” The Gospel of Jesus”
First things first, as we say…A bit of technical analysis of John’s Gospel. It’s fairly compact
Theologian William Willimon says that, “Scripture is what the church has produced; Revelation is what the living, risen Jesus Christ speaks to us.” Sometimes we are like the crowds in todays and other day’s scripture readings. Sometimes we just can’t get our arms and heads around the readings to get the message we think was intended…whew. John’s writings are lofty, often confusing and hopefully it’s helpful that we tackle them together in worship or in Bible study. Why wouldn’t the immediate followers of Jesus be confused…...all these metaphors with water, bread, blood, flesh. Unlike us, these followers didn’t have 2,000 years or so to think it over. Jesus was speaking to them in person.
In the very first lines of John’s Gospel, he explains ....In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jesus is the Word, but He was not understood then, and sometimes we struggle to understand Him now. We hear the words, but we don’t feel like we’re on Jesus’ level. Jesus is eternal and is God. We are only temporary on this earth. As we try to figure out what Jesus is saying we need to interpret His metaphors. Or…. are they much more literal than we can handle? That’s the heart of the gospel of Jesus.
Willimon says that when we see something strange, out of the ordinary, we each have our own process to figure it out. Typically, we translate whatever it is into our own life context. We try to make sense of things by fitting them into the world as we know it. The followers were having trouble reconciling Jesus as God when they knew him as the son of the carpenter. Like the followers, we’re impatient, too. We can relate to the response of the people when they say…”Sir, give us this bread always.” Sort of like, “I got it…let’s get to the bread if that’s the special stuff.” Later they say, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” Our typical methods of analysis will fail here, if we try to interpret from our human base of knowledge. ? Why does God, our creator, come to us through this man Jesus?
We run into trouble if we try to make Jesus a philosophical, spiritual concept to behold from afar, rather than a personal God Incarnate, before us, telling us how to live eternally in Him. No wonder the followers, and we, are often confused by these images and of Jesus’ promise. Jesus has fed the 5000, raised and saved Jairus’ daughter and the hemorrhaging woman from death. These miracles are to be seen as tangible proof of the word of Jesus. They ’re meant to get our attention, not merely impress us. The miracles aren’t the message – Jesus is the message.
In a recent National Public Radio segment, Bob Mondello did a piece on films that feature food as a theme. He talked about Babettes’ Feast, a Danish film from about 20 years ago. A small community is fractured by a rift between folks in….a church…..can you imagine? Babette is a refugee, has been sheltered and saved by this community on an island off the coast of
Babette serves a scrumptious, sensual meal to thank the community members for their care, and to try to reach them. Most refuse to acknowledge the food and the effort. But some break through in smiles and swoons of joy and pleasure. The food is real, and important surely. But more important is the role of Babette as a Christ figure who brings them all together as new believers. It was the meal, initially; but that led them to see the joy in their faith community.
Mondello says, “the food and meal is tied up in the spiritual
So our failure to hear, and live by the Gospel of Jesus can take different forms in our lives. In many ways, collectively, we are like the followers in today’s scripture. Sometimes we are in denial; we refuse to hear Jesus and His gospel. We might even create our own rules of interpretation about Jesus’ Gospel, and live by them because they are more comfortable and easier to stand by. Sometimes our churches and denominations create their own interpretations to maintain order and control.
In 2007, James Carroll wrote an article for the Boston Globe that appeared on Christmas Eve, discussing Jesus and the Grand Inquisitor from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov.” Carroll was trying to put Christmas in a religious and non-commercial light, feeling Christmas and Christ had been overtaken by the commercial power of our culture.
Carroll asserts that the boldest meditation on the gospel of Jesus comes in the tale of the Grand Inquisitor in Dostoevsky’s novel. The crime of Jesus in the novel is that he is universally known, human and loved by so many that the powers of the culture are both threatened and outraged. The Grand Inquisitor lectures: How dare He inspire such widespread trust? Leave the work of trust to the “grand and strong”…the leaders of the society and the churches. The people are too weak to carry their burdens. Neither are they smart enough to comprehend the message and the power in Jesus. They cannot bear freedom’s weight. The masses are to defer to the few of higher aspirations. Jesus is arrested in town. The Grand Inquisitor is the leader of the church, the organization that bears Jesus Name.
Jesus loved humanity for all that it would be. . He took human form to be even closer to us. The Grand Inquisitor wanted the power to be earthbound, in his hands, in institutions. He would dole out Jesus as he saw fit. He determines Jesus must die because he won’t submit. In the moment of truth in the novel, Jesus shows his love for the GI, and kisses him. That was Jesus’ answer to the threat of death. It turns out that the Grand Inquisitor was nothing more than human, one of those grains of sand to whom the transcendent invitation of Jesus’ Love and Sacrifice could be offered…and accepted. Go, says the GI, and Jesus departs.
In our own confusion or denial, Jesus waits with us to get right back in step with us. In the Incarnation of God in Jesus, God goes even further than to just wait. Anglican Theologian C. S. Lewis said of his personal faith journey that, “I never had the experience of looking for God. It was the other way around. He was the hunter…He stalked me, took unerring aim, and fired. One might think I had no choice in the matter. But….I wonder if it was not the freest thing I’ve ever done….or that He did.” God is a seeking God. The Creator calling the created, the Maker beckoning the made.
So no matter how hard we try, sometimes we’re still confused by the Gospel of Jesus. But Jesus, as the one who comes to us and offers His very life to sustain us, waits for us, even seeks us out, to see Him in our lives. As Christians we claim a physical relationship with Jesus. There is nothing philosophical about that. Like a teacher who commits, Jesus doesn’t stop loving us or standing by us. We are in the presence of the One who comes from heaven. Our faith is real, physical and emotional. What a gift from God…we must be worth it…don’t you think?
Please pray with me
Loving God, you have given us your Presence in Jesus Christ. We hold Jesus as the bread of our Lives. We thank you for sustaining us
In all we do. AMEN
