Source: http://yourobdtsvt.blogspot.com/2009/03/
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 09:47:25+00:00

Document:
Echoes of Ayres...and Dad...and The Republic.
preparation for ministry, and ought to be a major part of the "training in Christianity" he imparted to his fifty years of confirmation classes. He actually used a 1940's book called HISTORY of the BIBLE in the CHURCH, sort of an early forerunner to Tim Lull's great textbook, Called to Confess Christ (1980).
(Jim Cramer v. John Stewart, for instance).
I have just been giving a talk about Plato at the Aldeburgh Literary Festival – or rather engaging in a Platonic dialogue with Irene Noel-Baker, the only translator I know who has ever dared to render the great poet- banisher into verse. This has meant going back to one of those texts that repay endless rereading; I always expect to be surprised by The Republic (despite, or because of, being the author of a small book on the subject), but this time I am amazed by its relevance to our particular dark and uncertain time, as if it had been written not in 380BC but the day before yesterday.
The bit that grabs me is the section on democracy in the entertaining description of a downward, vicious spiral of corrupt societies. I suppose everyone knows that Plato had a low opinion of democracy. But usually this is the cue for thoughtful consideration to be replaced by righteous indignation. How could anyone prefer the cruel, militaristic, apartheid and philistine regime of ancient Sparta to the rich democracy of Athens, celebrated in the noble words of Pericles’ funeral oration and adorned with works of art and architecture (the Parthenon, the statues, the black figure vases) that still draw the crowds?
But if you go back to the words themselves, written with a playfulness and grace that have eluded most readers and nearly all translators, you find much food for thought, or arguments that should not be dismissed out of hand.
This sounds pretty good. But might excessive liberty end up enslaving us, both our minds and our societies, rather than setting us free?
To explain how this could happen, Socrates starts with finance. Democracy evolves from oligarchy, the system in which wealth is what counts. “The [oligarchic] Rulers, who are in power because they have amassed so much wealth, do not want to prohibit by law the extravagance of the young, and stop them from wasting their money and ruining themselves. Their intention is to make loans to such imprudent people or by buying up their property to hope to increase their own wealth and influence ... The moneymakers continue to inject the toxic sting of their loans wherever they can, and to ask for high rates of interest, with the result that the city becomes full of lazy drones and paupers.” Has any better diagnosis of the origins of the credit crunch been written recently?
Democracy fosters all sorts of unnecessary desires and appetites. We end up getting addicted to these desires and appetites, and so, as Plato says, “the likely outcome of excessive freedom is only slavery in the individual and in the society”.
Then, even more ominously: “Probably then tyranny develops out of no other constitution than democracy – from the very heights of liberty, I take it, to extreme and savage servitude.” Words that could have been inscribed on the grave of the Weimar Republic. Democracy is “a wonderfully pleasant way of carrying on in the short term”, as Socrates puts it. But chronic short-termism could be its fatal flaw. Politicians have to pander to electors; weak government is the result, in which tough decisions are endlessly put off. Plato would have been darkly amused by our attempts to deal with climate change, as short-term decisions to build runways trump long-term attempts to curb emissions, or carbon trading schemes turn into perverse incentives to pollute.
But it is not only as a stern critic of democracy that we want to celebrate Plato. Somehow, The Republic is always turned into a gloomy tract or something like a government white paper. One aspect that gets left out is love. No doubt Plato speaks about love with still greater freedom, playfulness and humour in The Symposium and in Phaedrus. But there is still a lot of love in The Republic.
Socrates famously concluded that there will only be justice in the city when philosophers rule, or “when those now called kings and potentates be imbued with a sufficient measure of philosophy”. But what does he mean by a philosopher? A philosopher is first of all a kind of lover, someone who loves wisdom, that is to say a joyful, insatiable polymath, not a dry and dusty specialist.
Love is what sets the whole thing going – the passionate and excited love of inquiry that prolongs a short walk down to Piraeus into one of the great thought-adventures in human history. I happen to disagree with Plato on democracy – not that his criticisms are without weight, but that they are outweighed by the criticisms to be levelled against the other systems he apparently preferred.
O God, with steadfast love you draw us to yourself, and in mercy you receive our prayers. Strengthen us to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, that through life and death we may live in your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
always drops major theological hints, via the context, into all of the discourses attributed to Jesus. It requires the reader of John 12:20-33 to look backward from the text to the beginning of chap. 12 where the evangelist begins to build the audience, create the scene, designate the time critical to understanding this discourse. The festival mentioned is the Feast of Passover, Israel’s annual remembrance of their most critical hour in history--God’s deliverance, liberation and salvation in the Exodus. This is no ordinary time in a daily routine, but a time of tedious preparation for asking the pivotal question of Pascha: “Why is this night different?” This time of preparation finds Jesus in the home of his closest friends--not exclusively with the Twelve--Martha serving, Lazarus at table with him and Mary anointing him for his burial, over the self-serving protestations of Judas, the keeper of the money-bag and soon-to-be betrayer. In the background the chief priests are plotting to kill both Jesus and Lazarus because their supporters are becoming believers in Jesus. Jesus’ approach to Jerusalem is accompanied by the great crowd and their cry for salvation (“Hosanna!”), the messianic symbol of donkey colt and the waving of the nationalistic symbol of palm branches--the equivalent of political placards. Along the sidelines the Pharisees are heard jealously muttering about how the whole world is going after Jesus.
The array of the privileged and the outcast is being tediously prepared for the reader. This is no ordinary moment in Jesus’ ministry. Events, people, time--the ingredients for effecting salvation are accumulating. The tension heightens as Greek proselytes incessantly pester Jesus’ Greek-named disciple from a fishing village in the Greek-dominated tetrarchy of Phillip to let them “see” Jesus. He joins forces with Jesus’ other Greek-named disciple from the same village, and together these two [who themselves are not in the inner circle of the Twelve, but who know all about being sought out to see and follow Jesus, and who brought others to “come and see” him too, Jn. 1:35-46] , provide the necessary ingredients for eliciting Jesus’ last public remarks before disappearing from public view, as unbelief prevails and fear cuts off confession (36b-43).
20 ησαν δὲ Ελληνές τινες ἐκ τῶν ἀναβαινόντων ἵνα προσκυνήσωσιν ἐν τῇ ἑορτῇ: 21οὗτοι οὖν προσῆλθον Φιλίππῳ τῷ ἀπὸ Βηθσαϊδὰ τῆς Γαλιλαίας, καὶ ἠρώτων αὐτὸν λέγοντες, Κύριε, θέλομεν τὸν Ἰησοῦν ἰδεῖν. 22ἔρχεται ὁ Φίλιππος καὶ λέγει τῷ Ἀνδρέᾳ: ἔρχεται Ἀνδρέας καὶ Φίλιππος καὶ λέγουσιν τῷ Ἰησοῦ. 23ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς ἀποκρίνεται αὐτοῖς λέγων, Ἐλήλυθεν ἡ ὥρα ἵνα δοξασθῇ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. 24ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐὰν μὴ ὁ κόκκος τοῦ σίτου πεσὼν εἰς τὴν γῆν ἀποθάνῃ, αὐτὸς μόνος μένει: ἐὰν δὲ ἀποθάνῃ, πολὺν καρπὸν φέρει. 25ὁ φιλῶν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἀπολλύει αὐτήν, καὶ ὁ μισῶν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τούτῳ εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον φυλάξει αὐτήν. 26ἐὰν ἐμοί τις διακονῇ, ἐμοὶ ἀκολουθείτω, καὶ ὅπου εἰμὶ ἐγὼ ἐκεῖ καὶ ὁ διάκονος ὁ ἐμὸς ἔσται: ἐάν τις ἐμοὶ διακονῇ τιμήσει αὐτὸν ὁ πατήρ. 27Νῦν ἡ ψυχή μου τετάρακται. καὶ τί εἴπω; Πάτερ, σῶσόν με ἐκ τῆς ὥρας ταύτης; ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦτο ἦλθον εἰς τὴν ὥραν ταύτην. 28πάτερ, δόξασόν σου τὸ ὄνομα. ἦλθεν οὖν φωνὴ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, Καὶ ἐδόξασα καὶ πάλιν δοξάσω. 29ὁ οὖν ὄχλος ὁ ἑστὼς καὶ ἀκούσας ἔλεγεν βροντὴν γεγονέναι: ἄλλοι ἔλεγον, Ἄγγελος αὐτῷ λελάληκεν. 30ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν, Οὐ δι' ἐμὲ ἡ φωνὴ αὕτη γέγονεν ἀλλὰ δι' ὑμᾶς. 31νῦν κρίσις ἐστὶν τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, νῦν ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ κόσμου τούτου ἐκβληθήσεται ἔξω: 32κἀγὼ ἐὰν ὑψωθῶ ἐκ τῆς γῆς, πάντας ἑλκύσω πρὸς ἐμαυτόν. 33τοῦτο δὲ ἔλεγεν σημαίνων ποίῳ θανάτῳ ἤμελλεν ἀποθνῄσκειν.
Jesus’ declaration that a point of transition has been reached.
Tetrarchy of Phillip. It was the home of Peter, Andrew and Phillip.
of revelation when linked with doksa, cf. John 1:35-46;6:30.
to understanding the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
Vs. 23,28 - DOKSA - glorified - cf. “see” and significance of seeing and/or believing the earthly Jesus. In the 4th Gospel the doksa of God is clearly visible in Jesus’ life to all who will see by faith (1:14; 2:11;1 1:4,40; 12:38-43). Used in this pivotal discourse, the doksa is now embracing the cross.
identified as the preferred attitude.
money-bag and steals from it!
of calling this Passion Sunday.
fruit of relationship and servanthood (vs. 24, 26).
ways around crucifixions, given the power of evil in the world.
visible--the God who has become a part of the struggle of life and against death.
of love, to know the power of love, and to pass it on.
and religious outsiders who don’t measure up to all the rules...?
reality of God’s visibility in Jesus. Focusing Text - 12:23, 27-8.
“an emblem of suffering and shame,” and instead awakens hope within us that all the powers of death and destruction can be radically broken.
3 - The hour has come for us as well--we who are separated by time and space from these initial events, and who also wish to see Jesus by faith. It is ours to know as well that God does not desire death, but honors new life, new possibilities, real efficacy.
Harrison, Beverly Wilding, “The Power of Anger in the Work of Love: Christian Ethics for Women and Other Strangers,” Feminist Theology, A Reader, ed. Ann Loades, SPCK, 1990, pp. 210-12.
Brown, Raymond E. The Gospel According to John I-XII, Anchor Bible, Doubleday & Co., 1966.
Ruether, Rosemary. To Change the World. Crossroads, 1989, pp. 19-30.
O GOD, RICH IN MERCY, BY THE HUMILIATION OF YOUR SON YOU LIFTED UP THIS FALLEN WORLD AND RESCUED US FROM THE HOPELESSNESS OF DEATH. LEAD US INTO YOUR LIGHT, THAT ALL OUR DEEDS MAY REFLECT YOUR LOVE, THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, OUR SAVIOR AND LORD, WHO LIVES AND REIGNS WITH YOU AND THE HOLY SPIRIT, ONE GOD, NOW AND FOREVER.
FASHION HOW FAITH IN CHRIST OVERCOMES SIN, DEATH , AND HELL, AND GIVES LIFE, RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND SALVATION. THIS IS THE REAL NATURE OF THE GOSPEL." (LW 35:361-362) LUTHER ALSO WROTE: "THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST GLORIOUS GOSPELS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. IT WOULD BE A GOOD THING TO INSCRIBE THIS TEXT IN GOLDEN LETTERS UPON YOUR HEART, AND SEE TO IT THAT YOU KNOW THE WORDS BY HEART AND REPEAT THEM AT LEAST ONCE A DAY. FOR HERE ARE WORDS TO MAKE A SAD MAN GLAD, WORDS THAT WOULD EVEN REVIVE A DEAD MAN IF HE BUT HELD THEM FAST." WEAVING FIGURATIVE TERMS THAT ALL HIS READERS WOULD UNDERSTAND (BECAUSE OF THEIR COMMONNESS) WITH CONTRASTING CONCEPTS (EG. LIGHT/DARKNESS ETC.), JOHN SHARES THE PERSON AND WORK OF JESUS TO CHRISTIANS WHO PROBABLY ALREADY KNEW MATTHEW, MARK, AND LUKE. HE ALSO ATTEMPTS TO REFUTE SOME OF THE HERESY FLOATING AROUND IN ASIA MINOR NEAR THE END OF THE FIRST CENTURY. THE SO-CALLED NICODEMUS DISCOURSE AFTER V. 12 BECOMES A STRING OF LOOSELY RELATED SAYINGS LINKED WITH ONE ANOTHER BY KEY WORDS , (EG. JUDGMENT IN VVS. 17 & 18) WHAT DISTINGUISHES THIS PASSAGE IS ITS DISPLAY OF THE PROMINENT THEOLOGICAL THEMES IN THE GOSPEL . WE FIND ELEMENTS OF PRE-DESTINATION, DOCTRINE OF SIN, DUALISM (EG. LIGHT & DARKNESS), BAPTISM, SPIRIT LIFE, ESCHATOLOGY, ETERNAL LIFE, RESURRECTION, ASCENSION, AND SIN. IF THERE IS A COMMON THREAD, IT MIGHT BE FOUND IN THE POSSIBILITIES MADE AVAILABLE TO HUMANITY AS A RESULT OF CHRIST. THOSE NEW POSSIBILITIES MEAN THAT GOD HAS PROVIDED A WAY BY WHICH HUMANS CAN BE RESCUED FROM THEIR PLIGHT BECAUSE THEY ARE ALIENATED FROM THEIR CREATOR AND THEIR TRUE IDENTITY (LIGHT). SUCH A RESCUE IS LIKE A NEW BIRTH WHICH CAN ONLY BE AFFECTED BY DIVINE POWER AND COMMENCES NEW AND AUTHENTIC LIFE. IT IS A NEW BIRTH ENTIRELY BEYOND HUMAN CONTROL AND MANIPULATION AND ENTIRELY IN THE HANDS OF GOD. VERSE 16 IS PROBABLY THE BEST KNOWN PASSAGE IN ALL OF SCRIPTURE. LUTHER CALLED IT THE GOSPEL IN MINIATURE, OR IN A NUTSHELL.
14ΚΑῚ ΚΑΘῺΣ ΜΩΫΣῆΣ ὝΨΩΣΕΝ ΤῸΝ ὌΦΙΝ ἘΝ Τῇ ἘΡΉΜῼ, ΟὝΤΩΣ ὙΨΩΘῆΝΑΙ ΔΕῖ ΤῸΝ ΥἹῸΝ ΤΟῦ ἈΝΘΡΏΠΟΥ, 15ἽΝΑ ΠᾶΣ Ὁ ΠΙΣΤΕΎΩΝ ἘΝ ΑὐΤῷ ἜΧῌ ΖΩῊΝ ΑἸΏΝΙΟΝ. 16ΟὝΤΩΣ ΓᾺΡ ἨΓΆΠΗΣΕΝ Ὁ ΘΕῸΣ ΤῸΝ ΚΌΣΜΟΝ, ὭΣΤΕ ΤῸΝ ΥἹῸΝ ΤῸΝ ΜΟΝΟΓΕΝῆ ἜΔΩΚΕΝ, ἽΝΑ ΠᾶΣ Ὁ ΠΙΣΤΕΎΩΝ ΕἸΣ ΑὐΤῸΝ ΜῊ ἈΠΌΛΗΤΑΙ ἈΛΛ' ἜΧῌ ΖΩῊΝ ΑἸΏΝΙΟΝ. 17Οὐ ΓᾺΡ ἈΠΈΣΤΕΙΛΕΝ Ὁ ΘΕῸΣ ΤῸΝ ΥἹῸΝ ΕἸΣ ΤῸΝ ΚΌΣΜΟΝ ἽΝΑ ΚΡΊΝῌ ΤῸΝ ΚΌΣΜΟΝ, ἈΛΛ' ἽΝΑ ΣΩΘῇ Ὁ ΚΌΣΜΟΣ ΔΙ' ΑὐΤΟῦ. 18Ὁ ΠΙΣΤΕΎΩΝ ΕἸΣ ΑὐΤῸΝ Οὐ ΚΡΊΝΕΤΑΙ: Ὁ ΔῈ ΜῊ ΠΙΣΤΕΎΩΝ ἬΔΗ ΚΈΚΡΙΤΑΙ, ὍΤΙ ΜῊ ΠΕΠΊΣΤΕΥΚΕΝ ΕἸΣ ΤῸ ὌΝΟΜΑ ΤΟῦ ΜΟΝΟΓΕΝΟῦΣ ΥἹΟῦ ΤΟῦ ΘΕΟῦ. 19ΑὝΤΗ ΔΈ ἘΣΤΙΝ Ἡ ΚΡΊΣΙΣ, ὍΤΙ ΤῸ ΦῶΣ ἘΛΉΛΥΘΕΝ ΕἸΣ ΤῸΝ ΚΌΣΜΟΝ ΚΑῚ ἨΓΆΠΗΣΑΝ ΟἹ ἌΝΘΡΩΠΟΙ ΜᾶΛΛΟΝ ΤῸ ΣΚΌΤΟΣ Ἢ ΤῸ ΦῶΣ, ἮΝ ΓᾺΡ ΑὐΤῶΝ ΠΟΝΗΡᾺ ΤᾺ ἜΡΓΑ. 20ΠᾶΣ ΓᾺΡ Ὁ ΦΑῦΛΑ ΠΡΆΣΣΩΝ ΜΙΣΕῖ ΤῸ ΦῶΣ ΚΑῚ ΟὐΚ ἜΡΧΕΤΑΙ ΠΡῸΣ ΤῸ ΦῶΣ, ἽΝΑ ΜῊ ἘΛΕΓΧΘῇ ΤᾺ ἜΡΓΑ ΑὐΤΟῦ: 21Ὁ ΔῈ ΠΟΙῶΝ ΤῊΝ ἈΛΉΘΕΙΑΝ ἜΡΧΕΤΑΙ ΠΡῸΣ ΤῸ ΦῶΣ, ἽΝΑ ΦΑΝΕΡΩΘῇ ΑὐΤΟῦ ΤᾺ ἜΡΓΑ ὍΤΙ ἘΝ ΘΕῷ ἘΣΤΙΝ ΕἸΡΓΑΣΜΈΝΑ.
COME ABOUT ONLY AS A RESULT OF JESUS' CRUCIFIXION, RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION.
THE PEOPLE WHO GAZED UPON IT WERE HEALED OF THE BITES OF POISONOUS SNAKES.
... LIFTED UP UPON THE CROSS WITH THE EYES OF FAITH WILL BE GIVEN LIFE.
LIFTED UP (HYPSOO) IS ONE OF JOHN'S SEVERAL EXPRESSIONS FOR THE CRUCIFIXION. THE WORD WAS USED IN DESCRIBING CRUCIFIXIONS BUT ALSO OF THE EXALTATION OF A KING, THE ENTHRONEMENT OF A RULER. JOHN'S PLAY ON THE WORD HINTS AT HIS UNDERSTANDING OF THE CROSS--CHRIST'S CRUCIFIXION IS HIS ENTHRONEMENT AS KING. CHRIST'S EXALTATION ON THE CROSS IS NEVER SEPARATED FROM THE THOUGHT OF HIS EXALTATION TO HEAVEN. THIS SAME WORD "HYPSOUN" IS USED IN ACTS 2:33-34 FOR DESCRIBING THE ASCENSION OF JESUS. SO IN JOHN "BEING LIFTED UP" DESCRIBES ONE CONTINUOUS ACTION OF ASCENT: JESUS BEGINS HIS RETURN TO THE FATHER AS HE APPROACHES DEATH AND COMPLETES IT ONLY WITH HIS ASCENSION. IT IS THE UPWARD SWING OF THE GREAT PENDULUM OF THE INCARNATION CORRESPONDING TO THE DESCENT OF THE WORD WHICH BECAME FLESH. THE FIRST STEP IN THE ASCENT IS WHEN JESUS IS LIFTED UP ON THE CROSS: THE SECOND WHEN HE IS LIFTED UP TO HEAVEN.
THIS IS FOR THE PURPOSE OF ETERNAL LIFE (ZOE AIONOIS V. 15). IT IS INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT THE ADJECTIVE (AIWNOIS) IS USED BY JOHN ONLY IN THE EXPRESSION (ZOE AIWNOIS) - LITERALLY "THE LIFE OF THE AGE TO COME." IT REFERS NOT ONLY TO LIFE BEYOND DEATH BUT ALSO TO THE QUALITY OF THE LIFE OF FAITH RIGHT NOW. THAT IS, THAT WHICH IS PROPERLY A FUTURE BLESSING BECOMES A PRESENT FACT IN VIRTUE OF THE REALIZATION OF THE FUTURE IN CHRIST.
V. 15 SHOWS WHY JESUS INTRODUCED INTO THE DISCOURSE THE IMAGERY OF BEING LIFTED UP, NAMELY, THAT HIS BEING LIFTED UP WILL LEAD TO THE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE TO ALL WHO BELIEVE IN JESUS. THIS ETERNAL LIFE IS THE LIFE OF THE SONS OF GOD, THE LIFE BEGOTTEN FROM ABOVE, THE LIFE BEGOTTEN OF THE SPIRIT. WHEN JESUS WILL BE LIFTED UP IN CRUCIFIXION AND ASCENSION, HIS COMMUNICATION OF THE SPIRIT WILL CONSTITUTE A FLOWING SOURCE OF LIFE FOR THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN HIM.
THE WORLD (KOSMOS) HIS LOVE ONLY BECOMES EFFECTIVE AMONG THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN CHRIST. FOR THE REST LOVE TURNS AS IT WERE, TO JUDGMENT. LOVE SEEMS TO BE, FOR JOHN, A RECIPROCAL RELATION. THE FATHER LOVES THE SON, AND THE SON LOVES THE FATHER. JESUS LOVES HIS OWN, AND HIS OWN LOVE, OR SHOULD LOVE, ONE ANOTHER. THEY MUST ALSO LOVE HIM. JOHN, ULTIMATELY DEVELOPS THE CONCEPTION OF LOVE AS THE NATURE OF GOD HIMSELF.
SPEAK AS IF WE WOULD SEE GOD AS A STERN, ANGRY, UNFORGIVING GOD AND SEE JESUS AS GENTLE, LOVING AND FORGIVING. SOMETIMES WE TALK AS IF JESUS DID SOMETHING WHICH CHANGED THE ATTITUDE OF GOD TOWARDS US FROM CONDEMNATION TO FORGIVENESS. BUT THIS VERSE TELLS US THAT IT WAS WITH GOD THAT IT ALL STARTED. IT WAS GOD WHO SENT HIS SON, AND HE SENT HIM BECAUSE HE LOVED US. AT THE BACK OF EVERYTHING IS THE LOVE OF GOD.
PEJORATIVE WAY IN JOHN TO SPEAK OF THE REALM OF UNBELIEF AND IS SYNONYMOUS IN SUCH CASES WITH "DARKNESS." IF ITS NEGATIVE SENSE IS INTENDED HERE, IT UNDERSCORES THE QUALITY AND EXTENT OF GOD'S LOVE FOR THE FALLEN WORLD. THE WORD PERISH (APOLETAI) STANDS AS THE OPPOSITE OF ETERNAL LIFE. TO PERISH IS TO LIVE APART FROM GOD AND TO EXPERIENCE THE CONSEQUENCES OF THAT SEPARATION.
THE SON IS SENT BY THE FATHER. THE PURPOSE OF HIS MISSION IS NOT CONDEMNATION (KRINO) BUT SALVATION. HERE AND AT 12:47 THE PURPOSE OF CHRIST'S MISSION IS NOT JUDGMENT, BUT SALVATION; STILL IN OTHER PLACES (5:30, 8:16 & 26 FOR EXAMPLE) IT IS SAID THAT JESUS DOES JUDGE. THE POINT IS THAT JUDGEMENT IS NOT THE GOAL OF THE REVELATION, ALTHOUGH IT INVARIABLY RESULTS. SAVED (SOTHE) MEANS BROUGHT TO ETERNAL LIFE. V. 18 EXPLAINS THAT JUDGMENT IS THE CONSEQUENCE OF ONE'S DECISION TO BELIEVE OR NOT BELIEVE. TO FAIL TO BELIEVE IS TO BE JUDGED IN THE SENSE OF BEING CONDEMNED; TO BELIEVE IS TO PASS BEYOND JUDGMENT. JOHN ALMOST ALWAYS USES (KRINO) IN ITS NEGATIVE SENSE OF CONDEMNATION, AS THE RSV TRANSLATES IT HERE. THAT IS, THOSE WHO BELIEVE IN CHRIST (THOSE WHO HAVE COME TO THE LIGHT) ESCAPED JUDGMENT (CONDEMNATION) ALTOGETHER, WHILE THOSE WHO DID NOT BELIEVE BY THAT VERY FACT SENTENCED THEMSELVES.
V. 19 ISSUES THE SOBERING JUDGMENT THAT HUMANITY IS CONDEMNED FOR ITS PREFERENCE FOR THE DARKNESS EVEN WHEN THE LIGHT IS IN THE WORLD. JOHN IS PROFOUNDLY REALISTIC REGARDING THE DEPRAVITY OF HUMANITY. JESUS IS A PENETRATING LIGHT THAT PROVOKES JUDGMENT BY MAKING IT APPARENT WHAT A MAN IS. THE ONE WHO TURNS AWAY IS NOT AN OCCASIONAL SINNER, BUT ONE WHO "PRACTICES WICKEDNESS"; IT IS NOT THAT HE CANNOT SEE THE LIGHT, BUT THAT HE HATES THE LIGHT. SIN IN JOHN IS A QUESTION OF RADICAL SIN. DEEDS (ERGA) GIVE EXPRESSION TO THE TRUE NATURE OF A PERSON; AND WHEN THOSE ACTS CANNOT STAND IN THE LIGHT, IT DEMONSTRATES THE PERSON'S LOVE OF THE DARKNESS. A PERSON OF THE DARKNESS DOES NOT WANT THEIR DEEDS EXPOSED (ELENCHTHE, LITERALLY REPROVED--AS IN V. 20). BEHAVIOR WHICH IS TRUE (ALETHEIA) IS BEHAVIOR CONSISTENT WITH THE TRUTH OF THE REVELATION, AND SUCH BEHAVIOR IS DONE WITHIN THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE DIVINE. (V. 21). THIS CONCLUSION CONCERNING DARKNESS MAY BE AN IMPLICIT JUDGMENT OF NICODEMUS WHO CAME UNDER THE COVER OF DARKNESS TO SEE JESUS (V. 2). THE DUALISTIC VOCABULARY HAS REMARKABLE RESEMBLANCES IN THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS, ESPECIALLY 1QS III-IV. (EG. LIGHT/DARKNESS; PR PRACTICING WICKEDNESS/DOING TRUTH).
1: THE FACT: "GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD..."
2: THE ACT: "THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON..."
1) HOW BROAD IS GOD'S LOVE?
2)HOW LONG IS GOD'S LOVE?
3) HOW HIGH IS GOD'S LOVE?
(SEE THE OLD HYMN ON THIS THEME "O LOVE, HOW DEEP, HOW BROAD, HOW HIGH!").
THE PREACHER COULD TAKE MANY DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO THIS TEXT. IN FACT, THAT MAY BE THE PROBLEM IT POSES FOR US. THERE IS SO MUCH IN IT, IT IS SOMETIMES DIFFICULT TO REALLY PREACH A SERMON THAT FULLY MEASURES UP TO IT. IN FACT A RENOWNED SCOTTISH EVANGELIST, ASKED WHY HE NEVER TOOK JOHN 3:16 AS HIS TEXT, REPLIED, "NA,NA! I HAVE THAT IN EVERY SERMON I PREACH." HAVING SAID THAT, THERE ARE SOME DIRECTIONS WE COULD TAKE. ONE APPROACH THAT THE PREACHER COULD TAKE WOULD BE TO GIVE SOME EXAMPLES OF DEEP, ABIDING LOVE, TO CONTRAST THAT WITH GOD'S LOVE. A SECOND STEP WOULD BE TO LOOK AT EVIL IN THE WORLD AND ADDRESS THE ISSUE OF EVIL. FINALLY, CONCLUDING BY LOOKING AT THE WAY GOD'S LOVE IS SUPERIOR BOTH TO OUR LOVE AND THE EVIL IN THE WORLD.
AS WE LOOK AT SOME PEOPLE WHO SHOWED LOVING ACTS, SOME THAT COME TO MIND INCLUDE THE DISCOVERY OF A WAY OF TREATING DIABETES, OR ALBERT SCHWEITZER, OR THE EXAMPLE OF FATHER MAXIMILLIAN KOLBE WHO OFFERED TO TAKE THE PLACE FOR SOMEONE AT AUSCHWITZ. THE POINT IS THAT IN THESE EXAMPLES WE FIND A KIND OF DEEP AND ABIDING LOVE. FOR LOVE IS NEVER WITHOUT THE PRESENCE OF SACRIFICE. THE NEXT STEP WOULD BE TO CONTRAST THAT WITH THE NOBLEST OF ALL SACRIFICES "GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY SON ..." GOD IS THE EMBODIMENT OF LOVE. GOD PERSONIFIES LOVE. WHATEVER WE CAN KNOW OF LOVE, WE KNOW IT IN THE CONTEXT AND THE SELF-DISCLOSURE OF GOD. HERE IS A HEAVENLY FATHER WHO HAS LOVED HIS ONLY SON FROM ALL ETERNITY. YET, THE FATHER LOVES US SO MUCH HE WOULD SEND HIS ONLY SON TO US. THE SOLE DOUBTFUL ELEMENT IS ONLY OUR RESPONSE TO THIS GIFT. JOHN SAYS, "THE LIGHT CAME INTO THE WORLD, BUT MEN LOVED DARKNESS RATHER THAN LIGHT. BONHOEFFER ONCE SAID, "GOD MADE MAN, AND MAN MADE HIMSELF A SINNER." IT WAS BONHOEFFER WHO ONCE OFFERED HIS OWN FOOD TO A HUNGRY FELLOW INMATE AND THEN WAS FORCED TO LISTEN WHILE THE MAN, AN AVOWED ATHEIST, BITTERLY COMPLAINED ABOUT GOD. "HE NEVER DID ANYTHING FOR ME," THE MAN GRUMBLED. BONHOEFFER REPLIED, "HE JUST GAVE YOU MY BREAKFAST." ANOTHER TIME HE AND A GERMAN ARMY CORPORAL, DURING AN INTENSE ALLIED NIGHT BOMBING OF BERLIN, VIEWED THE HOLOCAUST FROM A PRISON ROOF. "CAN YOU LOOK AT THIS AND BELIEVE IN GOD," THE CORPORAL ASKED? "HOW COULD A LOVING FATHER LET THIS HAPPEN?" BONHOEFFER REPLIED, "HOW COULD WE LET THIS HAPPEN TO A LOVING FATHER?"
ANOTHER APPROACH WOULD BE TO LOOK AT THE IMAGES OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS. WHO OF US, REALLY DOES WANT TO STAND IN THE FULL GLARE OF THE LIGHT THAT COMES FROM GOD? WHO COULD SURVIVE IT? STILL, LIGHT PERFORMS MANY FUNCTIONS. THAT LIGHT CAN TEACH US ABOUT GOD--IT CAN TEACH US ABOUT OURSELVES AND IT CAN EXPOSE US. IN FACT THERE ARE SOME WHO DO NOT WANT THE LIGHT. WHAT THEY HAVE IN MIND IS SOMETHING THAT COULD ONLY BE DONE IN THE DARK. SO MUCH DO THEY DESPISE THE LIGHT THAT THEY WOULD EXTINQUISH IT IF THEY COULD. I SUSPECT THERE WERE SURELY SOME WHO WALKED FROM THE CROSS SAYING, "GOOD RIDDANCE." "WELL, THAT IS THAT." "NOW WE CAN GET ON WITH IT ." THE POINT IS THAT A PERSON WHO SQUARES THEIR HEART AND HAND, WHO LETS THE INTENT OF THEIR HEART SHAPE THE DEEDS OF THEIR LIVES, IS THE PERSON WHO HAS NO FEARS. WANT TO LIVE WITHOUT ANXIETY, WITHOUT GUILT, WITHOUT FEAR? THEN WE NEED TO LIVE AS NOT TO FEAR THE LIGHT.
LBW 88 "O LOVE HOW DEEP, HOW BROAD, HOW HIGH"
LBW 98 "ALAS AND DID MY SAVIOR BLEED"
LBW 292 "GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD"
EXEGETE: PASTOR . JAMES STEINBRECHER, PHD, IS A RETIRED ELCA PASTOR LIVING IN NEW LISBON, WI.
Holy God, through your Son you have called us to live faithfully and act courageously. Keep us steadfast in your covenant of grace, and teach us the wisdom that comes only through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
O God, from the family of your servant David you raised up Joseph to be the guardian of your incarnate Son and the husband of his blessed mother. Give us grace to imitate his uprightness of life and his obedience to your commands, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Herod began to rebuild the Temple during the 18th year of his reign (20-19 B.C.) and it was not completed until around A.D. 63 or 64. It was destroyed by the troops of Titus, the Roman general, in the year A.D. 70. Since the text indicates that the construction was forty-six years underway, this would place the event of this text around A.D. 27 or 28.
The "Cleansing of the Temple" story occurs in John's Gospel account after the sign at the Wedding in Cana. In the Synoptics, this event is placed during the week of the crucifixion. In all cases, the incident occurs at the time of Passover (the first of three in John's account, while the Synoptics record only one visit to Jerusalem). And only John directly associates the event with the destruction and rebuilding of the Temple.
Matthew and Luke demonstrate that Jesus cleanses the Temple because of the abuse of worship. Mark's emphasis includes the failure to open the Temple to all peoples. (The fact that the money-changing took place in the Court of the Gentiles denied Gentiles the possibility of prayer in that place.) John's focus is the Temple itself, thus emphasizing that Jesus is replacing the "old" with the "new." In John alone does Jesus compare the Temple to his body. The distorted charge of blasphemy concerning the Temple occurs in Matthew's account of Jesus' trial, not John's.
Finally, since John placed this event so early in his account, he probably had a reason. Perhaps that reason is stated most clearly in John 20:31 (NRSV): "... so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God..." By telling the story in his way, it is possible that John is placing this claim up front.
13Καὶ ἐγγὺς ἦν τὸ πάσχα τῶν Ἰουδαίων, καὶ ἀνέβη εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα ὁ Ἰησοῦς. 14καὶ εὗρεν ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ τοὺς πωλοῦντας βόας καὶ πρόβατα καὶ περιστερὰς καὶ τοὺς κερματιστὰς καθημένους, 15καὶ ποιήσας φραγέλλιον ἐκ σχοινίων πάντας ἐξέβαλεν ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ, τά τε πρόβατα καὶ τοὺς βόας, καὶ τῶν κολλυβιστῶν ἐξέχεεν τὸ κέρμα καὶ τὰς τραπέζας ἀνέτρεψεν, 16καὶ τοῖς τὰς περιστερὰς πωλοῦσιν εἶπεν, Ἄρατε ταῦτα ἐντεῦθεν, μὴ ποιεῖτε τὸν οἶκον τοῦ πατρός μου οἶκον ἐμπορίου. 17Ἐμνήσθησαν οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ὅτι γεγραμμένον ἐστίν, Ὁ ζῆλος τοῦ οἴκου σου καταφάγεταί με. 18ἀπεκρίθησαν οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ, Τί σημεῖον δεικνύεις ἡμῖν, ὅτι ταῦτα ποιεῖς; 19ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Λύσατε τὸν ναὸν τοῦτον καὶ ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις ἐγερῶ αὐτόν. 20εἶπαν οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, Τεσσεράκοντα καὶ ἓξ ἔτεσιν οἰκοδομήθη ὁ ναὸς οὗτος, καὶ σὺ ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις ἐγερεῖς αὐτόν; 21ἐκεῖνος δὲ ἔλεγεν περὶ τοῦ ναοῦ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ. 22ὅτε οὖν ἠγέρθη ἐκ νεκρῶν, ἐμνήσθησαν οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ὅτι τοῦτο ἔλεγεν, καὶ ἐπίστευσαν τῇ γραφῇ καὶ τῷ λόγῳ ὃν εἶπεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς.
13)The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
14)In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.
15)Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.
16)He told those who were selling the doves, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!"
17)His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me."
18)The Jews then said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?"
19)Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."
20)The Jews then said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?"
21) But he was speaking of the temple of his body.
22) After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
2:13 - pascha - Passover. In the depth of all possible meaning, this is not a mere reference to a specific Jewish Passover in the years of Jesus' ministry. Rather, it is primarily a reference to the Passover of Jesus (death and resurrection -- clearly seen as the text unfolds). As the "old" Passover was the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, now centered in the Jerusalem Temple, the "new" Passover is beginning and will be centered in Christ. In the old Temple, those who were faithful worshiped God by sacrificing animals -- but such butchering would no longer be a part of "Temple worship." The "new" Passover will bring a "new" Temple and therefore new "Temple worship."
2:14 - kermatistes - money changer. Literally this word refers to one who exchanges (cuts into small pieces) large money into small. In the old order this was a necessary Temple task. But not in the new order. A new wholeness is on the horizon.
2:15 - ekballo - bring forth, cast out, drive out, expel, send away. 2:15 - anastrepho - to overturn. These verbs are a summary of the ministry of Jesus -- casting out hypocrisy and overturning the old and bringing in the new.
2:17 - zelos - "zeal." Devotion, allegiance and respect. Jesus had a PASSION, complete zeal, a consuming (even time-consuming) zeal, for God's will. the cleansing of the Temple might be seen, simply, as an outward manifestation of that inner zeal. This zeal will cost Jesus his life, it will consume and destroy (katesthio) him. The remembering of Psalm 69:9a is a messianic interpretation. "It is zeal for your house that has consumed me." Psalms 69:9a (NRSV) The verb, though, has been changed from past to future tense -- an obvious look forward to the events that WILL take place in the life Jesus.
2:18 - semeion - a miracle, sign, token, wonder. There is a clear desire to experience something supernatural. John's emphasis on "semeion," in general, demonstrates that those without faith were simply MISSING the presence of the supernatural. John demonstrated that Jesus' ministry was a "ministry of signs" -- and those who asked for a sign were missing what was clearly right in front of them -- Jesus himself!
2:19 - luo - to break up, destroy. The authorities took Jesus literally; but John makes it clear for us that that interpretation was unwarranted (verse 21).
2:19,22 - egeiro - raise up, awake, lift up. In Mark 14:58, we find the term used is "oikodomeo" meaning to build or construct as a house-builder. (Note that, John uses "oikodomeo" in verse 20, translated "under construction" in the NRSV.) John's use of "egeiro" in both of these verses are a clear indication that Jesus in referring to the Resurrection.
This text provides us with a number of possibilities; but each ought to bring the hearer to a challenge to accept, in faith, the word of Christ -- to accept, in faith, the death and resurrection and all that that means for the life of the believer. The text provides various "springboards" to get to the proclamation.
This text is about the Resurrection breaking into the world. And the transformation is not easy. It takes the crack of a whip! This "CRACK!" however is not merely a judgment on the old; it is a crack of hope, of rebuilding, of resurrection. When John was writing this text, the Temple had been destroyed. One message to the community of believers, then, could have been NOT to yearn for "the good ole' days" when they went up to the Temple at Passover. The focus of faith is now the "NEW" Passover! This theme could be highlighted around a title: "Wise Up, O Saints of God!" or "Cracking the Whip!" For, there are yearnings and longings in our lives that need to be cast out and/or overturned.
Exegete: Rev. Ralph J. Mineo is Pastor of St. Luke’s Lutheran, North Baltimore, Ohio.

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