It may seem disheartening that it has taken thirteen posts to work our way through chapter one of the Gospel of John. But the first chapter of John’s Gospel serves as an introduction to the entire Gospel. The themes raised in this opening chapter run through the whole Gospel.
As we read through the rest of this Gospel, which will go more quickly from here, it is important to keep these themes in mind.
Here is a summary of the basic themes I believe are important in John chapter one that will help when reading the rest of the Gospel.
1. Our capacity to open to the power of John’s Gospel is commensurate with our ability to embrace mystery.
2. Jesus is the embodiment of the invisible generative sustaining intelligent energy that resides at the core of all existence (the “logos“).
3. In order to see Jesus as John’s Gospel portrays him we must be able to hold the paradox that Jesus embodies both distinctiveness/particularity and unity/universality.
4. The Life embodied in Jesus exists in every human being created in the image of God.
5. There is darkness in the world; but the Light embodied in Jesus is always stronger.
6. If we are going to experience the Light that is our true nature, we need to open to the deep inner stirring of God in the depths of our being.
7. There is an “already” and a “not yet” dimension to life that we must hold in balance if we are to avoid cynicism while maintaining the luminous Gospel vision for what it means to be fully human.
8. Grace is the power that opens us to the deep Mystery of God’s presence permeating all of life.
9. The practice of surrender is the central gesture of Christian faith; it opens us to the work of grace.
10. When we let go of our need for understanding and control we become capable of a deeper way of seeing.
11. The deeper way of seeing is a gift of grace; it enables us to perceive in Jesus the qualities of true life.
12. The closer we draw to Jesus the more we open to our true nature.
13. When our hearts open we find truth.
These thirteen points form the foundation for the Gospel of John.
It is easy, at many points throughout John’s Gospel to go astray. Our ability to benefit from this profound mystical work will be enhanced to the degree we keep these thirteen principles in mind.
The Bible is a sacred text. It is intended to enable us to encounter the living reality from which the text emerged. Our ability to benefit from reading the Bible will be enhanced to the degree we are able to read thoughtfully and at the same time, with an open receptive heart.
When we find the text difficult and challenging, rather than dismissing the text, we need to put aside our judgmental critical mind and listen more deeply. There may be parts of the text that seem complicated, even offensive. The difficulty of the text is an opportunity to look at ourselves and ask what there may be in us that is reacting to what we are reading.
When Christians say that the Bible is “the word of God,” we mean that it is active and living. It has power to work transformation in our lives. We do not mean that every word exactly as written must be taken literally. But, if we allow God’s Spirit to work through the text, we will find the transforming power of the living God at work in our lives.
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December 10, 2011 at 9:25 am
Tress
Thank you
December 10, 2011 at 9:32 am
Rob
Your last paragraph might be deemed heresy by major Christian groups who bang one over the head with ‘The Word’ as spoken in stone by God.
December 10, 2011 at 10:16 am
jaqueline
*image of bible being bashed over head because said basher cannot open mind so tries to open mind of another…this bible works dammit!*
December 10, 2011 at 10:13 am
jaqueline
” When Christians say that the Bible is “the word of God,” we mean that it is active and living. It has power to work transformation in our lives. We do not mean that every word exactly as written must be taken literally. But, if we allow God’s Spirit to work through the text, we will find the transforming power of the living God at work in our lives.”
I think this paragraph is enough to shut the controversy up…this is it…this is it.
I think of all the times I have ‘discussed’ this ‘ issue’ with all sorts of different Christians and those of us who don’t take it literally but still recognise it as the word of God have felt like we are betraying the idea of it being God’s word.
If we forget that it is written in so many styles to account for communication with the whole of humanity, could it be that when we demand it be one type of literal that we are actually betraying it’s inspiration? Could it be that we are actually putting barriers up to the breath of spirit working through it?
December 14, 2011 at 12:43 pm
Sugel
It is here that the Arian controversy of the early church and some contemporary pseudo-Christian cults deviate from the biblical perspective. On the basis of a flawed and inconsistent interpretation of the Greek text this phrase is translated ‘the Word was a god’, reducing Christ to a being less than and different from God. Any such erroneous redefinition here, right at the beginning of John’s Gospel, has the potential to affect our understanding of the claims of Christ made consistently throughout this Gospel.