Day 29: Before Abraham Was, I Am

I have a confession to make:  The Gospel of John used to be my favorite gospel.  In fact, in my early college fervor, I did nightly devotions, reading and journaling my impressions of the Gospel of John.  (I sure wish I had those writings now!)

I still like John, but reading and studying have made me appreciate other gospels (perhaps the ones I did not appreciate before).  I think that I used to like the ethereal Jesus in John, the many, many memorable Bible verses found there, the deep spirituality (in John, a healing is never "just" a healing).  Now, I'm looking at tiny details, and you know what I like? 

I like that the gospel of John pays attention to a few other disciples.  It's not all Peter, all the time.  Philip and Andrew and Thomas and even Nathanael get to play a part.  I like that.

So there is more than enough spiritual depth in these three chapters of John, but I noticed that it is Philip that Jesus asks to figure out how to feed 5,000 people, and it is Andrew who finds the little boy who has the fish (a detail mentioned only in John.

Later (after Jesus walks on water, by the way), Jesus will spend many verses helping us to know that the feeding of five thousand people isn't just about feeding people, but has a deep spiritual meaning.  But at the beginning, I really enjoyed how different disciples are involved in the story.  And at the end of John 6, disciples are already beginning to desert Jesus, because they already can't get into what he is saying about being the bread of life.

And Jesus says, "well? Are you going to leave me too?"  And Peter (yes, it's Peter this time) says, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life."

Jesus goes to Jerusalem (again), although notice he tries to go secretly.  Even now, he realizes that he is not safe in Jerusalem.  As in the other gospels, when he teaches, he's accused of having a demon.  His answer is slightly different:  he simply says that he only teaches what he hears from the Father, and he only does what he is told by the Father.

Chapter 7 has the wonderful verse, "Rivers of living waters will flow out from within him (Jesus)". 

You notice that the very familiar  story of the woman caught in adultery is not considered by some to be authentic.   But there are so many wonderful details in the story:  Jesus writing in the sand, the men ready to throw stones.  What do you think Jesus could have been writing? 

There's extended conversation with Jesus and the religious leaders regarding Abraham.  Who has more authority, Jesus or Abraham?  Jesus contests their authority and questions whether they are really followers of Abraham.  Do they really know the Word that they say that they follow? 

"If you continue in my word, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

At the end of this chapter, Jesus gives his most explosive "I AM" statement yet; he says, "Before Abraham was, I AM."

There seems to be no doubt about what he is claiming.

Day 28: For God so Loved the World...that he came and taught and healed

Okay, one of the things I am noticing about John is that there are so many familiar verses and stories here, but in between the familiar stories and familiar verses, there are some little sections of scripture with which I am not quite as familiar.

Take, for example, the very familiar story of Jesus and Nicodemus in John 3, and the extra-ordinarily verse within it, "For God so loved the world...." I know this story inside and out, and I suspect many of you do as well.  I have studied the nuances of the meeting in the darkness, the questions Nicodemus asks, and the mysterious portion part of the story where Jesus begins to speak in the first person plural, "we speak about what we know...."  But I have never paid much attention to what comes after this story in chapter three, which brings us back again to John the Baptist.  John the Baptist is baptizing and still preaching at the beginning of Jesus' ministry, and people have questions about that, but he is gracious, and explains that his time is coming to an end:  "he must increase, but I must decrease." 

The story of the Samaritan woman takes up most of John chapter 4, except a brief digression after Jesus leaves the village, but before we hear the results of the woman's evangelism (she is very successful; we could take lessons from her).  The digression has to do with the disciples trying to get Jesus to eat something, and Jesus telling them that he has food they don't know about.  (This is John's Gospel, and we KNOW that he doesn't literally mean bread; it's spiritual food; it's a METAPHOR).  As well (and it almost seems tacked on) there's the story about the healing of the royal official's son at the very end of chapter 4.  It is Jesus' second sign (count the signs in John; he calls them signs in stead of miracles), and the idea is that the moment Jesus said the son was healed, he was healed, even though Jesus was far away at the time.  But Jesus is the Word, and when the word is spoken, healing happens.

Chapter 5 includes the healing at the pool at Siloam (he's in Jerusalem again, by the way), and then the controversy because it was the Sabbath (notice that the initial controversy is because the man picked up his mat on the Sabbath, and only afterwards, did the fact that Jesus heal someone become a part of the equation).  Jesus says that his father is still working, and that means that God is working too.  (this implies a pretty close connectino with God, and this is another problem for the religious leaders).

Jesus makes some pretty pointed and provocative statements about himself her and later in John.  After he does a sign (and often connected to a sign), he will speak about who he is and his relationship with the father.  Often he will use the words,  "I am...."  I am the light.  I am the bread of life.  I am the resurrection and the life...." The Words "I Am" remind me of the Hebrew name for God, "Yahwah," which is often translated, 'I am.'

Jesus seems to dare people to hear his words, witness his signs, and believe in him -- or not.