8 February 2010
Psalm 80; Gen. 25:19-34; Heb. 13:1-16; John 7:37-52

The story of the birth of Jacob and Esau begins well, Isaac prayed that God would do something about Rebekah’s barrenness and Rebekah prayed for understanding of the struggle within her. In both cases their prayers were heard and answered. The birth of the two was simply a continuation of the wrestling match they had begun in the womb and in which they would be engaged for much of their lives. Jacob, in particular, was a wrestler his entire life. While Esau might have been a skillful hunter, Jacob was equally cunning in his own way. He may have been a quiet man who lived in tents but we see here that he knew how to bag the game he coveted. God had promised his mother that he would be ruler over his brother and yet they seem to have not had faith in Him to bring that about, always taking matters into their own hands. The price they paid for that was steep in terms of relationships. The story, by the way, doesn’t speak well of Esau who is said to have despised his birthright given his actions here in selling it on the cheap.

Jesus makes an extraordinary offer. At this festival they are celebrating their trust in God to provide the rains for the crops to come. Part of the festival is the ritual pouring out of the water in the temple in faith that God will soon provide more. Jesus speaks into that ceremony with an offer of living water, the fulfillment of the spiritual desire that stands behind the ceremony, the same offer he made to the woman at the well in John 4. His approach here to their questions and unbelief is different from that time. Their argument is that he comes from the wrong place, a common problem for them in the Gospel. Jesus makes no effort to correct them and makes no further offer to them. It all must turn on faith and they have seen and heard enough to make right judgments yet they judge based on something they didn’t see, no one seems to have cared about his birth, either at the time or now in this scene. Provincialism seems to have been the barrier to belief in spite of the evidence of their ears and eyes.

Remember the people to whom the letter is addressed are wavering between Jesus and Judaism. The writer is calling them to see Jesus as a superior sacrifice but also the fulfillment of the entire sacrificial system. Just as the animals for the sacrifices were not sacrificed inside either the tabernacle or the temple, so was Jesus crucified outside the walls of the city. The community is enjoined to literally think outside the city, the city of God to which we are pointed is not Jerusalem, but a city that will last through eternity, in the same way Jesus, in our Gospel lesson, is pointing beyond the water for which they are praying to the water which is eternal. The sacrifices offered in that city are sacrifices of praise and worship, confessing the name of Jesus.

Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!