Disclaimer: I am talking about some things in here that are hotly debated topics. I am prayerfully talking about them in humility. I don't pretend to know everything that the Bible says. By God's grace (not of my own work) I am starting to understand some things by reading through them. But I am only trying to present to you what God says in His Word. So again, I pray that this can be done in humility.
The most important theme of John is that Jesus is the Son of God and the promised Messiah. John hits this point over and over and over again to the extent that he is hammering it into our heads. He uses Jesus's own claims (1:51; 3:31; 4:25-26; 5:18,27; 6:27,35,41,48,51; 8:12,18,28,58; 9:35-37; 10:11,14,24-25,30,36,38; 11:4,25; 12:23; 13:31; 14:8-11,20; 17:5) along with the claims of the people around Him (1:1,14,29,34,36,4145,49; 4:42; 6:14,69; 7:26,40-41; 10:33; 11:27; 12:13; 19:7; 20:31) to prove this. If you'll read these, you'll notice that a lot of them are Jesus referring to Himself as "the Son of Man." The reason that is a claim to be the Messiah is because He is reaching back to the prophecy in Daniel 7:13-14. Daniel says that the Messiah is "one like a son of man." So when Jesus calls Himself this, all of the Jews would know that He is claiming to be the Messiah. (I heard that first from Phill Knuth and checked it in my sister's ESV Study Bible in John 1:51 and it seems to be very reliable.) Also, a lot of them are "I am" statements (e.g. "I am the bread of life, I am the vine, I am the good shepherd," etc.). All of these are referring back to Exodus 3:13-14 when Yahweh tells Moses that His name is "I am." The people knew what He was saying when He said this. John 8:58 is the best example of this. As soon as He said "I am" they picked up rocks to stone Him. Also throughout the book, but especially in John 10:33 and 19:7, you will notice that Jesus was not arrested and killed because He was doing good things; It was for claiming deity. That is the point that John is hammering home in this entire book.
Next is what keeps coming up about believing and eternal life. Obviously John 3:16 is the well-know example, "that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." That's not the only place that it is found (1:12; 3:36; 5:24; 6:40,47; 8:24; 12:36,46; 16:27; 20:31). So all over the place He is telling us that by believing in Him, we inherit eternal life. But we have to take a broader look at this. Because he says similar statements all throughout the book. In John 3:36, John equates "believing in the Son" to obeying the Son. ("Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.") This does not look at all like John is contrasting the two. He believes that they mean the same thing. In John 6, Jesus keeps saying that whoever believes has eternal life (40,47). Then He says, "Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day (6:54)." And in verse 57 and 58, "so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me... Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." (He says this right after He calls Himself the bread of life). Again in 8:51 Jesus says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." In 10:9 He says, "I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and go in and out and find pasture." In 14:15 Jesus says again, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." and then goes on to promise the Holy Spirit to those who love Him. Then just read John 14:21-24 because it describes who loves Jesus. Again in 15:10 He says, "If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love." And in verse 14, "You are my friends if you do what I command." And then the last one is in 17:3 as He's praying to the Father, "And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."
These are the statements Jesus makes in John about eternal life. I'm not saying I know what these mean because I don't. All I am saying is that I grew up basically believing that John 3:16 was the only verse in the Bible that Jesus talked about eternal life. At the same time, I don't believe that Jesus contradicts Himself. So the only logical thing that I can come up with is that believing Jesus, obeying Jesus, abiding in Jesus, and loving Jesus are all the same thing. That's all I've got. I'm not trying to rock the boat. I just want to follow God's Word and not come up with things on my own.
The next large theme is the theme of the elect. It runs all the way through the book. In John 1:12-13 He says, "But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor the will of man, but of God." In 5:21 Jesus says, "For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He will." Just read John 6:22-71. It is worth the read and is very important to read it in that context. Notice especially verses 37, 44, 63, and 65 (notice that people are offended at this teaching [v 61] and after that "many of his disciples turned back and no longer waked with him [v 66]). In John 8:47 Jesus says this to the Pharisees right after He tells them the devil is their father, "Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God." Chapter 10 talks all about Jesus being the good shepherd and keeps talking about His flock and that some are apart of His flock and some aren't. Just read the chapter. It's important to read it all in context. In 12:39-40 Jesus quotes Isaiah when he talks about God blinding their eyes and hardening their hearts lest they understand and turn and be healed. In 14:17, when Jesus is promising the Holy Spirit, He says, "... even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you." In 15:15-16 Jesus says "... for all that I have heard from the Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you..." (Just a note: I see how that could be debated that He is only talking to the disciples. I'm not hanging my hat on that, I'm just trying to present everything in the book that has that kind of language. Again the same thing could be said in 15:19) In the High Priestly prayer in chapter 17, three times Jesus talks to the Father about those who the Father gave Him out of the world (verses 6,9,24). Verse 9 says, "I am praying for them (referring back to verse 6, whatever that may mean). I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours." And that is the last that we hear from John on this topic.
Obviously I'm trying to be very careful with these Scriptures. The reason is that I realize it is very much against today's culture and against our instinct to believe these things (that the Father chooses who are His and who aren't). What I am trying to do is put all of the Scripture in front of you that talks about this and not just try to give my opinion. I have the advantage of being able to read all of this in context, so I would beg all of you to go back and read it in context. I am not trying to push my agenda. I am trying to be true to the words that God has given us about Himself. At the same time, I have no problem discussing it with anyone, so feel free to shoot me an email or something.
the next big thing is the promise of the Holy Spirit in chapters 14, 15, and 16. I want to point out two things. The first is that Jesus calls the Spirit, "the Helper." I don't know what exactly that means, I just find it interesting. The second thing is that in 16:7, Jesus says that it is to our advantage for Him to leave because that means the Spirit will come. That is amazing. Next is something that I know I have to mention because it jumped out at me. It is in John 14:12, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works that these will he do, because I am going to the Father." I just find that interesting because I don't know what He is talking about. I know that later in the New Testament Paul talks about healing and gifts like that, but we have pretty much done away with those. We say that they aren't for this culture or time or something. But when Jesus says "whoever believes in me" I assume that that means all times. Like I said, I don't know that this means. I'm just trying to put it all on the table.
Well that's it. Yes I realize that was a lot. John is a very full book. I hope that if nothing else this challenged you to look at the Word and see what it says instead of just assuming that we all know what it says. And I can honestly say that I don't know what most of this means. I'm praying for enlightenment from the Spirit and praying that He gives me understanding, but I don't understand it all. So I am praying that He continues to give me understanding and continues to sanctify me into Christ's image. Now onto the rest of the New Testament.
Soli Deo gloria
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