2310AFC031023 – The Beginning of The End
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Exodus 17:7 – 7 He called the place Massah* and Meribah*, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
*Massah from Massah – “Test” derived from nasah to test, try, and Maccah – despair. Meribah – a place of contention,
Psalm 95:7 b-9 – O that today you would listen to his voice!
8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah,
as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your ancestors tested me,
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.
Romans 5:6, 8 – 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.
John 4:25-26 – 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I am he†, the one who is speaking to you.” † This can also be translated “I AM.”
Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Right off the bat, I want you to know that this is – in a way – a prequel to 2216AFC042222 – The End of the Beginning of the End. What we will examine today from the Gospel of John is the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, but not in the way described in the synoptic Gospels. John’s Gospel uses literary tools and symbolic language in a greater extent than found in those Gospels. If you, dear reader, are put off by nitty-gritty details, this may be a difficult post for you. I originally wanted to call this essay “The Point of No Return” because it was the real beginning of Jesus ministry. We have, of course, prior to this a “sign” at the Wedding Feast Canna wherein Jesus’ compassion and power are first shown at the suggestion of his mother. Preceding that ,we have the accounts of John’s Mission, Jesus’ baptism, the calling of the first Disciples, and a “family trip” to Capernaum (See John 2:12). There are a lot of cool details (IMHO) in this story, and I want to help “uncover” those. The Gospel passage for Sunday is really long, so we can’t hit every highpoint. With that in mind here we go!
I put the Old Testament passage first because this is a terrific example of how contentious the Israelites were. They were content enough to leave Egypt under leadership from Moses, and they took with them a great deal of wealth (“they plundered the Egyptians” who were truly more than glad to get rid of them See Exodus 12:33-42 ↔ Learning Link. This passage explains much about how they were able to cast “The Golden Calf” Seriously, read this sometime.) Now, out in the desert of Zin, (↔ Learning Link) there was no water there (as near as they could tell, though I sometimes wonder how hard they looked), so they “grumbled against Moses”) The grumbling and murmuring turned into a loud confrontation which made Moses turn to the Lord and basically say, “NOW what?!?!” They whined about not having food enough and NO WATER. This is the first incident wherein water came from a rock.
Millennia later, Jesus is at the site of the well dug by Jacob and is asking a Samaritan woman for water. Yep, there is a connection there – which we will get to eventually. Meanwhile, we can slip into the Key Verse from the Psalms for today. The Psalmist comes on the scene around 580 years (↔ Learning Link) after Moses. Israel has had a LOT of time to think about their mess in the desert, and Psalm 95 makes a point of recalling that error. Note that the Psalm calls for frequent and fervent worship of God for all his kindness and blessings. It leads smoothly to the Gospel for the Third Sunday in Lent.
Sunday’s Gospel takes place in an area where there are wide areas of barren desert. Going 
through Samaria in those days was a tough trip, but it was the most direct route between Judea and Galilee. The Gospel tells us in this passage that “Jesus had to go through Samaria” (See John 4:4). We can see perhaps four sorts of symbolism there. First, Jesus had to pass through a deserted and barren place to arrive at Galilee. Here we recall the wanderings in the desert. Although Jesus did not spend 40 days there, part of his journey at the start of his ministry included traveling in a desert. The trip from Judea to Galilee took about three days walking, so at this halfway point, Jesus and his Disciples were tired. He sat down by the well because he was thirsty, and in that region was the Well of Jacob [1] (↔ Music Link) – a very deep well with very good water. (It is still producing water (↔ Learning Link) after nearly 4,000 years!) He had to stop there because he and his companions needed food and water, but it was “siesta time” for that area which made the woman’s trip less conspicuous. A third, and maybe more esoteric reason is that he had to meet that woman, testify to her about his mission, and confer on her the role and blessing of evangelizing. After Jesus “told her everything she’d ever done,” (↔ Music Link) she went and told the townspeople. A fourth, and even more obvious meaning, is that Jesus established contact with a gentile who was a woman and who was shunned by her community because she was a blatant sinner who had five husbands. She was so excited about the prophecy Jesus made to her that she left her water jar and went back to the city. There she called her neighbors together saying 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” Jesus had already told her “I AM he, the one who is speaking to you.” He had made a similar, though slightly veiled, declaration in Nazareth when he read from the Prophet Isaiah (↔ Learning Link). Once again, I must say that popular modern portrayals of Jesus as a bemused sort of hippie-guy with junk clothes and no tallit is far from reliable. “But I digress.” That leads us to the last remaining Key Verse from Romans. I’ll put it here to make it easier to see it.
Romans 5:6, 8 – 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Here we see another astonishing example of the Absolutely Perfect Plan. In this copied passage, I underlined a crucial clue: at the right time. If one averages out all the speculative ranges of time between Adam and Christ, we can come up with about 7,000 
years. Science tells us that human creatures have been around for 2-3.5 times that or 14,000 to 24,500 years. That’s a pretty wide range which I interpret to tell us, “So what?” We’re not able to measure time as God does, so “at the right time” means exactly that and no more, no less. After all, it is God’s APP, and we only get to use it when and how he allows. I find that very liberating. If I had to use the whole thing, I’d be most certainly overwhelmed. When I do use it, I can rely on 2 Samuel 22:31 – 31 This God — his way is perfect;
the promise of the Lord proves true;
he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
If we cannot trust God to know what is going on inside his Creation (including us), then the APP is useless. I can attest that is absolutely, positively NOT useless!!
Now, let’s pull together some of the types (prefigurings of Christ) we find in the Gospels related to this incident at the well.
- Jesus turned water into wine, and at the consecration wine becomes the Precious Blood.
- The wine is mixed with water. We are like the water and Jesus helps us make an offering of ourselves. We offer Jesus to the Father in offering ourselves.
- It is our right and just duty to offer all that we have (↔ Music Link).
- The Holy Spirit “comes down like the dewfall.” Quietly, reliably, refreshingly, the Earth is watered without wind or storm. The Holy Spirit saturates the Sacrifice on the Altar and we are quietly, reliable, and completely refreshed in the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ.
- When we hear Jesus offering himself up This is my Body, This is my Blood, we recall that THIS is important. (↔ Learning Link)
- The Absolute Fullness of the Christ of God is shown to us as the chalice is raised.
- We rejoice with the angels as we hear “Through him, and in him, and with him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all Glory and Honor is YOURS forever and ever. AMEN!”
- We are offering all of this and all of us to God because he has given everything to us, including the privilege of sharing in this Offering.
- I am part of the Beginning which began with “let there be … .” I am part of the ending which will conclude with
20 The one who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.”
Come, Lord Jesus!
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen. (See Revelation 22:17-21)
Maran atha! Marana tha! The Lord has come! The Lord is coming!
Belovéd, let us firmly commit ourselves to hear HIS voice (↔ Learning Link) and to welcome his Word with Joy. Let us surrender our despair and drink deeply of the Living Water – the Holy Spirit of the Living God. Let us open our arms wide, open our hearts deeply, and make way for the Love of Christ. Let us remember Ezekiel 36:26–27) – I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. Let us follow him wherever he leads, (↔ Music Link) yes, even to Calvary. In this current Age we here in America do not suffer from violent persecutions for our faith. We do not live in constant fear of maiming or death as in tens-of-thousands of places around the World. (↔ VERY IMPORTANT Learning Link) We have not yet “resisted [sin] to the point of shedding blood.” (See Hebrews 12:4) Let us work hard together with the Holy Spirit at being more effective in battling evil (See Ephesians 6:10- 18) Let us make of ourselves, of our Faith, of our Stewardship for the Lord a bright light of Hope as we enter into the beginning of the end. Therefore, ʻŌmea –
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:16-17) May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13) I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him (Ephesians 1:17) And remember, get a “clean cup” to drink of the Living Water of the Holy Spirit because as it says in Romans 6:23 – 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
And now may the God of All Mercies be with you, both now and forever, in all that you think, do, or say. Why? Because we also know that the Messiah is coming, the one who IS The Christ of God! It is he who speaks to us, “Surely, I AM coming soon.”
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
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Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
[1] This is a slow and peaceful song suitable for meditation on this Gospel passage. You might want to just come back to it after completing all the other links
