I run to (Jesus in) the Gospel of John
over and over again like a child
running toward their favorite pair of arms.
+ Brenna Blain,
The second post for this new year is in continuation of Word Made Flesh, Dwelling Among Us Part 1. As shared, last fall, I enjoyed a month of texting with friends and family, in country and out of the country, some seeking, some believing, sharing each day about one chapter in the Gospel of St. John.
In the Tetramorph representing the Gospels (based on the imagery of being in God's glorious presence featured in Ezekiel 1:4-13 and Revelation 4:1-8), St. John's Gospel is represented by the eagle (see image below) as John speaks to the grace and truth of Jesus' divinity, this good news soaring to the highest heights and reaching to our deepest depths, as the author showcases the Son of God as Immanuel, God with us.
This post will include the text exchanges based on Chapters 13-21 in St. John's Gospel. To honor the anonymity of those I enjoyed these exchanges with, the excerpts below include only my side of the conversation.
Chapter 13 | Loved to the End
Having loved His own
who were in the world,
(Jesus) loved them to the end
(vs. 13:1).
How incredible is that?
Jesus loves us to the end.
Jesus serves us to the end.
Jesus cleanses us to the end.
Jesus will hold onto us until the end,
just like He did with this crew of disciples,
including one who would deny Him
and many who would desert Him
shortly after this moment.
And His love is so freeing, so filling, so forgiving, and so fierce, if we receive it and let it flow through us, we will be people who can follow His command to love others in the same way He loves us.
“A new command I give you:
Love one another.
As I have loved you,
so you must love one another.
By this everyone will know
that you are My disciples,
if you love one another.”
+ Jesus
(vv. 13:34-35)
There is an immensely moving rendition of a classic hymn that I think of now when I consider the strength and service of God's love for us. It's a version of "O Love (That Will Not Let Me Go)" that the Holy Spirit has used to soften my heart, turn my love back towards God and my neighbors, and has brought me to tears many times (and that Zoey sang with fellow Burncoat singers at multiple concerts a couple years back).
Perhaps the Spirit will use it to bring comfort and courage to your heart, too, this weekend to go and love and be loved.
"O Love"
Original by G. Matheson, 1882 A.D.
Arrangement by Elaine Hagenberg
O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee;
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in Thy ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.
O Joy that seeks me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to Thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.
Chapter 14 | My Peace I Give to You
"Do not let
your hearts be troubled"
+ Jesus
(vs. 14:1)
Here we get to hear from Jesus like Thomas did, "I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life" (vs. 14:6 where Jesus shares the 6th of His 7 "I Am" statements in the Gospel of St. John).
Jesus is the Way to life and to live.
He is the Truth that never changes
and will always be with us
in our troubles.
And He is the Life
that is abundant now
and flows forever in us
and forever for us for eternity.
How is He with us now and always? Because Jesus asks God our Father to give us His Spirit, our Advocate, Comforter, Counselor, and Helper who cries out within that we are not orphaned, but part of God's family:
"I will ask the Father, and
He will give you another Advocate
to help you and
be with you forever
—the Spirit of truth.
The world cannot accept Him,
because it neither sees Him
nor knows Him.
But you know Him,
for He lives with you and
will be in you.
I will not leave you as orphans;
I will come to you."
+ Jesus
(vv. 14:16-18)
This presence of God with us is why we can have peace even in a troubled world.
"The Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send
in My name,
will teach you all things and
will remind you of everything
I have said to you.
Peace I leave with you;
my peace I give you.
I do not give to you
as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled
and do not be afraid."
+ Jesus
(vv. 14:26-27)
Chapter 15 | My Peace I Give to You
“I Am the true vine,
and My Father is the Gardener."
+ Jesus
(vs. 15:1,
where He shares His 7th and
final "I Am" statement
in the Gospel of St. John))
This midsection of Jesus' Upper Room discourse (John 14-16) with His disciples where He speaks of remaining with Him and abiding in Him is so needed when I am distracted to look elsewhere to find peace or when I try to prove myself by doing things for God at the expense of learning how to enjoy being with Him:
"As the Father has loved Me,
so have I loved you.
Now remain in My love ...
You did not choose Me,
but I chose you and
appointed you so that you might
go and bear fruit
—fruit that will last—
and so that whatever you ask
in My name the Father will give you.
This is My command:
Love each other."
+ Jesus
(vs. 15:9, 16-17)
Jesus loves to be
in moments with me,
and with each of us, and
He has never wasted any moment.
planting, pruning, and blossoming us
into who we are meant to be in Him.
"Remain in Me,
as I also remain in you.
No branch can bear fruit by itself;
it must remain in the vine.
Neither can you bear fruit
unless you remain in Me.
I Am the vine;
you are the branches.
If you remain in Me
and I in you,
you will bear much fruit;
apart from Me you can do nothing."
+ Jesus
(vv. 15:4-5)
One of the great invitations and lessons I have been learning during the past 5+ years, whether at home in Massachusetts, at a monastery, in the mountains, or in the messy, mundane, and marvelous of every day life, is how to remain in Him, to be with Him, to enjoy Him, and to listen when He says, "Be still and know that I Am God" (Psalm 46:10).
Everything in life that is full of love and truly lasts will be in connection with Jesus, the great I Am, the Author of life everlasting. "In (Jesus) all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him" (Colossians 1:16).
"God never wastes anyone's time.
Consider the growth of a plant.
Before a gardener can
enjoy a plant's fruit,
she or he must tenderly and
strategically attend to its root.
So a plant's birth
begins with its burial.
The gardener commits
a generally unremarkable seed
to the silence of the soil,
where it sits in stillness
and lightlessness,
hidden by the smothering dirt.
Just when it appears
as though death is imminent,
its seeming decay reveals new life.
The seed becomes less
and yet more of its former self,
and in that transformation
takes hold of the darkness
and reaches for the sun.
All that is to come rests greatly
upon the plant's ability
to tightly and sightlessly
develop roots in unseen places."
Chapter 16 | Joy + Peace in You
"I have told you this
so that My joy may be in you
and that your joy may be complete."
+ Jesus
(vs. 15:11)
"I have told you these things,
so that in Me you may have peace.
In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart!
I have overcome the world.”
+ Jesus (vs. 16:33)
My joy may be in you.
In Me you may have peace.
In life in a troubled world.
Even when placed in a cradle
that leads to facing a cross.
"Fix your eyes on Jesus,
the Pioneer and Perfecter of faith.
For the joy set before Him
He endured the cross,
scorning its shame, and
sat down at the right hand
of the throne of God."
+ Hebrews 12:2
In the face of betrayal, suffering, and death, Jesus fixes His eyes on His disciples to pour out His love and life, His joy and His peace on them. And He still does this today from His throne of grace.
He speaks of what He knows His disciples then, and we now, need in our troubles. "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen, nobody knows but Jesus."
Last year, at 3:11 p.m. (15:11 military time), I had a daily reminder set on my phone to pray for and to receive joy in light of what Jesus says in the Gospel of St. John Chapter 15 Verse 11. It was a way of living into what Jesus says the Holy Spirit does in each of us:
"The Spirit will receive from Me
what He will make known to you."
+ Jesus
(vs. 16:15)
Praying today that you and I will have Jesus' joy and peace made known to us by the Holy Spirit, because "when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth" (vs. 16:13). May He guide us into the truth that resurrection is real, and that Jesus' "resurrection, as Patrick Kavanagh describes it, is a kind of 'laugh freed for ever and ever.' Jesus is the supremely joyful one" (David O. Taylor).
May you laugh today knowing the supremely joyful one takes joy in you. Here's one of my favorite recent quotes about how resilient and fierce "good news of great joy" is in a world that tries to crush it just like evil tried to crush the Joyful One:
"Joy is an act of resistance
against all the forces of despair:
violence, war, debt, death ...
all of the things that can
cause us to think life
in this world is not worth living.
Cultivating joy is
an act of resistance to
any person, event, or system
that would have us believe
that death has the final word
on our lives."
+ Willie James Jennings
Chapter 17 | May Be One
We hear in Jesus' High Priestly Prayer that shows He was thinking of and praying for us living today (" ... those who will believe in Me ... ") nearly two thousand years ago right before He went to the cross:
“My prayer is not for them alone.
I pray also for those
who will believe in Me
through their message
that all of them may be one,
Father, just as You are in Me
and I am in You.
May they also be in us
so that the world may believe
that You have sent Me. ...
I have made You known to them,
and will continue to make You known
in order that the love
You have for Me
may be in them and
that I Myself may be in them.”
+ Jesus
(vv. 17:20-21, 26)
"When Jesus dives into our world,
the whole Trinity is involved.
Jesus is sent by the Father,
as the 'Word become flesh'
in 'the power of the Spirit.'
Jesus arrives not as a new thing,
but as the eternal Son of God
to do a new thing.
Jesus doesn't just point us
to the Father;
He is the action of the Father
in our world.
The Father is acting
through His Son and
in His Spirit
for the salvation of the world."
+ JRB,
"Love is commitment set in motion.
The triune God came for more
than making us right with Him.
He came to make us one with Him.
What the triune God has joined together,
let no way of thinking, dreaming,
or living, tear asunder."
+ AV,
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit continue to pour the love of God in you and me. May we receive this never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love, and be filled with it and rest in it.
And if the Trinity continues to intrigue you with the mystery and wonder of who God is, check out, "Wonder, Mystery & Some Curious Thoughts on the Trinity," featuring a collection of some of the ponderings that have brought a smile to my face and warmth to my heart.
Chapter 18 | Two Confessions
Here we hear two confessions, including one from Jesus that shows we have a wonderful Savior who is willing to do whatever it takes to make us and this world wonderful again:
1) Jesus' True Confession
Jesus, knowing all that
was going to happen to Him,
went out and asked them,
“Who is it you want?”
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.
“I am He,” Jesus said.
(And Judas the traitor
was standing there with them.)
When Jesus said, “I am He,”
they drew back and fell to the ground.
(vv. 18:4-6)
2) Peter's False Confession
Peter had to wait outside at the door.
The other disciple,
who was known to the high priest,
came back, spoke to the servant girl
on duty there and brought Peter in.
“You aren’t one
of this man’s disciples too, are you?”
she asked Peter.
He replied, “I am not.”
(vv. 18:16-17)
In Jesus' confession,
He says, "I am He."
He tells the truth,
and people fall back in awe.
Everyone on the side of truth
listens to Him
(vs. 18:37).
In Peter's confessions,
he says, "I am not."
He denies the truth, and
he falls back from what he said
he would do in this moment
Peter asked,
“Lord, why can’t I follow you now?
I will lay down my life for you.”
Then Jesus answered,
“Will you really lay down
your life for Me?
Very truly I tell you,
before the rooster crows,
you will disown Me three times!"
(vv. 13:37-38).
Jesus is willing
to step into the light
to face the darkness for us
as the great I Am.
Often, like Peter, we can often fade into the darkness so as not to be identified with Christ and face the cost of being in the light as He is in the light. But Jesus, out of His love for Peter and for us, still sacrifices Himself and gives grace despite our grievous sin.
He is fearless when we are fearful.
He is faithful when we are faithless.
"You see, at just the right time,
while we were still powerless,
Christ died for the ungodly. ...
God demonstrates His own love
for us in this:
While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us."
+ Romans 5:6, 8
Chapter 19 | Behold
We catch a glimpse of Jesus' terrible crucifixion and a tender moment with His mother, Mary.
Standing by the cross of Jesus
were His mother and His mother's sister,
Mary the wife of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene.
When Jesus saw His mother
and the disciple whom He loved
standing nearby,
He said to His mother,
“Woman, behold, your son!”
Then He said to the disciple,
“Behold, your mother!”
And from that hour the disciple
took her to his own home.
(vv. 19:25-27)
Even when Jesus is in excruciating pain, He is still caring for those He loved, and revealing through this interaction with Mary and John what the community He was creating in His Church would be like.
"In the Greek, we are told that the Beloved Disciple, traditionally called John, took the mother of Jesus to himself that very hour, or that he took her 'to his own that very hour.' What is actually happening in this word from the Cross is much more significant for us on this very day than we might have realized. The saying is about the new community that comes into being through the power of Jesus. When the Christian community is working the way it is supposed to, people are brought together who have absolutely nothing in common, who may have different views on things, who may even dislike each other. The Christian community when it is empowered by the Holy Spirit comes into being without regard to differences. 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus' (Gal. 3:28). In giving His mother to the disciple, Jesus is causing a new relationship to come into existence that did not exist before. The disciple and the woman are not only individual people here. They are symbolic: they represent the way that family ties are transcended in the Church by the ties of the Spirit. That is why Jesus calls His mother 'woman' in all of the Gospel of John. He is setting aside the blood relationship in order to create a much wider family. May we who belong to Christ be newly committed to our calling, so that blood and race and class may be truly transcended in His Name, for our good and for His glory."
+ Fleming Rutledge
One other pretty amazing thing is going on here in that all the details for declaring someone King in that day and age are happening despite everyone's evil machinations to kill Jesus and silence God's Word.
Jesus' death was not a defeat. In God's grandest irony, it was a royal coronation. In the early hours of Good Friday, Jesus had confirmed to the Roman Empire that He was king. In St. John's Gospel we read, "You are a king, then!' said Pilate. Jesus answered, 'You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to Me'" (John 18:37).
A military escort then took Jesus out before the people. The crowd shouted for Him and no other to take the throne (Matthew 27:15-23; Mark 15:6-14; Luke 23:18-22; John 18:39-19:7; 19:15). Soldiers took Jesus away and draped a royal robe on His bleeding back. They crowned Him and knelt before Him, all singing, "Hail!" (Matthew 27:27-30; Mark 15:16-19; John 19:2-3). We even note that Luke has Herod, the supposed "king of the Jews," robing Jesus (Luke 23:11) in what would look like an exchange of power in any other scene. Then Pilate, the representative of the Roman Empire presented Jesus, dressed in royalty, to the religious elite. "Here is the man!" Pilate said to the priests. "Here is your king" (John 19:5, 14). The soldiers then paraded Jesus through town, with Jews and Gentiles alike lining the streets to see Him (Matthew 27:31-34; Mark 15:20-23; Luke 23:26-33; John 19:6-17) as they would a new emperor.
Jesus was marched to the highest place in the land to sit on His throne – the saddle of a cross (as crosses were often outfitted with a small seat-like notch where the body of a crucified person might rest though this was not done out of mercy – the saddle prolonged the execution and therefore the agony by allowing the crucified one to breathe more easily). Priests, soldiers, and relatives surrounded Him at His throne while a servant gave Him wine (Matthew 27:34, 41; Mark 15:23; John 19:25) and a sign overhead proclaimed, "THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS," written in the three great languages of the day (Matthew 27:37; John 19:19-20) to declare His coronation. Here Jesus was enthroned for the entire world to see (Psalm 2).
This scene captured in John 19 reveals physically what was also happening in the spiritual realm in relation to Jesus' triumph over evil and the forgiveness and life that was given us through Him:
"For in Christ
all the fullness of the Deity
lives in bodily form,
and in Christ
you have been brought to fullness.
He is the head over
every power and authority. ...
God made you alive with Christ.
He forgave us all our sins,
having canceled the charge
of our legal indebtedness,
which stood against us
and condemned us;
He has taken it away,
nailing it to the cross.
And having disarmed
the powers and authorities,
He made a public spectacle of them,
triumphing over them by the cross."
+ Colossians 2:9-10, 13-15
Chapter 20 | Have Life
I love Jesus' interactions with both Mary and Thomas.
So personal.
So vulnerable.
So full of doubt and faith.
So full of wonder and worship.
By the end of both Mary and Thomas' interactions, both are in awe of the risen Jesus as Teacher, Savior, Lord, and God.
This Gospel could have included others that happened, but "these are written that you / I / we may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name." (vs. 20:31)
And now we are invited to respond like Mary and Thomas with, “My Lord and my God!” And when we do, Jesus says of us, "blessed are those who have not seen (Me) and yet have believed.” (vs. 20:29)
Chapter 21 | Room For
I love how the Gospel of St. John ends. Along with Jesus' gracious forgiveness and restoration of Simon Peter, this Gospel concludes with:
Jesus did many other things as well.
If every one of them were written down,
I suppose that even the whole world
would not have room
for the books that would be written
(vs. 21:25).
It's a poignant and
personal conclusion
in which we are invited again
into wonder and worship
of this One who we get to love
because He first loved us,
this One we get to call
"my Lord and my God"
who calls us
"My beloved disciple and my friend."
And as much as we know Him now,
there's infinitely more to discover
in all that He has done,
is doing, and
will do as the resurrecting and
restoring King of kings and
Lord of lords.
With wild wonder and hope,
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