The
lectionary this Sunday flips us over from Mark to John’s Gospel… From his
fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given
through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No
one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is
close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known. (John 1:16-18)
In John’s Gospel just about every
word pulsates with meaning. I think the
trick with John is not to fret about whether I believe that or not, whether I
can accept that – as though John were writing a manual of doctrine, rather than
what he is writing, a kind of symphony in words of life with the risen Christ…
The point is rather to see how closely, or distantly, at this time of my life,
I can approximate to John’s ways of telling the story… telling us who Jesus is. Mature faith has discovered a modicum of
humility and that, when it comes to faith in Christ, what we do is approximate,
rather than appropriate.
Here is an example: No one has ever seen God… Well, that’s
simple enough, obvious enough. The Jews
have usually got that right. It’s
Christians who want images and concepts, descriptions and definitions. What is your concept of God is a
question a Jew would be disinclined to ask.
But then John writes: It is God the only Son,
who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known. Now we have to make a decision. God the only Son…? Jesus did not describe himself quite that way. But it is what John is discovering – it is
the risen Christ, as we encounter him in life, who lifts the veil, somewhat,
and we can see something true of the Creator and Sustainer of all, the Father
of love, grace and truth, the merciful judge.
So John writes: It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s
heart[1]…
he has made him known.
So let’s look again at John’s
song of incarnation. From his
fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given
through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Everything that Jews love and obey in the
sacred Law is now born (borne) in a human child to human parents, incarnate,
made flesh, our flesh. Jeremiah had
prophesied centuries before[2]:
I will put my law within them, I will write it on their hearts. Grace and truth, writes John, grace
upon grace… he is right at the edge of what words can do, and we learn here
yet again that it is nothing to do with deserving or undeserving, chosen people
or not. God creates in grace and love
and restores in grace and love. However
the universe is made in all its power, wideness, mystery and complexity, that
is its theme and purpose. We are known
and loved.
[1] Heart
is a euphemism. Kolpos (κόλπος)
in Greek means the womb, sometimes the bosom (hence the English colposcopy)…
all a little strange if applied to God the Father. But here John indicates the uttermost
intimacy and oneness between Father and Son. (And in our group this morning, one member pointed out that it is incongruent only if we ascribe gender to God...)
[2]
Jeremiah 31:33
No comments:
Post a Comment