Daily Readings in John – Day Thirty-Three

John 10:1-21 (NRSV)

10 “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18 No one takes[a] it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

19 Again the Jews were divided because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?” 21 Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

In comes Jesus with a set of agrarian metaphors. Best as I can tell, the sheep – even though they’re still sheep – are people now, and Jesus is very protective of them. There are other people that want to take people and eat them or sell them or do whatever bandits would generally do to sheep. And Jesus starts his teaching by saying I am not like that. I am not a thief.

He starts by repeating, I am the gate. I protect people, and I’m the way to safety (as the sheep come in through the gate) and I’m the way to nourishment (as sheep come out through the gate). Only good things ever happen because of me.

Awesome – Jesus appears to be a shepherd in the wool trade, not the lamb meat industry, so vegetarians, thumbs up for Jesus here.

But then he takes the analogy home, for people, because he has a name for all these good things sheep get as they walk in and out through him – he calls it abundant life. And then in the second half, Jesus says not only am I not like a thief, but I’m also not like that summer employee you hire at minimum wage just to keep a warm body in the shop.

I have ownership in this.

This is my life.

I’m dedicated. I take care of the sheep. I put myself between the sheep and any harm. I will lay my life down for them, he says, and not just generally, as a group, but one by one, for each one, because I know them all. They’re my people, or my sheep. They’re my friends.

This is a journey with Jesus that involves no violence and no coercion and calls for us vs. them tribalism.

Instead, the only task of the sheep is to be as persistent and dedicated as possible about recognizing and listening to the voice of Jesus, who will lead us well into life.

Invite Jesus, if you like, to help you learn to recognize his voice, and to distinguish it from the voice of the hired hands and thieves who don’t care about you or who would even seek your harm.

Daily Readings in John – Day Thirty-Two

John 9:35-41 (NRSV)

35 Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” 38 He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him. 39 Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.

Jesus makes explicit the theme we explored yesterday. Jesus helps a man to flourish by restoring his sight. He does it because he wants to, it gives him pleasure. And he does it to demonstrate that God is for flourishing.

Jesus also, though, has another goal from this healing and the encounters that follow. It’s a kind of embodied truth telling, a project of exposing things as they are. There are blind people who see. There are sighted people who are fundamentally blind, when it comes to the important things of life.

To say that we have vision, and be blinded by our own fear or legalism – even the fear or legalism that we don’t invent but inherit from our culture – is to miss the mark, or to use the Bible word for being off-center, to sin.

It is also to be under judgment. Judgment in John isn’t so much punishment or threat of punishment. It’s more like a spotlight that shines brightly and reveals the truth of how things are. It’s exposure, clarity. Like The Boston Globe investigative project of that name, the spotlight highlights our lack of full humanity, encouraging renewal and change, if we’ll have it.

Today, I invite you to do something courageous. However much you do or don’t pray, however clear or muddy your conception of God is, ask God to expose where you see clearly, where you are dedicated to your own and others’ human flourishing, and where you’re missing the mark on that.

If anything comes to mind, invite Jesus to renew you and to help you see clearly and live mercifully.

Daily Readings in John – Day Thirty-One

John 9:13-34 (NRSV)

13 They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14 Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.” 16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided. 17 So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.” He said, “He is a prophet.”

18 The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight 19 and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” 20 His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

24 So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God! We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” 28 Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” 30 The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. 32 Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.

Have you ever missed something really important, even when it was sitting right under your nose? I have. Once, when I was a high school administrator, I expelled a kid for bringing a bag of weed to school. It was an open and shut case, possession of drugs in school with the intent to sell. I could have referred him to the police and given his age, he might have seen jail time. I didn’t notify the police. I thought I was merciful.

But looking back years later, I realized the family had a boatload of problems, some of which I knew about, or could have easily inferred. I knew some of the kid’s story too and knew enough to know that he wasn’t malicious, he was needy. But I didn’t know how to help, didn’t have a lot of resources. I know I was scared by the politics of the situation – I would have been crucified (well, not really – bad choice of metaphor for a Jesus blog, I suppose) had I not done the “tough on crime” thing. I also was stressed out in life for my own reasons and didn’t spend a moment of time that year trying to find creative solutions for this guy’s life. Maybe I could have, maybe I couldn’t. But I didn’t try. And that’s one of my regrets of my career in education.

It’s easy to judge the Pharisees in the gospel accounts. I mean, everyone here is not seeing what is right in front of their eyes.

Except the blind/formerly-blind man. He seems exasperated trying to deal with his inquisitors. “I was blind, now I see.” Isn’t this of interest to you?!?

Nope. His parents are afraid of the politics. The religious authorities are offended that Jesus, by their standards, is a law breaker. That’s all they can see.

And if I’m honest, I’ve been like them too.

God have mercy on each of us, that we can see clearly what is most important in our lives and in our surroundings. Jesus have mercy to take away our blindness and help us see clearly, so we can be people of mercy as well.

Daily Readings in John – Day Thirty

John 9:1-12 (NRSV)

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” 10 But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.” 12 They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

I have a really optimistic friend who likes to remind people of the old adage, “Every problem is an opportunity in disguise.”

Jesus seems to have this attitude about life.

I used to be a little uncomfortable with the set up of this passage. How in the world would people blame the blind man or his parents for his blindness? That used to seem like a horrible first century attitude. Until I realized that I think this way all the time. I see someone down on their luck and wonder what they or their parents did to put them in that position.

Jesus thinks this way of blaming and explaining and analysis isn’t helpful when people are in front of us.

I also don’t think Jesus is saying God curses people with problems so that God can fix them and show how great God is. That seems like a perverse way to read Jesus’ line about God’s works being revealed.

Jesus just sees an opportunity. Someone’s going to be healed today, and people will see the goodness of God.

What would it be like to see our problems today, and see the problems of the people we encounter with this attitude, asking what would love look like here? How can this be an opportunity for someone to see the goodness of God?

Daily Readings in John – Day Twenty-Nine

John 8:39-59 (NRSV)

39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing what Abraham did, 40 but now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are indeed doing what your father does.” They said to him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one father, God himself.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word. 44 You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God.”

48 The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and he is the judge. 51 Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” 52 The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, ‘He is our God,’ 55 though you do not know him. But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. 56 Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.” 57 Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

A reminder of the context we’re in – most of John chapters 6-8 is a collection of conflict discourses between Jesus and the cultural and religious leaders of Jerusalem. John calls Jesus’ opponents “the Jews”, and Jesus conflict with them reaches its climax here, just before Jesus is driven out of the temple.

This passage, particularly verse 44, has an especially virulent anti-Semitic history of interpretation, which thankfully, in the 20th century, the church finally stopped teaching. It’s good that our reading of the Bible can change over time.

At this point, what are some helpful things we can hear from this passage. Some ways it speaks to me:

-My status doesn’t mean much to God. Neither my religion nor my race nor my nationality nor my job have much weight in the kind of person I am today and that I will become tomorrow. How I love and how I listen, though, that will matter a lot.

-Lies come from evil, truth from God, so truth doesn’t need to be threatening. People that are lying, though, however positive they claim their motives or aims are, have lost their way. The ends to not justify the means to Jesus.

-Things really take a turn for the worse here when Jesus’ opponents call him a Samaritan (something like a “misguided bastard” to them) and say he has a demon. Attacking someone you don’t understand looks all kinds of ugly.

-Jesus is quite insistent that he is the perfect representation of God and that he has been so forever – “before Abraham was, I am.” This reminds me of an overarching theme of John, that anything I ever hear or learn about God, I should ask myself, “Does this sound like Jesus? Does this look like Jesus?”

Daily Readings in John – Day Twenty-Eight

On today’s image: perhaps our openness to receive and tell the truth is part of our journey toward childlike faith.

John 8:31-38 (NRSV)

31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”

34 Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word. 38 I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.”

Slaves or sons, chattel or children, adopted or objects?

The slavery language is provocative for us, with our country’s awful legacy of slavery and our trouble with ongoing human trafficking today. But I think Jesus was likely aware of just how provocative this language was in his context as well.

That said, what Jesus seems to be driving at is that you don’t need external bondage to lack inner freedom. Jesus suggests a psycho-spiritual dynamic people live under where our lack of belonging creates insecurity and impermanence, and where our misplaced actions and allegiances create cycles of obligation and habit that diminish our lives.

As someone who has full confidence in his beloved identity with God and who lives full-time in truth and goodness and beauty, Jesus suggests that his words take us away from our diminishment and toward his experience of full humanity.

The way there is to make a place in our hearts and minds for Jesus, and for Jesus’ words and truth.

Take a moment of reflection, if you are willing and able, and ask Jesus what truth you need to hear today? Ask yourself if you will make room for this.

Daily Readings in John – Day Twenty-Seven

John 8:12-8:30 (NRSV)

12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” 13 Then the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards; I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 17 In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. 18 I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.” 19 Then they said to him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

21 Again he said to them, “I am going away, and you will search for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 Then the Jews said, “Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means by saying, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.” 25 They said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Why do I speak to you at all? 26 I have much to say about you and much to condemn; but the one who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” 27 They did not understand that he was speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me. 29 And the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.” 30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

I am the light of the world.

I am going away…. where I am going…

I am from above…. I am not of this world….

…unless you believe that I am… you will realize that I am.

I am, I am, I am.

It’s almost like poetry and it’s absolutely unsubtle.

Jesus shares the name of his Dad – the Creator God, known to their ancestors by the breath-like Hebrew name of Yahweh, the “I am.”

Jesus is the ground of all being, the center of all existence, the illumination of all things, in all times.

Unlike his opponents, he doesn’t judge, even though he could. He says instead look at me, follow, and listen.

Instead of trying to understand Jesus today, instead of asking questions about why he said what he said, instead of wondering if all the things the Bible say about him are exactly as they report, imagine Jesus as the fixed point around which you rotate, the gravity that holds you, or simply – as he says – the light of the world.

Daily Readings in John – Day Twenty-Six

John 7:53-8:11 (NRSV)

53 Then each of them went home, while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”

In Ken Follett’s sprawling historical novel, Fall of Giants, we meet a character named Billy with Jesus. He picks up this nickname when as a young teenager, he’s left alone for hours in a mine shaft, deep under the earth, in total darkness. Not knowing whether he’d ever see the light again, he has this strange sense that he is not alone, that Jesus is with him. From then on, he’s Billy with Jesus.

Billy grows up and he, along with his conservative Welsh church-going community, learns that his older sister is pregnant, before getting married. As in the woman brought before Jesus in today’s passage, in the community in Follett’s novel, only the woman is put on trial. The man who impregnated her is nowhere to be found. Billy watches as his family’s church community shames and expels his sister from their church.

In a service where men are allowed to share a testimony, read a scripture, or lead out in hymn-singing, Billy reads today’s passage, the start of John 8. “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” After he reads the passage, Billy closes his Bible and leaves the church, never to return. 

Billy with Jesus leaves the church because he doesn’t find the grace and love and kindness of Jesus there.

All of us, if we’re honest with ourselves, will acknowledge that we are not without sin. We have in various ways lost sight of what is good and true and beautiful. We have diminished ourselves and others and our God, through words said and unsaid, things done and undone.

Jesus, we discover, is a calm and non-anxious presence with us in our sin. He is still and quiet and composed, not inclined to punish or shame, but to see us free.

May we know this real Jesus today, and may we become like him.

Daily Readings in John – Day Twenty-Five

John 7:37-52 (NRSV)

37 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, 38 and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

40 When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, “This is really the prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Messiah.” But some asked, “Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? 42 Has not the scripture said that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?” 43 So there was a division in the crowd because of him. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

45 Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not arrest him?” 46 The police answered, “Never has anyone spoken like this!” 47 Then the Pharisees replied, “Surely you have not been deceived too, have you? 48 Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd, which does not know the law—they are accursed.” 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them, asked, 51 “Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?” 52 They replied, “Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.”

I preached on part of this passage a few weeks back, so I have things I could say, but today, we’ll follow up on yesterday’s musings on Bible reading by practicing what I called lectio divina.

Again, this is a Latin phrase that means “divine reading.” In it, you read the text not for full comprehension, but to pay attention to words or phrases that speak to you today. You notice what grabs your attention. Then you read again, thinking about these things, letting the words and ideas that come to mind bounce around your head a bit. As you meditate on these things, you try to practice non-anxious presence. You don’t need to master the text. You don’t need to figure everything out. God is in charge of the Universe today, holding all things together, not you. Try to enjoy some being still, and resting in God. If concerns or anxieties come to mind, speak them to God and ask God to take care of them. And then, before you are done, read a final time, asking God what action your reading can lead you to.

That’s it.

See how your lectio divina goes for you today.

Daily Readings in John – Day Twenty-Four

John 7:10-36 (NRSV)

10 But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but as it were in secret. 11 The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, “Where is he?” 12 And there was considerable complaining about him among the crowds. While some were saying, “He is a good man,” others were saying, “No, he is deceiving the crowd.” 13 Yet no one would speak openly about him for fear of the Jews.

14 About the middle of the festival Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. 15 The Jews were astonished at it, saying, “How does this man have such learning, when he has never been taught?” 16 Then Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine but his who sent me. 17 Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. 18 Those who speak on their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him.

19 “Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you looking for an opportunity to kill me?” 20 The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is trying to kill you?” 21 Jesus answered them, “I performed one work, and all of you are astonished. 22 Moses gave you circumcision (it is, of course, not from Moses, but from the patriarchs), and you circumcise a man on the sabbath. 23 If a man receives circumcision on the sabbath in order that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I healed a man’s whole body on the sabbath? 24 Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

25 Now some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill? 26 And here he is, speaking openly, but they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah? 27 Yet we know where this man is from; but when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.” 28 Then Jesus cried out as he was teaching in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I am from. I have not come on my own. But the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him. 29 I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.” 30 Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 Yet many in the crowd believed in him and were saying, “When the Messiah comes, will he do more signs than this man has done?”

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering such things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent temple police to arrest him. 33 Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little while longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. 34 You will search for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.” 35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What does he mean by saying, ‘You will search for me and you will not find me’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”

I find this extended debate sequence in John 6-8 confusing at times, troubling at others, for several reasons. In case you’re having that experience as well, I’ll name a few of the things that bother me.

One, I really wish John hadn’t used this linguistic tic of “the Jews” to refer to Jesus’ opponents among his culture’s leadership. I’ve written about this a couple of times before, but for the few souls out there who aren’t reading each day, I’ll just remind you that John was operating within an intra-Jewish dispute between those that followed and rejected Jesus, but later generations to inform or justify their anti-Semitism.

Two, it’s odd that Jesus refuses to go to the Sukkot festival one moment, but then shows up the next. Three, it’s unclear to me who’s picking the fight here. Certainly, the cultural elite and religious leaders had a bad reaction to Jesus’ work with the disabled man (Ch. 5) on the sabbath, but in these dialogues it’s Jesus who continues to have a strong reaction to interrogation, seemingly upping the dial on the tension each time.

With passages like this, I do three different things, depending on my time and inclination and how much I’m troubled.  Sometimes, I shrug and walk away. The Bible is a huge collection of books, written in many different genres, millenia ago, and its value to me isn’t going to rise and fall on any one day’s interaction with part of one page. We can have a bit more humility and perspective than that, I hope.

Sometimes, I make it a point to do some research. I say, I’m going to talk to a pastor or other person that I think has likely studied this text more than me. Or I look up a resource online or my library or in an actual library, and dig around with my question a bit. I have more time and training for this kind of thing than the average person, but any of us could look up “John and the Jews” online and find this balanced article by a New Testament and Jewish-Christian scholar near the top of your search.

And then other times, I don’t have time or inclination to pursue my questions an interrogate the text more, so I practice an ancient and very useful method of reading called lectio divina, which means, literally, “divine reading.” In this method, you’re not reading for full comprehension but for something meaningful that can inspire you. You read once slowly to see what words or phrases stick out to you. You read a second time slowly and ask what these words or phrases mean to you, and then the third time you ask what to do about what you’ve learned.

In practicing this method today, I noticed some interesting things about expectations. Members of the crowd are saying, “We know where this man is from…” and to them, that is a liability. Jesus isn’t meeting their rather limited expectations. But Jesus says, “You know where I am from…” In fact, this is what he “cries out,” the text says. That they know him a bit already means they should better understand all that is he is and all he is doing. This makes me think about the expectations I carry around about God and about all the people I think about or bump into on a given day.

And it’s led me to pray this: Jesus, give me power to peer under the box I’ve put God into and to look around and beneath and above it as well. Surprise me today, and give me grace to be responsive to your surprise. And help me really see people, not just see who I think they are or expect them to be, but to see them as they are in this day, and to respond not with criticism or fear but with love and truth.

Tomorrow, we’ll practice lectio divina without training wheels. Enjoy!