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According to an oft-told story, Protestant theologian Karl Barth was asked if we could sum up his theology in one sentence. He responded with the well-known words of the children’s hymn: Jesus loves me, this I know; for the Bible tells me so.
The truth is that even when we find value in uncertainty, as human beings, we still ask, knock and search for what is certain. Our curiosity has a goal: We seek a truth we can stand in and proclaim, “This I know!” Yet when life is swirling around us and the ground underfoot is crumbling, what does it meant to say, “Jesus loves me, this I know?” This proclamation of certainty might sound inadequate, naïve or even arrogant. With so much suffering and injustice in the world, it might seem callous to shrug and say, “Jesus loves me,” especially if the undertone is one of competition.
Yet at the birth of Jesus, the angels proclaimed that God’s incarnation in Jesus is “good news of great joy for all people.” And so, “Jesus loves me this I know” is a claim everyone should be able to make, because it is true for everyone.
This message is excerpted from the Bible study “After certainty” by Meghan Johnston Aelabouni in the May/June 2024 Gather magazine.