Word to the Wise
Saturday, June 3, 2017 - 7th Week of Easter - Sat morning
[Acts 28:16-20, 30-31 and John 21:20-25]"It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be written." [John]
JUNE 3 ST. CHARLES LWANGA AND COMPANIONS, martyrs
These words represent the "second conclusion" of the Gospel According to John. At the end of the previous chapter (20), we read: "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name." The "first conclusion" is the fundamental statement of the purpose of this gospel and, in many ways, the purpose of the other three gospel portraits of Jesus. By the time the Gospel According to John was put into writing (90-110 AD), many, if not most of the original Twelve were deceased. There is a tradition that all except John were martyred. The gospels are a recognition that traditions not committed to some more permanent form can die out and also be subject to interpretations that are untrue to the original! This was already occurring by the time the Gospel According to John reached its final form. Indeed, the fact that there are four gospel accounts indicates that the story of Jesus was subject to diverse interpretations. Other documents made claims to inspiration but were ultimately not included in the "canon" of the Bible.
I mention all of this because the four gospels should be read as a "whole" along with the rest of the Bible to get as complete a picture as possible of the inspired Word of God made flesh in Jesus Christ. Perhaps certain traditions may appeal to us individually more than others. Some will find the portrait of Jesus in John more appealing than in Matthew or Luke or Mark. Others will react differently. None of the four gospels is superior to any of the others. The letters of Paul could easily be seen as a kind of "fifth gospel" along with similar reactions to the letters of John! The coming of the Holy Spirit is reported different in John than in the Acts of the Apostles, but it is the same Holy Spirit - simply two different traditions of the event. As we reflect day after day on the word of God, we know that all of it is about the Word of God that can dwell within us. AMEN
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