Light on the Lessons



Light on the Lessons

Exodus 17:1-7; Romans 5:1-11; John 4:5-42

Third Sunday in Lent; Cycle A; March 15, 2020

Leader Guidance

Materials Needed

+ Bibles for everyone (variety of translations often useful)

+ Lectionary sheets (very convenient if you use them in worship)

+ Chalkboard, newsprint, overhead, or another means for displaying information and recording thoughts.

+ Basic reference books for use as needed: Bible dictionary, Bible atlas, concordance, a one-volume Bible commentary.

+ Copies of hymn, “Christ, the Life of All the Living” (ELW #339, LBW #97)

I Getting Started

Have the lessons read aloud while others follow the text. Pray for concerns suggested by participants, and then ask the Holy Spirit to remind us of God’s promises and strengthen us to live by them. Divide into two groups. Group 1 will read in unison stanza 1 of “Christ, the Life of All the Living.” Group 2 will do the same with stanza 3 (skip stanza 2). Then move on to the “Getting Started” questions.

1. Responses will vary. Most of us have at least one thing about God that we can’t figure out and this is a chance to express it (e.g., “If I were God, I wouldn’t let the good die young,” etc.) The purpose is to practice complaining to God, as the Israelites did.

2. Responses will vary. Look for expressions that reflect the idea of trust. Christian faith is trusting in what God did for us through Christ.

3. Encourage playing with the metaphor of water, which pictures our baptism. Water cleanses, refreshes, nourishes, gives life, and much more that will symbolize aspects of our faith and our salvation.

II Check the Texts

1. Exodus 17:1-7

A. This incident comes between giving manna and defeating Amalek. The connecting theme might vary, but possibilities include: God’s care for his people, God’s continuing presence, God’s providing.

B. Exodus 15 – In this incident that took place just after escaping across the water from Pharaoh’s army, God made the water sweet so the people could drink it. Numbers 20 – This passage parallels the one in Exodus and may be the same story retold. In it God condemns Moses for unfaithfulness, but the reason is not at all apparent to the reader. As a result, he and Aaron could not enter the Promised Land. Deuteronomy 32 repeats the charge of unfaithfulness. Discuss whether or not Moses got a bum rap here, or does our text simply leave something out.

C. The tradition developed that this supernatural water-giving rock actually followed the Israelites n their journey. Paul picks up on that tradition in verse 4 (“rock that followed them;” the idea is that several rocks along the way provided water) and says the rock is a type (precursor) of Christ. That image, of course, fits right into today’s Gospel.

D. Moses was God’s representative within the community. They complained against Moses for leading them out of Egypt, where at least they ate and drank. They wondered if God had not abandoned them. Discuss: How often do we cry out for something, as Israel in Egypt cried out for deliverance, and then complain because the pathway to a new future brings difficulties?

E. Responses will vary. Encourage folks to “feel into” Moses’ situation. He felt the pain of someone trying to do good for others but getting kicked for it. Discuss how that might parallel your participants’ experience.

2. Romans 5:1-11

A. This legal term can easily confuse us. We think of it as an action we do (“I justified my course of action.”). Paul says it is something God does for us. God makes us right with him; he bridges the gap between us in an act of reconciliation through the Cross. “Reconcile” (verse 9-10) captures this meaning. Blackman’s comments takes the term out of a legal context; Luke 15:11-24 (The Lost Son) sheds light on this understanding of justification.

B. Responses might vary. Paul speaks of suffering for the cause of Christ. Other kinds of suffering are to be challenges rather than welcomed. God doesn’t will us to suffer as a way of stiffening our spines. However, when suffering comes, God’s Spirit can often transform it into something much more positive. “The Spirit often makes lemonade from lemons.”

C. We receive “peace with God” and “hope of sharing the glory of God” (eternal life). Talk about what these mean for your participants. In verse 9, because we are surrounded by God’s forgiving love, we are spared from God’s wrath, even though we deserve it. Responses will vary on personal views of what we are “saved from.” (Equally important, what are we saved for?)

D. We are enemies of God; the rupture between us is total and complete. But Paul proclaims that in Christ we are reconciled with God. Reconcile means former enemies coming together. Talk about experiences with reconciliation on the human level.

E. “Sinner” in this passage means one alienated from God. Paul does not use it in a moral sense. Sin is a theological term, meaning separation from God and alienation from our Creator. Bad or immoral actions follow from that state but do not define it.

3. John 4:5-42

A. Both Nicodemus and the woman are seeking to understand who Jesus is. But they are very different. Nicodemus belongs to the elite Pharisees, a prominent man, and he comes at night. The woman is a despised Samaritan (both gender and race marginalize her), and has a questionable love life.

B. Invite several contributions for title to each section. This exercise helps participants grasp the flow of John’s narrative. Possible titles: 5-6, Setting the Stage; 7-15, Jesus and the Woman at the Well Discuss Water; 16-20, She Recognizes Jesus as a Prophet; 21-26, In Talking about Worship, Jesus Claims Messiahship; 27-30, Interlude to Change Scene; 31-38, Jesus Speaks of Outreach; 39-41, The Woman Fulfills Jesus’ Outreach.

C. The discussion of water revolves around multiple meanings. Verse 11 means running water, as in a stream, as opposed to cistern or well water (still water). Jesus means water of life, life-giving water of salvation. John probably intends a reference to baptism here.

D. That a rabbi would speak to a woman, no less a Samaritan, was remarkable at the time. Thus, John reveals Jesus’ openness to all people.

E. This passage describes Samaritans as mixed-race apostates. Post-exilic Judaism made purity of blood and worship in Jerusalem prime requirements for the faithful.

F. Jesus is urging outreach, evangelism, and in verses 39-42, the Samaritan woman has already done that by witnessing to Jesus at home. In Acts 1:8, Samaria is one of the circles in the ever-widening outreach of the Gospel.

G. Both lessons deal with water that has significance beyond H2O.

III What Does It All Mean?

1. Responses will vary.

2. Talk frankly about detours on our spiritual journey. Our hope is in such promises as Romans 5:8.

3. Encourage folks to share their experiences with suffering and how God helped them. The Cross gives a new perspective on suffering. We avoid pious platitudes best perhaps when we talk about how we have experienced God in our own troubles, rather than giving advice to another.

4. We really can’t appreciate the marvel of the gift of grace until we realize how wretched our situation is apart from God. But when God’s grace restores our relationship with God, we must remember, the Spirit comes in our life with new promises and fresh power.

5. Responses will vary. The Bible has a bias in favor of the marginalized (the “poor”) and they should be a concern for us as Christians.

6. We are reminded that worship goes beyond our formal services. We can worship anywhere, because a Spirit-filled life serving others is indeed a worshipful life.

IV Into the Week

Share experiences with “Into the Week” from last session

Copyright © 2020, Lutheran Bible Ministries. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to make photocopies for use in church-related study groups.

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