O Lord, may my soul rise up to meet you as the day rises to meet the sun.
John does a remarkable thing. Right at the beginning of his book, with no explanation or apology, he connects Jesus to the creation of the universe. Jesus was with God and was God at the beginning. Wrap your brain around that.
Just a couple of thoughts.
First for you apologists. Skeptics would say the belief that Jesus was divine is a later, more refined concept that early believers did not hold. But a small fragment of papyrus (P52 Ryland papyrus) with a portion of John's Gospel was discovered in Egypt. Most scholars suggest the date of the fragment as early in the second century (125 AD). Marry this fragment with how far it traveled and you end up with a quite early date for John's Gospel to have been written. You can read about it here. Even the most conservative (later) datings are impressive and the portion of Scripture it contains shows Jesus intentionally heading to the cross.
Second, in light of yesterdays conversation on the transcendent (wholly other) and immanent (very present) nature of God, Jesus is the intersection of Creator and created. The material and the divine are found only in/on/through him. I'm guarding my words here because I'm not sure what mere words could convey Jesus as very God and very man. Paul wrote, ". . . have the same attitude as Christ Jesus, who being IN VERY NATURE GOD . . ." Time for three and a half pounds of gray matter to explode.
And yet this Jesus spent thirty years in the neighborhood with no one noticing. (Thanks Alan Hirsch) What does that tell us about the nature of God? When we desire a Big God with Big Stick and a Loud Voice, God shows up on the planet He created in a whisper (so as not to frighten us out of our begeebees?), to make sure we would bend our knee out of love and not out of fear.
Fall on your knees. I've got to stop and worship now.
2 comments:
Stan, I just watched a very good documentary on the possibility of the Gospel of Judas which claimed that Jesus asked Judas to betray him so he could go to the cross. You would know more then me, from what I understood there is still a lot of doubting about that gospel. But I think it shows even more how Jesus sacrafised himself, he know all along. You gave me even more to think about, each day! Thank you
Jenni,
Thanks for the encouragement. I always find joy in seeing others grow. Yeah, the Gospel of Judas is not in the cannon for good reasons, but that doesn't mean we can't learn from it. at th every least, it provides cultural context which always helps.
There are some folk who would say the cross was optional, a mistake, but the Gospel writers obviously underscored that Jesus was intentional about going to Jerusalem.
Keep thinking . . . and let your heart grow warm as well.
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