Lent 4 – Year B – George Yandell
I like the word ‘oxymoron’. It means expressing two contradictory things at the same time. The word itself is an oxymoron – it’s a compound made up of two Greek words meaning “sharp” and “dull.” So oxymoron = sharp/dull. Some good examples are: bittersweet, original copy, jumbo shrimp, and a true Southernism—“pretty ugly”. I have often thought that having a firm handle on the concept of an oxymoron is vital to understanding the Christian faith. Is God oxymoronic? Does the Bible express truths about God that are mutually contradictory?
Dom Crossan has said: You can read the Bible all through and find evidence for two quite different, conflicting ways God acts. [How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian, Harper One, 2015, p.17] In one way – God is harsh, judgmental, strict; a god of law and punishment, of revenge and retribution, even violence; a god who keeps a careful tally of our sins and metes out appropriate penalties. In the other way – God is gentle, loving, forgiving, and indulgent; a god who condemns violence and loves us with a prodigal, spendthrift love. [Adapted from a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Delmer L. Chilton on The Lectionary Lab, March 15, 2015]
How do we hear and respond to the dialogue of Jesus with Nicodemus in today’s gospel? In shaping our responses, key words in today’s gospel demand some decoding and recasting. I think it requires us to re-mystify our understandings of the work of Jesus. Not de-mystify, but RE-Mystify. To move beyond the literal meanings often used to decode this passage, and enter the mystery of the gospel’s intent.
Key words #1 The world: We all think we know what ‘the World’ means. But the Greek expression used in John’s gospel is very special: we find Jesus referring to “the world” 3 times in the 17th verse alone, and again in the 19th verse. “God did not send the son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” In fact, John uses “the world” 67 times in his gospel. He usually contrasts ‘this world’ with the heavenly world. It’s a Greek word: cosmos. The cosmos does not refer simply to the earth on which we humans live. It also refers to the spiritual order that prevails among humans and is often opposed to God’s will.
The people of Jesus’ time and place believed there was a prevailing spiritual attitude that was opposed to God’s purposes. Many identified the Roman Empire and the Jewish temple cult as that opposition. That’s what Jesus means when he says, ‘the world.’ In the modern era in the 1930’s in Germany, a malevolent consciousness prevailed throughout the citizenry. So in ancient times and now, ‘the world’ is a combination of opinions, limitations on human thought, and ego-driven pretense that are enshrined in the culture. Jesus contrasted ‘this world’ with the world of a higher consciousness that God seeks to bring about. [Some of the above paragraph adapted from Mystical Christianity: A Psychological Commentary on the Gospel of John, John A. Sanford, pp. 93-93, 1993, The Crossroad Publishing Co.]
Key words #2 Serpents: The gospel passage recapitulates the story from Numbers- John compares Jesus with Moses’ serpent. Just as the serpent was lifted up on Moses’ rod, “so must the Son of Man be lifted up [on the cross], that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” Even as the sight of the serpent healed the people, so all those who see and comprehend Jesus on the cross will be healed. The healing from the serpent only cured people from poisonous bites, while the healing of Christ crucified leads to eternal life. The serpent has dubious roles in Hebrew scripture: tempting Adam and Eve is paramount. The snake has been evil. For that reason it may come as a surprise that Jesus was called “the good serpent” by many of the Fathers of the early Church. This serpent was a symbol of God’s power of healing. [ibid, p. 94]
#3 Son of Man: The gospel uses this term for Jesus to help its readers understand the relationship between the historical Jesus and God. The historical Jesus can be understood as a person who was uniquely aware of the image of God within the soul. From that understanding a radically unique consciousness emerged in him that transcended all others of his time. It is clear from his parables and sayings in the other gospels–Jesus was a man who could read the Spirit of God directly. In him the human and divine natures were distinct, yet intimately related into one being. [ibid, p. 99]
Key words #4 Darkness and light: The discourse of Jesus with Nicodemus concludes with the important images of light and darkness- they were set forth in the prologue of the Gospel: “The Word was God- in Him was life, and the life was the light of humankind. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” Today’s passage says, “This is the judgement- that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.”
In John’s gospel, light and darkness refer to spiritual matters. The words are metaphors that on the one hand signify the light of truth and spiritual illumination– and the principle of moral and spiritual darkness on the other. The passage tells us then that it is vitally important for our souls to be conscious where we stand in the tension between the two. The passage makes it clear that both the principle of light and the principle of darkness exist in the cosmos. They struggle with one another. They constitute a pair of moral opposites that require us to choose between them. We cannot follow both the light and the darkness. [ibid pp. 100-101] The judgement John refers to is making the choice- not once for all, but in every moment of our discipleship with Jesus. When we choose light as our spiritual principle, it brings us illumination, higher consciousness, deeper knowledge, and finally, en-lighten-ment. As the gospel passage ends, “Those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done IN GOD.” Deeds done in God- mystical knowing yields deeds of light.
The next time you see someone in a sports telecast holding up the placard, “John 3:16”, tell yourself and your companions- it’s not as literal or simple as it seems. The whole passage calls us to an ever-deepening relationship with the Son of Man, at once in the cosmos and beyond it. The Son of Man was lifted up for our healing. Lifted up for us to thrive in the mystical drama of darkness vs. light, choosing the light more and more in our passage into the heart of Jesus. Tell your friends about the good serpent, Jesus. And may all our deeds be done in God, to the glory of God’s Son.