Word to the Wise
Tuesday, April 17, 2012 - 2nd Week of Easter - Tues
[Acts 4:32-37 and John 3:7b-15]Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony.
It is hard to read the Gospel of John without noting the continual presence of "oppositions." Sometimes the oppositions are between such things as light and darkness, sometimes between above and below, sometimes between flesh and spirit. There is a "confrontational" quality to the gospel that may reflect conflict that was taking place between the new Christian community and the Jewish community that was reacting to the preaching about Jesus. So, the word, "testimony" occurs, along with "judgment." The dialogue with Nicodemus continues today with Jesus bluntly telling NIcodemus that "you people do not accept our testimony."
This is not simply a Jewish-Christian problem of the first century A.D.! Every religion believes that it is testifying to the truth. Yet, human creation being what it is, sometimes these "truths" appear to be in conflict. What is sad is that so often in history the first reaction is not dialogue to see what can be learned, but violence to destroy any "truth" that does not seem to be the same as the one any party adheres to. In today's gospel, Jesus refers to the possibility that the truth he testifies to may be expressed in the form of a violent death!
A slow and careful reading of each passage from the Gospel of John can be very rewarding, but it will also mean dealing with the conflilcts and contradictions of religious faith. Be prepared! AMEN
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