In John chapter 8, the Jews are trying to understand who Jesus is.  The scene takes place in the temple where people understood God to be present inside the very holy place, untouchable, the most interior sacred place called the “Holy of Holies”.  Yet, here is God, standing before them, who has come to earth as a man.  They see, but they can’t fully grasp, and they ask, “Who are you?”

(Painting “Christ at Emmaus”by Rembrandt, 1606-1669)

Jesus says ,”I am the light of the world…follow me and you will have the light of LIFE.”  When I saw the Passion Play, I experienced the light of Christ in a beautiful way.  The light was present underneath the robe of  Jesus.  It was quite realistic and appeared to be glowing from within his body.  The play took place out under the night sky, thus making the light from within Jesus even more dramatic.  Jesus was with the disciples for the Last Supper.  When they finished the meal, the disciples all went out into the night.  Jesus stood there at the table for a few minutes, touching the bread as if he were pondering his moments with his friends, pondering what he knew was coming, and his deep desire to have the world know who he is and understand his deep abiding love for us all.  Then, there was a poignant  moment. Jesus walked away to go out into the dark night, and as he left the room, the light that was present within him remained inside the loaf of bread.  So very clearly could we see….”This is my body broken for you…I am the light of the world….you will have the light of life.”

“Who are you?”  is still the question for us.  We are growing in our understanding of God.  God is Mystery and always bigger than what we now understand.  We should always be asking the question, “Who are you?”

YES!, God is bigger than any labels or limits we put on God.  Our journey of Lent is a journey into deeper understanding of Jesus.  In John 8:28, Jesus says, “When you have lifted up the Son of man, then you will know that I am he.”  At Jesus’ death on the cross, the centurion and others keeping watch over Jesus saw the earthquake and what took place. Perhaps they had been among the ones who had asked, “Who are you?”.  Now, at this moment, they were filled with awe and said,” Truly this was the Son of God!”

Pondering….

How have you grown recently in understanding who Jesus is?

Where is the light of Christ present in your life right now?

nk