The hour: a reflection

Posted on March 21, 2015 by Friar Musings

Again, I find O’Day’s insights thoughtful and to the point, so again, I offer her words as a …. A Final Reflection (Gail O’Day, 713-15)

John 12:20–36 is the most concentrated collection of sayings on the death of Jesus in the Gospel of John and, therefore, provides the interpreter with an appropriate place to reflect on the meaning of the death of Jesus in this Gospel. Theological inquiry about Jesus’ death and its soteriological [things relating to salvation] efficacy is most frequently identified as “atonement theology.” Before looking at the Johannine understanding of the death of Jesus, it will be helpful to review the theologies of atonement that have shaped and continue to shape the life of the church. Continue reading →

The hour: misunderstood

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Friar Musings

²⁹The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come for my sake but for yours.

The Gospel according to John is replete with revelation being misunderstood. Nicodemus misses the point in his talk with Jesus, as do many others in their encounter with the Messiah. Perhaps the same is true of the crowds present. There opinions of the sound being thunder or the voice of an angel is headed in the right direction. Thunder was a common religious symbol for the voice of God (e.g., Exod 4:23; Ps 29:3–9), and angels were traditionally understood as God’s messengers (e.g., Gen 16:7; 18:2–8; 19:1; Luke 1:11, 26; 2:9). The crowd’s hearing the voice of God as either thunder or an angel’s voice suggests that the crowd recognized that they were witnesses to an epiphany, some revelation of the divine, but that they missed the point: they were witnesses to the unmediated presence of God in God’s relationship to Jesus. His words in v. 30 underscore that this is indeed what the crowd has missed. Continue reading →

The hour: a grain of wheat

Posted on March 19, 2015 by Friar Musings

²⁴Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. ²⁵Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. ²⁶Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me. Continue reading →

The hour: now

Posted on March 18, 2015 by Friar Musings

The introduction of a new group of people (some Greeks) indicates a new narrative and thrust of the gospel message. Anyone could “see” Jesus he was in the Temple precincts. I think it is a given that the Greeks wanted more. Even if their desire to “see” Jesus doesn’t mean “become a follower,” their presence relates to Jesus’ statement in v. 32, “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.” It should be notes there is a variant reading of “all things” (panta) in many ancient Greek manuscripts rather than “all people” (pantas).That being said, the coming of the Greeks symbolizes the drawing of all people to Jesus. His hour has come. Continue reading →

The hour: coming to see

Posted on March 17, 2015 by Friar Musings

In John 11:47, as Jesus’ popularity grew, the Pharisee had asked of one another: what are we to do? The Pharisees themselves testify to the fulfillment of their fears in v.19: “So the Pharisees said to one another, “‘You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the whole world has gone after him.’” Their confession of vulnerability (“You see that you are gaining nothing”); their hyperbolic announcement that the “world” (kosmos) has gone after Jesus provides ironic testimony to the truth of Caiaphas’s prophecy: ⁵⁰nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.” ⁵¹He did not say this on his own, but since he was high priest for that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, ⁵²and not only for the nation, but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God. (John 11:50-02) Continue reading →

The hour: context

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Friar Musings

²⁰Now there were some Greeks among those who had come up to worship at the feast. ²¹They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” ²²Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. ²⁵Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. ²⁶Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me. ²⁷“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. ²⁸Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” ²⁹The crowd there heard it and said it was thunder; but others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰Jesus answered and said, “This voice did not come for my sake but for yours. ³¹Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. ³²And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” ³³He said this indicating the kind of death he would die. Continue reading →

Whoever believes: a reflection

Posted on March 13, 2015 by Friar Musings

A Reflection from Gail O’Day [554-56]

In interpreting John 3:1–21, then, it is not enough to say on the basis of the discourse in vv. 11–21, for example, that this text is about faith, decision, and judgment, because that way of interpreting diminishes the full impact of the text. One needs the preceding dialogue, with Nicodemus’s misunderstanding and Jesus’ repeated offer of new images, to understand what the words of vv. 11–21 are really saying. The interpreter must attend to how John tells this story of Jesus and Nicodemus, how he moves the reader through the give and take between the two characters and thus affords the reader the chance to understand what Nicodemus can only misunderstand. Because the reader has participated in the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus, the words in vv. 11–21 are heard with more immediacy. Moreover, the reader has read the Prologue and attended to the witness of John, so that he or she has a wider theological context in which to place those words. Continue reading →

Whoever believes: living the truth

Posted on March 12, 2015 by Friar Musings

¹⁹And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. ²⁰For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, so that his works might not be exposed. ²¹But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God. These three verses portray this intricate balance between judgment and decision in the metaphorical language of light and darkness. This language recalls the language and imagery of the Prologue (1:5, 9-10). To love darkness more than light is the same as not believing, and it results in judgment (v. 19). Continue reading →

Whoever believes: given

Posted on March 11, 2015 by Friar Musings

Given. 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. Verse 16 provides the link between the two parts of the discourse. It sums up vv. 14-15 by reiterating the salvific dimensions of Jesus’ death, but moves the argument forward with its reference to God’s love. God gave Jesus to the world because God loves the world. Continue reading →

Whoever believes: lifted up

Posted on March 10, 2015 by Friar Musings

Lifted up to Eternal Life. This section of the Gospel concludes with an impressive statement of the purpose of the death of Jesus. Jesus recalls the incident wherein, when fiery serpents bit the Israelites, Moses was told to make a snake of bronze and set it on a pole (Num. 21). Whoever looked at the bronze snake was healed. And, just as that snake was “lifted up” in the wilderness, so, Jesus says, “so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” Continue reading →

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