Meditating with Scripture John's Gospel

'How should we read the Gospel of John? There are so many ways. The one presented here is rooted in an experience that does not separate reason from faith or the intellect from the heart. It follows the method of lectio divina, proposes a prayerful listening to the word, and is moved by the invocation of the Spirit. We cannot fly on eagle's wings unless the Spirit lifts us'. Using the ancient tradition of lectio divina ('sacred reading'), this book leads us on a journey through John's Gospels, reflecting on the people and the events in the life of Jesus, as well as his teaching and prayers, which all combine to make this most carefully structured and lyrically written of Gospel accounts. Each chapter concludes with exercises to help us 'dialogue with the word' and a prayerful meditation to draw together our thoughts and help to shape our response. Summary of contents: Introduction; John the Baptist and the Lamb of God; Jesus and the first disciples; The mother of Jesus and wine for the wedding; The night-time conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus; Jesus at the well with the Samaritan woman; The Good Shepherd; Lazarus, Martha and Mary: friendship and resurrection; The Lord becomes a servant; The great prayer of Jesus; The crucified King; Mary Magdalene, the disciples and Thomas; The new starting point is love; and, Notes. What is lectio divina ? David Winter writes: Recently many Christians have begun to take an interest in an ancient, traditional way of reading the Bible called lectio divina, which a new BRF book Meditating with Scripture is written to facilitate. lectio divina is literally 'divine' or spiritual reading. There's an example of it in St Paul's letter to the Christians at Colosse. They are told to 'let the word of Christ dwell in you richly' (3:16). The word is to saturate their spirits - that's the literal meaning of 'dwelling richly'. This way of reading the Bible is more like an engagement with a living being than studying a book. At Colosse, this group of Christians are simply to open themselves to the Scripture and listen to its inner voice together. After all, the Bible wasn't written for the library or the lecture theatre, but to enable ordinary believers to meet with God, to hear his voice, to enter into a kind of conversation of the soul. With lectio divina we seek from the text just one thing, but that the greatest thing a human being can ask for: a living relationship with God.