Mtr Taylor Devine

Dear Friend,

If one were to do a “plain reading” of the Daily Office reading from the Gospel of John today, she would be rather appalled. Without historical context, or even with it, Scripture that names “the Jews” antagonistically over and over makes me jump. There are many books and articles by people wiser than me that share the history and culture and context of the time when the Gospels were collated, as well as the ongoing impact of anti-Jewish sentiment that has been a stain throughout Christian history. There is, for example, research about why John refers to “the Jews” 63 times, while the Synoptic Gospels typically refer to groups of religious authorities like Sadducees and Pharisees, the Jewish Authorities, the Judeans, and so on.

We must approach the text and the questions it raises with care - this is a key component of being part of a living tradition that has a living God. It means that part of our work as Christians is to ponder the questions of why, and how, and how did we get here, and where are we called to go?

This is one of the readings in our shared lectionary that stumps me on a few levels - why is Jesus being so secretive, again? It seems like every time I turn around there’s an element of secrecy that I know has a deeper meaning, but feels a bit like a riddle to me. Where do we go when Jesus seems a bit unrecognizable? Where can we go to make sure we are seeing clearly this One who can feel elusive at times?

This community teaches me to contemplate these questions day by day - we tune our hearts to listen for God in Christ by participation in Communion, in community, in prayer, by study, by practices of hope-proclaiming the love of God, and by listening to others. While this does not always provide clear answers, it certainly provides space to meet God in the unknown and in the mystery where we can grow in community that reaches beyond ourselves.

In Christ,

Mtr Taylor