Last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday so we didn't have class, and tonight I’m missing my class because I’m in Hawaii, resting on the lanai, with a warm breeze in my hair, the sound of the surf in my ears, the smell of salt in my nose, and ... well it’s too hard to explain the view. I love to sit and read when I’m here, although we stay pretty busy too. So I saved a bit of my last lecture and will post it now.
In John 6:21, after the Bread of Life discourse Jesus “walks on the water” to meet the disciples in a boat who are on their way to Capernaum, and before He enters the boat, they “immediately arrived at the shore”. Before the reader says "That's not possible" remember that for John’s community it doesn’t matter, because it's meant to be symbolic. John is trying to say "When you are with Jesus you are where you are going".
The story about the woman caught in adultery is understood to have been added later, and she too was probably not a real person. Evidently it appears in various places in very early manuscripts and if it’s skipped the narrative before and after this story is continuous. It is a story about the experience of darkness and through that experience coming to an understanding with Jesus: That even through darkness we can come to know Jesus as our personal savior.
To understand the symbolism of chapters 7 and 8 we return to the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel, who also wrote about the good shepherd and the water of life. Ezekiel was a priest who was dragged into exile with other Jews in about the year 587 BCE. Historically speaking Babylon was the more powerful nation at this time and was expanding its territory. Theologically speaking God was fed up with the people and as a result of their sin and unfaithfulness Jerusalem was being destroyed by Babylon.
God says to Ezekiel, “They are driving me from my Temple” not in reference to the Babylonians, but because of the sins of the people. The issue for Ezekiel is the Holiness of God, and that corruption led to the destruction of the Temple. For Ezekiel even though God left the Temple, the Holiness of God is the force that makes new hope possible. In Ezekiel 36:22-32 we read “Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord GOD: Not for your sakes do I act, house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name, which you profaned among the nations to which you came.It finishes, "Not for your sakes do I act, says the Lord GOD - let this be known to you! Be ashamed and abashed because of your conduct, O house of Israel".
The metaphor of the shepherd points to the end of the exile. Ezekiel was trying to encourage their hope as real, and that if their hope in God remained firm then He would restore them as a people. In Ezekiel God says, “For the sake of my Holy Name which you have profaned” suggesting that God's reputation is at stake. Like watching the parents of tired children at a restaurant, God observed the history of Israel as one long tantrum, with mocking, and exploitation while the other nations watched. "I will prove the holiness of my great name”.
Ezekiel believed that there is nothing we can do to earn the love and protection of God. He acts not because we deserve it but because He wants to be seen as Holy. God's Holiness does not make Him indifferent, but instead presses Him to act on our behalf. For Ezekiel God has never been committed to any social or political system and has never been controlled by any historical setting. Neither is he committed to a specific priesthood or any other system that limits the action of the Spirit.
John chapters 7 and 8 take place in the Temple and the focus on the identity of Jesus as the presence of the Divine Logos among us. Jesus became the new Temple and at the Feast of Tabernacles the symbols water and light highlight the identity of Jesus. For the Jews the feast had become a memorial of God’s protection and care. God was associated closely with the Temple, “The Glory of God filled the Temple” and yet Jesus’ light surpasses even the bread, glory, and light found in the Temple. Jesus is the Glory of God and he is being rejected. Near the end of John chapter 8 Jesus, the Light of the World is beginning to leave this world fulfilling Ezekiel’s prophesy "Then the glory of the LORD left the threshold of the temple and rested upon the cherubim".
The possibility of newness comes from hope, and only hope in God can bring newness of life for us. Obviously it requires too much of us to understand the mind of God, and believing you can is an attempt to manipulate Him. Prayer itself is an act of yielding to the newness and hope found in God. God cannot be restricted. Jesus has affirmed his relationship with the Father and is now acting in judgment on the Jews (remember this is represents all unbelievers) who are turning their backs on Jesus, the new Temple of God.
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