John 20:18-31

In the gospel of John we read that the risen Christ breathed upon his disciples and said: "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven."

In the gospel of John, Mary of Magdala goes alone to the tomb of Jesus and, finding it empty, runs away and brings back with her Peter and another disciple. After the men confirm that the body of Jesus is not in the tomb, Mary is left alone once more. She sees a person she thinks is a gardener, but when the figure speaks to her she realizes it is Jesus. That evening, the gospel of John relates, Jesus appears to some of his disciples and then eight days later returns to them when Thomas is also with them.

This witness of the gospel of John is not confirmed in any of the other gospels of the New Testament. The gospels of Matthew and Luke report other resurrection appearances, but the facts are quite different. (The earliest versions of the gospel of Mark only promise a resurrection experience in Galilee but do not describe it.) How could factual accounts be so diverse? The gospel accounts are not relating historical facts, but represent the faith of the early Christian church in the resurrection of Jesus. The community for which the gospel of John was written affirms that the risen Christ has forgiven sins, because this is their experience. The resurrection is proven for them by the forgiveness they have known. The forgiveness is real, and this fact is expressed as faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Grace and peace . . . Bob

John 17:1-11

In the gospel of John, Jesus prays to his Father for his disciples, saying: "Keep those you have given me true to your name, so that they may be one as we are one."

In the gospel of John, Jesus does not go into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray before his arrest, and he does not ask whether the cup of suffering might be taken from him. Instead, he prays confidently to his Father for his disciples. In words without any parallel in the other three gospels of the New Testament, Jesus prays for the consummation of his purpose on earth as the Christ. This is the affirmation of the Christian community of faith for which the gospel of John was written.

Anyone who reads the gospels of the New Testament can see that the first three have much in common, whereas the fourth gospel is very different. Of course, this does not mean that the first three gospels are historical and the fourth is not. The differences among the first three gospels, as well as the greater differences between them and the fourth gospel, imply that each gospel was written to express the faith of its author and his community. The gospels witness to the understanding of different congregations of Christians, and their contrasts tell us a great deal about the faith (and the diversity of belief) in the first century church.

Grace and peace . . . Bob

Romans 15:1-6

May the God of perseverance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves following the example of Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and one voice you may glorify God.

Paul struggles to achieve support for his teachings in Rome and elsewhere. His difficulties remind us that in the first few decades after the church began there was considerable conflict. The first church was not at all united, as we see in Galatians 2 and elsewhere. Paul argues that diversity can exist within the body of Christ, the church, but his teaching is also a cause of division. He blames the conflicts in the church on those who oppose him, but Paul's opponents must have blamed Paul. And who Paul's opponents? The former disciples of Jesus, the apostles in Jerusalem who, we learn in Galatians 2 and in the second half of Acts, are led by James, the brother of Jesus.

The apostles in Jerusalem seem to believe that some if not all of the commandments of Jewish law are to be kept within the church. As they knew Jesus during his lifetime, it is hard to believe that the historical Jesus set aside the Jewish law as Paul claims the risen Christ does. Paul never knew the historical Jesus, but he acknowledges that both he and the former disciples know the risen Lord. Why then do they differ? Paul was a Greek-speaking Jew from a Roman city, whereas the disciples of Jesus were Aramaic-speaking Jews from Galilee. Perhaps their experience of the risen Christ was different, because their lives were so different.

Grace and peace . . . Bob

Deuteronomy 30:15-30

Choose life: loving the LORD your God, listening to the LORD's voice, holding fast to him - for in this your life consists.

Deuteronomy is probably the "book of the law" found in the temple that prompted the sweeping reforms instituted by Josiah, king of Judah, in 621 BCE (2 Kings 22-23). The book presents three addresses attributed to Moses, but it reports his death (which, of course, is evidence that he is not the author) and was probably written in order to justify Josiah's reforms.

In this passage the people of Israel are told that they have a choice: life and good, or death and evil. The choice of life lies in keeping the commandments of God. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus says his followers are to keep all the commandments of the Jewish law. (Mt. 5:17) This gospel reaffirms this teaching from Deuteronomy. Paul's letters, however, say that keeping Jewish law is not necessary, because "Christ is the end of the law (Romans 10:4). Paul calls on Christians to listen to the voice of God in the words of the risen Christ. Faith alone, Paul affirms, is saving.

Grace and peace . . . Bob

Philippians 1:27-30

Paul writes: "Stand firm, one in mind and spirit, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel."

Paul writes from prison to tell the Christians at Philippi that they are to be sure their manner of life is worthy of the gospel, for then all else will fall into place. As he is suffering, Paul warns that they, too, may suffer for their faith in Christ. But he encourages them to remain united in faith for the sake of their own salvation and also as a witness to others. We do not know what happened to the church at Philippi, but this letter from Paul was included in the canon of the New Testament three centuries after his death. And it has encouraged countless churches to remain united for the sake of the gospel.

Of course, Paul was involved in a great controversy among the early churches over the place of the Law of Moses within the life of the church. Paul argued that Jewish law had been replaced by Christ, but the church in Jerusalem held that at least some aspects of the law of Moses were to be enforced within the church. With the destruction of the temple and the devastation of Jerusalem in 70, when the Romans crushed the Jewish rebellion, the Gentile dominated churches that agreed with Paul gained the upper hand. The letters of Paul became part of the authorized scripture for churches in the Roman Empire, and in English translation this is the New Testament that we read today.

Grace and peace . . . Bob

Isaiah 61:1-4

The LORD sent me to comfort all who mourn, to clothe them in festive garments instead of despondency.

The prophet Isaiah, the son of Amoz, proclaimed his message to Judah and Jerusalem between 742 and 687 BCE, when the northern kingdom of Israel was divided from Judah in the south and was annexed to the Assyrian Empire. However, chapters 40-66 of the book likely come from the time of Cyrus of Persia (about 539 BCE), when those taken from Jerusalem to Babylon after the defeat of Judah are allowed by the conquering Persians to return home. Chapter 61 is full of good news, which the prophet says he is proclaiming because the Spirit of the LORD is upon him.

In the gospel of Luke, Jesus reads this section of Isaiah in the synagogue of Nazareth at the beginning of his ministry. (Lk. 4:16-20) He applies the words of the prophet to himself, claiming that under the guidance of the Spirit of God he is bringing good news to the poor. As the other gospels do not report this event, it may have been created by the author of the gospel of Luke to express the theology of his Christian community. The gospel of Luke (and the Acts of the Apostles written by the same author) proclaims that the Spirit empowering Jesus is God's instrument of healing in a suffering world.

Grace and peace . . . Bob

John 14:15-21

In the gospel of John, Jesus says: "I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor who will stay with you for ever - the Spirit of truth.

 
In the middle of his lengthy teaching to the disciples, just prior to his arrest, Jesus speaks of the Spirit of truth that will come from the Father to counsel and guide the disciples. This statement is not reported in any of the other New Testament gospels, so is it likely that the author composed it to convey the ongoing presence of Jesus among the faithful in the church. The author is testifying to the truth of the gospel revelation, as it was understood within his church. He saw signs of the Spirit within his community of faith, and so he testifies that this is evidence of the Spirit of God the Father.

The community for which this gospel was written celebrated the presence of Jesus in the sacrament of the eucharistic meal and affirmed that the Spirit of God spoke through those who were faithful and trusted in Jesus as the Christ. This reading offers Christians a sense of guidance, even in facing difficult and threatening circumstances. God is with us.  The Spirit of truth is in and among us.

Grace and peace . . . Bob Traer