Word to the Wise
Wednesday, April 15, 2015 - 2nd Week of Easter - Wed
[Acts 5:17-26 and John 3:16-21]God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. [John]
Poor Nicodemus disappears beneath the words of Jesus' long discourse, but the discourse presents very familiar words. The lines quoted above are John 3:16, which occasionally show up at big athletic events on banners with just the citation! It really is a summation of the entire Gospel of John. The discourse includes many features of this gospel - misunderstanding (Nicodemus), light and darkness, eternal life through present belief.
After reading this entire particular gospel scripture for today, we might reflect on those aspects of our own lives which we prefer to keep in "darkness" and not bring to public "light" or even to the light of Christ. Not everything we do can be "clearly seen as done in God." Yet God "so loved the world" that he offers us a way out of our own darkness. If the Gospel of John is any measure of the process, it will happen bit by bit with some misunderstanding, but the truth will gradually dawn on us. AMEN