Scripture
Readings: Jeremiah 25.30-38 and John 10.1-18
All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate: whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture… I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10: 8-10)
Can
we talk about Christmas? The season of
the Prince of Peace is just easier than the season known for the crown of
thorns. How can the same person – same God – same Holy Spirit – be the root of such
varied emotions?
We
are shaken by today’s Old Testament scripture (Jeremiah 25:30-38) and New
Testament scripture (John 10:1-18). The
tranquility of King David’s green pasture restoring his sole in the 23rd Psalm is
lost in Jeremiah’s image of “the peaceful meadows… laid waste because of the
fierce anger of the Lord” (v37). We have
to ask, is this the same God – same pasture? The prophet Jeremiah’s meadow was
a place of anger because the people of his time knew they had turned away from
God. King David’s green pasture was one
of comfort because he knew that his life was empty when he turned away from
God. Both had sinned. But they saw the meadow differently.
God
was not different; the practices of the people towards God changed. Consider the way we practice Christmas. We often forget that our joy came at great
cost. Our Prince of Peace was born in the
discomfort of a cave we call a manager – in the winter - and His parents had to
flea Bethlehem because King Herod had ordered all the boys under age 2 to be
put to death. Conversely, in the way we
practice Easter, we often forget to see beyond the crown of thorns. We forget that there were moments people took
extreme personal risk to care for our suffering Lord; such as the women who
never abandoned Him at the cross and the man on the cross who responded to Jesus’
injustice by asking for mercy at the very moment when Jesus was least
believed. What true joy these people
must have brought to Jesus in these moments of suffering and despair.
In
John, we are told that Jesus Christ is the gate to the entrance of God’s
kingdom. But again we need to realize
what God is, versus what we want from or fear of God. Jesus is our access (the gate) not because
God wants to keep most people out. Our
access is “the gate” because God wants to count us as His, chosen in our
weakness, just as the women at the crucifixion and the man on the cross chose
Jesus when he seemed least “Godly”.
Prayer: Dear God, for
delivering those who have cared for us at our weakest moment, we give you
thanks. For those who need the comfort
of your pasture, help us provide it in your name. For those who seem to suffer alone, show
yourself to them. Grant us comfort in
our weariness. And grant us peace in our
sorrow and our joy so that we might know you as the same God in all things.
Frank Roby, Genesis Class member, Global Missions, Sunday School teacher
