Confusion

John's gospel is full of people who got confused. Nicodemus hadn't a clue what Jesus meant by being 'born again.' Some Pharisees thought that Jesus might be going to kill himself. A formerly blind man didn't know whether Jesus was a sinner or not.
Confusion is a vital stage in our journey of faith. If Jesus hasn't confused you , maybe you don't know him very well. ​
As we saw last week, John's gospel isn't simple.  This gospel spends 20 chapters circling around two ideas, that Jesus is God's Son and that he gives eternal life to all who believe in him.
Confused? Well there are two non-confused sort of reactions. The first is to reject the claims that John makes. Surely a human being cannot be God's Son?  Surely all this stuff about eternal life is a pipe-dream? The second is to believe it at face value. Yes it must be true because the Bible says it is. I prefer the second reaction to the first, but I don't think it is the best we can do.
Let's think about Jesus as God's Son. John's gospel uses this idea as a shorthand for something much more complicated. That's why this book has a strange opening about the Word of God that is God and is with God. If that opening line doesn't confuse you I don't know what will. But please grasp this: John doesn't want to leave us confused. He wants us to look at a whole list of signs and pictures so we grasp as far as humanly possible who Jesus is. 
This gospel tells us twice that Jesus is the Light of the World. He brings us from darkness to light. Our first reaction might be confusion, but that is only the start ....