Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life

 

 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum.  And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.  Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.  So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.  But He said to them "It is I; do not be afraid."  Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.

On the following day, when the people were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone -- however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks -- when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, or His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.  And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?"  Jesus answered and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."

 

- John 6:16-27 

 

Yesterday we read that, after healing a paralytic and disputing with the religious leaders, Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.  Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.  And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.  Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.  Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"  But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.  Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little."  One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"  Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down."  Now there was much grass in the place.  So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.  And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting own; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.  So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost."  Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.  Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did. said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world."  Therefore, when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by himself alone.

 

  Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum.  And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.  Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.  So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.  But He said to them "It is I; do not be afraid."  Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.  Here we are given the fifth sign of seven recorded in John's Gospel.  We are in chapter 6 of John's Gospel, in which there are repeated parallels to the Exodus of Israel from Egypt.  Pertaining to this passage, we recall that Moses led the people across the Red Sea, walking on dry ground in the middle of the water (Exodus 14:15-31).  Here, my study Bible points out, Christ sends His disciples across the sea, and then He walks on the sea as if it were dry ground.  

On the following day, when the people were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone -- however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks -- when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, or His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.  And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?"  Jesus answered and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."  Once again, the people seek Jesus, desperate for a type of political Messiah who will rule as king, deliver them from enemies, and one who will in particular provide all their needs.  But this is not the mission of Jesus Christ.  They recognize only that they ate of the loaves and were filled, but Christ's signs point beyond worldly reality, to the presence of God's Kingdom in the Person of Jesus Christ. 

 

In today's reading we witness once again how fervently these people desire for Jesus to be their king.  So much so, they continue to seek Him although they have no idea where He had gone, because He walked on the water toward His disciples rowing in the middle of the Sea of Galilee.  Now we might think of many reasons for this, not least of all because it is one of the seven signs given to us in John's Gospel.  As written in commentary above, it parallels another element of the story of the Exodus, when Israel escaped Egypt in the middle of the water.  But if we think of this parallel of escaping Egypt, we might also consider the parallel that applies to Jesus Himself, and the fact that the people wish to make Him king.  Egypt, in the story of Israel, can possibly stand for many things we can think of. But in this case we might recall the Israelites longing for while Egypt while they wandered on their journey following Moses.  Just prior to the Lord's miraculous feeding in the wilderness for the Israelites, they moaned, longing for Egypt again, "Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger" (see Exodus 16:3-4).  They longed for the "fleshpots" of Egypt, the material plenty in the midst of an oppressive rule opposed to their faith.  We could possibly view, from an entirely human perspective, what it means that Christ has escaped across the sea in order to evade the people who wish to make Him king.  To become king would surely be something widely desirable in strictly material terms.  One would have all the servants one wanted, all the goods one wanted, all the power one wanted.  In a sense, that collection of things:  material goods, power, servants, parallel Egypt, for when the Israelites left Egypt it was a powerful empire with Pharaohs who ruled absolutely.  But this is not Christ's mission, and it's not the mission for how He is going to lead God's people to the promised land of His new covenant.  The people in today's story would prefer that Jesus were king.  Think what such a Messiah could do with worldly power.   In purely material and earthly terms, this is a great temptation -- to believe that the world can be redeemed with worldly power.  But that is a human delusion, and Jesus will have none of it, for it is not His mission.  He has an entirely different reality to bring to this world, the presence of the Kingdom of God -- and all the material worldly gain He could command is not part of the mission.  That is not how He will bring abundant life into the world.  So let us consider the extraordinary lengths we read Jesus goes through to avoid being forcefully made king.  He walks on the water to assure the disciples that no matter where they are, He is with them.  He does not come to all the people this way, but only a handful of disciples, seemingly powerless, straining at rowing in the middle of the sea in the middle of a great windstorm. But it is that place -- isolated from the world, in the dark, a storm blowing, with these few men who follow Him -- where the Savior of the world chooses to be, where His mission takes its shape to bring life to the world.  This is the place Jesus must be, the place He chooses to be, reassuring His (at that time) tiny flock, telling them,  "It is I; do not be afraid."  Sometimes you and I may also be called upon to make choices to sacrifice the glamor of the world for the love of God and the few who desire that goal with us.  Let us be faithful to our mission as well, as Jesus gives us the mission:  "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."

This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it

 

 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.  It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.  Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."  When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  

 

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.  Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."  The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?"  Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.  But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."  These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."  Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well."  However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.  Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.  And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.  Nevertheless let us go to him."  Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him." 

 

- John 11:1-16 

 

In our recent readings, Jesus has continued His disputes with the religious authorities in Jerusalem.  Chapters 7 through 10 were taken up mostly with events which took place at the autumn Feast of Tabernacles, but now the Gospel has moved to winter and the Feast of Dedication (or Hanukkah).  We are being taken through the final year of Christ's earthly life.  Yesterday we read that the religious leaders with whom He disputed took up stones again to stone Him,  after He told them, "I and the Father are one" (see Monday's reading).  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."  Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"'?  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."  Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.  And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  And many believed in Him there. 

 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.  It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.  Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."  When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."   Today we begin chapter 11, in which the seventh of the seven signs in John's Gospel will take place, the raising of Lazarus.  It is the final year of Christ's earthly life, and the effects of this great sign will be profound indeed, including the response by the religious authorities.  Bethany, my study Bible says, is on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, about two miles from Jerusalem.  Here, Christ sends back to Mary and Martha a message to strengthen them, so that when Lazarus dies, they will take confidence in Christ's words.  Lazarus is the same name as "Eleazar," which means "God helps."  My study Bible explains that the Son of God being glorified must not be understood to be the cause of Lazarus' death.  Instead, it indicates that Christ will be glorified as a result of Lazarus' death (occurring from natural illness) and his being raised from the dead.  Note the similarity between Christ's response to His disciples' question about the man born blind from birth ("Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him" - see Thursday's reading) and His response to Martha and Mary regarding Lazarus' illness.

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.  Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." My study Bible explains that Christ delays in order for Lazarus to be dead long enough for the corruption of his body to set in (see verse 39).  In this way, no one could doubt the miracle, and the might of the Lord would be clearly seen by all.  

The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?"  Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.  But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."   Jesus again iterates that He is the light of the world (John 8:12, 9:5).  The disciples protest because of events which took place at the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah), which we read in yesterday's reading (see above). 

These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."  Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well."  However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.  Compare Christ's use of the word sleeps here to Acts 7:60; 1 Corinthians 11:30, 15:6.  

Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.  And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.  Nevertheless let us go to him."  Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."  My study Bible calls Thomas' statement an unwitting prophecy of his own future martyrdom.  It also illustrates the path that all believers must take -- that we die daily to the world for the sake of following Christ (Luke 9:23-24, 1 Corinthians 15:31).  

In today's reading, Jesus states that the "sickness of Lazarus is not unto death, but rather for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  What is nominally a human tragedy becomes an occasion for the glory of God -- and that the Son of God may be glorified through it.  If we consider the events that will come as a result of the raising of Lazarus, we understand a deeper and more profound meaning to the term "glorified" for Christ, the Son of God.  The death of Lazarus will be the occasion that spurs on the religious leaders to put Christ to death, sending Him to His Passion and the Cross, the hour of glorification.  This occasion reminds us that what seems like a terrible tragedy by human standards may be the occasion for the glory of God -- and possibly more, an occasion for us to rise to God's vision for us and for our own lives.  It makes for a kind of exchange:  our visions and hopes in exchange for a life that God may have in mind for us, for a kind of glory that we can't get from our limited perspective or what a more earthly idea will build for us.  God's "long game" has different goal posts, different rules than our conventional lives and goals might encompass.  Who could imagine that the Cross -- the worst instrument of Roman punishment -- would come to symbolize the glory of God and the power to transform and transfigure even the worst event of human life, and power over life, death, and Resurrection?  It is the defeat of the final enemy, death -- and the power of evil in opposition to God.  So Jesus begins this journey with the illness of Lazarus and the seventh sign to come in the Gospel, the one that will lead the religious leaders to decide once and for all they must rid themselves of Him.  Let us consider Jesus' words when we are in the middle of our own crises, our own tragedies.  Is there occasion for the glory of God where you are?  Or for the glorification of the Son of God?  At the worst of times, we have occasion for prayer, for calling upon the most powerful force that transcends all things, to give us His light and show us a path we might not expect.  We may be asked to give up something precious to us, but what we seek is something deeper and greater and which pervades everything.  We just might wake up to something that is greater than our own preferences, better than our own ideas for the way things "should" be.  

For God so loved the world

 

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."  Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"  Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."  

 

Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?  Most assuredly, I say to you, "We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."

 

 - John 3:1–21 

 

 On Saturday, we read that the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.  Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

 

 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."  My study bible comments here that Nicodemus believed that Jesus was from God, but his faith was still weak, as he was afraid of his peers among the Pharisees and on the Council, so he came to Jesus by night.  After this conversation, Nicodemus would grow in his faith to the point of defending Jesus before the Sanhedrin (7:50-51), and eventually making a bold public expression of faith by preparing and entombing the body of Christ (19:39-42).  According to some early sources, Nicodemus was baptized by Peter and consequently removed from the Sanhedrin (the ruling Council), and forced to flee Jerusalem.

Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  What does it mean to be born again?  In the original Greek of the text, the word for "again" (anothen/ἄνωθεν) means also literally "from above."  My study bible says this clearly refers to the heavenly birth from God through faith in Christ (1:12-13).  This heavenly birth is baptism, and it is also our adoption by God as our Father (Galatians 4:4-7).  This "new birth" is the beginning of our spiritual life.  It begins a lifetime process, and its goal is entrance into the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"  Nicodemus is puzzled, as he understands Christ's words literally and on worldly terms.  He questions the possibility of a second physical birth.  In John's Gospel, such misunderstandings are frequent (2:19-21; 4:10-14, 30-34; 6:27; 7:37-39; 11:11-15).  They serve as opportunities for Christ, who uses them to elevate an idea from a superficial or earthly meaning to a heavenly and eternal one.

Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."  Water and the Spirit is a reference to Christian baptism, and the gift of the Holy Spirit at chrismation.  One becomes a child of God through a spiritual birth which happens, as my study bible puts it, by grace, through faith, and in the Holy Spirit. 

"Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."  These verses include a play on words by Jesus.  In Greek, pneuma/πνευμα means both wind and Spirit.  My study bible comments that the working of the Holy Spirit in the new birth is as mysterious as the source and destination of the blowing wind.  Likewise, the Spirit moves where He wills, and cannot be contained by human ideas or agendas. 

Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?  Most assuredly, I say to you, "We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?"  According to St. John Chrysostom, earthly things (in the context of Christ's words here) refer to grace and baptism which is given to humankind.  These are earthly not in the sense that they are "unspiritual," but rather in the sense that they occur on earth, and they are given to creatures.   The heavenly things of which Jesus speaks here are references to the ungraspable mysteries of God such as the eternal generation of the Son from the Father, as my study bible puts it.  They relate to Christ's eternal existence before all time, and to God's divine plan of salvation for the world.  A person must first understand the ways in which God works among human beings before one can start to understand the realities which pertain purely to the Person of God.

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."  Moses lifted up the bronze image of the serpent in order to draw their attention and cure the Israelites from deadly bites of poisonous snakes (in Numbers 21:4-9).  In Jesus' terms, this miracle-working image was a prefiguration of His being lifted up on the Cross.  My study bible says that as believers behold the crucified Christ in faith, the power of sin and death is overthrown in them.  As the image of a serpent was the weapon that destroyed the power of the serpents, so the instrument of Christ's death becomes the weapon that overthrows death itself.  

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  Why must the Son be crucified ("lifted up")?  Jesus declares here the powerful reality of God's love -- not simply for Israel but for the world.  My study bible calls this single verse the expression of the whole message of John's Gospel, and of salvation history.

"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.  He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."  Christ came to save and not to condemn, but human beings also have the free will to choose.  We can reject this gift, and effectively shut ourselves off from salvation by our own rejection.  The condemnation comes through a preference for the darkness of ignorance of God and the things of God in us.

When we explore John's Gospel and the depth of the concepts we find here, it is important to keep in mind that the salvation process is only begun through baptism.  That is, we have a lifetime of movement toward God as a possibility, and embracing of the things of God as they are offered to us.  That offering comes through Christ, and especially is viewed in His emptying on the Cross, giving all for love of human beings.  All of the teachings that Christ offers, everything He brings into the world, such as the spiritual truths we read here, are offerings for our salvation and regeneration, for our very life.   In the beginning of his Gospel, John writes of Christ, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" (1:4-5).  This life that is offered to us, and that includes all of Christ's teachings, is both our light and life, if we choose it.  These verses from chapter 1 in some sense encapsulate all that is written here as well, and the fullness of the Gospel message.  Do we choose the light or is darkness preferable?  There is a level of commitment to this light and the life it offers to us that comes from impulses so deep inside of us that I am not certain we can ever pinpoint where that is found.  But it nevertheless is an inner reality reflected in the soul.  This light is also spiritual truth, it is the very truth of the being of Christ, a depth of reality that grounds the whole of creation.  We don't fully grasp such things, but we do choose to grasp toward them, to take in what we can as we can.  And this is the basic choice offered to us in the life of Christ as Son of Man, as incarnate Jesus.  Do we want to know, or do we not?  Knowing or "enlightenment" involves change, it means often making tough choices to let go of the past or our own ways of thinking, and this becomes a daily and lifetime practice found in prayer and in the varied disciplines of the Church for the deepening of our faith.  To be born again through baptism becomes a constant process, and one that goes on through the whole of our lives as we learn, and learn again.  It is also a deeply spiritual and mystical process, something we don't do of ourselves, but is the work of grace within us to which we give assent.   As Christ says, "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."   It is not up to us to choose or decide the work of the Spirit in us; it is up to us to desire the things of God, to be willing to accept this light, and its work in us.  Perhaps what is most important to keep in mind is that this is the work of love, and is given of God's great love, deeper and wider than we can understand.   Yet, how easily it is dismissed and rejected!

 

 

 

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world

Pantocrator, 14th century.  National History Museum, Sophia, Bulgaria.  Gospel Book is open to John 8:12, Christ's first declaration that He is the light of the world

 Now as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth.  And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.  I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the 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 these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.  And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent).  So he went and washed, and came back seeing.  Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?"  Some said, "This is he."  Others said, "He is like him."  He said, "I am he."  Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?"  He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.'  So I went and washed, and I received sight."  Then they said to him, "Where is He?"  He said, "I do not know."

They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees.  Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.  Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight.  He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see."  Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath."  Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?"  And there was a division among them.  They said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?"  He said, "He is a prophet."

- John 9:1-17

In our recent readings, Jesus has been at the Feast of Tabernacles, and eight-day festival commemorating the time when Israel lived in tents, or tabernacles, as they followed Moses searching for the promised land.  (John 7:1-10:21 covers the period of events which take place while Jesus is at this Festival in Jerusalem.)  At this point, it is the eighth and final day of the Festival, and Jesus has been disputing with the leadership.  On Saturday, we read that Jesus said to them, "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."  Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"  Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.  And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.  Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."  Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon!  Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'  Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?  And the prophets are dead.  Who do You make Yourself out to be?"  Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing.  It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.  Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him.  And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.  Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."  Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"  Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."  Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

 Now as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth.   John chapter 9 concerns the story of the healing of this man who was blind from birth.  It gives us the sixth of seven signs in the Gospel.  Why is this of significance?  My study bible tells us that of all the miracle stories in the Bible, this is the only one in which the person was blind from birth.  The blind man, it says, is symbolic of all humanity.  All need illumination by Christ, who is the Light of the world.  It adds that this sign is an illustration of baptism, which is also called "holy illumination."

And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him."  My study bible comments here that Jesus rejects the assumption (which was common in the ancient world) that all troubles and even illness are the result of personal sin or possibly the sins of one's parents (see Exodus 20:5; Deuteronomy 5:9; contrast Ezekiel 18:19-21).  Although suffering can directly occur as the result of personal sin, it is clearly not always the case.  Here, the man's blindness is not only denied by Christ to be related to his (or his parents') personal sins.   Jesus takes it a glorious step further; this is an occasion for the works of God to be revealed.

"I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work."   My study bible tells us that the work that people do consists of faith (6:29), good deeds (5:29), and repentance (12:40).  The night that comes is a reference to both the time after a person's death and to the age to come, in which there no longer remains an opportunity to express faith.  My study bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who says that on that day there will not be faith, but rather all will submit, whether willingly or unwillingly.

"As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."   The healing of the man born blind, unprecedented in Scripture, is seen to confirm Jesus' claim that He is the light of the world.

When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay.  My study bible comments that St. Irenaeus sees in this mixture of clay and saliva a type of the creation of humanity from the earth (Genesis 2:7).  It notes that Jesus reveals His divinity by restoring part of creation using the same material with which He created humanity in the beginning.

And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent).  So he went and washed, and came back seeing.  Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?"  Some said, "This is he."  Others said, "He is like him."  He said, "I am he."  Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?"  He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.'  So I went and washed, and I received sight."  Then they said to him, "Where is He?"  He said, "I do not know."   My study bible says that the pool of Siloam was on the outskirts of Jerusalem, and quite a distance from the temple.  Water was taken from this pool for the rites connected with the Feast of Tabernacles (which Jesus is attending in Jerusalem).  Siloam, translated, Sent, is symbolic of Christ, the One sent by the Father (6:36; 20:21), and who has taught that "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (7:38).  My study bible says that just as the healing of the blind man is a confirmation of Christ's claim to be the light of the world (8:12), so also Christ using this pool of Siloam confirms that He is the true purification of the temple and of those who worship in it.  

They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees.  Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.  Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight.  He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see."  Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath."  Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?"  And there was a division among them.  They said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?"  He said, "He is a prophet."  My study bible comments that, just as the Pharisees ignored the healing of the paralytic and focused only on the perceived violation of the Sabbath (in chapter 5:10-16), so here many of them cannot see the glory of God through their own prejudices.

Looked at from a particular viewpoint, this healing of the man born blind is a type of prefiguration of Christ's Passion, death, and Resurrection.  In the Crucifixion, the action of Christ takes a supremely evil thing and turns it to the good.  There is nothing "good" that we can say about crucifixion:  it was designed to give a slow and agonizing death.  But through the action of Christ, what was an unjust sentence of horrific punishment was transformed to a key to salvation for the whole of creation.  It is the power of God not only to renew, but to transform, even to produce good out of the effects of evil.  In today's reading, Jesus takes a man blind from birth, and in His viewpoint and perspective, something obviously hurting to human beings is transformed.  In the ancient viewpoint, as my study bible pointed out, and as the question of the disciples suggests to us, such an affliction was seen a the result of sin -- either of that person's sin or even of his or her parents.  But Christ completely transforms everything about this affliction.  Not only does He declare it has nothing to do with personal sin as a cause, but it is in fact an occasion for the glorification of God.   Regardless of the great achievements of people who have been afflicted with blindness in modern times, their tremendous capacities for fullness of life in all ways, we would not really presume that loss of sight was purely -- in and of itself alone -- a good thing for human beings.  But Jesus pronounces this an opportunity, an occasion for something tremendous to take place.  In that sense, the healing of this man and the restoration of his sight is not just an illumination for him, for one individual, but it is an illumination for all of us about the power of God, the character of God, and the renewing power that accompanies God's work in us.  We may not each experience the kind of miraculous healing that is on display in today's reading, the sixth of the seven signs given of Christ's divinity in the Gospel of John.  But nevertheless, the power of God rests within each of our own afflictions as possibilities for renewal and transcendence, even transformation of our lives and the conditions of our lives.  Jesus at once pronounces this man and his family innocent, freeing them of blame and condemnation of the popular understanding of the time -- and instead pronounces the blindness to be an occasion for the works of God to be manifest in the world.  What would our lives be like if every setback, every affliction, every problem became in our own sight an occasion for the glory of God as possibility to manifest?  What if every negative, hurtful, harmful diminution of capacity in our lives became for us an unprecedented opportunity to pray for renewal, and to find it in one way and another?  While we may not have our prayers answered in such a direct way as does the man in today's reading, we might find that hidden in every affliction, no matter what its nature, is some secret potential which can be tapped into through our faith.   A lost job becomes a possible opportunity to re-gear and reflect, offering more time for prayer and a greater development of spiritual resilience.    A friend's wrist injury rendered him unable to pursue his building project, but opened up an opportunity to write the story which had been persistently nagging at him to write down.  A setback in a vocal career became an opportunity to walk a deeper walk with God, an occasion for discovery of deeper waters and truer reality and acceptance of the self.  In so many ways, our walk with God gives us opportunities for the work of God through our own lives, our setbacks, and our struggles.  It is, in my opinion, not a mistake to cultivate such an attitude to anything that seems as if it limits us.  Jesus not only reveals the blamelessness of this man and his parents, but in so doing also conveys the very freedom of the truth of God which awaits our faith, where everything is an opportunity, even what looks like something hard, unjust, unwanted.  Let us consider the power of God who works in and through us.  That is what Christ came into the world to reveal, the light He gives to us so that we may truly see.

Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit

Baptism of Christ/Theophany, Byzantine Museum, Athens, Greece

 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."  Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"  Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."  Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?  Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

- John 2:23-3:15

On Saturday, we read that the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.  As we noted on Saturday, there are three Passover feasts reported in John's Gospel, between the Lord's Baptism and Passion (see also 6:5, 11:55).  By this we know that Christ's earthly ministry lasted three years.  Let us also make note that while there are seven signs reported in John's Gospel, they are given to us for their significance, to teach us something about Him and His ministry, but they are not inclusive of all signs He did.  John also makes note here of Christ as the knower of hearts, and of His discernment.  He is careful not to commit Himself to those whose faith is based solely on signs.  Contrast this with Christ's words about Nathanael in 1:47.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."   Apparently in Jerusalem, the Pharisees have taken note of Jesus.  Nicodemus, one of their members, believed that Jesus was from God, but my study bible says that his faith at this point was still weak, as he was afraid of his peers and therefore came to Jesus by night.  After this conversation, Nicodemus' faith would grow to the point of defending Jesus in front of the Sanhedrin (7:50-51), and eventually making the bold public expression of faith in preparing and entombing Christ's body (19:39-42).  According to some early sources, my study bible notes, Nicodemus was baptized by Peter and consequently removed from the Sanhedrin and forced to flee Jerusalem.  It is worth noting that through John's Gospel, we are aware that even some among the leadership would become open followers of Christ.  Nicodemus himself is a Pharisee.  John 12:42 tells us that there were many among the rulers who believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees were afraid of being cast out of the synagogue.

Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  In the Greek, the word again has the literal meaning of "from above."  It clearly refers to the heavenly birth from God through faith in Christ (1:12-13).  My study bible says that this heavenly birth is baptism and our adoption by God as our Father (Galatians 4:4-7).  The new birth is the beginning of our spiritual life, and its goal is the entrance into the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"  Frequent misunderstandings happen in John's Gospel, illuminating the allegories with which Jesus speaks in order to express transcendent spiritual realities, in this case the rebirth -- being born again "from above" -- of baptism.  (For other examples of misunderstandings which lead to deeper explanation by Christ, see 2:19-21; 4:10-14, 30-34; 6:27; 7:37-39; 11:11-15).  My study bible says that Jesus uses these opportunities to elevate an idea from a superficial or earthly meaning to a heavenly and eternal meaning.

Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."  The birth of water and the Spirit is a reference to Christian baptism and the gift of the Holy Spirit given at chrismation.  That which is born of the Spirit is given by grace, through faith, and in the Holy Spirit -- and forms a holistic part of the nature of human beings, one which we ignore to our own detriment.  The analogy to the wind is a play on words:  the Greek word pneuma/πνευμα means both wind and Spirit.  My study bible says that the working of the Holy Spirit in the new birth is as mysterious as the source and destination of the blowing wind.  Similarly, the Spirit moves where He wills and cannot be contained by human ideas or agendas.

Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"  Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?  Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?  No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven."  My study bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom here, in which it is noted that earthly things refer to grace and baptism given to man.  These are "earthly" in the sense that they occur on earth and are given to creations (not that they are "unspiritual").  The heavenly things, it says, involve the ungraspable mysteries of the eternal generation of the Son from the Father, and they pertain to the Son's eternal existence before all time, and to God's divine plan of salvation for the world.  My study bible says that a person must first grasp the ways in which God works among humankind before one can even start to understand anything pertaining to God exclusively.

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."   Moses lifted up an image of a serpent in order to cure the Israelites from deadly bites of poisonous snakes (Numbers 21:4-9); Christ references this miracle-working image as a prefiguration of His being lifted up on the Cross.  In some sense, it is a "type" of the Cross.  My study bible comments that as believers behold the crucified Christ in faith, the power of sin and death is overthrown in them.  It notes that just as the image of a serpent was the weapon that destroyed the power of the serpents, so the instrument of Christ's death becomes the weapon that overthrows death itself.

Here John brings us to the powerful paradox of the Cross.  How does God's power work to use the things of this world -- even gruesome human death on a cross -- in order to turn back that power against itself and to destroy it?  Just as Moses was told to fashion an image of a fiery serpent on a pole, and to have those bitten look at the image, and they lived, so we look to the Cross when we are faced with death in any form.  The abolition of death is something that cannot be fathomed in human or worldly terms, but can only be understood through the spiritual counterpart that accompanies it:  that of sin and evil.  In other words, if God is life, then that which is "against God" is death, "not life."  In John's Prologue, we read about the Son or Logos, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men" (1:4).  This light is contrasted with darkness, and the darkness also corresponds to death in some form.  When we refuse the light God would show us, to help illuminate our own lives and choices, we are in some particular sense choosing death, a kind of death of potentials and possibilities within us that grace offers as a gift.  Pain is also a component of that darkness or death; even the word for evil or "the evil one" has the meaning of pain.  But Christ's power works in a particular way regarding all of these elements of death:  He comes into the world to experience all that we do, and transforms the reality of this darkness and death.  We are no longer bound to it, but liberated through Christ to transcend, to be reborn into a greater abundance of life.  So it is through our journey with Christ even as we experience small "deaths" - whether that be of false dreams or hopes, disappointing outcomes, false beliefs.  The light is on the other side, through the experience, and with Christ.  He leads the way through any form of death to a greater gift of life -- just as He did on the Cross.   In this we must also see baptism -- for baptism is a form of death and rebirth.  We are submerged into water as a form of death, and reborn through the Spirit as we emerge.  At baptism we also renounce evil and its forms -- thus, as in the Paschal Hymn of the Orthodox, death is trampled by death.  That is, through the Incarnation and Christ's own experience of it, even death becomes an instrument of transformation into the life of God.  This paradoxical and complex reality is mirrored in the lifting up of the serpent by Moses as directed by God,  to destroy the effects of the serpents who bit the Israelites.  We note the realities of Christ which extend backward and forward in time:  the act of Moses which reflects the Crucifixion, and the discussion of baptism by Jesus with Nicodemus, which touches upon things to come at the Cross.  If all of this is dizzying, peculiar, and next to impossible to follow, consider that it is in the experience of our faith that we really come to know it, the living of the faith that gives us true wisdom and insight, and simply trust in Christ and in that journey of faith.  For today, consider the power of water as sacrament in the Incarnation of Christ, how His human experience sanctifies the waters for all the world, and our repeated reliving and commemoration renews this promise over and over again for us all. 

If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him

 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.  It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.  Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."  When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.  Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."  The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?"  Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.  But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."  These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."  Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well."  However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.  Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.  And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.  Nevertheless let us go to him."  Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."

- John 11:1-16

Yesterday we read that once again the religious leaders took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."  Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods" '?  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."  Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.  And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  Then many people came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about His Man were true."  And many believed in Him there.

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.  It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.  Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."  Today we begin chapter 11, and the story of what will be the seventh sign of seven in John's Gospel.  This will be the sign that sealed the religious authorities' decision to put Jesus to death (v. 47-50), the resurrection of Lazarus.  Bethany is on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, about two miles from Jerusalem.  Lazarus is the same name as "Eleazar" which means "God helps."

When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  My study bible says that this message is sent back to Mary and Martha to strengthen them so that when Lazarus dies, they may take confidence in the words of Jesus.  The Son of God being glorified mustn't be understood as the cause of Lazarus dying.  Rather, it indicates that Christ will be glorified as a result of Lazarus' death, occurring from a natural illness, and his being raised from the death.  Jesus' saying here is similar to His teaching about the previous sign, the healing of the man blind from birth, when He told the disciples, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him" (9:3).

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.  Jesus delays two more days in order for Lazarus to be dead long enough that the corruption of his body could set in (v. 39).  Therefore there could be no doubt about the miracle -- and the power of the Lord would clearly be seen by all.  

Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."  The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?"  Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.  But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."   In yesterday's reading (see above), the leadership tried once again to stone Him.  Jesus has said that He is the light of the world (8:12).  In connection with the previous healing -- the giving of sight to a man blind from birth -- He said, "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day;  night is coming when no one can work" (9:4).  Here once again, He emphasizes that He is the light; as He follows the will of the Father through His ministry, "walking" according to the light as long as He is in the world (9:5).

These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."  Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well."  However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.  Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.  And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.  Nevertheless let us go to him."  This is another instance where through misunderstanding of Jesus' words, truths are revealed and incidents remain memorable.  See also Acts 7:60; 1 Corinthians 11:30; 15:6 for other instances in which "sleep" is used similarly among the earliest faithful. 

Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."  My study bible calls this statement by Thomas an unwitting prophecy of his own future martyrdom.   It's also an illustration of the path that all believers must take.  We die daily to the world for the sake of following Christ (Luke 9:23-24).  

What is light?  What is the light?  Christ says, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.  But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."  Certainly if we understand one thing from John's Gospel, it is that Christ Himself is the light.  John's Prologue makes that explicit to us:  "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."  So important is the concept of light as part of Christ's identity, that it is layered and woven throughout the Gospel of John.  Even the first person to whom He clearly reveals Himself as Christ is a Samaritan woman, whose saint's name is "Photini" in the Greek, meaning literally "Enlightened."   Here in today's reading Jesus uses night and day to illustrate what it means to walk in the light, and it's tied to His mission.  While He is in the world, He's said, He is the light of the world.  He must work the works of God while it is day -- while He remains in the world, and before it is His "hour" of glorification, before the Crucifixion.  Tying together all of these images of light, we have a sense of what it means for ourselves to walk in the light, and that light is the light of faith and communion.  We, too, must seek to walk by His light in our lives.  It is an illumination for the sure path that we seek.  Sometimes that light, like the blazing flame that led Israel in search of the Promised Land, takes meandering, wandering courses that don't make much logical sense to us.  Wouldn't a straight line be logical, something more direct?  But we're not the ones who set the goal and fullness of the effects of that light.  Without the meandering it might take us on, the fullness of faith wouldn't be possible.  God illuminates the corners in ourselves that we don't see, and brings us face to face with our own fears, reservations, and hidden parts we don't allow ourselves to acknowledge.  The purpose of that light is to bring us fully to it, to gather to ourselves not all our worldly goals and aspirations, but rather to bring us closer to God, to Christ, and to create even a dependence upon that light and life, stripping away what gets in the way.   What seems to us like a meandering, wandering, illogical road is in fact the straight line to God.  We just don't know the fullness of that light, so we can't see the dark passages it needs to illumine by taking us through them in advance.  One aspect of the working of that light is clearly seen in today's (and other) passages in John.  As St. Paul writes, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).  Even through this death of a beloved friend, the light is working.  As Jesus says, it is "for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  So may it be with seemingly unfortunate circumstances in your own life.  Have faith with the light.  It illumines what you need, even when you can't see it's a straight road ahead with a plan for your faith, your soul, your real life.

Do not marvel that I said to you, "You must be born again." The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit

 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs that Jesus did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."  Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"  Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."  Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"

Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?  No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." 

- John 2:23-3:15

 Yesterday we read that the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business.  When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the tables.  And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away!  Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!"  Then His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."  So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  But he was speaking of the temple of His body.  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs that Jesus did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.   John's Gospel gives us three Passover feasts attended by Jesus during His ministry, between His Baptism by John the Baptist and His Passion (see 6:4 and 11:55).  This gives us a three-year span to His earthly ministry.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."   Although John has so far reported only one sign in His Gospel (at the wedding at Cana), his Gospel refers above to the signs which people saw who were at the Passover, and here Nicodemus also refers to multiple signs, and that they point to the presence of God.  My study bible says that Nicodemus believed that Jesus was from God, but that his faith was still weak.  He is a Pharisee, and he fears his peers, therefore he came to Jesus by night.  After this conversation, Nicodemus's faith will grow to the point where he defends Jesus before the Sanhedrin (7:50-51), risking his life and standing by making a bold public expression of faith and preparing and entombing the body of Christ (19:39-42).  By tradition of the Eastern Church, Nicodemus's memory is celebrated on the third Sunday of Easter along with the Myrrhbearing Women and also Joseph of Arimathea, who was another member of the Council.  According to some early sources, my study bible reports, Nicodemus was baptized by Peter and consequently removed from the Sanhedrin and forced to flee Jerusalem.

Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."   It is a rare revelation that Jesus has made to Nicodemus, affirming for us in some sense that which John has said earlier in our reading, that Jesus knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.  Although Nicodemus is a Pharisee, and member of the Council, there is a way in which Jesus entrusts Himself to Nicodemus through this teaching.  To be born again can also be translated in the original Greek as born "from above."  It clearly refers to the heavenly birth from God via faith in Christ (1:12-13).  This heavenly birth is what baptism is, and the adoption by God as our Father (Galatians 4:4-7). 

Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"  It is frequently reported in John's Gospel that Jesus' listeners misunderstand what He says in His teachings.  This is an important aspect of the Gospel.  It calls to our attention the depth and meaning of Jesus' words and speech, and it also tells us about how we learn and grow in our understanding.  (See 2:19-21; 4:10-14, 30-34; 6:27; 7:37-39; 11:11-15).  Christ uses each opportunity to elevate an idea from a superficial or earthly meaning to a heavenly and eternal meaning.

Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'  The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."  Nicodemus answered and said to Him, "How can these things be?"  My study bible tells us that this birth of water and the Spirit is a direct reference to Christian baptism as well as the gift of the Holy Spirit which is given at chrismation.   Jesus' analogy to the wind is a play on words; again, it is an affirmation of the power of language at work through Jesus' speaking and teaching, and a reminder that Jesus is Himself the Word.  The Greek word pneuma/πνευμα means both wind and Spirit.  My study bible tells us that the working of the Holy Spirit in the new birth is as mysterious as the source and destination of the blowing wind.   So it is that likewise, the Spirit moves where He wills and cannot be contained by human ideas or human agendas.

Jesus answered and said to him, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?  No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven."  My study bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom.  He writes that earthly things refer to grace and baptism given to human beings.  These are earthly, not in the sense of "unspiritual," but simply in the sense that they occur on earth and are given to creatures.  The heavenly things refer to the "ungraspable" mysteries of the eternal generation of the Son from the Father.  They relate to Christ's eternal existence before all time and to God's divine plan for the salvation of the world.  We must first grasp the ways in which God works among human beings before we can begin to understand any of the things that pertain explicitly to God.

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."   And we delve here into yet another tremendous mystery, that of the Cross.  Moses lifted up an image of a serpent in order to cure the Israelites from the deadly bites of poisonous snakes (Numbers 21:4-9).  Here Jesus indicates that this particular miracle-working image prefigured His being lifted up on the Cross.  My study bible tells us that as believers behold the crucified Christ in faith, so the power of death is overthrown in them.  It says that just as the image of a serpent was the weapon that destroyed the power of the serpents, so the instrument of Jesus' death becomes the weapon that overthrows death itself.

The misunderstandings we encounter in John's Gospel are highly significant.  They highlight the power of language at work not only in the Gospels but throughout the text of all the Scriptures.  In like ways, the earliest Church Fathers would come to see the entire text of the Old Testament as prefiguring or expressing (through "Types") the truths, works, and Person of Christ.  All of this gives us an understanding of the fulfillment of the Old Testament through the New, and through the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.  It is once again a testimony to the importance of how language works in us and in our lives, and its qualities of inter-connectedness for our understanding and enrichment, and the depth of spiritual life that grows through time.  Language, indeed, gives us a sense of relationship, so crucial to the communion within the Kingdom.  Meanings themselves become ties of participation within the life of the Church and of all those who live in Him, even tying us to the life of the Church and communion of the saints to come.  Today's passage illustrates the perspective given through John's Gospel, that life within this faith in Christ, and participation within the Kingdom, is not a "one time only" acknowledgment.  It is, instead, a continuum.  We are headed somewhere.  That is, the fullness of perfection is in a particular reality or realization of life, that of union with Christ.  We are either headed toward this place, or we may get caught up in things that distract us from this place.  And (typically) paradoxically, even those things that are meant to distract us from this fullness of being and realization of who we are in Him also work -- with God's help -- to spur us to that place and that fullness.  The Cross is the prime example of this fact of our faith and our true realization of identity in this place of Christ's life.  It is "a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greeks," as St. Paul writes.  There is no doubt that both the demonic and human forces who wanted Jesus dead were not attempting to help His followers in their faith!  But the Cross is the instrument of salvation.  It is the prime witness to Christ's work and life in the world, and to His message to us to follow Him.  And once again paradoxically, this "stumbling block" and "foolishness" also becomes a symbol that works in all levels within us, giving us a way to grasp our faith regardless of our present understanding or level of spiritual depth.  We are reminded as well that this is the way the text works, giving us infinite levels of access as well as infinite returns to find more there for us.  What that means is that each believer, regardless of background or level of education, regardless of sophistication or cultural initiation or depth of learning, has access to these realities and their profound mysteries that they signal.  Each works as a "sign" and they are meant for all of us.  Let us remember that it was twelve relatively uneducated and unsophisticated men who would bring the message to the world, and that it is the Spirit that truly quickens and brings all these things to mind -- that continues to work with the text, with the images and "types" we've been given, in order to help the whole of the Church, our communities, as well as each one of us, not only to come to this place of faith, but to work with us each moment of our journey.  The rich texture of our faith is hidden in plain sight in all of its manifestations, its services and hymns, its Scriptures, its inspired Tradition, its saints and prayers, and in the revelations we're given through Christ and the works of the Spirit in the world.  It is all meant for all the world through Christ.  This is where salvation really is, within this door given to us, by Whom everything is tied together.  We begin with Nicodemus today, and how Jesus questions that even a teacher of Israel cannot immediately grasp what He has to teach.  So we all start, and learn, and grow.  We are all on our way, even with the detours, to the place He has for each, and for all.