If you've followed any of the news sources lately, here are some topics that have been on the agenda: drones are flying over the U.S., Hugo Chavez just died, $85 billion in spending cuts, gun control debates, uprisings in Syria, and a U.S. ambassador to Libya murdered. The radio, television, and Internet provide us with this news, and any of us can turn on either of these media outlets to find out more. There's just one problem though. Even though I can see pictures of U.S. drones hovering somewhere out in the sky, and I can hear the president give condolences to the family of Hugo Chavez, and I can hear radio broadcasters talk about the scandal going on with Libya, how do I know this is all true?
The first thing I did when I woke up this morning was turn off my alarm. By sliding a button across the top, somehow the blaring broadcast of 740 turns off. I hear and then I don't hear the voice of the morning radio personality.
Then, I flip a switch on the wall. Somehow, light fills up the room. It was dark, but somehow the flip of a switch produced something that wasn't there before.
Every moment of every day, we are bombarded with pictures and sounds pointing us to things that are beyond our physical presence and experience. We are left to use our imagination and logical inference. With these two combined, we make judgments based on the "facts." If something seems true, then we call it true. If the media tells us that drones are flying over the U.S. and might be used on American citizens, we use our logic and our imagination to make judgments based on what we hear.
In today's passage for Lent, Jesus is talking with some Pharisees in the temple. The conversation is very interesting because, it reminds me of how similar I am to them. Jesus opens the speech with the claim that he is "the light of the world, and that no one who believes in him stumbles around in the darkness." The Pharisees object. All they have is Jesus's word on this. In other words, how are they supposed to accept this as true if all they have is his word?
In a response that makes perfect sense, Jesus tells them they're right. All they have is his word. And, all we have is his word. Jesus reminds the Pharisees that they make judgments based off what they can see and touch. However, Jesus says he doesn't make judgments out of the narrowness of his experience. He makes judgments out of the "largeness of the Father who sent me."
According to Jewish law, something is considered true when there is a testimony from two witnesses. Jesus is claiming that he has the testimony of God to back up his word, and Jewish law takes verbal contracts just as seriously as written contracts. The problem for the Pharisees is, they can't see the Father. They don't see the second witness. Then, Jesus says something very mysterious. "You're looking right at me and you don't see me. How do you expect to see the Father? If you knew me, you would at the same time know the Father."
If this was complicated for the Pharisees, then it's extremely complicated for us. First of all, we don't even have the luxury as the Pharisees did that day to see Jesus. They were talking with him face to face. If they were looking right at him and not seeing him, then we are not looking right at him and not seeing him, right? "How could we expect to see God if we can't see Jesus? If we knew Jesus, we would at the same time know the Father."
Now that Jesus has completely baffled us and basically told us that we have no chance of seeing the Father, we have to go back to the beginning. "No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness." Of course, they're are actual people following him physically, just like we would if we were roadies with a band. We would physically be present. "I provide plenty of light to live in."
If you're completely confused to this point, good. I believe the whole point Jesus is trying to make with the Pharisees in this passage is that he's not asking anyone to prove anything. He's not expecting the Pharisees to have tangible evidence for these claims that Jesus is making. Just like we can't see, touch, or hear what's going on in order for the light to come on after the switch is moved, the Pharisees (or us) can't see, touch, or hear the light of Jesus. The Pharisees could even see Jesus physically and his word wasn't enough. So, what does it mean for us who have no physical qualities of Jesus to experience?
I think Jesus is presenting the case that what we believe directly affects how we live. He tells us that he is the light of the world, and that when we follow him we have plenty of light to live in. I think often times we're much too hard on ourselves when it comes to "right belief." And, how often do we consider something that we've heard from secondhand sources or seen in photographs as true?
What Jesus is essentially saying in this passage is, "I know that you need to be able to touch something and see it to accept it as true. That's okay. I don't do it that way, but I've also got this Son of God thing going on. What I want you to work on is believing in me. I promise, believing is enough. You will discover things that will blow your mind."
Jesus invites us to believe his word, not to prove it. He knows we can't prove it, and also knows that we would really like to enjoy some sensual experience with God. Wouldn't that be nice?
My opinion is that belief doesn't have to be right. It just has to be honest. Jesus invites us to be okay with not having the facts. He invites us into the possibility of somehow experiencing "light" through believing in him. All we have are words on a page. Is that enough?
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