Themes
In complementing the synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of John shows both subtle similarities to its literary relatives and striking differences from them. John's portrayal of Jesus as an initiative-taker accords with Mark's picturing him as a man of action. But in Mark Jesus repeatedly commands others to keep his messianic identity a secret, while in John Jesus offers frequent evidence of his messiahship. John's inclusion of lengthy discourses by Jesus parallels a similar distinctive of Matthew, but the style of Jesus' speech in John differs significantly (perhaps due to john's paraphrasing or interpretation of the material). Further, Matthew's emphasis on the "kingdom of God" gives way to john's focus on eternal life. John provides a selective account of Jesus' ministry and teaching to show his role as a Messiah who was both human and divine, whereas Luke aims at a consecutive, seemingly more comprehensive, record. The stated purpose of John's Gospel, found almost at the end (20:30-31), shapes its profoundly theological emphases.
Nevertheless, John's greater attention to theology than biographical details does not necessitate viewing his account as unhistorical. Indeed, John adds much to our knowledge of Jesus' activities and teaching by emphasizing his ministry in Judea, especially in and around Jerusalem, whereas prior to the passion narratives the Synoptics concentrate on events in Galilee. John does not include the parables but provides the otherwise unrecorded reports of Jesus' turning water into wine at a wedding in Cana; his encounters with Nicodemus and with the Samaritan woman at the well; the allegory of the Good Shepherd; the raising of Lazarus from the dead; Jesus' washing of the disciples' feet at the Last Supper; the refusal of Thomas to believe in the resurrection without seeing and touching Jesus for himself; and Peter's three professions of love for the resurrected Christ over a beachside breakfast at the Sea of Galilee. Moreover, John's mention of three, possibly four separate Passover festivals, as opposed to the one Passover of Jesus' passion reported in the Synoptics, clarifies that Jesus' public ministry took place over a period of at least two and perhaps as long as three-and-ahalf years.
Themes
Because of John's interest in the theological significance of Jesus' actions, he always refers to the miracles as "signs" or "works" Jesus' discourses explain the symbolic meaning of his deeds, and often the words used in his explanations carry a double meaning. For example, Jesus refers to his crucifixion as a "lifting up," which conveys the physical elevating of his body on a cross and also the spiritual glorification he receives from God the Father for exercising the authority to lay down his life (io:18). John's generous use of double entendre fits well with the frequent irony that punctuates the book (e.g., 4:10-11).
Theological themes include the revelation of God by Jesus, the divine, incarnate "Word" (Gk. logos), the filial relationship of Jesus to God the Father, and the messiahship of Jesus. His "I am" statements, distinctive to John, unpack these themes by symbolically conveying his unique qualification to provide eternal life. Here Jesus calls himself the "Bread of life;" "Light of the world," "Door," "Good Shepherd;' "Resurrection and the Life," "Way, the Truth, and the Life," and "True Vine." In using "I am," without predicate, Jesus identifies himself as God, who first revealed his name to Moses as "Yahweh" ("I am'; Exod. 3:14). Another distinctive of John is its emphasis on the "Paraclete;' or Holy Spirit, whose sending by God the Father follows Jesus' postpassion ascension to heaven.
The Johannine Writings
Five books - the Gospel of John, the three epistles of John, and the book of Revelation - make up the 'Johannine writings" in the New Testament, so named because their authorship is traditionally assigned to the Apostle John. The Gospel of John actually does not name its author, although it implies that the "beloved disciple" is responsible for the Gospel (John 21:24-25). According to some early church traditions, this disciple is John, the son of Zebedee, but the Gospel itself does not make this identification. 1 John is said to be written simply by the elder." 2 and 3 John are anonymous, but 2 John especially is closely related to 1 John. In the book of Revelation, 'John" is named as author, although not specifically identified as John the Apostle. By identifying all these figures with each other, the conclusion emerged that John the Apostle, the son of Zebedee, wrote these five books. Hence, together they are called the 'Johannine writings."
The conclusion that all five books were authored by John was not, however, universally accepted in the ancient church, nor has it received universal acceptance today. Matters such as the authorship of ancient documents are not easy to settle, and the testimony of the early church fathers shows that there were differences of opinion regarding the authorship and origin of these documents. For example, Dionysius, the bishop of Alexandria (3rd century A.D.), disputed the Johannine authorship of the
Revelation, based on matters such as style, vocabulary, and thought. But his reservations may also have been influenced by his desire to squelch increasing belief concerning a final "millennium." The rise of Montanism, a late 2nd-century prophetic movement centered in Phrygia, may also have led to anxiety regarding claims to have and speak by the inspiration of the Spirit.
The genre of these five documents - gospel, letters, and apocalypse - varies significantly. The Gospel of John, while displaying significant differences from the other three Gospels, nevertheless provides a narrative of Jesus' life that includes his teaching, miracles, calling of disciples, death, and resurrection. According to 20:30-31, the purpose of the Gospel is to present Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God. Moreover, the hidden identity of Jesus is revealed to the reader in the opening verses of the Gospel, which identify him as the Word" (1:1), who became flesh N. 14) and embodied the fullness of divine revelation (vv. 17-18). Jesus is presented primarily with respect to his Jewish identity, and the feasts and rituals of Judaism (Passover, Tabernacles, temple) and the imagery of the Scriptures (temple, shepherd, lamb, King, prophet, Son of Man, water, life, Law, wisdom, Moses, Jacob, Abraham, and so on). The Gospel points to disputes about Jesus' identity and comments that there was a "division" among the people as to who he was
(7:40-42). The Gospel also hints that there would come a time when Jesus' followers would leave the synagogue (9:22; 16:2), and thus a deeper rift among the Jews would develop with respect to identifying Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God.
While the Gospel has its eye primarily on the identification of Jesus with respect to the institutions, feasts, and Scriptures of Israel, the epistles address a situation of a divided Christian community (1 John 2:19). Now the division is not between church and synagogue, but within the church itself. The issues that divided these early Christian congregations are not explicitly spelled out but seem to have involved the reality of Jesus' incarnation (1 John 4:2-3; 5:6-8; 2 John 7), the problem of sin and the continued need for atonement (1 John 1:8-2:2; 3:4-10), and competing claims to prophetic inspiration and to deeper understanding of God's revelation (1 John 2:20, 27; 4:1; 2 John 5-6, 9). The epistles insist on the genuine incarnation and real flesh of Jesus, the ongoing need for atonement, even for believers, and the continuity of the truth first revealed through and in Jesus with the teaching of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church. Each of these themes can be found in the Gospel of John as well. The need for correction of false beliefs suggests that different members of the early Christian community understood certain fundamental affirmations of the faith, such as the incarnation and the role of the Spirit and inspiration, very differently.
According to church tradition, these documents come from the same general area, Asia Minor, and are all dated toward the end of the 1st century. Typically the letters are dated after the writing of the Gospel, since the letters are taken to deal with problems that arose in a somewhat established group of Christian congregations. The book of Revelation is most commonly thought to be written under the rule of the Roman emperor Domitian (81-96). Certain Roman writers disparaged Domitian as arrogantly seeking divine honors and referring to himself as "Lord and God." Such a situation would undoubtedly have threatened early Christian monotheistic commitments, and the book of Revelation gives evidence of the threat from the imperial cult in the eastern part of the empire. But Thomas's confession of Jesus as "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:28) is an implicit admission of the singular authority of the risen Lord.
Similarly, a number of like thought patterns unite these books, particularly the Gospel of John and Revelation. First, these books distinctively share similar descriptions of Jesus Christ. Jesus is designated as the "Word of God" (John 1:1, 14; 1 John 1:1; Rev. 19:13), and the books share the description of him as the beginning" or the one who was in the beginning"
(John 1:1; 8:25;1 John 1:1; Rev. 3:14; 21:6). He is referred to as a "lamb" (John 1:29, 36), and specifically as the "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." Lamb" frequently designates Jesus in the book of Revelation (e.g., Rev. 5:6, 8, 12,13; 6:1,16, 7:9), with particular emphasis falling on the universal redemption effected through the death of the Lamb. In 1 John, Jesus' death avails for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). While a lamb, Jesus is also characterized as a shepherd (John 10:11-18; Rev. 7:17). Jesus speaks majestically in revelatory "I am" statements, which make his identity known (Rev. 1:8,17-18; 22:13). He is the enthroned Son of Man of Daniel 7 with the authority to judge (John 5:22, 26-27; Rev. 1:13; 14:14-20). In Revelation, he has a throne alongside the throne of God (e.g., Rev. 3:21; 22:1, 3), and in the Gospel he is addressed by his own disciples as "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28). His status and role as King and Messiah feature prominently (e.g., John 1:49;12:13;18:33, 37, 39; 193,12,14,19, 21).
Other symbolism and language are common and important to two or more of these books. In both the Gospel and Revelation, Jesus is described as the source of living water (John 7:37-39; Rev. 7:16-17; 22:1), who provides spiritual nourishment and refreshment for his people (John 6:35; Rev. 7:16-17). Similarly, he is portrayed as light (John 8:12; Rev. 21:23-24).
The temple becomes unnecessary and is replaced either by the risen Jesus (John 4:21) or the presence of God (Rev. 21:22). Language of "witness" and "testifying" figure throughout John, the epistles, and Revelation, as does an emphasis on what can and was seen by the eyewitnesses. Both John and Revelation especially emphasize the importance of worship (John 4; Revelation 5-6). And John, 1 John, and Revelation lay particular emphasis on the role of the Spirit in prophecy and testimony, and the problem of false prophets.
In short, the traditions of the early church and certain patterns in the use of language and thought suggest a link between these documents. A'Johannine circle" or "school" may have emerged that cherished the living memory of the Apostle John and wrote down his teachings in the form of the Gospel. The epistles were then written by his students or coworkers, who preserved the apostolic witness to the "Word of life." Their testimony provided guidance for proper understanding of the Gospel and interpretation of the traditions deemed to come from John. While Revelation seems to stand apart in terms of genre, nevertheless, its traditional ascription to the Apostle, setting in Asia Minor, and themes and imagery suggest some points of contact with the Gospel.
MARIANNE MEYE THOMPSON
Authorship and Date
Early church tradition assigned authorship of this Gospel to the Apostle John, who was closely associated with Peter and in the later years of the 1st century A.D. lived in Ephesus in Asia Minor. The earliest witness to john's authorship comes from Irenaeus, a student of john's own disciple Polycarp. But the author of the book calls himself only "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (21:24; cf. V. 20), a self-designation meant to generate trust in his testimony as a confidant of Christ. The author characterizes himself as an eyewitness to Jesus' ministry (19:35), and the style and content of the book substantiate that claim by detailing weights and measurements, distances, personal names, and features of the topography of Jerusalem before its destruction by the Romans in 70.
Most scholars consider John the latest Gospel, written in the last third of the ist century. The Rylands Fragment of John dates to ca. 135, and its discovery in Egypt requires that the manuscript must have entered circulation several decades earlier to allow time for it to reach North Africa.
1:1-18 The Word Enfleshed
Matthew and Luke begin their Gospels by recounting Jesus' miraculous conception, but John begins with a reference to Christ's preexistence. As the divine Word, present with and distinct from God the Father, the Word served as the agent of creation and the source of both physical and spiritual life (= "light"; vv. 1-4; cf. Genesis i, where God "speaks" the world into existence, with "light" coming first). Verses 6-8, 15 summarize the role and ministry of John the Baptist as a witness to the "light" of Christ, whom the world (= "darkness") nevertheless failed to comprehend. In fact, the chosen nation of his fellow Jews ("his own") did not "receive" (believe in) him; but individual Jews and Gentiles who did receive him through faith gained spiritual rebirth (by "the will of... God") and thus status as children of God, regardless of human ancestry (vv. 9-13; cf. 3:1-15).
Verses 14-18 highlight the uniqueness of the Word both in relation to God the Father and to
humanity. The Word, God's speech or revelation, becomes incarnate ("enfleshed") by taking on human form in the person of Jesus Christ. That Christ "dwelt among us" robs humanity of any excuse for failing to know ("see") God (vv 5, io). The theme of the "new and greater Moses;" developed in Matthew, emerges in verse 17, where the grace (= ill-deserved favor) and truth imparted by Christ supersede the previous word, the Law given by God through Moses at Mount Sinai (cf. Matt. 17:1-13). This new Word is none other than the only Son of the Father, a designation that further underscores his unique identity and status.
1:19-34 The Witness of John the Baptist
In this Gospel, the primary importance of John the Baptist is his witness to the identity of Christ. When emissaries of "the Jews" (here the Pharisees; see v. 24) question John concerning his own identity, he first tells them who he is not - not the Messiah, a second Elijah, or the eschatological prophet anticipated by the Jews (cf. Mal. 4:5-6; throughout this Gospel, "the Jews" can refer to the religious authorities, the Pharisees, or the general populace - which included Jesus and the disciples). Rather, John claims identity as merely the prophesied "voice" whose testimony prepares the world for the arrival of the superior Word. On seeing Jesus, John acknowledges him as the "Lamb of God," who will atone for the sins of the entire world. The title and image grow out of the Jewish sacrificial system, which prescribes the slaying of lambs and other animals to effect atonement from sin (cf. Leviticus 1). The Baptist's identification of Jesus as the preexistent, divine redeemer of the world receives validation from John's witnessing the visible descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus (cf. Luke 3:22). The Spirit's remaining "upon" Jesus ensures his baptism of others "with" the Holy Spirit - a baptism superior to the water baptism of John.
"Bethany beyond the Jordan," where John first carried out his ministry, names an unknown location in Perea (Transjordan, east of Judea), not the town outside Jerusalem where Jesus raised Lazarus and lodged prior to his passion.
1:35-51 Jesus' First Disciples
The effectiveness of John the Baptist's "voice" becomes apparent when two of his own disciples hear his confession of Jesus as the Lamb of God and leave John to follow him. The followers include Andrew, who also enlists his brother Simon, and an unnamed person. From Luke 5:10 we know that the fraternal team of John and James cooperated with Simon (and presumably Andrew) in a fishing business on the Sea of Galilee, though here the four accompany John the Baptist in Perea. Jesus gives Simon a new name: "Cephas" in Aramaic, "Peter" in Greek, both of which mean "stone."
Next a fellow townsman of Andrew and Peter joins Jesus' ranks - Philip from Bethsaida, a fishing village on the northeastern end of the Sea of Galilee. Recognizing Jesus as the fulfillment of prophecy, Philip summons Nathanael, whose initial skepticism that anything good could "come out of Nazareth" undergoes a complete reversal in response to a second display of prophetic knowledge by Jesus. (Nathanael does not appear in the synoptic Gospels' lists of the Twelve, unless he is the same as Bartholomew.) Jesus responds to Nathanael's acknowledgment of his identity with a picture of himself as the means for God's revelation (v. 51; cf. V. 18; Gen. 28:12). Jesus may have taken the designation "Son of Man" from Dan. 7:13.
2:1-12 Wine for a Wedding
When the wine runs out at a friend's wedding celebration at Cana in Galilee (Nathanael's hometown, 4 mi. north of Nazareth; cf. 21:2), Jesus' mother informs her son of the embarrassing situation in which their host, the bridegroom, finds himself. Though Jesus lets Mary know that his purposes differ from hers, he transforms the water into wine - not to protect the honor of the groom, but to symbolize the presence in Jesus of the messianic age of abundant blessing (cf. 1:16). This "sign" is Jesus' first recorded miracle, a religiously symbolic deed.
On a number of occasions subsequent to this one, Jesus will repeat the observation that his "hour" (or "time") has not yet come (v 4), by which he means that the week of his death and resurrection lie further in the future.
The town of Capernaum, to which Jesus travels next, sits beside the Sea of Galilee, well north and east of Cana. That Jesus goes "down" to Capernaum refers to its lower elevation relative to Cana (cf. 4:46-47 49; cf. v. 13, where he goes "up" to the mountaintop city of Jerusalem).
2:13-22 Jesus the New Temple
Cf. Matt. 21:12-17; Mark 11:15-18; Luke 19:45-47.
The significance of Jesus' cleansing the temple in Jerusalem goes beyond a righting of the improper, unethical use of the building to convey that the risen Christ will replace the temple as the dwelling of God (cf. 1:14). Whereas in the synoptic Gospels the Jewish leaders ask by what authority Jesus overtakes their turf, in John they demand from him a "sign," which Jesus promises through his passion but which the Jews mistakenly take as a threat against the Jerusalem temple. That temple may no longer have existed when John was written, and here the emphasis falls on Jesus as the Messiah who does not build but instead embodies a new temple.
In John, that this encounter takes place at the first of three (possibly four) Passover festivals reported in the Gospel suggests that Jesus' ministry lasted between two-and-a-half to threeand-a-half years. Since the synoptic Gospels mention only the Passover of passion week, they locate Jesus' cleansing of the temple at the close of his ministry, rather than at its outset. Note also in john's account the more comprehensive and aggressive nature of Jesus' actions (making a whip, driving out the animals as well as the sellers, spilling their coins), which trigger the disciples' memory of the "zeal for [God's] house" in Ps. 69:9.
2:23-3:21 Enlightening Nicodemus
Nicodemus, a member of the ruling Jewish council, the Sanhedrin, now approached Jesus. Nicodemus comes under cover of darkness, which may serve as a foil to Jesus' "enlightening"of him. Jesus indicates that enlightenment can come only with (spiritual) rebirth (by "water [a symbol of the Holy Spirit] and the Spirit"). By taking Jesus' words as a reference to physical rebirth, Nicodemus demonstrates that he has not yet experienced spiritual rebirth, despite his belief in Jesus' divine mission. And no wonder, for the windlike Holy Spirit exercises sovereign, unpredictable control in the realm of spiritual rebirth (v. 8).
Jesus notes that people talk about what they know and observe (vv. 11-13). He himself knows not only about earthly phenomena but also and uniquely about heavenly matters. So if Nicodemus fails to believe Jesus concerning earthly phenomena (water and wind), how will he believe Jesus concerning heavenly matters, about which he has no independent knowledge? Jesus bridges this gap by likening his coming crucifixion, resurrection, and exaltation (the triple meaning of his "lifting up") to the erection of the bronze serpent during the Israelites' wandering in the wilderness (Num. 21:8-9). Just as snake-bitten Israelites could save themselves from physical death by looking at the serpent, so will individuals save themselves from spiritual death by believing in Jesus.
The word "so" in the much-loved verse 16 communicates not the greatness of God's love for the world but the way in which God loved the world - by giving his only Son to bring eternal life to human beings. Jesus' mission does not consist in judging humanity in the sense of condemning it; rather, Jesus comes as a "light" that illuminates for the entire world the way to eternal life: belief in him. But light also exposes everything around it, and so judgment by the Light of Jesus happens in the sense of showing people for what they are - practitioners of the "truth" (such as Nicodemus, who has come to the Light), or darkness-loving doers of evil.
3:22-36 John Delights in Jesus' Success
Even after Jesus begins his ministry, his herald, John, continues to baptize the repentant till the ruler of Galilee, Herod Antipas, throws him in prison (Mark 6:17-29). But unlike the Jewish religious leaders, who resent Jesus' activities at the temple (2:18), John derives joy from the increase of Christ's following even at the expense of his own. John reiterates his former testimony to the superiority of Jesus (1:19-36), and verses 31-36 add confirmation of Jesus' words to Nicodemus (compare W. 31-32 with 11-13; W. 35-36 with 15-18).
4:1-42 Acceptance in Enemy Territory
Jesus then heads toward Galilee (cf. Matt. 4:12, where Jesus goes north to avoid persecution after the manner of John the Baptist's recent imprisonment). A Jew would normally avoid going through Samaria because of the centuries-old history of hatred between the Jews and Samaritans (cf. Luke 9:51-56). But God's love for the world (3:16-21) propels Jesus through enemy territory, where he takes the initiative in striking up a conversation not just with any Samaritan, but with a Samaritan woman (note her surprise in v. 9 and that of the disciples in V. 27). The encounter takes place at 6 p.m. (the sixth hour from noon) beside "Jacob's well," located between Mounts Ebal and Gerizim, where on initially entering Canaan the Israelites ratified the covenant given at Sinai (Josh. 8:3035). Jesus' request that the woman draw him a drink of water quickly turns into an offer to her of "living water." He explains that this "water" consists in salvation, eternal life - far superior to the "well water" of Judaism, which requires repeated "drinking," namely, repeated sacrifices to atone for sins.
Again John stresses Jesus' omniscience by showcasing his independent knowledge of the woman's marital history (v. 18; cf. 1:42, 47-48; 2:24-25). She responds by identifying Jesus as a prophet and inquiring about the proper locale of worship. "This mountain" (v. 20) refers to Mount Gerizim, site of the Samaritan temple, which before its destruction in the late 2nd century B.C. competed with the temple in Jerusalem. But Jesus makes irrelevant the issue of earthly location by announcing the imminent elevation of worship to the spiritual plane - worship in "spirit [= the Holy Spirit] and truth" (cf. 14:6). Jesus' words spark the woman's confession of belief in the coming Messiah, and Jesus identifies himself to her as such (cf. Mark 8:27-30; contrast Mark 1:34, 40-45).
While the woman runs to relate her amazing encounter with Jesus, the disciples, concerned to provide him with physical nourishment, learn that what really sustains him is working out God's will. The spiritually ripe woman and her Samaritan townsfolk exemplify the "fields ... ripe for harvesting;" which the disciples must "reap" through evangelism. Here Jesus' experience of Samaritan acceptance contrasts with his rejection by Samaritans during his last journey to Jerusalem in Luke 9:51-56.
Jacob's Well at Shechem, where Jesus offered the Samaritan woman "living water" (John 4). (Phoenix Data Systems, Neal and Joel Bierling)
4:43-54 Jesus' Word Brings Life
The observation that "a prophet has no honor in his own country" reminds readers that Jesus has left Judea to avoid oppression by the Jewish leaders of Jerusalem, who should have eagerly ushered the Messiah to that religious center (cf. W. 1-3). As in Samaria (vv. 39-42), Jesus receives a warm reception in Galilee, Galileans having already witnessed his first "sign" at Cana and his activities in Jerusalem during the Passover pilgrim feast (2:1-13). While in Cana Jesus effects his second sign - healing a boy at the point of death. The miracle is fulfilled at the mere word of Jesus and in Capernaum, some 20 miles away, thus highlighting his great power and strengthening the reason to believe in him (v. 48). The child's father has already shown faith by walking a day's journey to summon Jesus to save his son (v. 47). He shows greater faith by heading home unaccompanied after Jesus' "word" assuring the boy's healing (v. 50).
5 Like Father, Like Son
Another, unnamed feast draws Jesus back to Jerusalem, where he performs a third sign. The pool of Bethesda (called in some ancient manuscripts "Bethsaida" or `Bethzatha") attracted the physically afflicted, for popular belief held that the pool had curative powers. Jesus singles out for healing a man whom he recognizes has suffered a long time. The curing occurs on a Sabbath, when Jewish law permits healing only in life-threatening cases. The man's long-standing ailment does not qualify as such. By slipping away anonymously, Jesus at least temporarily eludes persecution by the Jewish religious leaders for "working" unnecessarily on the day of rest and for instructing the healed man to work, too, by carrying his mat. Later, Jesus encounters the man in the temple and prohibits him from sinning - thought to cause physical ailments (cf. 9:1-2) - so he will avoid an even worse future, namely, eternal damnation (v. 14). Persecuted by the religious authorities for breaking the Sabbath, Jesus claims that his actions emulate God's own, for God is a life-giving God (vv. 17, 19-21). The leaders' malicious intent intensifies when he calls God his "father" - a declaration of equality with God, which they view as blasphemy, a capital crime (cf. 8:58-59).
Jesus' explanation of his sonship to God the Father in apprentice-mentor terms demonstrates both his equality with and obedience to God. The Father delegates authority to the Son, but the Son commands equal honor, and dishonoring the Son means dishonoring the Father. Jesus' singular authority to "judge" (reward "believers" with eternal life [v 24] and condemn evildoers [v 29]) is nevertheless inextricably tied to the directives of the Father N. 30). The dual testimony of Father and Son validates Jesus' judgments as just (cf. Deut. 19:15). Additional though inferior validation comes from the testimony of John the Baptist, and Jesus' own "works" witness to his divine apostolicity (w 33-36).
Verse 37 restates the claim of 1:18 that no mere human being has seen God the Father. Here Jesus uses the observation both to contrast his uniquely intimate relationship to the Father with the Jewish leaders' lack of knowledge of God and to accuse them of failing to recognize Jesus as the one prophesied in the Scripture - evidence of their spiritual dullness N. 38) and testimony to their disbelief of Moses, the ascribed author of the Law (Genesis-Deuteronomy). How then will they ever believe Jesus himself (cf. 3:12)?
Steps leading down to the southern pool of Bethesda, associated with healing in biblical times. (www.HolyLandPhotos.org)
6 The Bread of Life
Cf. Matt. 14:13-36; Mark 6:30-52; Luke 9:10-17.
John's associating of the feeding of the 5000 with Passover underscores Jesus' self-characterization as the "bread of life." Here Jesus himself takes the initiative in anticipating the need to feed the hungry throng, for he has a symbolic purpose in mind, whereas in the synoptic Gospels the disciples raise the issue from a purely practical standpoint (cf. Matt. 14:15; Mark 6:35-36; Luke 9:12). Compare the complete satisfaction of the multitude's hunger (v. 11) with the perpetual satisfaction of believers, who gain eternal life N. 35), and the saving of all the leftover bread (v 12) with Jesus' certain success in bringing salvation (vv. 37-39).
The multitude responds to the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and fish by identifying Jesus as "the prophet," presumably on the order of Moses as promised in Deut. 18:15. But Jesus eludes their efforts to force him into a political role that accords with their expectations of a messianic revolutionary. Miraculously walking on the Sea of Galilee under cover of darkness, he rejoins the Twelve, who have rowed nearly halfway from Tiberias (on the western shore of the Sea) to Capernaum (the base of Jesus' ministry, on the northern shore).
The multitude persists in tracking Jesus, who sees their enthusiastic pursuit as merely a desire to fill their stomachs. When they request a faith-inspiring sign (v 30), he has to explain the miraculous feeding of the previous day, which symbolizes the eternal life-producing satisfaction that comes from belief in him (vv. 32-40).
The Jewish leaders focus on Jesus' claim to have "come down out of heaven" (v 38; cf. 5:18). Jesus' additional equation of his "flesh" with the heavenly bread, which produces eternal life, seems preposterous, for cannibalism repulses them, and their own Scriptures forbid drinking blood (Lev. 17:10-14). They fail to understand "eating" and "drinking" as metaphors for believing in the power of his sacrificial death. "Taking in" Jesus through such belief results in Jesus' and the believer's "abiding" in each other; and because Jesus lives eternally, those who abide in him - and he in them - live eternally, too (vv. 56-57). Neither the manna in the wilderness nor the "manna" of the Passover ritual can compare (vv. 49-50, 58).
Jesus' shocking symbolism trips up more than the Jewish leaders - many of his followers abandon their discipleship. Peter speaks up for the Twelve in professing the loyalty of the handpicked apostles, but Jesus again displays his prophetic knowledge in foretelling his betrayal by one of them (vv. 70-71).
7:1-13 Now Is Not the Time
Even Jesus' brothers (cf. Matt. 13:55) want to make him a public figure (cf. the attempt of the multitude to make him king; 6:15). But Jesus, who receives glory from God, does not seek glory from any human being, let alone from the "world" of evildoers who hate him because he exposes their unrighteousness (cf. 5:41, 44). He refuses to put himself on display in Judea during the most popular Jewish festival, the autumn Feast of Tabernacles, for he knows that the time is not yet ripe for his self-sacrifice at the hands of the religious leaders who seek his life.
But after his brothers leave for Judea, Jesus also goes up (in elevation) from Galilee to Jerusalem to attend the festival inconspicuously. While the Jewish leaders wonder where he is, the multitudes whisper assessments of his character and ministry, apparently unaware that Jesus just might be listening in.
7:14-52 Conflicted Crowds and Frustrated Pharisees
When Jesus finally does appear at the temple halfway through the Feast of Tabernacles, he does not announce his presence by performing impressive miracles, as his brothers urged (vv 3-4); rather, he goes there to teach. But even his teaching makes people marvel, especially since he lacks rabbinic training. The wonder of the audience occasions Jesus' declaration that his teaching comes from God - a claim verifiable by people truly devoted to doing God's will.
When Jesus mentions the Judean leaders' plot to kill him, the multitude, which includes many Galilean pilgrims, displays its ignorance of the effort. Jesus challenges that the catalyst for the conspiracy - his "one deed" of restoring a man to health on the Sabbath (5:1-18) - merits more than the Jews' injuring of bodies on the Sabbath through circumcision. That practice also violates Mosaic law, even while complying with it. (Leviticus 12:3 requires circumcising boys on the eighth day after birth, with no alternative arrangements if that day falls on the Sabbath.)
Jerusalemites who hear Jesus' defense, however, recognize that he is the target of the murderous plot. Some of the people already recognize that Jesus is the Messiah, and the failure of the religious leaders and their lackeys to act against him suggests that some of them also suspect he is such. But two traditions about the Messiah make others question Jesus' messianic status. One tradition holds that no one will know the Messiah's origin. The other recalls Mic. 5:2 in asserting the Messiah's known Davidic ancestry and native claim to Bethlehem. The Jews' assumed knowledge that Jesus hails from Galilee argues against both traditions, betrays a general ignorance of his nativity in Bethlehem, and most significantly in John demonstrates their failure to recognize his heavenly origin.
As usual in John, however, Jesus elevates the earthbound discussion to the heavenly plane. Verse 28, normally translated as an affirmation that the crowd knows from where Jesus comes (Galilee), can just as easily be taken as a question challenging their presumed knowledge of his origin and the resulting disbelief in his messiahship. Since Jesus is thinking in heavenly terms, the implied answer is "No" (cf. 8:14). He tells them directly that he comes from God (v 29) and will return to God (vv. 33-36). As usual, the people misunderstand, and they wonder whether he plans a teaching mission to the Gentiles living side-by-side with those Jews dispersed outside Palestine.
Verses 37-38 resume the theme of the "living water," which Jesus offered to the Samaritan woman (4:1-15). On each morning of the weeklong festival (Tabernacles), Jewish priests entered the temple and presented to God an offering of water from the Pool of Siloam. On the climactic day of the celebration, Jesus proclaims himself the ultimate libation N. 37; cf. Isa. 55:1). His self-sacrifice will eliminate the need for repeated religious rituals by obtaining for believers a self-sustaining source of spiritual life, the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Nicodemus, who earlier came to the Light under cover of darkness (3:1-15), shows his growing spiritual enlightenment by speaking up for Jesus before fellow Pharisees. They immediately reprimand him for suggesting that they not condemn Jesus before hearing direct testimony from him and sarcastically denounce the worth of any prophet from Galilee (v 52; cf. 1:46).
7:53-8:11 The Pharisees Foiled Again
The story of the woman caught committing adultery does not appear in the earliest and best manuscripts of John. Later manuscripts insert it at various places (also following 7:36 or 21:24; cf. after Luke 21:38).
The account describes another failed attempt by the Pharisees to trap Jesus between the civil law of the ruling Romans, who reserved the right of capital punishment, and the religious law of the Hebrew Scriptures, which required the execution of adulterers by their fellow Jews. But Jesus presents a countercharge, and the woman's would-be executioners can only walk away. Customarily, the oldest man cast the first stone in execution by stoning. But Jesus makes sinlessness a condition for that act, and a claim to sinlessness would amount to the capital crime of proclaiming equality with God. The Jewish leaders have already accused Jesus of such blasphemy (5:18) and dare not indict themselves for the same offense. Jesus, whose sinlessness uniquely qualifies him to stone the woman (v. 46), graciously dismisses her instead, but not before admonishing the abandoned adulteress to abandon her sinning.
8:12-59 The Light of the World
Despite mocking Nicodemus's proposal (7:5052), the Pharisees find themselves hearing testimony from Jesus, though they are inclined reject its validity. As with Jesus' calling himself the "living water;" his calling himself the "light" stems from a ritual performed during the Feast of Tabernacles. Four immense candelabra burn continually at the temple to remind the Jews of the pillar of fire by which God guided and protected their ancestors during their wandering in the wilderness after escaping bondage in Egypt (Exod. 13:21). As the "light of the world," however, Jesus shines not only for the Jews but also for the Gentiles. And as the "light of life;" he illuminates the way out of the path of "darkness" - a biblical symbol of death - to the ultimate promised land of eternal life (v 12).
Mosaic law required at least two witnesses to establish the validity of any testimony (Deut. 19:15). Since Jesus' contemporaries fail to recognize God's testimony to Jesus as his Sender, they consider Jesus' testimony to himself as unfounded bias. They keep querying him about his identity, but remain clueless and close- minded about his answers. In verse 22, the Jews speculate that Jesus intends to commit suicide, but in verse 28 he foretells his death at their hands. There "lifting up" weds the image of Jesus' humiliating elevation on a cross with the seemingly contradictory result of his exaltation by the Father.
In the following discussion of freedom from enslavement to sin, Jesus' countrymen again display their shallow understanding of Jesus' teaching and of their own history. They understand enslavement purely in socio-political terms. Even so, their denial of having ever been enslaved fails to acknowledge their current subordination to Rome and to previous political powers, not to mention their ancestors' past enslavement in Egypt - freedom from which spawned the events commemorated by the festival they are currently celebrating! Addressing spiritual enslavement in terms of the culture of his day, Jesus pictures the Son of God's freeing people from sin as growing out of the inherent authority of a son, an heir who enjoys permanent status in the family (= household), to free a family slave.
The Jews claim Abraham as their father. But Abraham obeyed God, whose message Jesus brings. That the Jews seek to kill Jesus, therefore, exposes them as false descendants of Abraham, in the spiritual sense. Their rejection of the truth imparted by Jesus betrays them instead as children of the Devil, the father of lies (cf. Matt. 3:7-10; Luke 3:7-9). The Jews then charge Jesus with demon-possession, thereby proving his point that they ignore the truth. Jesus' declaration that obedience to his "word" brings about eternal life seals their disbelief. His concluding claim to have existed before Abraham and to embody the divine "I am" - the personal name by which God identified himself to Moses (Exod. 3:14) - prompts them to try stoning him for wrongly attributed blasphemy.
9 Sin and Sight
In the 1st century, physical ailments were thought to be punishment for sin. Faced with a man blind from birth, the disciples ask the cause of the condition: his parents' sin or the man's sin while still an infant in the womb. Jesus' granting of sight to the man both symbolizes Jesus' role as the universal Light of eternal life and evidences the truth of his claim to be that Light (cf. 8:12). By sending the blind man to wash in the Pool of Siloam (= "Sent"), Jesus makes the man's obedience necessary for the healing, much as Jesus' own obedience to his heavenly Sender is required to bring about spiritual healing for humanity.
Jesus the Good Shepherd, who "lays down his life for the sheep" (John 10); marble statue, 3rd century, Catacomb of Domitilla. (Scala /Art Resource, NY)
Although some witnesses view this miracle as testimony to Jesus' righteousness, the Pharisees charge that its performance on the Sabbath disproves his claim to come from God. The newly sighted man thinks Jesus is a prophet, but his parents, fearful of ostracism by the Pharisees, avoid the question (cf. 7:13). The Pharisees attempt to force the healed man to condemn Jesus as a sinner, but instead he delivers a sermon, exposing their blindness to the obvious truth of Jesus' heavenly origin, attested by the sign under scrutiny. The man's expulsion from the synagogue by the affronted Pharisees propels him out of the "darkness" and prompts Jesus, the Light, to search him out and elicit his confession of faith. The entire episode illustrates "judgment" as the result of Jesus' mission. Belief enables a person to "see" his or her inherent sinfulness so that repentance and forgiveness follow. In contrast, the self-sufficiency of spiritual blindness prevents repentance and dooms a person to die in a sinful (unforgiven) state.
10:1-21 The Good Shepherd
The allegory of the Good Shepherd explains through pastoral imagery familiar to Jesus' listeners the significance of the immediately preceding events. In the opening parables (vv. 1-5), the sheep represent the formerly blind man, representative of those who believe in him; the thieves and robbers stand for the Pharisees; and the shepherd represents Jesus. At night, flocks of sheep slept protected in low-walled enclosures, with a hired doorkeeper guarding the gate. A thief would hop the wall and hoist the sheep out individually, rather than overwhelming the porter and herding the flock out the entryway, so causing the sheep to panic and scatter. In contrast, sheep naturally followed their shepherd, whose familiar voice and kind ways kept the flock calm.
Jesus' also calls himself the "gate" of the sheepfold, the open door through which his flock may find freedom and sustenance in God's "pasture" (vv. 7-10). He "lay[s] down his life" like a "good shepherd" who sleeps in front of the gate of the sheepfold as guard. In Jesus' case, endangerment for the sake of the sheep means certain death, but one through which he exercises authority in surrendering himself to being killed (cf. 19:30) and in subsequently reclaiming his life (cf. 20:6-9). Whether Gentile (the "other sheep;" v. 16) or Jew, the sheep know their shepherd, whose voice and teaching they readily recognize and willingly follows (v. 14; cf. 7:17).
10:22-42 Conflict with the Jewish Authorities
The scene switches to a different, winter festival - the Festival of Dedication, known today as Hanukkah or Lights, which celebrates the rededication of the temple after its desecration by Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 167 B.C. (Dan. 11:21-39). John's repetition of the sheepshepherd imagery associates this account with the preceding allegory.
The Jews encircle Jesus and demand a straight answer to the question of his messiahship. Their urgent interest stems from the expectation that the Messiah would provide politico-military leadership in shedding foreign (here Roman) domination (cf. 1:19-28; 11:48). Jesus asserts that he has already answered their question (cf. 5:45-47; 7:25-44), and rather than take on the connotations that come with the term "Messiah;" declares his unity with God the Father N. 30; cf. 8:19). The declaration prompts another attempt by the Jews to stone Jesus for blasphemy (cf. 5:18). But he uses their Scriptures to indict them (vv. 34-36). According to Ps. 82:6, God himself has set the precedent that validates the incarnate Jesus' self-designation as the Son of God. Jesus' "sanctification" N. 36) refers not to purification from sin but to the only, firstborn Son as set apart by the Father for service in the world.
Evidence of the truth of Jesus' claim to deity comes when he eludes the encircling Jews armed to stone him. He revisits Perea (east of the Jordan River), where in contrast to the Jews many people believe in him (v. 42; cf. VV. 25-26).
11:1-53 Lazarus Lives Again
While in Transjordan, Jesus learns that a close friend is terminally ill - Lazarus, who with his sisters Mary and Martha lives in Bethany, 2 miles southeast of Jerusalem. Verse 2 points ahead to the anointing of Jesus' feet by Mary (12:1-8; see also Luke 10:38-42).
To his companions, Jesus seems to minimize the gravity of Lazarus's condition. He gives the impression that the sickness is not fatal N. 4), and he delays leaving for two days after receiving the sisters' cry for help (vv. 3, 6). When Jesus finally goes to Bethany, in close proximity to the Jewish leaders seeking his life, the disciples show understandable concern. All along Jesus has meant that the death resulting from Lazarus's illness will not end the episode but instead will occasion an act of divine redemption that brings glory to God (cf the sign in 9:1-3).
Jesus arrives in Bethany one day after the death of Lazarus. Grief-stricken Martha and Mary express their faith that if Jesus had come sooner he could have prevented Lazarus's death, though Christ's curing, in absentia, the failing son of the royal official has already demonstrated that Jesus need not have been physically present (4:46-54). As also in that instance, however, a confession of faith by the pleading party (here Martha) precedes Jesus' performance of a sign that strengthens faith and convinces others to believe in him.
The power of the Word to speak Lazarus back to life parallels Jesus' authority to "lay down" his own life and to "take it up again" (cf.1o:18) and certifies his raising to life on the last day believers who have died (vv 25-26; cf. 1 Thess. 4:16-17). The raising of Lazarus attracts record numbers of believers in Jesus and so seals the resolve of the Jewish Council (Sanhedrin) to destroy him for fear that the Roman government, envisioning a political threat from the fast-growing, grassroots movement, will put an end to Jewish national interests. The current high priest, Caiaphas, unwittingly prophesies the spiritual significance of Jesus' death for the universal church, comprised of Jews and Gentiles (vv 49-53).
11:54-12:11 An Ominous Anointing
Cf. Matt. 26:1-13; Mark 14:1-9; Luke 7:36-50.
The third Passover mentioned in John finds pilgrims to Jerusalem abuzz about Jesus, who after raising Lazarus back to life withdrew to a town a dozen miles north of Jerusalem. Would Jesus come for the festival, with a warrant out for his arrest? Heading south and skirting the wilderness side of the hill country, Jesus barely bypasses Jerusalem to revisit Mary, Martha, and Lazarus in nearby Bethany. During supper, Mary uses a large amount of costly, exotic perfume to "wash" Jesus' feet and uses her hair as a towel to dry them. Ancient Near Eastern hosts normally provided their guests with water for foot-washing, a courtesy made necessary by sandaled feet and dusty roads. Further, not hosts but slaves performed the service. So Mary's hospitality, which cost not only her dignity but also considerable wealth (nearly a year's salary for the average manual laborer), far surpasses a host's obligations, and her extravagance draws criticism by Judas Iscariot, the lessthan-trustworthy treasurer of the Twelve. Jesus, however, approves Mary's act as an appropriate anointing of him for his impending burial (cf. 12:23-24).
News of Jesus' presence in Bethany spreads fast, and crowds sweep in to see both Jesus and Lazarus. As the ultimate embodiment of evidence certifying Jesus' claims about himself, the re-enlivened Lazarus attracts believers in Jesus. So the Jewish leaders see that they will also have to kill Lazarus to squelch the people's growing enthusiasm for Jesus.
12:12-50 Jerusalem Welcomes Jesus
Cf. Matt. 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:29-40.
Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem turns into a welcome parade, with crowds lining the streets and acclaiming him king of Israel. Palm branches symbolized military victory, but Jesus triumphs peacefully, conveyed by his riding on a young donkey, not a seasoned warhorse. The effort of Gentile followers ("Greeks;' V. 20) to gain an audience with Jesus confirms the Jews' fear that he has won over "the whole world."
Jesus' announcement that the hour of his glorification has arrived marks a turning point in his public ministry. He uses imagery familiar to his audience in likening his coming death, burial, and resurrection to the sprouting of a grain of wheat - a process which works on the principle that things have to get worse (death, burial, and isolation) before they get better (bearing fruit). The necessity for disciples of Jesus to follow and stay with him (v 26; cf. 13:36; 14:3) contrasts with the impossibility of these pursuits for the unbelieving religious leaders (7:34; 8:21).
For the first time in John, we hear God's voice from heaven. The declaration offers support for Jesus' witness about himself (v. 28) - not to reassure Jesus but to help the people understand that he has come from God (v 30).
Jesus continues to cast his passion in a positive light and explains it as a dramatic reversal of the current world order. The demeaning torment of his crucifixion will be a charismatic "lifting up" for glorification (vv. 31-32). Jesus multiplies his claims to deity by declaring that seeing and believing in him will mean seeing and believing in his Sender, God the Father (vv. 44-50). Jesus' mission involves declaring God's "commandment" of eternal life. This commandment requires Jesus' self-sacrifice on the cross - an act to bring about salvation, not condemnation (= judgment). On the theme of light versus darkness (vv. 35-36, 46), cf. 1:4-5; 3:1-21; 8:12.
13:1-20 The Last Supper
In John's account of the Last Supper, Jesus' eternal love for "his own" (all who believe; cf. 6:37-39) prompts him to teach servanthood by example (cf. Luke 22:24-27; Matt. 20:26-28). Jesus' washing the feet of the apostles signifies their cleansing from sin, which his death will accomplish. (Judas, however, remains "unclean'; vv. 1o-11.) By dressing as a slave and assuming a duty reserved for slaves, Jesus the Master makes humility a must for his disciples. If he washes their feet, who are they not to wash each other's feet? But the extent of the humility modeled by Jesus goes even deeper; for though slaves had to wash the feet of others, and disciples had to perform for their rabbis the duties of a slave, neither slaves nor disciples had to stoop so low as to wash the feet of their own masters (lords) or teachers. So the Lord and Teacher Jesus does for his disciples what they would never be expected to do for him.
13:21-30 Jesus Confronts His Betrayer
Cf. Matt. 26:20-25; Mark 14:17-21; Luke 22:21-22.
Jesus offers a further example of the humility he requires when he awards his known betrayer, Judas Iscariot, a morsel of bread dipped in the common bowl - a token customarily handed by the host to the honored guest. That Satan "enters" Judas only after Jesus hands him the bread demonstrates Jesus' control over Satan, Judas, and the treachery to come, in accordance with Jesus' authority to lay down his life and to take it up again (cf. io:18). His honorific gesture also betrays the betrayer to the "beloved" disciple, reclining immediately in front of Jesus, and no doubt the news spreads quickly around the table. But evidently the disciples either fail to grasp the immediacy of Judas's treachery or they cannot conceive that Jesus would order Judas to initiate the betrayal, for no one opposes his exit. That Judas executes his dastardly deed only at the command of Jesus, and that Judas leaves "immediately" on Jesus' order to make it quick underscore Jesus' control over his self-sacrifice (vv. 27, 30). Judas forsakes Jesus, the Light, to enter the darkness of night (cf. the symbolism of light and darkness in John).
13:31-38 Love Demands the Ultimate
To the remaining 11 disciples, Jesus declares his betrayal by Judas a glorification of the Son by the Father (cf. 12:28). This glorification, symbolized by his "lifting up" on a cross to die, will consist in the conquest of sin and death through his resurrection. The new era thus ushered in calls for a new commandment to distinguish God's people, a commandment governed by the rule of love as modeled by Jesus, not the dictates of law as communicated through Moses. The love of Jesus for his disciples has recently been demonstrated in his example of servanthood to them (vv. 1-20), and that same love is about to lead him to his death on their behalf. If he will die for them, they must risk their own lives for each other (cf. 15:12-13). Peter sincerely but mistakenly thinks he is ready to lay down his life for Jesus right now, but his coming denials of association with Jesus (18:15ff.) testify to the obvious: If Peter isn't ready to risk it all for Jesus, then he is surely not ready to die for his fellow disciples. The new commandment of love does not relax the requirements of discipleship; rather, it intensifies them (cf. Matt. 5:17-48).
14 Promising a Home and a Helper
Immediately after foretelling Peter's denials, Jesus encourages the disciple with a comforting answer to his question, "Where are you going?" (13:36). Jesus is going to his Father's already spacious house to prepare rooms for the disciples to inhabit. Symbolically, this language communicates membership in the "household" or family of God, similarly to Jesus' dwelling in the Father and the Father in him (v. 10) and to the mutual indwelling of Jesus and the disciples through the Holy Spirit, the Helper ("Advocate") who will never leave them (vv. 16, 20). But the metaphor grows out of the physical "house of the father," the family dwelling to which the patriarch kept adding rooms to accommodate an ever-growing extended family. Sons, slated to inherit the estate, normally brought their wives to live in the family home and raised their own children there.
The very purpose of Jesus' departure ensures his return to take the disciples to their new home. Jesus reminds them that, in the meantime, they know both where he is going and how to get there, namely, believing in him (v. 6). Why would they want to join Jesus as members of God's household ("come to the Father")? Because membership means eternal life, gained through release from sin and death by the truth, the "way" which Jesus uniquely reveals and thus embodies (cf. 8:12, 24, 31-36).
Jesus' promise to do anything the disciples ask in his name (v. 14) does not grant them - or modern Christians - carte blanche in prayer to God (cf. 15:7,16); rather, the promise ensures the disciples' accomplishment of the "greater works" foretold in verse 12. Physical restrictions will not apply when the limitless Holy Spirit empowers the multiple disciples after Jesus' leaves, so they will be able to do more works over a wider geographical area.
Jesus ends this final discourse by stressing his love for God the Father demonstrated by obedience to the Father's "commandment," namely, that Jesus sacrifice himself on the cross to save humanity (v 31; cf. io:18). Jesus will put his words into action by going to Gethsemane for his arrest, arranged by the "ruler of this world" (Satan) in the person of Judas Iscariot (cf.13:27). By obeying his beloved Father, Jesus models his teaching that the disciples demonstrate their love for him by keeping his commandments to them. In John, Jesus has given only one, the commandment of self-sacrificial love for fellow believers (13:34) - the direct parallel of the commandment Jesus received from the Father.
15 The True Vine
In calling himself the true vine, Jesus declares that he replaces the chosen nation of Israel, characterized in the Old Testament as the vine planted in the promised land by God (cf. Isa. 5:1-7). Here the language of "abiding" parallels the language of "indwelling" in chapter 14, and "branches" that abide in Jesus, the Vine, become not just members of the new nation of God's elect but integral parts of it. Abiding in Jesus means not just staying attached to him but actually being an extension of him. Branches that fail to "bear fruit" (false disciples who fail to keep Jesus' commandment of self-sacrificial love; vv. 8, 1o) are surgically removed and thrown away by the Divine Vinedresser, who also "prunes" (lit., "cleanses") the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.
The difficult path of true discipleship will surely necessitate such cleansing, for Jesus' sincere but imperfect "friends" can expect to suffer the same hatred and persecution that the world has inflicted on him. The world's rejection of Jesus, who came to save the sinful from automatic condemnation (cf.12:47), both fulfills the Hebrew Scriptures (v 25; cf. Ps. 35:19; 69:4) and leaves the disbelieving doomed by inexcusable guilt (cf. 8:24; cf. Rom. 1:18-23). With the help of the Holy Spirit, the disciples will spread the message of God's revelation, embodied in Jesus and made known to the disciples as "friends" because they love him (vv. 15, 26-27; cf.14:21).
16 Witness of the Spirit and Joy
The inevitable persecution the disciples will suffer after Jesus leaves could easily cause them to lose faith ("stumble"). But by giving them advance warning, Jesus makes their future suffering a fulfillment of prophecy that should strengthen rather than weaken their faith. The example of ostracism from the synagogue (v 2) issues a challenging reminder of the backbone shown by the formerly blind man (9:24-34), and the coming opportunity ("hour") for misguided religious zealots to kill Jesus' followers anticipates Paul's confession (v. 4; Acts 22:3-5; 26:9-11).
Jesus takes up the positive result of his departure, namely, its sparking the sending of the "Helper" (Holy Spirit). The Helper will compel the world to recognize the sin of disbelief in Jesus, the righteousness of Christ attested by his return to God the Father, and the condemnation of Satan sealed by Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension (vv. 8-11; cf. i:io-11). As with Jesus, the Spirit-Helper will not speak on his own initiative but will impart "whatever he hears," meaning the truth from God.
The disciples fail to understand Jesus' figurative language in foretelling his death, sorrow over which his resurrection will translate into joy. His explanation in plain speech draws their confession of belief in his divine origin, but he knows that, like Peter, they are not yet willing to lay down their lives for him, as he will soon do for them (vv. 29-32; cf. 13:37-38; 15:13). The "peace" (not simply inner calm, but spiritual well-being born of abiding in Jesus) amid "tribulation" that Jesus makes available to the disciples comes from the expectation of their suffering N. 4) combined with his triumph over the "world" through the condemnation of its ruler, Satan, at the cross N. 33; cf. V. ii). So certain is this triumph that Jesus casts the imminent victory as a past event.
Jesus, His Disciples, and the Christian Today
The term "disciple," from Latin discipulus, means "pupil." It is related to Hebrew talmid ("pupil"; 1 Chr. 25:8). In the Greek world mathetes usually implied a school of "learners" gathered around a "teacher" (didaskalos). Most Greek philosophers developed a teacherlearner relationship with followers, who by listening and in "dialog" with the teacher hoped to advance to teachers themselves.
The Old Testament reflects very little of such a teacherdisciple idea because of the biblical concept of revelation as a direct communication from God to a prophet or leader. Indeed, Greek mathetes does not appear in the Septuagint, though 1 Chr. 2:55 (family of scribes) and Isa. 8:16 may hint in that direction. Prophets might be part of a guild (2 Kgs. 6:1), and they often had assistants or servants, for example, Elijah (Elisha), Elisha (Gehazi), and Jeremiah (the scribe Baruch). But the basic role of these assistants was to serve and explain the words and actions of the prophets, not to learn the prophet's traditions in order to become prophets or teachers themselves.
Rabbinic Tradition
That situation changed in the rabbinic period (postexilic) when the emphasis was placed on learning the precise requirements of the Torah (Law) and the strict legal tradi
tions of the oral interpreters. Male followers of a rab (rabbi) joined him in order to hear and learn his interpretations for keeping the Law (both written and oral).
Accordingly, much like the Greek disciples, these talmidim would apprentice themselves to a skilled rabbi in the study of Torah in order to become rabbis themselves. They were not only expected to recite verbatim the opinions of their rab, but also to learn how to counter opposing opinions of other rabbis. The Mishnah (the codification of the oral Law) includes the opinions of various revered rabbis. The students were also expected to assist their rab in some general duties associated with living. But the student was not expected to perform menial tasks, such as washing or touching the feet of the teacher (contrast Jesus the teacher in John 13:5ff.).
New Testament
In the New Testament the term "disciple" (mathetes) appears only in the Gospels and Acts. It is used not only in reference to the disciples of Jesus but also concerning the disciples of John the Baptist and of the Pharisees (e.g., Mark 2:18). Note the claim in John 9:28 that the Pharisees were disciples of Moses, a conveniently constructed legend of succession to legitimize their rabbinic views.
The Early Disciples of Jesus It seems that a personal "call to follow" was regarded by the Evangelists as a basis for the earliest discipleship with Jesus (Luke 5:27). Implied within that call were not merely a summons to learn and obey his teaching (cf. John 15:10) but also to believe or accept him as God's only incarnate self-disclosure (1:1-18) or personal agent on earth (5:30).
Although Jesus was called "Rabbi" in the Gospels (Mark 9:5; 10:51; John 1:38), they are clear that Jesus was not merely expounding some teaching or doctrine, but that he embodied a new sense of authority in all he said and did (Mark 1:27). Thus, according to Mark, the people were repeatedly shocked by Jesus (e.g.,1:27; 4:41). Likewise in the the Sermon on the Mount Jesus lumps together all the opinions of the rabbis concerning the Law, and by announcing but I say to you" (Matt. 5:22, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44) he challenges his followers to become more radical in their commitments to him and God's "righteousness" than all the scribes and Pharisees (5:20).
Authentic discipleship for Jesus meant consistency of commitment even to the point of persecution and death (John 16:2). Some turned back (John 6:66), but then those disciples were unfit for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62). Jesus equated the cost of disciple ship with taking up the cross (Luke 9:23; 14:27). Moreover, losing one's life for the gospel would be gain (Mark 8:34-35). Thus the "volunteers" for Jesus scarcely realized what discipleship actually meant.
The Twelve Just as adding three and four equals seven and often symbolizes divine perfection, multiplying those numbers frequently symbolizes the people of God, most clearly in the 12 sons/tribes of Israel and the original followers of Jesus (cf. Rev. 7:4-8; 21:12-14).
The lists of the original Twelve in the synoptic Gospels and Acts are slightly different, but they apparently represent three subgroups, with Peter, Philip, and James the son of Alphaeus leading the subgroups. Judas, the traitor, is always last until he is replaced by Matthias (Matt. 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:13-16; Acts 1:13-14). Although Judas was replaced (Acts 1:20-26), no effort was made to choose a successor for James the brother of John when he was killed (12:2). The Twelve are together symbolic representatives of Jesus' disciples. A specific line of succession is not envisaged. Moreover, Jesus' disciples must not be limited to 12. They encompassed others such as the "Seventy" (Luke 10:1) and included women (Luke 8:1-3; 23:49; cf. Acts 9:36, where Tabitha is called a matheria).
Relation to Apostle The term "apostle" in the Gospels also can refer to one of the Twelve (Luke 6:13). It is from Greek apostolos, meaning a "sent one" (cf. English "missionary," from the Latin participle missus, "sent"; Heb. shaliach, "agent" or "representative").
Among the Old Testament figures who were "sent" (shalach) to speak for God are Moses and Isaiah (Exod. 3:10; Isa. 6:8). This Hebrew verb is rendered as apostellein in the Septuagint.
In the fourth gospel Jesus is the Father's special agent or Sent One (John 5:30; 6:57; cf. 1 John 4:9; Gal. 4:4, 6), and he sends his followers into the world to represent him (John 20:21). "Apostles" in Acts seems to be a technical term for the Twelve who accompanied Jesus from the beginning and were witnesses to his resurrection (1:22). They are contrasted to the elders and other disciples (15:2, 22).
Paul consistently asserted his apostleship in his letters (Rom. 1:1; 11:13; 1 Cor. 4:9; Gal. 1:1) and refused to be ranked lower than the original apostles (1 Cor. 9:1-5; 15:9-10; 2 Cor. 11:5; 12:11). He regarded James the brother of Jesus as an apostle (Gal. 1:19) but does not refer to Timothy or others of his recent associates as apostles. Paul asserts that seeing and being called by the risen Lord were crucial for his apostleship (e.g., 1 Cor. 9:1;15:8).
Disciples as Obedient Learners Christian discipleship involves more than quoting the teacher. Like the rabbinic talmidim, Christians are to take Jesus' yoke upon them and learn of him (Matt. 11:29). Indeed, they are to obey (keep) his commandments (John 8:51; 14:15), just as Jesus kept his Father's commandments (15:10). Such learning and obedience involve far more than words because they are a way of life. That is why early Christians adopted the concept of "walking"
(peripatein, John 8:12; 2 Cor. 5:7; Gal. 5:16) in the "way" (John 14:6; Acts 9:2). This idea is similar to the rabbi's concept of halak ("walk"), but the rabbis focused upon legal prescriptions (halakah). Instead, followers of Jesus' way are to keep his "commandment" of love. They are thereby known as his disciples (John 13:35) and evidence the lifestyle of the Holy Spirit (14:15; Gal. 5:22; cf.1 John 3:7-21).
Disciples Today
Being disciples of Jesus is still very relevant for our modern world, which considers that it does not matter what a person believes as long as he or she is serious. Disciples of Jesus must understand that there are many teachers and opinions in the world, but there is only one "Rabbi" who has the authority of God and calls disciples to follow him. Such following demands consistency of lifestyle, even to the point of death. Some today may turn back and find they are not fit for the kingdom of God in Christ (Luke 9:62; John 6:66). But failure does not necessarily mean exclusion if we confess our sinfulness, because God is able to renew us (John 1:9). God expects us to learn from the "way" of Jesus, to accept unconditionally Christ's lordship over our lives (e.g., Col. 1:10; 2:6), and to show love toward God and others.
Like early Christians, disciples today live in anticipation of the return of Jesus in the Parousia, praying Maranatha, Our Lord, come!" (1 Cor. 16:22; Matt. 6:10; Rev. 22:20).
GERALD L. BORCHERT
17 Jesus Prays for Glorification and Care
Now Jesus turns from addressing the disciples to praying for them. But first he prays for the mutual glorification of the Father and the Son, which the climactic events of his passion will accomplish (cf. 13:31-32). From the beginning of history, the goal of human redemption has consisted not in saving humanity for humanity's sake, but in glorifying God by demonstrating the failure of evil to thwart his ultimate purposes for creation. Jesus' prayer holds up that goal as the central purpose of his earthly mission.
Jesus cites the disciples' faith as the basis for the Father's guarding them in the face of persecution by a hostile world after Jesus leaves them (v. 8; cf. 16:30). His petition applies beyond the circle of apostles to all the faithful (vv 6, 20), but the prayer does not extend to the "world" of evildoers who have not believed in him (v. 9). Protecting them "in your [God's] name" (v. 11) equips Jesus' followers to "abide" in him and thus to "be one" with him as he is with the Father (vv 22-23; cf.15:4ff.). Jesus' prayer that God "sanctify" the disciples asks that he set them apart for ministry in the evil world, to which from the standpoint of their spiritual renewal they do not belong (cf. Phil. 2:15). Jesus' closing expression of desire that the disciples join him to behold his glory anticipates the fulfillment of his promise to prepare for them dwelling places in the "house" of the Father (v. 24; cf. 14:2-3).
18:1-12 Jesus Insists on Arrest
Cf. Matt. 26:30-56; Mark 14:26-52; Luke 22:39-53.
Finally, Jesus and his disciples leave the supper table. They cross the Kidron Valley, which separates Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives to the east, and enter a familiar "garden" - Gethsemane, according to Matthew and Mark. In John, Jesus has already prayed extensively in the upper room, and his prayer has invoked his glorification through suffering (17:1) rather than wished for a way out of his passion (cf. Matt. 26:39 par.). Judas and company arrive immediately, and the arrest proceeds at once (cf. Matt. 26:36-46 par.). Since Jesus is acting on the Father's command that he lay down his life (cf.10:18), he presents himself to the arresters, rather than allowing his betrayer to do so (cf. Matt. 26:48-49 par.). By declaring "I am [he]," Jesus corrects the arresters' shallow understanding of his identity and origin: Jesus is not just a man from Nazareth - he is the incarnate Word from God (cf. 1:1;16:30). This powerful declaration so astounds the adversaries that Jesus must, in effect, insist on their arresting him (vv. 6-8). By stopping Peter's attempt to thwart the arrest through armed resistance, Jesus further demonstrates his purposefulness in "drinking" the God-given "cup" of suffering (v. 11).
18:13-27 Denial by Peter and Trial by the Sanhedrin
Cf. Matt. 26:57-75; Mark 14:53-72; Luke 22:54-71.
The lasting influence of the former high priest Annas, who had vacated the post nearly two decades earlier, shows in the delivery of Jesus to him for trial, instead of to the current high priest, Annas's son-in-law Caiaphas. The accompaniment of Peter by another, known disciple makes Peter's denials of discipleship a demonstration of his unreadiness to follow Jesus' requirements of self-sacrificial love for fellow followers of Christ (cf. 13:31-38).
Knowing that the religious leaders have already denied the validity of Jesus' witness concerning himself (cf. 8:13), Jesus commends to the high priest the testimony of the disciples (perhaps the two present, Peter and presumably John), in keeping with the rules of fair trial. But the court takes this suggestion as contempt, and Annas, unable to wrench incriminating evidence out of Jesus himself, passes the prisoner and the problem to Caiaphas. With the tide turning against Christ, Peter twice more denies association with him, and the cock crows as Jesus had predicted (cf. 13:37-38).
18:28-19:16 Pilate's Predicament
Cf. Matt. 27:1-26; Mark 15:1-15; Luke 23:1-5, 1725.
Passing over the details of Jesus' appearance before Caiaphas, John moves straight to the Roman trial by Pilate, which takes place at the governor's official residence in Jerusalem (the Praetorium) in the early hours of the morning. The Jewish leaders remain outside the palace to avoid ritual defilement and so disqualification from eating the Passover meal that evening. When Pilate asks the Jews for a specific charge on which to try Jesus under Roman law, he comes up empty-handed. But on learning of his subjects' intense desire to execute Jesus, Pilate questions him with an eye toward a charge of sedition, for which for Rome alone could carry out the death penalty. Jesus' explanation that his kingship is not of earthly origin convinces Pilate of the prisoner's innocence, however. So at noon on the "day of Preparation for the Passover" (v. 14), the day on which the Jews sacrificed their Passover lambs and roasted them for the evening meal, Pilate publicly pronounces Jesus guiltless and thus presents to the Jews the perfect sacrifice, who at their unwitting insistence is about to become the ultimate, atoning sacrifice for the entire world (cf. Caiaphas's prophecy, 11:49-52).
John's account emphasizes the attempt of the Roman governor to avoid executing an innocent man; his fear of divine retribution for mistreating an unrecognized deity in the face of Jesus' self-designation as the Son of God; his frustration over Jesus' refusal to defend himself; his false sense of authority (in fact, Jesus occupies the position of power by exercising his God-given authority to lay down his life and take it up again); and his buckling under pressure from the chief priests, who by professing their exclusive loyalty to Caesar make Pilate look disloyal if he fails to sentence to death the "King of the Jews."
19:17-37 Jesus Lays Down His Life
Cf. Matt. 27:27-56; Mark 15:16-41; Luke 23:32-49.
In John's account, that Jesus himself carries his cross to the site of the crucifixion emphasizes his initiative in laying down his life. Pilate refuses to change the wording of the inscription mocking the crucified Jesus as "King of the Jews," and his repeated pronouncement of Jesus' innocence makes the title a statement of truth. Further, the universality of Jesus' atoning sacrifice receives symbolic emphasis from the three languages used in the inscription: Hebrew, probably meaning Aramaic as spoken
by the Jews; Latin, the official language of the ruling Romans; and Greek, used in commerce throughout the Roman Empire.
John interprets the division of Jesus' outer garments among four Roman soldiers and their lot-casting for his seamless undergarment as a fulfillment of Ps. 22:18. The beloved disciple, included here among Jesus' family, stands as a foil to Jesus' unbelieving biological brothers, whose absence from this humiliating public scene clashes ironically with their earlier, unfulfilled urgings that he show himself in public (7:2-5).
Just as on the first Passover, the Israelites used bunches of the hyssop plant to apply to their doorposts blood from a sacrificed lamb, so at Jesus' crucifixion the use of hyssop in extending to him a drink of sour wine adds to his identification as the ultimate Passover lamb (cf. Exod. 12:22-23). Death does not happen to Jesus; rather, he makes it happen. Jesus the Word declares his mission of salvation accomplished N. 30; cf. V. 28). He bows his head in a physical laying down of his life. His release of his spirit separates it from his physical body and marks the finality of death. Jesus, who understands from the start the Father's command, does not on the cross question his faithfulness (cf. 10:18; Luke 23:46; contrast Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34).
Breaking the legs of a crucified person (v 32) hastens death, for without the torso's support by the legs, the chest of the person hanging by outstretched arms cannot expand to allow adequate air into the lungs. With Jesus already dead, a Roman soldier spears his side instead (vv. 33-34). The blood that gushes out symbolizes the atonement for sins effected by Jesus' death, and the water represents the living water of eternal life.
19:38-42 Converted Councilors Bury Jesus
Cf. Matt. 27:57-66; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:5056.
John reports that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, both members of the Jewish ruling council (Sanhedrin), together bury Jesus. Joseph now casts aside fear of his fellow Jews and acknowledges his discipleship. The anointing of Jesus' corpse with a king-befitting 75 pounds of perfume and spices further emphasizes his glorification (cf. 17:1, 5, 22; see also his anointing by Mary, 12:1-8).
20 Jesus Takes His Life Up Again
Cf. Matthew 28; Mark 16; Luke 24:1-12.
Mary goes to Jesus' tomb in the darkness of early morning, and the resurrected Jesus appears to her as the Light of eternal life (contrast Matt. 28:1; Luke 24:1-2; cf. i:5; 8:12). Peter and the "other" disciple run to the tomb, not to verify his resurrection (cf. v. 9) but to confirm Mary's report that someone has stolen his corpse (v 2). (For the other disciple, seeing is believing; v. 8.) But a grave-robber would hardly have unwound the linen wrappings binding the body, let alone have taken the time to roll up the facecloth and store it separately. Though the disciples have not yet understood the truth, the scene reveals that Jesus has deliberately taken his life up again, according to God's command (cf. 10:18).
When Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene, she mistakes him for the gardener. Though blinded by her tears, this faithful follower nevertheless recognizes the voice of her "Teacher" (Aramaic Rabbouni) and attempts to "hold on" (or "cling") to him. Jesus must shake her off in order to ascend to his Father (v. 17).
Perhaps out of fear of reprisal by the Jewish leaders, the congregated disciples barricade themselves behind closed doors. But unhindered by the barrier, the ascended Christ revisits his faithful followers, commissions them as apostles ("sent ones"; cf. Matt. 10:1; 28:18-20; Mark 3:13-15; Luke 9:1-2), and empowers them for mission by breathing on them the Holy Spirit, the promised Helper (14:16-17, 26; 16:7-13). They are to preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins in preparation for the rule of God (cf. Jesus' mission of "judgment"; 3:17-19).
The refusal of the absentee Thomas to believe
the report of his fellow disciples without seeing and touching for himself Jesus' healed-over wounds makes his eventual confession of belief all the more forceful (v 28). Jesus' words to the "doubting Thomas" in verse 29 encourage the late 1st-century readers of John to believe despite lacking the benefit of personal encounter with the resurrected Christ. Indeed, inspiring belief in Jesus as "the Christ, the Son of God" is the evangelist's purpose in recording the resurrection and the other signs that appear in this Gospel, for such belief leads to eternal life (vv. 30-31).
21 An Encounter in Galilee
For other accounts of postresurrection appearances by Jesus, see Matt. 28:16-20; Mark 16:9-20; Luke 24:13-53.
The epilogue to John's account finds seven of the apostles fishing on the Sea of Galilee, called in John's day the Sea of Tiberias, after the lakeside city named for the Roman emperor Tiberius. Not until Jesus instructs the unsuccessful fishermen where to cast their nets do they recognize him.
The charcoal fire around which the group eats breakfast recalls the setting of the fireside denials of Jesus by Peter (18:15-27). Here his three professions of love for Jesus make amends for the three denials, and Jesus charges him with pastoral care over the "flock' of the faithful (cf. Luke 22:31-32). In 13:37, Peter proclaimed his readiness to "lay down his life" for Jesus. Now the Lord describes Peter's death as fulfillment of that earlier claim. Not only will Peter die for Christ, he will die in the same manner, with hands outstretched on a cross (v. 18), and with the same result of glorifying God (v. 19). Jesus dismisses as irrelevant Peter's curiosity about the fate of the beloved disciple, the author-apostle who in the last verse of his Gospel account finally refers to himself as "l."