Reflection by Frances Flatman on next Sunday's Readings :-
What do we mean by ‘knowing’ someone or something? Most of the time I suspect we use this term in a very casual or superficial way, meaning ‘Have you met so and so?’ Or we ask the question about the ability to operate machinery; ‘Do you know how to drive or use a computer?’ Those are all ways of knowing we take for granted, but not things about which we imply any great depth, it’s just something we have or don’t have. Much the same could be said of the much abused term ‘love’. Phrases such as ‘I love chocolate.’ But when Jesus uses either of these words they have a much deeper, more profound meaning, ones attaching him to the Father, and both Father and Son to us. When Jesus says that ‘God so loved the world,’ he is not speaking of any feeling on God’s part but of the manner of God’s love, his being poured out for his creation; being God he can do no less. The very idea that we could be this close to divinity is still today, after two thousand years of faith, quite stunning; and I guess an understanding most of us rarely even bother to question at all.
Jesus seems to deal with this problem, not in terms so much concerned with human endeavour but rather as gift or graces received. In our Readings from Acts (8:5-8.14-17) and elsewhere we discover that the very effect of the Resurrection and the departure of the risen Lord Jesus imparts power to the disciples to work miracles on a surprising scale, that is in the pattern and image of the earthly Jesus. Such for instance is the picture of the life of the disciples in Jerusalem after the resurrection in Acts. A similar ability to escape prison is also recalled, as surprising to the disciples as to us too! In our Reading we learn of Philip’s mission to Samaria, that decidedly iffy territory despised by hard-line Jews in Jerusalem, since Samaria along with Galilee had been heavily infiltrated by pagan foreigners since the 6th century BCE, and then the Greeks of Alexander and latterly Romans. Their ‘Jewishness’ was syncretistic, contaminated by foreign ideas, yet they responded very positively to Philip’s overtures and his miracles of healing. It would almost seem as if the disciples ‘knowing’ of Jesus is experienced as their capacity to do the things the Lord himself had previously done for the poor, sick and needy. Here, loving or knowing Jesus is doing the things he did when he was on earth. Sometimes, as we see here, there is growth, movement, as Peter and John enhance the gifts bestowed by Philip, and endow the Samaritan converts he baptised with the Spirit and with all that implies about their ‘knowing’.
I Peter (3:15-18), as we know, coming from a Christian community in Bithynia living under persecution, is a Letter giving encouragement and support to continue in the faith despite the threat of torture or death for believers. It explores ways in which believers can ‘know’ and ‘love’ the Lord, recommending they always act with ‘courtesy and respect’ to those enquiring about their Christian beliefs, something most of us discourage! They are to live with the openness and generosity which marked the earthly life of Jesus himself. Indeed any sufferings they undergo as a result of their faith and actions will be modelled on the very life of Jesus himself, ‘In the body he was put to death, in the spirit he was raised to life.’ This was because ‘He died once for sins, for the guilty to bring us to God. It’s this very close identification with the Lord which is the core and centre of their/our knowing which is so important. So in some shape or form, what ‘knowing’ is about is to do with our understanding of the life of Jesus. Since he is the only way to the Father, this is clearly critical for our growth in both Father and Son.
As we continue to read John’s account of Jesus, (Jn14:15-21) Jesus spells this out, ‘If you love me you will keep my commandments’. Our problem and complete misconstrual of the scriptures is that we immediately jump to the idea of following laws or rules. But for the Jesus of John and the other Gospels it’s his command to ‘Love as I have loved you’ and to ‘Do this in memorial of me’; (anamnesis – the bringing into the present) of the Eucharist, the enactment of his redeeming life and death which is the crux of our faith. Only through reading the gospels over and over, and exploring their meaning and their relevance for us today can we achieve this task. Sadly very few Christians are that familiar with the Jesus of the Gospels. Most of us think we know him but we don’t, and instead construct a Jesus in our own image. Reading the Gospels to ‘know’ Jesus can be a very uncomfortable and unsettling thing, but one we have to undertake. It is said Aquinas knew them almost by heart, indicating not merely knowledge of them but an entry into Christ’s life and almost his psyche.
This is why Jesus promises his followers ‘Another Advocate, the Spirit of truth’. Significantly, this Spirit is not something that will run alongside the believer, or pop up in moments of special need, but ‘He is with you, he is in you.’ For the believer, wholly given over into the life and death of Jesus, there is to be as it were a heightened awareness of divine, of the relationship between Father and Son, ‘You will understand that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you.’ It is an astounding claim made for us by God the Son, we, messy and fearful humanity have this capacity for divinity through his gift. The way we enter into this grace and gift is by knowing Jesus and entering into the pattern of his life. It’s not just about miracles, though I suspect we can work small miracles in the lives of others by our outreach, but also by taking on board the difficult in the life of Jesus. Not of course the saving death he underwent once for the redemption of the world, but the challenges he wholeheartedly flung at his detractors, standing up for the sick and needy – and on the sabbath! For the challenges he made for justice for the outcast and downtrodden – Samaritans or pagans – or in our world, standing against racism and unjust government policies, or whistle blowers against discriminatory attitudes in the Police, the Church or other places. That’s where our martyrs come from, people like Oscar Romero, murdered at the altar. Christians are never those called not to rock the boat in the interests of our own safety and a quiet life, or to ensure the safe management of our Church, but to stand up and be counted regardless of the trouble we might bring on ourselves. The Jesus we meet in the Gospels can be a tough person to follow, and not even someone we would even want as a friend quite often; he was far to energetic, far too challenging, and frankly it is unsurprising he met the horrible end he did; but he is the Saviour of the world and he crazily graces us to join in this amazing act of hope and liberation.
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