A Favorite Gospel

The gospel of John has always been my favorite gospel.  When I look back at the old frayed Bible I used as a teenager, the pages of John's gospel bear the most notes and underlinings. To this day when I have a time of randomly reading the gospels, I open to the pages of this gospel.  John always seemed to go beyond the boundaries of story teller to a place of enabling those who read to experience something of the heart of Jesus.  In the Celtic spiritual tradition, the Apostle John is spoken of as the one who because of his proximity to Jesus at the Last Supper heard the heartbeat of Jesus, and thus, the heartbeat of God.    

This powerful image comes from John 13:23 which says, "One of His disciples--the one whom Jesus loved--was reclining next to Him."  Some commentators translate this passage to speak of John leaning into and against the breast of Jesus which, thus, enabled him the hear the heartbeat of the Incarnate Holy One in our midst.  It is an image not repeated by any other gospel writer and points to what John was being inspired to do as he wrote.  He wanted to do more than just tell the story.  Others had already done this and done it well.  His gospel invites us to experience and know Christ at a deep and more intimate level than the other gospel writers.     

The gospel writer, John, was one of those writers who was not content with the reader gathering information that could be read and put in some stored box where read material is placed.  He obviously wanted us to read what He wrote and carry it with us.  He leaves us with questions about the characters he puts on stage and he creates images which stir our imagination and our faith.  He keeps us thinking and he keeps us growing in our understanding of the mystery that stretched out on the road from Bethlehem to the empty tomb.