Jesus then said, "I will be with you a little while longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will search for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come."
... to me, this means Jesus had a good idea that he would soon be arrested and executed - he knew that then he would go to be with the father. The line about searching but not finding ... I don't understand that but maybe it refers to the time between Jesus' death and his resurrection, when he was "dead" and unfindable? Where was he during that time?
It also makes me think of that mysterious time period between Jesus' resurrection and his ascension ... he hung around quite a bit, "seeking and finding" the dispirited disciples, who oddly didn't at first recognise him, and jollying them up.
The Jews said to one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What does he mean by saying, 'You will search for me and you will not find me' and 'Where I am, you cannot come'?"
... once again this is an instance of people misunderstanding what Jesus has said, in John. Another point, somewhere I read a commentary that pointed out that the "Jews" never ask Jesus these questions directly but only talk about the issues among themselves, thus never getting any answers. This reminds me of Meredith's post about the difference between bible study and prayer/conversing with/being with God.
February 27, 2005
Christ and Us/David on John 7:32-36
The scriptures seems to contradict each other on this crucial (going-to-the-cross) issue. Christ Jesus is the only begotten son of God. But we are all called to be children of God. Where he goes we cannot come. But we are called to take up our crosses and follow him.
There are ways of resolving this (perhaps apparent) contradiction. Like the conservatives we can emphasize the divinity of Christ and place our own divinity in brackets as it were and off to the side. Like liberals we can emphasize the divinity of us all and affirm that we are children of God just like Jesus.
Or can emphasize the humanity of both Jesus and us. We can see the differing statements as differing voices within the early church. Affirm the diversity of beliefs. Relativize both the claims of Jesus' sonship and our own.
We can try to reconcile the two. Do some philosophical metaphysics. Jesus: child of God by nature and us: children by calling. Birth vs. adoption. And the metaphors in scripture support this one too.
Maybe none of these work for very long. Maybe I need Christ to be God on Sunday morning so I can be more godly on Monday. Maybe I need to hold all these possibilities inside myself in creative tension.
Sometimes there are no answers.
There are ways of resolving this (perhaps apparent) contradiction. Like the conservatives we can emphasize the divinity of Christ and place our own divinity in brackets as it were and off to the side. Like liberals we can emphasize the divinity of us all and affirm that we are children of God just like Jesus.
Or can emphasize the humanity of both Jesus and us. We can see the differing statements as differing voices within the early church. Affirm the diversity of beliefs. Relativize both the claims of Jesus' sonship and our own.
We can try to reconcile the two. Do some philosophical metaphysics. Jesus: child of God by nature and us: children by calling. Birth vs. adoption. And the metaphors in scripture support this one too.
Maybe none of these work for very long. Maybe I need Christ to be God on Sunday morning so I can be more godly on Monday. Maybe I need to hold all these possibilities inside myself in creative tension.
Sometimes there are no answers.
Where I Go You Cannot Follow (John 7:32-36)
The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering such things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent temple police to arrest him.
Jesus then said, "I will be with you a little while longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will search for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come."
The Jews said to one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What does he mean by saying, 'You will search for me and you will not find me' and 'Where I am, you cannot come'?" (NRSV)
The Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him; and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him.
Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent me. Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come.
Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles? What manner of saying is this that he said, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come? (KJV - AV1611)
February 24, 2005
Could This Be the Christ?
Now some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, "Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, but they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah? Yet we know where this man is from; but when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from."
Then Jesus cried out as he was teaching in the temple, "You know me, and you know where I am from. I have not come on my own. But the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me."
Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come. Yet many in the crowd believed in him and were saying, "When the Messiah comes, will he do more signs than this man has done?"
Then Jesus cried out as he was teaching in the temple, "You know me, and you know where I am from. I have not come on my own. But the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me."
Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come. Yet many in the crowd believed in him and were saying, "When the Messiah comes, will he do more signs than this man has done?"
February 23, 2005
Jesus Teaches at the Temple
(John 7:18) He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.
I, too, was stuck by the fact that Jesus said his teaching was not his own - it came from God. Thus he was speaking from a deep inner knowing, and, though he knew scripture, he did not use it to justify his knowing God or for speaking for God. Jesus was not teaching from a need to be calling attention to himself, but rather from a deep spiritual calling to speak from that of God within him. At this point he is speaking from his truest self - "nothing false about him." It wasn't all about him, or as we sometimes joke, "It isn't all about you."
I have loved reading and contemplating these scriptures with you, my friends on this blog. However, for me, while this study of scripture is illuminating and inspirational, I do not sense that scripture study places me in closer connection with God. Spending time in silence, deep listening, quieting myself so that "I" seem to disappear - that is when God feels most present to me. When I am moved to speak about God, I notice again that "I" recedes, and only the message remains. Messages from God seem to have a special energy, a vibration and a certain truth that rings clear.
I, too, was stuck by the fact that Jesus said his teaching was not his own - it came from God. Thus he was speaking from a deep inner knowing, and, though he knew scripture, he did not use it to justify his knowing God or for speaking for God. Jesus was not teaching from a need to be calling attention to himself, but rather from a deep spiritual calling to speak from that of God within him. At this point he is speaking from his truest self - "nothing false about him." It wasn't all about him, or as we sometimes joke, "It isn't all about you."
I have loved reading and contemplating these scriptures with you, my friends on this blog. However, for me, while this study of scripture is illuminating and inspirational, I do not sense that scripture study places me in closer connection with God. Spending time in silence, deep listening, quieting myself so that "I" seem to disappear - that is when God feels most present to me. When I am moved to speak about God, I notice again that "I" recedes, and only the message remains. Messages from God seem to have a special energy, a vibration and a certain truth that rings clear.
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