By the Well

Psalm 1, Acts 1:15-26, John 17:6-19 are the focus this week. Acts 1 narrates the choosing of a new leader to replace Judas, raising questions about how we choose leaders and what we look for in our leaders. The Psalm invites us to “mediate on God’s Torah (instruction)”. In many ways it frames and introduces all the Psalms, placing them in continuity with the first five books of the Bible (Torah), challenging believers to meditate on the scriptures and offering hope for a world where the righteous flourish.

In John 17 we get part of Jesus’ farewell prayer for his disciples asking for their protection and assuring spiritual connection. Do we pray for our congregations? And what for?

The readings this week invite us to reflect on change, the role of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus’ commandment to love. Acts 10:44-48 narrates the “gentile pentecost”, the delightful interruption of the Holy Spirit who falls upon everyone while Peter is speaking. This is the fourth pouring out of the Spirit in Acts, this time prior to water baptism and upon those outside the faith. Peter exemplifies the capacity to change in response to God’s prompting. John 15:9-17 continues Jesus’ teaching on abiding in love and the command to love in the manner of Jesus. Psalm 98 expresses joy at the thing God has done and offers a way to respond to these NT passages.

We refer to “Tank man” and this protester, Ieshia Evans.

The universal embrace of the gospel is embodied in the Ethiopian Eunuch in the Acts 8 passage. The usual social barriers are no barriers to his baptism and the joy of faith. We talk about the communal context of interpretation of scripture, the importance of teaching, and the proclamatory, spoken nature of the good news. The John passage includes the final I am statement and centres on vine imagery, which emphasises the interconnectedness of the faithful with one another and with God, the vinegrower. The language of ‘abiding’ speaks of love, grounded in living God’s commandments. This love is further fleshed out in the 1 John 4 reading.

We refer to Brittany Wilson’s article “Neither Male nor Female” New Testament Studies 60.3 (2014).

Robyn and Fran unpack the good shepherd imagery used for God in Psalm 23 and Jesus in  John 10:11-18. We discuss the complexity of “laying down one’s life” and its afterlife in the way we talk about veterans and self-sacrifice (noting it is Anzac Day in Australia this Sunday). We refer to a discussion of sacrifice in Rutledge’s The Crucifixion.

Kylie Crabbe returns to  look at Acts 4:5-12 where questions of power and resurrection arise again.

Kylie Crabbe returns to discuss the reaction to Peter healing a man with a mobility impairment in Acts 3. This is a conversation between Jews (Peter and other Israelites) about the nature of God’s power and the continuity between God’s action in the past and in Jesus. Glorifying God and the invitation to repentance are themes here. Repentance is response not a pre-requisite for faith in both these passages.

Luke 24 offers an appearance of the resurrected Christ that has similarity to John 20 in emphasising the physical nature of Jesus’ resurrection and continuity with his activities in life. Theologically it is an affirmation of our bodily form, our physicality and materiality.