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Four-Casting the Divine

January 12, 2021 by Brian Shipman in Contemplative Christianity, Spirituality, Uncategorized Post Comment

Better to illuminate than merely to shine, to deliver to others contemplated truths than merely to contemplate. Thomas Aquinas

The first time we ever hear the divine God of the Universe speak he says, Let there be light. Four words that birth light itself – an agent that behaves as both a wave and a particle, both in continuous motion as they emanate from a central source outward toward everything around it.

The first time we see water flowing on earth, it is in a river that originates in Eden and then divides into four headwaters. One river that births four that then proceed in continuous motion to water everything they touch. In Hebrew, the word for river is the same word as the word for radiating light. A river flows. Light flows.

And then we have Ezekiel’s wheel within a wheel, a mysterious object in motion that flashes light and bears multiple iterations of a creature with four faces: a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle. Together, these radiant beings move back and forth, left and right, along the primary compass axes. Together they symbolize that God’s presence continuously radiates in every direction.

And finally, we see the four Gospel writers. Four men who entered orbit around the Gospel story of Jesus and then chose to share that story through the light of their writings. Saint Matthew, the man. Saint Mark, the Lion. Saint Luke, the Ox. And Saint John, the Eagle. The light of the Gospel is in continuous motion, emanating from Jesus to these four and then on to the entire world. Including now you.

This pattern of God’s light emanating from him through a primary four and then onward to everyone else is played out not just in the foundations of Scripture, but also in those of science.

When Galileo Galilei, the father of science, first turned his telescope skyward towards the planet Jupiter, he was stunned to see four tiny stars on either side of it. He watched night after night and finally concluded that Jupiter had four visible moons revolving around it. What convinced him was the motion of the moons. He noted the changes in their position not just over weeks or days – but over hours.

He reported his findings in a publication called Starry Message in March, 1610.

Since then we have discovered no less than 79 moons encircling Jupiter. The light and motion of the first four were only the beginning.

The name Jupiter is comprised of two roots Dyeu and Pater. Dyeui means sky or God, which is where we get the name Zeus or the Latin Deus as in the phrase Deus ex Machina, which translates to God, out of the machine. And pater means father. Jupiter, it seems, means Father God.

The New Testament book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the radiance of of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being. Jesus doesn’t just radiate the divine – he is the radiance itself. He is light in motion – and that motion is toward us. Jesus seeks us out. He is for us.

The four Gospel writers reflect this divine radiance in sacred Scripture.

Today we will review how all four Gospel writers are doing this by taking a look back at the previous six episodes. There is a pattern in the Gospel stories there that emerges – a radiance that continues to shine. It begins with the four Gospel authors, who each have so far shared different vantage points in the life of Jesus. And for the first time, our most recent episode featured a single Gospel story told by all four writers simultaneously.

Seen as a whole, the last six episodes cover four stories that give us an experience much like Galileo’s first sightings of Jupiter and it’s four satellites – it is something that, when documented and shared, will change the outlook of the entire world.

So let’s get moving.

Source Scripture

This is the Way: John 1:1-18

Genealogies with Geographies: Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38

The Woman at the Well – Part 1: John 4:1-26

The Woman at the Well – Part 2: John 4:27-38

The Woman at the Well – Part 3: John 4:39-42

Jesus announces the Kingdom of God: