Jesus, the Teacher of Israel, that met the Woman at Jacob’s Well, without a husband, said:
“If you knew the Gift of God — And who is asking you for a drink you would have asked Him and He would have given you water that would create in you a fountain — springing up into eternal life.”
He who is without deceit — does not yet cast the stone.
When Jesus stood up in the middle of the Feast of Tabernacles — having just arrived —and began to teach in the temple courts, the chief priests and Pharisees asked the officers:
“Why didn’t you bring Him in?”
“Never has anyone spoken like this man! ” the officers answered.
“Have you also been deceived?” replied the Pharisees. “Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does not know the law—they are under a curse.”
Nicodemus — the one Jesus identified as the Teacher of Israel— who had met with Jesus under the cover of darkness, and who himself was one of them, asked,
“Does our law convict a man without first hearing from him to determine what he has done?”
“Aren’t you also from Galilee?” they replied. “Look into it, and you will see that no prophet comes out of Galilee.”
The next day while Jesus was teaching in the temple courts. The scribes and Pharisees, brought in a woman caught in adultery.
They made her stand before them and said,
“Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such a woman. So what do You say?”
They said this to test Him, in order to have a basis for accusing Him.
But Jesus bent down — and began to write on the ground…
When they continued to question Him, He straightened up— and said to them:
“Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.”
And then Jesus bent down — again wrote on the ground.
When they heard this, they began to go away one by one, beginning with the older ones, until only Jesus was left with the woman — standing there.
Then Jesus straightened up —asked:
“Woman, where are your accusers?“
“Has no one condemned you?”
“No one, Lord”
She answered.
“Then neither do I condemn you.”
Jesus declared.
“Now go and sin no more.”
Knowing the Gift of God — And who it was who asked the Woman for a drink — the conversation at the end of this trial reveals a relationship.
For the Teacher of Israel, as Jeremiah once did, sees the Amygdala — and stands watch, bearing the staff, guarding the Word — watching over Her, that the Lord’s Word may be accomplished.
And so the Woman goes, and speaks again to the people saying:
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”
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This is the fourteenth in a series of Epiphany reflections paving the way for the Cross.
Now in the season of Easter, the next Epiphany reflection turns to the chosen one of the Lord who says, “I thirst” — and to the vinegar given, before the final breath: “It is finished.”
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At the well in Samaria, the water was not a fountain. The water waited — deep, silent, and filtered by rock and soil — just as it had for generations.
God is Truth and Spirit — glorified in the witness of the forerunner.
Women came to draw water from this well, filling their water pots. Men filled larger containers to water their flocks.
And about 30 generations before Jesus began speaking, the Teacher of Israel, whom the Egyptians called Moses, came to a well in Midian. There, fleeing from Pharaoh, Moses defended Zipporah and her sisters from some shepherds who were harassing them.
In Samaria, a Teacher of Israel appears with a woman who has had five husbands and the one she is now with is not her husband. And he says to her:
If you knew the gift of God — And who it is who is asking you for a drink you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.
Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.
Taking in this water and its promise the Woman — whom the Greeks call Photini and the Latins come to know as Sum Maria — goes into the city, leaving her water pot behind.
In the city of Capernaum, some thirty to forty miles north of Jacob’s Well — where the Woman left her water pot behind — there stood a synagogue of black basalt.
Here within this formidable black rock structure, people had come searching for Jesus after they had witnessed another astonishing sign. Before coming to this gathering place — where both women and men met for instruction, for teaching, and for fellowship — many had been on a grassy hillside near Bethsaida.
There, like a good homemaker, Jesus had fed five thousand with five loaves and two fish.
And as news of this spread, those the who caught it on the wind began to stir and wonder who this person might be.
Was this the Prophet foretold in the Psalms and the Prophets — perhaps recalling how Elisha had once fed a hundred with twenty loaves?
Those who had crossed over the water began telling others how the wind had risen, stirring the sea. Those in the first boat — experienced lead hands —were tossed about and sorely afraid.
And then, in the midst of the tempest, they saw Jesus walking upon the water, reaching out to them, saying:
It is I. Do not be afraid.
Then they welcomed Jesus on board, and together in the same boat, they reached the shore where they were heading.
On shore, those of the same boat found their way to the house of assembly hewn from black basalt.
There they found Jesus instructing the people in the ways of the Rabbis, and some began to call Jesus Rabbi. Yet others who came in different boats were not seeking wisdom or prophecy, but bread to fill their stomachs.
For having eaten and been filled, they later crossed over amazed to find the one who had fed the five thousand. They asked:
Rabbi, when did you get here?
For they had eaten the bread and had watched as the others — all in the same boat —departed first — without Jesus.
And Jesus said:
Do not work for food that perishes …but for food that endures to eternal life — the food the Son of Man will give you. For on this one God the Father has set His seal.
And when they asked what they must do, Jesus replied:
The work of God is this — to believe in the One He has sent.
Yet they still asked for a sign, recalling the manna given in the wilderness to the Teacher of Israel — whom the Egyptians called Moses. And so the teaching of Jesus turned again:
It was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven, but the Father who gives the true bread — the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
Yet even this was not spoken for all to grasp — but for those who have ears to hear. For when the Feast of Tabernacles drew near, Jesus sent the disciples ahead to speak openly.
But Jesus did not go with them — until, in the midst of the feast, Jesus stood up and began to teach in the temple courts.
And the people were astonished, saying:
How does this man know such things, having never studied?
And others said:
Have the rulers truly recognized that this is the Christ? But we know where this man is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where He is from.
Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out:
You know Me, and you know where I am from. I have not come of My own accord, but He who sent Me is true. You do not know Him, but I know Him, because I am from Him and He sent Me.
Though some sought to seize Him, no hand was laid upon Him, for His hour had not yet come. And many among the crowd believed in Him, and said:
When the Christ comes, will He perform more signs than this man?
When the Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things, they sent officers to arrest Him.
So Jesus said:
I am with you only a little while longer, and then I am going to the One who sent Me. You will look for Me, but you will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.
At this, the Jews said to one another:
Where does He intend to go that we will not find Him? Will He go to the Jews dispersed among the Greeks — and teach the Greeks?
These questions hung in the air. And then —
On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and cried out in a loud voice:
If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: “Streams of living water will flow from within him.”
He was speaking about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
For the Hour had not yet come —just as a man and a woman, when wed, become one flesh — in that union, are glorified.
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This is the thirteenth in a series of Epiphany reflections paving the way for the Cross.
Now in Easter Week, the next Epiphany reflection turns to the moment when the Woman caught in the act of adultery is brought to trial — and when the Light revealed as the Word is watched over and accomplished.
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Many stories weave in and out — like a woman’s braided hair.
An author may begin at one point to draw the reader in, then return to what came before, or move ahead, revealing what could not be seen at first.
Immediately the man was made well, and he picked up his mat and began to walk.
For some truths cannot be told all at once— they must be uncovered slowly, as the reader comes to know the characters as they come to know one another, and themselves.
At the well bequeathed to Joseph, belonging to the people of Samaria, a man and a woman met in the open, sharing a common cup.
As they spoke, it became clear that one was a Jew and the other a Samaritan. And this attracted attention, for Jews and Samaritans were not to share anything personal with one another — especially not in public.
Yet when his disciples returned, they said nothing.
And when the Woman got up and went into the city and said, “Come and see…many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Jesus because of her testimony: “He told me everything I ever did.”
Sometime later, Jesus appears in Jerusalem, standing outside the Sheep Gate, by a pool — called Bethesda, or Kolymbethra, a place of deep water, by those — Jew and Samaritan alike — who spoke Greek.
Here, beside the water, many lay waiting — the sick, the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. Each one hoped to be the first to enter when the water stirred — and receive salvation.
Among them was one who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years — unable to walk freely in public, a cripple in the eyes of those who passed by. But how was this known?
For when Jesus sees this person lying there, he realizes that this person has been suffering for thirty-eight years. But how would Jesus know a personal detail such as this?
Was he simply clairvoyant?
Or did he recognize this person as a Samaritan?
For it was unlawful for Jews and Samaritans to associate with each other, and this law had kept Jews and Samaritans apart — suffering, a burden borne across thirty-eight generations.
Upon seeing this person at this pool.
Jesus says: Do you want to get well?
“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am on my way, someone else goes in before me.“
Then Jesus told her, “Get up, pick up your mat, and walk.”
Immediately the man was made well — and she picked up her mat and began to walk.
Now this happened on the Sabbath day, so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath! It is unlawful for you to carry your mat.”
For to carry a mat was to carry a burden — and by the law as it was interpreted, no burden was to be borne on the Sabbath.
Yet here, the healed one — carrying her mat in public on the Sabbath —is singled out as a sinner.
So in response to this charge, she answered: The man who made me well told me, “Pick up your mat and walk.”
“Who is this man who told you to pick it up and walk?” they asked.
But the one who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while the crowd was there.
Did she truly not know? Or did she simply not want to betray him? Or had she suddenly realized that by saying “he told me,” she was implying that he had led her to break the law — like the serpent who had tempted Eve.
Later, Jesus found her in the Temple and said. “See, you have been made well, Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.”
Then the man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made her well.
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This is the twelfth in a series of Epiphany reflections paving the way for the Cross.
Now in Holy Week, the next Epiphany reflection turns to John 7:38, as Jesus proclaims that whoever believes in him will later receive the Spirit — through whom streams of living water will flow from within.
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News travels through the grapevine that Jesus was baptizing and winning more disciples than John, the Teacher of Israel identified as the Forerunner.
If you knew the Gift of God — AND who it is who is asking you for a drink
At the well given to Jacob’s son Joseph, a woman identified as a Samaritan appears. Joseph is remembered not only for his God-given prophetic gift, but also for his husbandry.
Yet some will argue that this oral tradition — what some call the grapevine — is not a reliable source. The fruit and juice it produces is the proof. Yet oral testimonies spread from mouth to mouth have a tendency to spread misinformation mixed with facts.
Yet a wine maker or bread maker will testify that the yeast is what causes the bread to rise and the fruit to ferment and make the best wine.
After the two teachers conversed under the cover of darkness, the Teacher of Israel, called John by his disciples, was approached —
(before he was put in prison): A dispute arose between John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the Issue of ceremonial washing…
So John’s disciples came to him and said “Look, Rabbi, the One who was with you beyond the Jordan, the One you testified about — He is baptizing, and everyone is going to Him.” …
So the Rabbi, the Teacher of Israel replied:
You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but am sent ahead of Him.’
The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete…
What confuses the people in the dark is that this man is the Teacher of Israel and speaks with the voice of Isaiah saying:
I am a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’
and when they ask him if he is the Prophet he says:
I am not the Prophet.
What confuses those in the dark will come clear when they realize this teacher — who is clearly the forerunner and the friend of the bridegroom. — is Jesus the forerunner (Hebrew 6:19-20) who heard the bridegroom’s voice when he spoke with Nathanael:
Who asked in (John 1:47): How do you know me?
And Jesus replied: I saw you under the fig tree before Phillip called you.
In that same chapter of John, Simon is identified as the Son of John, while other translations say the son of Jonah.
Yet it is Simon who is given the designation of the Rock —which carries with it the responsibility of the Rock of ages — and the Father, Adam saw or heard when he hid himself under the Fig Tree.
Now you may recall in Epiphany VIII: The Anointing:
When the Woman with unbound hair enters — carrying an expensive alabaster jar — Simon thinks to himself:
If this man were truly a prophet, he would acknowledge who is touching him — and how he himself knows of her sin.
The Teacher observes Simon sitting aside, withholding his welcome. He turns toward Simon, and the two enter into conversation. The Teacher tells a parable — of two debtors, one owing much, the other little — and asks Simon which will love more when the debut is forgiven.
Simon answers: the one forgiven more.
The Teacher says to him: You have judged correctly.
With these words, the Teacher confirms Simon’s role as Father of the Law and as Nathan, the prophet, a true Israelite beneath the fig tree of memory — who once judged David. For David had abused his power when he took Bathsheba, the wife of another man, and sent her husband into battle where he lost his life.
The fourth chapter of John’s Gospel brings two people out of darkness to talk under the Noon sky where there is no shadow. Here the Light becomes known as Photini — the name given by the Greeks to the Woman appearing at the Well, who is asked for a drink by a prominent Jew.
The name Photini means enlightened one and or luminous one. Scripture situates the Well in the land of the Samaritans at Jacob’s well, bequeathed to Joseph. Thus this woman was identified as Mary Magdalene up until 1970 possibly because in Latin the phrase Sum Maria means, I AM Maria.
As this well known story unfolds, Jesus is identified as being a Jew — not an Israelite.
Whereas when Nathanael asked Jesus: how do you know me?
Jesus said: you are a true Israelite and there is no deceit in you.
And then Nathanael replied: You are Christ the Son of God the King of Israel.
Note. Nathanael does not say “King of Kings.”
So without knowing the meaning of the Hebrew name Nathanael, it is easy to assume Nathanael is just someone who was waiting for the messiah to appear — and see him only as one of the first to believe in Jesus as Christ the Son of God the Father.
However the name of Nathanael as does the name of Simon carries with it something more profound. For the name Nathanael means the gift of God.
Thus pay attention: when Jesus the son of God the Father says, “I met you under the Fig Tree.” This carries with it the idea that Jesus is the born-again Adam — the New Adam — the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
As confusing as this all becomes, Jesus the Forerunner does make the way straight for the Lord for those paying attention. For Jesus the Forerunner is also know as Rabbi John. And the name John means full of grace.
And John does say:
You yourself can testify that I said I am not the Christ, but am sent ahead of Him. ‘For the Bride belongs to the Bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine and is now complete.’
So when did the Forerunner hear the Bridegroom’s voice?
For those paying attention — It was under the Fig Tree when Jesus the Son of the Father spoke with a man given the name Nathanael by those overhearing the conversation. So the Woman known to the Latins as Sum Maria begins to proclaim:
Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?
And with that proclamation, is she also asking:
Is there a husbandman that I do not yet know, waiting for me?
For the man who asked her for a drink had said:
If you knew the gift of God — AND who it is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him and he would have given you the water that would spring up in you and make you and everlasting spring.
And Jeremiah once said:
For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
For the Fifth Commandment entrusted to the Teacher of Israel says:
Honour your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
Whereas yeast is necessary for the kingdom to spread and rise, yeast can also lead to the demise of the Pharisees who sin under the cover of darkness.
They hide the truth in plain sight while speaking in parables and giving evasive answers.
And they toss in words and names that only a select few will puzzle over and search for the meaning.
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This is the eleventh in a series of Epiphany reflections paving the way for the Cross.
Now in Lent, the next Lenten Epiphany turns to the healing of a paralytic — a cripple — at the pool of Bethesda.
If you would like to receive the next reflection, be sure to subscribe.
When Jesus and the Teacher of Israel meet under the cover of darkness, some onlookers see and hear what others cannot. Many even today without ever seeing Jesus face to face assume that Jesus must be male.
“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time to be born?”
Jesus is always referred to as He. Does the “He” stand for he and she — two people speaking face to face? Many people unfamiliar with the fact that Pharisees such as the Teacher of Israel called Nicodemus (whose name means “victory of the people”) would have believed in the possibility of being born again.
The Sadducees would not have, and the Samaritans were marginalized and excluded by both groups. Thus they were “kept in the dark” by Jewish authorities and by society. The Samaritans did, however, have knowledge of the first five books of the Bible.
No doubt a Samaritan woman would have known that the Teacher of Israel — whom the Egyptians called Moses — was named because he was found in a small basket of straw, set among reeds, and canes in the waters of great river delta. There his saviour was a woman of a royal household who adopted him as her own dear son.
A Samaritan woman would also have thought of the Teacher of Israel as one who brought victory to the people — Hebrews and Gentiles alike, even those thought of as rabble —by freeing them from Egyptian slavery.
So what has the birth of Moses, the Teacher of Israel, got to do with the story of Jesus and the Teacher of Israel meeting under the cover of darkness?
This under cover story comes in the third chapter of John’s Gospel and follows the Cana Third-Day event. In Hebrew, Cana means the place of reeds. At Cana the bridegroom — the master of the banquet in Mediterranean custom — is called aside. Believing the servants responsible for the best wine he has tasted, he praises them. Yet he does not yet know the Mother of Jesus was the wine’s source. The servants know. Those who were present may know. But many who hear the story later remain in the dark.
In Cana, six stone jars had been set aside for the Jewish rites of purification.
Each jar contained about thirty gallons — roughly one hundred and twenty quarts. According to Deuteronomy 34:7, Moses lived to be one hundred and twenty years old. That fact may have nothing to do with the six stone jars set aside. Yet after the bridegroom is called aside and the wine declared the best, Jesus cleanses the temple of merchants and money-changers — likely Sadducees.
With this cleansing of the temple, it is noted that this house is the house of Jesus’ Father and had been under construction for forty-six years. Readers through the centuries have wondered why the age of the temple is mentioned.
Those paying attention during Lent when the Bridegroom is called aside, or taken away will see this time as a time of preparation, when the Bride fasts, repents, and prepares herself for her Bridegroom. They would understand this reference to the destruction of the temple as Christ’s body, and how this body so destroyed would be cleansed and would be raised again on the Third Day.
And those well acquainted with Psalm 40:6 will hear:
Sacrifice and offering You do not desire, but my ears You have opened. Burnt offerings and sin offerings You do not require. “
Followed by the seventh verse:
Here I am, it is written about me in the Scroll — the Megillah.
The Megillah par excellence is the Book of Esther, where a woman saves her people.
A Samaritan or a Gentile might not have known the Psalms well. Thus is it any wonder then, that those excluded from the Father of Jesus’ house — but hearing words such as these — in the Court of the Gentiles are pressing in to see a long-awaited messianic figure that has been called.
Yet Moses, the Teacher of Israel, upon descending from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments had been instructed to keep those who had not been consecrated — called aside — from seeing the Lord. With the coming of the Forerunner called John the Baptist, many of his followers would have been those in the dark, considered unclean.
In the darkness, those pressing in may suppose whose voice is speaking. For they would not have been among the consecrated. Thus the voice they hear may not belong to the one they suppose. For as the voices unfold in darkness, it becomes difficult to know where one speaker ends and another begins.
For the ancient text contained no quotation marks or versification — only words carried across the dark moonlit night — perhaps by merchants exploiting the songs of bards or romantic poetry of women. For as two teachers talk, the Teacher of Israel and the one identified in this text as Jesus speak— one Teacher says, and the other answers.
Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. How can a man be born when he is old?
And Nicodemus asked: Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time?
Jesus answered. Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit…
Do not be amazed that I said, You must be born again.
As a mother gives birth her water breaks, so too the Spirit gives birth as her water pours forth like an everlasting Spring — in the fullness of time — at Noon — when the people of God (female and male) excluded from the inner courts of the temple could claim their inheritance as sons of Abraham.
As in the dark of a mother’s womb, the child to be listens for the Mother’s heartbeat and feels and responds with the rhythm of her breath.
The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.
“How can this be? Nicodemus asked.
You are Israel’s teacher. Said Jesus.
And you do not understand these things. Truly, truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, and yet you people do not accept our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven — the Son of Man.
This Son of Man reference, would be like bait to a fish. The Teacher of Israel is a Pharisee and would surely know who the Son of Man refers and what the Prophet Daniel said concerning the Son of Man.
But would a Samaritan Teacher know? Would a Sadducee?
A Sadducee would recognize the reference, but they took the Bible literally and didn’t believe in heavenly things. And in Daniel 7:13 the Son of Man is described as someone like the Son of Man, arriving with clouds of heaven to judge the world.
Thus, who are “the we” in the above conversation who testify to what we have seen — who believe that the Son of Man ascended into heaven and spoke with God “face to face” and then descended?
Israel’s Teacher would surely know.
If the “we” is the Teacher of Israel and his disciples, it is possible that Jesus leaps in, saying:
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.
A Sadducee would likely call this blasphemy or at least think the idea of Moses coming back to life and ascending on the Third Day as he did in Exodus and then returning with the Ten Commandments, absolute nonsense. And if so why would the Teacher of Israel called Moses by the Egyptians, be talking with a teacher in the dark saying:
Rabbi, we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you…. How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time to be born?
This is the tenth in a series of Epiphany reflections paving the way for the Cross. Now in Lent, the next Lenten Epiphany turns to the Testimony of Israel’s Teacher identified as the Forerunner and to another Jesus Talk — at the Samaritan Well — at NOON.
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On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and His disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to Him, “They have no more wine.”
Is the Master called the Bridegroom Aside?
“Woman, what is that to you and Me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.“
His Mother said to the servant, “Do whatever he tells you.”
Now six stone water jars had been set there for the Jewish rites of purification. Each could hold from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.”
So they filled them to the brim.
“Now draw some out,” He said, “and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not know where it was from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he —called the bridegroom aside — and said. “Everyone serves the fine wine first, and then the cheap wine after the quests are drunk. But you have saved the fine wine until now!”
Jesus performed this, the first of His signs, at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
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Notice the phrase “called the bridegroom aside.” In the language of Scripture, to be called aside is to be set apart — consecrated. In Middle Eastern culture the Bridegroom is also the Master of the Banquet, the one responsible for the feast. And so here too the one tasting the wine is both the Master of the Banquet and the Bridegroom — the one set apart and taken away or aside in Lent, because he does not yet know the source of the wine. For his Bride is the one who told the servants, “Do whatever my son tells you.”
At the end of this well known story, Jesus’ glory is revealed, and John proclaims that this was the first of His signs at Cana in Galilee. But this raises a deeper question: Who is Jesus? If Jesus is the Bridegroom who judges the wine to be the best wine, how is His Glory revealed?
In Acts 3, Simon Peter and John stand together before the Gate called Beautiful, and Simon says: “Pay Attention.” In John 3 and in Exodus 3, the Teacher of Israel — called Moses in Exodus and Nicodemus in John — speaks with the I AM.
Yet in John’s Gospel, the Teacher of Israel also appears as John the Baptist, the Forerunner.
In Exodus the Unburnt Bush stands as an Icon of the Mother of God’s pure nature as the source — the I Am who is and who will be.
As the fire is seen by the Teacher of Israel, this bush, this little tree is not consumed. The fire within her is not overwhelmed, and this voice speaking with such power is firmly planted upon a magnificent rock called a mount.
In wedding terms, a marriage is consummated when the Bride and Bridegroom share their passion, their fire for each other as man and wife. The Bible calls this a sacred mystery. For when a man leaves his father and mother and is united with his wife, the two become one flesh.
On the Third Day in Exodus 19 there is a feast. In Jewish tradition the events of the third day mark the moment when God descends on Mount Sinai to give the Ten Commandments. This event has often been understood as a spiritual wedding, with God as the Groom and Israel as the Bride.
Yet Moses speaks to God and God answers with thunder, as if calling attention to heaven’s first marriage of lightning and thunder — the creative power that spoke Adam and Eve into being. This Third Day therefor becomes a covenanting — a betrothal ceremony that reminds those gathered for the feast of the importance of the sacrament of marriage.
Pay attention. In Exodus there is thunder, fire and smoke. Every school child knows that thunder and lightning belong together: lightning appears in the sky, and thunder answers. The Teacher of Israel, called Moses by the Egyptians, brings his follower out of the camp to meet God at the foot of the Mountain. As the ram’s horn sounds and grows louder, Moses speaks and God answers him in the thunder.
The LORD descends upon the top of Mount Sinai and calls Moses to the summit. Moses ascends, and the Lord tells Moses to warn the people and priests not to push forward to see the Lord, unless they have been consecrated — set apart — made Holy for a divine purpose.
The Cana story is also a betrothal and the first step of the marriage covenant. Here the Bridegroom is called aside to judge the wine the servants have prepared under the direction of the Mother’s son — the Teacher of Israel — later known by the name Jesus, the son of the Father.
Yet at the end of this story John proclaims that this sign at Cana revealed Jesus’ glory, and His disciples believed in Him. Still this is a puzzle, for in Luke’s Gospel the glory of the Lord shines around the shepherds in Bethlehem on the night when Mary gives birth to Christ.
According to the Pauline author man is the glory of God and woman is the glory of man.
This raises another question:
Is the Mother of God the glory of the Father of God, and is the Cana Third Day event a re-covenanting ritual of their betrothal — at the beginning of the world?
Or is this simply some village wedding that Jesus and his Mother were invited to attend?
In the next chapter, Jesus appears under the cover of darkness with the Teacher of Israel, and people begin to ask the Question:
Who is the Bridegroom? Is the Teacher of Israel, the Christ?
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This is the ninth in a series of Epiphany reflections paving the way for the Cross. Now in Lent, the next Lenten Epiphany turns to the story of Jesus and Nicodemus under the cover of darkness — and the light this brings to their faith journey.
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In Bethany, Simon judges the Teacher — the Prophet of Israel.
Where is Grace while her Lord’s feet are anointed?
Luke presents Simon as the host, yet Simon acts as if he is not the host. He does not wash the feet of the Teacher — the Prophet of Israel. He remains sitting aloof, withholding the respect and honour owed such a distinguished guest.
When the Woman with unbound hair enters — carrying an expensive alabaster jar — Simon thinks to himself:
If this man were truly a prophet, he would acknowledge who is touching him — and how he himself knows of her sin.
The Teacher observes Simon sitting aside, withholding his welcome. He turns toward Simon, and the two enter into conversation. The Teacher tells a parable — of two debtors, one owning much, the other little — and asks Simon which will love more when the debt is forgiven.
Simon answers: the one forgiven more.
The Teacher says to him: You have judged correctly.
With these words, the Teacher confirms Simon’s role as Father of the Law and as Nathan, the prophet, a true Israelite beneath the fig tree of memory — who once judged David. For David had abused his power when he took Bathsheba, the wife of another man, and sent her husband into battle where he lost his life.
The parable of the two debtors does not deny what Simon is thinking. It confirms it — for those who are paying attention. Parables reveal and conceal at the same time. Simon, described here as Pharisee, stands as Father of the Law and Oral Tradition. Yet his posture — seated apart, watching the Woman as she bends to anoint the feet of the Teacher of Israel — reveals the jealous tension within him.
The Teacher, knows what Simon is thinking — not by clairvoyance, but because the Woman has anointed his feet as if he were the Son of David and she were the stolen Lamb.
The people gathered for this dinner Luke recounts, know the story of David and Bathsheba. When David, took the poor man’s lamb, the prophet Nathan gave David a parable, as a life lesson and a gift of God.
If you knew the Gift of God AND who it is asking you for a drink
Through that parable, David recognized himself as the one who had stolen and abused his power — declaring himself someone who should die. And Simon he recognized himself as someone who had deliberately sinned by withholding his hospitality.
So now, again, the Father of the Law and Oral Tradition, setting himself apart, judges himself and one of David’s lineage as prophesied — through parable. When Simon declares that the one forgiven more will love more, and the Teacher answers, You have judged correctly, Simon stands in the place of the prophet — revealing the sin the Law creates to show the necessity of grace.
For from the beginning, those created in the image and likeness of God became separated from one another, and from God, when they took into themselves the knowledge of good and bad — hiding themselves with fig leaves rather than confessing.
Yet beneath the Law rests the sapphire foundation — the hidden body of grace that once openly dwelt with Adam and Eve, like thunder and lightning permeating and nourishing the whole inhabited world —the living earth and the life-giving sky — before the Fall.
By speaking in parable, the Teacher does not deny what Simon perceives, but holds back its full meaning — saving and preserving what must remain a private affair until the Bridegroom thunders forth his love for the Bride, and the Teacher rises, washed clean, to stand in the place of the Priest, and proclaim — “Kiss the Bride.”
When that moment comes, forgiveness will rise as the Light dawns and rises as surely as sunshine after a storm greets each hour.
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This is the eighth in a series of Epiphany reflections paving the way for the Cross. Now in Lent, the next Lenten Epiphany turns to Cana — where the Woman says to the Son of the Father, “They have no more wine.” What appears to be lacking becomes a sign for those paying attention — that prepares the way for the Cross.
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What happens when the early church community tries to build a kingdom without paying close attention to John — honouring him as Forerunner and Teacher of Israel?
Moses — the Teacher of Israel
More importantly, what happens when the newly formed faith community, are unprepared to fully acknowledge the Gate — the Woman Jesus — as the “I Am” who spoke with Moses the Teacher of Israel hundreds of years before?
In Acts 4 the early community looks successful: “abundant Grace was upon them all.” No one lacked, and believers freely laid their possessions at the apostles’ feet. The Church appears unified, generous, and holy.
Yet the next chapter exposes a great divide — a moment when Satan enters the Story again.
Ananias and his housewife, Sapphira, hold back some of the proceeds from the field they sold. Simon Peter confronts Ananias directly:
"How is it that Satan has filled your heart, to lie to the Holy Spirit...? "
To understand why they hold back the truth of their treasure, it is important to turn back — to a pre-Cross moment when judgment, forgiveness, and hidden knowledge collided in Bethany — in the house where Simon hosted a dinner.
But turning back also requires something else: adopting the mind of Christ.
In Scripture, names are never incidental. They carry identity, calling and destiny. God changes names when lives change. God hides meaning in plain sight.
In Hebrew, Ananias echoes the meaning of John in Greek — God is gracious.
And Sapphira recalls sapphire — the stone associated with the glory of God, pavement beneath His throne, the jewel set in the High Priest’s breastpiece.
Yet this veiling and withholding of Glory and her sister Grace compel Simon Peter to judge.
"For it is the glory of God to conceal a matter, to search out a matter is the glory of kings." (Proverbs 25:2)
Turning back, recall that Moses — the Prophet, the Teacher of Israel — unveiled his face when he spoke with God face to face, yet veiled his radiant face when he taught and prepared those who followed him to meet God.
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This is the seventh in a series of Epiphany reflections paving the way for the Cross. Now, in Lent, a Lenten Epiphany turns back to the pre-Cross event — when Simon judges Jesus the Teacher as the Prophet — and when the Woman Jesus, called a sinner, anoints Jesus the Teacher’s feet.
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The healed one in Acts 3 is “over forty years old.” For centuries, this detail has been treated as a biographical footnote. Yet this is a clue that something deeper is at work — the very Crux of the Matter.
Sealed with a Kiss
The scandal is not that the Bride finally walks.
The scandal is that she is the very Branch — the Stick — John and the prophets have watched over for centuries.
If Peter’s lifting of the Bride is the cornerstone of the story, then her union with the Bridegroom — sealed with a kiss —becomes the story’s capstone.
Christ is both Bride and Bridegroom.
Their marriage, witnessed by John the Forerunner and all who follow him, locks this seal into place — as a capstone binds and steadies an arched gate. This living, eternal marriage redeems and restores the fourfold harmony of Creation.
What took so long?
A human child forms for 39-40 weeks before birth. Seem in this light, it is no coincidence that this long-hidden life is already past forty when she takes her fiancé’s hand and rises — leaping as a gazelle — to stand beside Simon Peter and his lead hand, John.
The Golden Lampstand — beaten to resemble the Amygdala — was kept in the Holy of Holies, glory too radiant for the people to bear.
Simon Peter himself, shaped by this concealment, hesitated to recognize that she and he together were the Christ, the living rock — and that when he carried her, the Cross of Jesus, he was carrying her: the Almond Branch of sacred memory — ‘”killed” and “crippled” in public, to be raised and restored to life on the third day.
Thinking as a man — as if he were merely Simon the Magus and not the Rock — Simon Peter supposed, as did John’s followers, that one fit to carry the Cross of Jesus ought to have gold and silver, or be a king like Solomon, or at least be a prophet like Nathan who knew firsthand how she became tarnished with sin.
So Simon Peter denied that this man could be him — a Pharisee, an ordinary faithful Israelite who heeded the word of God, eating, drinking, and singing in fishing villages, on roadsides, and in taverns.
This was not merely disturbing or perplexing. It was preposterous. God is eternal. Humans are not.
Simon Peter was still buried in human thinking. He could not imagine possessing eternal life — or bearing the responsibility of an eternal father called to raise a divine human family.
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Yet in Lystra, lightning strikes — the veil tears — and the one compelled to carry the Cross is suddenly recognized. (Mark 15:21)
The crowd, hearing the Pauline proclamation flash as lightning, identify Barnabas — Joseph of Kyrene—with Zeus, Jupiter, the god of thunder, and the Pauline speaker with Hermes, the lightning-swift divine messenger, Mercury the bright morning star. (Acts 14:12)
So as Jonah long ago did, Simon Peter hesitated to accept such a divine calling. (Matthew 16:21)
Now that Simon Peter has taken her hand and she stands before the people, leaping as a gazelle, the astonishment of both the crowd and the authorities must be calmed — lest a shipwreck lose her anchor and jettison her precious cargo.
And so, with that first public taking of her hand, she is publicly betrothed. The work of preparing the Father’s hands and sharing the Good News begins — for each newborn Christian must learn to walk the talk, first on dry land and then on stormy seas.
This is the sixth in a series of Epiphany reflections. Now that Lent has begun, Epiphany VII turns to Simon Peter’s judgement of Ananias and Sapphira— paving the way for the Cross.
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How could laymen — men without formal authority, men who did not wear the robes of the priestly class — speak with such confidence, such clarity, and such authority?
Disturbance and Perplexity — Giving way to shared allegiance
In the order of the Temple, Peter and John were supposed to be followers, not teachers, servants, not leaders. Yet the crowd treated them as witnesses to something greater than any institutional power.
What perplexed the ruling class was not simply how the crippled one now walked. It was the claim that this miracle revealed the fulfillment of messianic prophecy — a fulfillment that seemed to inaugurate a new kind of authority, grounded not in rank, or hierarchy, but in a living encounter with Christ: the Bride belonging to the Bridegroom, as testified by John.
In the logic of the authorities, if John had lost his head, had he truly died? How could he now be seated here with Peter — filled with the Holy Spirit, full of ancient memory, wisdom and authority?
Greatly disturbed they had Peter and John taken into custody overnight.
“What shall we do with these men?” they asked. It is clear to everyone living in Jerusalem that a remarkable miracle has occurred through them, and we cannot deny it. But to keep this message from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in this name.” (Acts 4: 16-17)
Yet the message spread anyway. This was no mere act of charity — five thousand people were fired up even as the authorities tried to silence it. Was this merely the rumour of the grapevine, or a faithful allegiance to the authorship of the Holy Spirit?
And so the authorities and those in their allegiance remained perplexed:
“…They could not find a way to punish them, because all the people were glorifying God for what had happened. For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.” (Acts 4: 21:22)
Truly this was — and is — the Crux of the Matter.
How could this Healed Crippled One, be the crucified one? Was not Jesus the Crucified One, under forty years old pinned to the Cross — to the Amygdala the prophets declared the Lord was watching over? (Jeremiah 1:11-12)
This is the fifth in a series of Epiphany reflections. Epiphany VI, turns to the Crux of the Matter: how the forty-year-old Crippled One is brought into public view as the Crucified Bride — when Peter takes her hand —a truth the authorities want to keep sacred.
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Linda Vogt Turner 