Word to the Wise
Thursday, December 27, 2012 - Dec. 27 - Feast of St. John, Apostle & Evangelist
[1 John 1:1-4 and John 20:1a, 2-8]What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life - for the life was made visible......
John the Apostle was one of the two sons of Zebedee! Jesus referred to those two as the "Sons of Thunder!" They were fishermen and they also could be politically ambitious, wanting special places of honor in the kingdom. Nevertheless, Jesus included them with Peter in some very important moments such as the Transfiguration and the Agony in the Garden! Jesus also entrusted his mother to John. Tradition makes John a very young man and the one apostle spared martyrdom later on. The gospel associated with the name of John was the most recent one put into writing and it shows a very different approach to the life of Jesus when compared with the other three gospels. I readily admit that I am very fond of the Gospel of John and the "Johannine" letters, from which today's quote from the first scripture comes.
The feature I appreciate the most in that gospel is the dramatic quality of the encounters with Jesus. The characters are vivid and the dialog a consistent effort to clarify the meaning of Jesus' life and teaching. From the magnificent "prologue" (In the beginning was the Word...) the final scene at the Sea of Galilee ("Simon Peter, do you love me?") there is much to think about and benefit from. The Samaritan Woman at the well, the Man born Blind, the raising of Lazarus......it's all a feast! I urge my beloved congregation to read it through! Before putting away that nativity scene, realize that "life made visible" in the form of the Christ child! "The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us!" AMEN