Limits or No Limits?

Jim:

Colossians 1:15-23
Beginning at verse 16 Colossians sounds very much like the prologue to John’s gospel (John 1:1 and following). “…(F)or in(Christ Jesus) all things in heave and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him.” Of course John says it this way: “(The Word) was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.” Since Colossians was most likely written first, it makes me wonder if it in any way influenced the writing of the gospel. At any rate, they both show a cosmic or universal understanding of who Jesus Christ is. He is not limited in relevance to one small region, or one group of people, or even one time in history. His importance, his meaning spills over in to all time and every place because he lies at the heart of all creation. Nor is he limited in his relationship with God, but rather works with God in the creative, redemptive, and sustaining work that God does.

John 7:37-52
Exodus 17:1-7
This reading from John deals with expectations that limit our ability to understand who Jesus really is. Members of the crowd who heard Jesus speak were led to wonder if he was not the Messiah. “But some asked, ‘Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he?’” (Verse 41). Here was God, doing marvelous things for God’s people, but many of them, including the Pharisees, were convinced they could account for God’s actions, that they could essentially limit the work of one who, in fact, had been at work since the beginning of creation. How do our expectations and assumptions limit our ability to understand God’s marvelous works in our midst? It’s something worth considering. After all, in the wilderness the people used thirst to challenge the work of God who had already led them out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, and safely out of the grasp of Pharaoh. What more evidence did they need? And still they grumbled and complained as limited their own ability to see what God was up to. God’s own people! Still, God remains faithful and in limitless grace and love comes to us in Jesus Christ.