Psalms 119:97-120 * 81, 82; Jeremiah 8:18-9:6; Romans 5:1-11; John 8:12-20I have often wondered who I would have been, had I been alive when Jesus was standing in the treasury telling the world that he was its light. Would I have listened to him and walked away? Would I have been one of the outraged legalists stuck in their understanding of the law handed down from God? Would I have been a fringe hanger-on, being attracted to the light emanating from this man, yet not understanding it? Would I have been a disciple, almost on "the inside"? Would I have been completely oblivious to this itinerant preacher, too absorbed in my own life woes and concerns to have even noticed him?
I don't know the answer, and depending on the particularities of my day, I can argue for each of those stated scenarios, and more. A number of acquaintances of mine have asked similar questions, wondering, thinking, dreaming about what it would have been like. I think our individual skepticism and doubts can cause all of us to land somewhere different, at different times, when we consider these options. Lent is a time for these kind of reflections, and doubts, and wonderings.
Underpinning those thoughts is the truth that we have already responded to this Light. We may not understand why, or act accordingly all the time, but as members of the Body of Christ, we have already stepped into this light of life and are leading the way to the building of the kingdom Jesus announces by his presence. It is okay to have questions and doubts, that is part of being human. Knowing that light is always available to us allows us to wind our way out of the darkness when we find ourselves there.
jfd+
Copyright 2011, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.
Art: At the Gloaming, jfd+ 2011
Art: At the Gloaming, jfd+ 2011
In January, I was at St. Catherine's Monastery in Egypt, and turned a corner to look directly at their famous icon of Jesus Pantocrator. It appears on the Wikipedia page with that title. There was something about that wax image that made me begin to undersatnd what it was people must have experienced in the person of Jesus. The icon had a presence that surprised me. If that is just a fragment of the experience that people had of the living person of Jesus, it changes my perspective on why people believed he is the Son of God.
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