This passage moves from speaking of the eternal life, which seems to be offered in the present, to the future resurrection anticipated by Jewish apocalyptic thought present at the time of Jesus' ministry. Some would understand these two concepts, eternal life and the resurrection, to be synonymous yet it does not account for the shift in grammar present in this chapter. Jesus speaks of those who believe in them to have eternal life alluding to a present reality opened up to the believer at the moment of conversion. The resurrection is certainly a future event here as He speaks of "the coming hour" multiple times. The greek translated eternal life (zoein aionian) may be better translated here in the literal: "life of the ages." This helps us to understand eternal life as the life that is offered in the kingdom of God. Life in the present reality yet transformed and transforming of reality as lived in the power and grace of the kingdom of God.
Jesus returns to the concept of eternal life: "You search the srciptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. Yet you refuse to come to me to have eternal life (v. 39,40)." Here again Jesus deconstructs the notion that eternal life can be had any other way than through him. The scriptures do not contain eternal life rather point the way to eternal life, a life of the ages, a life in the kingdom of God through the message of Jesus. If you are waiting for the resurrection to recieve eternal life then you have missed the point. Live in the eternal kingdom of God right now. Be transformed and transform this world through the work of the Savior. Believe in the one God has sent so that you may have "his word abiding in you (v.38)." Do not get caught up in the first century cultural preoccupation with the resurrection. Live in the kingdom and accept the eternal llife Jesus offers to each of us right now. Then, and only then, will you be free to do the work of the kingdom in this present reality; which is, among other things, to feed the hungry, love the unloved, and trust our Savior will work through you to redeem this world.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Day 6: John Chapter 5 (part 1)
In a controversial move Jesus heals the man at the pool the Hebrews called Bathzatha. The Jews (who in John's gospel are the religious authorities) take offense to this act because the man was asked to carry his mat which is a violation of sabbath law. This presents Jesus with an opportunity to show the blindness of the religious authorities to the work of the Lord. Their faith is in the law and keeping its commandments. But Jesus is establishing himself as the present authority: "My father is still working and I also am working (v.17)." The manifestation of eternal life is not enclosed in the Law rather it is embodied in the person of Jesus: "Anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life (v.24)" Eternal life is granted the moment we hear the word and believe. Yet what does it mean to pass from death to life? This is to be born again anew. All the Jews see is the violation of the Law, a system of judgment. Yet the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing (v.20)." Eternal life is the revelation of the work of the Father. Through Jesus we are ushered into the vision of the Kingdom which is the work of the Father. The Kingdom, inaugurated by Christ, is there before us. The Father is still working, and has been working, to bring about redemption in the now. Our acceptance and belief of this reality is our entry into its very life. It is to have eyes to see the work of the father. The choice is ours: Do we see a man carrying a mat on the sabbath or the Glory of God working to redeem this world. Anyone who sees the later believes in the kingdom and has surely passed from death to life.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Day 5: John Chapter 4 (part 2)
In the first half of this chapter Jesus speaks to the woman at the well about living water and its connection to eternal life in the spirit of God. True worshipers worshiping in spirit and truth not on a mountain or in Jerusalem but in life and as life. This vision of the kingdom is both "coming and is now here (v.23)." In the second half of the chapter he completes the spiritual sustenance with the food that is the work of the Father. The analogy of sowing and reaping is used with the disciples. The food comes after the water. The food is the work of the Lord in revealing the kingdom of God on earth. This food is the sustenance of the true worshipers and believers in the savior. Christ has sown the seeds of life in all and that life can be harvested by those who have eyes to see: "look around and see that the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life (v.35-36)." We are new beings in Christ! Born again to new food and water with new eyes to see the kingdom that is among us and in us and with us and above us!
The chapter is concluded with the second sign the messiah performs for the people, the healing of the official's son. Again, with reluctance Jesus reveals his glory in a practical and tangible way. When the father returns to find his son healed he does the math and realizes the moment Jesus said "your son will live" the boy begins to recover. So it is recorded that "he himself believed, along with his whole household (v.54)." I want to use this to begin to introduce a continuum of conversion that ranges between personal experience and ontological shift. The former is that of the official: he believed because something he was very emotionally invested in was affected by the work of the Savior. It was a specific moment in time with a specific meaning that cannot truly be understood by outside parties. The latter is an entire overhaul of one's concept of reality. A project that often takes many encounters and circumstances to be fully understood and accepted. This is in part the story on Nicodemus. Nicodemus is thoroughly confused by Jesus' cryptic message of a new life in the kingdom. This may be the beginning of the road for him to understand truly what was meant there that night. One that begins to rework the framework around which he organizes and processes reality. Belief, specifically Christian belief, is a journey that contains both "signs," specific moments of personal revelation, and conceptual shifts that develop over time and within community. Some may be more heavy to one side or the other but neither fully encompasses the breadth of God's relationality with humanity. It is not one thing, it is many, to many and for many, many times over. This is where the community as a source and foundation for dialogue is so important, because your experience is not mine and mine is not yours. I cannot assume to know you or your journey. So I must sit and look and listen as God reveals himself to me through your story and your life.
The chapter is concluded with the second sign the messiah performs for the people, the healing of the official's son. Again, with reluctance Jesus reveals his glory in a practical and tangible way. When the father returns to find his son healed he does the math and realizes the moment Jesus said "your son will live" the boy begins to recover. So it is recorded that "he himself believed, along with his whole household (v.54)." I want to use this to begin to introduce a continuum of conversion that ranges between personal experience and ontological shift. The former is that of the official: he believed because something he was very emotionally invested in was affected by the work of the Savior. It was a specific moment in time with a specific meaning that cannot truly be understood by outside parties. The latter is an entire overhaul of one's concept of reality. A project that often takes many encounters and circumstances to be fully understood and accepted. This is in part the story on Nicodemus. Nicodemus is thoroughly confused by Jesus' cryptic message of a new life in the kingdom. This may be the beginning of the road for him to understand truly what was meant there that night. One that begins to rework the framework around which he organizes and processes reality. Belief, specifically Christian belief, is a journey that contains both "signs," specific moments of personal revelation, and conceptual shifts that develop over time and within community. Some may be more heavy to one side or the other but neither fully encompasses the breadth of God's relationality with humanity. It is not one thing, it is many, to many and for many, many times over. This is where the community as a source and foundation for dialogue is so important, because your experience is not mine and mine is not yours. I cannot assume to know you or your journey. So I must sit and look and listen as God reveals himself to me through your story and your life.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Day 4: John Chapter 4 (part 1)
This story of the Samaritan woman at the well is a beautiful example of the inefficiency of human endeavors. "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again (v.11)." The most primal human endeavor, the one we thirst for again and again is the pursuit of certain knowledge. As I have said before it is the sin of the garden: the desire to know good from evil. Truth in a universal sense. What I want to distinguish is universal truth from eternal truth. Universal is static and constant eternal truth, the truth of God through Jesus, is living and creative. Living water is the source of eternal life, a life in the Kingdom of God. Living water is a well-spring in the being of a believer that flows up to the eternal, which is the present, bringing forth the kingdom into this reality. It has been said: "Theology is done every generation." This is because it is a human endeavor to understand God. Rather we must drink from the living water Jesus offers us so as to become a well spring of the kingdom effecting every moment with the creative and living presence of God. Why return to the well of knowledge about God when you can live with God in spirit and truth?
Here the conversation moves to the site of worship. "We worship what we know for salvation is from the Jews (v.22)." To contemporize this could easily say we worship what we know for salvation is from the church. It is the knowledge imparted to us by the church that we worship. In this sense we are still returning to Jerusalem to worship. Every Sunday we meet to worship the God we know. The God we know through the beliefs and doctrines off the church yet what does Christ say? "The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth (v.23)." I have spoken before and will say again "spirit and truth" are presently eternal and eternally present in the very essence of the believer. These are the two components of the living water Jesus spoke of earlier in his conversation with the woman. They flow not from the well of knowledge we must continually replenish but the well spring of living water offer through Christ alone. Living water, spirit and truth, is only one facet of the kingdom. Jesus, as his disciples return speaks also of the "food to eat that you do not yet know about(v.32)." Of this I will speak next time.
Here the conversation moves to the site of worship. "We worship what we know for salvation is from the Jews (v.22)." To contemporize this could easily say we worship what we know for salvation is from the church. It is the knowledge imparted to us by the church that we worship. In this sense we are still returning to Jerusalem to worship. Every Sunday we meet to worship the God we know. The God we know through the beliefs and doctrines off the church yet what does Christ say? "The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth (v.23)." I have spoken before and will say again "spirit and truth" are presently eternal and eternally present in the very essence of the believer. These are the two components of the living water Jesus spoke of earlier in his conversation with the woman. They flow not from the well of knowledge we must continually replenish but the well spring of living water offer through Christ alone. Living water, spirit and truth, is only one facet of the kingdom. Jesus, as his disciples return speaks also of the "food to eat that you do not yet know about(v.32)." Of this I will speak next time.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)