Uniquely John

     In January of 2022, as we began to peruse the available Lenten devotionals, Jennifer Firth suggested that instead of buying a Lenten devotional for the parish that we might create our own.  At Christ Church, Ballston Spa, the Saint Agnes Chapter of the Daughters of the King had initiated such a project to great success. Why not here?

     This inspiration grew into our successful and popular Uniquely Luke, Uniquely Matthew, and Uniquely Mark and John devotionals, written by the parishioners of Saint John's for one another.  Based on passages that are found only in these respective gospels, our reflections have enabled us to better understand the contributions that each gospel writer has made to our understanding of Jesus.

     Parishioners have shared thoughtful, scholarly, personal, or creative responses to their chosen passages of Scripture, occasionally submitting poems and collages as well as prose.  We found that it was much more engaging to read the reflections written by one another than to read something written by a professional writer we did not know, and that we drew closer together because of it.  Sometimes a writer would receive a call or get stopped at coffee hour and learn how much a fellow parishioner had enjoyed or been helped by their reflection.  We engaged with Scripture, and we engaged with one another.

     Because Matthew and Luke borrow so heavily from Mark's short gospel, last year we could not fill a whole devotional with passages that are unique to Mark.  We therefore started to reflect on the unique materials of John as well.  And there is plenty of that!  90% of John's Gospel is unique to this gospel, and so there is ample material to fill this
year's devotional.

     John affirms the divinity of Jesus from the opening eloquent prologue to the last verse.  God first introduces himself to Israel as "I am," (Genesis 3:7-8 and 13-14), and this gospel includes seven of Jesus's I AM statements, which link him to God's divinity: I am the Bread of Life (John 6:35); I am the Light of the World (John 8:12); I am the Door (John 10:9); I am the Good Shepherd (John 10:11,14); I am the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25); I am the Way and the Truth and the Life (John 14:6); I am the Vine (John 15:1,5).  This gospel includes prolonged conversations (as with the woman at the well and Nicodemus) and long discourses from Jesus.  It reports on miracles less for their own sake but as signs that Jesus is the Messiah. Indeed, chapters 2 thru 11 have been called the "book of signs." Chapters 12-19, which focus on Christ's Passion, have been called the "book of glory" because this is how John understands the suffering and death of Jesus.  And the tender resurrection narratives express the characteristic
intimacy of this gospel and invite the reader into intimacy with God as well.

     If you were to hand someone a copy of one of the gospels, which one would you choose? The Pocket Testament League, which spreads the Gospel by handing out "pocket testaments" throughout the world, has chosen the Gospel of John.  And here is why: It begins with a grounding philosophical statement, it is written so that we might encounter Jesus and see ourselves more clearly, and the themes of this gospel open the reader to the themes of the entire Bible.

     Biblical Commentator Bruce Milne writes of John's gospel: "The impact on the history of the world of John's twenty-one brief chapters is in the end incalculable.  They comprise a moral and spiritual potency which over the centuries has transformed communities, toppled kingdoms, liberated multitudes, and remade human character on a scale without parallel in the accumulated literature of the ages.  In the paragraphs of John's gospel, the living Lord Jesus Christ is met in his glory and grace, his majesty and tenderness, and his presence can be experienced as a perceptible reality in your life."

     This year, we welcome to our writers from around the diocese Bishop Jeremiah and Pastor Jen Williamson and Gabriella Makuc who join Cathedral Dean Leander Harding, Deacons Bill and Sandy Tatem, and Tammy Boyd. And we welcome several new writers from the parish.  We think this is an especially potent devotional this year.

     And so, as we explore together the parables, incidents and discourses that are unique to John, may we each be uniquely blessed.

Mother Judith and Jennifer Firth