Spirit, water, blood

After I John 5:6-21

The text says he came

by water and blood,

and that they testify

with the Spirit, providing

unassailable evidence.

Spirit, water, blood –

these are beyond

the testimony of the court,

beyond the oath we take:

the blood giving life

the water sustaining life

the Spirit infusing life

Photograph by Seth Macey via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Curious

After I John 5:6-21

It is curious to me that

the one whom Jesus loved

completes his first letter

with a plea, almost a wail,

for the little children,

the dear children,

to keep themselves,

ourselves,

from idols. After

all that he says

in his letter, he ends

with a plea sounding

more like a warning,

keep yourselves from idols.

Curious, it is. He writes

of love and sin and

family and truth and

confidence and then

finishes with a warning

about idols.

So who needs this warning?

Who is the audience

for this letter, what city,

what church, what group

of the faithful?

And the answer is:

All of them

all of us

each one

me

Photograph by Matthew Ansley via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Confidence

After I John 5:6-21

If we find ourselves within

an impregnable fortress,

we have confidence.

If we discover a true fountain

of youth, of life forever,

we have confidence.

If we cling to the rock

of protection, hiding us from evil,

we have confidence.

If we are within the one, true,

three-in-one, one eternal,

we have confidence.

Photograph by Andrew Neel via Unsplash. Used with permission.