(Gospel of John 12:27 - 12:36)
Some Greeks who came to Jerusalem to attend the Passover festivities paid a visit to the disciple Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and expressed a desire to see Jesus. Philip told Andrew about it and they in turn informed Jesus.
To these Greeks Jesus said the following: "The time has come when the Son of Man will achieve his glory. I tell you truly that unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains but a single kernel, but if it does die, it then produces more kernels, an abundance of wheat. Those who crave the life of this world will lose that life, but those who care nothing for it will keep their life -- forever. Whoever wishes to serve me must follow me, for where I am, there also should be my servant. And whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
"At present my mind is deeply troubled. Should I pray to my Father and beg him, "Spare me from this moment!" But it was for this very moment that I have come into the world. Father, may your name be glorified!"
And then from the sky a voice spoke. It said, "I have already glorified it and will do so again." The crowd below heard this. Some, though, thought it was only thunder, while others concluded that some heavenly being had spoken to Jesus. Jesus told them, "It was for your sake, not mine that the voice spoke. Now the punishment of this world is at hand; now the ruler of this world will be cast out! And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will then draw all the people to me." (He mentioned this to suggest the means by which he would die.)
The Greeks questioned him. "It is our understanding of the Scriptures that the Messiah will live forever. What do you mean when you say the Son of Man will be 'lifted up'? And who is this 'Son of Man'?"
"The light will remain for you just a little longer," he told them. "Walk while you still have the light, for soon the darkness will overtake you. And when you walk in the darkness, you will not be able to see where you are going. While the light is still with you, believe in it, so you may become children of the light."
After he had finished speaking, Jesus departed and went into seclusion so they could not find him.
Notes
1. The apostle Andrew was from Bethsaida, as was Philip. He was, as the reader might recall, the brother of Simon-Peter.
2. Andrew and Philip tell Jesus about the Greeks who want to see him. The narrative does not say if he grants their request. At first it seems that Jesus is speaking only to his disciples, but then it becomes clear his audience is a crowd, who are, one presumes, the aforementioned Greeks, perhaps augmented by crowds of curious persons.
3. Jesus is aware that he will be crucified and, as a man, he understandably dreads that painful destiny. He admits to being troubled, conflicted, which one might interpret as his divine spirit at odds with his carnal human body. A great deal of the dramatic tension of the Passion narrative would be removed if Jesus experienced no fear or weakness which he must overcome.
4. Jesus often refers to his death as being "lifted up" or "exalted." This is meant not only in a physical way, being raised on a cross in crucifixion, but is to be interpreted metaphorically, a spiritual raising or exaltation. The symbolism is often lost on his audience.
5. At Jesus' request the voice of the Father speaks down to the crowd from the sky. As is common with spirit manifestations, both visual and aural, what is perceived by those who experience them will vary from individual to individual. A good example of this are the manifestations at Fatima, where some saw a second sun dancing in the sky, some felt something numinous, while others saw or felt nothing. In this instance, some hear the celestial sound as a voice speaking, while others think it is just thunder. This leads one to believe that the voice of the Father was not a physical sound, but something akin to an auditory hallucination that those without sufficient psychical sensitivity could not properly hear. Again we have a miracle compelling enough to reassure believers, but not compelling enough to convince unbelievers. It is reminiscent of controversial fields of study, such as such ghosts, UFOs, Bigfoot, etc., where the evidence presented is persuasive, but never constitutes the kind of proof that can win over skeptics.
6. Jesus tells his audience that the world will be punished and its ruler driven out. (Most translations use the word "judgment," but should be taken in the archaic sense of inflicting punishment and not merely assessing guilt.) Modern readers see this as the prediction of the End of Days and identify the ruler of the world as Satan. The Greek word used is archon, which means “ruler” in a fairly generic sense. In both Jewish and Christian theology the “prince of the world” is invariably Satan, the Devil. This may have been the meaning intended by Jesus, but it certainly would have been interpreted differently by most of his audience. For them the ruler of the world would be the Roman emperor; Jesus is obviously prophesying the destruction of that empire. Jesus is also prophesying that his death by crucifixion will draw all the people to him, that is, the Hebrew people, and they will, at his death, rally to overthrow the rule of Rome. This is why the priesthood, who had a vested interest in the status quo and were resigned to rule by Rome, saw Jesus as such a threat, a dangerous incitement to civil unrest. (Since Christians had a desire to live peaceably within the Roman Empire, it is very likely that gospel writers may have softened or censored any remarks Jesus may have made that seemed anti-Roman. First-Century Roman converts to Christianity may have been offended by any specific attacks on Rome and may have wished to squelch remarks that would invite persecution -- or recast them in a spiritual context)
7. Jesus again makes the analogy of light and darkness, spiritual enlightenment and ignorance. He is, of course, the light and he urges people to appreciate him while he is still with them. What he does not say is significant. He does not say that he will bring the people an enlightenment that will remain with them after he is gone. His followers will be children of the light, but the only thing demanded of them seems to be belief, belief in him. Nothing is said about following specific teachings or even being a good person (defining goodness as something more than mere belief in Jesus).
8. The Greeks ask of Jesus some reasonable questions, but as is customary, Jesus does not directly answer them, but, rather like a modern politician, keeps on message and sticks to his talking points. After saying his piece and dodging the questions the Greeks put to him, Jesus went into hiding. Did he wish to avoid interrogation? He is like the politician who loves to give speeches to adoring audiences, but is uncomfortable at press conferences where real questions are put to him and answers demanded.
Thursday, December 25, 2014
Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem
(Gospel of John 12:12 - 12:26)
On the following day, the masses that had come to Jerusalem for the festival of Passover heard that Jesus would be coming there. Many went out to meet him bearing palm branches and shouting "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of Jehovah. Blessed be the King of Israel!"
Jesus found a young donkey and rode it, fulfilling the prophecy that said, "Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey colt."
At that time, the disciples did not understand the significance of these things, but later, after Jesus' resurrection, they realized that what had happened to Jesus had been written of in the Scriptures.
The people who had been with Jesus when he called Lazarus from his tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word of what he had done. Many who heard about this miracle thus came out to meet him. The Pharisees said to each other, "All we've done has been in vain. Look, the whole world is flocking to him!"
Notes
1. Despite, or rather because of the threat to his life, Jesus ends up going to the Passover celebration in Jerusalem, ending speculation about whether or not he would do so. Word of his latest miracle, raising Lazarus from the dead, has increased the buzz surrounding him. Crowds come out to meet him, this time bearing palm branches instead of stones. This is alarming to the Pharisees; they are forced to acknowledge that their efforts to discredit him have, if anything, been counterproductive.
2. Commemoration of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem is celebrated by Christian churches as Palm Sunday, observed a week before Easter Sunday. Palm branches or fronds are naturally used in the celebrations, but in regions where palm trees are hard to come by, yew branches or pussy willows have been used as substitutes.
3. Jesus is aware of acting so as to seem to fulfill biblical prophecy. This is necessary so that those who believe literally in Old Testament Scripture will accept him as the Messiah he claims to be. Also, one may credit the gospel writers with interpreting the events in Jesus' life so as to conform to every obscure biblical passage that might suggest the coming of a Messiah.
4. By riding on a donkey Jesus shows that he is of humble origins and a man of peace. The donkey, though lacking any kind of heroic mystique, does not have the martial and aristocratic connotations of the horse. Still, the fact that Jesus would ride a donkey is unremarkable and not unexpected and the prophecy (from Zechariah), a rather easy one to fulfill. If, in conformance with Scripture, he had come into Jerusalem riding on an ostrich or an elephant, one might have been more impressed.
5. Palm fronds or branches were used to welcome dignitaries, rather like rolling out the red carpet. The palm here would be the Judean date palm, an iconic symbol of Judea, if not the whole region. Its branches are quite narrow (unlike the luxuriant fronds of the familiar coconut palm) and they would be easy to carry. The palm was also symbolic of victory and gracefulness.
6. "Hosanna" literally means "save," and while it was an interjection expressing an appeal for deliverance, it was also used to convey praise or adoration.
On the following day, the masses that had come to Jerusalem for the festival of Passover heard that Jesus would be coming there. Many went out to meet him bearing palm branches and shouting "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of Jehovah. Blessed be the King of Israel!"
Jesus found a young donkey and rode it, fulfilling the prophecy that said, "Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey colt."
At that time, the disciples did not understand the significance of these things, but later, after Jesus' resurrection, they realized that what had happened to Jesus had been written of in the Scriptures.
The people who had been with Jesus when he called Lazarus from his tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word of what he had done. Many who heard about this miracle thus came out to meet him. The Pharisees said to each other, "All we've done has been in vain. Look, the whole world is flocking to him!"
Notes
1. Despite, or rather because of the threat to his life, Jesus ends up going to the Passover celebration in Jerusalem, ending speculation about whether or not he would do so. Word of his latest miracle, raising Lazarus from the dead, has increased the buzz surrounding him. Crowds come out to meet him, this time bearing palm branches instead of stones. This is alarming to the Pharisees; they are forced to acknowledge that their efforts to discredit him have, if anything, been counterproductive.
2. Commemoration of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem is celebrated by Christian churches as Palm Sunday, observed a week before Easter Sunday. Palm branches or fronds are naturally used in the celebrations, but in regions where palm trees are hard to come by, yew branches or pussy willows have been used as substitutes.
3. Jesus is aware of acting so as to seem to fulfill biblical prophecy. This is necessary so that those who believe literally in Old Testament Scripture will accept him as the Messiah he claims to be. Also, one may credit the gospel writers with interpreting the events in Jesus' life so as to conform to every obscure biblical passage that might suggest the coming of a Messiah.
4. By riding on a donkey Jesus shows that he is of humble origins and a man of peace. The donkey, though lacking any kind of heroic mystique, does not have the martial and aristocratic connotations of the horse. Still, the fact that Jesus would ride a donkey is unremarkable and not unexpected and the prophecy (from Zechariah), a rather easy one to fulfill. If, in conformance with Scripture, he had come into Jerusalem riding on an ostrich or an elephant, one might have been more impressed.
5. Palm fronds or branches were used to welcome dignitaries, rather like rolling out the red carpet. The palm here would be the Judean date palm, an iconic symbol of Judea, if not the whole region. Its branches are quite narrow (unlike the luxuriant fronds of the familiar coconut palm) and they would be easy to carry. The palm was also symbolic of victory and gracefulness.
6. "Hosanna" literally means "save," and while it was an interjection expressing an appeal for deliverance, it was also used to convey praise or adoration.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Dinner at the House of Lazarus
(Gospel of John 12:1 - 12:11)
Six days before the beginning of Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where lived Lazarus, the man Jesus had risen from the dead. A dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among the guests who reclined at the table with Jesus. Mary took a litron of very expensive aromatic oil made from pure nard, and with it she anointed the feet of Jesus, wiping them dry with her own hair. The fragrance of perfume filled the house!
Judas Iscariot, one of the disciples -- the one who would betray him -- protested, “Such oil could have been sold for 300 denarii and the money given to the poor." He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. (He had custody of the disciples’ common purse and frequently stole from it.)
"Let her be!” Jesus responded. "She was saving it to use preparing my body for burial on the day of my funeral. You'll always have the poor among you, but you won't always have me!"
Finding out that Jesus was there, a large crowd of Judeans gathered outside of Lazarus' house, not only to see Jesus, but to get a glimpse of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. Consequently, the chief priests were convinced that they must seek the death of Lazarus as well, for it was on his account that so many Judeans were deserting them to believe in Jesus.
Notes
1. A litron, a Greek measurement, was equal to 11 ounces, almost a pound. The oil would have probably been about a pint in volume.
2. A denarius was a silver coin, minted by Rome since the 3rd century BC. Three hundred denarii would be a great deal of money. A laborer might make only a denarius for a day's work.
3. Nard, or spikenard, is a plant of the Valerian family that produces an amber-colored oil used in perfumes, incenses, and medicines.
4. Although not all translations use the word, the guests at the dinner are described as reclining before the table. While we often think of people sitting in chairs before the dinner table, the ancient Greeks and Romans always ate reclining on couches before low tables. Perhaps the Judeans, at least wealthy ones like Lazarus, did so as well. Indeed, many Hebrews, especially those in the upper classes, had become quite Romanized. (In light of this, Leonardo's Last Supper is a totally inaccurate depiction.)
5. It's gratifying to learn that Jesus was rewarded for bringing Lazarus back to life: a dinner was the least that could be done for him, one would think. As a signal honor to their guest, Mary anoints Jesus' feet with a large amount of very expensive aromatic oil -- not perfume per se as many translations misleadingly render it. (Nobody splashes a whole pint of costly perfume on someone’s, even a Messiah’s feet!) Jesus' attitude is one of "if they want to do this thing for me, well, let them do it." He would have been an inconsiderate and ungrateful guest if he objected and a ruder one if he had shown up his hosts, as Judas had done, for being uncharitable to the poor. Still, Judas had a point. Why squander wealth on personal vanity when it can be used to help the poor? It seems that the Jesus depicted in other Gospels would have asked that question and been less willing to honor the indulgences of the wealthy than he does in this incident. Here, Jesus' statement of explanation, "You'll always have the poor among you, but you won't always have me!" suggests conceit and contempt for the poor. One wonders why he felt the need to say such a thing, save that, like many of his pronouncements, it foreshadows his imminent death.
6. Judas Iscariot is portrayed here, flat out, as a thief. He wants to have money to dispense to the poor so that he can take some of it himself. He takes care of the finances of Jesus and the disciples, but habitually dips into the till. Did the other disciples know this at the time? Certainly Jesus must have known it. Therefore, why did he select a thief to be his group's treasurer? It seems an inexcusable oversight, an insult as well as an injury to the disciples who followed him. Why does Jesus let someone steal their money? And why, in the first place, does he allow such a disreputable character to be one of his disciples? While there is a rotten apple in every barrel, Jesus had the unique ability to recognize a rotten apple when he saw one. One explanation is that Judas has been unjustly demonized by history and the Gospel writers; because he betrayed Jesus, his previous conduct and character was retrospectively viewed in a jaundiced light, that, once perceived as a villain, he must be guilty of other sins.
7. Since Lazarus has been raised from the dead, people want to see him and crowds of curiosity seekers gather outside his house. He has become a celebrity. How modern!
Six days before the beginning of Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where lived Lazarus, the man Jesus had risen from the dead. A dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among the guests who reclined at the table with Jesus. Mary took a litron of very expensive aromatic oil made from pure nard, and with it she anointed the feet of Jesus, wiping them dry with her own hair. The fragrance of perfume filled the house!
Judas Iscariot, one of the disciples -- the one who would betray him -- protested, “Such oil could have been sold for 300 denarii and the money given to the poor." He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief. (He had custody of the disciples’ common purse and frequently stole from it.)
"Let her be!” Jesus responded. "She was saving it to use preparing my body for burial on the day of my funeral. You'll always have the poor among you, but you won't always have me!"
Finding out that Jesus was there, a large crowd of Judeans gathered outside of Lazarus' house, not only to see Jesus, but to get a glimpse of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. Consequently, the chief priests were convinced that they must seek the death of Lazarus as well, for it was on his account that so many Judeans were deserting them to believe in Jesus.
Notes
1. A litron, a Greek measurement, was equal to 11 ounces, almost a pound. The oil would have probably been about a pint in volume.
2. A denarius was a silver coin, minted by Rome since the 3rd century BC. Three hundred denarii would be a great deal of money. A laborer might make only a denarius for a day's work.
3. Nard, or spikenard, is a plant of the Valerian family that produces an amber-colored oil used in perfumes, incenses, and medicines.
4. Although not all translations use the word, the guests at the dinner are described as reclining before the table. While we often think of people sitting in chairs before the dinner table, the ancient Greeks and Romans always ate reclining on couches before low tables. Perhaps the Judeans, at least wealthy ones like Lazarus, did so as well. Indeed, many Hebrews, especially those in the upper classes, had become quite Romanized. (In light of this, Leonardo's Last Supper is a totally inaccurate depiction.)
5. It's gratifying to learn that Jesus was rewarded for bringing Lazarus back to life: a dinner was the least that could be done for him, one would think. As a signal honor to their guest, Mary anoints Jesus' feet with a large amount of very expensive aromatic oil -- not perfume per se as many translations misleadingly render it. (Nobody splashes a whole pint of costly perfume on someone’s, even a Messiah’s feet!) Jesus' attitude is one of "if they want to do this thing for me, well, let them do it." He would have been an inconsiderate and ungrateful guest if he objected and a ruder one if he had shown up his hosts, as Judas had done, for being uncharitable to the poor. Still, Judas had a point. Why squander wealth on personal vanity when it can be used to help the poor? It seems that the Jesus depicted in other Gospels would have asked that question and been less willing to honor the indulgences of the wealthy than he does in this incident. Here, Jesus' statement of explanation, "You'll always have the poor among you, but you won't always have me!" suggests conceit and contempt for the poor. One wonders why he felt the need to say such a thing, save that, like many of his pronouncements, it foreshadows his imminent death.
6. Judas Iscariot is portrayed here, flat out, as a thief. He wants to have money to dispense to the poor so that he can take some of it himself. He takes care of the finances of Jesus and the disciples, but habitually dips into the till. Did the other disciples know this at the time? Certainly Jesus must have known it. Therefore, why did he select a thief to be his group's treasurer? It seems an inexcusable oversight, an insult as well as an injury to the disciples who followed him. Why does Jesus let someone steal their money? And why, in the first place, does he allow such a disreputable character to be one of his disciples? While there is a rotten apple in every barrel, Jesus had the unique ability to recognize a rotten apple when he saw one. One explanation is that Judas has been unjustly demonized by history and the Gospel writers; because he betrayed Jesus, his previous conduct and character was retrospectively viewed in a jaundiced light, that, once perceived as a villain, he must be guilty of other sins.
7. Since Lazarus has been raised from the dead, people want to see him and crowds of curiosity seekers gather outside his house. He has become a celebrity. How modern!
The Priest's Conspiracy Against Jesus
(Gospel of John 11:45 - 11:57)
Many of the Judeans who had been visiting Mary came to believe in Jesus when they witnessed what had happened. Some, though, went to the Pharisees to report to them what Jesus had done. As a result, the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin, the religious council. "What are we going to do?" they asked each other. "This man is performing a lot of miracles. If we let him continue, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will come and destroy not only our Temple, but our nation as well."
One of the priests, Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year, disagreed, "You know nothing at all about it! Can't you see, it's better that one man may die, than the whole nation destroyed." He did not mention it, but upon becoming high priest, Caiaphas prophesied that Jesus would die not only for the sake of the nation, but for the sake of bringing together the scattered followers of the Hebrew god and uniting them in solidarity. Therefore, from that time on they conspired to bring about Jesus' death.
Because of this, Jesus no longer appeared in public among the Judeans, but exiled himself to the village of Ephraim near the desert and remained there with his disciples.
As the time for the celebration of the Hebrew Passover drew near, many people from all parts the country came to Jerusalem to undergo purification rituals prior to the Passover. Those who gathered in the Temple courtyard kept looking for Jesus and asked themselves, "What do you think? Will he come here for the Passover or not?" The chief priests and Pharisees ordered that anyone learning the whereabouts of Jesus report it, so he could be arrested.
Notes
1. The religious establishment, who are already threatened by Jesus and his beliefs, are fearful that if the populace accepts Jesus, it will have dire political consequences. These do not seem obvious. But one assumes this scenario: If the Judean people hail Jesus as the Messiah, they may regard him not only as a spiritual leader, but as a temporal one, one who will lead them against the Roman governor in a war of independence. Rome will respond to any act of rebellion by crushing it militarily, destroying the Temple, denying the people the religious freedom they now enjoy, perhaps even obliterating the political identity of the Hebrew people. Such would be the fear of the priesthood, who had considerable power under Roman authority and had a vested interest in preserving the status quo. And the writers of the Gospels would know this as a reality, for a Jewish rebellion did occur and the Temple destroyed by 70 AD, only a few decades after Jesus’ time.
2. The high priest Caiaphas puts down the other priests and tells them how stupid they are, yet, oddly, in his remarks, he seems to agree with them. Claiming that Jesus must be sacrificed for the well-being of the country, he presents himself as a patriot, rather than a priest merely defending his authority and striving to preserve the orthodox creed.
3. Before he became high priest, Caiaphas prophesied that Jesus would not only save his country, but more: his death would somehow encourage a return of emigrants of Hebrew extraction who had left Palestine to settle elsewhere, and perhaps achieve greater comity between the Hebrew people who live in Galilee, Samaria, and Judea. He wants to use Jesus and the passion he has engendered in his followers to further his own political agenda, greater unity among Hebrew peoples, either in a political or religious sense -- goals which are by no means ignoble.
4. His life threatened, Jesus has gone to ground, but people are still talking about him and wondering when he will make his next public appearance. The impression is given all through the Gospels that Jesus was a significant national figure. However, save for the Gospels, which are, of course, religious propaganda and written more than a generation after his death, historical sources are silent about him and give no credit even to his existence.
5. The impression is given here that those who held the office of high priest were selected or appointed yearly. This is inaccurate and makes one suspect the author’s common knowledge of Judaic affairs. Caiaphas, or, more properly Joseph ben Caiaphas, mentioned by the historian Flavius Josephus, served continuously as high priest for almost two decades. He was appointed high priest by the Roman governor of Iudea, Valerius Gratus, in 18 AD. He was retained by his successor, Pontius Pilate, but was removed by the governor of Roman Syria Lucius Vitellius in 37 AD. Members of his family also served in the office and he was a son-in-law of the high priest Annas, who may have exercised considerable power even while Caiaphas was officially high priest. He was obviously of the wealthy Judean elite and must have maintained a congenial working relationship with the Roman government.
6. The Sanhedrin, a council and a court, actually met every day. It would not have been convened merely to discuss the fate of the troublesome evangelist Jesus. This particularly Sanhedrin had 23 members. The high priest would not have served as its chairman, a post held by an independent officer known as a nasi. However, the Gospels give an opposite impression.
7. It is not certain where the town of Ephraim was or its precise identification. At the edge of the desert, it was probably no farther than 15 east of Jerusalem.
Many of the Judeans who had been visiting Mary came to believe in Jesus when they witnessed what had happened. Some, though, went to the Pharisees to report to them what Jesus had done. As a result, the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin, the religious council. "What are we going to do?" they asked each other. "This man is performing a lot of miracles. If we let him continue, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will come and destroy not only our Temple, but our nation as well."
One of the priests, Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year, disagreed, "You know nothing at all about it! Can't you see, it's better that one man may die, than the whole nation destroyed." He did not mention it, but upon becoming high priest, Caiaphas prophesied that Jesus would die not only for the sake of the nation, but for the sake of bringing together the scattered followers of the Hebrew god and uniting them in solidarity. Therefore, from that time on they conspired to bring about Jesus' death.
Because of this, Jesus no longer appeared in public among the Judeans, but exiled himself to the village of Ephraim near the desert and remained there with his disciples.
As the time for the celebration of the Hebrew Passover drew near, many people from all parts the country came to Jerusalem to undergo purification rituals prior to the Passover. Those who gathered in the Temple courtyard kept looking for Jesus and asked themselves, "What do you think? Will he come here for the Passover or not?" The chief priests and Pharisees ordered that anyone learning the whereabouts of Jesus report it, so he could be arrested.
Notes
1. The religious establishment, who are already threatened by Jesus and his beliefs, are fearful that if the populace accepts Jesus, it will have dire political consequences. These do not seem obvious. But one assumes this scenario: If the Judean people hail Jesus as the Messiah, they may regard him not only as a spiritual leader, but as a temporal one, one who will lead them against the Roman governor in a war of independence. Rome will respond to any act of rebellion by crushing it militarily, destroying the Temple, denying the people the religious freedom they now enjoy, perhaps even obliterating the political identity of the Hebrew people. Such would be the fear of the priesthood, who had considerable power under Roman authority and had a vested interest in preserving the status quo. And the writers of the Gospels would know this as a reality, for a Jewish rebellion did occur and the Temple destroyed by 70 AD, only a few decades after Jesus’ time.
2. The high priest Caiaphas puts down the other priests and tells them how stupid they are, yet, oddly, in his remarks, he seems to agree with them. Claiming that Jesus must be sacrificed for the well-being of the country, he presents himself as a patriot, rather than a priest merely defending his authority and striving to preserve the orthodox creed.
3. Before he became high priest, Caiaphas prophesied that Jesus would not only save his country, but more: his death would somehow encourage a return of emigrants of Hebrew extraction who had left Palestine to settle elsewhere, and perhaps achieve greater comity between the Hebrew people who live in Galilee, Samaria, and Judea. He wants to use Jesus and the passion he has engendered in his followers to further his own political agenda, greater unity among Hebrew peoples, either in a political or religious sense -- goals which are by no means ignoble.
4. His life threatened, Jesus has gone to ground, but people are still talking about him and wondering when he will make his next public appearance. The impression is given all through the Gospels that Jesus was a significant national figure. However, save for the Gospels, which are, of course, religious propaganda and written more than a generation after his death, historical sources are silent about him and give no credit even to his existence.
5. The impression is given here that those who held the office of high priest were selected or appointed yearly. This is inaccurate and makes one suspect the author’s common knowledge of Judaic affairs. Caiaphas, or, more properly Joseph ben Caiaphas, mentioned by the historian Flavius Josephus, served continuously as high priest for almost two decades. He was appointed high priest by the Roman governor of Iudea, Valerius Gratus, in 18 AD. He was retained by his successor, Pontius Pilate, but was removed by the governor of Roman Syria Lucius Vitellius in 37 AD. Members of his family also served in the office and he was a son-in-law of the high priest Annas, who may have exercised considerable power even while Caiaphas was officially high priest. He was obviously of the wealthy Judean elite and must have maintained a congenial working relationship with the Roman government.
6. The Sanhedrin, a council and a court, actually met every day. It would not have been convened merely to discuss the fate of the troublesome evangelist Jesus. This particularly Sanhedrin had 23 members. The high priest would not have served as its chairman, a post held by an independent officer known as a nasi. However, the Gospels give an opposite impression.
7. It is not certain where the town of Ephraim was or its precise identification. At the edge of the desert, it was probably no farther than 15 east of Jerusalem.
The Raising of Lazarus
(Gospel of John 11:1 - 11:44)
A man named Lazarus lay ill at Bethany, the town where his sisters Mary and Martha lived. (Mary was the one who would pour expensive aromatic oil on Jesus' feet and wipe them with her hair.) As their brother was sick, the two sisters sent this word to Jesus: "Sir, your dear friend is gravely ill."
However, when Jesus received the message, he declared, "This illness will not result in death; its purpose is to reveal the glory of God and to bring glory to the Son of God." So even though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, he remained where he was for two days after he had received word of Lazarus' illness. After that time, though, he said to his disciples, "Let’s return to Judea."
But his disciples protested, "Rabbi, it was only a little while ago that the Judeans were trying to stone you. And now you're going back there?"
Jesus responded, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who go abroad during the day do not stumble because there is light in the world by which to see. But, at night, they are apt to stumble, because there is no light." He then told his disciples, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him."
His disciples remarked, "If he sleeps, Master, then he will get better." (They assumed that Jesus was referring to natural sleep when, in fact, he was speaking of Lazarus' death.)
Jesus finally told his disciples bluntly, "Lazarus is dead. For your sakes, I'm glad I wasn't there, so that you see and believe for yourselves. Let's go to him."
Thomas, who was known as the Twin, said to the other disciples, "Let’s go, too, so we can die with Jesus."
By the time Jesus had arrived, Lazarus had been in his tomb for 4 days. As Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about 15 stadia away, many Judeans had visited Martha and Mary to console them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, "Oh, sir, if you had only been with him, he would not have died. But even now I know that God will grant to you whatever you may ask of him."
"You brother will rise again!" Jesus proclaimed to her.
"Yes, I know," she answered. "He will rise again during the resurrection of the Last Day."
Jesus told her, "I am the means of resurrection to life everlasting. Those who believe in me will live again after they have died. And those now living who believe in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
"Yes, Master," she replied. "I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God who has come into the world." After she had made this declaration, she returned home and taking her sister Mary aside, confided to her, "The Rabbi's here and he's asking for you." Hearing this, Mary rose quickly and went out to him. Jesus had not yet entered the village but was still at the place where he had stopped to talk to Martha. The Judeans who had been with Mary in the house consoling her noticed how hastily she got up and went out, so they followed her, thinking she was going to the burial place to mourn.
When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet. "Master, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died," she said. When Jesus saw her weeping and saw that the Judeans who had followed her also wept, he was disturbed and deeply moved.
"Where have you interred him?" he demanded of them.
"Master, come and see," they said. And Jesus began to weep.
At this, some of the Judeans observed, "See how much Jesus loved him," but others carped, "You'd think that someone who had cured a blind man could have kept this man from dying."
Jesus, who was again overcome with emotion, arrived at the tomb, which was a cave sealed by a large stone. "Roll away the stone," he bid them.
Martha, the sister of the deceased, warned him, "But, Master, he has been dead for four days; by this time there will be a terrible stench."
Jesus reassured her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would witness the glory of God?" The stone was rolled aside. Jesus looked up to the sky and said, "Thank you, Father, for hearing me. Of course you always hear me, but I have spoken aloud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they may believe that you have sent me."
Jesus then called out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!”
The dead man, his hands and feet still bound by linen strips and his face wrapped in a headcloth, did emerge.
“Unwrap his grave clothes and let him go on his way," Jesus told them.
Notes
1. Bethany was a small town near Jerusalem, specifically 15 stadia, or about two miles away. It is to the east of Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives. It should be noted that this is a different place from the Bethany (also called Bethabara), situated on the other side of the River Jordan, where John the Baptist was earlier interrogated by the Pharisees.
2. Jesus, unlike his disciples, seems unconcerned that he is risking his life by returning to Judea, on the other side of the River Jordan. One of them, Thomas, accompanies Jesus with the belief that he will be killed and the disciples with him.
3. Lazarus is apparently a close friend of Jesus, but when he is deathly ill and his sisters send word for Jesus to come to him, Jesus tarries for two days. Why does he do this? He does not hurry to Bethany, where he lies ill, to heal him. It is in his interest to let Lazarus die. He has preternatural knowledge of Lazarus' death and seems to want Lazarus well in his tomb before he arrives. Everything seems a set up for a miracle. This is an opportunity for Jesus to really show off his stuff. Jesus wants his friend dead so he can raise him. And he wants him already moldering in his grave so that there is no doubt about his death. It seems that other people, even friends, are mere tools to promote Jesus' status as a divine healer. Jesus doesn't care if others suffer as long as he can use them in one of his miracles. In fact, he seems callously unconcerned that he arrived too late to heal his friend Lazarus and is moved to emotion only when he is brought to the tomb and sees how others are mourning for his friend.
4. In referring to her brother, Martha states what was probably a prevalent belief among her people, that the dead are to be resurrected on the Last Day. This would contradict any belief that, upon death, the good go to Heaven and the bad go to Hell.
5. Jesus not only claims that those who are dead, and had believe in him, will be raised from the dead and live again, he says that those who are alive and believe won’t die at all. The first claim cannot be disproven, but the second was obviously not fulfilled. Most translations muddle the meaning of this passage. The King James Version’s “he that liveth and believeth in me” incorrectly suggests belief in him and adherence to his teaching, not what it really says. It is common that biblical passages that are patently false are purposely made obscure by translators so as not to discomfit unquestioning believers.
6. The resurrection of Lazarus is, from a dramatic standpoint, really lame. A stone is rolled away from the cave. Jesus calls upon his Father. The Father doesn't answer so that anyone can hear him. Jesus calls to Lazarus to come out of the cave and he does so, still wrapped in burial clothes. That's it! The emergence would make a good scene for a horror film, but is emotionally unsatisfying. What is the reaction of those viewing this? What is Lazarus' physical and mental condition? Why doesn't he say something? Why doesn't Jesus say something? Why don't the sisters run to embrace him?
7. In past miracles, Jesus seems to accomplish them on his own, but for this one, involving the raising of the dead, he needs to ask directly for his Father's help. This would lead one to believe that the powers of the Son of God were limited. He could only do so much on his own. For the really big things, like the resurrection of the dead, he would need the Father’s personal assistance.
A man named Lazarus lay ill at Bethany, the town where his sisters Mary and Martha lived. (Mary was the one who would pour expensive aromatic oil on Jesus' feet and wipe them with her hair.) As their brother was sick, the two sisters sent this word to Jesus: "Sir, your dear friend is gravely ill."
However, when Jesus received the message, he declared, "This illness will not result in death; its purpose is to reveal the glory of God and to bring glory to the Son of God." So even though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, he remained where he was for two days after he had received word of Lazarus' illness. After that time, though, he said to his disciples, "Let’s return to Judea."
But his disciples protested, "Rabbi, it was only a little while ago that the Judeans were trying to stone you. And now you're going back there?"
Jesus responded, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who go abroad during the day do not stumble because there is light in the world by which to see. But, at night, they are apt to stumble, because there is no light." He then told his disciples, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him."
His disciples remarked, "If he sleeps, Master, then he will get better." (They assumed that Jesus was referring to natural sleep when, in fact, he was speaking of Lazarus' death.)
Jesus finally told his disciples bluntly, "Lazarus is dead. For your sakes, I'm glad I wasn't there, so that you see and believe for yourselves. Let's go to him."
Thomas, who was known as the Twin, said to the other disciples, "Let’s go, too, so we can die with Jesus."
By the time Jesus had arrived, Lazarus had been in his tomb for 4 days. As Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about 15 stadia away, many Judeans had visited Martha and Mary to console them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, "Oh, sir, if you had only been with him, he would not have died. But even now I know that God will grant to you whatever you may ask of him."
"You brother will rise again!" Jesus proclaimed to her.
"Yes, I know," she answered. "He will rise again during the resurrection of the Last Day."
Jesus told her, "I am the means of resurrection to life everlasting. Those who believe in me will live again after they have died. And those now living who believe in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
"Yes, Master," she replied. "I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God who has come into the world." After she had made this declaration, she returned home and taking her sister Mary aside, confided to her, "The Rabbi's here and he's asking for you." Hearing this, Mary rose quickly and went out to him. Jesus had not yet entered the village but was still at the place where he had stopped to talk to Martha. The Judeans who had been with Mary in the house consoling her noticed how hastily she got up and went out, so they followed her, thinking she was going to the burial place to mourn.
When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet. "Master, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died," she said. When Jesus saw her weeping and saw that the Judeans who had followed her also wept, he was disturbed and deeply moved.
"Where have you interred him?" he demanded of them.
"Master, come and see," they said. And Jesus began to weep.
At this, some of the Judeans observed, "See how much Jesus loved him," but others carped, "You'd think that someone who had cured a blind man could have kept this man from dying."
Jesus, who was again overcome with emotion, arrived at the tomb, which was a cave sealed by a large stone. "Roll away the stone," he bid them.
Martha, the sister of the deceased, warned him, "But, Master, he has been dead for four days; by this time there will be a terrible stench."
Jesus reassured her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would witness the glory of God?" The stone was rolled aside. Jesus looked up to the sky and said, "Thank you, Father, for hearing me. Of course you always hear me, but I have spoken aloud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they may believe that you have sent me."
Jesus then called out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!”
The dead man, his hands and feet still bound by linen strips and his face wrapped in a headcloth, did emerge.
“Unwrap his grave clothes and let him go on his way," Jesus told them.
Notes
1. Bethany was a small town near Jerusalem, specifically 15 stadia, or about two miles away. It is to the east of Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives. It should be noted that this is a different place from the Bethany (also called Bethabara), situated on the other side of the River Jordan, where John the Baptist was earlier interrogated by the Pharisees.
2. Jesus, unlike his disciples, seems unconcerned that he is risking his life by returning to Judea, on the other side of the River Jordan. One of them, Thomas, accompanies Jesus with the belief that he will be killed and the disciples with him.
3. Lazarus is apparently a close friend of Jesus, but when he is deathly ill and his sisters send word for Jesus to come to him, Jesus tarries for two days. Why does he do this? He does not hurry to Bethany, where he lies ill, to heal him. It is in his interest to let Lazarus die. He has preternatural knowledge of Lazarus' death and seems to want Lazarus well in his tomb before he arrives. Everything seems a set up for a miracle. This is an opportunity for Jesus to really show off his stuff. Jesus wants his friend dead so he can raise him. And he wants him already moldering in his grave so that there is no doubt about his death. It seems that other people, even friends, are mere tools to promote Jesus' status as a divine healer. Jesus doesn't care if others suffer as long as he can use them in one of his miracles. In fact, he seems callously unconcerned that he arrived too late to heal his friend Lazarus and is moved to emotion only when he is brought to the tomb and sees how others are mourning for his friend.
4. In referring to her brother, Martha states what was probably a prevalent belief among her people, that the dead are to be resurrected on the Last Day. This would contradict any belief that, upon death, the good go to Heaven and the bad go to Hell.
5. Jesus not only claims that those who are dead, and had believe in him, will be raised from the dead and live again, he says that those who are alive and believe won’t die at all. The first claim cannot be disproven, but the second was obviously not fulfilled. Most translations muddle the meaning of this passage. The King James Version’s “he that liveth and believeth in me” incorrectly suggests belief in him and adherence to his teaching, not what it really says. It is common that biblical passages that are patently false are purposely made obscure by translators so as not to discomfit unquestioning believers.
6. The resurrection of Lazarus is, from a dramatic standpoint, really lame. A stone is rolled away from the cave. Jesus calls upon his Father. The Father doesn't answer so that anyone can hear him. Jesus calls to Lazarus to come out of the cave and he does so, still wrapped in burial clothes. That's it! The emergence would make a good scene for a horror film, but is emotionally unsatisfying. What is the reaction of those viewing this? What is Lazarus' physical and mental condition? Why doesn't he say something? Why doesn't Jesus say something? Why don't the sisters run to embrace him?
7. In past miracles, Jesus seems to accomplish them on his own, but for this one, involving the raising of the dead, he needs to ask directly for his Father's help. This would lead one to believe that the powers of the Son of God were limited. He could only do so much on his own. For the really big things, like the resurrection of the dead, he would need the Father’s personal assistance.
Rejection of Jesus' Claims of Divinity
(Gospel of John 10:22 - 10:42)
In winter, at the time of Hannukah, the Festival of Dedication of the Temple, Jesus was in Jerusalem walking in the courtyard of the Temple under the Portico of Solomon. The people gathered around him and demanded, "How long are you going to keep us in suspense. If you are the Messiah, tell us straight out!"
"I have already told you," Jesus replied. "but you won't believe me. The miracles I perform in my father's name is my proof, but you do not believe me because you are not sheep of my flock. My sheep listen to my voice. I know them. And they follow me. I will give to them everlasting life so they may never die. No one will snatch them from me, for they were delivered to me by my Father. Since he is superior to all, no one can snatch them from the hands of my Father. And the Father and I are one."
The people picked up stones to throw at him, at which Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many good works of the Father. For which of these are you stoning me?"
"We are not stoning you for any of your good works," the mob responded, "but for blasphemy! You are only a man and yet you claim to be a god."
Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in the Law that, 'I have said that you are gods'? If those who were divinely inspired were called 'gods,' -- and the Scripture cannot be challenged -- then how can the one whom God has sanctified as his very own and sent into the world be blaspheming when he says, 'I am God's Son'? If I am not doing the works of the Father, then don't believe in me. But, if I am, then believe in them even if you disbelieve in me, so that you may then see and believe that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."
Once again they tried to arrest him, but he slipped away from them and escaped. He returned to the other side of the River Jordan where John had earlier been baptizing. Jesus remained there. Many people came to see him, saying, "John didn't perform any miracles, but all he said about this man is true." And many people there believed in Jesus.
Notes
1. Solomon’s portico (a roof supported by a row of columns) was on the eastern courtyard of the Temple. In the Temple of Solomon (whose construction was completed in 827 BC), it was the area where the king passed judgments. The huge retaining wall (600 feet high!) on which it rested extended to the valley below and was the only part of the original Solomonic Temple that was not destroyed by the Chaldeans in 586 BC. The area, containing cloisters housing the Levite priests, was large, about 75 by 35 feet.
2. Hanukkah (or Chanukah), also known as the Festival Of Lights, celebrates the re-dedication of the Second Temple. This occurred after the Maccabean Revolt that, in 160 BC, secured religious freedom for the Hebrews and semi-autonomy from the Seleucid Empire for much of Palestine. The Second Temple had been completed in 516 BC during the reign of the Persian king Darius the Great after the Persians, destroying the Chaldean Empire and establishing suzerainty over its territories, allowed the Hebrews to return from exile and re-establish religious practices. Around 20 BC, it was renovated by Herod the Great, the King of Judea, which was at that time an autonomous nation, but a client state of Rome. It became known as Herod’s Temple and was the Temple Jesus knew. It, however, was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD during the First Jewish-Roman War.
3. Jesus must again justify his claim to divinity. The miracles that he has performed are his major proof. He is not challenged on that. No one presents the argument that the miracles could be the work of the Devil or that Jesus might be inspired or aided by some powerful spirit being who is not God. (Fourteen-hundred years later such arguments would employed against the self-proclaimed Daughter of God, Joan of Arc, when she was tried, albeit by a sophisticated group of clerics.)
4. Jesus dismisses those who don't believe him as not being his sheep and, therefore, incapable and unworthy of believing. The logic is circular. It is rather like telling someone that if he accepts my argument, he is wise and good; if he rejects my argument, it's no wonder, because he is stupid and evil.
5. The crowd listening to Jesus at the Temple are about to stone him for the blasphemy of declaring that he is a god. Jesus explains that those who are divinely inspired have always been called "gods" in Scripture. This is beside the point, because he does not claim to be merely a prophet. He asserts that it is correct that he call himself the "Son of God" for the simple reason that he is. By accepting the undeniable authenticity of his miracles they will then realize the truth of his claim. Still, Jesus offers no other proof than the miracles he has performed. Although one would think he would have the power to do, the Son of God does nothing to impress his doubters. The Father does not speak from the sky or hurl a thunderbolt at the doubters. Jesus does not do anything really spectacular like making himself invisible, changing shape, or flying about -- things that would be truly convincing. Instead, Jesus, with few exceptions, relies upon minor miracles that can be dismissed as conjuring tricks or traditional faith healing.
6. Jesus, in passing, mentions that the Scriptures cannot be challenged. This is, of course, an essential tenet of the Judaic religion, that the works of what we know as the Old Testament are infallible and absolute truth; its history is accurate, its laws are to be observed, its rituals followed, its prophecies fulfilled. Jesus must work within that traditional framework so that he will be seen to be true to the old religion and not a heretic. He is obliged to use Scripture to justify himself and what he says and does.
7. Jesus, escaping from those who would stone or arrest him, goes to the other side of the River Jordan, where he is more appreciated, mostly by the followers of John the Baptist. We may know little of Jesus' physical appearance, but he was apparently ordinary-looking enough to avoid detection in a crowd and agile and nimble enough to affect these numerous escapes.
In winter, at the time of Hannukah, the Festival of Dedication of the Temple, Jesus was in Jerusalem walking in the courtyard of the Temple under the Portico of Solomon. The people gathered around him and demanded, "How long are you going to keep us in suspense. If you are the Messiah, tell us straight out!"
"I have already told you," Jesus replied. "but you won't believe me. The miracles I perform in my father's name is my proof, but you do not believe me because you are not sheep of my flock. My sheep listen to my voice. I know them. And they follow me. I will give to them everlasting life so they may never die. No one will snatch them from me, for they were delivered to me by my Father. Since he is superior to all, no one can snatch them from the hands of my Father. And the Father and I are one."
The people picked up stones to throw at him, at which Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many good works of the Father. For which of these are you stoning me?"
"We are not stoning you for any of your good works," the mob responded, "but for blasphemy! You are only a man and yet you claim to be a god."
Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in the Law that, 'I have said that you are gods'? If those who were divinely inspired were called 'gods,' -- and the Scripture cannot be challenged -- then how can the one whom God has sanctified as his very own and sent into the world be blaspheming when he says, 'I am God's Son'? If I am not doing the works of the Father, then don't believe in me. But, if I am, then believe in them even if you disbelieve in me, so that you may then see and believe that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."
Once again they tried to arrest him, but he slipped away from them and escaped. He returned to the other side of the River Jordan where John had earlier been baptizing. Jesus remained there. Many people came to see him, saying, "John didn't perform any miracles, but all he said about this man is true." And many people there believed in Jesus.
Notes
1. Solomon’s portico (a roof supported by a row of columns) was on the eastern courtyard of the Temple. In the Temple of Solomon (whose construction was completed in 827 BC), it was the area where the king passed judgments. The huge retaining wall (600 feet high!) on which it rested extended to the valley below and was the only part of the original Solomonic Temple that was not destroyed by the Chaldeans in 586 BC. The area, containing cloisters housing the Levite priests, was large, about 75 by 35 feet.
2. Hanukkah (or Chanukah), also known as the Festival Of Lights, celebrates the re-dedication of the Second Temple. This occurred after the Maccabean Revolt that, in 160 BC, secured religious freedom for the Hebrews and semi-autonomy from the Seleucid Empire for much of Palestine. The Second Temple had been completed in 516 BC during the reign of the Persian king Darius the Great after the Persians, destroying the Chaldean Empire and establishing suzerainty over its territories, allowed the Hebrews to return from exile and re-establish religious practices. Around 20 BC, it was renovated by Herod the Great, the King of Judea, which was at that time an autonomous nation, but a client state of Rome. It became known as Herod’s Temple and was the Temple Jesus knew. It, however, was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD during the First Jewish-Roman War.
3. Jesus must again justify his claim to divinity. The miracles that he has performed are his major proof. He is not challenged on that. No one presents the argument that the miracles could be the work of the Devil or that Jesus might be inspired or aided by some powerful spirit being who is not God. (Fourteen-hundred years later such arguments would employed against the self-proclaimed Daughter of God, Joan of Arc, when she was tried, albeit by a sophisticated group of clerics.)
4. Jesus dismisses those who don't believe him as not being his sheep and, therefore, incapable and unworthy of believing. The logic is circular. It is rather like telling someone that if he accepts my argument, he is wise and good; if he rejects my argument, it's no wonder, because he is stupid and evil.
5. The crowd listening to Jesus at the Temple are about to stone him for the blasphemy of declaring that he is a god. Jesus explains that those who are divinely inspired have always been called "gods" in Scripture. This is beside the point, because he does not claim to be merely a prophet. He asserts that it is correct that he call himself the "Son of God" for the simple reason that he is. By accepting the undeniable authenticity of his miracles they will then realize the truth of his claim. Still, Jesus offers no other proof than the miracles he has performed. Although one would think he would have the power to do, the Son of God does nothing to impress his doubters. The Father does not speak from the sky or hurl a thunderbolt at the doubters. Jesus does not do anything really spectacular like making himself invisible, changing shape, or flying about -- things that would be truly convincing. Instead, Jesus, with few exceptions, relies upon minor miracles that can be dismissed as conjuring tricks or traditional faith healing.
6. Jesus, in passing, mentions that the Scriptures cannot be challenged. This is, of course, an essential tenet of the Judaic religion, that the works of what we know as the Old Testament are infallible and absolute truth; its history is accurate, its laws are to be observed, its rituals followed, its prophecies fulfilled. Jesus must work within that traditional framework so that he will be seen to be true to the old religion and not a heretic. He is obliged to use Scripture to justify himself and what he says and does.
7. Jesus, escaping from those who would stone or arrest him, goes to the other side of the River Jordan, where he is more appreciated, mostly by the followers of John the Baptist. We may know little of Jesus' physical appearance, but he was apparently ordinary-looking enough to avoid detection in a crowd and agile and nimble enough to affect these numerous escapes.
The Good Shepherd
(Gospel of John 10:1 - 10:21)
"Truly I tell you, anyone enters the sheep pen not by the gate, but by surreptitious means is a thief and a rustler. He who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep respond to his voice. He summons his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has gathered all the sheep belonging to his flock, he walks ahead and leads them. They follow because they recognize the sound of his voice. They can’t be led by a stranger. They will run away from him because they won't heed his voice."
Jesus used this analogy in his preaching, but his listeners didn't know what he was talking about. Therefore, he explained furthered, "Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All those who came before me were thieves and robbers, and the sheep never listened to them. I am the gate: those who enter by me will find safety. They may come and go and find good pasturage. The thief comes to steal, to kill and destroy. I come so that they may live and prosper."
"I am the Good Shepherd. He is one who will sacrifice himself for his sheep. A hired hand will run away when he sees a wolf. He'll abandon the sheep, for the sheep don't belong to him and he isn't their shepherd. The wolf will then attack and scatter the flock. The hired hand flees because he has no personal interest in the sheep he tends.
"I am the Good Shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. I will sacrifice myself for my sheep. And I have other sheep who are not of this flock. I will bring them along as well. They will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.
"The reason my Father loves me is because I am willing to sacrifice my life -- only to reclaim it. No one can take my life from me; I will give it voluntarily. I have the authority to sacrifice my own life and reclaim it when I wish. This is what the Father has commanded me to do.
The people who heard these things were divided in their reaction to them. Some declared, "He's possessed by a demon and raving mad. Why listen to him?" But others opined, "These aren't the words of someone possessed by a demon. Can a demon cure a blind man?"
Notes
1. In an analogy, Jesus identifies himself as the gate of the sheep pen, as the true shepherd, and as the Good Shepherd. Although Jesus makes more than one identification and more than one analogy here, the people being the sheep and the preacher/prophet/Messiah being the shepherd is a simple and obvious analogy, one famously used in the familiar 23rd Psalm. Yet, his allegorically challenged audience of oh-so-literal simpletons don't seem to catch the meaning and he has to elaborate.
2. Others who have preached to the Hebrew people, who have perhaps claimed to be a prophet or the Messiah are dismissed by Jesus as frauds, those who intend to steal the sheep, that is, steal the people's trust and lead them astray.
3. The hired hands who, unlike the Good Shepherd, run away when a wolf appears are probably meant to represent the religious leaders of the time who lacked a total commitment to their flock and placed their own interests above that of their congregation.
4. Jesus makes an intriguing reference to gathering other flocks that will be eventually merged to a larger flock with him as shepherd. Does he simply mean converts from other cities and regions, from Gentile nations, or something more?
5. Again Jesus alludes to his death and crucifixion. He clearly states that that will occur only because he wishes it, that he will give his life willingly; no one will take his life, or be able to take his life, except in accordance with his will, and that he has been given the authority from God the Father to choose when he will die -- also that his death will not be permanent, but that he will regain his life, be reborn, be resurrected.
"Truly I tell you, anyone enters the sheep pen not by the gate, but by surreptitious means is a thief and a rustler. He who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep respond to his voice. He summons his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has gathered all the sheep belonging to his flock, he walks ahead and leads them. They follow because they recognize the sound of his voice. They can’t be led by a stranger. They will run away from him because they won't heed his voice."
Jesus used this analogy in his preaching, but his listeners didn't know what he was talking about. Therefore, he explained furthered, "Truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All those who came before me were thieves and robbers, and the sheep never listened to them. I am the gate: those who enter by me will find safety. They may come and go and find good pasturage. The thief comes to steal, to kill and destroy. I come so that they may live and prosper."
"I am the Good Shepherd. He is one who will sacrifice himself for his sheep. A hired hand will run away when he sees a wolf. He'll abandon the sheep, for the sheep don't belong to him and he isn't their shepherd. The wolf will then attack and scatter the flock. The hired hand flees because he has no personal interest in the sheep he tends.
"I am the Good Shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. I will sacrifice myself for my sheep. And I have other sheep who are not of this flock. I will bring them along as well. They will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock and one shepherd.
"The reason my Father loves me is because I am willing to sacrifice my life -- only to reclaim it. No one can take my life from me; I will give it voluntarily. I have the authority to sacrifice my own life and reclaim it when I wish. This is what the Father has commanded me to do.
The people who heard these things were divided in their reaction to them. Some declared, "He's possessed by a demon and raving mad. Why listen to him?" But others opined, "These aren't the words of someone possessed by a demon. Can a demon cure a blind man?"
Notes
1. In an analogy, Jesus identifies himself as the gate of the sheep pen, as the true shepherd, and as the Good Shepherd. Although Jesus makes more than one identification and more than one analogy here, the people being the sheep and the preacher/prophet/Messiah being the shepherd is a simple and obvious analogy, one famously used in the familiar 23rd Psalm. Yet, his allegorically challenged audience of oh-so-literal simpletons don't seem to catch the meaning and he has to elaborate.
2. Others who have preached to the Hebrew people, who have perhaps claimed to be a prophet or the Messiah are dismissed by Jesus as frauds, those who intend to steal the sheep, that is, steal the people's trust and lead them astray.
3. The hired hands who, unlike the Good Shepherd, run away when a wolf appears are probably meant to represent the religious leaders of the time who lacked a total commitment to their flock and placed their own interests above that of their congregation.
4. Jesus makes an intriguing reference to gathering other flocks that will be eventually merged to a larger flock with him as shepherd. Does he simply mean converts from other cities and regions, from Gentile nations, or something more?
5. Again Jesus alludes to his death and crucifixion. He clearly states that that will occur only because he wishes it, that he will give his life willingly; no one will take his life, or be able to take his life, except in accordance with his will, and that he has been given the authority from God the Father to choose when he will die -- also that his death will not be permanent, but that he will regain his life, be reborn, be resurrected.
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Jesus Cures a Blind Man
(Gospel of John 9:1 - 9:41)
When Jesus was out walking, he came upon a blind man, one who had been blind since birth. The disciples asked Jesus, "Rabbi, why was this man born blind? Was is it due to his sins or the sins of his parents?"
"It is due neither to his own sins nor to the sins of his parents. He was born blind so that the power of God might be revealed in him. --- I must accomplish the tasks commanded by the one who sent me while it is yet daylight, for when it is dark no one can work. As long as I am on earth, I am the light of the world!"
With that Jesus spat on the ground and formed some mud with his saliva. He spread the mud over the eyes of the blind man and then told him, "Go wash it away in the pool of Siloam." (Siloam means "sent")
The blind man went and washed his eyes and when he returned home -- he was able to see! Soon his neighbors and those who had seen him begging were inquiring, "Isn't this the man who used to sit and beg?" Some declared, "Yes, it certainly is," but others said, "No, it just looks like him." But the man himself insisted, "I am that man!"
"How, then were you cured of your blindness?" they asked him.
"The man called Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. I went there and washed and I could then see!"
"Where is this man?" they asked, but he told them he didn't know.
The man who had once been blind was brought before the Pharisees, because the act of healing had taken place on the Sabbath. The Pharisees interrogated the man, who could only respond, "He put the mud on my eyes and when I washed it away, I could see!"
A number of the Pharisees concluded, "This man Jesus cannot be from God, for he violates the Sabbath," but others argued, "How could some cheap fraud perform such a miracle?" There was a sharp division of opinion among the Pharisees on this matter, and so they asked the formerly blind man what he thought, for he was the one who had been cured.
"He is a prophet!" was the man's reply.
The authorities would not believe that he had been blind and then cured of his blindness until they had summoned his parents. "Is this your son?" they asked them. "You say he was born blind, how is it that he can now see?"
The parents replied, "We know for sure that this is our son and that he was born blind, but how he was cured of his blindness and who cured him, we do not know. You must ask him. He is of age and can speak for himself." (The parents were cowed by the religious authorities, for they had already ruled that anyone who believed that Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. That's why they said only, "You must ask him. He is of age and can speak for himself.")
The formerly blind man was summoned to appear before the Pharisees a second time. They told him, "The truth is that credit for this miracle belongs to God alone. This man Jesus we know to be a charlatan."
"I don't know whether he's a charlatan or not. All I know is, I used to be blind, but now I can see," the man replied.
They persisted in interrogated him. "What did he do to you? How did he cure your blindness?"
He answered, "I've told you that before! Weren't you listening? What do you want to hear it again for? Are you interested in becoming his disciples?"
At that the Pharisees mocked him and rejoined sharply, "You are his disciple, we are the disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this man, we don't even know where he came from."
The man answered them. "Well, that's funny. Here's a man who cured my blindness and you don't even know where he came from. We know that God doesn't hear the prayers of charlatans, but does listen to those who worship and obey him. Since the beginning of the world, no one has ever heard of someone being born blind and then cured of that blindness. Surely this man couldn't have done such a thing unless he was sent by God."
The religious authorities retorted, "You were born steeped in sin and yet you have the gall to lecture us!" And they booted him out of the synagogue.
When Jesus heard that the man had been expelled, he sought him out, and finding him, he asked of the man, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
"Who may he be?" the man asked. "Please tell me, sir, so I may believe in him."
"You have seen him," Jesus told him. “He is speaking to you now!"
"Yes, Master, I do believe," said the man, bowing in adoration.
Jesus told him, "I came into this world to make clear the distinction between those who are blind but will be made to see and those who see, but will be made blind."
There were some Pharisees standing nearby who overheard this conversation. They challenged Jesus, "So you think we are blind?"
Jesus answered them "If you were truly blind, there would be no sin in that, but because you falsely claim that you can see, you remain guilty of sin."
Notes
1. The correlation between physical sight and spiritual understanding is brought out in this incident. The man is physically blind, but by giving him his sight Jesus has also given him spiritual insight which the sighted Pharisees lack. The spiritual blindness of the Pharisees is not a result of honest ignorance, which is forgivable, but of willful error, their rejection of Jesus. Here, spiritual sight, understanding, is judged solely upon one's acceptance or rejection of Jesus as the divine Messiah sent by God. No one who disbelieves in Jesus can possibly possess spirituality.
2. One imagines that Jesus made the mud with his saliva rather than with water, because his essence must have been necessary to endow the mud with some magical property. Whether the water at the pool was Shiloam was also necessary for the miracle is an open question. So is why he choose to accomplish the miracle in this particular way.
3. The cured blind man becomes, with his acquired sight, pretty feisty, admirably so, for he bravely tells off the Pharisees. As a result he is kicked out of the synagogue, but later he finds Jesus, or vice versa. It seems that the man had never seen his healer before. His was, of course, blind when Jesus put the mud on his eyes and apparently after he washed off the mud and could see, he did not go back to find Jesus, or was unsuccessful in locating him. Jesus, though, looked him up, concerned about the trouble had gotten into with the Pharisees.
4. Jesus’ explanation to the formerly blind man why he came into the world is often mistranslated. He did not come to pass judgment, but to use judgment to make the distinction between two types of people, those who are spiritually ignorant but will be enlightened (by him) and those who falsely believe they are already enlightened, but will be left in ignorance.
5. It seems strange that Jesus is always performing his miracles on the Sabbath. Is he going out of his way to antagonize the Pharisees and challenge their overly strict doctrines? Doesn't he ever get the urge to work a wonder on a lazy Monday or some odd Thursday?
When Jesus was out walking, he came upon a blind man, one who had been blind since birth. The disciples asked Jesus, "Rabbi, why was this man born blind? Was is it due to his sins or the sins of his parents?"
"It is due neither to his own sins nor to the sins of his parents. He was born blind so that the power of God might be revealed in him. --- I must accomplish the tasks commanded by the one who sent me while it is yet daylight, for when it is dark no one can work. As long as I am on earth, I am the light of the world!"
With that Jesus spat on the ground and formed some mud with his saliva. He spread the mud over the eyes of the blind man and then told him, "Go wash it away in the pool of Siloam." (Siloam means "sent")
The blind man went and washed his eyes and when he returned home -- he was able to see! Soon his neighbors and those who had seen him begging were inquiring, "Isn't this the man who used to sit and beg?" Some declared, "Yes, it certainly is," but others said, "No, it just looks like him." But the man himself insisted, "I am that man!"
"How, then were you cured of your blindness?" they asked him.
"The man called Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. I went there and washed and I could then see!"
"Where is this man?" they asked, but he told them he didn't know.
The man who had once been blind was brought before the Pharisees, because the act of healing had taken place on the Sabbath. The Pharisees interrogated the man, who could only respond, "He put the mud on my eyes and when I washed it away, I could see!"
A number of the Pharisees concluded, "This man Jesus cannot be from God, for he violates the Sabbath," but others argued, "How could some cheap fraud perform such a miracle?" There was a sharp division of opinion among the Pharisees on this matter, and so they asked the formerly blind man what he thought, for he was the one who had been cured.
"He is a prophet!" was the man's reply.
The authorities would not believe that he had been blind and then cured of his blindness until they had summoned his parents. "Is this your son?" they asked them. "You say he was born blind, how is it that he can now see?"
The parents replied, "We know for sure that this is our son and that he was born blind, but how he was cured of his blindness and who cured him, we do not know. You must ask him. He is of age and can speak for himself." (The parents were cowed by the religious authorities, for they had already ruled that anyone who believed that Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue. That's why they said only, "You must ask him. He is of age and can speak for himself.")
The formerly blind man was summoned to appear before the Pharisees a second time. They told him, "The truth is that credit for this miracle belongs to God alone. This man Jesus we know to be a charlatan."
"I don't know whether he's a charlatan or not. All I know is, I used to be blind, but now I can see," the man replied.
They persisted in interrogated him. "What did he do to you? How did he cure your blindness?"
He answered, "I've told you that before! Weren't you listening? What do you want to hear it again for? Are you interested in becoming his disciples?"
At that the Pharisees mocked him and rejoined sharply, "You are his disciple, we are the disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this man, we don't even know where he came from."
The man answered them. "Well, that's funny. Here's a man who cured my blindness and you don't even know where he came from. We know that God doesn't hear the prayers of charlatans, but does listen to those who worship and obey him. Since the beginning of the world, no one has ever heard of someone being born blind and then cured of that blindness. Surely this man couldn't have done such a thing unless he was sent by God."
The religious authorities retorted, "You were born steeped in sin and yet you have the gall to lecture us!" And they booted him out of the synagogue.
When Jesus heard that the man had been expelled, he sought him out, and finding him, he asked of the man, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
"Who may he be?" the man asked. "Please tell me, sir, so I may believe in him."
"You have seen him," Jesus told him. “He is speaking to you now!"
"Yes, Master, I do believe," said the man, bowing in adoration.
Jesus told him, "I came into this world to make clear the distinction between those who are blind but will be made to see and those who see, but will be made blind."
There were some Pharisees standing nearby who overheard this conversation. They challenged Jesus, "So you think we are blind?"
Jesus answered them "If you were truly blind, there would be no sin in that, but because you falsely claim that you can see, you remain guilty of sin."
Notes
1. The correlation between physical sight and spiritual understanding is brought out in this incident. The man is physically blind, but by giving him his sight Jesus has also given him spiritual insight which the sighted Pharisees lack. The spiritual blindness of the Pharisees is not a result of honest ignorance, which is forgivable, but of willful error, their rejection of Jesus. Here, spiritual sight, understanding, is judged solely upon one's acceptance or rejection of Jesus as the divine Messiah sent by God. No one who disbelieves in Jesus can possibly possess spirituality.
2. One imagines that Jesus made the mud with his saliva rather than with water, because his essence must have been necessary to endow the mud with some magical property. Whether the water at the pool was Shiloam was also necessary for the miracle is an open question. So is why he choose to accomplish the miracle in this particular way.
3. The cured blind man becomes, with his acquired sight, pretty feisty, admirably so, for he bravely tells off the Pharisees. As a result he is kicked out of the synagogue, but later he finds Jesus, or vice versa. It seems that the man had never seen his healer before. His was, of course, blind when Jesus put the mud on his eyes and apparently after he washed off the mud and could see, he did not go back to find Jesus, or was unsuccessful in locating him. Jesus, though, looked him up, concerned about the trouble had gotten into with the Pharisees.
4. Jesus’ explanation to the formerly blind man why he came into the world is often mistranslated. He did not come to pass judgment, but to use judgment to make the distinction between two types of people, those who are spiritually ignorant but will be enlightened (by him) and those who falsely believe they are already enlightened, but will be left in ignorance.
5. It seems strange that Jesus is always performing his miracles on the Sabbath. Is he going out of his way to antagonize the Pharisees and challenge their overly strict doctrines? Doesn't he ever get the urge to work a wonder on a lazy Monday or some odd Thursday?
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Disputations
(Gospel of John 8:12 - 8:59)
Jesus again addressed the people and told them "I am the light of the world! If you follow me, you need not walk in darkness, but may bask in a life-giving light."
The Pharisees answered him, “What you say proves nothing, because you are testifying on your own behalf."
"Although I do testify on my own behalf, my claims are true. I know where I came from and where I'm going. You have no idea. You judge only by material standards. I am judging no one, and, if I did, my judgment would not be mine alone, but would also be that of the Father who sent me. In your law, it is written that testimony is accepted as valid if it is corroborated by two witnesses. I am one witness and the Father who sent me is the second."
"Well, where is your father?" the Pharisees asked.
"You know neither me nor my Father. If you did know me, you would know my Father as well."
Jesus had this exchange while he was teaching in the area of the Temple where the offering boxes were located. He was not arrested there, for his time had not yet come.
Jesus also said to them, "I am departing and you will search for me. But you will die in a state of sin, for where I am going, you cannot come."
The religious authorities speculated, "Is he going kill himself? Is that what he means when he says 'where I am going, you cannot come'?"
Jesus explained, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world, I am not. I have told you that you will die in a state of sin, and you will do so, unless you accept that I am who I claim to be."
"Who are you?" they demanded.
"I am exactly who I've always claimed to be," he answered. "Indeed, there is much I could say of you, much to condemn, but I tell you only the truth I have heard from the one who sent me."
It did not dawn on them that he was talking about God the Father. And so Jesus added, "When you have raised up and exalted the Son of Man, you will realize that I am he, that I have done nothing on my own behalf and have said only what was taught to me by the Father. He who sent me is always with me. He does not forsake me because I always do what pleases him."
As he spoke, there many who came to believe in him. To those Judeans who did believe he said, "If you continue to follow my teachings, you are truly my disciples. You will then know the truth and that truth will liberate you."
They questioned him, "We are the descendants of Abraham and have never been anyone's slaves. How then can we be liberated?"
Jesus replied, "I tell you truly, that anyone who sins is a slave to sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is forever a member of the family. Thus, if it is the Son that liberates you, then are free forever. I know well that you are Abraham's descendants. Yet, there are many of you who want to do away with me because you cannot find a place in your heart for my message. I am telling you what I have been taught by my Father; you are doing what you were taught by your father."
"Our father is Abraham," they responded.
"If you were really Abraham's children," Jesus told them, "then you would act as Abraham acted. You wouldn’t look for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth he heard from God. Abraham wouldn’t do such a thing. No, you’re acting like your true father!"
"We’re not bastards!” they protested. “Our only true father is God himself."
"If God were your father, then you would love me, because I have come from God. I have not come here on my own: I was sent by God. Why can't you understand my words? It's because you refuse to listen. You are the spawn of the Devil, and you crave to do his evil bidding. From the beginning, he was a murderer. He scorned the truth, for there is no truth in him. Lying comes naturally to his character, for he is not only a liar, he is the father of lies. That’s why, when I tell you the truth, you won’t believe me. Who among you can find me guilty of sin? If I tell the truth, why is it that you do not believe me? Whoever belongs to God, hears the words of God. The reason you don't hear is that you do not belong to God."
They responded by saying, "We’re right then in saying that you are a Samaritan possessed by a demon."
"I'm not possessed by a demon!" Jesus protested. "But I honor my father, and you dishonor me. I do not seek to glorify myself. God will do that. He is the true judge. ... Truly I tell you, anyone who follows my teachings will never taste death.”
The Judean people proclaimed, "Now we know you're possessed by a demon! Even Abraham died and so did the prophets. You mean to tell us that whoever follows you will never die? Are you greater than our father Abraham -- who died? Or greater than the prophets -- who died? Just who do you think you are?"
Jesus answered them by saying, "If I glorify myself, that glory is meaningless. It is God who glorifies me, he of whom you say, "He is our God." But you don't know him. I know him. If I said I didn't know him, then I would be a liar -- like you. But I do know him and I follow his teachings. Indeed, Abraham took joy in looking forward to my coming. When he saw it, he was glad."
The Judeans mocked, "You're not even 50 years old and Abraham has seen you!?"
Jesus told them, "Truly I tell you, even before Abraham was born, I lived."
At that, the Judeans picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus took cover, and losing himself in the crowd, he exited the Temple grounds.
Notes
1. These disputations, some with the Pharisees and the religious leaders, some with Judean people who had come to the Temple, (it’s not always clear whom he’s speaking to) reveal the weakness of Jesus' debate points and his reliance on circular logic. He offers no real evidence that he is who he says he is, the Son of God. He takes the stance of "I know what I'm talking about, you don't because you are not me and, therefore, are ignorant." His audience is intelligent and morally good only if they accept him. If they reject him, they are stupid and depraved. There is no allowance for honest disagreement. And Jesus makes no effort to convince his listeners by logical argument; he expects them to suspend rationality and submit to unquestioning belief and obedience to him. Failing to win over his audience, he becomes bitterly dismissive of it, and, like most who lose the debate on the facts, he turns to ad hominem attacks: he reviles his opponents as offspring of the Devil, liars. If they are liars, he, perforce, must be telling the truth.
2. These dialogues sound like nothing more than interchanges in an insane asylum between a delusional lunatic and his exasperated doctors. The lunatic fervently believes he is Napoleon, or, in this case, God's son, and nothing can sway him from that conviction. He expects everyone else to believe in him. If they do not, they are evil, tools of Satan. He knows everything. He, only he, knows God. He, only he, can save mankind and bestow upon those who believe in him the gift of everlasting life. Jesus' rant differs little from that of the fantasy-prone schizophrenic. It is no wonder the Judeans regarded him as possessed by a demon -- in modern parlance, a nut case.
3. Interesting that the Judeans arguing with Jesus claim they are free men because they are descendants of Abraham, apparently forgetting the long, memorialized history of the Hebrew people in bondage, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and their present state of subservience to Rome. As many at that time who awaited for spiritual Messiah yearned for a political liberator who could free them from the yoke of Roman rule and re-establish an independent Hebrew state. Jesus here claims the truth will unburden them from the bondage of sin. The truth is apparently the realization that Jesus is the Messiah or the Son of God. (Liberation from the slavery of sin apparently doesn’t entail things like repentance and reformation, discipline, self-denial, respect for others, etc.)
4. Jesus, who is a rival of Moses and Abraham for the allegiance of the Hebrew people, claims precedence over them by asserting that he has lived for ever. His listeners don't buy it, and when he claims to have seen and talked to Abraham, it’s the last straw, they have had enough of his assault upon their credulity. They go get stones to throw at him, the ancient equivalent of getting the hook, with potentially lethal consequences. Since his Father is apparently unwilling to protect him with an invisible force field or something, Jesus cedes the field and gets the heck out of there.
5. Jesus makes a reference to the Devil, exactly what we think of as the Devil, a purveyor and personification of evil. Even though the Devil is regarded as a central character in the Christian world view, he made a fairly late appearance in Judaic theology. Moses, for instance, never talks about the Devil. The reptilian tempter in Eden, or even the Satan of Job is never identified as the Devil per se, and the antagonists of the Old Testament Jehovah are nearly always rival national gods.
6. Jesus makes continual references to his being “raised “up” or “exalted." Meant literally as well as figuratively, it is a foreshadowing of his crucifixion, when he is be raised up physically and spiritually exalted in his ascent to heaven.
7. When the Judeans reject Jesus they accused him of being possessed by a demon, but also revile him (incorrectly) as being a Samaritan, which, to a Judean, is apparently just as bad. Samaritans practiced a non-standard form of Judaism and, as we have seen from history, even recent history, minor discrepancies in religious belief and practice can engender unreasonable hatred and violence.
Jesus again addressed the people and told them "I am the light of the world! If you follow me, you need not walk in darkness, but may bask in a life-giving light."
The Pharisees answered him, “What you say proves nothing, because you are testifying on your own behalf."
"Although I do testify on my own behalf, my claims are true. I know where I came from and where I'm going. You have no idea. You judge only by material standards. I am judging no one, and, if I did, my judgment would not be mine alone, but would also be that of the Father who sent me. In your law, it is written that testimony is accepted as valid if it is corroborated by two witnesses. I am one witness and the Father who sent me is the second."
"Well, where is your father?" the Pharisees asked.
"You know neither me nor my Father. If you did know me, you would know my Father as well."
Jesus had this exchange while he was teaching in the area of the Temple where the offering boxes were located. He was not arrested there, for his time had not yet come.
Jesus also said to them, "I am departing and you will search for me. But you will die in a state of sin, for where I am going, you cannot come."
The religious authorities speculated, "Is he going kill himself? Is that what he means when he says 'where I am going, you cannot come'?"
Jesus explained, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world, I am not. I have told you that you will die in a state of sin, and you will do so, unless you accept that I am who I claim to be."
"Who are you?" they demanded.
"I am exactly who I've always claimed to be," he answered. "Indeed, there is much I could say of you, much to condemn, but I tell you only the truth I have heard from the one who sent me."
It did not dawn on them that he was talking about God the Father. And so Jesus added, "When you have raised up and exalted the Son of Man, you will realize that I am he, that I have done nothing on my own behalf and have said only what was taught to me by the Father. He who sent me is always with me. He does not forsake me because I always do what pleases him."
As he spoke, there many who came to believe in him. To those Judeans who did believe he said, "If you continue to follow my teachings, you are truly my disciples. You will then know the truth and that truth will liberate you."
They questioned him, "We are the descendants of Abraham and have never been anyone's slaves. How then can we be liberated?"
Jesus replied, "I tell you truly, that anyone who sins is a slave to sin. A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is forever a member of the family. Thus, if it is the Son that liberates you, then are free forever. I know well that you are Abraham's descendants. Yet, there are many of you who want to do away with me because you cannot find a place in your heart for my message. I am telling you what I have been taught by my Father; you are doing what you were taught by your father."
"Our father is Abraham," they responded.
"If you were really Abraham's children," Jesus told them, "then you would act as Abraham acted. You wouldn’t look for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth he heard from God. Abraham wouldn’t do such a thing. No, you’re acting like your true father!"
"We’re not bastards!” they protested. “Our only true father is God himself."
"If God were your father, then you would love me, because I have come from God. I have not come here on my own: I was sent by God. Why can't you understand my words? It's because you refuse to listen. You are the spawn of the Devil, and you crave to do his evil bidding. From the beginning, he was a murderer. He scorned the truth, for there is no truth in him. Lying comes naturally to his character, for he is not only a liar, he is the father of lies. That’s why, when I tell you the truth, you won’t believe me. Who among you can find me guilty of sin? If I tell the truth, why is it that you do not believe me? Whoever belongs to God, hears the words of God. The reason you don't hear is that you do not belong to God."
They responded by saying, "We’re right then in saying that you are a Samaritan possessed by a demon."
"I'm not possessed by a demon!" Jesus protested. "But I honor my father, and you dishonor me. I do not seek to glorify myself. God will do that. He is the true judge. ... Truly I tell you, anyone who follows my teachings will never taste death.”
The Judean people proclaimed, "Now we know you're possessed by a demon! Even Abraham died and so did the prophets. You mean to tell us that whoever follows you will never die? Are you greater than our father Abraham -- who died? Or greater than the prophets -- who died? Just who do you think you are?"
Jesus answered them by saying, "If I glorify myself, that glory is meaningless. It is God who glorifies me, he of whom you say, "He is our God." But you don't know him. I know him. If I said I didn't know him, then I would be a liar -- like you. But I do know him and I follow his teachings. Indeed, Abraham took joy in looking forward to my coming. When he saw it, he was glad."
The Judeans mocked, "You're not even 50 years old and Abraham has seen you!?"
Jesus told them, "Truly I tell you, even before Abraham was born, I lived."
At that, the Judeans picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus took cover, and losing himself in the crowd, he exited the Temple grounds.
Notes
1. These disputations, some with the Pharisees and the religious leaders, some with Judean people who had come to the Temple, (it’s not always clear whom he’s speaking to) reveal the weakness of Jesus' debate points and his reliance on circular logic. He offers no real evidence that he is who he says he is, the Son of God. He takes the stance of "I know what I'm talking about, you don't because you are not me and, therefore, are ignorant." His audience is intelligent and morally good only if they accept him. If they reject him, they are stupid and depraved. There is no allowance for honest disagreement. And Jesus makes no effort to convince his listeners by logical argument; he expects them to suspend rationality and submit to unquestioning belief and obedience to him. Failing to win over his audience, he becomes bitterly dismissive of it, and, like most who lose the debate on the facts, he turns to ad hominem attacks: he reviles his opponents as offspring of the Devil, liars. If they are liars, he, perforce, must be telling the truth.
2. These dialogues sound like nothing more than interchanges in an insane asylum between a delusional lunatic and his exasperated doctors. The lunatic fervently believes he is Napoleon, or, in this case, God's son, and nothing can sway him from that conviction. He expects everyone else to believe in him. If they do not, they are evil, tools of Satan. He knows everything. He, only he, knows God. He, only he, can save mankind and bestow upon those who believe in him the gift of everlasting life. Jesus' rant differs little from that of the fantasy-prone schizophrenic. It is no wonder the Judeans regarded him as possessed by a demon -- in modern parlance, a nut case.
3. Interesting that the Judeans arguing with Jesus claim they are free men because they are descendants of Abraham, apparently forgetting the long, memorialized history of the Hebrew people in bondage, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and their present state of subservience to Rome. As many at that time who awaited for spiritual Messiah yearned for a political liberator who could free them from the yoke of Roman rule and re-establish an independent Hebrew state. Jesus here claims the truth will unburden them from the bondage of sin. The truth is apparently the realization that Jesus is the Messiah or the Son of God. (Liberation from the slavery of sin apparently doesn’t entail things like repentance and reformation, discipline, self-denial, respect for others, etc.)
4. Jesus, who is a rival of Moses and Abraham for the allegiance of the Hebrew people, claims precedence over them by asserting that he has lived for ever. His listeners don't buy it, and when he claims to have seen and talked to Abraham, it’s the last straw, they have had enough of his assault upon their credulity. They go get stones to throw at him, the ancient equivalent of getting the hook, with potentially lethal consequences. Since his Father is apparently unwilling to protect him with an invisible force field or something, Jesus cedes the field and gets the heck out of there.
5. Jesus makes a reference to the Devil, exactly what we think of as the Devil, a purveyor and personification of evil. Even though the Devil is regarded as a central character in the Christian world view, he made a fairly late appearance in Judaic theology. Moses, for instance, never talks about the Devil. The reptilian tempter in Eden, or even the Satan of Job is never identified as the Devil per se, and the antagonists of the Old Testament Jehovah are nearly always rival national gods.
6. Jesus makes continual references to his being “raised “up” or “exalted." Meant literally as well as figuratively, it is a foreshadowing of his crucifixion, when he is be raised up physically and spiritually exalted in his ascent to heaven.
7. When the Judeans reject Jesus they accused him of being possessed by a demon, but also revile him (incorrectly) as being a Samaritan, which, to a Judean, is apparently just as bad. Samaritans practiced a non-standard form of Judaism and, as we have seen from history, even recent history, minor discrepancies in religious belief and practice can engender unreasonable hatred and violence.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Jesus and the Adulteress
(Gospel of John 7:53 - 8:11)
After this interchange, everyone went home, save Jesus, who went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning, he returned to the Temple. A crowd gathered, and he sat down and taught them. The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought to him a woman who had been caught committing adultery. Making her stand before the assembly, they addressed Jesus, "Rabbi, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The Law of Moses commands us to stone such a woman to death. What say you?" (They did this in order to bait Jesus, so that they might have some charge to bring against him.)
Jesus, though, just stooped down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. When they kept demanding an answer from him, he stood erect and challenged them, "Very well, let the one among you who has never committed a sin throw the first stone at her." He stooped down again and continued writing in the dirt.
When everyone heard what he said, they began to drift away, one by one, the oldest first, until there was no one left there except Jesus and the accused adulteress who stood before him. Jesus straightened up and questioned her, "Madam, where are they, your accusers? Is there no one here to condemn you?"
"There's no one, sir," she replied.
"Well then, I won't condemn you either. Be on your way and sin no more."
Notes
1. This entire section is a doubtful authenticity. No early Greek version included it and others place it, or a version of it, in other parts of John or in Luke. It was, however, in the Latin Vulgate of the 4th Century, which was declared authoritative by the Catholic Council of Trent in the mid 16th Century.
2. It's not explained what Jesus was writing in the dirt. Was it something important, or was it just his way of ignoring the Pharisees who had come to pester him and show him up?
3. The fact that Jesus was depicted as writing in the dirt is taken as evidence that he could write. and, therefore, was literate. However, it could be that he was only drawing, rather than writing in the dirt. The text is not really clear here. One would think, though, since he was a rabbi he would know how to read and write, even though he is described as being untrained. And if he was the Son of God, he would not only know how to read and write, he would know everything!
4. In this incident Jesus brings to light an intriguing moral point. Should punishment be exacted upon an individual who is no worse than those punishing him. If Jesus had invited anyone who had never committed adultery to throw the first stone, then the moral of the tale would be obvious: don't accuse and punish people for sins you are guilty of yourself. It would be an indictment of hypocrisy. But Jesus calls upon someone who had never committed a sin of any kind to throw that first stone, to administer the punishment. If judges and executioners are to be perfect men who have never been guilty of committing a sin, how could any crime be punished?
5. Jesus is continually at odds with Moses and the Pharisees who interpret literally the laws he supposedly promulgated. The law of Moses demands that an adulteress be stoned to death, but Jesus does not question the law or the severity of the punishment. He does not fall into the trap the Pharisees had set for him: they want him to publicly disagree with the Scriptures. He refuses to do so, but he does prevent the punishment from being carried out, circumventing the law. One suspects that Jesus believes the death penalty for adultery is too severe, but he will not come out and say so. He does not say, "punishing adultery with the death penalty may have been appropriate for the Israelites who lived during the time of Moses, but in this moderns age more leniency should be exercised. The adulteress should be allowed to repent, to change her ways, and be forgiven." He, disappointingly, does not tell the Pharisees that.
6. Jesus tells the adulteress to mend her ways and sin no more, but by not punishing her he has removed the negative incentive to sin. When one is not punished for bad behavior, when there is no price to pay for misconduct, when every sin is to be forgiven, there is no discouragement for immorality. There are, of course, positive inducements and rewards for morality, but Jesus does not touch upon them here. He does not take the opportunity to tell the woman why she shouldn't sin. He does not say, "Live a moral life, and you'll be happier, or "Don't sin and you'll earn life everlasting."
After this interchange, everyone went home, save Jesus, who went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning, he returned to the Temple. A crowd gathered, and he sat down and taught them. The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought to him a woman who had been caught committing adultery. Making her stand before the assembly, they addressed Jesus, "Rabbi, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The Law of Moses commands us to stone such a woman to death. What say you?" (They did this in order to bait Jesus, so that they might have some charge to bring against him.)
Jesus, though, just stooped down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. When they kept demanding an answer from him, he stood erect and challenged them, "Very well, let the one among you who has never committed a sin throw the first stone at her." He stooped down again and continued writing in the dirt.
When everyone heard what he said, they began to drift away, one by one, the oldest first, until there was no one left there except Jesus and the accused adulteress who stood before him. Jesus straightened up and questioned her, "Madam, where are they, your accusers? Is there no one here to condemn you?"
"There's no one, sir," she replied.
"Well then, I won't condemn you either. Be on your way and sin no more."
Notes
1. This entire section is a doubtful authenticity. No early Greek version included it and others place it, or a version of it, in other parts of John or in Luke. It was, however, in the Latin Vulgate of the 4th Century, which was declared authoritative by the Catholic Council of Trent in the mid 16th Century.
2. It's not explained what Jesus was writing in the dirt. Was it something important, or was it just his way of ignoring the Pharisees who had come to pester him and show him up?
3. The fact that Jesus was depicted as writing in the dirt is taken as evidence that he could write. and, therefore, was literate. However, it could be that he was only drawing, rather than writing in the dirt. The text is not really clear here. One would think, though, since he was a rabbi he would know how to read and write, even though he is described as being untrained. And if he was the Son of God, he would not only know how to read and write, he would know everything!
4. In this incident Jesus brings to light an intriguing moral point. Should punishment be exacted upon an individual who is no worse than those punishing him. If Jesus had invited anyone who had never committed adultery to throw the first stone, then the moral of the tale would be obvious: don't accuse and punish people for sins you are guilty of yourself. It would be an indictment of hypocrisy. But Jesus calls upon someone who had never committed a sin of any kind to throw that first stone, to administer the punishment. If judges and executioners are to be perfect men who have never been guilty of committing a sin, how could any crime be punished?
5. Jesus is continually at odds with Moses and the Pharisees who interpret literally the laws he supposedly promulgated. The law of Moses demands that an adulteress be stoned to death, but Jesus does not question the law or the severity of the punishment. He does not fall into the trap the Pharisees had set for him: they want him to publicly disagree with the Scriptures. He refuses to do so, but he does prevent the punishment from being carried out, circumventing the law. One suspects that Jesus believes the death penalty for adultery is too severe, but he will not come out and say so. He does not say, "punishing adultery with the death penalty may have been appropriate for the Israelites who lived during the time of Moses, but in this moderns age more leniency should be exercised. The adulteress should be allowed to repent, to change her ways, and be forgiven." He, disappointingly, does not tell the Pharisees that.
6. Jesus tells the adulteress to mend her ways and sin no more, but by not punishing her he has removed the negative incentive to sin. When one is not punished for bad behavior, when there is no price to pay for misconduct, when every sin is to be forgiven, there is no discouragement for immorality. There are, of course, positive inducements and rewards for morality, but Jesus does not touch upon them here. He does not take the opportunity to tell the woman why she shouldn't sin. He does not say, "Live a moral life, and you'll be happier, or "Don't sin and you'll earn life everlasting."
Jesus at the Festival of Sukkot
(Gospel of John 7:01 - 7:52)
After this, Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, but did not wish to do so in Judea, where the religious establishment was desirous of having him put to death. However, when the Hebrew Festival of Sukkot drew near, Jesus' brothers urged him, "Why don't you leave Galilee and go to Judea so that your disciples there may witness your miracles. No one who wishes to build a public reputation can act privately. If you are able to perform these wonders, you must show yourself to the world!" (You see, even his brothers did not believe in him.)
Jesus answered them, "No, it's not the right time for me to go. But you can go anytime. The world can't hate you. It hates me, because I am testimony that the ways of the world are evil. You go to the festival. But I'm not going, for my time has not quite come yet." After this pronouncement, Jesus remained in Galilee.
However, after his brothers had departed for the festival, Jesus went, too, but secretly, not publicly. The religious authorities were on the lookout for him at the festival and kept inquiring whether anyone had seen him. There was a great deal of buzz about Jesus among the public there. Some declared that he was a good man, while others believed he was duping the masses. But no one talked about him openly for fear of offending the Judean authorities.
Not until the festival was half over did Jesus go to the Temple courtyard and begin teaching there. When they heard him, the Judeans were amazed that a man who had never been properly trained had so much knowledge of Scripture.
“What I teach does not come from me, but from God who sent me," Jesus told them. "Anyone dedicated to the will of God will know if the teaching comes from God or if I am merely speaking on my own behalf. He who speaks on his own seeks glory for himself, while he who seeks glory for the one who sent him is a man of true teachings; there is nothing false about him. Did not Moses give you the law? And yet, none of you obeys it. Why are you seeking to kill me?"
"You're possessed by a demon! Who's seeking to kill you?" questioned the crowd.
Jesus responded, "I perform one miracle on the Sabbath and all of you are dumbfounded. Don’t you perform circumcisions on male children on the eighth day, in accordance with the law given to you by Moses? (Actually our ancestors practiced circumcision long before Moses.) And so that the law be not broken, will you not perform the circumcision on a Sabbath and thus do work on that day? So why then are you so upset with me for healing a man's whole body on the Sabbath? Don't judge merely by appearances, judge fairly."
Many of the people of Jerusalem posed the question, "Isn't this the man the authorities want to put to death? Well, here he is, speaking publicly -- and they don't have a word to say to him! Have they concluded that he is the Messiah? We know, though, where this man is from. When the Messiah arrives, nobody'll know where he's from."
Jesus, who was still teaching in the Temple courtyard, replied to them, "Yes, you do know me and where I'm from, but I'm not here on my own authority. He who sent me is the true God -- but you don't know him. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.'
The authorities then tried to arrest him, but they did not succeed in laying a hand on him -- for his time had not yet come. Many, though, in the crowd believed him and declared, "If the Messiah does appear, could he perform more miracles than this man has?"
The Pharisees heard such opinions voiced by the crowd. Therefore, they had the chief priests order the Temple guards to seize Jesus.
Jesus told them, "I will be among you for a only little while longer, then I will be returning to him who sent me. You will then search for me, but you won't find me. Where I will be, you cannot come."
The religious authorities asked each other, "Where does this man intend to go where we can't find him? Will he go to the scattered communities of Hebrew expatriates who live among the Greeks and teach them? What does he mean when he says, 'You will then search for me, but you won't find me,' and 'Where I will be, you cannot come'?"
On the final day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted to the crowd, "Anyone who is thirsty, come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink. For the scriptures says, 'From the hearts of those who believe in me rivers of life-giving water will flow.' (When Jesus said "life-giving water" he was referring to the Spirit Divine that would be received by all who believe. But that spirit had not been given, for Jesus had not yet achieved his glory.)
When the crowd heard him say this, some of them declared, "This man must surely be the Prophet," while others declared, "He is the Messiah." But there were those who questioned, "How can the Messiah come from Galilee? Don't the Scriptures say the Messiah will come from among the descendants of David and from Bethlehem, a town of David?" Thus there was a divided opinion about Jesus among the people. Some wanted him to be arrested, but no one laid a hand on him.
When the Temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus, the chief priests and the Pharisees demanded of them, "Why didn't you bring him in?"
"No one has ever spoke the way he does, " the guards explained.
"You mean he's taken you in, too?" the Pharisees rejoined. "Do any of the leaders, any of the Pharisees believe in him? No! A curse has fallen upon this mob because it's ignorant of the law."
Nicodemus, a member of the Pharisees who had earlier visited with Jesus, spoke up in protest, "Our law doesn't convict a man without a hearing to determine what he's done -- does it?"
The other Pharisees put him down, "Surely you're not from Galilee, too? Do some research and you'll find that the Prophet does not come from Galilee."
Notes
1. Sukkot, or the Festival of Tabernacles, or the Festival of Booths, or is one of three important holidays during which Hebrews were supposed to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. Mentioned in Leviticus, it grew out of the Exodus-mandated Harvest Feast. It is seven days in length and is celebrated during the month of Tishri (from late September to late October), beginning the fifth day after Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. It is a joyous celebration that commemorates the 40 years during which the Israelites lived in the deserts of Sinai after the Exodus and before their settlement in Canaan. Palm-draped booths are erected to simulate the life-style of the wandering Israelites. Celebrants eat and even sleep inside them during the holiday.
2. Jesus' brothers are not only doubters, they want to goad him into going to Judea, where there is a reasonable expectation he will be killed. Interesting that those who presumably knew Jesus best did not believe in him and were apparently so contemptuous of his claim to divinity they didn't mind seeing him executed for it. Of course, it often happens that one's family is hard to impress; a family member who manifests greatness is usually viewed by others in the family with jealousy or resentment.
2. Jesus bears false witness and practices deception when he flat out tells his brothers he is not going to the Festival of Sukkot and then secretly does so. Then, he claims that he, the one sent by God, has nothing false about him. A contradiction here? One might justify the deception and lie he told his brothers, but one does not find in Jesus' message the desirability of convenient falsehoods.
3. Halfway through the festival Jesus starts to teach and preach at the Temple. Did anyone invite him to do so? Surely those administering the Temple were antagonistic to him at the very least. But he did draw a crowd and, at first, the religious establishment did nothing to stop him. Perhaps they wanted to give him enough rope to hang himself, that is, to discredit himself with his preposterous claim that he was the Son of God. The Pharisees probably thought the crowd would reject him totally and when it didn't, they blame its ignorance, and, although they don't say so here, its stupidity and gullibility.
4. Jesus was being discredited as the Prophet or the Messiah because he was from Galilee. for prophecy dictated that Bethlehem be the provenance of the Messiah. So we see the rationale behind the nativity story placing Jesus' birth in Bethlehem. Whether Jesus was actually born in Bethlehem or if the nativity story was concocted to fulfill the prophecy cannot be known. The reader awaits Jesus' profession that he was born in Bethlehem and is a descendant of King David.
After this, Jesus traveled throughout Galilee, but did not wish to do so in Judea, where the religious establishment was desirous of having him put to death. However, when the Hebrew Festival of Sukkot drew near, Jesus' brothers urged him, "Why don't you leave Galilee and go to Judea so that your disciples there may witness your miracles. No one who wishes to build a public reputation can act privately. If you are able to perform these wonders, you must show yourself to the world!" (You see, even his brothers did not believe in him.)
Jesus answered them, "No, it's not the right time for me to go. But you can go anytime. The world can't hate you. It hates me, because I am testimony that the ways of the world are evil. You go to the festival. But I'm not going, for my time has not quite come yet." After this pronouncement, Jesus remained in Galilee.
However, after his brothers had departed for the festival, Jesus went, too, but secretly, not publicly. The religious authorities were on the lookout for him at the festival and kept inquiring whether anyone had seen him. There was a great deal of buzz about Jesus among the public there. Some declared that he was a good man, while others believed he was duping the masses. But no one talked about him openly for fear of offending the Judean authorities.
Not until the festival was half over did Jesus go to the Temple courtyard and begin teaching there. When they heard him, the Judeans were amazed that a man who had never been properly trained had so much knowledge of Scripture.
“What I teach does not come from me, but from God who sent me," Jesus told them. "Anyone dedicated to the will of God will know if the teaching comes from God or if I am merely speaking on my own behalf. He who speaks on his own seeks glory for himself, while he who seeks glory for the one who sent him is a man of true teachings; there is nothing false about him. Did not Moses give you the law? And yet, none of you obeys it. Why are you seeking to kill me?"
"You're possessed by a demon! Who's seeking to kill you?" questioned the crowd.
Jesus responded, "I perform one miracle on the Sabbath and all of you are dumbfounded. Don’t you perform circumcisions on male children on the eighth day, in accordance with the law given to you by Moses? (Actually our ancestors practiced circumcision long before Moses.) And so that the law be not broken, will you not perform the circumcision on a Sabbath and thus do work on that day? So why then are you so upset with me for healing a man's whole body on the Sabbath? Don't judge merely by appearances, judge fairly."
Many of the people of Jerusalem posed the question, "Isn't this the man the authorities want to put to death? Well, here he is, speaking publicly -- and they don't have a word to say to him! Have they concluded that he is the Messiah? We know, though, where this man is from. When the Messiah arrives, nobody'll know where he's from."
Jesus, who was still teaching in the Temple courtyard, replied to them, "Yes, you do know me and where I'm from, but I'm not here on my own authority. He who sent me is the true God -- but you don't know him. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.'
The authorities then tried to arrest him, but they did not succeed in laying a hand on him -- for his time had not yet come. Many, though, in the crowd believed him and declared, "If the Messiah does appear, could he perform more miracles than this man has?"
The Pharisees heard such opinions voiced by the crowd. Therefore, they had the chief priests order the Temple guards to seize Jesus.
Jesus told them, "I will be among you for a only little while longer, then I will be returning to him who sent me. You will then search for me, but you won't find me. Where I will be, you cannot come."
The religious authorities asked each other, "Where does this man intend to go where we can't find him? Will he go to the scattered communities of Hebrew expatriates who live among the Greeks and teach them? What does he mean when he says, 'You will then search for me, but you won't find me,' and 'Where I will be, you cannot come'?"
On the final day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted to the crowd, "Anyone who is thirsty, come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink. For the scriptures says, 'From the hearts of those who believe in me rivers of life-giving water will flow.' (When Jesus said "life-giving water" he was referring to the Spirit Divine that would be received by all who believe. But that spirit had not been given, for Jesus had not yet achieved his glory.)
When the crowd heard him say this, some of them declared, "This man must surely be the Prophet," while others declared, "He is the Messiah." But there were those who questioned, "How can the Messiah come from Galilee? Don't the Scriptures say the Messiah will come from among the descendants of David and from Bethlehem, a town of David?" Thus there was a divided opinion about Jesus among the people. Some wanted him to be arrested, but no one laid a hand on him.
When the Temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus, the chief priests and the Pharisees demanded of them, "Why didn't you bring him in?"
"No one has ever spoke the way he does, " the guards explained.
"You mean he's taken you in, too?" the Pharisees rejoined. "Do any of the leaders, any of the Pharisees believe in him? No! A curse has fallen upon this mob because it's ignorant of the law."
Nicodemus, a member of the Pharisees who had earlier visited with Jesus, spoke up in protest, "Our law doesn't convict a man without a hearing to determine what he's done -- does it?"
The other Pharisees put him down, "Surely you're not from Galilee, too? Do some research and you'll find that the Prophet does not come from Galilee."
Notes
1. Sukkot, or the Festival of Tabernacles, or the Festival of Booths, or is one of three important holidays during which Hebrews were supposed to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem. Mentioned in Leviticus, it grew out of the Exodus-mandated Harvest Feast. It is seven days in length and is celebrated during the month of Tishri (from late September to late October), beginning the fifth day after Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. It is a joyous celebration that commemorates the 40 years during which the Israelites lived in the deserts of Sinai after the Exodus and before their settlement in Canaan. Palm-draped booths are erected to simulate the life-style of the wandering Israelites. Celebrants eat and even sleep inside them during the holiday.
2. Jesus' brothers are not only doubters, they want to goad him into going to Judea, where there is a reasonable expectation he will be killed. Interesting that those who presumably knew Jesus best did not believe in him and were apparently so contemptuous of his claim to divinity they didn't mind seeing him executed for it. Of course, it often happens that one's family is hard to impress; a family member who manifests greatness is usually viewed by others in the family with jealousy or resentment.
2. Jesus bears false witness and practices deception when he flat out tells his brothers he is not going to the Festival of Sukkot and then secretly does so. Then, he claims that he, the one sent by God, has nothing false about him. A contradiction here? One might justify the deception and lie he told his brothers, but one does not find in Jesus' message the desirability of convenient falsehoods.
3. Halfway through the festival Jesus starts to teach and preach at the Temple. Did anyone invite him to do so? Surely those administering the Temple were antagonistic to him at the very least. But he did draw a crowd and, at first, the religious establishment did nothing to stop him. Perhaps they wanted to give him enough rope to hang himself, that is, to discredit himself with his preposterous claim that he was the Son of God. The Pharisees probably thought the crowd would reject him totally and when it didn't, they blame its ignorance, and, although they don't say so here, its stupidity and gullibility.
4. Jesus was being discredited as the Prophet or the Messiah because he was from Galilee. for prophecy dictated that Bethlehem be the provenance of the Messiah. So we see the rationale behind the nativity story placing Jesus' birth in Bethlehem. Whether Jesus was actually born in Bethlehem or if the nativity story was concocted to fulfill the prophecy cannot be known. The reader awaits Jesus' profession that he was born in Bethlehem and is a descendant of King David.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Disciples Abandon Jesus
(Gospel of John 6:60 - 6:71)
Hearing Jesus’ sermon, many of his disciples complained, "These teachings are hard to swallow! And who wants to listen to such things?"
Aware that his disciples were becoming disgruntled, Jesus spoke to them, "Do you find my teachings unbelievable? How then will you react when you see the Son of Man re-ascending to Heaven? ... It is the spirit that creates life; the flesh is powerless to do so. The message I have given you is of the spirit and of life. But there are those among you who do not believe it."
(Jesus knew from the start what disciples believed him and who did not and who was the one who would betray him.)
He added, "That is why I have told you that no one has come to me unless he has been granted leave to do so by my Father."
At this point many of his disciples turned away from Jesus and no longer followed him. Jesus addressed the twelve who remained and asked them, "Are you going to leave me as well?"
Simon-Peter answered for them, "Master, to whom would we go? You have the message of life everlasting. We have come to believe in you and to know that you are the Christ, the Son of the eternal God."
Jesus declared, "Did I not choose the twelve of you -- even though one of you will be an adversary?” (Jesus was referring to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, who, though he was one of the Twelve Apostles, would betray him.)
Notes
1. It can hardly be surprising that many of those following Jesus would eventually choose to abandon him, especially after the impact of the miracles he performs wears off. Other evangelists, even prophets did not claim to be the Son of God, a divinity who will raise the dead, judge mankind, and bestow eternal life on those who please him. It would have been a little too much to accept even of a miracle maker. Owing to his claims, it is likely that most people, even those receptive to his message, would have regarded Jesus as an arrogant crackpot, even a lunatic, or else a preposterous fraud, a confidence man of the grandest pretensions. But, according to the text, the reason most of his followers desert him is that his message is difficult to comprehend and believe.
2. Those still following Jesus are the Twelve Apostles, not all of whom have yet been named in this Gospel. On the positive side, this culling of the herd allowed Jesus to have an entourage of manageable size and, as a teacher, a smaller class size. Did Jesus purposely drive away most of his disciples so that only a core of loyal followers remained?
3. Simon-Peter, who apparently is taking a leadership position among the apostles, speaks for them and gives Jesus an explanation for why they are staying with him. Basically, he tells Jesus that he is the real deal and that he is the only one from whom they can receive everlasting life. What he does not say is revealing. He does not say he wishes to be a disciple of Jesus so that he can preach his message, bring in believers, and save their souls. He does not express any admiration for Jesus as a master or that he is motivated to serve him and stay with him out of love and loyalty. It's as of the apostles are remaining with Jesus only for what they can get out of it.
4. Jesus has foreknowledge of who of his disciples will stay and who will leave. Also he knows that one of the Twelve Apostles is a ringer who will later betray him. If he knows this, why does he accept as his disciple the traitor (Judas). He seems to be setting up his own betrayal as a part of the passion play he is performing in; he has already selected Judas to play a particular role in it. Why Jesus needs to have one of his apostles betray him and why that betrayal, which, in the end, amounts to practically nothing, seems requisite to his ultimate crucifixion is anyone's guess.
5. Almost all translations call Judas a “devil.” This is incorrect; the Hebrew word should be translated “Satan,” which is, only in a modern context, the same thing. The original meaning of Satan is someone, not necessary a spirit being, who is an adversary, an antagonist, someone who opposes your interests. Judas is not Satan or the Devil, as we define it, but only someone who will work against Jesus.
Hearing Jesus’ sermon, many of his disciples complained, "These teachings are hard to swallow! And who wants to listen to such things?"
Aware that his disciples were becoming disgruntled, Jesus spoke to them, "Do you find my teachings unbelievable? How then will you react when you see the Son of Man re-ascending to Heaven? ... It is the spirit that creates life; the flesh is powerless to do so. The message I have given you is of the spirit and of life. But there are those among you who do not believe it."
(Jesus knew from the start what disciples believed him and who did not and who was the one who would betray him.)
He added, "That is why I have told you that no one has come to me unless he has been granted leave to do so by my Father."
At this point many of his disciples turned away from Jesus and no longer followed him. Jesus addressed the twelve who remained and asked them, "Are you going to leave me as well?"
Simon-Peter answered for them, "Master, to whom would we go? You have the message of life everlasting. We have come to believe in you and to know that you are the Christ, the Son of the eternal God."
Jesus declared, "Did I not choose the twelve of you -- even though one of you will be an adversary?” (Jesus was referring to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, who, though he was one of the Twelve Apostles, would betray him.)
Notes
1. It can hardly be surprising that many of those following Jesus would eventually choose to abandon him, especially after the impact of the miracles he performs wears off. Other evangelists, even prophets did not claim to be the Son of God, a divinity who will raise the dead, judge mankind, and bestow eternal life on those who please him. It would have been a little too much to accept even of a miracle maker. Owing to his claims, it is likely that most people, even those receptive to his message, would have regarded Jesus as an arrogant crackpot, even a lunatic, or else a preposterous fraud, a confidence man of the grandest pretensions. But, according to the text, the reason most of his followers desert him is that his message is difficult to comprehend and believe.
2. Those still following Jesus are the Twelve Apostles, not all of whom have yet been named in this Gospel. On the positive side, this culling of the herd allowed Jesus to have an entourage of manageable size and, as a teacher, a smaller class size. Did Jesus purposely drive away most of his disciples so that only a core of loyal followers remained?
3. Simon-Peter, who apparently is taking a leadership position among the apostles, speaks for them and gives Jesus an explanation for why they are staying with him. Basically, he tells Jesus that he is the real deal and that he is the only one from whom they can receive everlasting life. What he does not say is revealing. He does not say he wishes to be a disciple of Jesus so that he can preach his message, bring in believers, and save their souls. He does not express any admiration for Jesus as a master or that he is motivated to serve him and stay with him out of love and loyalty. It's as of the apostles are remaining with Jesus only for what they can get out of it.
4. Jesus has foreknowledge of who of his disciples will stay and who will leave. Also he knows that one of the Twelve Apostles is a ringer who will later betray him. If he knows this, why does he accept as his disciple the traitor (Judas). He seems to be setting up his own betrayal as a part of the passion play he is performing in; he has already selected Judas to play a particular role in it. Why Jesus needs to have one of his apostles betray him and why that betrayal, which, in the end, amounts to practically nothing, seems requisite to his ultimate crucifixion is anyone's guess.
5. Almost all translations call Judas a “devil.” This is incorrect; the Hebrew word should be translated “Satan,” which is, only in a modern context, the same thing. The original meaning of Satan is someone, not necessary a spirit being, who is an adversary, an antagonist, someone who opposes your interests. Judas is not Satan or the Devil, as we define it, but only someone who will work against Jesus.
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
The Food of Life
(Gospel of John 6:25 - 6:59)
Those who sought him did find Jesus on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. They questioned him, "When, Rabbi, did you arrive here?"
Jesus would only answer, "I tell you truly, the reason you are looking for me is not because you witnessed miracles, but because you were able to fill your bellies with bread. Crave not food that will spoil, but the food that brings life everlasting, that which will given to you by the Son of Man, in whom God the Father has invested his power.”
They then asked of him, "What must we do to accomplish the work God asks of us?"
Jesus told then, "The only work that God asks of you to do is to believe in the one he has sent."
They responded, "What miracle are you going to perform for us so we might believe in you? Well, what are you going to do for us? When our ancestors were in the desert they were given manna from Heaven to eat -- as it says in the scriptures, 'they were given food from Heaven to eat.'"
"Very truly I tell you, what Moses gave you was not food from Heaven. It is my Father who now offers you the true food from Heaven. For the food that God sends down from Heaven is that which brings life to the world."
"Please, sir, give us that food always."
Jesus told them, "I am that food of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry; whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But, as I said, you have seen me and still do not believe. All those the Father sends will come to me, and no one who comes to me will be driven away. I have come down from Heaven, not to accomplish my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is his will: that I should not lose any of the souls he has delivered to me, but that I should raise them from the dead on the final day. For it is my Father's will that those who come to me and believe in me should enjoy everlasting life. And I will raise them from the dead on the final day."
The people grumbled among themselves, disputing his assertion that he was "the food that has come down from Heaven." They declared, "Hey, isn't this Jesus; isn't he the son of Joseph? Don't we know his parents? How can he now claim, 'I have come down from Heaven'?"
Jesus admonished them, “Quit your griping! No one can come to me unless the Father who has sent me draws them to me, and those, on the final day, will I raise from the dead. Just as it is recorded in the Scriptures, 'They will all be instructed by God.' Anyone who listens to the Father and learns what he says will then come to me. Of course, no one has actually seen the Father, save the one who was sent by him. He has seen him.
"I tell you truly, anyone who believes, he will achieve life everlasting. Yes, I am the food of life. Your ancestors ate manna in the desert, but they all eventually died. But he who eats the food that has come down from Heaven will never die. I am the food that has come down from Heaven. Anyone who eats this food will live forever. This food, which I offer so that the world may live, is my very flesh."
This precipitated a fierce debate among the people who posed the question, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
Jesus told them, "Truly I say, that unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you will not achieve life everlasting. But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood will enjoy life everlasting and that person I will raise from the dead on the final day. For my flesh is the quintessential food and my blood the quintessential drink. Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood becomes a part of me, and I, a part of him. Just as the living Father sent me, and I have life because of the Father, so the one who feeds upon me will have life because of me. This is the food that has come down from Heaven. It is unlike the manna your ancestors ate. They died, but whoever eats this food will live forever."
These things were said when Jesus was preaching in a synagogue in Capernaum.
Notes
1. Those pursuing Jesus after they had been miraculously fed find him. They seem interested in catching him performing another miracle. Jesus immediately suspects their motives and dismisses their interest in him as a craving for a free feed. But their appearance gives him the opportunity to preach his message to them. It is not clear, however, what part of the statements here were spoken to these particular people and what was delivered to an audience in the mentioned Capernaum synagogue.
2. I have used the word "food" rather than the usual "bread," since that is what is meant. Even today, bread is sometimes used in a general sense as a synonym for food of all types. But, for clarity, I have used the unambiguous, if less poetic "food."
3. Many of the people are skeptical of Jesus' claim that he is the Son of God -- hardly surprising, one would think. They knew him as the son of Joseph. He was just a guy from the neighborhood. Now they're supposed to believe he's divine. --- This confirms two conclusions that the reader of this Gospel might have already drawn, firstly, that Jesus was generally believed to be the son of Joseph, not his adopted son, or stepson, and secondly, that no evidence of his divine origin was seen, at least by those outside his family, during his childhood and youth.
4. Jesus, who often speaks symbolically, in metaphors and allegories, probably means that his followers should eat his flesh and drink his blood in some figurative sense. (This, for the obvious reason: if he died and his body butchered, there would not be enough of it to go around for all his followers to consume.) However, his listeners are confused and, as we will learn later, pretty much turned off by the analogy, for, on the surface, it seems an invitation to cannibalism. The belief that by consuming a dead person's flesh one may acquire his attributes, eg. bravery, is commonly held by primitive societies who practice ritualistic cannibalism. How one may metaphorically eat flesh and drink blood is not made clear. So far Jesus has demanded acceptance and belief as a condition of enjoying the life everlasting he promises. Why would he relate eating flesh to believing? Did he merely want to shock his audience? Was this his way of presenting himself as a human sacrifice?
5. Jesus references Moses again and the manna, the physical food that Jehovah fed to the Israelites when they were wandering in the desert during the Exodus. Jesus tends to put down Moses at every opportunity and seems to regard him in adversarial light. He dismisses the importance of the manna, which did keep the Israelites alive, and extols his own "food" which bestows life everlasting. Why does he find the situations analogous? Jesus, though, never really explains what his food is, save that it is a message the people must accept and believe in.
6. Those who are followers and believers of Jesus, those who come to him, are ordained by the Father to do so. Are some people predestined to be believers and enjoy everlasting life and others not? Or does God inspire worthy persons to seek out Jesus?
Those who sought him did find Jesus on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. They questioned him, "When, Rabbi, did you arrive here?"
Jesus would only answer, "I tell you truly, the reason you are looking for me is not because you witnessed miracles, but because you were able to fill your bellies with bread. Crave not food that will spoil, but the food that brings life everlasting, that which will given to you by the Son of Man, in whom God the Father has invested his power.”
They then asked of him, "What must we do to accomplish the work God asks of us?"
Jesus told then, "The only work that God asks of you to do is to believe in the one he has sent."
They responded, "What miracle are you going to perform for us so we might believe in you? Well, what are you going to do for us? When our ancestors were in the desert they were given manna from Heaven to eat -- as it says in the scriptures, 'they were given food from Heaven to eat.'"
"Very truly I tell you, what Moses gave you was not food from Heaven. It is my Father who now offers you the true food from Heaven. For the food that God sends down from Heaven is that which brings life to the world."
"Please, sir, give us that food always."
Jesus told them, "I am that food of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry; whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But, as I said, you have seen me and still do not believe. All those the Father sends will come to me, and no one who comes to me will be driven away. I have come down from Heaven, not to accomplish my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is his will: that I should not lose any of the souls he has delivered to me, but that I should raise them from the dead on the final day. For it is my Father's will that those who come to me and believe in me should enjoy everlasting life. And I will raise them from the dead on the final day."
The people grumbled among themselves, disputing his assertion that he was "the food that has come down from Heaven." They declared, "Hey, isn't this Jesus; isn't he the son of Joseph? Don't we know his parents? How can he now claim, 'I have come down from Heaven'?"
Jesus admonished them, “Quit your griping! No one can come to me unless the Father who has sent me draws them to me, and those, on the final day, will I raise from the dead. Just as it is recorded in the Scriptures, 'They will all be instructed by God.' Anyone who listens to the Father and learns what he says will then come to me. Of course, no one has actually seen the Father, save the one who was sent by him. He has seen him.
"I tell you truly, anyone who believes, he will achieve life everlasting. Yes, I am the food of life. Your ancestors ate manna in the desert, but they all eventually died. But he who eats the food that has come down from Heaven will never die. I am the food that has come down from Heaven. Anyone who eats this food will live forever. This food, which I offer so that the world may live, is my very flesh."
This precipitated a fierce debate among the people who posed the question, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
Jesus told them, "Truly I say, that unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you will not achieve life everlasting. But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood will enjoy life everlasting and that person I will raise from the dead on the final day. For my flesh is the quintessential food and my blood the quintessential drink. Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood becomes a part of me, and I, a part of him. Just as the living Father sent me, and I have life because of the Father, so the one who feeds upon me will have life because of me. This is the food that has come down from Heaven. It is unlike the manna your ancestors ate. They died, but whoever eats this food will live forever."
These things were said when Jesus was preaching in a synagogue in Capernaum.
Notes
1. Those pursuing Jesus after they had been miraculously fed find him. They seem interested in catching him performing another miracle. Jesus immediately suspects their motives and dismisses their interest in him as a craving for a free feed. But their appearance gives him the opportunity to preach his message to them. It is not clear, however, what part of the statements here were spoken to these particular people and what was delivered to an audience in the mentioned Capernaum synagogue.
2. I have used the word "food" rather than the usual "bread," since that is what is meant. Even today, bread is sometimes used in a general sense as a synonym for food of all types. But, for clarity, I have used the unambiguous, if less poetic "food."
3. Many of the people are skeptical of Jesus' claim that he is the Son of God -- hardly surprising, one would think. They knew him as the son of Joseph. He was just a guy from the neighborhood. Now they're supposed to believe he's divine. --- This confirms two conclusions that the reader of this Gospel might have already drawn, firstly, that Jesus was generally believed to be the son of Joseph, not his adopted son, or stepson, and secondly, that no evidence of his divine origin was seen, at least by those outside his family, during his childhood and youth.
4. Jesus, who often speaks symbolically, in metaphors and allegories, probably means that his followers should eat his flesh and drink his blood in some figurative sense. (This, for the obvious reason: if he died and his body butchered, there would not be enough of it to go around for all his followers to consume.) However, his listeners are confused and, as we will learn later, pretty much turned off by the analogy, for, on the surface, it seems an invitation to cannibalism. The belief that by consuming a dead person's flesh one may acquire his attributes, eg. bravery, is commonly held by primitive societies who practice ritualistic cannibalism. How one may metaphorically eat flesh and drink blood is not made clear. So far Jesus has demanded acceptance and belief as a condition of enjoying the life everlasting he promises. Why would he relate eating flesh to believing? Did he merely want to shock his audience? Was this his way of presenting himself as a human sacrifice?
5. Jesus references Moses again and the manna, the physical food that Jehovah fed to the Israelites when they were wandering in the desert during the Exodus. Jesus tends to put down Moses at every opportunity and seems to regard him in adversarial light. He dismisses the importance of the manna, which did keep the Israelites alive, and extols his own "food" which bestows life everlasting. Why does he find the situations analogous? Jesus, though, never really explains what his food is, save that it is a message the people must accept and believe in.
6. Those who are followers and believers of Jesus, those who come to him, are ordained by the Father to do so. Are some people predestined to be believers and enjoy everlasting life and others not? Or does God inspire worthy persons to seek out Jesus?
Jesus Walks on Water
(Gospel of John 6:16 - 6:21)
When evening came, the disciples went down to the shore, boarded a boat, and set out across the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum. By now it was dark, but Jesus had still not rejoined them. A strong wind was stirred up and the waters became very choppy. After the disciples had rowed about 3 or 4 miles, they spotted Jesus coming toward the boat -- walking on the surface of the water! They were alarmed. Only after Jesus had reassured them, "It's only me. Don't be afraid!" did they allow him to come into the boat, which then immediately reached the shore -- the very place they were heading.
The next day the crowd on the opposite shore noticed that only a single boat had been there and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, who had departed alone. Some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the bread had been eaten (after grace had been said). Convinced that neither Jesus nor his disciples were still there, they boarded the boats and set out to Capernaum in search of Jesus.
Notes
1. The "walking on water" miracle is among the most famous and the one least likely to have a non-supernatural explanation, although many have suggested one, eg. Jesus was walking on some rocks just below water level -- in a stormy, rough sea? Since Jesus was not just seen walking on water, but afterwards came into the boat, one may dismiss the explanation that it might have been his wraith or his astral, rather than physical body that was viewed by the disciples. Levitation is a phenomenon reported of saints and mediums, but no adequate explanation of it has been put forward. With levitation, however, the body is usually in a static pose and rises slowly into the air without the kind of natural and vigorous movement that Jesus exhibited.
2. Why did Jesus choose to walk over the surface of the water, rather than make the crossing in the normal way, in a boat? The miracle produced no benefit to anyone, so one may assume Jesus was merely performing a magic trick, showing off a superhero power, to impress his disciples and further convince them of his divinity.
3. Shortly after Jesus boards the boat it reaches its destination, the other shore of the sea. Was this also a miracle? Did Jesus cause the boat to make more headway than it might have in the heavy weather?
3. By choosing to cross the Sea of Galilee in the way he did Jesus arouses further suspicions of those people he had miraculously fed. They are now more convinced than ever that is the Prophet, and they apparently want a piece of him. Jesus has sought to elude them, but by working another miracle, he only has them on his tail again.
When evening came, the disciples went down to the shore, boarded a boat, and set out across the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum. By now it was dark, but Jesus had still not rejoined them. A strong wind was stirred up and the waters became very choppy. After the disciples had rowed about 3 or 4 miles, they spotted Jesus coming toward the boat -- walking on the surface of the water! They were alarmed. Only after Jesus had reassured them, "It's only me. Don't be afraid!" did they allow him to come into the boat, which then immediately reached the shore -- the very place they were heading.
The next day the crowd on the opposite shore noticed that only a single boat had been there and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, who had departed alone. Some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the bread had been eaten (after grace had been said). Convinced that neither Jesus nor his disciples were still there, they boarded the boats and set out to Capernaum in search of Jesus.
Notes
1. The "walking on water" miracle is among the most famous and the one least likely to have a non-supernatural explanation, although many have suggested one, eg. Jesus was walking on some rocks just below water level -- in a stormy, rough sea? Since Jesus was not just seen walking on water, but afterwards came into the boat, one may dismiss the explanation that it might have been his wraith or his astral, rather than physical body that was viewed by the disciples. Levitation is a phenomenon reported of saints and mediums, but no adequate explanation of it has been put forward. With levitation, however, the body is usually in a static pose and rises slowly into the air without the kind of natural and vigorous movement that Jesus exhibited.
2. Why did Jesus choose to walk over the surface of the water, rather than make the crossing in the normal way, in a boat? The miracle produced no benefit to anyone, so one may assume Jesus was merely performing a magic trick, showing off a superhero power, to impress his disciples and further convince them of his divinity.
3. Shortly after Jesus boards the boat it reaches its destination, the other shore of the sea. Was this also a miracle? Did Jesus cause the boat to make more headway than it might have in the heavy weather?
3. By choosing to cross the Sea of Galilee in the way he did Jesus arouses further suspicions of those people he had miraculously fed. They are now more convinced than ever that is the Prophet, and they apparently want a piece of him. Jesus has sought to elude them, but by working another miracle, he only has them on his tail again.
Jesus Feeds the Multitude
(Gospel of John 6:1 - 6:15)
Afterwards, Jesus crossed to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd continued to follow him because they had witnessed the miracles he had performed in healing the sick. Jesus climbed a hill and sat there with his disciples about him. (It was nearly time for the observance of the Jewish Passover.) When he noticed a huge crowd of people coming up the hill, he turned to Philip and asked him, "Where can we buy food for all these people?" He asked this of Philip only to see how he would respond, for Jesus had already decided what he was going to do.
Philip answered, "Why 200 denarii, 6 month's wages, wouldn't be enough to give all these people any more than a bite!"
Another disciple, Andrew, the brother of Simon-Peter, spoke up, "There's a boy here who has 5 small loaves of barley bread and 2 small fish -- but how far will they go to feed so many?"
Jesus announced, "Tell everyone to sit down." There was plenty of grass on the slopes and all the people, who numbered 5000, sat down upon it. Jesus took the loaves of bread and, after saying grace, passed them out among the people who sat there. Then, he likewise distributed the fish, giving every person as much as he wanted. When everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, "Pick up the leftovers so that nothing will be wasted."
When the leftover pieces of bread were gathered up by the disciples, they filled 12 baskets -- just the scraps left by those who eaten the 5 barley loaves!
When the people realized the miracle that had just been accomplished, they began to talk among themselves, "Surely this the Prophet who was to come into the world." Jesus, though, saw that they were going to mob him and acclaim him their king, so he retreated to the hills to be by himself.
Notes
1. Jesus has gained such a reputation that he has thousands of people following him. They do so not to hear his preaching, his message, but to witness the miracles he is performing. There would also probably be a number of the sick who came to him to be healed. Jesus does not use the opportunity, an audience of 5000 seated on a grassy hillside, to preach. Instead, he decides to feed them and show off with a flashy miracle.
2. Feeding the 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fishes is one of several Gospel miracles that cannot be explained or explained away. If it did indeed occur, some supernatural agency must have been involved. Jesus did not likely have a cache of bread and fish hidden in the hills so that, with sleight of hand, he could refill the baskets as he distributed provisions to the masses.
3. The crowd recognizes Jesus as a prophet or, perhaps, the Prophet, but they want to make him their king. Jesus takes off to the hills to get away from them. It is strange the people do not wish to hear what Jesus has to say. Nor do they treat him with what one would expect to be the obligatory reverence due a prophet.
Afterwards, Jesus crossed to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd continued to follow him because they had witnessed the miracles he had performed in healing the sick. Jesus climbed a hill and sat there with his disciples about him. (It was nearly time for the observance of the Jewish Passover.) When he noticed a huge crowd of people coming up the hill, he turned to Philip and asked him, "Where can we buy food for all these people?" He asked this of Philip only to see how he would respond, for Jesus had already decided what he was going to do.
Philip answered, "Why 200 denarii, 6 month's wages, wouldn't be enough to give all these people any more than a bite!"
Another disciple, Andrew, the brother of Simon-Peter, spoke up, "There's a boy here who has 5 small loaves of barley bread and 2 small fish -- but how far will they go to feed so many?"
Jesus announced, "Tell everyone to sit down." There was plenty of grass on the slopes and all the people, who numbered 5000, sat down upon it. Jesus took the loaves of bread and, after saying grace, passed them out among the people who sat there. Then, he likewise distributed the fish, giving every person as much as he wanted. When everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, "Pick up the leftovers so that nothing will be wasted."
When the leftover pieces of bread were gathered up by the disciples, they filled 12 baskets -- just the scraps left by those who eaten the 5 barley loaves!
When the people realized the miracle that had just been accomplished, they began to talk among themselves, "Surely this the Prophet who was to come into the world." Jesus, though, saw that they were going to mob him and acclaim him their king, so he retreated to the hills to be by himself.
Notes
1. Jesus has gained such a reputation that he has thousands of people following him. They do so not to hear his preaching, his message, but to witness the miracles he is performing. There would also probably be a number of the sick who came to him to be healed. Jesus does not use the opportunity, an audience of 5000 seated on a grassy hillside, to preach. Instead, he decides to feed them and show off with a flashy miracle.
2. Feeding the 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fishes is one of several Gospel miracles that cannot be explained or explained away. If it did indeed occur, some supernatural agency must have been involved. Jesus did not likely have a cache of bread and fish hidden in the hills so that, with sleight of hand, he could refill the baskets as he distributed provisions to the masses.
3. The crowd recognizes Jesus as a prophet or, perhaps, the Prophet, but they want to make him their king. Jesus takes off to the hills to get away from them. It is strange the people do not wish to hear what Jesus has to say. Nor do they treat him with what one would expect to be the obligatory reverence due a prophet.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Son of God
(Gospel of John 5:16 - 5:47)
Because Jesus was accomplishing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish religious authorities began to harass and persecute him. Jesus gave them his answer, "My Father ceases not in his labor, nor do I." But the authorities were all the more resolved to destroy him: he was not only guilty of violating the Sabbath, but of claiming that God was his own Father -- exalting himself to be an equal of God!
Jesus explained to them, "Truly I tell you, the Son may do nothing on his own, but only what he has seen his Father do, for whatever the Father does, the son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and teaches him all that he does. Indeed, he will teach him to perform greater wonders than this, such as will astonish you. As the Father raises the dead and restores them to life, so the Son may bring to life whomever he wishes. The Father passes judgment on no one, but has given the right to judge to his Son so all will honor the Son as they do the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son, is not honoring the Father who has sent him.
"Truly I say, those who believe in my message and in the God who sent me will achieve life everlasting. They will never be condemned for their sins, and they have already crossed over from death to life. And I can assure you that the time will come -- has, in fact, now come -- when the dead will be summoned by the voice of God, and, hearing it, will be restored to life. For the Father is the creator of life and has granted to his Son the power to instill life.
“Moreover, the Son has been granted the power to pass judgment, for he is the Son of Man. Do not be surprised at this, for the time is coming that all who are now in their graves will, when they hear his voice, rise out of them. Those who have done good will be resurrected to life, while those who have done evil will be resurrected to damnation.
"As for myself, I can do nothing on my own. I can only judge according to God's instructions. Therefore, my judgments will be fair and impartial, because I execute the will of him who sent me and not my own.
"If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony will be seen as biased. But there is another who testifies in my favor, and I assure you what he says of me is true. You have, in fact, sent men to interrogate John, and he has told them the truth. I, of course, do not require human testimony, but I mention it for the sake of your salvation. John was a burning, shining lamp, and, for a time, you were content to bask in his light. But I present testimony more powerful than John's. The works that the Father has tasked me to accomplish, those that I labor on now, provide the proof that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has also testified on my behalf. You have not heard his voice or seen his face, and his message cannot be within you, for you do not believe in the one he has sent. You study the Scriptures meticulously in the conviction that you will find therein life everlasting. Those very Scriptures speak of me. Yet, you refuse to come to me to be granted that life.
“I crave not the approbation of men. I know you and I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father's name, but you reject me. Others come in their own name, and you readily accept them. You lend credence to one another, but not to the one who alone comes from God. But it will not be I who will accuse you before Father; your accuser will be Moses, upon whom all your hopes are set. If you really believe in Moses, you will believe in me, for he wrote of me. But since you will not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?"
Notes
1. The author of John has Jesus clearly state his mission. Among the points made are these: 1. Jesus is the son of God. 2. He has been tutored by his Father, whom he emulates. 3. Everything he does is authorized by God. 4. God teaches his Son to perform miracles, including raising the dead 5. God the Father has delegated to him the authority to judge man. 6. Jesus, having no self interest, will be an impartial judge. 7. The dead will be resurrected and judged. 8. The evil will be damned, the good and those who believe in Jesus will be granted life everlasting. 9. Those who do not accept Jesus as the Son of God and believe in his message are not true followers of God. 10. Believers will be forgiven their sins and escape punishment for them. 11. The message of Jesus and the miracles he performs are the proofs that he is the Son of God. 12. The scriptures prophecy his coming.
2. Rather shockingly, Jesus more or less does away with the commandment to observe the Sabbath, at least strictly, as is demanded by Moses. He pooh-poohs the idea that God rests on the seventh day, but asserts that he works continuously without taking any sort of regular holiday. He, therefore, is free to follow his example.
3. Jesus here is presumably addressing the Pharisees who dominate the religious establishment. He rips and rebukes them on several grounds, primarily for not believing him to be the Son of God, but also for accepting other evangelical figures (including, for a time, John the Baptist), for not recognizing that their beloved Moses wrote of him, and for not being sincere in their faith.
4. Jesus insists that he is referred to by Moses, but does not specify where in the Torah he is mentioned and in what context. Prophecies that arguably refer to a Messiah come from Isaiah and other later Old Testament books. In Genesis only a vague blessing by a dying Jacob to his son Judah could be so interpreted.
5. Jesus' attitude would surely have been interpreted by those he addressed as insufferable and arrogant to the nth degree. (The term "chutzpah" would surely not be out of place.) Humility, tolerance, forgiveness are nowhere evident here. Jesus, whose feelings are obviously hurt by rejection, is angry and defensive and not very concerned about antagonizing his critics. He is dismissive, even belittling of the Pharisee's religious views, but expects and demands acceptance of his. They must all receive him as the Son of God, which means they must renounce any authority they might have assumed to interpret religious law. It's Jesus’ way or the highway -- Heaven or Hell. They must bow to Jesus not only as their master, but as their God. In spite of any miracles he might have performed, is it really surprising that they would not do so? From their standpoint, Jesus could only be a heretic, even a crazed fanatic, but at any rate, a challenge to their authority, a dangerous man who would have to be discredited or destroyed. One would think claiming to be the Son of God would, if untrue, be the ultimate blasphemy, and one so claiming could only be evil or insane.
6. Jesus tries to turn their own beliefs against the Pharisees by telling them that it will be Moses who will condemn them for not believing in him. He equates believing in him with believing in Moses, whom they regard as an absolute authority. (One feels that Jesus' attitude toward Moses is rather like a 21st Century politician's attitude toward Thomas Jefferson -- yes, a founding father, great man to be revered, but not an unimpeachable authority on contemporary politics and policy.)
7. Jesus makes a very attractive offer to his followers. You may live forever and never be punished for your sins. All you have to do is believe in Jesus and accept him as the Son of God. Nothing else seemed to be demanded. Of course, if you don't believe, you're going to be damned and won’t get in on that life everlasting, whatever it is to be.
Because Jesus was accomplishing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish religious authorities began to harass and persecute him. Jesus gave them his answer, "My Father ceases not in his labor, nor do I." But the authorities were all the more resolved to destroy him: he was not only guilty of violating the Sabbath, but of claiming that God was his own Father -- exalting himself to be an equal of God!
Jesus explained to them, "Truly I tell you, the Son may do nothing on his own, but only what he has seen his Father do, for whatever the Father does, the son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and teaches him all that he does. Indeed, he will teach him to perform greater wonders than this, such as will astonish you. As the Father raises the dead and restores them to life, so the Son may bring to life whomever he wishes. The Father passes judgment on no one, but has given the right to judge to his Son so all will honor the Son as they do the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son, is not honoring the Father who has sent him.
"Truly I say, those who believe in my message and in the God who sent me will achieve life everlasting. They will never be condemned for their sins, and they have already crossed over from death to life. And I can assure you that the time will come -- has, in fact, now come -- when the dead will be summoned by the voice of God, and, hearing it, will be restored to life. For the Father is the creator of life and has granted to his Son the power to instill life.
“Moreover, the Son has been granted the power to pass judgment, for he is the Son of Man. Do not be surprised at this, for the time is coming that all who are now in their graves will, when they hear his voice, rise out of them. Those who have done good will be resurrected to life, while those who have done evil will be resurrected to damnation.
"As for myself, I can do nothing on my own. I can only judge according to God's instructions. Therefore, my judgments will be fair and impartial, because I execute the will of him who sent me and not my own.
"If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony will be seen as biased. But there is another who testifies in my favor, and I assure you what he says of me is true. You have, in fact, sent men to interrogate John, and he has told them the truth. I, of course, do not require human testimony, but I mention it for the sake of your salvation. John was a burning, shining lamp, and, for a time, you were content to bask in his light. But I present testimony more powerful than John's. The works that the Father has tasked me to accomplish, those that I labor on now, provide the proof that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has also testified on my behalf. You have not heard his voice or seen his face, and his message cannot be within you, for you do not believe in the one he has sent. You study the Scriptures meticulously in the conviction that you will find therein life everlasting. Those very Scriptures speak of me. Yet, you refuse to come to me to be granted that life.
“I crave not the approbation of men. I know you and I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father's name, but you reject me. Others come in their own name, and you readily accept them. You lend credence to one another, but not to the one who alone comes from God. But it will not be I who will accuse you before Father; your accuser will be Moses, upon whom all your hopes are set. If you really believe in Moses, you will believe in me, for he wrote of me. But since you will not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?"
Notes
1. The author of John has Jesus clearly state his mission. Among the points made are these: 1. Jesus is the son of God. 2. He has been tutored by his Father, whom he emulates. 3. Everything he does is authorized by God. 4. God teaches his Son to perform miracles, including raising the dead 5. God the Father has delegated to him the authority to judge man. 6. Jesus, having no self interest, will be an impartial judge. 7. The dead will be resurrected and judged. 8. The evil will be damned, the good and those who believe in Jesus will be granted life everlasting. 9. Those who do not accept Jesus as the Son of God and believe in his message are not true followers of God. 10. Believers will be forgiven their sins and escape punishment for them. 11. The message of Jesus and the miracles he performs are the proofs that he is the Son of God. 12. The scriptures prophecy his coming.
2. Rather shockingly, Jesus more or less does away with the commandment to observe the Sabbath, at least strictly, as is demanded by Moses. He pooh-poohs the idea that God rests on the seventh day, but asserts that he works continuously without taking any sort of regular holiday. He, therefore, is free to follow his example.
3. Jesus here is presumably addressing the Pharisees who dominate the religious establishment. He rips and rebukes them on several grounds, primarily for not believing him to be the Son of God, but also for accepting other evangelical figures (including, for a time, John the Baptist), for not recognizing that their beloved Moses wrote of him, and for not being sincere in their faith.
4. Jesus insists that he is referred to by Moses, but does not specify where in the Torah he is mentioned and in what context. Prophecies that arguably refer to a Messiah come from Isaiah and other later Old Testament books. In Genesis only a vague blessing by a dying Jacob to his son Judah could be so interpreted.
5. Jesus' attitude would surely have been interpreted by those he addressed as insufferable and arrogant to the nth degree. (The term "chutzpah" would surely not be out of place.) Humility, tolerance, forgiveness are nowhere evident here. Jesus, whose feelings are obviously hurt by rejection, is angry and defensive and not very concerned about antagonizing his critics. He is dismissive, even belittling of the Pharisee's religious views, but expects and demands acceptance of his. They must all receive him as the Son of God, which means they must renounce any authority they might have assumed to interpret religious law. It's Jesus’ way or the highway -- Heaven or Hell. They must bow to Jesus not only as their master, but as their God. In spite of any miracles he might have performed, is it really surprising that they would not do so? From their standpoint, Jesus could only be a heretic, even a crazed fanatic, but at any rate, a challenge to their authority, a dangerous man who would have to be discredited or destroyed. One would think claiming to be the Son of God would, if untrue, be the ultimate blasphemy, and one so claiming could only be evil or insane.
6. Jesus tries to turn their own beliefs against the Pharisees by telling them that it will be Moses who will condemn them for not believing in him. He equates believing in him with believing in Moses, whom they regard as an absolute authority. (One feels that Jesus' attitude toward Moses is rather like a 21st Century politician's attitude toward Thomas Jefferson -- yes, a founding father, great man to be revered, but not an unimpeachable authority on contemporary politics and policy.)
7. Jesus makes a very attractive offer to his followers. You may live forever and never be punished for your sins. All you have to do is believe in Jesus and accept him as the Son of God. Nothing else seemed to be demanded. Of course, if you don't believe, you're going to be damned and won’t get in on that life everlasting, whatever it is to be.
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