December 6: John 6 (Bread and Life)
You may have heard a saying that life can only be understood backward, but it must be lived forward. The Gospel of John tells its story forward, but John tells ...
Category: New Writing
December 5: John 5 (Troubling the Waters)
“Time and space make way for love.” — St. Nikolai Velimirovich’s Prayers by the Lake XV The Third Sign in John’s Gospel is all about time, beginning with the sp...
December 4: John 4 (The Two Mountains and the Second Sign)
The next conversation Jesus has is very different from his conversation with Nicodemus. It’s an unplanned meeting, in the middle of the day, with a powerless Sa...
December 3: John 2:12-3:36 (Rearranging and Unfolding)
Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, when he could not be recognized. As a ruler of the Judeans, Nicodemus could not afford to be seen with Jesus, not after Jesus ...
December 2: John 1:19-2:11 (Water and Wine)
Q: How many people does it take to be baptized, and how many does it take to be married? My mind answers back, one to be baptized, and two to be married. I grew...
December 1: John 1:1-18 (The Home of God)
The first readers of the gospel of John were shocked, but not by the verses that shock us modern readers. I’m shocked by “the word was God” and “through him all...
December 24: Water and Light, On Earth as it is in Heaven
“While rejoicing you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” (Quinn-Miscall p. 99, 108) We are at the end of this Advent road, on the cusp of the night wh...
December 23: A Road Through the Sea
“He will wave his hand over the River with his mighty wind; He will split it into seven streams and allow people to cross it in sandals. Thus there will be a hi...
December 22: From the Moon to the Cathedral
“The Lord will extend his hand again to gather the remnant of his people that remains from Assyria and Egypt. … He will raise a signal to the nations, and he wi...
December 21: The Root Who Rises and the Servant Who Suffers
“On that day the root of Jesse will stand as a signal for the peoples; nations will come to him to inquire.” (Isaiah 11:10, Quinn-Miscall p.64) “And again, Isai...