John 10, 11

John 10, 11

Overview:  Jesus talks about himself as the Good Shepherd.  Jesus, after waiting a couple of days, travels to the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus and brings Lazarus back from the dead.

"I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." John 10:10
The concept of abundant life is one that I find both compelling and problematic.  Compelling in the way that Jesus talks about it and the way that those in his life experience it.  Problematic in the way that the term "abundant life" is sometimes used in ways that seem incongrous with the way in Jesus spoke of it.  The confusion is not just ours - I think it crops up in scripture as well.  Here we have some of the Jews (vs.22-30) pleading with Jesus to make it simple - just tell us if you are the Messiah - when will you tell us plainly.  Jesus seems to respond that he can't be any more plain then he has been.  The work of the Messiah will provide abundant life, but it will not provide (necessarily) a comfortable, secure, problem free life free of complexities. I don't know for sure what the people asking Jesus to be more plain were wanting, but I suspect that part of what they were wanting was to have things made simple.  Jump to the next chapter and I think we have in Mary and Martha a snapshot of two women who are living the abundant life.  They are deeply saddened by the death of their brother, even saying that if Jesus had arrived sooner their brother would not have died. But behind those words there is, in their words and actions, an underlying commitment to Jesus and to whatever he is doing.  They don't doubt Jesus, they just long that this day to day matter had played out differently.  There is an embrace of the complex here that is instructive.  Life will sometimes move in ways that make us happy and sometimes it will go in ways that hurt us, make us unhappy and which we will not understand.  However we are experiencing life at this moment, Jesus is still the Lord of all life.  It doesn't change the complexity of this moment, but the underlying belief and assurance in God's plan means that whether today is a celebration or an uphill battle, life is still abundant because we, along with Mary and Martha and the disciples have bought into Jesus' message.  I am convinced that struggling with and working out what abundant life means as we follow Jesus is central to being the followers we are called to be.  And I am forever convinced that abundant life is not the removal of difficulties, challenges and other complexities of life.  Be plain with us, if it is a yearning for understanding of God's plan that means we are willing to fully engage ourselves is a prayer that seeks after abundant life.  Be plain with us, if it means make it easy for us, seems to me to bear little relation to abundant life as Jesus speaks describes it.

For a great contemporary illustration of a woman striving to live the abundant life follow the link below which should connect to the PC(USA) Mission Yearbook entry for today.
http://gamc.pcusa.org/yearbook/february-24/