The Gospel of John is a unique gospel.  The other three, Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the Synoptic Gospels.  John is often referred to as, “The Fourth Gospel.” The Synoptic Gospels have a lot in common with one another.  In fact, Luke and Matthew borrow a lot of their material from Mark. Scholars have also identified another source that Matthew and Luke share, that they call the “Q Source.”  This is the material that Matthew and Luke share that is not found in Mark.  The Synoptic Gospels share many things in common.  John differs in many ways.

The Synoptic Gospels have Jesus’ ministry lasting one year, whereas in John it lasts three. The order of things is different in John, like the turning over the tables at the Temple, that comes at the end of the Synoptic Gospels, right before Jesus is crucified.  In John, Jesus turns over the tables at the beginning of his ministry. The Synoptic Gospels have a lot of Jesus’ ministry spent in Galilee whereas in John, Jesus is mostly in Judea and Jerusalem. All four gospels agree that Jesus was crucified on a Friday, but the Synoptic Gospels have him crucified on the first day of Passover and in John it’s the Day of Preparation for the Passover.

Gail O’Day writes, “The Gospel of John is characterized by a literary style that interweaves narrative, dialogue, and discourse to create lengthy drama-like scenes.”  The Gospel of John is the gospel with Jesus “I am” sayings. O’Day writes, “The Gospel’s various literary techniques have a common theological goal: to open up the world of the Gospel story to the world of the reader’s own experiences. Because the questions Jesus asks his conversation partners become questions for the reader, the Gospel’s dialogues and conversations seem to draw the reader into the stories as a participant.”

The Synoptic Gospels are known for their focus on the Kingdom of God. The Fourth Gospel is all about GOD.  O’Day writes, “The ultimate concern of this gospel is with God. The good news is the revelation of God in Jesus. To focus exclusively on Jesus, as is often the case when verses from John are taken out of context in the contemporary church, is to miss the Gospel’s central claim. What Jesus reveals about God comes through what Jesus reveals about himself…Jesus decisively changes how one talks about and knows God.” But it’s ultimately all about God.

John was written anonymously. The traditional title, “The Gospel According to John” first appears in second-century CE manuscripts.  We’ll refer to the author as John in these notes. John sometimes refers to “the disciple Jesus loved.” Some scholars believe this was John himself.  Others, like Gail O’Day, see this as a second person.  Two verses explicitly distinguish between the witness of the beloved disciple and the work of the author of the gospel (19:35 and 21:24). O’Day writes, “Because he [the beloved disciple] is never named and is instead always portrayed as the recipient of Jesus’ love, this disciple also emerges as a symbolic figure who embodies the ideal relationship with Jesus that the Gospel hopes to make available to all its readers.”

John 13 marks a major turning point in the Gospel’s narrative. Before this, the focus is on Jesus’ signs and the discourses he has with various people.  After Chapter 13 we have the Farewell Discourse, Jesus’s Arrest, Trial, and Death, and then his resurrection appearances.

Verses 1-18 are traditionally known as the Prologue.  It’s a “hymnic celebration of Jesus’ origin and his coming into the world.”
John begins his gospel with a clear theological statement: Jesus is the incarnate Word of God. The incarnation is central to the gospel.  O’Day writes, “Jesus’ words and works, his life and death, form an indissoluble whole that provides full and fresh access to God.”

The incarnation is a term that describes God taking on human flesh, becoming a person, in Jesus.

Instead of beginning his gospel with Jesus’ birth narrative or his baptism John begins at the foundations of the world. O’Day writes, “the Fourth Evangelist begins the Gospel with the cosmic pre-existence of the Word and the Word’s relationship to the world.” It feels like a psalm or a hymn. It is highly likely that John took existing phrases from a hymn about Jesus and put them together with traditions about John the Baptist to create the Prologue.

The third part of verse 1, “The Word was God,” is the incarnation.  Jesus is God.  O’Day writes, “this provides the ontological underpinnings of the Fourth Gospel’s central claim that when one sees Jesus, one sees God; when one hears Jesus, one hears God. The oneness of the Word and God means that the revelation spoken and enacted by the Word is indeed the revelation of God.”

The Word was there at creation, creating all things AND is here with us now, in the ongoing unfolding of life, giving us life. The Word is described as life and light in the Prologue.  Light sustains life.

What is your favorite part of the Prologue? Why?  Which part is difficult to understand?

Verses 19-34 are a narrative about the initial witness of John the Baptist to Jesus.  
Our focus now shifts from big ideas about Jesus, the incarnation, life and light to John the Baptist. Pharisees send messengers to John the Baptist asking who he is. Elijah? No. A prophet? No. Then who are you?  John quotes Isaiah and says about himself, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘prepare the way of the Lord!’”

What is the Lamb of God?
John the Baptist calls Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” O’Day writes, “The singular of ‘sin’ in v. 29 emphasizes the world’s collective brokenness, not individual human sins. ‘Lamb of God’ is rooted in Old Testament imagery, but scholars are divided about its precise referents. In the mouth of John the Baptist, ‘lamb of God’ might recall the servant songs of Second Isaiah (particularly Isaiah 53:7) or the Passover lamb, the cultic and liturgical symbol of Israel’s deliverance.  In Judaism, the Passover lamb was not viewed as a sacrifice for sin, but the early church quickly reinterpreted Passover symbolism in the light of the Eucharist (e.g. 1 Corinthians 5:7-8). Indeed, in the Fourth Gospel Jesus’ crucifixion is linked to the slaughter of the pascal lamb.” For more on the Passover, see Exodus 11-13.  We read Exodus together in February.

In this gospel Jesus’ baptism is vaguely referred to.  Unlike the Synoptic Gospels where John is the one baptizing Jesus, in this gospel we only get John the Baptist’s account of Jesus’ baptism where the only actor is the Holy Spirit.

John the Baptist calls Jesus the “son of God.” O’Day writes, “to do so is to acknowledge Jesus’ unique relationship with God and hence his ability to reveal God in ways never before available.” John the Baptist paints us a rich picture of who Jesus is: the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the pre-existent one, the bearer of the Holy Spirit, and the Son of God.

Verses 35-51 are the gathering of Jesus first disciples.
Two of John’s disciples give up any previous religious commitments as disciples of John the Baptist.  The pair follow Jesus because of John the Baptist’s witness to/of Jesus. They follow Jesus and he tells them to “come and see.”  One of them, Andrew, tells his brother, Simon Peter, about Jesus. They follow him together. Jesus finds Philip and invites him to follow.  Philip goes and then finds Nathanael and tells him about Jesus.  After Nathanael’s sneer about Jesus’ hometown Philp tells him to “come and see.” The questions of the two disciples of John and of Nathanael are not answered directly, but with an invitation to come and find the answer for themselves.

How do you invite others to come and see about Jesus? Our church community? “Invite” is one of our six core practices. Do you make it a priority in your interactions with others?  Does it seem difficult or complicated? Maybe simply say, “come and see” and then watch what happens.

Chapters 2-5 form a unit all about the “Greater Things” Jesus does. They demonstrate the authority of Jesus’ words and works. O’Day writes, “These chapters establish the central themes and tensions of the entire Gospel: the possibilities of new life and faith made available through the words and works of Jesus, and the decisions individuals are called to in the face of those possibilities.”

First we have the Wedding at Cana – Jesus’ first miracle or ‘sign’ as John likes to call them.  This shows us the abundance of the kingdom of God.  Each of those water jugs could hold around 20 gallons of water. O’Day writes, “extravagance is at the heart of the miracle. The extravagant proportions here anticipate the extravagant proportions of the feeding of the five thousand. In both instances, the reader is shown the superabundance of gifts available through Jesus…In the Old Testament, an abundance of good wine is an eschatological symbol [or symbol of the end times], a sign of the joyous arrival of God’s new age (Amos 9:13; Joel 3:18). This suggests that John 2:1-11 can be read as more than the first act in Jesus’ ministry. It also stands as the fulfillment of Old Testament eschatological hopes, as the inaugural act of God’s promised salvation.”

The transformation of water into wine is a symbol of Jesus’ glory.

We move from an intimate party to the very public setting of the Temple at Passover time. The Synoptic Gospels have this scene toward the end of their gospels, near Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.  It probably only happened once, and John moved it to suit his narrative. O’Day writes, “The temple cleansing in John completes the inaugural event begun with the Cana miracle. John 2:1-11 revealed the grace and glory of Jesus and the abundant new life Jesus offers. John 2:13-22 highlights the challenge and threat that new life poses to the existing order.”

Does your life have a clear Before Jesus and After Jesus demarcation? If so, what challenge and threat did following the way of Jesus have on your established way of life? If not, what difference does following Jesus make for you? What would your life be like without faith or trust in Jesus?

Passover is a pilgrimage festival, meaning it had to be celebrated in Jerusalem. People who lived far away would sell their animals at home, bring the money to Jerusalem, and buy animals for sacrifice there.  That way they didn’t have to travel with sheep and doves. Temple tax could not be paid with Greek or Roman coins because they had the image of a human on them.  You’d change your coins for the currency used in Jerusalem to pay your Temple tax. Everything the money changers and animal sellers are doing was essential for temple worship. So when Jesus says, “Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” he, “issues a powerful challenge to the very authority of the Temple and its worship.”

O’Day writes, “Jesus throws the mechanics of temple worship into chaos, disrupting the temple system during one of the most significant feasts of the year so that neither sacrifices nor tithes could be offered that day. It is no wonder that the Jews who were gathered at the Temple asked for a sign to warrant his actions. Jesus was a human being just as they were; who was he to derail their worship? Jesus explains his actions in the Temple by pointing to his death and resurrection. He has the authority to challenge the authority of the Temple because his whole life bears testimony to the power of God in the world…Jesus is the locus of God’s presence on earth, and God as known in Jesus, not the Temple, should be the focal point of cultic activity.”

Nicodemus, a Pharisee, comes to Jesus at night.  While you’re reading or listening imagine it’s the middle of the night in the ancient world. I can see Jesus and Nicodemus huddled around one little lamp between them on a table, the rest of the scene shrouded in shadow. O’Day writes that John uses night as a literary device- “Night is used metaphorically in the Fourth Gospel to represent separation from the presence of God.”

As a Pharisee, Nicodemus was concerned with following the Mosaic Law to the letter, wanting to be found faithful. At the same time Nicodemus knows Jesus is a teacher who has come from God because of the signs that he’s doing.  “No one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.”  Nicodemus has come to talk with Jesus to figure out how to be a Pharisee and how that figures into this new thing God is doing through Jesus.

Jesus talks about being born again.  Nicodemus takes that literally, but Jesus is speaking spiritually.

In verse 11 the story shifts from dialogue to monologue.

Verse 16 is a very famous Bible verse. Jesus talks about how God loves the world.  O’Day writes, “‘World’ [kosmos in Greek] refers most often to those human beings who are at odds with Jesus and God. The use of the term here suggests that God gives Jesus in love to all people, but only believers accept the gift. Verse 16 also reiterates the theme of eternal life from v. 15, but advances the argument by naming the alternative to eternal life: to perish. This verse makes clear that there is no middle ground in the Johannine vision. God’s gift of Jesus, which culminates in Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, decisively alters the options available to the world. If one believes, one’s present is altered by the gift of eternal life; if one does not believe, one perishes. God’s gift of Jesus to the world begins the judgment of the world. Verses 17-21 exemplify what is known as John’s ‘realized eschatology.’ This means that God’s judgement of the world is not a cosmic future event but is underway in the present, initiated by Jesus’ coming into the world. God sends the Son into the world in love in order to save the world, not condemn it. Yet the very presence of Jesus as incarnate Word in the world confronts the world with a decision, to believe or not to believe, and making that decision is the moment of judgement.”  

So judgment is a present reality, not something we wait for. Decision and self-judgment are themes throughout John.  God sends Jesus, turns a new page in history, and we are given a choice. Trust/believe or not.

How does this play out in your everyday life? When do you choose to believe/trust and when do you not? Is this a once-for-all choice or something we do every day, every minute?

Do Jesus’ words take on a richer meaning, knowing that for John night represents separation from God, and knowing that Jesus says all of this to Nicodemus in the middle of the night: “And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light.”

The second part of John 3, is the last time we’ll see John the Baptist in this gospel. We get his final testimony about Jesus.

John the Baptist’s disciples point out that many people are going to Jesus for baptism. They almost frame it as a rivalry between Jesus and John. In response John uses a well-known saying to communicate general truth, but not answer his disciples’ complaints specifically. He says that a person can receive only what God gives them.  O’Day writes, “a central theme throughout the Fourth Gospel is that those who come to Jesus are given him by God, that what Jesus has is a gift from God.”

John the Baptist reminds his disciples of his own testimony that he is secondary to the Messiah.  He tells a parable about a groom’s friend, who rejoices simply because his friend experiences joy. O’Day writes, “like the friend [John the Baptist] is delighted with the greater response to Jesus.” The meaning of the parable is layered, because often in the Old Testament bridal imagery is used with God as bridegroom and Israel as bride. So, John is placing Jesus in the role of God. John the Baptist tells his followers, this has always been part of the plan when he says, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

It is unclear who is speaking in verses 31-36.  Some versions put these words in John the Baptist’s mouth, like the New International Version.  Other versions, like the New Revised Standard Version, make these words the commentary of the gospel writer. It makes sense that the gospel writer would have these words be John the Baptist’s words, as his last testimony of Jesus.
 
In this last testimony John talks about the acceptance or rejection of Jesus’ testimony. This continues themes from earlier in the chapter, from Jesus’ monologue. Verses 32 and 33 seem to contradict themselves.  No one accepts Jesus’ testimony?  This is hyperbole, an exaggeration to prove a point.

John the Baptist finishes his testimony with a statement about the consequences of believing or not. O’Day writes, “The polarity of ‘believe’/‘disobey’ is unusual. This is the only occurrence of ‘disobey’ in John, the Synoptics, or the Johannine epistles. Its usage here suggests that unbelief is an act of will, of refusing Jesus’ claims, a concept in keeping with the language of acceptance of vv. 32-33. The NIV translates apeitheo as ‘reject,’ and while that rendering may accurately capture the sense of the word here, it strains the Greek. The alternative to ‘eternal life’ in v. 36 is also unusual: ‘God’s wrath.’ This expression, like ‘disobey,’ occurs only here in John and is rare in the Synoptics. It serves as an analogue to the language of ‘perish’ and ‘condemnation’ in John 3:16-18. Interestingly, in three out of its five Gospel occurrences, ‘God’s wrath’ is found in the mouth of John the Baptist. His final words in the Fourth Gospel reflect distinctive Johannine theological concerns, but they also convey a note of judgment that is consistent with the portrait of John the Baptist found elsewhere in the New Testament.”

We were just in the dark, in the dead of night with Nicodemus and Jesus in Chapter 3.  Now we’re in the noonday sun with Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well.  Are you squinting from the sudden change?

This is the first time in this gospel that Jesus speaks with anyone who is not Jewish. He’s broadening his horizons as he travels from Judea in the south to Galilee in the north. He goes through Samaria which is in the middle.

Samaritans and Jews disagree on where to worship God.  The dispute started when the Assyrians occupied Israel, the northern kingdom.  It really heated up around 200 BCE when the Samaritans built a shrine on Mt. Gerizim and claimed that was the proper place of worship.  Whereas the Jews held the proper place of worship was the Temple in Jerusalem. Jewish troops destroyed the shrine on Mt. Gerizim in 128 BCE.

In John 3 John the Baptist introduces wedding imagery, recalling the metaphor of God as groom and Israel as bride.  Here we see Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well.  A well was where many of the patriarchs met their wives – Isaac and Rebekah in Genesis 24, Jacob and Rachel in Genesis 29, Moses and Zipporah in Exodus 2.  In John 3 John the Baptist cast Jesus as bridegroom and Israel as bride.  Here the bride is not Israel, but Samaria. So Jesus has come for more than just Israel. Jesus has come for the whole world!

Just like Nicodemus is stuck on the physical logistics of being born again, the Samaritan woman is thinking literally about this living water Jesus offers.  She wants it so she doesn’t have to make the trip to the well every day.  

The gospel of John contains the “I am” sayings of Jesus.  We have one here in verse 26. The “I am” sayings remind us of Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3.  When Moses asks the name of God, God says, “I am who I am.” So “I am” became a stand in for the name of God.  Jesus’ “I am” sayings layer on the meaning.  He is what he says he is, but he is also saying that he is God. O’Day writes, “The ‘I am’ of verse 26, is not simply Jesus’ messianic self-identification. When Jesus speaks the ‘I am’ in verse 26, these words make explicit connections with the divine name in Exodus 3:4. Jesus speaks an absolute ‘I am’ here, in order to identify himself as the one in whom God is known.”

The woman invites the people from her town to “come and see” just like Philip invited Nathanael and Jesus invited Andrew in Chapter 1.

The disciples show up and want him to eat the food they bring.  This is another instance of people reacting literally to Jesus when he speaks metaphorically or spiritually. Jesus is saying the “food” that sustains him is his vocation, that which he is called to do gives him life and energy.

Chapter 4 ends with Jesus’ second sign in this gospel.  The first was turning the water to wine at the wedding in Cana.  Now Jesus heals a child from a distance. In verse 48 we have a sentence that makes more sense in Southern English (as most sentences do). When talking to the Royal Official Jesus says, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”  Really it’s “unless y’all see signs and wonders you will not believe.”  This is second person plural. O’Day writes, “Jesus will act, but his actions will not meet the expectations of ‘signs and wonders.’ His actions will be governed by his will, not by human expectations and demand.”

The Royal Official only wanted one thing, for his son to live.  He leaves the encounter with two things – his son, alive and well, and faith in Jesus. O’Day writes, “The person who interprets a miracle solely as a miraculous act will remain transfixed by and limited to the act itself…Jesus could be revered, perhaps even believed in on account of that act, but only as a miracle worker. What one would proclaim about Jesus from that perspective is, ‘look what Jesus can do.’ When a miraculous act is fully understood as a sign, however, what one would proclaim about Jesus is, ‘look at who Jesus is.’ He is the giver of abundant gifts, the giver of life. as the giver of abundance and life Jesus points to who God is and this is the ground for faith.”

We begin the 5th chapter with a healing. It’s initiated by Jesus on the Sabbath. Jesus asks the man who has been ill for thirty-eight years if he wants to be “made well.”  This phrase is repeated throughout the story. The man’s response reminds us of Nicodemus’ response to being born again – he protests that it is impossible. O’Day writes, “the man interprets Jesus’ questions through his own presuppositions about how healing can be accomplished and, therefore, can only bemoan his predicament.”

This seems to be a common human trait. We know how things usually go, how things should go.  When they don’t, we cannot see another way forward. What is an example of this from your own life?  You thought something should end up one way, but it happened in a way you’d never imagined. Looking back, where do you see God working?

Jesus heals on the sabbath. The sabbath is sanctified by God, in the Ten Commandments.  The people are given the sabbath as a gift- they get to rest every seventh day. Throughout all four gospels Jesus heals on the Sabbath and is rebuked by Pharisees and other Jewish leaders.
 
This is the first time in the Gospel we see anyone wanting to kill Jesus and it’s because he calls himself God’s son, making him equal with God. O’Day writes, “to Jesus’ sabbath violation has been added the ultimate blasphemy: Jesus has made himself equal to God. The Jews have heard rightly the content of Jesus’ words; he does speak of his unique relationship to God and does equate his work with God’s work. They wrongly interpret those words, however, to be Jesus’ assertion of his independence from God, of himself as another God, when Jesus means the exact opposite. His words in verse 17 stress his dependence on God.”

We end chapter 5 with the first full discourse in John’s Gospel. Verses 19-30 are more about the Father/Son relationship and verses 31-47 focus on witnesses to Jesus.

Discourses in John are one voice, not a dialogue between characters.  Here Jesus talks for a while. O’Day writes, “the Johannine Jesus is cast as the interpreter of his own life and ministry.” This discourse makes us ask two questions, ‘who is Jesus’ and ‘who are human beings in the light of Jesus?’

To answer the first question, who is Jesus? we need to have a clear understanding of the relationship between Jesus and God. O’Day writes, “Jesus has received the gifts of life and judgment from God; Jesus seeks to do the will of God.”

Who are human beings in light of Jesus? O’Day writes, “a person passes from spiritual death to life because of their response to Jesus. Those who hear Jesus receive new life; those who deny Jesus, who do ‘evil’ are denied that life. if a person knows who Jesus is—recognizes him as sent by God—that person receives a new identity. Jesus’ identity and human identity are thus tightly intertwined but the beginning point for the Fourth Gospel is always Jesus’ identity.”’

This discourse reads as a courtroom scene.  Jesus brings up Moses.  He is the figure in Judaism who wrote all the laws down. He is the one to whom they appeal when they say Jesus shouldn’t heal on the Sabbath.  But Jesus uses Moses against them.  O’Day writes, “Moses has the role of the advocate for the people in the Jewish tradition; he is the one who stands in the breach between the people and God. According to the Johannine Jesus, however, the people’s advocate, their hope, will be their accuser instead, because although they claim to defend Moses’ words, they actually reject them because they do not see that Scripture testifies to Jesus.” Jesus is saying, “if you’re a disciple of Moses, you’re a disciple of me!”

The chapters for this week, John 6-10 make up their own cycle in the Gospel of John. Gail O’Day writes, “in many ways, no new theological themes are introduced in chapters 6-10; instead, the theological themes from chapters 2-5 are replayed in a new context: Jesus’ authority and relationship to God, Jesus’ ability to give life and judge, the consequences of faith or unbelief. The hostility and opposition to Jesus in response to these themes intensifies in chapters 6-10, however, as the stakes climb.”

We begin this cycle, like the first cycle (in chapter 2), with a miracle in Galilee. Chapter 2 was the water into wine at the wedding in Cana.  Chapter 6 is two miracles- the feeding of the five thousand and Jesus walking on water. These miracles incite the second cycle, just as the water into wine incited the first.

Chapter 6 follows the same pattern as chapter 5—miracle/dialogue/discourse. Here is an outline of this chapter:
Verses 1-15 Miracle (with crowd)
Verses 16-21 Miracle (with the disciples alone)
Verses 22-24 Transition
Verses 26-34 Dialogue (crowd)
Verses 35-59 Dialogue (crowd and disciples)
Verses 60-71 Conclusion (disciples alone)
 
Verses 1-15 Miracle (with crowd)
This is the only miracle that happens in all four gospels. Matthew and Mark tell the story twice. This was a popular story to tell in the early church because it reminds us of Communion, also called the Eucharist. O’Day writes, “the eucharistic interpretation receives a distinctive touch in John 6. The traditional eucharistic elements that feature in the synoptic tellings of this story (the traditional liturgical formula, Jesus took the loaves, blessed, broke, gave) are played down or are absent in John. The theological significance of Jesus’ gift of himself in the bread is heightened however.”

Philip and Andrew’s responses to Jesus remind us of Nicodemus, the woman at the well, and the man who was healed in chapter 5.  They focus on the practical and what is humanly possible. O’Day writes, “Conventional expectations offer no solutions to the crowd’s needs; Jesus alone knows how to meet those needs.”

What do you expect from Jesus, from God, from the Holy Spirit?

Verses 16-21 Miracle (with the disciples alone)
Jesus walks on water.  This miracle is also narrated in Matthew and Mark. In all three gospels this miracle follows the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus walking on water was a sign to the ancient people that he was God. O’Day writes, “God’s dominion over the waters of chaos is a symbol in the OT of God’s sovereignty and care, and in John 6 that symbolism is applied to Jesus. This story thus illustrates the truth of John 5:19-20: Jesus shares in God’s work and identity.”

O’Day continues, “On the one hand, this grace and glory are revealed outside conventional human experience and expectations…On the other hand, the occasions where Jesus’ grace is offered and his glory revealed are familiar occasions of human need—the need for food, the need for safety and rescue from danger…The miraculous feeding dramatically demonstrated that Jesus has gifts and resources to meet the full range of human needs. He supplies the daily bread that people need to sustain life. The feeding of the crowd thus confirms that Jesus is the source of life…The crowd’s reaction shows how difficult it is to receive Jesus’ gifts on his terms without translating them immediately into one’s own categories…To make Jesus king is to take his grace and twist it to conform to pre-existent systems of power and authority. To make Jesus king is to judge him according to human glory rather than to see in him God’s glory. When Jesus withdrew from the crowd, he showed that he would offer his gift of grace without claiming worldly power. In that moment his glory was revealed, because true glory has nothing to do with worldly power.”
 
Verses 22-24 Transition
These verses set the stage for the dialogue and discourse that follow.

Verses 26-34 Dialogue (crowd)
This section reminds us of Jesus’ dialogue with the woman at the well. There is a major theme in this gospel of misunderstanding. Jesus and others use the same words, but with vastly different meanings. O’Day writes, “in verse 28, the crowd gives ‘work’ a new meaning. Jesus’ admonition about laboring to receive a gift of imperishable food is transformed by the crowd into a question about their performance of works. The grace in Jesus’ words disappears. In v. 29, Jesus attempts to return to his original use of ‘work’ by defining it as faith in ‘him who God has sent.’”

The crowd says they’ll do God’s work when Jesus gives them a sign. But he just fed them all with a small bit of food! What more can they want? Jesus answers their demand for a sign by explaining they’ve already received one.

We’ve seen the gospel author play with layers of meaning.  We as the readers can see that the description of the bread of God is about Jesus, but the crowd is thinking it’s really about the feeding miracle.

Verses 35-59 Dialogue (crowd and disciples)
Here is another I Am saying.  See notes on chapter 4 for background. Here Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.” Jesus is saying that the crowd’s religious needs and human longings are met in him.

To understand the connections John is making to the Israelites in the wilderness it’s helpful to have read about manna.  Please see the notes on Exodus 15:22-17:7 from February. John is very careful to link this story with the story in Exodus, even choosing similar vocabulary—the verb grumble is used by John to remind us of the Israelites grumbling in the wilderness. Jesus is God’s life-giving gift to the world.  Similar to manna in that it’s a gift from God that sustains life, but dissimilar to manna in that it lasts forever!

We hear about the resurrection in this chapter.  This is not Jesus’ resurrection, but the general resurrection we look forward to—when Jesus will come again and there will be a new heaven and a new earth and we’ll all be resurrected.

There is a lot in this section about the response of faith.  Hearing and learning and seeing and believing are all metaphors used here for human receptivity to what God offers. O’Day writes, “The emphasis on teaching, hearing, and learning in verses 44-45 suggest that the reason for the crowd’s grumbling lies in their perception, not in Jesus’ claims. God has taught them, but they do not hear and learn.”

Where do you see this happening in life today? People’s perception of what Jesus is saying and doing not lining up with Jesus’ claims?

Jesus talks about the gift of his flesh for the life of the world.  This recalls the prologue (the Word became flesh) and famous John 3:16 (God so loved the world that he gave his only Son). Verse 51 recalls the incarnation.  It also zooms us forward in the gospel to when Jesus will give up his life.  The meaning is layered on even more for the early church (and us) because this reminds us of Communion.

The next bit, verse 53-59 are heavy in their allusions to Holy Communion. “Eat this bread” becomes in this section “eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood.” O’Day explains, “In Hebrew, the double formula ‘flesh and blood’ emphasizes the corporeality of human existence. And its use here is thus an affirmation of the incarnation of the Son of Man. For the Christian reader, however, the double formula has unmistakable eucharistic associations.”

She continues, “that Jesus’ words focus on life should not surprise the reader; Jesus as the source of life has been a central theme of the first six chapters of the Gospel. What is new is the explicit linkage of participation in the eucharist to this gift of life. The strong emphasis on the eucharist reflects a shift in the primary audience to whom the Fourth Evangelist understands these words of Jesus to be addressed. The primary audience is no longer the audience in the story (the Jewish crowd), but the readers in John’s own time. Such a shift is a regular part of the literary strategy of the Fourth Evangelist. The narrative frequently plays itself out on a ‘two-level stage,’ so that the events in Jesus’ life and the events in the life of the Evangelist’s community are presented simultaneously.”

Verse 56 and 57, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me” show that participation in Holy Communion draws us into relationship with Jesus.  

Verses 60-71 Conclusion (disciples alone)
Jesus offers himself and life and many decide to no longer follow. They protest about eating Jesus’ flesh.  Once again, we have literal, conventional thinking from others while Jesus is speaking spiritually/metaphorically.

Nothing guarantees a faithful response from the disciples.  Not even being part of ‘the twelve’ will ensure a faithful response.

John 7 and 8 are not cohesive narratives, but collections of Jesus traditions that John has put together to show the increasing conflict between Jesus and opponents. It’s a narrative of misunderstanding, resistance, and conflict. O’Day writes, “the action in these chapters revolves around four central themes: Jesus’ identity as the one sent from God, faithful interpretation of Jewish tradition, the faith decision Jesus’ presence in the world demands and the division it causes, and the increasing threat to Jesus’ life.”

What’s the Festival of Booths?
O’Day explains, “The Feast of Tabernacles/Festival of Booths was originally a fall harvest festival that received theological significance in ancient Israel by its identification with the wilderness journey after the exodus (Lev 23:43). Tabernacles was a joyous festival; the people built booths in which they lived for seven days to celebrate the harvest and God’s graciousness to them…The setting of John 7-8 at Tabernacles continues the exodus backdrop of John 6…the liturgical rites of Tabernacles include water libation and torch-lit procession. The images of water and light will feature in Jesus’ teaching at Tabernacles. Tabernacles was one of three pilgrimage feasts observed during New Testament times (the other two were Passover and Pentecost), which partly explains the demand by Jesus’ brothers that he go to Judea.” Pilgrimage Festivals required Jewish males to travel to Jerusalem.

Jesus’ brothers demand he go to Judea for Tabernacles. This reminds us of the crowd demanding a sign in John 6. Jesus says that it’s not his time, referring to his glorification—his death, resurrection, and ascension. Even though he says he won’t go, he does go, just after his brothers leave. They want him to go publicly, but Jesus goes ‘secretly.’

Verses 14-36 all happen “about the middle of the festival” and verses 37-52 happen “on the last day of the festival.”

We see the different realities play out: the reality is that Jesus is sent from God and the crowd’s perception of that reality—some understand this, some do not. O’Day writes, “Instead of allowing what they see in Jesus to redefine their understanding of God in the world, those who resist Jesus judge him according to their pre-existent systems and structures that both cause and provide justification for their misinterpretation. Jesus is measured against professed knowledge of who the Messiah will be, of what Scripture says; the rigid certitude with which those expectations are held determines the judgment reached about Jesus. [This chapter] is configured to highlight the truth of 7:24, ‘Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.’”

What do you allow to redefine your understanding of God in the world? When was the last time your understanding of God in the world was redefined?

The story that opens chapter 8, verses 1-11, is not found in the earliest Greek manuscripts of this gospel. Gail O’Day writes, “the origins of the Jesus tradition preserved in this passage are unclear, as is how it ended up in the Gospel of John. Given the uncertainty about the history of [this bit of scripture], both the NIV and NRSV print this text in brackets and inform the reader of its complicated textual history. To some extent, these verses disrupt the movement of John 7-8; the pattern of Jesus’ teaching intermingled with the crowd’s response recurs in 8:12 after the interruption of this disputed section. Yet one can also identify a logic to this particular placement of the tradition. John 8:1-11 contains a story that illustrates the confrontation and conflict between Jesus and the Jewish authorities that is at the heart of John 7-8, and this thematic connection may have led a later scribe to add the story after John 7:52.”

In the opening story Jesus writes on the ground. This shows that Jesus is not going to engage in the way the scribes and Pharisees want him to. We don’t get to know what he writes, only that he does. O’Day explains, “In the Mediterranean world of Jesus’ time, such an act of writing would have been recognized as an act of refusal and disengagement.”

Jesus doesn’t answer their question but moves beyond legal argument to a thought experiment about sin. The word choice here is interesting.  The noun translated “one without sin” is anamartetos. This is the only time this word appears in the New Testament.  It’s linked to the type of sin that is a sin of action. This is not the way the rest of this gospel understands sin. O’Day writes, “the more traditional Johannine understanding of sin is to link it with a person’s refusal to recognize Jesus as the Logos (Word of God).”

Next are more short scenes where we see Jesus in conflict with other Jewish folks. We start with another “I am” saying - “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” Jesus says this at Tabernacles, the festival with four large lampstands set up in the Temple Court of the Women.  Festival participants would dance before them holding torches. Jesus says “he is the light of the world” standing in brightest place at night for those ancient people the whole year long.

The “I am” saying is highlighted and expanded in later verses.  In Verse 21 Jesus says, “I am going away, and you will search for me, but you will die in your sin.” O’Day explains, “‘To die in your sin’ is synonymous with the darkness [in the “I am” saying]. The use of ‘sin’ in the singular suggests that sin is not measured by individual actions, but is instead the central and decisive sin of not recognizing God in Jesus.”

Throughout this chapter the misunderstanding continues.  It reminds us of previous times in the gospel when the people hear Jesus’ words and put them in their preconceived categories, while Jesus is trying to open them up to a whole new reality i.e. Nicodemus and being “born again,” the woman at the well and “living water,” the crowds and “bread of God.”

There is a debate further on in the chapter about who the crowd’s father is. Abraham? God? Jesus says in verse 44 that it’s the devil. O’Day writes, “the sharp contrast between children of God and children of the devil in this verse is shocking to the contemporary Gospel reader, but it was not without precedent in intra-Jewish debates at the time of both Jesus and the Fourth Evangelist…[John] understood his community to be engaged in a struggle over the proper interpretation of Jewish tradition. This cultural context does not diminish the harshness of the attack but enables the contemporary reader to hear it in a context closer to that in which the earliest Gospel readers heard it.” This all plays into the contrasting themes of truth and falsehood and belief and unbelief. The evidence of you being on the side of truth and belief is your acceptance of Jesus as the Word of God.  

John 9 is the healing of the man born blind. Chapter 10 is broken into two parts, the first of which, “good shepherd” discourse, goes with Chapter 9.  This discourse is broken off from Chapter 9 with a new chapter, but there is no break in the writing.  Jesus’ words in 10:1-18 are a discourse to the Pharisees in Chapter 9.  This follows the pattern of miracle/dialogue/discourse.

The healing of the man born blind is initiated with a question posed by Jesus’ disciples. O’Day writes, “The disciples’ question in v. 2 reflects traditional Jewish speculation on the relationship of illness and sin. The notion that a parent’s sins are visited on the children was common in Jewish reflections on the causes of suffering.” But remember! for John sin is not a moral category but a theological one, it’s all about whether or not you recognize that Jesus is the Word of God.

Very often in this gospel John refers to “the Jews.”  This can make it seem like John is referring to all Jewish people everywhere, but it’s really the Jewish leaders, the Jewish authorities, who Jesus comes into conflict with.

The drama of what happens in Chapter 9 is a fleshing out of what Jesus says to Nicodemus in John 3:16-21.  O’Day writes, “In John 3, the Fourth Evangelist lays out the heart of his eschatology, describing how the incarnation has decisively altered eschatological expectations. God’s judgment is no longer reserved for a future age, because the presence of Jesus in the world brings the world to the critical moment of decision. The offer of God’s love, available to the world in the presence of Jesus, God’s Son, is the eschatological moment. Good and evil are defined solely by people’s response to Jesus; the good are those who comes to the light, the evil those who scorn the light.”

John is showing what Jesus told in Chapter 3, that we don’t wait for the final judgment to be judged.  Instead, what we choose right here and right now is what puts is “in the light” or “in the darkness,” in relationship with God or not.

We begin this chapter with Jesus’ reflection on what just took place following the miracle of the of healing the man born blind. This is the last public discourse of Jesus’ ministry.  Next week and the next we’ll focus on Jesus’ Farewell Discourse, but that is a private discourse, in the upper room with his disciples.   

Instead of speaking to the Jewish authorities head on, Jesus uses figurative language to communicate. He talks about sheep, gates, and shepherds.  The intimacy between a shepherd and their sheep is highlighted here.  The sheep hear and recognize their shepherd’s voice. The shepherd knows their sheep by name. Because they are called by name, the sheep follow the shepherd. The use of sheep and shepherd once again underscores that in Jesus the people have fresh access to God.  In the Old Testament there are many instances of God as shepherd, Israel as sheep. Here we have two more “I am” statements- “I am the gate for the sheep” and “I am the good shepherd.” Jesus reworks the Old Testament imagery to show how he is the one who meets the needs of the sheep.

In Ezekiel 34 there is a call out of bad shepherds, leaders of the people who are selfish and do not act with the sheep’s best interest at heart. Unlike them, Jesus is the “good shepherd.” As he goes on, Jesus’ intention is to position the Pharisees as the thief, bandit, and stranger. O’Day writes, “Their conduct toward the blind man has demonstrated that they do not have the flock’s best interest at heart, whereas Jesus’ conduct toward the man has shown him to be the shepherd who comes to the sheep and to whom the sheep respond.  It is this use of pastoral imagery that the Pharisees did not understand, because as the teachers and leaders of Israel, they would think of themselves in the role of shepherd, not thief or stranger.”

The Pharisees damage community by driving out the man born blind.  As the gate Jesus moves to restore community. As the good shepherd Jesus positions himself as the fulfilment of God’s promises and as doing God’s work. “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”  This statement shows Jesus’ care and how far he will go to care for the sheep. It also foreshadows Jesus’ glorification—his death, resurrection, and ascension.

O’Day writes, “Jesus lays down his life not simply because of his relationship to the sheep but because of his relationship with God. The reference in v. 16 to other sheep has particular relevance in the setting of Jesus’ conversation with the Pharisees. Jesus is suggesting here that his flock is not limited to the sheep of Israel and that the community created by his death will include people from outside of Israel. The mark of this expanded flock will be that ‘they will listen to my voice,’ a trait that distinguishes the flock from the Jewish leaders who neither listen to nor know Jesus’ voice. To heart Jesus’ voice is the mark of faithfulness to Jesus and his word.”

What do you do that helps you listen to Jesus’ voice? O’Day asks, “What does it mean for the church to live as Jesus’ sheep? What does a church that understands itself as Jesus’ sheep look like? How will its identity be manifested to the world?”

The second half of chapter 10 brings the second cycle of Jesus’ ministry to a close. It is now winter, the Feast of Dedication or Hanukkah. O’Day explains that this festival “celebrates the liberation of Jerusalem from the reign of the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus had defiled the Jerusalem Temple in 167 BCE by building an altar to his own gods within the Temple sanctuary, and in 165 BCE Judas Maccabaeus and his brothers regained control of the Temple and rededicated it to the God of Israel. The eight-day festival takes place in the month of December, as did the original rededication and is marked by the lighting of lamps and rejoicing.”

Jesus’ words are kicked off when the Jewish authorities ask, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”  Fun fact: in modern Greek, the idiom used means, “How long will you continue to annoy us?”

Jesus explains that the purpose of his ministry is to do the works God gave him to do. Jesus and God do the same work. O’Day writes, “It is impossible to distinguish Jesus’ work from God’s work because Jesus shares fully in God’s work…His unity with God thus provides the answer to the Messiah question; Jesus is both more than and other than traditional expectations for the Messiah.”  

The people have been waiting for a Messiah for a looooong time, since the exile.  There were lots of theories and things people were expecting from the Messiah. Jesus says, “I am not what you are expecting. I am more than your expectations, I am different than your expectations.” Jesus attempts to paint them a new picture of what the Messiah does and who the Messiah is.  And once again the people want to put the Messiah, put Jesus, into their preconceived categories.

Jesus gets away, goes over to where John the Baptist was baptizing. O’Day writes, “John is depicted as the model witness to Jesus, whose testimony is true and leads people to Jesus. The public ministry of Jesus ends where it began: with the testimony of John.”

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