Jesus, Full of Grace and Truth, John 1:1-18

            The Gospel of John does not start with a birth of Jesus story like most of the other gospels. Rather, it starts out with a long philosophical essay about how “The Word” (Logos) is eternal and can lead people to both a knowledge of God and salvation. John goes right to the point, that salvation depends upon having a right relationship with this Logos, this message or “word” from God. So far so good.

But then something happens to the focus of the passage in verse 1:14. John focuses on the fact that this divine and eternal “Word” “became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, glory that befits the Father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” Suddenly this opening chapter of John’s Gospel switches into an account of a fully human person who somehow embodies the Divine reality in his very humanness. Indeed, in verse 14 John actually says that God’s eternal Logos, or “Rationale” came “to dwell among us” in such a way that “we beheld his glory, glory that befits the Son of God, full of grace and truth.”

Now in my mind what is important to notice in these claims is that in this last phrase the emphasis shifts from “heavenly” to earthly talk. The glory that is here attributed to God’s son, that” befits” Him, is not that of power and majesty, but rather is one of “grace and truth.” In other words, in John’s view Jesus did not come into the human world as some kind of “Superman” or “Captain Marvel”, but as a person full of “grace and truth.” The continuation of John’s Gospel, like that of the other three, is about the person Jesus living and moving among people of all kinds, teaching and healing, listening to and feeding those in need, “full of grace and truth.”

Moving on in the chapter, in verses 16 and 17 John continues to focus on these notions of grace and truth. Note that these are not the usual high-flutin’ qualities attributed to Deity. All the way through this passage, as well as in several other crucial contexts, John insists on stressing Jesus’ human attributes, such as grace and truth, in making the case for his worthiness as a Savior. If one follows through the Gospels carefully, one sees Jesus in all his interactions with the regular people he meets dealing with them in “grace and truth”, not with power and majesty.

I am not trying to deny the Divine aspect of Jesus’ nature here, but simply trying to stress that whatever else one might conclude about Jesus’ character and nature, our encounter with his divinity or supernatural character must begin, as did that of those who met him in Galilee, with his daily interactions with people in their everyday lives. Even his encounters with Pharisees and Priests, let alone Roman rulers, we see his “grace and truth” in action. Jesus’ various conversations with the Samaritan women at the well, with Nicodemus in the night, or blind Bartimaeus on the roadside, all expressed his concern with truth and grace.

Perhaps the most powerful example of Jesus’ way of dealing with people is his encounter with the so-called “Woman taken in adultery“, traditionally placed between Chapters 7 and 8 in John’s Gospel. There is some difference of opinion among scholars as to where this story belongs in the Gospel, but most agree that its content makes it important to keep so they have placed it at the end. The Pharisees bring a woman whom they have supposedly caught in the act of adultery and ask him if he thinks she should be stoned as the Law of Moses commands. Jesus asks those who are without sin to cast the first stone, and they all walk away thereby admitting their own guilt. While he was waiting for their response it is said that Jesus “doodled” in the sand.

When Jesus looks up, the accusers have all left and he asks the woman where they are. She replies that no one has accused her. Jesus says “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” The deep irony here is that there is serious question whether or not the woman was guilty in the first place. Jesus’ last remark makes it seem that probably she had not been guilty in the first place. After all, it is very complicated to “catch” someone in the act of adultery. I see him here with a wink of the eye to the woman. Here we see both “truth and grace” on display in the manner with which Jesus related to both the woman and the Pharisees.                                  

Exploring Finland, My Wife’s Homeland

            My wife Mari Sorri was born and raised in Finland. I was eager to learn more about her place of birth, its people, its history, and its culture, so we went there soon after we were married in 1982. I knew very little about Finland before meeting Mari, except that it a had a great record of long distance track runners, beginning with Paavo Nurmi back in the 1920s. He was an amazing runner who often ran one long distance race right after another the same day. The other great Finnish Olympic winner was Lasse Viren, who also set world records both in the middle and long distances. Mari gave me a crash course in Finnish history, which included horrific facts about how both Russia and Germany who ravaged Suomi, which is what Finland calls itself, during World War Two, and about how its main leaders chose to be a socialist country after World War One in 1917. It has become famous today for having the “happiest” population in the world.  

She also tried to teach me some of the Finnish language before we arrived there. For the past forty years I have had a love/hate relationship with Finnish. I have done somewhat OK learning to speak and read it, but I have never been good with languages and Finnish is nothing like any other language I had studied. On the good side, it is far more regular and predictable than English and other Western languages, but at the same time it is so different from all of them that it is hard to get an initial handle on it. But I keep trying. I do get bye with some basic words and expressions, enough to count and buy some simple items at the store.

Mari’s Mom ran a farm in southern Finland and we went there first to visit. There was an abundance of beautiful, flat countryside surrounded by dense forests. Mari has two older brothers, one of whom now runs the farm and the other is a lawyer. Her father died a number of years ago, so her mother became the sole manager of the farm and the provider for the family. The family is seriously Christian and differentiates themselves from the State Lutheran Church. Mari’s Grandfather was something of an itinerant preacher, traveling amongst a group of conservative churches throughout the country. At the same time, it must be said that her family is not narrowminded when it comes to religion, only serious. 

Mari had lived in America for a number of years and had been married before we met. We actually met at Eastern College in Pennsylvania, very near to Philadelphia, where she was studying to become a teacher and I was a professor. We met when Mari signed up for one of my classes during her last semester of classes before becoming a student teacher. It was a religion class and Mari had some difficulty grasping the broader sense of Christian faith than that to which she had been exposed. She asked many questions both inside and outside of class about the subject matter of the books we were reading. Soon she found a broader, more open understanding of Christianity quite attractive and grew rapidly as a student.

So, when we arrived in Topeno, her home village, it was a bit awkward for more than one reason. Not only was I her second American husband, but I was a professor, which in Europe means that one is somehow of a higher social rank. However, soon things got down to normal when I became less confused about the details of the family situation and perspective, and when they realized that I was, though 49 years old while Mari was 25, not a stuffy old professor type. I came to love Mari’s mother, Ulla, very much and I am sure the feeling was mutual. I soon got along with both brothers quite well. We stayed the whole summer and I got to help out with the farm work a good deal. We also took some trips around much of southern Finland while I continued to work on my Finnish. Ulla and I had fun doing the daily crossword puzzle in the Finnish newspaper together.

Our first tourist visit was, of course, to Helsinki, the capitol city.  The stores were full of interesting items, some quite unfamiliar to me. I did find some helpful books and some very tasty foods, especially hot dogs and thick doughnuts. I was surprised to learn that you have to pay to use the toilets. Mikko, Mari’s youngest brother, was both a horse and automobile enthusiast. So, we spent several evenings at the races, both kinds. In the summer, it quite literally almost never gets dark in the evening in Finland, and likewise in the winter it hardly ever gets light. We also took a small boat trip up a river visiting old farms and villages along the way. I was very proud when I was able to choose a product at the local store with the words “Tama on parempi”, which translates as “This one is better.” Over the years of our marriage, we have visited Finland 29 times. I am still a beginner in the language.

The most impressive landmarks in the capitol city of Helsinki are the Finlandia House, the symphony hall, the Rock Church, built right into a huge mountain of rock, and the harbor area full of ships, fish sellers and numerous outdoor cafes. Some of the architecture was done by the famous Finn, Eero Saarinen who also designed the famous St. Louis Arch. I was especially excited to visit the Olympic Track and Field where the 1951 Olympics had been held. One of my boyhood heroes, Bob Mathias, won the Decathlon that year there in Helsinki. In every major city there are huge ski jump ramps for winter time sports. I was able to visit the University of Helsinki and met several teachers. Years later my good friend and former student became a professor there and through his good graces it was arranged for me to teach a Short Winter course there. I have come to love Finland very much and would like to think I might visit there again, but it seems highly unlikely. 

After about ten years of spending summers in Finland, I decided it might be possible, and useful, to offer a summertime basketball camp for young kids. My Finnish was getting better and basketball was becoming something of a national sport. Several Finnish players have today actually made the NBA, most noteworthy is Lauri Markkanen of Utah Jazz. We got a very small start in an old school gym where for the first couple of years we had to import hoops from the States. Then the new high school in the nearbye town of Loppi opened up and the recreation leader was ecstatic to have an American basketball teacher for the brand-new gym. We advertised in the local paper and about two dozen young kids and a dozen high schoolers showed up. I ran the summer basketball school for two weeks every year for ten years. It was much fun and a great success. My Finnish also got much better, but I found that I was too old to be a coach. One more thing. My best female player went on to be a member of the Finnish national team and later played professionally in Germany.