Monday's thoughts on Sunday's sermon

Sermon for Sunday, August 28th

The final Gospel that will focus the sermon is the Gospel of John. It was written at least 70 years after Jesus' death on the cross and it was not influenced by any of the other gospels. It stands alone.

John gives us Jesus who is bold and clear about who he is and what he is about with his life. He speaks with certainty saying such things as "I am the way the truth and the life" and "nobody comes to God but by me."

John was written at a time when the Christian movement was not threatened by Rome and it was a time of relative peace except for the fact that other religions and movements had their messiahs with stories and legends about who they were and what they were capable of doing. John had to present us with a very strong Jesus who was able to be as bold and sure of himself as John made him seem.

We have a great deal to learn from the Gospel of John. We learn about the strength of faith and the power of God. We learn about the boldness of the Christian Community and the persuasive power of words.

We learn about the meaning of Logos; the Word. We learn that the Word was before the world was and there was a truth about the faith the predated Jesus.

We contrast that with John's view that nobody comes to God but by Christ and how God so loved the world that God have this only Son.

The conflict in John's Gospel is important. Is John telling us that there is a truth that existed prior to Jesus' appearance on earth and therefore the truth transcends Jesus? Is John telling us that the only path to the truth is through Jesus and all other paths will not lead to eternal life?

It's an interesting problem because both impulses are in the Gospel of John.

What do you think?

I'd love to hear from you. Write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net if you have some thoughts on this. If you are willing to have your ideas shared with the congregation click on the 'comments' box below.

I look forward to your responses.


Charles Schuster