Day 27: The Word Becoming Flesh, In the Beginning

I have to like the version of the New Testament I'm reading right now (Common English Bible), if only because this first section of John is written as if it were a poem -- which, of course it is.  It's not a miracle story, it's not a parable, it's not a genealogy, it's a poem, and it's meant to evoke the first chapter of Genesis (In the beginning, God created the heavens...) which, truth be told, has some poetic qualities itself.  If not poetic, at least some liturgical qualities.  "In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God."  How this can be it appears that words cannot fully express, but John tries to share the beauty of the eternal One who walked with us, lived with us, suffered and died.... in these few opening words.

He then opens up his stories about Jesus' ministry, beginning (of course) with John the Baptist, but telling it at a slightly different angle.  Jesus being baptized is mostly a parenthesis (yes, it did happen), but what John really wants us to know is that when he sees Jesus, he says, "This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."  John's first and haunting testimony is to the crowds, "standing in the midst of you is one you do not know."  Still true, even today.

Jesus calls disciples, with the simple words, "Come and see."  The same idea, but again, from a different angle.  We don't hear anything about Jesus being tempted in John.  And the words Jesus says to Nathanael at the end of chapter one, "You will see the angels ascending and descending on the son of man", is a reference to the story of Jacob and his dream of angels in Genesis 28.  Jacob dreams of a ladder of angels, and wakes up to declare, "surely God was in this place, and I did not know it.  This is the gate of heaven and the house of God."  You will see, now and again, this verse on the doorway to a church.  I would hope that the verse refers not to the church, but to Jesus.

Chapter 2 begins with the wonderful story of the wedding at Cana.  This is Jesus' first sign, and it appears he is reluctant to do it, but he does, anyway.  Everything in John is supposed to have a deep theological significance, and this story is no exception.  The jars of water for purification are changed to wine, and I'm sure John means us to raise our eyebrows at this new wine that Jesus is creating out of something meant for another (religious) use.  Still, I just love that Jesus makes wine for a wedding, so that people can continue having a good time.  Is that so wrong?

You may be wondering (if you are paying attention) why Jesus is cleansing the temple now, early in his ministry, rather than when he is supposed to, during Holy Week.  Again, the signal is that Jesus is the end of something old and the beginning of something new.  From now on, (remember chapter 1) the gate of heaven and the house of God will be him, his body, and not one particular place.  And I can't help noticing that instead of calling the temple "a den of thieves" Jesus calls it "a place of business."  Again, it's a slightly different critique of what is going on there.  What does it mean to you?

Finally, the last first of chapter 2 (in this translation) struck me  "Jesus didn't need anyone to tell him about human nature, for he knew what human nature was."

Yes, he did.

(Icon is by Igor Stoyonov and is in the Public Domain)