But Jesus did not go. And Lazarus did die. So when Jesus got to Bethany, there is no surprise in the confrontational tone of both the sisters in turn: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21, 32).
But there was a greater encounter happening in Jesus’ ministry, and He trusted Lazarus’ family, including Lazarus himself, to understand after all had been finished. He declared “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25) and then proved it.
At the tomb, after the large stone had been shifted, “God spoke… and it was so” (refrain of the creation account of Genesis 1). In this instance, Jesus spoke: “Lazarus, come out!”, and so he did (John 11:43-44).
Jesus used the illness of Lazarus to reveal the greatness of His authority, that it even extended above death, over a man who had been dead over four days. Jesus trusted that Lazarus, Mary & Martha were faithful toward Jesus, and that they would understand His actions. So they did, their faith and trust in Jesus not just confirmed, but increased all the more.

Then word got around… a plot was hatched by the Jewish leaders to kill Jesus, and Lazarus (John 11:45-57).

But the resuscitation of Lazarus in John 11 had a sequel in John 12. Later on, ‘six days before Passover’ (John 12:1), a dinner party was held in Jesus’ honour. During this encounter, Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with the indescribably expensive nard (perfume from a distant land).
There was a greater encounter at play here that Jesus revealed, that this anointing was the preparation for His imminent death (that the others could not foresee). Yet Judas’ reaction to the action of Mary was the seed of his betrayal of Jesus which would lead to Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion.

These encounters remind us that there is often a greater encounter occurring that we are unaware of, that God’s perspective is infinitely higher, longer and greater than our limited, mortal and usually self-centered lines of sight.

• Mary and Martha wondered how Jesus could let Lazarus die. Instead Jesus did something much greater.
  
• Judas could not understand the waste of such a large amount of money in the form of a jar of perfume, and reacted by putting into motion the very events Jesus knew must occur.

Another lesson from these encounters is the importance of gratitude in such unknown circumstances.

• When Jesus arrived back from His travels, both sisters went out to meet Him – to ask Him “why?”, surely, but also trusting Him to do what He alone was able to do.
  
• A banquet was held in Jesus’ honour next time He came to Bethany where Lazarus, Mary and Martha celebrated their common life together – without anyone except Jesus knowing what was to come.

“The next day…” Jesus mounted a young donkey and was escorted in Jerusalem city with great acclaim. Seven days later He was condemned and killed outside the same city walls.

In contrast to the invalid at the pool in John 5, the man born blind in John 9 proves to be a feisty character who wasn’t afraid to confront the hypocrisy of the religious leaders.
The gift of sight to a man born blind is a true miracle, and all judgments of sinfulness on the part of the man’s parents, and indeed he himself, were cast aside by Jesus.
So when the Pharisees investigated this miracle, and took the man to task for their own disbelief, he wasted no time in turning their ungodly abuse of power back upon them.

The real crunch in this encounter is found in the final 7 verses (John 9:35-41) where true meaning is revealed:
Jesus said: “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
The Pharisees couldn’t believe their ears! “What!? Are we blind too?”
Jesus responded: “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” (John 9:39-41, variations mine)

Isaiah foreshadowed this encounter in Isaiah 6:9-10, the account of his own calling to be a prophet:
“Go and tell this people:
“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

The apostle Paul often used the analogy of light versus darkness when writing about those in relationship with God, and those not (Ephesians 4:17-24, Colossians 1:12-14). Those who live in the light of the knowledge of Jesus (2 Corinthians 4:6) will call Him ‘Lord’ and will be free.

Those who will stubbornly refuse to acknowledge their own guilt and thus reject Jesus’ free offer of forgiveness, new life and light, will remain guilty, and worse, blind to their guilt.
They truly do walk in darkness, as the very first chapter of John’s Gospel previews: “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it” (John 1:5)

An incidental encounter? Jesus just ‘happened’ to be wandering amongst the lame and sick in this location?

An intriguing encounter: the man did not request to be made well. We are not told that he showed any gratitude.

And the sequel…  the man was “caught breaking the Law” by carrying his sleeping mat on the Day of Rest by the religious leaders. Jesus met the man later in the Temple, and warned the man to stop sinning (in terms of his attitude toward God, not carrying a sleeping mat). Jesus warned him that to continue in sin would have worse consequences than being lame, lonely and frustrated for 38 years.

The man’s response? Turn Jesus in to the leaders at the first possible opportunity.

An instructional encounter: John 5:16 – this encounter led to conflict between Jesus and ‘the Jews’ who opposed Him, and His "cavalier" attitude to the Sabbath had become the catalyst.

God uses innocuous encounters to His glory, even when they are incidental, intriguing and instructional. This encounter laid the foundation for an extended discussion of the nature of Jesus and His unique relationship with God the Father.

May we be prepared to hang out with those we normally wouldn’t, even those Jesus has to remind to understand the consequences of sin toward God are far worse than physical infirmity or suffering.

“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (John 4:29)

This was the Sunday message following the Christchurch massacre. It was a God moment: Jesus, a Jew, encountering a disenfranchised Samaritan woman, alone at a rural well. It was an encounter that should never have been and broke a myriad of cultural taboos.
And yet it did, and not only this woman but a whole village came to hear what Jesus had to say, and respond to His invitation to worship the God they knew but were unable to wholly worship due to the Jewish restrictions.

Jesus’ response to one person in one moment was the way to approach those who are different, even “enemy”. And Jesus did this despite weariness, heat, hunger, thirst and cultural etiquette, and hostility.
Jesus recognised the woman’s ‘thirst’ of desire and its origin. He offered ‘living water’ to quench that thirst. She immediately countered with questions about worship, and God. Jesus recognised her question and showed her a glimpse of a time when the Jerusalem Temple would not be involved in worship – and the Jews would worship in Spirit and truth, with the Samaritans, and Gentiles.
Of course, if the Jews heard such things, Jesus would never have made it out alive. Indeed, He was in Samaria because He had to get out of Judea in a hurry, away from the Pharisees who were growing suspicious.
 
This encounter is an example of overcoming hostility through listening and opening doors to reconciliation as we have been reconciled to God through Jesus. Wrongs made right. Surprising grace to this woman, to the Samaritans, to Israel, to us.
In the wake of the Christchurch murder of innocent Muslims, this was a timely reading and message.

We should keep the living water of Jesus flowing through true worship – not of tradition (like the Jews) nor obstinacy (like the Samaritans) nor idolatry (like this woman), but of the God who creates and sustains us, and who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus death & resurrection.

“Oils aint oils” was a famous phrase for an oil company some years ago. In Nicodemus’ evening encounter with Jesus, he learned that “faith aint faith”.

Nicodemus was the 1% of the 1% of Jews in Jerusalem, but after reading the first chapter of John’s gospel, the astute hearer/reader would understand that this was not what made a person right with God. Such a reader would also pick up the depth of language and concepts Jesus uses in His conversation with this powerful Pharisee.

• Our English translation barely captures the nuances of the concepts in the original (Greek) script: “Born again” can also be understood as “born from above”
• The same word can be translated as breath; wind; Spirit.
  
• The idea of birth/new life permeates the conversation but is restricted in our translation.

All these combined ideas and language were used by Jesus to bring Nicodemus from an understanding of “are you for us or against us” (John 3:2) to beginning to realise the new kingdom of God that was unfolding in his presence, in Jesus the Christ.
Importantly, this encounter commits the hearer/reader to grow in their faith, and not remain an infant, immature and undeveloped in the faith – especially from the point of view after Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension.

The writer, John the apostle, then continues on to exhort the new Christians to be able to communicate the faith intelligently, faithfully, truthfully.
Nicodemus appears again in John’s gospel, and we find it to be an incomplete journey but importantly, Nicodemus was on the journey. I happen to believe that his inclusion in the gospel points to him having a known position within the kingdom, the early Church in Jerusalem.

This is an encounter with Jesus that John reported and used to teach the Church in his own time, and one we can hear and be reminded of these things again and again, particularly that famous verse in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”