John 14:8-23 | Mark DiCristina | May 24, 2026

John 14:8-23 | Mark DiCristina | May 24, 2026

From Apostles Eastern Shore Sermons by Church of the Apostles

May 26, 2026 · 18 min · Episode 490

About this episode

Mark DiCristina delivers a sermon inspired by themes of resurrection and intimacy from the Gospel of John and the works of N.T. Wright and Strahan Coleman.

My Pentecost sermon was “inspired" in part by two sentences in N.T. Wright’s Surprised by Hope: “In the new creation, the ancient human mandate to look after the garden is dramatically reaffirmed, as John hints in his resurrection story, where Mary supposed Jesus is the gardener. The resurrection of Jesus is the affirmation of the goodness of creation, and the gift of the Spirit is there to make us the fully human beings we were supposed to be, precisely so that we can fulfill that mandate at last.” (pp 220-221) It also was inspired by spending so much time in John’s Gospel this year, and in Strahan Coleman’s two books: Thirsting and Beholding. In Beholding, Coleman shares the image of the “hongi,” a custom of the Mãori people of New Zealand, where he lives, that speaks of the profound moment in Genesis 2:7, and in John 20:21-22, when God breathes life and Spirit into the first human, and and then Jesus does the same into the fearful, hiding disciples. “The hongi is the gentle pressing of noses together in which one another’s breath - our “ha” or life force - is intermingled. Usually, during a hong, you’ll shake hands with one arm and embrace the shoulder of the other person in a…

People in this episode

Host: Mark DiCristina

Topics covered

  • Pentecost
  • resurrection
  • human mandate
  • intimacy
  • spirituality
  • creation

Keywords

  • Pentecost
  • resurrection
  • N.T. Wright
  • Strahan Coleman
  • intimacy
  • Gospel of John
  • Mãori
  • hongi

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Surprised by Hope, Thirsting, Beholding

Places: New Zealand, Genesis, John

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