Whoever believes: a reflection

Posted on March 13, 2015 by Friar Musings

A Reflection from Gail O’Day [554-56]

In interpreting John 3:1–21, then, it is not enough to say on the basis of the discourse in vv. 11–21, for example, that this text is about faith, decision, and judgment, because that way of interpreting diminishes the full impact of the text. One needs the preceding dialogue, with Nicodemus’s misunderstanding and Jesus’ repeated offer of new images, to understand what the words of vv. 11–21 are really saying. The interpreter must attend to how John tells this story of Jesus and Nicodemus, how he moves the reader through the give and take between the two characters and thus affords the reader the chance to understand what Nicodemus can only misunderstand. Because the reader has participated in the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus, the words in vv. 11–21 are heard with more immediacy. Moreover, the reader has read the Prologue and attended to the witness of John, so that he or she has a wider theological context in which to place those words. Continue reading →

Whoever believes: living the truth

Posted on March 12, 2015 by Friar Musings

¹⁹And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. ²⁰For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. ²¹But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God. These three verses portray this intricate balance between judgment and decision in the metaphorical language of light and darkness. This language recalls the language and imagery of the Prologue (1:5, 9-10). To love darkness more than light is the same as not believing, and it results in judgment (v. 19). Continue reading →

Whoever believes: given

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Friar Musings

Given. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. Verse 16 provides the link between the two parts of the discourse. It sums up vv. 14-15 by reiterating the salvific dimensions of Jesus’ death, but moves the argument forward with its reference to God’s love. God gave Jesus to the world because God loves the world. Continue reading →

Whoever believes: lifted up

Posted on March 10, 2015 by Friar Musings

Lifted up to Eternal Life. This section of the Gospel concludes with an impressive statement of the purpose of the death of Jesus. Jesus recalls the incident wherein, when fiery serpents bit the Israelites, Moses was told to make a snake of bronze and set it on a pole (Num. 21). Whoever looked at the bronze snake was healed. And, just as that snake was “lifted up” in the wilderness, so, Jesus says, “so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” Continue reading →

Whoever believes: context

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Friar Musings

¹⁴And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” ¹⁶For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. ²⁰For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. ²¹But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God. Continue reading →

Overturning tables

Posted on March 8, 2015 by Friar Musings

During Lent, as you might expect, we have more and more folks coming to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This past Friday we had three priests hearing confessions before the daily noontime Mass. Many folks carried with them one of the various Examinations of Conscience, most are based on the 10 Commandments – something we heard about in the first reading today. I wonder if our gospel might be a better model for examining our lives especially in this Lenten season. Continue reading →

Belonging Renewed

Posted on March 7, 2015 by Friar Musings

I want to renew and continue the conversation we began about belonging in this column space from the beginning of this year. There has been lots of feedback about it — it seems to have struck a deep cord with people. In a previous column I wrote, “The creation of that good soil church begins when each one here begins a conversation with, ‘Hello, my name is….’ and continues each week as the conversation grows, bearing fruit, when someone suggests, ‘You know what we should do?’ Then in the doing, faith grows, purpose becomes clearer, prayer comes more naturally, forgiveness more easily.” Since then, it seems to me, that people are a bit more engaging with people around them, there are some new “pew communities” forming, and people are beginning to ask about the welfare of folks when they are missing from Mass. All signs of the beginning of a deeper belonging. Continue reading →

Cleansing the house: clarity

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Friar Musings

Clarity. ²¹But he was speaking about the temple of his body. ²²Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.

Verse 21 makes the second level of meaning of Jesus’ words is now made explicit. The Evangelist tells the reader that Jesus speaks of “the temple of his body.” Since for Judaism the Temple is the locus of God’s presence on earth, v. 21 suggests that Jesus’ body is now the locus of God. Verse 21 recalls 1:51 where the Son of Man replaces Jacob’s ladder as the locus of God’s interaction with the world. Continue reading →

Cleansing the house: misunderstanding

Posted on March 4, 2015 by Friar Musings

Which Temple? ¹⁷His disciples recalled the words of scripture, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” In v. 17, the focus shifts to the disciples and their recollection of these events. They are interpretive witnesses (see v. 22). John, like many other NT writes sees Psalm 69:10 as pointing to Jesus’ death (e.g., Matt 27:34, 48; Mark 15:23, 36; John 19:28; Rom 15:3). Verse 17 alters Ps 69:10 slightly, however, and that alteration is theologically significant. In the Hebrew and Greek versions of Ps 69:10, the verb “consume” refers to past events, but in the disciples’ recollection of the verse, the verb is translated as a future tense (“will consume me”). Psalm 69:10 thus functions as a prophecy of the time when Jesus will be consumed—that is, his crucifixion. This use of Ps 69:10 gives the temple cleansing a christological emphasis. In the synoptic Gospels, the OT quotations draw attention to the Temple, but Ps 69:9 fixes the reader’s attention on Jesus. John’s temple story is ultimately about Jesus’ fate, not the Temple’s. Continue reading →

Willing to hear

Posted on March 3, 2015 by Friar Musings

One of the things that challenge scripture scholars is where to put the punctuation. The Greek and Hebrew manuscripts don’t include such things. Consider a part of the first reading for Tuesday, March 3rd.

Though your sins be like scarlet,
they may become white as snow;
Though they be crimson red,
they may become white as wool.
If you are willing, and obey,
you shall eat the good things of the land (Is 1:18-19) Continue reading →

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Monthly Archives: March 2015