The Thursday Murder Club

Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim and Joyce are – yes – The Thursday Murder Club! Four intrepid detectives who investigate cold cases and are dead set on a search for the truth and the culprits. In this first case their intrepid cold-casing is upended when plans emerge to redevelop the retirement community in which they live. Then one of the owners turns up dead! Something must be done! And so the plot thickens… Our appetite for whodunits and mysteries never seems to wane. In recent years we’ve had two Knives Out mysteries, with a third on the way, Agatha Christie’s books are regularly turned into films and TV series, and I believe there are no less than three new spins on the character of Sherlock Holmes coming to our screens before too long. We love to discover mysteries and uncover secrets – there is something within us that is drawn to these things.

When Jesus told his parables he was offering us mysteries for us to wrestle with and unlock. When his friends asked Jesus about a story he had told, about a farmer sowing seeds into four different bits of ground (in Matthew 13), Jesus told them they had been permitted to receive the secrets of the kingdom, and then he went onto explain the parable. But he only explained one other – about catching and storing fish in a net – the rest were left as mysteries for the rest of us to solve. When John wrote his gospel he laid a trail of signs to help us discover who Jesus is and what that means for us. The water into wine on John 2 and an official’s son healed in John 4. The rest of the signs are there for us to notice, as we follow that trail of grace.

One of the most important secrets of the Kingdom is that Jesus is not about religion but he’s about life. He’s about meaning and hope and rescue and truth – for this day, her and now and for our ongoing life with God.

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