John is the Gospel of Light.
There are pretty philosophical words that orbit around the idea of light. Clear. Illuminating. Lucid. Epiphany. Enlightenment, even. Clarification. I'd like some clarification on this issue, please. John is the Gospel of Clarification, and Jesus is the Great Clarifier.
The Anglo-Saxon for clear is bright. I used to think that clear and its romance language versions meant transparent. Am I being clear? In Spanish claro for of course, clara for the white of the egg. Germans saying klar for obviously. Clarity to me was the absence of obscuration. To say clear as day would be to say that I could see in the day because nothing obscured. But that makes no sense. When I studied Latin in college I was amazed to learn that clarus meant bright, famous, illustrious. This is still true of clear in English. The first definition at Merriam-Webster is bright, luminous. Things that are luminous, y'all, emit light. To say clear as day is to say that the day and the eye are illuminated, made bright. This is perhaps obvious (klar) to you. It was not to me; the scales fell off my eyes on this one.
Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days. Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?
Light is not passive. It is a sign of God's kindness that we imagine light to be the default, or sight to be natural. The light shines in the darkness. What does darkness do? Dark? Light by its nature defines. It is by the light that we can say this is that.
The Great Clarification is coming.
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind. Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, Are we also blind? Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now you say, We see, your guilt remains.
The Great Clarification is coming.
The Gospel of John is the Gospel of Glory, and glory doesn't just weigh. It shines all day. Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the Light of the World. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the Light is not in him.
White phosphorus can spontaneously combust, and is white and clear, which is to say, glorious. It used to be on strike matches a hundred years ago. In some languages a match is called a phosphorus or some variant. Matches bring light. Phos is light and pherein is to carry, to ferry. I fear Greeks ferrying gifts. The light which enlightens everyone was coming in the world. The phos was coming but he didn't just epiphany-zap everyone, he was no Buddha; the light did not enlighten in the first sense we think of. The phos phosphoed. The light lit. The light lit everyone. The light lights everyone.
Jesus is the Great Clarifier, and The Great Clarification is coming. This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of the world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.
God is not only clearly seen. He is being revealed.
They did not believe him, because to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? They could not believe. He has blinded their eyes lest they see, and turn, and be healed. Isaiah said those things because he saw his glory and spoke of him; many believed but would not confess because they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
The Anglo-Saxon for clear is bright. The Latin for clear is glorious. Transparent is passive and weak. Many Pharisees saw the Light for who he was. It is not enough to see. We must respond. We must position ourselves. Jesus is such Light he demands a response. He flames out like shining.
For I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.
For judgment I came into this world.
Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses.
The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.
The Great Clarification is coming.
The light turns on and there we are, next to God or far from God. The light turns on and there you are killing the saints of God. The light is coming and will show us, and you, where you stand.
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.
Jesus clarifies. He is the Great Clarifier. He is the Great Definer. He is the Word. He speaks and coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. You see Jesus. I know you see him. Have you defined yourself? Have you been defined? The word that he has spoken will judge you on the last day, for good or for evil.
There are pretty philosophical words that orbit around the idea of light. Clear. Illuminating. Lucid. Epiphany. Enlightenment, even. Clarification. I'd like some clarification on this issue, please. John is the Gospel of Clarification, and Jesus is the Great Clarifier.
The Anglo-Saxon for clear is bright. I used to think that clear and its romance language versions meant transparent. Am I being clear? In Spanish claro for of course, clara for the white of the egg. Germans saying klar for obviously. Clarity to me was the absence of obscuration. To say clear as day would be to say that I could see in the day because nothing obscured. But that makes no sense. When I studied Latin in college I was amazed to learn that clarus meant bright, famous, illustrious. This is still true of clear in English. The first definition at Merriam-Webster is bright, luminous. Things that are luminous, y'all, emit light. To say clear as day is to say that the day and the eye are illuminated, made bright. This is perhaps obvious (klar) to you. It was not to me; the scales fell off my eyes on this one.
Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days. Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?
Light is not passive. It is a sign of God's kindness that we imagine light to be the default, or sight to be natural. The light shines in the darkness. What does darkness do? Dark? Light by its nature defines. It is by the light that we can say this is that.
The Great Clarification is coming.
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind. Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, Are we also blind? Jesus said to them, If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now you say, We see, your guilt remains.
The Great Clarification is coming.
The Gospel of John is the Gospel of Glory, and glory doesn't just weigh. It shines all day. Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the Light of the World. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the Light is not in him.
White phosphorus can spontaneously combust, and is white and clear, which is to say, glorious. It used to be on strike matches a hundred years ago. In some languages a match is called a phosphorus or some variant. Matches bring light. Phos is light and pherein is to carry, to ferry. I fear Greeks ferrying gifts. The light which enlightens everyone was coming in the world. The phos was coming but he didn't just epiphany-zap everyone, he was no Buddha; the light did not enlighten in the first sense we think of. The phos phosphoed. The light lit. The light lit everyone. The light lights everyone.
Jesus is the Great Clarifier, and The Great Clarification is coming. This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of the world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.
God is not only clearly seen. He is being revealed.
They did not believe him, because to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? They could not believe. He has blinded their eyes lest they see, and turn, and be healed. Isaiah said those things because he saw his glory and spoke of him; many believed but would not confess because they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
The Anglo-Saxon for clear is bright. The Latin for clear is glorious. Transparent is passive and weak. Many Pharisees saw the Light for who he was. It is not enough to see. We must respond. We must position ourselves. Jesus is such Light he demands a response. He flames out like shining.
For I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.
For judgment I came into this world.
Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses.
The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.
The Great Clarification is coming.
The light turns on and there we are, next to God or far from God. The light turns on and there you are killing the saints of God. The light is coming and will show us, and you, where you stand.
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.
Jesus clarifies. He is the Great Clarifier. He is the Great Definer. He is the Word. He speaks and coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. You see Jesus. I know you see him. Have you defined yourself? Have you been defined? The word that he has spoken will judge you on the last day, for good or for evil.
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