For January 19, 2014 – John 1:29-42
There is a knowing that lies beyond what we already know. This larger knowing beckons us, drawing us toward our real life if we will but follow. I am struck by John’s saying about Jesus, “I myself did not know him.” Other translations read, “I did not know who he would be,” “I did not know that he was the one,” “I did not recognize him.” Remember that John’s mother, Elizabeth, is the cousin of Mary. Mary went to stay with her when she first learned she was expecting a child, and at her arrival John leaped in his mother’s womb. Surely he and Jesus grew up knowing each other; yet now he says he did not know him.
John reminds me of the knowing that lies beyond knowing. To already know closes the door of further learning, but to recognize that we do not know, this can be the beginning of real journey. John and Jesus are introducing a new way of “doing religion,” a way not of knowing but of journeying into the unknown. Doing religion is about adhering to precepts, laws, codes, traditions; doing the journey is about leaving behind what we thought we already knew and striking out into new territory. To journey in the way of John and Jesus is to turn around and begin again, to drop our preconceptions and to discover ourselves anew. To do religion is to arrive at an understanding of God and stand firmly planted there; to do the journey is to be on pilgrimage into new regions, into the mystery.
John knows his cousin, Jesus, but he also knows that he does not know him. The journey is just beginning. A new way of doing religion is afoot. Don’t assume you already know what it will bring, how it will go. So much is yet to be revealed. So many understandings lie beyond our understanding. Previously familiar systems and structures, people and communities, and most importantly ourselves, whom we might know least of all, are going to surprise us. “Come and see,” Jesus says. Come and see your real life.
