Reading: John 7-8, Psalm 106

Among the most well worn character concepts in stories humans tell is the hero’s guide or mentor. In my context as a nerdy kid who grew up in the 1980s, the paradigm for the hero’s guide can be none other than Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars. The old hermit in the desert who turns out to be powerful, knowledgeable, and exactly what the hero, Luke Skywalker, needs to launch himself on his journey to greatness. As the Star Wars story has grown and gone on, the character Obi-Wan Kenobi has wound up being one of the most popular and constant characters in the franchise. He was certainly the best thing about the prequel films.

John has just left us an interesting conundrum. We have read Peter’s declaration that there is nowhere else to go, because while Jesus is deeply confusing and possibly quite dangerous, he evidently is the only hope. To whom shall we go, Lord? You have the words of eternal life. Peter and the other disciples are expressing hope, if a desperate hope. They don’t understand, but they know Jesus is absolutely necessary. He is the guide they have to have, even if they don’t understand him.

From this, we are told a series of stories where Jesus continues to pull the hope of the disciples, and the hope of Israel from the Hebrew Scriptures, into himself. He makes no bones about the fact that he is the most important thing that has ever happened to the nation of Israel. He so thoroughly attached himself and his teaching with the God of Israel that the passage ends with the crowd picking up rocks to stone him. Within these bold claims that Jesus is making about coming from God are his claims to be the source of living water, the food that never runs out, the light of the world, and the truth that sets humans free.

There is so much going on here that it is hard to see John’s overarching theme, but it is important to remember that John was not trying to obfuscate. His language is simple and straightforward, designed to be readable by just about anybody. It is not the only thing he is doing, but John is appealing to the common man. If you could read even the simplest words, you could read John’s gospel. So, one of the things I look for is what he is trying to say to the common people. I think John is following the difficulty of believing in Jesus. First, back in chapters 1 and 2, he reassures his readers that Jesus is in fact who he claimed to be: God made flesh. Then, he talks about the power of Jesus to bring about a new creation- healing the sick, supplying the wine to a wedding, knowing everything in the call of Nathaniel. Then he acknowledges the confusion of how Jesus says some hard things. Hard to understand and hard to obey. Even the disciples struggle with them, but they understand that Jesus is the only way. Finally, in today’s reading, John shows Jesus telling the people that for those who believe in him, it will all be worth it. He is the light of the world, the truth that sets you free, the living water, and the food that never runs out. To the oppressed minority that the early church was, these promises are utterly essential.

Stuck right in the middle of this dialogue is the story of the woman caught in adultery. While there is some controversy about whether this belongs in the book of John (some early manuscripts don’t have it), it fits the theme and has been part of our Scripture for almost two thousand years. I’d say it gets a pass. Anyway, this also plays into John’s message to the early believers and interested parties. Another one of the difficulties early Christians were facing was what to do with those who commit major violations of the law. How do we deal with those who sin? Well, right here in the book of John we get at least some of the answer. Important to note is that Jesus does not affirm the woman’s sin. Assuming of course that the scribes and Pharisees are telling the truth, they have left out one of the parties- last time I checked adultery took two people. But Jesus doesn’t dig into their legal position. He instead turns the accusation back on the accusers. Do you have no sin? Then you be the one who condemns. Of course, the only righteous judge available is Jesus himself, and he chooses to show mercy. Again, note that he does not affirm her behavior, but ends the scene with the charge to sin no more. Jesus shows mercy, but also insists on change. I think John put this story right where it is on purpose. Jesus is showing us how to deal with sin.