John1:1-5, 10 -14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it...
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.
Familiar reading, right? Certainly one of the most beautiful
We had an interesting discussion last week at In-Person church after my message. If you recall, the message had been about what the bible says and just how we today understand what we read and the difference between our understanding and how the original writer may have meant it. Cultural differences, language differences, and two thousand years of history can make a vast difference in interpretation.
One of the most interesting points that came up in our discussion was the application of the phrase “Word of God.” Most of us were raised up to refer to the Bible as “the Word of God,” but in that Bible, most particularly in John's Gospel, Jesus himself is called the Word of God.
The Gospel of John is one of the most interesting of the gospels – different in so many ways from the other three. Our lectionary system is based on three cycles of year-long readings – one year for each of the three synoptic gospels – Matthew, Mark, and Luke. This allows us to interact with each of these in some depth. Unfortunately, that plan doesn’t provide a year to study John with the same attention. And that is a shame, because this gospel certainly deserves our time and study.
When we’ve read from John’s writings in the past, we’ve discussed John’s Christology – his theological beliefs as to who and what Jesus was/is. The three synoptics tended to see Jesus as a human – just like one of us – who is specially chosen by God and empowered to speak God’s word and do God’s will, whereas John, as we’ve mentioned recently believed that Jesus himself was, in some way, God’s Word, who before anything was, spoke all that is into existence.
We’ve discussed much of this in the past couple of months and I don’t really want to do it all again right now. What I do want is to look back to last week and remember our conversation centered on the understanding that Jesus IS God’s Word. When God spoke to God’s people, the language he chose to use was Jesus. Not written letters strung together into sentences, but the actions, the loving, the caring, healing, teaching – the dying even, of Jesus said everything God wanted us to hear. Jesus is he living, breathing, flesh and blood Word that God spoke to God’s creation.
So what does this mean to how we read scripture? Are we aware as we read that it isn’t just the stories that make up the written story of Jesus’ life among us that constitute the Word of God. It’s not letters printed on a page that quote God’s Word for us to read – It’s the heart and soul of Jesus that speak to us every word of love God wants us to hear.
Does this understanding change how we read scripture? If we begin to really understand that Jesus, instead of being just the mouthpiece for the message, somehow, IS the message, does that change what we think we’ve always known of him?
In John’s writings Jesus makes a series of “I am...” statements:
While we may understand it intellectually, can we truly comprehend what it means to say the Bread of Life speaks to us? Do we understand the language of the Light of the World?
The synoptics give us comfortable stories of Jesus – John’s image is less comfortable and stretches our understanding. Are we willing to do the work of reconciling the two Jesus’s we’ve been given into one? Can we?
We had an interesting discussion last week at In-Person church after my message. If you recall, the message had been about what the bible says and just how we today understand what we read and the difference between our understanding and how the original writer may have meant it. Cultural differences, language differences, and two thousand years of history can make a vast difference in interpretation.
One of the most interesting points that came up in our discussion was the application of the phrase “Word of God.” Most of us were raised up to refer to the Bible as “the Word of God,” but in that Bible, most particularly in John's Gospel, Jesus himself is called the Word of God.
The Gospel of John is one of the most interesting of the gospels – different in so many ways from the other three. Our lectionary system is based on three cycles of year-long readings – one year for each of the three synoptic gospels – Matthew, Mark, and Luke. This allows us to interact with each of these in some depth. Unfortunately, that plan doesn’t provide a year to study John with the same attention. And that is a shame, because this gospel certainly deserves our time and study.
When we’ve read from John’s writings in the past, we’ve discussed John’s Christology – his theological beliefs as to who and what Jesus was/is. The three synoptics tended to see Jesus as a human – just like one of us – who is specially chosen by God and empowered to speak God’s word and do God’s will, whereas John, as we’ve mentioned recently believed that Jesus himself was, in some way, God’s Word, who before anything was, spoke all that is into existence.
We’ve discussed much of this in the past couple of months and I don’t really want to do it all again right now. What I do want is to look back to last week and remember our conversation centered on the understanding that Jesus IS God’s Word. When God spoke to God’s people, the language he chose to use was Jesus. Not written letters strung together into sentences, but the actions, the loving, the caring, healing, teaching – the dying even, of Jesus said everything God wanted us to hear. Jesus is he living, breathing, flesh and blood Word that God spoke to God’s creation.
So what does this mean to how we read scripture? Are we aware as we read that it isn’t just the stories that make up the written story of Jesus’ life among us that constitute the Word of God. It’s not letters printed on a page that quote God’s Word for us to read – It’s the heart and soul of Jesus that speak to us every word of love God wants us to hear.
Does this understanding change how we read scripture? If we begin to really understand that Jesus, instead of being just the mouthpiece for the message, somehow, IS the message, does that change what we think we’ve always known of him?
In John’s writings Jesus makes a series of “I am...” statements:
- I am the light of the world...
- I am the bread of life...
- I am the gate...
- I am the way...
- I am the truth...
- I am the resurrection and the life...
While we may understand it intellectually, can we truly comprehend what it means to say the Bread of Life speaks to us? Do we understand the language of the Light of the World?
The synoptics give us comfortable stories of Jesus – John’s image is less comfortable and stretches our understanding. Are we willing to do the work of reconciling the two Jesus’s we’ve been given into one? Can we?
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