Dec 27th The feast day of St John the Evangelist
Dear Friends
Today is the feast day of John who wrote the gospel, letters and book of Revelation. We give thanks for him and his life and witness to Jesus the Christ.
Readings
Isaiah 61: 10 – 62: 3
10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
my whole being shall exult in my God;
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth brings forth its shoots,
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
to spring up before all the nations.
62For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out like the dawn,
and her salvation like a burning torch.
2 The nations shall see your vindication,
and all the kings your glory;
and you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will give.
3 You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
Psalm 148
1 Alleluia.
Praise the Lord from the heavens; ♦︎
praise him in the heights.
2 Praise him, all you his angels; ♦︎
praise him, all his host.
3 Praise him, sun and moon; ♦︎
praise him, all you stars of light.
4 Praise him, heaven of heavens, ♦︎
and you waters above the heavens.
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord, ♦︎
for he commanded and they were created.
6 He made them fast for ever and ever; ♦︎
he gave them a law which shall not pass away.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth, ♦︎
you sea monsters and all deeps;
8 Fire and hail, snow and mist, ♦︎
tempestuous wind, fulfilling his word;
9 Mountains and all hills, ♦︎
fruit trees and all cedars;
10 Wild beasts and all cattle, ♦︎
creeping things and birds on the wing;
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples, ♦︎
princes and all rulers of the world;
12 Young men and women,
old and young together; ♦︎
let them praise the name of the Lord.
13 For his name only is exalted, ♦︎
his splendour above earth and heaven.
14 He has raised up the horn of his people
and praise for all his faithful servants, ♦︎
the children of Israel, a people who are near him.
Alleluia.
Galatians 4: 4-7
4But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. 6And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our* hearts, crying, ‘Abba!* Father!’ 7So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.*
Luke 2: 15-21
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ 16So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
21 After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
Reflection
Introduction
During Advent we focussed on St John the Baptist who was the messenger of the coming Messiah, Today, on this first Sunday of Christmas, we celebrate the feast day of St John the Evangelist – The “St John” who wrote the gospel in the Bible.
St John is associated not only with his gospel but also the 3 letters that bear his name and also the book of Revelation. Out of all the 11 apostles left after the resurrection – he was the only one not to be martyred – he was exiled to the island of Patmos and he wrote Revelation there
Background
John was the son of Zebedee and Salome and the brother of James. He is seen as one of the disciples closest to Jesus, along with Peter and James:
- Peter, James, and John were the only witnesses of the raising of Jairus’s daughter (Mark 5:37),
- of the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1),
- and the Agony in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:37).
- Only he and Peter were sent into the city to make the preparation for the Last Supper (Luke 22:8).
- At the Last Supper itself, his place was next to Christ on whose chest he leaned (John 13:23, 25).
- It is thought that John was also that “other disciple” who with Peter followed Christ after the arrest into the palace of the high-priest (John 18:15).
- Saint John alone remained at the foot of the Cross on Calvary with the Mother of Jesus and the other women and took the desolate Mother into his care as the last legacy of Christ (John 19:25-27).
- He ran with Peter to the tomb of Jesus following the resurrection (John 20:3f)
- and he is described within the Gospel as the disciple whom Jesus loved (John 21:7)
The Gospel of John
The Gospel of John is thought to be the last of the gospels written and it is very different from the other three Matthew, Mark & Luke (whose similarity leads them to be known as the ‘synoptic’ Gospels). John uses very different sources for his account and of all the gospels, John is the most elegant, in terms of style and prose, using very polished Greek
As a piece of writing it is possible to read John’s gospel ‘off the surface’. It tells the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, and as John states the purpose of his gospel is clear – “Jesus performed many other miracles in the presence of his disciples ……. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30 & 31)
Deeper themes
However, looking below the surface we can detect a deeper message woven into the style and text. In doing so we encounter a richness and fullness that draws us closer to John the person. John has selected specific events and sayings from the life of Jesus to help us understand and believe who he is (as stated above in the purpose of the writing) – To do this John uses the number 7 to give us the clues
7
7 is the perfect number in Judaism (for example the 7 days of creation) …. thus we are already told by his use of this number that we are dealing with a perfect being – the Christ, the holy and perfect one
There are 7 sayings that use the phrase – “I am” in John’s gospel. The phrase is hugely significant because “I am” is the name of God in Judaism as we know through the story of the Jewish Exodus out of Egypt. ( Moses is being sent by God to lead the people of Israel… Moses says to God, who shall I say sent me? And “ God said to Moses, “ I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘ I AM has sent me to you.’” [Exodus 3:14]). So in using these sayings John is saying Jesus IS God
- “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger.” John 6:35
- “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12
- “I am the gate; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” John 10:9
- “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for His sheep.” John 10:11
- “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me shall live even if he dies.” John 11:25
- “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” John 14:6
- “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.” John 15:1
All of these “I am” sayings point us to the divinity of Jesus – that there are 7 of them, point us to the perfection of Jesus
Signs
There are also 7 signs in John’s gospel … again directing us to the perfection of Jesus and also having huge significance. Tom Wright the former Bishop of Durham points out … The whole purpose of signs is that they are moments when heaven and earth intersect with each other. That’s what the Jews believed happened in the Temple – but John is showing us throughout his gospel that the Divine and earthly intersect in the person of Jesus.
And so when we look at John’s gospel we see the signs are
- Water to wine (2:1-12)
- Healing of the official’s son (4:43-54)
- Healing a paralyzed man (5:1-15)
- Feeding 5000 (6:1-15)
- Walking on water (6:16-24)
- Healing a man born blind (9:1-12)
- Raising Lazarus from the dead (11:1-44)
The witness of St John the Evangelist for us today
So in what he wrote, and the way he wrote and constructed the gospel, John is pointing us to Christ
…… so that we might believe in him and through that belief have life
There are many books and articles that you can read further to see more about John’s writings and the subtle way in which he conveys the good news of Jesus Christ and it is a rewarding search.
Within his own discipleship, John gives us a witness to being a disciple of Jesus. At the last supper, he leans on the chest of Jesus John 13:23, 25. As Roland Walls, a wonderful Scottish theologian and mystic, pointed out – he (John) was so close to Jesus at that point, he could hear the heartbeat of eternity.
It is to that closeness of relationship that we are called in our own following of Jesus. In this strange time of the Covid-19 Christmas, may we give to God the gift of ourselves, and pray that in that giving, we may be drawn closer and closer to Christ, and so hear the heartbeat of eternity.
Revd. Canon Alan Marley