Kontakion

Reading Amount: John 13:1-17:26 Central Verse: I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:34-35, NRSV Central Truth: At the heart of the Gospel is love. Love for God and equally as important is this commandment by Jesus to love one another. Food for Thought: (Questions about the text) Our theme verse comes to us in a section of discourse by Jesus. The statement of loving one another actually occurs at another place in this discourse as well. What do you think the over all theme of these chapters are? Is there a theme? Connections: (Time with our Society) On 7 July 1967 the Beatles release one of their most easily recognizable song "All You Need Is Love." A song with simple but powerful lyrics it spoke of the power that love can and should have in our lives. The song came at a time when our world was rife with...

Reading Amount: John 11:1-12:50 Central Verse: He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. John 11:51-52 NRSV Central Truth: God uses imperfect, even conniving, vessels to speak of the work that Jesus would complete. Jesus work was not just for the salvation of the people of Israel but for all the children of God! Food for Thought: (Questions about the Text) The office of high priest was intended to be a lifelong position. John seems to remark that Caiaphas was only shortly in office this may have been noticing the reality of living under Roman rule. In fact a number of years later Caiaphas was removed from leadership. There is a marriage of political wisdom with a strong underlying of prophecy in the wisdom of Caiaphas. The political wisdom was contained in their precarious set-up with Rome. Connections: (Time with our Society...

Philippians - Who: The letter to the Philippians was written by Paul to the church in the city of Philippi. The idea of Paul being the author is not disputed much by scholars. Historically speaking the letter to the Philippians has always been considered Paul's. One of the only major problems with the text of Philippians is that some scholars feel it may have been two or three letters compiled into one. For the sake of this study I will reference the author as Paul and treat the letter as one entity as we have inherited it. What: As you may have noticed in the previous paragraph I referred to the text of Philippians as a letter. This is something of the upmost importance for us to remember. Philippians is not a book but a letter to friends and should be read as such. One of the defining themes in this letter is joy and that is to be expected in a letter between friends. My opinion is that is also why this letter is varied as much as it is. With thoughts seemingly interrupted and s...

Reading Amount: John 6:1-10:42 Central Verse: And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day…I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. - John 6:39; 51 Central Truth: Christ has come to save all, and all means all! The intent of Jesus' mission while fraught with misunderstanding is to bring life. Food for Thought: (Questions about the text) We are to understand what Jesus says about bread and wine, flesh and blood on two levels; literally with the bread and wine and figuratively as the symbol of communion. We must allow John to challenge our understandings of communion today. John's view of communion is not the same as the other gospels and offers challenges to our preconceived notions of communion. Connections: (Time with our society) It has been easy over the last few hundre...

Reading Amount: John 2:1-5:47 Central Verse: "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God." John 3:17-18 NRSV Food For Thought: (Questions about the text) Most of us have heard the story of Nicodemus as someone who didn't understand what Jesus was talking about. Clearly Jesus is talking about spiritual rebirth, being "born again," and Nicodemus never understands that. When a word study is done on the words Jesus uses it is clear that Jesus' intent is both physical and spiritual. We end up putting out own one sided view on it just as Nicodemus does. In John the physical, starting with Jesus' first miracle, is just as important as the spiritual. Connections: (time with our society) Most of us are intimately familiar ...

Reading Amount: John 1:1-51 Central Verse: "All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it." John 1:3-5 NRSV Central Truth: Jesus has conquered evil in the world. This is a past event that has occurred and the good news that Christ brings is still with us today. Food For Thought (Questions about the text): Gnosticism - a religious group in early Christianity who, among other things, placed the work of salvation in heaven not on earth. Based on your reading of the first chapter of John where do you think John is placing the work of salvation? What is the role of John the Baptist in the beginning of this book? Connections (Time with our society): I'm a person who loves to camp and hike when I get the opportunity. When you camp you cannot underestimate the importance of light at nigh...

Why: The book of John has always been the first book of the bible that I recommend for new Christians to read. In fact it is probably the first book of the bible that I memorized any scripture from at a young age. Of course it was the scripture "For God so Loved the World." John is the gospel that we see plastered on poster board at sporting events. However even with is primacy in those areas it is a book easily ignored in church since in our culture we seem to favor the more 'straightforward' approach of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). So why do I (we) suggest that Gospel of John is the first place to start? The reason is that the gospel of John is a book that doesn't let us get away from who Christ is. We are constantly brought to face the fact that Jesus is God's son and what is accomplished by his life, death and resurrection are the most important things in the world. The gospel of John keeps us grounded in our faith at the same time it al...

Reading Amount: Micah 5:1-15 Central Verse: But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, Who are one of the little clans of Judah, From you shall come forth for me One who is to rule in Israel, Whose origin is from of old, From ancient days. · Micah 5:2 Central Truth: God has, does, and will provide salvation to all people. He gave Micah a specific for his people, yet the word of God goes forth through history and shows Christ and his return. Food for Thought: (Questions about the text) This text is quoted by the wise men in Matthew as foretelling where the Messiah would be born. We must remember that when a prophecy is given in scripture it is given for the author's audience. It is over time that the prophecy continues to speak. To get the most out of prophetic scriptures it is best to try and ascertain what the meaning was for the audience and then see how it has also been interpreted through time. In this chapter the image of a shepherd is used repeatedly. This was a very common literary...