Word to the Wise
Friday, December 27, 2013 - 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, and what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life - for the life was made visible; we have seen it and testify to it....
Two days after celebrating the birth of Jesus, and one day after celebrating the martyrdom of Stephen, we now celebrate the feast of St. John the apostle and "evangelist." Stephen and John represent two very different forms of witness. The witness that we celebrate today is found in the Gospel of John, the Book of Revelation, and the three Letters of John in the New Testament! It is not likely that the apostle John wrote all of these, but his influence - one might call it his "school" - was strong enough for the early Christian community to attribute them to him. I, for one, find the Gospel of John to be a masterpiece of dramatic preaching about Jesus, even though there are uncomfortable moments when the controversies between the early Christian community and their contemporary synagogues bleed into the text!
One can take the Gospel of John and simply read the dialogues between Jesus and Nicodemus [ch. 3] or the Samaritan woman [ch. 4] or the man born blind [ch. 9] or even Pilate [ch.18] and find much to learn from the dramatic quality of the settings and the truth of the words spoken. There are also scenes like that of the raising of Lazarus [ch 11] and the encounter between Mary Magdalen and Jesus outside his tomb [ch. 20]! Last but not least, especially in this season, one can gain much from reading the "prologue" that begins the gospel and includes the line, "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us..."
The nativity scene may be on its way back to storage, but the witness of John continues in the scriptures which bear his name. I hope we can take a moment to at least read today's selections and bear witness to them ourselves. AMEN