John 1:(1-9), 10-18 — January 3, 2021 |
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If John’s majestic prologue is a summary of the whole Gospel, verse 12 is its synopsis of discipleship: “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.” |
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I find two aspects of this verse particularly striking: John’s understanding of “believing” and of “power to become the children of God.” As for the first, it is well worth noting that John never uses the noun “faith” or “belief” (pistis in Greek), but always and only the verb “to believe” (pisteuein) — a whopping 98 times. Thus faith is always an active matter that entails personal involvement with and allegiance to Jesus, trust and intimacy. As Robert Kysar puts it in “John, the Maverick Gospel,” faith is not something that one has; rather, “faith as a verb means that believing is a decision made once only to have to be made over and over again, or a gift accepted not once but again and again. Faith is a continuing dynamic, not a state of being.”
This dynamic is also captured in a grammatical penchant unique to the fourth Gospel, surfacing 36 times (as in John 1:12): a tendency to speak (translating literally) of “believing into Jesus” (utilizing the Greek preposition eis). In common parlance, when we speak of being “into” something or someone, we imply commitment, investment, passion. This is the kind of faith/believing of which John speaks. It involves deep personal engagement with and allegiance to Jesus, entailing trust and intimacy. As we enter ever more deeply into relationship with him, we enter into the communion that he shares with God, thereby participating in the very life of God. So in the Gospel of John, discipleship entails not only “following” but also “abiding” with Jesus — another key concept central to the life of discipleship. As Jesus says in John 15:4, “Abide in me as I abide in you.” Abiding entails stick-to-it-iveness — it means remaining, staying, “hanging out” with Jesus, taking up residence with him, observing and sharing his life.
On a hiking vacation in the Grand Tetons, my wife and I had a memorable encounter with a bull moose that captured, metaphorically at least, a bit of the dynamic, active, abiding nature of discipleship – the “becoming” children of God – of which John speaks. To rest weary legs, we took a day off for a raft tour down the Snake River. Along the way, our guide noticed an enormous bull moose sitting in the high grass on the banks of the river, chewing the cud — chewing partially-digested food. The guide explained that after eating so many leaves and twigs, a moose will sit down and munch on it for a long while, absorbing the nutrients into its digestive system. It was an amazing sight — and even more amazing was the sound, as that moose was quite audibly chomping!
It brought to mind words of Jesus in John 6:56 – “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them” – for John uses graphic language of eating that entails active (even audible) chomping, gnawing, munching and crunching, much like an animal chews the cud. The eucharistic implications are unmistakable and are a means by which we abide in Jesus and share his life, for as theologian Norman Wirzba has noted in “Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating,” the idea of “eating Jesus” means taking his life inside of us, making it part of us, so that it transforms us from within. It involves coming “under the influence of his instruction and his way of being in the world. It is to submit to and let one’s own life be guided by the concerns and priorities that define him.” Discipleship is about absorbing (indeed, digesting) a way of life. It thus requires attentiveness and time in Jesus’ company – “hanging out” with him, following him into the world, and also into the heart of God, where he abides (John 1:18).
The second thing I would flag for attention in John 1:12 is that the active, dynamic, abiding process of “believing” in(to) Jesus also entails “power”: “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.” I find it striking that John uses the word “power” (exousia in Greek) in conjunction with becoming children of God — a word that could also (and often is) translated as “authority.” Many people prefer this translation, finding “power” language a stumbling block. Indeed, in the practice of community organizing, we talk a lot about “power,” and over the years I have noticed that church folk often object to any positive use of the term. The reason often given is that they have seen too much abuse of power — so much so that abuse and power seem almost synonymous. However, community organizing teaches a positive use of power, in the sense of “power with others” (rather than over others) — in other words, a relational power. Relational power is not only the ability to resist injustice and violence, but also the means to achieve a common good or goal by working together. Thus I appreciate John’s association of power with the process of becoming the children of God. In John’s view, becoming children of God brings to life a new relationship with God in Christ and with each other, as brothers and sisters in Christ (John 1:12; 20:17). And these new relationships do involve power — the relational power of mutual love articulated in the love commandment, so central to John’s understanding of discipleship and the life of the church.
Some may wonder whether “love” can be commanded — especially Westerners who tend to associate the language of love with feelings. We may need reminding that in the biblical perspective, love is not something you feel, but something you do. Love entails acting on behalf of the well-being of another (sometimes despite how you feel) — thus it can be commanded. Over time, one’s feelings may catch up with one’s actions, but acting on behalf of the well-being of others, over and over, is a good definition of what it means to become God’s own children, by the power of God at work in our lives.
In sum, on the second Sunday of Christmas, John 1 provides rich food for thought about the gift of the incarnate Word and the new possibilities it opens up in our lives: “to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.” By believing “into” him, abiding in his presence and absorbing his life, we are ever in the process of being formed by the power of the Spirit to become the God’s own children — for one another and for our world.
This week: - What do you think of the notion of “believing” as a verb — of faith as a dynamic process of becoming intimate with Jesus and sharing his life? Of being “into” him?
- What are some of the practical ways in which we “hang out” with Jesus, abide or remain in his presence, thereby entering more deeply into relationship with him and the very life of God?
- What does the language of “eating Jesus,” of taking his life into your own, contribute to your reflection on eucharistic practice?
- Do you prefer the language of “power” or “authority” in John 1:12? Why?
- What do you think of the connection in John 1:12 between power and becoming children of God?
- What do you think of the biblical understanding of love as something you do (rather than something you feel)? What role does love play in your understanding of what it means for us to be children of God?
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| John Rutter's new choral piece, “Joseph’s Carol,” was released Dec. 18. Rob Hoch considers how it commemorates the work of the Oxford scientists who designed a vaccine for COVID-19 and the messages of such hymns for these times.
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Expecting during the unexpected |
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