In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (…)
And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
Most of us are quite familiar with the beginning of John’s Gospel,
a beautiful passage we always read solemnly of Christmas Day
and the first Sunday after Christmas.
We read it this year during our service of Lessons and Carols.
Today, we read another passage from the first Chapter of John,
a passage we’re certainly much less familiar with:
The initial response of the disciples to the great news of the incarnation,
the dwelling of the Word among us, God made flesh,
with a focus on Nathanael’s response.
Philip said: We have found the one Moses wrote about (…)
Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
And Nathanael responds something like that: You’ve got to be kidding me.
(It’s not my interpretation, it’s the translation Peterson did in “The Message”)
It seems a bit irreverent but I think Peterson touches on something quite important:
When we read the Bible, we may strive as much as we can to understand the content
(and did we do that last Thursday!)
Yet we don’t get it if we don’t understand the tone.
It’s like when you have a conversation with someone, you may hear all the words
you can’t understand if you don’t get the tone (Are they joking?Are they angry? I still remember lots of confusion when we switched from talking on the phone to exchanging emails)
And so looking at John’s first Chapter I think it’s quite extraordinary that John would move
from a prologue so solemn to this quite irreverent response that is definitely
funny
but it’s not even the biggest surprise, the most surprising is that
Nathanael makes Jesus laugh, the Word made flesh takes no offense.
He even praises Nathanael for his genuineness and adopts him on the spot as his friend and disciple.
Jesus is the true light that gives light to everyone, says John. He is coming into the world.
And the light also brings lightness and lightheartedness.
And it’s really surprising, shocking, and maybe even offending for us who takes religion
so seriously.
I think this what happened with Nathanael.
Jesus saw him “under the fig tree” which was a place where religious men would gather to study
the Torah.
Nathanael was avidly waiting for the Messiah
(that’s probably why his friend Philip rushed to him)
and Nathanael looked for something big and impressive.
Nathanael was heavy with expectations, but his cynicism tells us
He was also probably heavy with disappointments and disillusion.
And Jesus sees that in him and shows up bringing lightheartedness and laughter.
Even John Baptist got it wrong who said about the Messiah
His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor.
So, is it just a joke, is it just not serious at all all this religious stuff?
I don’t think so, what I think is that Jesus teaches us
another way of being serious.
The light and lightheartedness Jesus brings into the world
is the lightheartedness of love
a love slow to anger, quick to forgive
and a love who sees the good in each one of us
And don’t we need that, entangled as we are in worries, guilt and disappointments.
There is a story I love (I don’t know if it’s true but it needs be true):
A little girl says she has been seeing Jesus and talking to Jesus in a vision.
Her mother brings her to the priest
and the priest says:
All right, next time you see Jesus ask him what is this sin I confessed to him in prayer this morning
If Jesus can tell you my sin, I will believe you when you say you see Jesus.
And the little girl and her mother leave.
A few days after, the priest comes across the little girl in the street
and he asks her a bit ironically
So have you seen Jesus? Did he tells you about this sin I asked him to forgive me?
And the little girl goes:
Well, yes, I asked Jesus about it but he said He does not remember.
The King of the Universe
the one who blessed us with reason, memory and skills as the Eucharist Prayer goes,
hasn’t just forgiven, he has forgotten everything about your sin.
I think this has to be a true story because I believe this how the goodness of his love looks like: Lighthearted. Full of tenderness. And yes, it’s kind of funny.
Jesus came into the world and looked at the world with goodness.
It certainly does not mean that he does not see the pain and does not see the sin.
He guessed everything about Nathanael’s grumpiness and cynicism
but on the spot Jesus also sees where all it comes from:
Nathanael’s genuineness, candor, lack of deceit.
And this is the way Jesus still looks at you and looks at me.
He sees what’s hard and heavy, but he also sees where it comes from
why we are the way we are
he understands our story and he sees our special kind of goodness
and he knows how to use it and make it fruitful.
Personally, I find it very reassuring that among Jesus’s first witnesses there was somebody who
couldn’t be fooled.
Then I read the Gospel and I think: This must be quite reliable.
And I also think: Maybe it’s okay if I sometimes I doubt it too.
It’s like Jesus agrees with us: I know everything about me is unbelievable, and yet it’s the most important thing you need to believe in.
Jesus saw people and saw people’s hearts
and could remove all the heaviness we keep accumulating
worries, guilt, self condemnation
opening heaven and the angels of God ascending and descending upon him.
This is the Epiphany: God’s love made manifest in Him.