Explorations in the Gospel of John WEEK ONE: A NEW PASSOVER LAMB A - - PDF document

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Explorations in the Gospel of John

WEEK ONE: A NEW PASSOVER LAMB

A Few Housekeeping Matters

Part One

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Welcome!

• Did everyone get handouts? (They’re important!)
• Everyone is welcome here, so be nice!
• The Purpose of the Footnotes:
• If this is your first Bible Study, don’t worry about them.
• If they cause you a headache, don’t worry about them.
• If they stir up interest in your mind, enjoy them.
• Bible Translations

My Goals (in descending order of importance)

• 1. To grow in faith as we meditate upon the inspired Word.
• 2. To have fun while we grow as the Lord’s beloved disciples.
• 3. To increase our biblical literacy and see how the Bible fits together.
• 4. To show how the Bible has impacted our Catholic tradition.
• 5. To provide a sense of how biblical professionals do their job.
• 6. To prepare a class on John, because it’s not the last time I’ll teach it J.

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Excursus: How Does the Catholic Church Interpret the Bible?

Part Two

Pius XII, Encyclical Letter Divino Afflante Spiritu (1943)

• Jesus is fully human and fully divine. So too is the Bible.
• “For of the modes of expression which, among ancient peoples, and especially those
• f the East, human language used to express its thought, none is excluded from the

Sacred Books, provided the way of speaking adopted in no wise contradicts the holiness and truth of God […] For as the substantial Word of God became like to men in all things, ‘except sin,’ so the words of God, expressed in human language, are made like to human speech in every respect, except error.” (no. 37; EB 559; emphasis added)

• “Not a few things, especially in matters pertaining to history, were scarcely at all or not

fully explained by the commentators of past ages, since they lacked almost all the information which was needed for their clearer exposition.” (no. 31; EB 555)

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PBC, Instruction Sancta Mater Ecclesia (1964)

• In this instruction about the Church’s teaching on the historicity of the Gospels,

the Pontifical Biblical Commission (PBC) affirmed that there were three stages of

• development. (Incidentally, almost all non-Catholic Christians would agree.)
• Stage 1:

Words and Deeds of Jesus

• Stage 2:

Apostolic Preaching (kerygma)

• Stage 3:

Written Gospels by the Evangelists to Specific Situations

Benedict XVI, Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini (2010)

• Speaks of the need for sound, rigorous scholarship as well as a deep prayer life.
• Our Catholic tradition has long affirmed that prayer and study form

complementary paths to seeking God. We must use both our heads and our hearts!

• “A notion of scholarly research that would consider itself neutral with regard to

Scripture should not be encouraged. As well as learning the original languages in which the Bible was written and suitable methods of interpretation, students need to have a deep spiritual life, in order to appreciate that the Scripture can

• nly be understood if it is lived.” (no. 47)

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Concrete Applications to John’s Gospel

• Authorship: A broader concept in the ancient world than today.
• St. John the Apostle, the traditional author, likely exercised a significant role in producing the

Gospel, but it wasn’t as simple as him writing it down as he walked along the street with

• Jesus. See Jn 20:24: “It is this disciple [= Beloved Disciple] who testifies to these things and has

written them, and we know that his testimony is true.”

• Historicity: The Gospel is a bios, a “life”. In this ancient literary genre (see Martin and

Wright, pp. 19-20):

• The narration is selective; it chooses only certain details to tell.
• The author shapes the material for theological purposes.
• Its written for the formation of the hearers.
• Let John be John! Don’t try to fit it into another Evangelist’s framework.

The Top Ten Things You Need to Know about John’s Gospel

Part Three

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#10: The author of the Fourth Gospel did not think it important to identify himself.

• While the traditional position maintains that John, the son of

Zebedee, is the author, the Gospel does not identify him. (However, there are good reasons to think that St. John was an author, at least to some extent.)

• Don’t get lost in speculation!

#9: John’s Gospel is both quite simple and extraordinarily complex.

• “A pool sufficiently shallow for an ant to wade in, and sufficiently deep for an

elephant to drown in.”

• Simple Structure
• Complicated Discourse

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#8: John writes for one clear reason: faith.

• John tells us why he wrote:
• An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true; he knows that he is speaking

the truth, so that you also may [come to] believe. (Jn 19:35 NAB)

• Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of [his] disciples that are not written

in this book. 31 But these are written that you may [come to] believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name. (Jn 20:30 NAB)

• There are also many other things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described

individually, I do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be

• written. (Jn 21:25 NAB)
• Again, John’s Gospel is historical in that it relates real events about a real person,

but it is not a history in the modern sense of a neutral, descriptive account.

#7: John did not care about being politically correct.

• “The Jews” = a character in John, likely due to the original historical situation of the

community to whom the Gospel was addressed.

• “He came to what was his own, but his own people did not accept him.” (Jn 1:11 NAB)
• In interpreting the text, we need to understand that “the Jews” refer to specific people

in the 1st century. The term does not apply to all Jews across all ages.

• Avoid two extremes:
• Minimizing John’s Gospel because it contains words that are difficult to explain.
• Interpreting John’s Gospel in a manner that is anti-Semitic.

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#6: John is the patron saint of the double entendre.

• More than any other book of the New Testament, John is a literary masterpiece.
• It is filled with double-meanings and dramatic irony, in which one of the

characters does not know something that the Christian reader does.

• It’s OK to laugh!
• Be aware that texts can have multiple shades of meaning.

#5: John’s Gospel is not like the other three Gospels.

• Unlike Matthew, Mark, and Luke (the Synoptic Gospels), John:
• Does not narrate Jesus’ Baptism, Transfiguration, or Last Supper.
• Includes no parables.
• Makes explicit mention of three celebrations of Passover (Jn 2, 6, 13-21), indicating a

ministry of at least three years.

• Includes lengthy, enigmatic discourses and reveals the true identity of Jesus through

controversies with “the Jews”.

• Mentions “I am” sayings in which Jesus reveals his relationship with the Father (like

the revelation of God as “I AM” at the Burning Bush). See Ex 3:14.

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#4: In John, the “world” is a bad thing.

• John is not Luke, who has a more optimistic perspective. See Lk 2:10, for example.
• “He was in the world, and the world came to be through him, but the world did not know

him.” (Jn 1:10 NAB)

• For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in

him might not perish but might have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. … 19 And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil.” (Jn 3:16-17, 19 NAB)

• Jesus: “I do not pray for the world” (See Jn 17:9 NAB)

#3: John focuses on Christ’s divinity.

• John is not Mark, whose main focus is on how a disciple must imitate Christ’s
• suffering. See Mk 8:34-38, for example.
• John often glosses over Jesus’ sufferings in order to allow his role as the eternal

Son of God and Word of the Father to shine forth. See Jn 1:1,14.

• Jesus’ Passion is his “glory” for the Fourth Evangelist:
• "I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But it

was for this purpose that I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it and will glorify it again.“ … 32 And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself." 33 He said this indicating the kind of death he would die. (Jn 12:27-28, 32-33 NAB)

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#2: John cares about the Old Testament, but usually to show how Jesus replaces something in it.

• John is not Matthew, who emphasizes continuity between Jesus and the Old Testament.

See Mt 5:17.

• Theology of Replacement: John narrates key moments in Jesus’ life as coinciding with

Jewish feasts. Usually, his point is to show how Jesus replaces the liturgical acts prescribed in the Law of Moses.

• While John does understand Jesus as fulfilling the Old Testament as does Matthew, the

Fourth Evangelist tends to see this fulfillment in terms of rendering former practices

• bsolete.

#1: For John, Jesus is the Perfect Passover Lamb

• The Synoptics portray Jesus as giving his Body and Blood during the Last Supper as

part of a Passover meal. John eschews this scheme in favor of portraying the Lord as the perfect Passover Lamb in his Passion.

• Jesus is condemned to die at noon on Preparation Day, exactly when the Passover

lambs were to be slaughtered. See Jn 19:14

• The soldiers do not break Jesus’ legs after he dies on the cross: “For this happened so

that the scripture passage might be fulfilled: ‘Not a bone of it will be broken.’” (Jn 19:36 NAB) See Ex 12:46.

• By the way, the Bread of Life discourse takes place on Passover. See Jn 6:4.

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Reading John 1

Part Four

The Prologue (1:1-18)

• The Evangelist announces the Good News:
• (A) vv. 1-2, 18:

The relation between the Father and the Son.

• (B) vv. 3-5, 16-17:

The Son brings life, light, grace, and truth.

• (C) vv. 6-9, 15:

The role of John the Baptist and his testimony.

• (D) vv. 10-11, 14:

The Son came to dwell in the world.

• (E) vv. 12-13:

CENTERPIECE: Faith gives power to become God’s children.

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Key Text: Jn 1:19-51 (The Lamb’s Witnesses)

• Liturgy: Read during the Christmas season and just after Epiphany.
• Who is this Jesus?
• Four Days of Hearing about Jesus…in anticipation of a greater experience on the

Sixth Day.

Discussion Questions

• 1. There are six days in this sequence. Does this remind you of anything else in the

Bible? What symbols in the text reinforce that connection? What do you think John is doing with this connection?

• 2. How does John the Baptist introduce Jesus to his disciples? Why is this important?
• 3. What are some of the titles that the new disciples use to address Jesus? Do they

indicate perfect faith or something less? What is the point of Jesus’ question to Nathanael in v. 50? If you were Nathanael, might Jesus need to ask you the same thing?

• 4. Of the various characters who approach Jesus, does one of them remind you of your

journey with Jesus? Why?

• 5. John the Baptist says that he is unworthy to “loosen the strap of [Jesus’] sandal”. Are

you worthy? Why or why not?

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One More Detail…and a Cliffhanger!

• What time of year does this scene likely occur? What clues imply this answer?
• Moses, the people of Israel, and the LORD at Mt. Sinai (Ex 19):
• “The LORD said to Moses: I am coming to you now in a dense cloud, so that when the people

hear me speaking with you, they will also remain faithful to you. When Moses, then, had reported the response of the people to the LORD, 10 the LORD said to Moses: Go to the people and have them sanctify themselves today and tomorrow. Have them wash their garments 11 and be ready for the third day; for on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 Set limits for the people all around, saying: Take care not to go up the mountain, or even to touch its edge. All who touch the mountain must be put to death.” (Ex 19:9-12 NAB)

• What are the similarities between this scene and that reported in Jn 1? Differences?
• Jn 2 begins with “the third day”…but we’ll wait to talk about it next week!