June 6, 2025
Good evening,
” Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.” John 2:23-25
There are four Gospels. Four biographies of life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, and so much more. The early church ( around 375 AD ) selected these four stories as authoritative of the life of Jesus, our Lord and Saviour .They did not have concerns that these four different writers might focus on different aspects of the gospel story. Matthew and Luke tell different parts of the birth narrative, while Mark and John do not say anything at all about Bethlehem. All the gospels have slightly different resurrection stories. What does it mean for the church and its belief system that we have such a diverse set of stories ?
Matthew, Mark and Luke are similar. John is very different. When thinking about a story to guide me in my faith these next years, someone mentioned the Gospel of John because it is so different. In the text above John writes about the Passover. In the other three Gospels Jesus only goes to Jerusalem at the end of his life to celebrate Passover. In John he goes already in chapter 2. The Jesus we find in John tells no parables, but has seven sayings of ” I am “. This paints a diverse picture of Jesus. The above text says that Jesus does not trust humanity. What does that mean for us ?
In the church we are always trying to define what we believe in more narrow terms rather than having a wide expanse of belief. The gospels give us a way to include everyone. We should be committed to the church, and then discuss issues with the understanding that we are committed to each other. In the Anabaptist tradition we have been quick to leave each other behind, if we have a theological disagreement, rather than be in the right relationship with each other. We have to trust each other and the Spirit of the Gospels.
Salaam and strength for our journeys of life and faith
Fred
black and white shadows
crush humanity’s freedom
am I complicit ? MPL 2025
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Ponder Anew 