This cultural reading of John’s prologue and his gospel highlights the collectivistic nature of his community. Eighty percent of the world’s population at present live in collectivistic cultures. The percentage was higher in antiquity. Collectivists take their identity from the group, depend on the group, take their cues from the group (Judg 2:14-15; Acts 16:14-15). This was why intense interpersonal bonding was so important for John’s group.
The Christmas Midnight Mass and Mass at Dawn present Luke’s report of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem and the visit of the shepherds (Lk 2:1-14, 15-20 respectively). The Mass during the day presents the masterfully crafted prologue to the Gospel of John (Jn 1:1-18). John offers a different interpretation of the birth of Jesus.
The prologue’s concentric structure contains seven pairs of parallels (e.g., Jn 1:1-2 and Jn 1:18; 2:3 and 1:17; etc.) announcing the themes that the Evangelist will amplify in the rest of the Gospel: Word, life, light, God, etc. However, the center of such a structure is focal because it presents the major thrust of the passage: “he gave power to become children of God”
(Jn 1:12c).
Yet not all (“his own”) accepted the light (Jn 1:11). “His own” could be Jesus’ immediate kinship group (Jn 7:1-7; 19:27), or his clan or people. Since natural generation does not make children of God (Jn 1:13), “his own” quite likely refers to Jesus’ ethnic relationship to Israel. Israel’s refusal to accept Jesus is confirmed later in the Gospel (Jn 3:11; 4:44; 5:43). Believers born “of God” and designated “children of God” acquire a new mode of existence that carried with it a lofty honor status of its own (Jn 1:12-13).
Individualists in Western and other cultures will feel uncomfortable with these sentiments. They would call collectivist behavior “group-think.” The challenge for both collectivists and individualists is to recognize the weaknesses of their cultural orientation and to balance it with the positive values of the other orientation. As the ancients taught (e.g., Aristotle, Horace, Ovid), virtue stands in the middle.
Liturgical Press has published fourteen books by Pilch exploring the cultural world of the Bible.
Go to http://www.litpress.org/ to find out more.
The Cultural World of Jesus, Sunday by Sunday, Cycle B
John J. Pilch. The Liturgical Press. 1996. pp. 10-12.
from Religious Clip Art for the Liturgical Year (A, B, and C).
This art may be reproduced only by parishes who purchase the collection in book or CD-ROM form. For more information go http://www.ltp.org