Subject: Are Reason and Obedience opposites? |
Bible Note: Ernest, You may find this section of a Bible study on John's Gospel of interest. "Peter and John John's assumption that we are familiar with the synoptic gospels yields some fascinating results when we look at his narrative in light of Luke 22:25-27: The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For which is the greater, one who sits at table, or one who serves? Is it not the one who sits at table? But I am among you as one who serves. As we have already seen, John's story of the footwashing is essentially an enactment of the words of this passage. Jesus is literally among the disciples as one who serves. But there is another aspect which is often overlooked. Peter as the leader is the "greatest" disciple while John was likely the youngest (given that he outlived the other disciples, according to tradition). And curiously, Jesus' words about the greatest and the youngest reflect the relationship, not only between Peter and John, but between the Church of Office which Peter represents and the Church of Contemplation which John represents. We see this continually through John's gospel. John describes himself (or permits his scribes to describe him) as the "disciple Jesus loved." This is an odd thing to say about oneself. Yet it appears to reflect the reality. Repeatedly, Peter goes through John to get to the heart of Jesus. And so, in v. 24 Peter asks the disciple (who has--significantly--been leaning against Jesus' breast) to "Tell us who it is of whom he speaks". Peter is the image of the activist hierarchical ruler of the Church. But this magisterial figure is dependent on contemplative souls. This theme sounds again and again in John. In John 18:15-16, Peter cannot have access to the trial of Jesus and the heart of his Passion on his own. It is John, who is closest to High Priest and only through John can Peter get close to Jesus' agony and suffering. Indeed, when the supreme hour strikes (v. 26-27) John is the only apostle who remains at the cross, the only one who has not abandoned him. Likewise in the Resurrection (20:2) we find that John, not Peter, reaches the tomb first. But like a true contemplative John defers to Peter and his office, to judge the situation. So Peter enters first. For the Church of Office is the official witness. But when John enters, he sees and believes. Similarly, it is John who cries out "It is the Lord!" when they meet Jesus again at the Sea of Galilee (John 21). He sees and believes. But it is Peter who acts by leaping into the sea. This reflects the experience of the Church in a profound way. Again and again, the Church of Contemplation sees and believes long before the Church of Office understands and formulates. And so, for instance, the Church was worshiping Jesus as God from the moment of its conception (cf. 20:28), though the Church of office did not work out clearly how it could do so till the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. Worship precedes doctrinal formulation at Nicaea. There is a complementarity here, much like Paul's picture of the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12. And in a curious way, John remains till Christ comes in a way that Peter does not, just as Jesus suggested in John 21:22. Not that John lives forever, but that he lives to witness the "coming" of the Lord in judgment on Jerusalem and to see it as a true parousia with the eyes of contemplation. The meaning of that "coming" (and of the Final Coming at the end of the world which it images) is what the book of Revelation is all about. John's point is that during the "hour" of persecution, abandonment, denial and betrayal, the Church relies more on the contemplative way of John than on the "activist" or "official" way of Peter. Both are important and vital, but the latter depends on the former." http://www.catholicexchange.com/css/biblestudies.asp copyright: Catholicexchange .com |