Our instructor began this evening by describing a few of the themes found in the Gospel of John. 1) An abiding presence of Jesus in our lives: 2) The necessity of His return to the Father: 3) The promise of the Spirit that would not leave us: 4) The future of a community to be His witness: and 5) The centrality of the Love that Jesus had for this community.
Then she described three worlds found in the Gospel, which is basically three ways to interpret the text. 1) “Behind the text” includes the historical background and the social context of the author. This is not always apparent from the text, and may require additional study. The text is read with an understanding of the writer’s experience. 2) “Of the text” includes the various literary forms of written communication, such as fiction, or poetry, or imagery. The text is read with an understanding of the characters and development. 3) “In front of the text” includes the reader’s experience, as we reflect on the message and our relationship to the story. The text is read with an understanding of where we are in the text.
Evidently there was some discussion in the previous week about chapter 14’s focus on a series of dwellings: The Father dwells in Jesus. The subject of the verb dwell is not the believer, but is God. The action is the Father, Jesus, and the Spirit coming to dwell in us. It reflects a common call to prayer, “Come to the quiet here in the dwelling place of God. Now deep in the quiet, we are the dwelling place of God”.
While Jesus was on earth He was the bearer of the Spirit, "The Paraclete is now with them". Jesus brought the Spirit to the disciples, but after He goes, the Spirit is given to them. When Jesus returned to the father the roles were reversed. The role of the Spirit is that Jesus has promised the disciples that He will return. Its purpose is to mediate the presence of Jesus while He is absent. The same Spirit is given to all, including you and me, in order that we may receive the grace to live our lives faithfully.
The Holy Spirit is our advocate teaching us everything and reminding us of what Jesus has taught us, and we call upon that Spirit during other sacraments. While the community had the presence of the historical Jesus there was no need for the Eucharist. The real sacramental Jesus was not just the symbol, The Word was among us. We can't have both the real and symbolic at the same time.
Without a leader some in the Johannine community feared that they might fall back into their previous religious practices, but John taught that as one temple was destroyed (Jesus’ body) another temple was created (the Church). John’s community felt that they were the house of God, and they strongly believed that worship should be in Truth and Spirit. This assured them that the departure of Jesus would not leave them as orphans, but that they would continue to experience the indwelling of Jesus in their lives. For them, the Spirit was the proleptic (looking forward in anticipation of the future) gift of the eschaton (referring to the final times).
John 14:6 says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me”. This verse seems to say that the path to God is through Jesus alone, and that it restricts salvation as only through Jesus, ignoring other paths to salvation. I would say that for Christians this is true: Jesus is the exclusive Way to mercy, justice, salvation, forgiveness, and compassion. Our instructor, however, was trying to point out that imagining Jesus as the Gate to Heaven might limit God’s ability to reach those who are outside of the Church. Those who don’t necessarily believe or declare a belief in Jesus are also “on the path” to salvation, and they too are part of his flock. I would certainly agree that it is not our place to restrict the Love of Jesus or limit His power to provide Grace to all.
In His appearance to the Disciples, “Peace, My Peace be with you”, He breaths upon them giving them the Holy Spirit. This is symbolic of a new Israel rising up to become the New Kingdom, and it enjoins the work of Glorification to all of the disciples. Our instructor contrasted two translations of John 20:23. We are familiar with “Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven, whose sins you shall retain they are retained”. She indicated that in the original Greek it reads, “Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven, those whom you hold fast are held fast”. It helps us understand that everyone is given to Jesus, and once Jesus takes hold of us we will not be lost.
We then discussed the final race to the tomb. Although the Beloved Disciple was the first to reach the tomb, he waited for Peter to enter first. As the Beloved Disciple peered in he was not concerned about the absence of the body in the tomb because he immediately recognized and understood the significance of the burial cloths. The face veil had been carefully put aside by Jesus as a sign that He was returning His Father. There is a group of Aramaic writings called the Tartams which describe the veil that Moses wore except when he conversed with God. Moses would put aside the face veil when he went up on the mountain and the New Moses, Jesus, has permanently put aside the veil as He returned to God.
On the other hand, Peter’s failure to believe demonstrates that our faith in the Easter miracle does not come from the tomb itself, but instead comes from the resurrection. In returning to God, Jesus is taking up his presence in the people. Earlier Peter had denied Jesus three times near a charcoal fire. Later gathered around another charcoal fire Jesus professes his love three times, trying to lead Peter to an acceptance of agape Love (the unselfish love of a father or mother for their child). Peter was unable to move beyond phileo love (the love for one another in friendship or association). This is actually one of the greatest examples of forgiveness found in the Bible; whatever Peter was able to give was acceptable to Jesus. Even given the honesty of Peter's limitations he received a position of leadership.
In desolation and weeping Mary was not surprised when addressed by the angels. Still looking for a corpse and thinking that the body has been stolen, Mary does not yet see the action of God in her life because she is blinded by her grief. Even as Jesus appeared to Mary she didn’t recognize him until He called her by name, recalling Jesus’ words “My sheep know my voice. I call them each by name”. As her name is called she turns, which is symbolic of our conversion to faith moving each of us to recognize Jesus as our teacher and savior.
Mary was the only one to see Jesus individually, “I have seen the Lord”. In this encounter we see her close relationship with Jesus as He says, “Let me go to my Father”. John has given woman powerful commissions before and here she is symbolic of the new Israel with Jesus alone as her teacher. Although the Law came through Moses Truth comes through Jesus, and she is one of his own; a true disciple, the first proclaimer of the gospel. Jesus goes on to say “Do not continue to touch me”, meaning stop holding on to me, let me be free to depart. If we continue to cling to the ways of the past we will not be able to accept the Spirit. The way He is present to the Johannine community is changing: The new way that Jesus is present to the world is in the face of the people, and how we are to relate to Jesus is changing as well. He leaves us with the sacraments.
In response to Jesus’ prompting to the fisherman so many fish are caught that is difficult to bring them ashore. Pulling in new Christians will not be easy either; it will be a difficult job. It’s important to note that the “net is not torn”, which is a symbol of the church: Despite the obstacles found in the church, the church will not be torn. This gives us confidence that the church will not be destroyed despite the oppression that is yet to come; “The light will continue to shine in the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it”.
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