On faith, love, and mixed identities
Easter 4C | John 10:22-30
After spending the last three weeks talking about the resurrection, the lectionary throws us back into the middle of the story, which is always a bit of a headtrip. But I think, given the chance to get up to speed, we’re up to it, right?
One of the things that has been happening in the story before the point we’ve jumped into it is that Jesus is making some enemies. And again, the language utilized to describe them is important. As you already know, the phrase tradition likes to translate as “The Jews” is more closely translated as “The Judeans”. And this is better, but doesn’t evoke the precise vision. It is more like The Judean Authority.
Here’s a corollary that gets us into the right proverbial ballpark. When US warships mobilized in the midst of World War II, the other powers in the world might have said “here come The Americans.” Now, were they referring to the nationality of the soldiers on those ships? No. Were they speaking to the American people as if we all were on those ships? No. There is a subtle brilliance in our speech and in our thinking that can isolate the authority from both the universal and the particular. So we can say “The Americans” in that context and know it is referring quite specifically to the political authority who are acting on the global stage though its military…Keep reading
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