Shared certainty

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today urge us to listen to the message of the Evangelist John and the contemplate the certainty of his experience of Jesus, fully human and fully divine.

Experience reality

The First Letter of John is the apostles’ witness to the incarnation of life by their experience of the historical Jesus.

 * [1:1–4] There is a striking parallel to the prologue of the gospel of John (Jn 1:1–18), but the emphasis here is not on the preexistent Word but rather on the apostles’ witness to the incarnation of life by their experience of the historical Jesus. He is the Word of life (1 Jn 1:1; cf. Jn 1:4), the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible (1 Jn 1:2; cf. Jn 1:14), and was heard, seen, looked upon, and touched by the apostles. The purpose of their teaching is to share that life, called fellowship…with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ, with those who receive their witness (1 Jn 1:3; Jn 1:14, 16).1

In the Gospel of John a fusion of the episodes in Matthew and Luke leaves us contemplating the revelation encountered in the empty tomb.

 * [20:1–10] The story of the empty tomb is found in both the Matthean and the Lucan traditions; John’s version seems to be a fusion of the two.2

Joan Howard connects the scene at the tomb to memories of loss and she gradually fills with joy, hope and promise. Her grief and sadness come and go, but hope and promise fill the empty spaces.

 The infant Jesus was the promise, hope and joy foretold through the centuries.  The resurrected Christ is the abiding promise, hope and joy.3

Don Schwager quotes “The Word of Life was seen and touched,” by Severus of Antioch (488-538 AD).

 "Given that this same John also said, 'No one has ever seen God' (John 1:18, 1 John 1:4:12), how can he assure us that the living Word of Life has been seen and touched? It is clear that it was in his incarnate and human form that he was visible and touchable. What was not true of him by nature became true of him in that way, for he is one and the same indivisible Word, both visible and invisible, and without diminishing in either respect he became touchable in both his divine-human nature. For he worked his miracles in his divinity and suffered for us in his humanity." (excerpt from CATENA)4

The Word Among Us Meditation on John 20:1-8 observes John could be elitist (Mark 9:38-41), ambitious (10:34-45), and hot headed at times (Luke 9:51-56). But he could also be humble (John 20:3-8), full of faith (20:8), and compassionate as well (13:23-25). Jesus knew all of this, and he treated John with all the patience, love, and tenderness he needed so that John’s negative traits would diminish, and his positive traits would increase.

 In a similar way, Jesus loves you. He knows you inside and out—your faults, your gifts, and your challenges—and he loves you deeply. He has the same amount of patience, love, and tenderness toward you that he has for John. He may show it differently, because you are different from John, but he still loves you with a love that will never fail.5

Peter Edmonds SJ writes that the story written by the Evangelists is at the service of the theology they contain, as they teach us about God, Christ, the Church and the demands of discipleship. The evangelists write as pastors to deepen the faith of their communities. We must also investigate the literary means through which they tell the story, the drama of the plot and the characters that are portrayed.

 It is fitting that we read this gospel during Lent and Easter when we are at our best spiritually. It took time before this gospel was accepted in early Christianity. It was regarded as a dangerous gospel, to be handled with care, because it carried two main risks. It could lead to a neglect of the humanity of Christ, as if the divine Jesus was only pretending to be human. This is known as the heresy of Docetism. It could also lead disciples to claim they could not sin, because they have already undergone judgement in their encounters with the Christ whose glory they have seen. This is known as Gnosticism. These issues are addressed in the Letters of John, which are probably to be dated after the gospel. This writer ‘declared to you what we have seen and heard’ (1 John 1:3) and warned that ‘if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves’ (1 John 1:8).6

Friar Jude Winkler recognizes how the First Letter of John resonates with the Prologue to the Gospel of John however this letter seeks to combat a heresy known as Docetism that over emphasized the divinity of Christ. Love propels the feet of the Beloved Disciple, yet Love yields to authority at the Tomb. Friar Jude notes that the true disciple falls in love with Him and lives and breathes for Jesus.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, introduces Tilden Edwards, an Episcopal priest to close this year’s theme, Image and Likeness. Edwards writes that some of the early Church Fathers well summarized the nature and purpose of our lives when they said that we are born in the image of God and meant to grow into the full likeness of God... He notes that over time each of us weaves a unique story of responsiveness to the Holy Spirit invitations and divisive spirit temptations of our lives. Each response draws us closer to or further away from consciousness and expression of our true nature in God, the nature of mutually indwelling intimacy. . . He offers a schema for noticing from where we are listening and responding at a given time.

 When we most deeply listen and respond from a third place in us, our spiritual heart, then we more easily avoid the pitfalls of rational idolatry and ego drives, while at the same time respecting the gifted place of rational-imaginative thought and ego functioning in our lives. Our gifted contemplative heart includes our capacity not only to will and intimately feel, but also to “know” deep reality more holistically, intuitively, and directly than our categorizing, thinking minds. In our heart we are immediately present to what is, just as it is, in the receptive space before our thinking mind begins labeling, interpreting, and judging things, and before our ego fears and grasping become operational.7

 The Evangelist John writes that he has ‘declared to you what we have seen and heard’. We contemplate Jesus as truly human, one with us, inviting us into fellowship with Him.

References

1	(n.d.). 1 John, chapter 1 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 27, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/1john/1
2	(n.d.). John, chapter 20 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 27, 2018, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/john/20
3	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved December 27, 2018, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
4	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved December 27, 2018, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
5	(n.d.). Mass Readings and Catholic .... Retrieved December 27, 2018, from https://wau.org/meditations/
6	(2014, March 21). Story, theology and drama in the Gospel of John | Thinking Faith: The .... Retrieved December 27, 2018, from https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/story-theology-and-drama-gospel-john
7	(2017, December 30). 2018 Daily Meditations - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved December 27, 2018, from https://cac.org/2018-daily-meditations/