There are some conversations we are not meant to overhear: a whispered exchange in a hospital hallway, a late-night phone call, a prayer murmured at a bedside. And yet sometimes, by accident or by grace, we do overhear something. And what we hear changes us, because in hearing it we discover what someone truly carries […]
“I will not leave you orphaned,” Jesus says. “I am coming to you.” It is one of the tenderest promises in John’s Gospel. And it comes at a moment when tenderness is desperately needed. Jesus is speaking to his friends on the night before he dies. The table has been shared. Feet have been washed. […]
“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” It is one of the most beloved promises in John’s Gospel. It is also one of the most easily misunderstood. Abundant life. The words sound generous, full, and inviting. And yet in a culture like ours, it is almost impossible to hear “abundance” without […]
“So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me.” John 10:24-25 Our Gospel reading for […]
Because very few of us regularly sit down and read entire books of the Bible from start to finish in one or just a few readings, we don’t often think about why the author of a particular book put a story where it is in the narrative. For example, Matthew says that Jesus’ first public […]
I’ve confessed from this pulpit before that the Gospel of John has never been my favorite of the four Gospels. Mostly this is because the Jesus portrayed in John’s Gospel is just too certain for me. He is too all-knowing to be convincingly human. For this life-long Episcopalian, the incarnation of Jesus, that he was […]
I have a complicated relationship with the Gospel of John. The Jesus portrayed in this Gospel is my least favorite. He talks a lot, a whole lot. He goes on and on for pages and pages talking about himself, often repeating the same idea over and over again. And this always speaking Jesus doesn’t do […]