Psalm 92
1 John 1:1-9
Interestingly, neither Matthew, or Mark, or Luke, actually claim that their Gospels are eyewitness accounts of Jesus's life. John, "the Beloved Disciple" alone claims that "This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true" (John 21:24).
Matthew, Mark and Luke also share the conviction that Jesus was a "son of David." He was the fulfillment of the promises made to the people of Israel: "You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus 19:6). But the only mention of David in John's Gospel is a passage in which his Davidic descent is actually questioned. He is also called "Son of God" in all four Gospels. But if we did not have John's Gospel, the Bishops of the Church would never have decided, as they did at the Council of Nicaea in 325 that Jesus Christ is "of one being with the Father."
It is from John that we hear of Jesus as the Word, who was with God at the beginning of creation, and in truth was God, and has made God known. We always need to remember that Jesus was a first-century Jew who came with a specific purpose for his people to fulfill their purpose as God's chosen people. But each year, in the week after Christmas Day, the Church remembers the Evangelist who understood that Jesus Christ is not just the Savior of a people, but of a world.
Shed upon your Church, O Lord, the brightness of your light; that we, being illumined by the teaching of your apostle and evangelist John, may so walk in the light of your truth, that at length we may attain to the fullness of eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment