Series: Committed
Message: Adventure
Preacher: Japhet De Oliveira
Refresh: Open with prayer. Read or listen to Psalm 57:7-11.
Read: John 11:1-27 — As you read in the NLT translation, note 1-3 insights/questions that arise.
Reflect: N. T. Wright in his commentary John for Everyone notes how the presence of Jesus was constantly an adventure—one of discovery and association, of change and challenge.
The word "Beth-any" means, literally, "the house of the poor." There is some evidence that it was just that: a place where poor, needy and sick people could be cared for, a kind of hospice a little way outside the city. Jesus had been there before, perhaps several times. He may have had a special affection for the place, and it for him, as he demonstrated again and again his own care for those in need, and assured them of the promise of the kingdom in which the poor would celebrate and the sick be healed. John points us on, in verse 2, to the moment which he will later describe (12.1–8), when Mary poured expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet and provoked a fuss about why it hadn’t been given to the poor. Extravagance doesn’t go down well in a poor-house. But this story is all about the ways in which Jesus surprises people and overturns their expectations (p. 4).
Which is why when Jesus declares to Martha in the following verses that he is the Resurrection and the Life, one could hardly expect anything less. Of course Jesus is going to raise the challenge. Of course He is going to declare and reveal more. Of course Jesus will change the expectations of all those who encounter Him.
Recalibrate:
Respond: Pray for freedom.
Research: What is the attitude of your religious tribe to the poor and needy? What is the attitude of your religious tribe to rich and sufficient? Is that hard to understand and find?