It took a year to read the Bible, then almost 9 months to read the Apocrypha. Now, I'm going to try to offer reflections on the Narrative Lectionary. But, I won't be posting daily--at least, for a while.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Recognizing the Son of God, Reflection on John 1:24-28

John (both the writer of the gospel and the John he is describing) took pains to distinguish between the witness and the Word. John said, "I am not the Messiah. I am the one telling you to prepare for the Messiah." The next day, when Jesus came toward him, John said, "This is the one I was telling you about. I myself did not know him until I was shown and told that this is the Son of God."


After all we have been told and shown, what do we even now understand about Jesus. How much of his identity do we grasp? Charles Cousar, in Texts for Preaching, A Lectionary Commentary based on the NRSV--Year B  writes:
As the church waits during the season of Advent, anticipating th birth of the infant Jesus, it needs to recall the startling fact that Jesus continues to make his appearance in ways that are surprising, unexpected, even unwelcome. The gentle baby of the Christmas story shortly becomes the One who challenges the religious authorities, overthrows the Temple's status quo, offers the people teachings that make little or no sense, dismisses his own family, and finally provokes the suspicion of the government.


A further note: When we read the term "Jews" in this gospel, we need to remember when John was writing, what was going on in his world, what the controversies were, and who his immediate audience was. 
When the Fourth Gospel uses the term "the Jews" to indicate opposition to Jesus, it does so to name the people on the wrong side of a christological debate, namely, those who do not accept (a) that Jesus is the Messiah and (b) the Fourth Gospel's understanding of what his messiahship means. The conflict here is between two sides of a late first-century argument, not a conflict that tells us anything about Jesus' (or the Baptist's) relations with Jews about the year 30 (Preaching the Gospel, Allen & Williamson).
Nor does it tell us anything about Christian-Jewish relations in the early 21st century; although, it can illustrate intra-religion differences and disputes.

Lectio Divina: Psalm 126

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