General Introduction to Lenten Reflections on the Gospel of John.
PRODUCT WARNING: You won't find simple, pithy reflections in this series. There are plenty of those available, and there is a place for that simplicity. These reflections will contain meat for serious thinkers. I don’t apologise for that – just be aware! Each “day” will be two pages.
This serious depth is intentional. I believe with all my heart that the Bible is an inexhaustible treasure-store of intellectual delights and spiritual insights. The more I learn, the more precious the treasure-hoard becomes. This is my experience nearly every day of my life, and has been so for the last 50 years. I will try to make it so for you.
I approach these reflections from the point of view that John actually knew Jesus as one of his disciples, and that he intended to write a true interpretation of Jesus, not a history. John probably had access to the first three Gospels – they were written much earlier than his. He was writing from a theological point of view – not writing a purely narrative history.
John’s narrative sometimes differs from the others in terms of what happened when. That does not mean that the Bible contains errors. Imagine a history of World War Two that followed a pattern of telling the story of ordinary people: first the telling of stories of Kristallnacht and the Jewish ghettoes, then the German concentration camps, then occupied Poland, France and Holland, then the Japanese camps, then the atomic bomb, then the London blitz under Churchill’s inspirational speeches as the summative point of how the war was won. It would not be a narrative history – but it would still be true.
I assume that John’s Gospel was inspired by the Holy Spirit and is true. I wouldn't bother to read it if I didn’t believe that – it is the witness of the church over two millennia.
I also assume that you will read the passage given for the day before reading my comments. I know it is very easy just to read my script and skip the Bible text. But please hear me on this: Graham Leo is a fallible human being who will make many mistakes in these reflections. He is sometimes dense, sometimes irascible, sometimes arrogant and self-important, sometimes simply off the mark. If you read John’s words before (and after?) you read mine, you will be more likely to have truth lodged in your mind and spirit.
Please pray the very short prayer offered each day, with your own festooning additions to suit your own needs – this is your moment to allow your mind and spirit to meet with the ineffable spirit and mind of God. Do you want to know love and truth? Talk to him.
I will generally quote from the New Revised Standard Version – it is an accurate and readable version. Sometimes I will indicate a different version for a particular purpose.