
The heart of our post-modern society lies in relationships. Relationships form the cement of society, the work place, families and the personal well-being of each one of us. Partly for this reason I have started a more detailed study of John’s Gospel, for John in his writings stresses the Father’s perfect loving relationship with his Son, Jesus the Messiah. The Father and the Son are indeed one. As Jesus’ followers we too are called into a parallel relationship with Jesus and then also between ourselves as brothers and sisters.

In studying John 1, I have been touched again by the idea of such relationships being characterised by movement towards each other. To beĀ with someone means that we shall move towards them. So already in John 1.1 the Word was with God. The Greek word translated “with” can be so translated, but it has the fundamental sense of ‘moving towards’. In beingĀ with the Father, Jesus Christ was eternally in movement towards the Father. And again in John 1.18 the NIV’s “at the Father’s side” is literally ‘into the bosom of the Father’. As the Father’s beloved son, Jesus Christ is eternally moving into the bosom of the Father. We may picture a small child nestling into the chest of a Father or into the mother’s breasts – such deep security, peace and love. Raymond Brown in his Anchor Bible commentary rightly characterises this as an intimate relationship. And so it is!

In the Gospels the call to discipleship is to “come” to Jesus, to “follow” him. Verbs of motion. As Christians we want to ‘come’ and come again and again to Jesus, drawing ever closer to him in intimate relationship. And as we draw close to Jesus, we shall through and in him come close to the Father in an intimate relationship of love. This will in turn overflow into loving relationships between us as Christians.
Such movement towards each other may be seen in every culture. When two people meet, they will move closer to each other if they have a good relationship. But if they dislike each other, they will gradually draw back an inch or two. TV dramas also demonstrate the reality of this relational movement towards one another. The scene is set with crowds of people drinking and chatting together in a hall. Through the door at one end of the room a beautiful young lady enters. At the other end of the room a handsome young man comes in. Immediately their eyes meet. Gradually they filter through the crowds towards each other until they actually meet. The conclusion to this ‘movement towards’ is perhaps unsuitable for this blog! But again we note that loving relationship involves steady movement towards the object of our love.

God has moved towards us in coming from heaven into the world in order to bring us into a loving relationship through him with God the Father. His purpose for his people is that we should move towards each other to deepen our love within his church and then to our neighbour. So the heart of the Gospel is the good news of intimate, loving relationships which grow and deepen. Our alienated world certainly needs and cries out for John’s good news that they too can enter into and enjoy new relationships of grace and love as they move by faith into discipleship of Jesus Christ. Let us therefore share this gospel with confident joy!
If you enjoy this post do add a comment or send Martin a message – you can email him at martingoldsmith34@gmail.com
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