Jesus and John the Baptist

I'm back but sleep deprived and have miles to go before I sleep. I'll check in later and try to catch up.

22 After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he spent some time there with them and baptized.

23 John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim because water was abundant there; and people kept coming and were being baptized

24 -- John, of course, had not yet been thrown into prison.

25 Now a discussion about purification arose between John's disciples and a Jew.

26 They came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you testified, here he is baptizing, and all are going to him."

27 John answered, "No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven.

28 You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, 'I am not the Messiah, but I have been sent ahead of him.'

29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled.

30 He must increase, but I must decrease."

Marjorie on Nicodemus

As an initial matter, I just want to say that I love Nicodemus. I completely relate to his constantly asking 'how can this be?', his being grounded and trapped in the literal and completely misunderstanding the metaphorical. He strikes me as earnest and confused. Perhaps he also appeals to me because he does not leave the comfortable position of a Pharisee to become a disciple. Is he a coward? Perhaps. Is he simply uncertain of who Jesus is and what Nicodemus's path is to be? Nicodemus is very real to me.

The serpent testimony is very interesting (3:14). I tend to blow by it, remembering the passage in Numbers 21:9 but not thinking more of it -- snakes killing Israelites, God tells Moses to make a bronze serpent that will heal those who have been bitten so that they do not die. Easy, right -- believe in the power of the serpent and be saved, believe in Jesus and be saved. Now I see deeper links. Nicodemus seems to be wondering why he is supposed to believe in Jesus, why does God complicate matters? Jesus points out that God did not simply take away the snakes of Numbers, but He did give Moses directions on how the people could save themselves. The Numbers passage is very interesting because it seems to implicate God in promoting idolatry. Very much like believing in Jesus.

Lets go a bit further back in the Numbers account. The Israelites were complaining as they wandered in the desert. They had recently learned that the older generation would not be going into Canaan because of their lack of faith that they would be able to oust the current occupants. These people had seen amazing works by God and Moses as empowered by God and yet they still feared. Their punishment was that they would not get to the Promised Land. God would continue to provide their basic needs, but they would not gain entrance to Canaan. It was reading the Pentatuch (the five books of Moses from Exodus through Deuteronomy) that I realized how amazing the Bible is. Not only did I read of the impatience of the Israelites, I felt it -- gee, God, why don't you just get these people what you promised them now? On the other side, I grew tired of the Israelites' grumblings and could understand God's outrage and sorrow. How tiresome it all is. How is this different from our lives? The trust and belief, the insecurity and fear, the punishment (which simply might be the effects we see in our lives because of our actions or inactions based on fear and insecurity), the offer of redemption, the acceptance of redemption, the continuation of this cycle.

Anyway, in Numbers, the Israelites again complain of their lot in life and complain about God and Moses -- why have you done this to us, they ask. The Lord then sent fiery serpents among the people who bit them and many died. The Israelites realize their sin, ask Moses to intercede, which he does, and thus the direction that Moses make the bronze serpent. "[I]f a serpent bit any man, he would look at the bronze serpent and live." There is no requirement that the people believe in the serpent, merely that they obey the Lord's command of what to do in certain circumstances.

Finally, this passage ends with a discourse on light and darkness -- this was especially meaningful to me when I took the study. At the time, we were facing issues in my extended family regarding an estranged member. There was a lot of confusion and incomplete information and a lot of allusion but no real facts. This passage spoke to me because I knew there were lies because nothing was clear -- this person was hiding out in the darkness. It inspired me to communicate with the other members of my family just to get out into the open that this confusion existed and that it was on purpose and to unify the family -- not against the estranged member, but in understanding of what was going on. It did result in a unification and a refusal to be drawn into a drama that wasn't entirely real.

I love the idea that in the light, there is nothing to fear. Jesus is that light and we are part of it when we choose to be. Isn't it wonderful to have that choice?

Meredith: Nicodemus

Nicodemus was searching, and believed Jesus had answers. In this respect, Nicodemus was ‘in the dark’ so to speak, even though he was himself educated (“You are Israel’s teacher”). Nicodemus comes personally with an open mind and heart.

When Jesus speaks of being born again, this was a concept Nicodemus didn’t understand. Jesus tells him that the kingdom is personal, not national or ethnic, and to enter requires spiritual rebirth.

When Jesus mentions water and spirit, this seems to refer to the contrast between physical birth and spiritual birth. Water also represents cleansing, though Jesus is clear that people do not enter the kingdom by living a better life, but by being spiritually reborn.

Just a reflection here – bear with me and my tangents…(smile). Enlightenment is a metaphor about a mystical way of being religious. Outside the Jewish and Christian traditions, the best known enlightenment experience is described by the Buddha. Enlightenment leads one to see everything differently. It is not an intellectual experience of ‘seeing’. It is a spiritual experience involving communion or union with what is, an immediate knowing of the sacred that transforms one’s way of seeing.

In Nicodemus, illumination (like enlightenment) is a central metaphor for salvation. To have one’s eyes opened, to be enlightened, is to move from the darkness to light, from death to life, from falsehood to truth, from life in the flesh to life in the Spirit. It is to be born from above or from the Spirit.

This language of enlightenment is an emphasis on knowing God. This knowing is the meaning of “eternal life” – which is not a future state beyond death but an experience in the present. “This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God.” For John, enlightenment experience is knowing God in Jesus. This knowing is beyond sickness, enemy, evil, sin or death.

John 3:16… This verse focuses on God’s love, which is not static or self centered; it reaches out and draws others in. This is the pattern of true love, the basis of all love relationships. When you love someone dearly, you are willing to sacrifice, give self-sacrifice.

John 3:19… Living in the Light is having one’s dark exposed – a frightening thought to some. With honesty, with naked truth, and exposure of one’s true self, an enlightened person lives by the truth which reveals yet more light. In this light, we see “plainly…”.

John 1:35-51 examined by Meredith

The part of this text that certainly picks up my attention is the question and answer, “What do you want?” The disciples respond by asking, “Where are you staying?” to which Jesus replies, “Come and you will see.” To me this suggests that in following Jesus, we will see exactly where he dwells. This same invitation could be offered to anyone seeking on the path. For example, Philip extends this same invitation to Nathanael. “Come and see.”

I love that when Jesus sees Nathanael, and knows him, Nathaneal was curious about how that could be true. Jesus recognized in Nathaneal his true self, “in whom there is nothing false.” It is our true selves that are most visible to God, even though we may try to hide behind a façade.

Last, 1:51 references Jacob’s dream in Genesis. Jesus, (metaphorically) is a ladder between heaven and earth. Jesus is not saying that this would be a physical experience – that anyone could see the ladder – but that they would have spiritual insight into Jesus’ true nature and purpose. I love that he says “you shall see heaven open, and angels of God ascending and descending” which to me means that heaven and earth are united.

Check-in

I won't be logging in here again probably until Tuesday. It will be interesting how folks responding to Nicodemus when I get back.