John in July: Winnowed and Gathered Bread for the Winnowed and Gathered Community (Jn 11: 45 – 57)

On my first visit to the Holy Land, I often found myself wanting to linger over sites after the tour guide moved on. One time, after the guide showed us how ancient farmers would winnow grain, I succumbed to my desire and let the guide move on to the next site so that I could […]

John in July: Our Anger and God’s Sympathetic Tears (Jn 11:1-44)

Jewish author and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel once wrote, “I have not lost faith in God. I have moments of anger and protest. Sometimes I’ve been closer to him for that reason.” In Jewish spirituality, there is a freedom to question and even accuse God for the suffering in one’s life and in one’s world. […]

John in July: God’s Response to the Question of Suffering (Jn 9 -10)

This last week I sat in on a class taught by the Right Reverend John Shelby Spong or “Jack” as he prefers being called (pictured on the right). He taught on the subject of his recently published book The Fourth Gospel: Tales of a Jewish Mystic and invited the students to write a paper on a passage in John using one of […]

John in July: The Devil and Daniel… (Jn 8)

The Devil and the Daniels Chapter 8 of John includes one of the most beloved stories in all the Gospels as well as one of the most troubling. The former involves a woman caught in adultery and the latter involves Jesus and the Jews caught in a vitriolic debate. I want to approach this chapter […]

John in July: Failing to Nail God Down but Finding a Sermon and a Light (Jn 7)

Trying to Nail God Down The first chapter of John alludes to the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) (1:14), the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah) (1:5), and the Feast of the Passover (1:29, 36). These festivals show up throughout the Gospel in the following order: 1) Passover (2:13, 23): Jesus cleanses the temple 2) Unnamed Festival (4:45; […]

John in July: The Bread of the Self-Giving High Priests (Jn 6)

“If Our Lord seems to be asking something from me I can be sure He is offering Himself to me in that way” – Caryll Houselander (Essential Writings, 48) This last Pentecost, I preached at an Episcopal church in San Rafael and said, “At Pentecost, we celebrate the profligate outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon […]

John in July: Choosing Hygieia and Collaborating with the Creator (Jn 5)

Choosing Hygieia When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The first question Jesus asks in the Fourth Gospel is “What do you want? What are looking for?” Jesus asks this same question to the reader. […]

John in July: A Lonely Woman and a Royal Official (Jn 4)

A few days ago, a former Catholic priest who now considers himself a Catholic Episcopal Buddhist gave me a book on the essential writings of an English Catholic theologian named Caryll Houselander (1901 – 1954). After a quick dip into her life and wisdom, I have quickly grown to like her. She was a poet, […]

John in July: Snakes and the Green-Eyed Monster (Jn 3)

Snakes “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (3:14) In Numbers Chapter 21, the Israelites are frustrated and impatient, hungry and thirsty and fed up with their “miserable food.” On top of this, poisonous snakes show up and poison many Israelites to death […]

John in July: Wine, Dine and Psalm 69 (Jn 2)

Wine So far Jesus has been portrayed as the Logos (the divine mediator) cast out of the world, the Passover Lamb to be slaughtered and the target and victim of Nathanael’s prejudice. And we’ve only been through one chapter! Jesus seems to be taking it all in stride, all of the many manifestations of the […]