Perennial Theology of Jesus
Third Sunday of Lent
John 4:5-42
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030826.cfm
The gospel of John takes a much different vantage point than the other gospels. It’s referred to as high Christology, or one that focuses more on the divinity of Jesus. John writes from the vantage point of Jesus being the living word of God, or the catalyst that brought everything into being. From this perspective, Jesus speaks and operates at a higher level than everyone else. In a lot of this gospel, Jesus and his audience are often talking past each other with fleeting moments where they connect. Jesusl speaks in very theological and metaphoric language, whereas those he’s in a dialog with speak very practically.
Jesus in this gospel offers another way of seeing the world and faith than his audience. He doesn’t dismiss different traditions and ways of thinking, but finds a way of bringing them together. He points out that the Samaritans found God in the mountains and the Jews found God in Jerusalem. He says that a time will soon come when God will be worshiped in neither. He indirectly states that Samaritans worshiped God in Spirit and that the Jews worshiped God in truth. The point here is that the Samaritans didn’t have all of the intelligentsia, documentation, and study of God as the Jewish people did, but they were able to find God more in nature and in the world. What Jesus offers goes beyond these ways of thinking while also bringing them together.
Jesus’s understanding and relationship with God is a perennial theology or one that brings together different vantage points into a single universal and eternal truth. He shows this by stating that true worshipers will worship God in Spirit and truth. God desires completeness, not one or the other. The Jew may have the temple, and the Samaritan may have the mountain; Jesus is calling them to the source of both. An intermediary can be good, but ultimately an intermediary only gets its power from the source, so why focus on the difference between intermediaries when the source is what’s important? While different structures like the temple or the mountain can be sources that lead to God, God is beyond such things. God is the source that leads to eternal life, the water that leaves no one thirsty. To do the will of God is like eating food, it sustains us.
We all serve our roles in the process. Some of us may be sowers and others may be reapers, but both are necessary for the harvest. Instead of focusing on the difference between us, we must celebrate the harvest that is only possible with the successful actions of both of us. The potential of the grain in the field is just as worthy of celebration as the harvest itself. The parts and steps in the process are just as valued as the final state. We must delight and celebrate in the divine dance together. We are called to share in the fruits, not by division, but in unity. We are all uniquely necessary and called together to be in unity with the divine source.
