St. Johnstide
 |
| van der Weyden |
John 3: 22-36
After this Jesus and his disciples came to the land of
Judea. There he stayed with them and baptized. John also baptized; he was at
Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there, and
people came to him and were baptized. For John had not yet been imprisoned.
Then a dispute arose between the disciples of John
and the Jews about the path of purification. And they came to John and said to
him, “Master, he who came to you beyond the Jordan, to whom you bore witness –
here he is, baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
John answered, “No human being can grasp spiritual
power for himself that is not given to him from the higher worlds. You
yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent
before him.’
“He who has the bride, he is the bridegroom. But
the friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens to him, he is filled
with joy at the bridegroom’s voice. This joy of mine is now full. He must
increase, but I must decrease.
He who descends from above, out of the spiritual
world, is elevated above all beings of the earth. Whoever is only of the earth,
whose being arises from the earthly, his word is also earthbound.
He who comes from the heavens is elevated above all
who have arisen from the earthly. What he has seen and heard in the world of
the spirit, to that he can bear direct witness, but no one accepts his
testimony.
But whoever accepts his testimony, sets his seal to
this: that God is true [truth] [that there is
no higher truth than the reality of God]. Whoever God has sent, his words are filled with
the power of divine thought, for God gives the spirit to human beings not
according to human rules, but according to the creative power that he awakens
in man.
The Father holds the Son surrounded in his love,
and has given everything into his hands. Whoever trusts in the power of the Son
within himself, he grows out of the earthly into timeless life.
Whoever cannot trust in the power of the Son within
will not behold the world of life; rather the working might of the spirit world
must one day burn him like a fire that will consume him.”
3rd St. John’s Tide
 |
| Sombart |
July 13, 2014
John 3: 22 – 36
John the Baptist came with a mission. He was to witness the
incarnation of the Light of the World in Jesus at His baptism. He came to
prepare souls to also be able to perceive Christ. He inaugurated a rite of
purification, a ritual immersion, which allowed individuals to have their own
unique spiritual experience. Some saw the quality of their own lives pass
before them; others felt the glorious beings of the spiritual world.
As we hear in the
reading, those following Jesus were also undergoing baptisms. John’s reaction
to the ‘threat of competition’ is noteworthy.
John’s very name means ‘God is gracious’. God graced John
with the opportunity to complete what he had come to do. He witnessed, indeed
he helped midwife the incarnation of God’s Light and Love. And John speaks out
of the meaning of his own name when he says that spiritual power is given as
grace. He recognizes that his own day is beginning to decline while Jesus’s sun
is rising. And so John graciously lets go the baton and passes it on.
God is gracious. He
gives us our lives and sends us to fulfill our task. And when we have
accomplished what we have come to do, when we have borne witness to our times
and loved those whom we were sent to love, we send the Father our heart-warm
thanks for the opportunity to be on the earth, doing what we do. As the poet says:
May the light of your soul bless
your work
with love and warmth of heart.
….
May the sacredness of your work
bring light and renewal
to those who work with you
….
May it release wellsprings of
refreshment,
inspiration and excitement.
…..
May dawn find hope in your
heart, ….
May evening find you gracious
and fulfilled.[1]
