12/31/15 Reflection - John

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/123115.cfm

1John 2:18-21
John 1:1-18

It is the common belief in the Christian community, now, and even from the early days of the church, that John was the youngest of the Apostles. He was the only Apostle to die a natural death and the date of his death is believed to be somewhere close to the end of the first century. It is probable that he was still in his teens when he and his brother were called by Jesus to follow him. 

John and his brother, James, were sons of Zebedee and Salome. Jesus called them "sons of thunder," a nickname that probably followed incidents such as the one in Luke 9:51-56, where the two wanted to call down heavenly fire on a Samaritan village that had been less than hospitable. Tradition identifies John with the one called "the disciple whom Jesus loved," in the Gospel text; the tradition corresponds appropriately with Jesus giving his mother into John's care as he was dying on the cross.

John was one of the three Apostles (Peter and James being the other two) exclusively present at significant events in Jesus' life. The three were there when Jarius' daughter was raised. They were chosen to be on the mountain for the transfiguration. They were asked to go deeper with Jesus into the Garden of Gethsemane than were the other disciples. John sat next to Jesus at the Last Supper. It was John along with his brother, James, who foolishly came to Jesus seeking to sit at Jesus' right and left when He came into his kingdom. It was John alone among the Apostles who, with the presumed invincibility of youth, stood with Mary at the foot of the cross.

As I was reading today's Scriptures, my mind wandered into the realms of my own imagination, seeking to comprehend what John's life must have been like. Here was this young man whose adolescent years were lived, not just at the time of, but in the intimate midst of the most significant event of human history. He was there when sick people were cured, when the lame and deformed were made whole, when the dead were brought to life. With his own eyes he witnessed the miracle of the loaves and fishes. With his own ears he heard the proclamation of the arrival of God's Kingdom. With his own feet he followed the Savior of the world as he made his way from town to town. And, while still entertaining the hope and enthusiasm of youth, he watched as his Lord and Savior died. 

John's encounter with the divine must have begun years before he was spirit-guided to an encounter with Jesus; and it must have continued for decades after Jesus returned to the Father. When I read from his Gospel I hear the depth and richness of a spiritual experience that was like no other. John, like Mary, had years to ponder the meaning of what they had been privileged to witness. Consequently, John's Gospel exhibits a complexity that is far more mystical than the record of events we find in Matthew, Mark and Luke.

Mark begins his gospel very simply. He opens with John the Baptist's entrance upon the scene in Judea. Matthew is more complicated. He opens with a genealogy, a characteristic introduction to the story of any notable person at that time; and then, immediately tells us that the birth of Jesus came about in 'this way.' Luke is more elaborate, more detailed and more poetic. After a formal dedication which includes a statement of purpose, Luke engages the reader with details of the angelic announcements to Zachariah and Mary and of the interaction between the two pregnant mothers, Mary and Elizabeth. All three of these gospels were written decades before John's. It is unlikely that he would not have been familiar with them. So, as I reflected on John's opening words, the contrast with his gospel predecessors came immediately to mind.

Luke's introduction is quite specific:

"Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished among us, just as they were delivered to us by those who, from the beginning, were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theoph'ilus. . ." (Luke 1:1-3)

In this introduction Luke tells us, not only why he writes, but why others have written as well. They 'have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished among us.' John doesn't need to tell the same story; it has already been told. What he does do, what he needs to do after so many years of meditating on "the things which have happened among us," is to delve more intimately into the depths of their meaning.

Matthew and Luke contain all the details we celebrate during the Christmas season. Angelic announcements, prophetic dreams, hymns of promises fulfilled, proclamations of joy, signs in the heavens, visits by those high born and those impoverished. John doesn't deny these accounts but senses that they fail to express the fullness of truth he knows in his heart.

Genesis opens even prior to creation: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. [And] The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.

And God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light."

So John's gospel begins, not with the birth in Bethlehem but with 'begotten, not made, born of the Father before all ages.' He begins at the beginning. 

"In the beginning was the Word," says John, "and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
This was not just a 'divine' child born at Bethlehem. Nor was it simply a man who was blessed with the gift of divine sonship. This child was, and is, the eternal Word of the Father, the one through whom all things were made. "In the beginning was the Word." He did not come later! He did not begin at some stable in Bethlehem! He was there from the beginning! He was not a part of creation, but the very one through whom all things were made. He was not the one for whom God turned on the light, but was himself the light. He, this child of Bethlehem, this infant in a manger was the very Word made flesh; and he lived in our midst.

John's life story is the envy of us all. From his youth he lived with God as the central experience of his life. And it was an experience to perpetually ponder.