Abundant Life

Look back over the final part of the story of the raising of Lazarus (John11:38-44 and 12:1-8). Read the passages slowly and carefully. Where do you notice your attention lingers?

This Abundant Life episode, written and read by the Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft, the Bishop of Oxford, explores John 12.20-26

'Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard...' This episode is reflection 17 of 21 podcasts in the Abundant Life series, written and read by the Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft, Bishop of Oxford

Jesus was about to fie for the nation, and not for the nation only... Jesus' mission is nothing less than the renewal of the whole earth. It is greater even than the salvation of his own people. It is to gather into one the dispersed children of God, born again from above into his kingdom. The great Passover has come.

Every faith journey is different. but this call to life is not meant to be a once and for all experience. Christ calls us continually back to a new and abundant life. This episode is reflection 15 of 21 podcasts in the Abundant Life series, written and read by the Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft, Bishop of Oxford

The English word courage comes from the Latin word cor, which means heart. To be courageous is to be whole-hearted in our lives and in our faith. to encourage someone is, literally, to put the heart back in to them. In the language of Jeremiah, to be given a new heart.

Jesus shows us life in all its fullness. That abundant life is first contemplative and second compassionate. You might think that love of God and neighbour says everything there is to say. But we also need to look and find in the story the Christ who is courageous.

Look back over the middle part of the story of the raising of Lazarus (John 11.27–36). Read the passage slowly and carefully. Where do you notice your attention lingers? It may be a word or phrase which strikes you or a question you want to ask.

Pope Francis has one of the most challenging vocations in the world. His calling is to lead the largest Christian Church, stretched across every continent, a Church which is full of challenges and problems. His calling, like ours, is to articulate a fresh vision of what it means to be Church in the 21st century: a Church bearing witness to the love of God in a globalising, secular, pluralist, sometimes dehumanising culture.

This picture of Jesus before the tomb of Lazarus gives us the picture of how the Church is to be in the world: the foundation of God's mission is compassion: feeling with and suffering with others. Weeping with those who weep. This episode is reflection 11 of 21. Written and read by Bishop Steven, each reflection accompanies the booklet Abundant Life. Written and read by Bishop Steven, this reflection accompanies the booklet Abundant Life.

Let's stay with Jesus' vulnerability a little longer... In several places John's Gospel presents us, within a few verses, with Christ's divinity and his humanity, and the ways in which the two are interwoven. Written and read by Bishop Steven, this reflection accompanies the booklet Abundant Life.

This is the only place in the fourth Gospel where Jesus reveals his deepest emotions. We love him for it. This weakness and vulnerability calls forth a response in John's readers in every generation. This episode is reflection 9 of 21. Written and read by Bishop Steven, each reflection accompanies the booklet Abundant Life.

Mary's tears are a sign of two great loves. She loves her brother, Lazarus, and she has lost him to death. As she draws near to his tomb, she weeps again. The pain of her loss remains very raw. Mary also loves Jesus, as his disciple and her friend. She is aware that Jesus has placed himself in danger by coming to the tomb.

Every disciple responds to Jesus in a different way. We are unique. In this story Martha and Mary are in exactly the same situation. They are sisters grieving the loss of their brother. They are friends of Jesus. But they respond very differently.

Look back over the first part of the story of the raising of Lazarus (John 11.1–26). Read the passage slowly and carefully. Where do you notice your attention lingers? It may be a word or phrase which strikes you or a question you want to ask.

Martha makes the good confession of faith in a moment of great vulnerability and loss and questioning. Her brother has died. Her friend, Jesus, was not there to save him (as she thinks). She hears the promise of resurrection and life as for the end of time yet still through her tears and turmoil she believes and places her trust in Jesus as Messiah.

Seeing Jesus is not the work of a moment but the work of a lifetime. John’s Gospel offers us seven great I am sayings to reflect on and to ponder. The first six are all linked clearly to the concept of life. The seventh is all about the life of the vine flowing through the life of the disciple.

The Church is called to be like Jesus: contemplative, compassionate and courageous. The disciples are learning in this passage what that means. When Jesus discerns it is the right time to go to Lazarus, the disciples are the opposite of all these things. They are anxious, indifferent and afraid for their own safety and that of Jesus. They want to preserve their life, not give it away.

At almost every turn in the story, Jesus does the opposite of what is expected of him. He shows us that to live a contemplative life is not to live a life of quiet passivity but to live a life which is reflective, in relationship with God, a life which flows from an inner dialogue of love. We are not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed.

John tells the story of Jesus in seven great miracles or signs. They are in ascending order. They begin with the changing of water into wine. They end with the raising of Lazarus from the dead.