John 19:31-37
We have observed numerous times through reading John’s Gospel that the disciples were missing a grasp of who and what Jesus really was until he would rise again. What he said and did would fall into place, and even at that with the empowerment and understanding that the Holy Spirit would bring.
Here faith is realized through his death, without any reference toward what would yet come. It was enough for the one bearing testimony to the death that he saw in it the fulfillment of Scripture, and a conviction coming from simply being present at the scene, impressed especially by the flow of blood and water from Jesus’ side. This is both evidence of the reality of his death (so medical types tell me), and a built-in symbol of the life of the church he was giving birth to with his death: with water and blood becoming the central symbols of salvation, in the sacraments of baptism and eucharist. The poignant combination of hard reality and profoundly elegant symbolism – all in one horrible act – could only be the work and message of God himself.
Prayer:
God of both mystery and truth, I submit all that I consider real and important to your reality and your purposes. May it be so today and always. Through Jesus. Amen.
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1 comment:
I can see why they would lose grasp on who and what they were dealing with. They had miracles, and his physical presence to remind them, but certainly their minds must have wanted to lead them away from the mysterious and back to the safe explainable mundane. I start to feel like a nag, asking all the time "Keep being with me, keep filling me up, keep opening the way." But if I don't, it happens so quickly that I've lost the way and am empty and can't hardly remember what it is I'm wanting.
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