Word to the Wise
Monday, March 22, 2010 - Monday in the Fifth Week of Lent
[Daniel 13:41c-62 and John 8:12-20]I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life!
The Gospel of John can leave a person scratching their head because it can appear to be very abstract. Yet, if one takes the time to become familiar with the various "dramatic devices" that are used, the whole picture begins to take shape and one's appreciation for the skill of the writer grows apace just as one begins to "get into" the drama! There are individual "playlets" and dialogues based on those playlets. Each part builds on the dramatic tension that rises toward the events of Holy Week. A frequent device is the multi-leveled dialogue in which Jesus speaks about himself, the listener understands on a literal level, Jesus speaks again, the responder learns a bit more but still doesn't "get it," Jesus speaks further and the truth begins to dawn. A quick read of the story of the Samaritan woman at the well (Chapter 4)or the healing of the man born blind (Chapter 9) will show how this works. Another device is the "I am" statement. In these statements, Jesus identifies himself with the revelation to Moses in the Old Testament. This is why he tells the religious authorities that their own scriptures testify to him. Today's scripture contains irony as well. Jesus proclaims himself as the light of the world. The authorities listening to him get deeper and deeper into their darkness because they are blinded by such prejudices as the geographic origin of the messiah, or the rules of legal testimony! At the end of this dialogue, Jesus confronts them with their blindness when he says, "You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also." These kinds of statements build the dramatic tension because we are told the authorities would have arrested him then but "his hour had not yet come." All of this involves us as well because we are being pushed to a decision about Jesus ourselves. Earlier, some of his disciples left him over the teaching about the Eucharist. Will we accept the bread of life and the light of the world? Reading the Gospel of John may be a moment of decision! AMEN
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