Conclusion
In Him Is Life, And That Life Is The Light Of Men
Now that you’ve read the seven signs and relived those moments in your imagination, hopefully, you have learned from those experiences. The signposts of St. John’s gospel are full of colorful backgrounds and living characters. If you took time to picture the scenes, get an understanding of the backstory, rehearse the events, and grasp their importance, you have certainly changed for the better. It took a bit of imagination, but the more you were able to recreate the events in your mind by picturing yourself as a spectator, or as one of the participants, the more those moments have impacted your beliefs.
Here you stand; you’ve observed the signposts along this journey of freedom. Have they brought Eternity into view? Our guidebook, the Gospel of St. John has recounted the stories of seven events referred to as ‘signs’. Signs give important instructions that we need to pay attention to. Signs stand out along the roadway and point us in the right direction. St. John revealed his purpose for writing about these ‘signs’ in the postscript of his book. While he acknowledges the difficulty of choosing from all the experiences he had first-hand knowledge of, he wants you to know that these stories were selected to help you believe that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”
But perhaps you still feel that Jesus’ apostles had an advantage. In another letter written by St. John, he begins with these words; “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of Life.”
And yet I would remind you of what Jesus told the apostle Thomas; “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Maybe you’ve already read the first chapter of St. John’s Gospel. Before we go on, take a few minutes to read it now. The language and detail of it are unlike any other chapter of the Bible. Its words are both sublime and transcendent. Notice that one of the titles St. John uses when referring to Jesus is ‘the Word of Life’ or just ‘the Word’. Such poetic words as “In the beginning was The Word” impact our minds and challenge us to a deeper understanding. The meaning and background of ‘The Word’ as a figure of speech is a bit foreign to our way of thinking, but it would have been readily understood in John’s world. We generally adhere to what has been called a Western mindset; the kind of thinking that defines traits and leads to taxonomy, classification, and science. An Eastern mindset, on the other hand, is not just mystical or metaphysical! It’s just that, when it comes to understanding a thing, spiritual insight isn’t discounted as if it wasn’t in some way real. The point is that the basis of Western thought; a focus on the natural, physical world about us, often stands in the way of a richer, deeper understanding of the realities of life. After all, not everything can be seen, heard, or touched! Right from the start, St. John presents us with concepts like Life, Light, Grace, and Truth. And these are realities we don’t grasp with our five senses.
By starting his gospel with a reference to Jesus as ‘The Word’, St. John is telling us there is more to know than can be seen. Consider this amazing contrast; while Matthew and Luke write about the birth of Jesus as the beginning of His story, John begins with the very beginning of beginnings. When there was nothing else, there was God, and with God was ‘The Word’. A natural birth versus an eternal existence; consider the differences between these two ways of thinking.
The stumbling block for a scientific mind is that only the matter and energy of the tangible universe are what’s real. When science theorizes a beginning and asserts that everything came from a Big Bang, the next logical question is, ‘What came before the Bang?’
So, there essentially was no ‘beginning’, and though the terminology would never be used, physical things must therefore be eternal. The way you perceive this contradiction says a lot about what you believe; for an eternal universe is one without purpose. What John wants you to know, but even more so, to believe, is that Jesus is the eternal Son of God! The beginning was the beginning, and God was there, and Jesus was with God, and Jesus is God. There isn’t anything that is made that was not made by Him in the beginning, and it all has a purpose!
And that is why St. John calls Jesus ‘The Word’. Words create! Creative power is manifested in the word that is spoken. When John heard Jesus speak, he knew that he was not just listening to another Rabbinic teacher. He was hearing the voice of God. This tied everything together for him. Reflect on the Genesis story of creation when the Spirit hovered over the darkness. God said, “Let there be Light”, … and there was. The Word spoke and created all things seen and unseen!
The light came to separate creation from darkness. Mankind was created to walk in the light, but after succumbing to temptation, Adam and Eve hid themselves. They heard the Voice of God calling out to them; “where are you?” God was in the Light, but they were not walking in the Light. They were separated from God and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Praise the Lord, God’s plan is not so easily foiled! For St. John tells us the darkness cannot overcome the light. Some Bible translations say that darkness cannot comprehend the light, and that tells us that darkness is not only a blindness of seeing but also of thinking and believing. Ask yourself; ‘Is what I see, hear, and believe in our culture truly darkness?’ John saw and heard Jesus bring light and truth into so many situations. He witnessed the heart change in men and women wherever Jesus went. Wherever the Light came, darkness was dispelled. People received compassion, healing, and forgiveness from an awareness of God’s presence. In Psalm 139 you’ll find these words of assurance; “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,’ even the night shall be light about me; …Indeed, the darkness cannot hide from You. But the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.” Through His word (the Bible) ‘The Word’ still speaks into the darkness of our lives today and every day! His creative power brings life and light to you; so, read it, believe it, and speak it in faith!
The life that Jesus gives to all people is transformative and liberating. Every miraculous sign He demonstrated showed God’s compassion, forgiveness, and redemption. Jesus didn’t come to make you better able to obey the law and commandments; He came to give you a better life! There are two very different and important verbs used in the verse, “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” As a mediator for God, Moses gave the law so that Israel would know God’s commands. But we know the struggle of trying to keep them. All the law can ever do is to make us see how much we need a savior. Jesus always told the religious leaders that the spirit of the law is mercy and He demonstrated that truth. As The Word of God, Jesus came with creative power, so that, out of the depths of God’s mercy, we might receive from His abundant grace. Grace is a divine ability to do that which is pleasing to God. Think of all the verses in the Psalms that speak of God’s lovingkindness and tender mercies. St. John saw that acted out in Jesus' life and received it. “Out of His fullness, we have all received grace for grace (in place of grace already given).”
God knows our weakness and frailty, but even more, He knows that attempting to conform to a standard will never change that. True change comes only through the transformative power of eternal life given through a relationship with Jesus Christ. It is a gift He freely gives to everyone that would believe.
That is the very essence of St. John’s gospel. Have you ‘beheld His glory’? Have you ‘received Him’? “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”