Jesus arrives in Jerusalem to a very mixed response. The crowd are praising him and proclaiming him to be God's king. The religious leaders are plotting his death.

The story of the resurrection of Lazarus is one of the high points of John's Gospel. Jesus shows in the clearest possible way that he is able to give eternal life.

Jesus is still talking to the leaders of Israel ... and when he starts talking about being the good shepherd he no doubt has Ezekiel 34 in mind ... a passage about the failure of Israel's leaders and god promising to send the Good Shepherd.

This episode is almost farcical. The religious leaders want to get Jesus. They accuse him of breaking the Sabbath. The blind man who has been healed says “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

One things that stands out about John's Gospel is that Jesus repeatedly makes bold claims ... which are met with confusion from his listeners.

People have a wide variety of responses to Jesus in John’s Gospel. Some are amazed. Some are angry with him. Some are confused. But what is clear is that Jesus has come to put into place his agenda … which may not always be popular.

This is one of the more sad chapters of John. Jesus feeds the huge crowd … but when it comes to accepting who Jesus is the crowd seem unwilling and many walk away. Jesus asks the disciples if they are going to walk away and Peter answers “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

One of the things that the Bible makes very clear is that you need to take Jesus at his word. You don’t get to pick and choose which aspects of Jesus character or which parts of his teaching you will accept. You take Jesus at his word.

Jesus encounter with the woman at the well reveals a lot about Jesus, what he is like and what he has come to do. He knows what we are like, knows what we need and is able to give it to us.

At the start of a new year for our church it can be helpful to think about how it is that you serve within the life of our church. The greatest example of service, the example we should follow is that of Jesus.