The Gospel of John, P1

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, PART 1, INTRODUCTION

By Dr. Stephen Jones:  Sep 09, 2019

Blog Post Date: 10-8-2019

Today we start a new series, a commentary on the Gospel of John. I have long wanted to do this study but was not led to do so until now. I first did an audio tape series on John about 25 years ago. It took 30 tapes, each 90 minutes long! That series, of course, is no longer available. Some years later, I reduced it to just four tapes, but that was more of a summary.

I included many historical details from the Gospel of John in my 8-book commentary on Luke, but the time has come to do a separate study on John. I imagine by the time this is completed (if ever), it will be at least as long as my study on Luke or Revelation.

Dating John’s Gospel

There are many theories as to the date that John wrote his gospel. John was the youngest of Jesus’ disciples and lived to the year 100, which was two or three years into the reign of Emperor Trajan (97-117), so he had many years to write down his thoughts. Irenaeus (120-202) wrote in his book, Against Heresies, XXII, 5,

“And he [John] remained among them up to the times of Trajan.”

John had been exiled to Patmos in 93 A.D. toward the end of the reign the emperor Domitian (81-96), who had severely persecuted the church. Domitian had taken upon himself the title Censor Perpetuus, “Perpetual Censor,” giving him the right to determine the moral code for the empire. In 93 he added to himself the title of Dominus et Deus, “lord and god.”

According to Tertullian in his book, On Prescription against Heretics, XXXVI,

“How happy is its church, on which apostles poured forth all their doctrines along with their blood! Where Peter endures a passion like his Lord’s! Where Paul wins his crown in a death like John’s! Where the Apostle John was first plunged, unhurt, into boiling oil, and thence remitted to his island-exile!”

This failed execution explains why John was exiled to Patmos, instead of being executed as usual. Patmos was the Alcatraz of the day, a rugged island located 24 miles off the coast of modern Turkey, where hardened criminals lived on one side and political prisoners on the other. The political prisoners were treated with greater respect and allowed to roam the island freely.

After Domitian was murdered in 96, his successor, Nerva, granted amnesty to many of Domitian’s political prisoners, including John. The apostle and his friend Prochorus, who had accompanied John and who ministered to his needs on Patmos, returned to Ephesus to continue ministering to the church. Meanwhile, of course, John had written the book of Revelation.

John’s gospel was started around 65-69 A.D. at the start of the Jewish Revolt that had resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. It was also about the time that Peter and Paul were executed in Rome. But his gospel remained unfinished for many years.

In fact, it has three distinct endings (as we will see later), which shows that the apostle continued to add to it and perhaps also to edit the gospel for many decades. His gospel remained essentially an unfinished manuscript until 97 A.D. Even so, there is no doubt that John had been teaching these things from the beginning.

John as a Type of High Priest

John’s influence in the church was enormous, since he was essentially recognized sort of as a high priest of the church since the death of Peter and Paul in 67 A.D. The editors of Eusebius’ book, Ecclesiastical History, tell us in an Appendix:

“The Passion Narrative in the fourth Gospel seems to suggest that John was known to the high priest (John xviii. 15), even though John was a Galilean fisherman, the son of Zebedee. Polycrates tells us that he wore the petalon (like James the Lord’s brother, q.v.), which perhaps suggests that he belonged to one of the priestly families.” [Who’s Who in Eusebius, an addendum from Penguin Books edition]

Eusebius himself quoted Polycrates in his book, saying,

“Again there is John, who leant back on the Lord’s breast, and who became a priest wearing a mitre [petalon], a martyr and a teacher; he too sleeps in Ephesus.” [Ecclesiastical History, III, 31]

When Paul was in a Roman prison facing execution in 67 A.D., he sent for Timothy (2 Timothy 4:9) and told him in 2 Timothy 4:13,

¹³ When you come, bring the cloak [phelonen] which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments.

Paul was not asking for an overcoat. Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament says,

“Phelonen was a wrapper of parchments, and was translated figuratively in Latin by toga or paenula, ‘a cloak,’ sometimes of leather.” (quoted from Restoring the Original Bible, by Dr. Ernest Martin]

It is certain that Paul was asking Timothy to bring him the original copies of his own letters, which he had left with his trusted friend Carpus. These were protected by a phelonen, a leather carrying case, or “cloak.”

I believe Paul wanted these letters in order to determine which were to be included in the New Testament canon. He may have wanted to do a final edit of these as well before sending them to John for inclusion in the canon, along with Matthew, which had already been written in 37 A.D.

The New Testament canon was completed (except for the Gospel of John and the Revelation) by 74 A.D., just a year after the conclusion of the Roman War.

The Hebrew Structure of the Gospel of John

In order to truly gain an understanding of John’s gospel, one must see its structure. The gospel is structured according to the popular Hebrew parallelism of the day, known as a chiasm. It is a structure where an author builds his case from one point to another, and when he reaches his climax, he immediately begins to reverse course until he reaches the end of his thought.

Sometimes chiasms are short, sometimes long, but the basic structure is the same. We see many such examples in both testaments. Many of Jesus’ parables are structured as chiasms. However, the Gospel of John as a whole is structured as a chiasm, built upon eight miracle-signs (semeion) that Jesus did to manifest His glory. By understanding this literary tool, we see evidence of organization and can get a better idea about the flow of John’s teaching.

A. The marriage in Cana (2:1-11)

    B. The ruler’s son healed (4:46-50)

        C. The impotent man healed (5:1-47)

            D. The feeding of the five thousand (6:1-14)

            D₁. Walking on the sea (6:15-21)

        C₁. The man born blind (9:1-41)

    B₁. The sisters’ brother healed (11:1-44)

A₁. The 153 fish caught (21:1-14)

As anyone can see at a glance, A is a parallel to A₁, B is parallel to B₁, etc. The climax of John’s gospel is found in the fourth and fifth signs in John (D and D₁), which are in the middle of the chiasm.

The Miracle-Signs

The main purpose of these miracle-signs is in the fact that miracles are not just miraculous acts. They are signs. In other words, the miracles point to something else on a prophetic level. That prophetic purpose was set forth after Jesus’ first miracle, as we see from John 2:11,

¹¹ This beginning of His signs [semeion] Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.

The purpose of the signs was to manifest His glory. As we will see, this goes back to the underlying purpose of creation itself. The earth was created to manifest the glory of the Creator. Creation was to be filled with the glory of God. Heaven and earth were to be married, and the earth (woman) was to reflect the truth and glory of heaven by the law of the double witness.

We know, of course, that Adam’s sin caused a great detour and delay in God’s purpose. But God cannot be defeated, nor can He fail, because to fail (khawtaw) is to sin. God is no sinner. Hence, in the end, His purpose must be fulfilled. As Christians, we believe that God is able to fulfill all of His promises (Romans 4:21), for that is the basis of New Covenant faith.

Christ Himself, as the Logos (John 1:1), was the necessary beginning of divine success. Without Him, nothing was created, and without Him, nothing could be restored to fulfill the original intent and purpose of creation. Hence, He is the original Promise of God and the Foundation of all things.

As we will also show in our study, these eight semeion link to the eight days of the feast of Tabernacles, the climactic feast each year which prophesied of the manner in which the glory of God must surely come to earth. Without some understanding of the feast days in Scripture, one can hardly understand prophecy, because the feast days prophesy on both a personal and a creation level.

There are two sets of feast days. The Spring feasts (in the northern hemisphere, which is where the land of Israel was located) prophesy of Christ first coming from the cross (Passover) to His resurrection and presentation to the Father (Wave-sheaf offering) to the coming of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost).

The Autumn feasts prophesy of Christ’s second coming, beginning with the resurrection (Trumpets), the proclamation of the Jubilee (Atonement), the transfiguration of the overcomers (1^st day of Tabernacles), the coming of the Head upon the body (middle of Tabernacles), and finally the presentation of the Sons of God to the Father (8^th day of Tabernacles).

These events are prophesied in the Gospel of John through the chiasm of the eight semeion, which set forth the path of Sonship. The glory of God begins to be manifested in the earth through Jesus Christ (John 2:11), and from there it proceeds to a greater manifestation of the Sons of God. From there it proceeds to the glorification of the church as a whole, and finally to “all men” who are brought back to Himself (John 12:32).

Only when all of creation has fulfilled its divine purpose will God be satisfied. That is the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21).

The Purpose of God's Creation: Introduction

THE PURPOSE OF GOD’S CREATION: INTRODUCTION

Post Date:  8-29-2019

The intent of this planned series of articles is to illustrate the creation purpose of God.  Why did God create the heavens and the earth?  What was His purpose and what was His ultimate goal?  The Creator is Omniscient and timeless.  There is no past, present, and future with God.  Thus, He knows all things before they occur (in our manner of thinking), which means that God knew that Eve would be tempted and Adam would sin; and the result of that original sin upon the historical events for the past 6000 years.  

The Church

Many Christian leaders and various other pundits have recently lamented the vast decline of individuals leaving the Christian faith or showing no interest in becoming involved with the Christian faith i.e. participating in the services and programs offered by various denominations.  Much of the negative influence can rightfully be attributed to the modern culture and lifestyles promoted by the main stream media and television shows but that is not the only effecting issue and perhaps it is not the most important.

However, it is my opinion that young people, in particular, are not interested in aligning with an archaic church organization and its pre-planned activities or even occasionally attending and I will attempt to explain. 

The heading for this section is entitled “The Church”.  The Church is Biblically defined as a community or congregation of Christian believers.  However, the problem of the declining membership problem (or abstaining from membership) is not necessarily associated with the Biblical definition of Church as a congregation of believers but rather the actual church building, its services,  and/or its operating system.  Such as:  it can be a political organization; the worship service is repetitive even when program changes are invoked; the programs lack depth (such as Bible studies and Sunday schools); the preaching or lecturing, although it may be based on scripture, rarely teaches anything new or answers any of the thoughts given in the opening introduction of this article; and the amount of Biblical education that is shared or learned by the participating members through the preachers and teachers is lacking in substance or it is repeated ad nauseas from year to year.

Below is an article that well articulates the thinking and grumbling in regards to losing or not gaining membership among Church organizations.

Two-Thirds Of U.S. Christians Think They Don’t Need To Attend Church.

It’s part of a much larger anti-institutional swing in American religion — one that’s left an unprecedented number of Christians convinced they can practice their faith just fine without the church.

One such belief, shared by two-thirds of respondents, was that “worshiping alone or with family is a valid replacement for regularly attending church.”

What’s more concerning is how the view that church is nonessential has infiltrated the pews, even though the Bible is pretty clear, in both the Old and New Testaments, that Christians must “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” and “not neglect” to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

In a new survey, LifeWay reports that a mind-boggling 65 percent of churchgoers agree with the following statement, “I can walk with God without other believers.”

The above article is mainly focused on denominational church building attendance or a lack thereof.  Two-thirds may think it is not necessary to attend church to practice their faith, but many others have no desire to attend a church building and its predictable services.  The article never mentions or refers to the content or the depth of the teaching and preaching.  In his days, Paul told a group of believers that he initially fed them milk but they needed more milk because they couldn’t handle solid food.

1 Corinthians 3:2 NET I fed you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready. In fact, you are still not ready,

I will admit that the majority of attendance based Sunday church services are highly uninteresting and verges on being tiresome due to the continuous stream of 1% milk, not even whole milk (You may have different opinions, but that is mine).  Some church organizations attempt to design the service as entertainment, but even that approach can become dull and tiresome after a while.  What people need, particularly young people, is information and instruction about God, His purposes for Creation, the fact that everything is created by God and nothing exists apart from Him, and that the laws of God were not aborted by the Cross (i.e. nailed to the Cross as the saying goes).

Using the book of Acts and various sections of Paul’s letters it would appear that early groups of Christians were excited concerning congregation meetings even with and absence of singers, choirs, instruments, sound equipment, and air conditioning.  What is the difference?  I believe the difference is the message and the information given by Paul and other apostles/teachers during these get-togethers.  They were learning something about their new faith and Paul’s letters confirm they were not hearing the same message repeatedly.

What were they learning from Paul?  Just read his letters and the Gospels and you will understand.  For example, they learned that Jesus Christ is the last Adam and he paid the redemption cost of the first sin against God.

The understanding of the book of the Revelation as a prophetic history of the Church is speaking of the history of what is now known as the Roman Catholic Church, although it was just merely “the Church” until denominations caused it to differentiate itself.  Revelation 16 describes the bowls poured out for the destruction of the modern Babylonian system called Mystery, Babylon. 

Chapter 17 details and gives a description of the primary church of the Revelation (i.e. the Roman Catholic Church) where it is referred to as a prostitute, or a harlot, or a whore in some translations.  The church is called a harlot because at the present, it has deviated to become the exact opposite of a righteous, ethical wife.  Also note that Rev 17:5 calls the Roman Church the ‘Mother of prostitutes”. 

Revelation 17:1 NET Then one of the seven angels …… "I will show you the condemnation and punishment of the great prostitute (whore / harlot) who sits on many waters…..

Revelation 17:5 NET On her forehead was written a name, a mystery: "Babylon the Great, the Mother of prostitutes and of the detestable things of the earth."

If the Roman Church is the harlot and the mother of harlots then who or what would be the harlot children?  Well, these children would be the offshoots of the Roman Church, or what is today known as denominations.  If you (the reader), are currently experiencing a surge of self-righteous indignation of me referring to your denomination as a whore, then I would suggest arguing with scripture.  Many believe they are correct in their teachings and doctrines but all are mistaken in some form or another.

Remember that Martin Luther (originally a Roman Catholic) is considered the leading mover and instigator of the Protestant movement that ultimately resulted in many current denominations.  The various denominations, of course, have varying doctrines and rituals.  Some consider their particular doctrines as the only correct doctrines and believe that others who do not adhere to them are doomed.

Saved From What?

I recall attending a Billy Graham convention in the Baltimore area during the 70’s which was accompanied with the mass hysteria among many of the surrounding churches.  Mr. Graham’s final call line was always, “you must be saved”.  But what exactly is one saved from?  From going to hell at death is the usual answer of course and most people do not want to go to hell if they are the least bit concerned – except for an insane few who say they would like to be with their friends after death.

Going forward for “salvation” at a BG convention is much easier than doing so in a church service because no one knows you and it is not necessarily an embarrassment.  For some, on the way home after the convention is over is merely going down to the bar and having a couple of beers.

This concept of being saved to avoid hell is basically all that most new converts are taught or ever learn about their supposedly new faith.  Some churches even teach all future sins are forgiven (which is true) and that the laws of God were nailed to the Cross and are no longer necessary for day to day living (which is not true).  Thus if hell is avoided and there is no type of legality to future actions then why go to church – everything is taken care of.

As any frequent reader of Freedom from Delusion should know, I currently do not believe in a fiery hell of everlasting divine punishment.  So, what is a person saved from?

http://freedomfromdelusion.blogspot.com/2017/05/hell-resurrection-fire-eternity.html

https://freedomfromdelusion.blogspot.com/2016/12/salvation-hell-and-resurrection.html

The word “saved” appears many times in the Gospels (and elsewhere) but the verses most relevant for my explanation appear in John 3:17-18.

John 3:17-18 NET For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved (delivered or preserved) through him. (18) The one who believes (entrusts) in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned (to be punished) already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.

Note that John 3:18 contains the phrase “The one who believes in him”.  This phrase, “believe in Him” which is repeated throughout the New Testament has caused much confusion to teachers/preachers/ and those claiming to the “saved”.  The Greek dictionaries, of course, offer several definitions of the word “believe”.  The one most commonly considered is:  to think to be true, to be persuaded of. 

As the cast out demons exclaimed the name of Jesus and also as James points out, the demons considered Jesus as the Son of God and they are persuaded He has absolute power over them.

James 2:19 NET You believe that God is one; well and good. Even the demons believe that -- and tremble with fear.

Therefore, it can be said that merely believing that Jesus Christ exists and that He is the Son of God and has the authority of God is not enough.  One must entrust oneself (one’s life) to God; allow the teachings of Jesus Christ to define one’s lifestyle; desire to uphold and live according to the laws of God; become an active citizen of the Kingdom while working to fulfill the goals of the Kingdom as it approaches.  These qualities, of course, were not part of the agenda of the demons.

To understand the meaning of “saved” or “saved from what?” in the New Testament, other Biblical concepts must first be understood.  Many of these other concepts are either unknown to most or difficult to know for most Christians and Bible teachers are afflicted with spiritual blindness that God has cast over them.

Isaiah 44:18 NET They do not comprehend or understand, for their eyes are blind and cannot see; their minds do not discern.

Firstly, there are two resurrections.  The initial resurrection will not include every pew sitter who claims they are saved.  It will only embrace a smaller group known as the overcomers, the elect, the Saints of the Most High God (Daniel 7), the chosen of God, both living and dead.

When this first resurrection occurs (hopefully soon) many lukewarm Christians and pew sitters may become upset.  After all, their church leaders have been preaching the mantra of the Scofield Bible, Hal Lindsey, Tim LaHaye, and other Dallas Theological Seminary writers as long as they can remember i.e. there will be a secret 2^nd coming of Christ prior to the 7 year tribulation period that will remove all Christians from the earth.  This will allow the Jews to restart their animal sacrificial system along with the advent of a monstrous world dictator called the Antichrist.  WRONG

Matthew 7:21-23 NET "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the kingdom of heaven -- only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. (22) On that day, many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?' (23) Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!'

Matthew 7:21 is speaking of the first resurrection (which will include living elect) about those who will enter the Kingdom of Heaven (or God in Luke).  They are the ones who perform “the will of my Father in heaven”.  Others (who are living at the return of Christ) will state, “Hey, what about us?  We did all kinds of wonderful things.”  And Jesus will reply, “Sorry, but you must wait for the second resurrection.  Although you may have done some wonderful things, you are never the less unrepentant lawbreakers.”

After the Millennial Kingdom of God (the end of 1000 years) the second resurrection will take place (Rev. 20:5) called the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:11-12).  This event will include every person that has ever been born (or aborted) during the history of the planet earth.  Some will receive only a slight punishment such as the saved who attempted to lead a lawful life but had not achieved the level of the elect (see Matt. 7:21-23 above).  Others will be given the refining corrective fire of God for various extended periods of time (some perhaps for an age i.e. eon).

The second and most important reason or concept has been mentioned earlier in this article.  The saved person desires to employ all their efforts to advance the Kingdom of God on the earth.  The Holy Spirit of God empowers them to understand the will of God through His laws and to live their life accordingly.  That doesn’t necessarily mean they are to go to Africa or the Amazon as missionaries.  They are to act as expected i.e. a child of God; filled with the Holy Spirit; a temple of God; and a replica of Jesus Christ in their actions and attitudes.