Tag Archives: Gospel of John

by Robin | November 2, 2009 · 1:16 pm

September 8, 2009

Revelation 10:10 “I went up to the Angel and said, “Give me the little book.” He said, “Take it, then eat it.”

If you’ve been reading along with the congregation through the New Testament you know we are getting near the end–but what an ending! The book of Revelation is filled with bizarre images that leave us wondering what is going on. But sometimes these images make a visceral connection with us, as I’m sure they were meant to do for the original readers. The verse above has to do with eating a book. This makes me think of “the word” expressed in the Gospel of John, “In the beginning was the word.” We take in (eat) the word when we read the bible or hear a sermon. We also very literally eat (take in) the word in the celebration of communion. Christ wishes to penetrate the depths of our being- mind, body and spirit. We have countless opportunities to read the bible but we need to make a special effort to celebrate communion with a church family. Maybe this would be a way to let God deeper into your heart. We celebrate communion the first Sunday of each month and every church celebrates it at sometime or other. Find a place to take in the word of God with others.

Don

March 30, 2009

John 20:30-31: Jesus provided far more God-revealing signs than are written down in this book. These are written down so you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and in the act of believing, have real and eternal life in the way he personally revealed it.

Some people believe this is where the gospel of John ended originally and that chapter 21 was added later. It certainly does make a good ending. What it says is that we don’t have everything that happened but we have what we need. It stands in contrast with Thomas who a few verses earlier proclaimed that he needed more, that he needed to touch the holes in Jesus’ hands and side. We would all like more, wouldn’t we? We would like things explained and revealed on our terms, the way we like them and in ways we find comfortable. Sometimes we get closer to this experience and sometimes it seems far away. But what if, despite the incompleteness of our understanding and experience, we really do have what we need to live life in God’s grace and goodness? What if, instead of always wanting and sometimes demanding more, we lived like what God has provided is truly enough, both spiritually and physically? May your rest in God’s “enough” this week.

Don

March 10, 2009

John 1:12 But whoever did want Jesus, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves.

This is a one-line synopsis of what Jesus is all about. Sometimes we can think that what God wants is to punish the bad in us (heck, that’s what we’d want to do if we were God). Sometimes we can think that God is looking for a bunch of butlers and house maids busily running around doing God’s bidding (heck, we’d all like a few of those ourselves). But what this passage says is that God is all about letting us become the person we were always intended to be. I was away the past eight days spending some time thinking about who it is that I was always intended to be (did you miss last week’s afterthoughts?). It takes some time to get through the layers of messages and expectations that accumulate through the years that can potentially hinder that thought process. I don’t know that I came to any grand new insights. But I did feel renewed in the conviction that there is indeed a “true self,” a “child-of-God self,” continuing to form and unfold and grow. May you want Jesus this Lent. May you believe he is who he claimed. May you do what he says. And in doing so may you become your true self, your child-of-God self.

Tag Archives: Gospel of John

September 8, 2009

March 30, 2009

March 10, 2009

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