Jesus is God

Commentary on the Deity of Christ in John

Greg Robards

Copyright © 2013 Greg Robards

All rights reserved.

Table of contents

INTRODUCTION

Statement of Thesis

John the Author of the Fourth Gospel

Occasion and Purpose

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

PERSONAL PROFILE

NOTES

INTRODUCTION

Early in his pastoral ministry, this writer discovered that some supposedly mature Christians do not understand that Jesus is God. Making this clear statement in the context of a sermon caused a near revolt among some of the older members of a hundred year old Southern Baptist church. Proclaiming this truth to a Jehovah’s Witness was once met with a gasp and a cry of blasphemy. A large percentage of the American population claims to be Christian. Yet any personal religion that does not recognize the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, fails to meet the most fundamental aspect of Christian faith.

If Jesus were just a good man, or merely a great prophet, He would lack the power to give eternal life. If His wisdom, insight and power were of human origin, He would not be able to raise Himself or anyone else from the dead. Central to saving faith is a realization of who Jesus is. According to the Baptist Faith and Message:

Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever- present Lord.[1]

While most Christians have no problem accepting this all-encompassing statement on Jesus’ person, the writer perceives a need for a definitive work to support the claim that Jesus is “fully God.” Such support may be understood from passages throughout the Bible, but the focus of this study will be limited to the writings of the Apostle John contained in the gospel bearing his name.

Statement of Thesis

The author firmly believes that the Gospel of John provides sufficient scriptural evidence to prove the deity of Jesus Christ. Personal bias for interpretation includes the author’s belief that the Bible is the word of God, without any mixture of error, and the standard measure of all truth. Additionally the author insists that proper interpretation of Scripture can only come as the student considers recorded events in their historical and cultural context. The Bible cannot mean today what it did not mean at the time of its writing. Accepting God’s word on these terms, the Bible reveals the deity of Christ. The scope of this commentary will focus on that single truth as it has been presented in John’s gospel.

In a judicial court, lawyers present direct and circumstantial evidence, to build a case that proves, beyond a reasonable doubt, a person’s innocence or guilt. It is the opinion of this writer that such a case can be built for the deity of Christ from the evidence presented in John’s gospel. This paper provides an apologetic of this truth through a chapter-by-chapter examination of the text. Using the tools of exegesis and referencing the works of scholars to support the case, the writer will prove that Jesus is God in the flesh beyond any reasonable doubt. The student will focus heavily upon eyewitness accounts, Jesus’ claims about Himself and the evidence of His miracles and teachings. Before engaging the text directly, context demands consideration of the author and the occasion and purpose of the gospel accounts.

John the Author of the Forth Gospel

As with the synoptic gospels, the gospel of John nowhere makes a direct claim to authorship. There is however external and internal evidence to support the title, “The Gospel According to Saint John.” Polycarp knew the Apostle John personally. Ireneus, a student of Polycarp, writes about John, the eyewitness of Jesus’ life and miracles, saying that he reported all things in agreement with the scriptures. Eusebius, Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian also provide firm second century support for John’s authorship. This along with the eventual acceptance of the gospel in the Muratorian Cannon, (earliest officially recognized list of New Testament books, AD170) ascribing it to John’s pen, strongly show’s that past generations, closer to the actual writing, understood John to be the author.[2]

Perhaps the most compelling evidence for John’s authorship may be found from deduction of the clues presented in the text. Writing as an eyewitness, the author reveals that he was a Palestinian Jew and one of the twelve Apostles. Rather than directly revealing his name, the author writes of himself as the disciple “whom Jesus loved.”(John 13:23,19:26).  The author mentions all of the apostles, by name, accept for James and John. The author’s proximity to the other apostles in the recorded events further suggests that it he was one of the sons of Zebedee. Since James was the first of the apostles to be martyred, and the author wrote the gospel at a later date, John becomes the best logical choice for authorship.[3] Assuming that the Apostle John is the author, the fact that he was an eyewitness may be confirmed from the introduction to his first epistle:

That which was form the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which    we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may also have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ (1 John 1:1-3).[4]

The testimony of John’s gospel carries great weight because he writes from the perspective of an eyewitness. While the synoptics also follow a narrative form, the gospel of John has internal evidence that it is an eyewitness account. John inserts details that could only be known by one who was present when the recorded occasions took place. He notes that the loaves were made of barley (John 6:9). The disciples rowed twenty-five or thirty furlongs the night Jesus walked on the water (John 6:19). When Jesus changed the water into wine, there were six stone water pots at Canna (John 2:6). At the crucifixion four soldiers gambled for Jesus’ seamless clothes (John 19:23). John knew the exact weight of myrrh and aloes used on Jesus’ body (John 19:39). When Mary anointed Jesus’ feet, John recalls how the perfume filled the house (John 12:3). At the end of the gospel, John was obviously present and speaking of himself when he writes, “This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true (John 21:24).

Having established that John is the author and that he gives an eyewitness account of Jesus’ life and ministry, it is helpful for the student to consider John’s life and character.  John was a disciple of Jesus. Since he outlived his peers, he may have been the youngest in the group. He seemed to have a special relationship with Jesus, referring to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved.

John, along with Peter and James, seemed to enjoy a special relationship with Jesus in His ministry. These men were among the first to be called by Jesus into His ministry. They were the only disciples to be taken into the house of Jarius when Jesus raised his daughter (Mark 5:37, Luke 8:51). The Bible records that these men were witnesses to Jesus’ transfiguration (Matthew 17:1, Mark 9:2, Luke 9:28). They were near Jesus during His agony at Gethsemane (Matthew 26:37, Mark 13:3). These three along with Andrew questioned Jesus about the end times (Mark 13:3).

The Biblical evidence indicates that John was from a wealthy Jewish family with political connections. The family owned a business and employed others (Mark 1:19-20). John knew the High Priest’s servant by name (John 18:10). His family connections may also be seen by the fact that he was familiar with, and allowed to enter, the High Priest’s palace courtyard the night of Jesus’ arrest (John 18:15).

In his youth John was bold and outspoken. Jesus called James and John, “the sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17). John was, at times, intolerant and spoke out against others (Mark 9:38). He could be vindictive, as when he desired to call down fire from heaven (Luke 9:54). He was ambitious, wanting to set at the right or left hand of Jesus when He entered His kingdom (Mark 10:35-37). Jesus found him trustworthy, entrusting his mother to John’s care (John 19:26-27). He learned to love others when he experienced Christ’s love for him (1 John 2:9-11).

Living beyond the years of his peers, the reader learns from his epistles and the book of Revelation that John became a key leader in the church. He had a large following in the churches of Asia Minor. In the later years of his life, Rome exiled him to the Island of Patmos where he received the “Revelation” of God concerning the events of the end times. With this understanding of John the person, the student does well to consider the occasion and purpose of the writing of the Gospel that bears his name.

Occasion and Purpose

Some insights into the occasion and purpose of the writing of John’s gospel may be gained by observing how it differs from the synoptics. John places the timing of the cleansing of the temple at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry rather than at the end. Rather than Jesus being crucified on the day of Passover, the position traditionally held by many, according to John, He was put to death the day before. The other gospels begin Jesus’ ministry with the imprisonment of John the Baptist, while John records an overlapping of their ministries.

The duration of the Lord’s ministry is unclear in the synoptics. One might get a sense that Jesus’ earthly ministry lasted about a year. But John records events around a series of Jewish festivals, giving a time frame of at least three years. The other gospels focus primarily on Jesus’ ministry in Galilee with excursions into Judea and Jerusalem. John primarily focuses on Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem and Judea with excursions into Galilee.

John omits certain events that are recorded elsewhere. He does not mention Jesus’ genealogy, birth, baptism or temptations. John does not record the healings of people possessed by devils and evil spirits. There is no mention of the Last Supper, although the events and the Lord’s teachings of that night are expanded beyond the synoptic records. John does not cover Gethsemane or the ascension of the Lord. Perhaps most striking, John does not include any of Jesus’ parables in his account.

On the other hand there are details specific to John. He records the marriage feast at Canna in Galilee (John 2:1-11). He presents great insights into the gospel, and salvation, by telling the story of Nicodemus coming to Jesus (John 3:1-17). Unthinkable to the Jewish mind, John tells of the time when Jesus went into Samaria and revealed Himself to the woman at the well (John 4). Specific to John is the account of the raising of Lazaurs (John 11), Jesus washing the disciple’s feet (John 13:1-17), His teachings on the Holy Spirit (John 14-17) and some of the personal sayings of the disciples Thomas, Andrew, Philip and Judas.

Noting these differences, the student naturally ponders the question, “Why?” Searching for the answer helps a person to understand the occasion and purpose of the forth gospel. According to Hunter, the reason for the differences between John and the synoptics is that John was, “seeking rapport with a wider world of readers, aimed to tell the story of Jesus in depth, and so reveal its ultimate meaning.”[5] John writes his eyewitness account to an evolved church at a later date than the other gospel writers. According to Keener, “Tradition holds that the Gospel was written in the 90s of the first century; that it could have been written no later has been confirmed by a manuscript fragment of the Gospel dating to the early second century.”[6] This later date of writing would mean that Paul’s ministry to the gentiles would have been completed. The church would by this time be composed of Jews and primarily gentiles. The broader audience did not need a repeat of the gospels already in circulation. They needed a fresh word, from their eyewitness pastor. He would answer the questions and address the problems arising in their contemporary setting.

As led and inspired by the Holy Spirit, John wrote his gospel in the context of the current situation. In the ripeness of age he reflected on the richness of his personal experience. He set out to not just write an account of what happened, but to explain what all this means. To do this he had to write with sensitivity to Greek philosophical concepts. He sought to combat the rise of heresies that had their source in Judaism and the roots of Gnosticism. He would focus on the deity of Christ.

John reveals the purpose of his gospel when he writes, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”(John 20:30-31). To accomplish his purpose, John not only offered his own eyewitness testimony, but also the testimonies of other people who knew Jesus. He offered the testimony of Jesus’ miracles and most importantly he preserved Jesus own testimony about Himself. Through a chapter-by-chapter examination of the text, the writer of this paper will seek to provide the presented evidence to prove John’s case that Jesus is God in the flesh.

CHAPTER ONE

In the first chapter of John’s gospel, he confronts his readers with the terms God, Word, the Only Begotten, Christ, the Father, the Lamb of God, the Son of God and the Spirit of God. Throughout the gospel, and the New Testament in general, the reader gets the sense that the writers sometimes use these terms interchangeably. The context of individual passages ascribes deity to all of these. It is, therefore, important to one’s understanding to begin with a general consideration of the doctrine of the Trinity.

In attempting to offer a doctrinal statement as to the personhood of God, according to the Baptist Faith and Message:

There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfection. God is all-powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.7

While this doctrine may be hard to understand from a strictly human perspective, it none the less attempts to encompass the teaching of Scripture concerning the person and nature of God.

Nowhere in the Bible does the reader find the word Trinity.  While the doctrine clearly states the teachings of the New Testament, understanding how God is able to be one and at the same time three distinct persons is a difficult concept for the human mind to perceive. This doctrine, according to Thiessen, “is not a truth of natural theology, but of revelation.”[ii] Phillips suggests that people incorrectly try to mathematically reconcile God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit through the equation 1+1+1, when the expression would properly be written as 1x1x1. He goes on to say, “Difficult as this concept is to grasp, we are not left without illustrations in the world of time and sense. Ours is a triune universe: space, matter, time. Space is triune: length, breadth, and height. Matter is triune: energy, motion, phenomena; time is triune: past, present, future.”[9] According to Grenz, “Many theologians appeal to the concept of divine attributes in an attempt to pierce through the veil of mystery to the one, eternal divine essence. However, because God is triune - the Father, Son, and Spirit in eternal relationship - our quest to speak of the being and attributes of God actually constitutes an attempt to characterize the relational nature of God - God in relationship”10

Because God is infinite, His nature is greater than the human mind can fully grasp. Thus the doctrine of the trinity evolves out of an individual’s faith that the Bible is the word of God and an understanding that the Scriptures clearly teach this doctrine. The New Testament is replete with examples of Trinitarian language.

There are many instances where the New Testament recognizes the Heavenly Father as God (John 6:27, Romans 1:7, Gal 1:1). Other passages ascribe deity to Jesus the Son of God, such as the instance when Peter declared Jesus to be the Christ (Matt. 16:16) and Jesus’ claims about Himself recorded throughout the gospel of John. In many other places, the scriptures bear witness to the deity of the Holy Spirit. The scriptures declare there is only One True God, and they at the same time ascribe deity to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the trinity encompasses the truths concerning the nature of God in a simple doctrinal statement. This doctrine need not be fully understood, but should be accepted on faith because this is what God has revealed about Himself in His word.

Additional support for the doctrine of the trinity may be found through a grammatical analysis of Scripture. In many instances, either two or all three members of the Godhead are referred to as being on an equal basis with one another. The members of the Godhead are often associated together in their work. The work of God in three persons may be seen in Mark’s account of Jesus’ baptism. (Mark 1:9-11) In Matthew 28:19 Jesus, giving the great commission, places each member of the God-head on an equal footing. Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well shows how Father, Son and Holy Spirit work in concert with one another. (John 4:19-26) In His farewell Sermon to the disciples, Jesus explains how the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are tightly bound to one another. (John 14:1-31)  The writers of the New Testament Epistles also confirm this association. (Romans 1:1-4, 1 Peter 1:2) Perhaps the clearest evidence for the doctrine of the trinity may be understood by considering what the Bible declares concerning the deity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit individually.

This discussion becomes important to understanding the gospel of John because the doctrine rises naturally out of the text. In the very first verses one reads, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him: and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:1-4) John goes on to identify the Word when he writes in verse fourteen, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth.”(John 1:14).

This is John’s introduction to the story of Jesus’ life. In these verses he clearly proclaims that Jesus is the Word, the Word was with God, and in the most direct means possible he says that the Word (Jesus) was God. The deity ascribed here to Christ may be further understood from an understanding of the reason why John chose to call Jesus “the Word.”

John uses the Greek word logos, translated here as “Word”. According to Vincent, “ This expression is the keynote and theme of the entire gospel... (logos) signifies both the outward form by which the inward thought is expressed, and the inward thought itself.”11 Vincent goes on to write, “As Logos has the double meaning of thought and speech, so Christ is related to God as the word to the idea, the word being not merely a name for the idea, but the idea itself expressed.... The logos of John is the real, personal God, the Word, who was originally before the creation with God, and was God, one in essence and nature, yet personally distinct; the revealer and interpreter of the hidden being of God; the reflection and visible image of God, and the organ of all His manifestations to the world.”12

Logos ,in Hebrew thought, can refer to human words, God’s word of prophetic revelation or the creative and effective word of God. In Greek thought, philosophers used the word as a term for the underlying coherence or principle of the universe.13 The Jews understood the concept of the powerful word of God, while Greeks understood the concept of reason. John chose the perfect term that would convey, to both Jews and Greeks, the philosophical concept of Jesus and His relationship to God.

John’s assertions that Jesus existed in the beginning (He is eternal) and that He is the creator of everything that has been made, are unmistakable characteristics that can only be attributed to God. John in effect reveals that God has always been like Jesus, thus in Christ God has revealed Himself to a greater extent than He ever did in the Old Testament. Because the Word was with God, there is an intimate and unbreakable connection between Jesus and God. Only through Jesus can a person know God and understand His will for their life.

Because the logos was God, the Jew would understand that Jesus is the Messiah. Gentiles unfamiliar with Judaism might not understand the concept of Messiah, but the Greeks would be able to understand that Jesus is perfectly identical with God in essence. Jesus and God are the same in heart, mind and spirit. To see Jesus in the flesh is to see an exact representation of God who is Spirit. Thus Jesus is both the same as God and He is God, yet distinctive in His personage.

Using the concept of the logos, John describes Jesus as the agent of creation. He does so purposefully to combat the gnostic heresies that were already threatening the church in his day. Gnosticism grew naturally out of Greek philosophy. It did not become a formally recognized religion until the second and third centuries, but it seems apparent that its core beliefs were threatening the truth of the gospel in John’s day. Gnostic doctrines portray the true God as a pure spirit who dwells in pure light, totally separated from this dark world. The world is evil and therefore all matter is evil. The God of the Gnostics is far off and remote from the created order.14

John portrays the creator God of his gospel in direct opposition to gnostic belief. Jesus created the material world out of nothing. It is His creation. It belongs to Him. He is not detached but intimately involved, caring for, overseeing and in control of the physical universe. He is personally involved in the lives and affairs of the people in His creation. Thus rather than being removed from humankind, He has made Himself available to be known personally by those who entrust themselves to Him.

John continues to reveal the deity of Jesus when he writes in verse four, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” This verse introduces themes, occurring throughout the gospel, where John contrasts light and darkness, and life and death. Speaking of verse four, Beasley-Murray writes, “The Logos is Mediator not only in the act of creation, but in its continuance. Hence life and light include the life and the light which come to man in both creation and new creation. Our Gospel emphasizes the latter aspect, since it is concerned with the saving action of the Logos-Son for humankind, but the new creative work presupposes the original creative action of the Logos and is its goal.”15 Thus Jesus becomes not only the source of original life, but He is the sustaining power of eternal life.

Brown writes, “It is John in particular who portrays Jesus Christ as light breaking in upon the darkness of the world. Already in the prologue to his Gospel, light and life are linked together, i.e. Christ is the only remedy for men who by nature are in darkness.”16 Thus John’s use of the terms light and life speak directly to the deity of Jesus Christ. Because of the deity of Jesus, those who believe in Him have life through His name (John 20:31). Jesus desires that people come to Him so that they might have life (John 5:40) and that they might have life more abundantly (John 10:10). Those to whom He gives life can never be snatched out of His hand (John 10:28). In John 14:6 one reads, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

The life Jesus gives is the opposite of destruction, condemnation and death. Whoever believes in Jesus shall not perish but have everlasting life (John 3;16, 5:24). Everyone will experience resurrection either to life or to judgment (John 5:29), but those who have life through Jesus will never perish (John 10:28). The life Jesus brings is not independent of the life the Father gives. They are the same, because it is the will of the Father that whoever believes in Jesus should have life (John 6:40). Jesus gives life because the Father set His seal of approval on Him (John 6:27). Jesus gives life to as many as the Father has given him (John 17:2)

The life Jesus brings is the light of men. In verse 5 one reads, “And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” John portrays Jesus as the light of the world (John 8:12, 9:5, 12:46). He is the light in men (John 11:10) and believers become children of light (John 12:36). John uses of the terms, light and life, point to the divine truth of Jesus’ sovereignty over the affairs of humankind. Through believing (used 70x in John) a person passes from death to life, and from darkness to light. John uses the terms life and light to show the divine nature of God’s action in Christ. This spiritual miracle can only be attributed to God. Nothing of natural means could accomplish what God has done supernaturally through the gospel.

In verses six through nine, the gospel presents John the Baptist as a reliable witness to the deity of Jesus. God sent John as a prophet, to be a witness to the people, that Jesus was the supernatural light of God, through whom God would give life. Jesus would not only speak for Himself, He had God’s prophet to testify on His behalf. According to John the Baptist Jesus is, “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”(John 1:9).

In verse 10, John repeats his assertion that Jesus created the world. For the second time in one chapter he portrays Jesus as the creator God of the universe. He came to give life and light, although many did not receive Him. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”(John 1:12) Verse 13 reveals that a person who becomes a son of God has been born of God. Thus the work of Christ is the work of God. Faith in Christ is faith in God. To be born again in Christ is to be born again by God.

In verse fourteen John summarizes his prologue and ties his claims together. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” Keeping the verse in context, the Word, which became flesh, can be none other than Jesus, the subject of the gospel. The Word that was with God and was God from the beginning, the Word by which all things were created, the Word that brings life, light and salvation to humankind, John here identifies as being Jesus.

In this verse John offers himself as an eyewitness. He proclaims that he and his companions beheld His glory. In effect John proclaims that the Logos (creator, reason, order in the universe) has become flesh and that he and his companions have seen him with their own eyes. He also portrays Jesus as the only begotten of the Father. At least twenty-eight more times in the Gospel, John will write of Jesus being the unique Son of God or Son of the Father. God, who is Spirit, entered His creation in the form of one of His created beings. God became a person so that people might relate to Him personally. In this opening section of the Gospel, John identifies Jesus’ person and offers the witness of John the Baptist, along with his own, that Jesus is God in the flesh. Using the plural pronoun “we” in verse fourteen, he includes the testimonies of the other eyewitnesses to back up the proclamation of Jesus’ deity.

The prologue of John’s gospel clearly proclaims the deity of Christ. Within the biography of Jesus’ life that follows, the reader discovers the recording of many other witnesses to support this claim. Beginning with an actual account with John the Baptist near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, and ending with His dealings with the Apostles after His resurrection, the overwhelming body of evidence supports the truth that Jesus is God in the flesh.

As in the prologue, John 1:15-36 portrays John the Baptist in his role as a witness of Jesus. As a prophet he proclaimed the coming of the Christ. As an eyewitness of God’s sign of a dove descending on Jesus, he proclaimed Jesus to be the promised One. John the Baptist, in these verses, gives his testimony that Jesus is the Christ; He is the only begotten Son of the Father, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world and the Son of God. All of these titles ascribe deity to Jesus.

John refers to Jesus as the Christ nineteen times in his gospel. The word Cristos is the Greek translation of the Hebrew and Aramaic word “Messiah” and understood to be a proper name for Jesus.17 The word literally means, “One who has been anointed.”18 On this subject Douglas and Tenney write that the term refers to Israel’s hope for a future anointed king. They go on to say:

He (Messiah) will destroy the world powers in an act of judgment, deliver Israel form her enemies, and restore her as a nation. The Messiah is the king of the future kingdom to who’s political and religious domination the other nations will yield. His mission is the redemption of Israel and his dominion is universal. This is the clear picture of the Messiah in practically all of the OT passages that refer to him. The Messiah will put an end to war, for he is the Prince of Peace, and he will rule righteously over his people. He himself is righteous and is called the righteous Messiah or the Messiah of righteousness (Jer. 23:6). But this implies more than just a judgment and government of his people. The term “righteousness” when used in connection with the Messiah is inseparably related to salvation...At the same time it is often emphasized that by his righteousness the Messiah will establish justice and righteousness, in the ethical sense, in the land. Sin will be rooted out, and Israel will become a holy people.19

Although Israel did not fully understand the nature of the Christ, the facts that He would be God’s anointed and the fulfillment of the prophesies written about Him, indicate His life and ministry were of divine origin.

In verse 18, John writes, “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. ”Beasley-Murray translates this verse, “God no one has ever seen. The only Son, by nature God, who is ever close to the Father’s heart, has brought knowledge of him.” Of this verse he goes on to say, “The prime reference is to the relationship to God of the Son in his life of flesh and blood, but it naturally extends to his pre-existent and post-Resurrection relationship to the Father. The finality of the revelation of God through the Logos-Son could hardly be more strongly expressed.”20 This verse thus expresses Jesus’ uniqueness in that He alone has seen the God and He enjoys a unique relationship with His Father. Being in the Father’s bosom makes Jesus one with Him. In becoming God’s Son, Jesus physically presents God who is Spirit. In Christ God has made Himself known to humankind.

In verse twenty-nine, John the Baptist also refers to Jesus as “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” This title for Jesus indicates that He is God’s instrument for His activity to take away the sin of all people for all times. Since God alone can accomplish the removal of sin, the title shows that God worked in Christ to accomplish His purposes in redemption. More than a man, God in Christ would provide the sacrifice necessary to provide the means for forgiveness of sins.

In John 1:23 one reads, “He (John the Baptist) said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.” Speaking as a prophet, he affirms his authority by showing that through his words, he fulfilled prophecy concerning the coming Messiah. In John 1:26-27 he ascribes greater worth to the One who would come. In verse twenty-nine he confirms that Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning the Messiah.

John’s words concern the testimony of the Spirit of God. John proclaims in verse thirty-two that he saw the Spirit descend on Jesus, just as God had told him it would happen. Jesus accepted John’s testimony. The Spirit confirmed the testimony so that the three are in agreement. He ends this portion of his testimony with verse thirty- four, “And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God.

John’s gospel refers to Jesus as the Son of God twenty-nine times. Sometimes others refer to Jesus this way and sometimes Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of God. While there is a sense that Christians are all sons of God, Jesus is unique in bearing the nominative title. As seen in verse eighteen, He is the only begotten Son.

The remainder of the chapter (John 1:35-51) focuses on Jesus calling His first disciples. In these verses the reader discovers several witness to the deity of Christ. In verse thirty-five, John the Baptist reveals to two of his disciples that Jesus is the Lamb of God. Andrew understood John’s claim because he said in verse forty-one, “We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.” In verse forty-five, Philip testified to Nathaniel, “We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” When Nathaniel met Jesus he professed, “Rabbi, thou are the Son of God; thou are the King of Israel.”(John 1:49).  Finally Jesus foretells of an event where the testimony of angles ascending and descending on Him, which would, at the Mount of Transfiguration, testify to His divinity.(John 1:51).

In this verse Jesus speaks of Himself as the Son of man. This title for Christ occurs in John’s gospel twelve times. On the surface it might not seem to be a term of deity. Jesus uses the term however, to speak of His incarnation and total identification with humankind. If He were not deity, then incarnation would not have been necessary. Because Jesus chose to identify so completely with humankind and to live as a man, the title becomes appropriate in pointing to His deity.

With the completion of his prologue and the introduction of John the Baptist and the first disciples, John moves on to give an eyewitness account of Jesus’ life and ministry. Jesus’ ministry, teaching and the record of His miracles begin with account of the marriage feast in Cana. Here Jesus performed His first recorded miracle and revealed His glory to His disciples.

CHAPTER TWO

In chapter two, John records the early events in Jesus’ ministry. He points to Jesus’ divinity by introducing His ability to perform supernatural miracles. He affirms Jesus’ authority by recording the events surrounding the clearing of the Temple, which Jesus equates as being His Father’s house. These events resulted in people believing in His name, which further declares His divinity.

Jesus’ physical presence at the marriage feast in Cana, and the first mention of His mother, presents the Lord in His humanity. But the events that follow proclaim His divine authority. In verse three, Jesus’ mother approached Him with a problem. The host of the party had not provided sufficient wine for all the guests. In verse four, “Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come.”

Some have questioned the social benefit of this first recorded miracle. Others use it as a justification for consumption of alcoholic beverages. Compared to the other miracles, this one may seem trivial or extravagant. The purpose of the miracle may be understood from considering Tasker’s words where he writes, “for none of the miracles of Jesus were kind actions to alleviate human distress and nothing more. They were, as this Gospel invariably calls them, signs displaying the glory of Jesus and the wonder of His redeeming love.21 As Barclay says, “ We must always remember that beneath John’s simple stories there is a deeper meaning which is open only to those who have eyes to see. In his entire gospel, John never wrote an unnecessary or an insignificant detail. Everything means something and everything points beyond.22

Jesus’ apparent hesitation to deal with the situation and His statement that His time had not yet come, points to God’s greater plan for His purpose in Christ. Throughout the gospel one sees that Jesus’ actions and teachings led to a progressive hatred of the Jewish leaders towards Him. The consummation of their hatred would result in Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection from the grave. The time had not yet come to set these things into motion, but as an expression of His love and grace, Jesus granted His mother’s request. This foreknowledge of future events, and the divine plan of God, emphasized Jesus’ divine understanding.

In verse five one reads, “His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.” In this verse Jesus’ mother exhibits great faith in her son. She understands His supernatural abilities. As His mother, Mary was very close to her son. She understood that her son had a special presence of God. In faith she asked, knowing that He could deliver. After recording the events that followed, John writes in verse eleven, “This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.”

The Greek word translated as glory is transliterated as doxa. According to Vine, Unger and White, “Glory primarily signifies an opinion, estimate, and hence, the honor resulting from a good opinion. It is used of the nature and acts of God in self-manifestation, i.e., what He essentially is and does, as exhibited in whatever way he reveals Himself in these respects, and particularly in the person of Christ, in whom essentially His “glory” has ever shown forth and ever will do.”23 In revealing His glory, John identifies Jesus as showing forth the glory of God.

The miracle had the effect that his disciples believed on him. The word used in this instance, which is central to John’s gospel, is transliterate as pistuo. John uses the word in its various forms ninety-nine times. Simply translated the word means to believe or to believe in something. In terms of religion it means, “belief in a special sense, as faith in the Divinity that lays special emphasis on trust in his power and his nearness to help, in addition to being convinced the he exists and that his revelations or disclosures are true. In our lit, God and Christ are objects of this faith.”24

When speaking of the miracles of Christ, the synoptic Gospel writers tend to use the Greek word transliterated as dunameis, whereas John chooses the word transliterated as semeion, used sixteen times throughout the gospel. The former refers to mighty works, but John prefers to refer to the miracles as signs. These signs, according to John’s account, are indicative of the deity of Christ. The miracles themselves become a witness that Jesus is God in the flesh.

After the miracle in Cana, the narrative moves forward to the account of the first Passover during Jesus’ ministry. Disgusted with the actions of the people selling in the Temple courtyard, Jesus drove the merchants out. Interestingly the Synoptics place this event at the end of Jesus’ ministry, while John records the actions at the beginning. Perhaps the best explanation is that Jesus did this both near the beginning and again near the end of His ministry. The significance for John however may be found in what the reader finds recorded in verse sixteen, “And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house and house of merchandise.”

Jesus’ reference to His Father’s house shows that He had a unique relationship with the God of the Jewish Temple. Dods writes, “ At His first visit to the Temple He had called it His Father’s house...He does not say “your Father’s house” nor “our Father’s house”, but “my Father’s .” In this word and in His action His Messiahship was implied.”25

In verse seventeen one reads, “And his disciples remembered that it was written, the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.” This statement is a reference to Psalm 69:9. John inserts the information here to point to the fact that Christ fulfilled Old Testament prophecy by His actions at the temple. The Psalm that foretold of the coming Messiah had been fulfilled in Christ.

While the disciples could understand this truth in retrospect, the Jewish officials were offended and demanded a sign to show by what authority Jesus did these things. His response may be found in verse nineteen where John records, “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” With His answer, Jesus gave a prophecy concerning His impending death and resurrection from the dead. This was the very purpose for His coming. This is the first recorded event where Jesus clearly predicted what would happen concerning His sacrifice and victory over sin and death. His deity may be seen in His prediction, but even more so by His fulfillment through the resurrection.

In verse twenty-two John writes, “When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them: and they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said.” Again John offers an eyewitness account of what Jesus said, and what He did. He adds the testimony of the other disciples to his own to validate his claims in case they were met with skepticism. The scriptures, the disciples, Jesus Himself, His works and prophetic utterances all proclaim His deity. The result for His true followers was that of belief in Him.

It is interesting to note in verse twenty-three, “Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.” John records eight specific miracles of Jesus, but this verse indicates that Jesus performed many other miracles. Through these, others placed their faith in Jesus. The miracles served a purpose beyond the personal impact of the person directly involved. Jesus’ actions were signs to enable people of all ages to place their faith in Him because He is God in the flesh.

Chapter two concludes with verses twenty-four and twenty-five which read, “But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.” According to Walvoord and Zuck, “Jesus knew that a temporary excitement or a faith based on signs was not sufficient. Many of the early followers later turned back when He did not take up the role of a political king. Until His death and resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit, The foundation for faith was not fully laid. Having supernatural knowledge, Jesus does not need human help to evaluate men. As God, He sees beyond the superficial to people’s hearts.”26

CHAPTER THREE

The setting of this passage of scripture is in Judaism. Beginning in chapter three one finds a conversation with a man named Nicodemus. John identifies him as a man of the Pharisees. The word Pharisee means, “the separated ones”.27 The Pharisaic movement came about as a result of the Maccabean Revolt. As a result Israel developed a new order of Judaism government, which was known as the Gerouia or Senate. In a general sense the Pharisees were successors to the Hasidim.28 They were political leaders who were made up of mostly laymen. The Pharisees were very legalistic toward the written law and the oral tradition. They held on to the traditions of the elders. They believed that history is divinely controlled. They believed in the resurrection and angelology. They regarded themselves as the true pious of Israel and looked toward the coming of the Messiah. There were other parties such as the Sadducees and the Essenes who held different views, but the Pharisees had the backing of the majority of the common people.

Jesus opposed the Pharisees because of their legal piety and practice of the law, which put them in conflict with the law’s intent. Jesus set Himself above the law and in conflict with the oral traditions of the Pharisees. While Jesus speaks out against the Pharisees, there are passages such as the one presented here where Jesus has a friendly exchange with one of the members of the sect.

A sharp separation develops between Judaism and Christianity in the early church, and the role of the Pharisees diminishes. The apostolic writings do not mention them. Some works follow the New Testament tradition and use the phrase “Scribes and Pharisees”, such as the writing of Justin, but offer no further insights into the nature of the Pharisee’s beliefs. Some Christian Gnostic texts also mention Pharisees negatively.

Jesus’ ministry and teachings were in direct conflict with the traditions held by the Pharisees. Jesus repeatedly criticized the Pharisees and the scribes who considered themselves to be the elite religious leaders in Israel. Nicodemus recognized that Jesus was a teacher who had come from God (3:2), because of the signs and miracles that Jesus performed, but he could not reconcile Jesus’ teachings with his own beliefs. His strict adherence to the law blinded him to the spiritual insights that Jesus tried to explain. Thus in this narrative the reader sees the conflict between what God desires for His people as opposed to the people’s desire to have a relationship with God through their own righteousness.

A proper insight into Jesus’ teaching to Nicodemus requires an understanding of the words used in the narrative. The Greek word transliterated as pneuma, comes from the Greek root pneo, which means to breath. 29 The general usage of the word includes wind, breath, life, or soul. It also may mean a transferred sense of spirit, which gives a divine power or inspiration. Originally the word was not used in the spiritual sense that it is used in the New Testament.

Old Testament usages of pneuma include a breath of wind, air or mouth. It is the principle of the divine creative power and inner nature of the personal being of God. By the pneuma God gives life to the body. It may refer to the seat of emotion, or how one is divinely affected.

Word usage in the New Testament includes several different meanings. Sometimes it refers to the Holy Spirit of God which is the third person of the Trinity.30 It may refer to a supernatural non-material being, an evil spirit or Ghost. In other instances it refers to the inner being, a way of thinking, a wind or breath.31

John uses pneuma throughout his other works. Sometimes he speaks of the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth, or the Holy Spirit. In other places he speaks of the inner being, the breath of life from God, or the spirit of prophecy.

The usage in this passage refers to the Holy Spirit as distinct from the water. The presence and creating and informing energy for rebirth come from the Spirit. In verse eight the word carries the meaning of wind or sound. The Spirit is the use of pneuma as a metaphor. The Holy Spirit works His own way beyond the comprehension of man, just as the wind blows and man does not know from or to where.

Jesus uses pneuma in this passage because this word carries both the meaning of God’s Holy Spirit which brings about change in a person’s life, and the meaning of the invisible qualities of the wind which a person can feel and hear but cannot see. In the same way a person who is born again is changed by the invisible power of God. The Spirit cannot be seen, but the regenerate person knows that He is present. Jesus’ usage of this word three times in two verses presents a powerful picture of God’s work in the redemption of man.

A second word, who’s meaning carries theological importance, is the word transliterated as anothein. The root of this word comes from ano, which means above, and the suffix, which denotes from. Anothein means from above, the opposite of below.32  Philo used this word to describe the difference between the upper and the lower world, referring to heaven and earth. He also used the word in connection with Gnostic levels.

Anothein occurs thirteen times in the New Testament. It is used to speak of heaven as above and not below. Matthew uses the word to speak of an extension from a source, which is above. He also uses the word to describe the curtain, which was torn from top to bottom. In Galatians, Paul says believers should seek things from above. There is another usage of the word indicating a subsequent point of time involving repetition, as in to do something again. In Luke and Acts it sometimes refers to a relatively long period in the past.

In John chapter three, the word is an idiom, which means to be born again, to change one’s way of life, or to experience a new birth or rebirth. Jesus speaks of a person who is born again and from above. This is a distinct play on the two meanings of the word. Elsewhere in John, the author speaks of origin being of God, of flesh, or of Spirit, but John 3:3 favors born from God and from above.

In context with what Jesus says to Nicodemus in John 3:1-8, it seems that the choice of the Greek word carries both the meaning from above and again. Jesus says in verse three that “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God”, the kingdom of God being understood to be from above. Thus the word carries the meaning above. Clearly Nicodemus’ response in verse four, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?”, shows that he understood Jesus to speak of being born again, a second time. Jesus’ response in verses seven and eight shows that this is not to be a mystery but the revelation of the spiritual truth.

The text of chapter three clearly indicates that Jesus had the wisdom of God in His understanding of God’s plan for the salvation of sinful people. In verse one the author introduces the reader to the major character in the narrative, a man named Nicodemus. The reader learns that he is a Pharisee. Because he was a member of the Jewish ruling council, he was a man of some authority and respect.

As seen in verse two, Nicodemus came to Jesus at night. He may have come at that time, rather than during the day, because he was afraid of what other people might say about their meeting. A second possibility is that he may have just chosen a time when his conversation with Jesus would be uninterrupted.33

Nicodemus greets Jesus in a very complementary way. He recognizes Jesus as a Rabbi or teacher. He also says that he knows that Jesus is from God. He points to the miracles and supernatural works as evidence that these actions could only come from God.

Jesus answers, not with further compliments that lead nowhere, but with a statement of truth. In verse three He plunges into the heart of the subject. His use of the Hebrew words that mean amen and amen, translated verily, verily, help to underscore the importance of what He is about to say.34 This choice of words keys the reader in to the fact that this is a truth that must not be missed. The promised kingdom of God will not be seen by anyone who has not been born again.

Using the Greek word conveys the idea of being born a second time, but it also carries the meaning of being born from above. Thus with Jesus’ choice of words the reader begins to understand that the dual nature of this second birth is a supernatural and a spiritual event.35

Nicodemus misunderstands the true nature of this spiritual truth. In verse four his responds indicates that he understood Jesus to be talking about a physical birth. In his mind it would be impossible for a person to be born a second time. To him regeneration was a physical impossibility.36

Jesus continues to press His point by saying that a person must be born of water and of Spirit in order to see the kingdom of God. Jesus speaks, in verse five, of being born of water as a symbolism of the baptism of John. Thus He uses spirit and water together to show that cleansing and endowment are both essential elements in a spiritual rebirth.37

In verse six Jesus continues to show the importance of spiritual rebirth. He states that flesh gives birth to flesh, and He continues by saying that spirit gives birth to spirit. A person cannot be born of the spirit through the actions of the flesh. They are in contrast to one another, just as the work from above is in contrast to the work from below. Jesus tells Nicodemus in verse seven that this teaching should not surprise him. It is a truth for him to understand.

By His selection of the word pneuma in verse eight; Jesus gives further insight into the nature of spiritual rebirth. By context the reader understands that Jesus uses the same word to mean both wind and Spirit. The Spirit is immaterial and not seen with the eyes of flesh, and yet like the wind, which is not seen, one can know its presence. The Spirit breaths where He wills and the natural man cannot comprehend it, nor can he comprehend the man who is born of the Spirit.38

Man is unable to save himself. He is both helpless and hopeless unless there is a regenerative spiritual rebirth, which comes from God, who is above. God works His will through His Spirit in the hearts of men to bring about this new birth. The Spirit cannot be seen with physical eyes but His presence will be felt in the life of the person affected. Unless a person is born again, there is no possibility for eternal life in the kingdom of God.

This greatest of all truths has been revealed by God through the lips of Jesus and recorded in these verses. Such wisdom and insight into the mind of God presents strong evidence for the deity of Christ. The fact that Nicodemus did not understand Jesus words supports the truth of His statements. While John clearly portrays Christ having the complete wisdom of God, verses ten through twenty-one record some of Jesus claims about Himself, and His relationship to these truths, that further support His claim to deity.

In verse eleven one reads, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.” Jesus’ use of plural pronouns prompts the reader to consider whom, other than Himself, is He referring to? The best answer may be found from the context of the passage. To this point the subject has been the kingdom of God and the role of the Spirit. Thus the “We” of verse eleven is a Trinitarian testimony of God in three persons, Father, Son and Spirit, all in agreement.

Jesus continues in verse twelve to reveal that He is speaking of heavenly things, which cannot be understood from the perspective of a worldly mind. He further reveals His deity in verse thirteen where Jesus says, “And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.” As Morris writes concerning this verse, “Jesus now makes it clear that He can speak authoritatively about things in heaven, though no one else can...Throughout the Gospel John insists on Jesus’ heavenly origin. This is one way in which he brings out his point the Jesus is the Christ.”39 Additionally Jesus’ reference to Himself as the “Son of Man, which occurs thirteen times in John, suggests His incarnate state as God in the flesh.

In verse fourteen, the reader discovers one of Jesus’ prophecies concerning His eventual death and resurrection. The fact that Jesus would predict these things in advance, and then perfectly fulfill them, suggests divine abilities. In verses fifteen through twenty-one, Jesus reveals His purpose and God’s plan for the provision of the forgiveness of sins and a restored relationship with Him.

Faith in Jesus yields eternal life, according to verse fifteen. Verse sixteen reveals that this is God’s action of love toward sinful humans and the Son, Jesus, is His agent of grace. God is the One doing these things, yet it is faith in Jesus that makes salvation possible. Thus the literary context of the passage ties the Father and Son together so that they are indivisible in nature or purpose. Coming to Jesus is coming to God. Failing to come to Jesus is failing to come to God.

The remainder of chapter two focuses on John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus. Here too the gospel gives evidence to the deity of Christ. After John’s disciples came with their concerns that people were going to Jesus instead of him, John the Baptist gives clear testimony that Jesus is the Christ, that He is greater, and John is content to become less in the eyes of the people (verses 27-30). In the remaining verses he proclaims that Jesus is above all, and that He is from heaven. John goes on to say that Jesus’ testimony has come from heaven and that accepting Jesus’s testimony is the same as accepting the testimony of God.

In verse thirty-four one reads, “For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.” This verse is another instance of Trinitarian language. John the Baptist mentions each member of the Godhead in perfect unity with one another. God sent His Son, the Son speaks the words of God, and God accomplishes all of this by His Spirit. Verse thirty-five reads, “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.” Literally, everything that is of God is in Jesus’ hands. Verse thirty-six proclaims, eternal life comes by believing in the Son.

CHAPTER FOUR

Chapter four contains the record of two events in which Jesus reveals His divine identity. In the first instance Jesus reveals Himself personally to a Samaritan woman. The result of this encounter is that she and many of the people from that area believed in Him. Similarly, the second recorded miracle of Jesus resulted in a royal official and his household placing their faith in Him. From both of these accounts, the reader discovers additional evidence as to the divinity of Christ.

It would seem impossible to Jewish thinking that the promised Messiah would be found addressing a Samaritan woman. Yet this early ministry, outside Jewish boarders, expresses the greater mission of Christ to the whole world. It confirms Jesus’ words of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Jesus begins to reveal Himself in verse ten where one reads, “Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.” Jesus’ response to the woman would invoke three thought provoking questions: Who is he? What is the gift of God? What is living water? Dealing with the text to answer these implied questions once again reveals Jesus’ true identity.

Jesus often used physical illustrations to reveal spiritual truth. According to Borchert, “Jesus’ words concerning living water fit well with the Gospel’s love for double-level language that so often demonstrated the people’s misunderstanding of Jesus...Such a double-level meaning was present in the conversation with Nicodemus concerning two senses of birth (John 3:3-6). Here the double meaning concerns two senses of living water.”40

The narrative of the text obviously reveals the woman’s misunderstanding of Jesus’ words. Thinking in terms of her flesh, she at first missed the spiritual significance of Jesus’ teaching. Had she been more familiar with Old Testament Scriptures, she might have seen the analogy drawn by Jesus. In Isaiah 12:2-3 one reads, “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.” The psalmist declares in Psalm 42:1, “As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.” As the prophet records in Isaiah 44:3-4, “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.”

When God accused Israel of forsaking Him, Jeremiah wrote in chapter two verse thirteen, “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold not water.” Ezekiel records a vision of the river of life in Ezekiel 47:1-2 where he writes, “Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the alter. Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side.”

Speaking of the coming Messiah, Zechariah 13:1 records, “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” Then referring to a future time when Jerusalem will be the center of all worship he writes, “And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.” (Zechariah 14:8).

Examination of these scriptures reveals that living water is the Old Testament promise of a special gift from God. These passages tie the gift to the coming Messiah. Jesus claims that He can give the woman living water, thus making a claim early in their conversation that He is the Messiah. Other Messianic Scriptures in this context include Isaiah 49:10 which reads, “They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.” The fulfillment in Christ Jesus may be seen not only in this passage, but also in the feeding of the five thousand, recorded in John chapter six.

Other relevant passages include Psalm 36:9 where one reads, “For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.” Likewise in Jeremiah 17:13, the scripture declares, “O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.” In Isaiah 35:7a the prophet writes, “And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water.”

It may be seen from an examination of these passages that Jesus had a total grasp of the Old Testament Scriptures. He chose His use of the words “living water” as an analogy because of the fact that God’s promises were being fulfilled in Him. The text reveals that Jesus’ illustration was lost on the woman. Still thinking in worldly terms, she could not yet grasp the truth of Jesus words. Her lack of understanding became an opportunity for Jesus to reveal Himself to a greater extent.

Jesus reveals the truth concerning the nature of the living water when he says in verses thirteen and fourteen, “Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” Life to the fullest, life with meaning and purpose, life without end can only be experienced when lived in the manner intended by the creator. In this passage, the creator, already identified as Jesus in the first chapter, offers the secret of eternal life. Each person has a basic spiritual thirst that can only be satisfied by the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the living water.

The conversation recorded in verses fifteen through eighteen reveal that the woman wanted what Jesus offered, but still lacked an understanding of its nature or how to receive it. Expressing her desire, Jesus confronts her with her sin. It seems unlikely that Jesus would have known the history of this woman. Jews and Samaritans did not associate, nor did they have a concern for one another. Jesus would probably have had rare occasion to be in that area, yet He had intimate divine knowledge of her life and her need. God alone has omniscience, and in these verses one understands that Jesus has the mind of God.

In verse nineteen the woman confesses Jesus to be a prophet and seems to change the subject. Perhaps she did not want to deal with her sin, or perhaps she truly desired to know how to go about offering acceptable worship in order to deal with her sin. Whatever the case, Jesus continues to reveal Himself through the conversation.

In verses twenty-three and twenty-four, Jesus said, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” Of these verses Phillips writes, “The Lord lifted her thoughts to a living, loving Father, one who yearned for the worship of any - Jew or Samaritan - who would worship him in spirit and truth. What was needed for that, of course, was the regeneration of the Spirit of God, so that she could worship in spirit, and a full revelation of the Son of God, so that she could worship in truth.”41 In these verses, Jesus continues to build His case that in order to worship God correctly; one must approach God through faith in His Son.

The woman overwhelmed at Jesus’ words of wisdom, suspects that He might be the Messiah. Jesus confirms His identity in verse twenty-six with the words, “I that speak to you am he.” Here is a clear statement from Jesus that He is the Messiah. He is the truth. He is the means by which a person may know and worship God. While His identity still remained a mystery to the Jews, God in Christ revealed Himself to Samaritan women, and then to the people living in that community. He was not concerned about Zealots trying to make Him king in Samaria, nor was He in danger of being arrested prematurely while in that region. He simply had the freedom on that occasion to reveal that He is the promised one. He is the Messiah, God incarnate, come to make genuine truth and worship available to all who would believe in Him.

An interesting point may be made that might be missed by studying modern translations alone. Jesus uses the words transliterated as egw eimi (I am), to reveal Himself as the Messiah. One might argue that this use is coincidental, but as will be seen later in this commentary, there were times when Jesus applied this term to Himself where the Jews picked up stones to kill Him. The Jews opposed Jesus speaking these words of Himself, because they were words used as the name of God.

This tradition rose out of Israel’s history. When Moses inquired of God what name he should use for God, the Bible records in Genesis 3:14, “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” The Hebrew word for I am (Yahweh) became for them the unspeakable name of God. The Greek equivalent is egw eimi. Thus Jesus very likely chose the name of God, applying it to Himself when He revealed that He was the Messiah by saying to the woman, “I am He.”

On many occasions John records this tactic of Jesus in revealing His true identity. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life” (6:35, 48). In 6:51 He said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven.” In John 8:58 He said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” I chapter nine verse five Jesus said, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” In John 10:7 one reads, “Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.” In verse eleven He goes on to say, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”

In John 10:36 Jesus said, “Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemies; because I said, I am the Son of God?” Additionally, using the words I am, Jesus refers to Himself saying I am the resurrection and the life (11:25), He says when I am lifted up (12:32), I am he (13:19), I am the way, the truth and the life (14:6), I am in the Father and I am in you (14:11-21), and I am the vine (15:1-8). Each of these instances may be interpreted to show Jesus applying the Holy name of God to Himself, thus proclaiming His own deity.

The Scripture indicates that Jesus had a profound impact on the woman. She immediately went out and began to tell others about Him. Her faith may be seen in her words recorded in verse twenty-nine where one reads, “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? Verse thirty-nine indicates that many put their faith in Jesus based upon the woman’s testimony. In verse forty-one, many more believed when they heard Him personally. In verse forty-two, we read of their testimony that Jesus is the Christ and the Savior of the world.

Back in verse thirty-four, “Jesus saith unto them (His disciples), My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish His work.” Through this testimony the reader understands that Jesus claimed to be doing the work of God. His purpose for being, revolved around doing the work of God. He speaks of a crop yielding eternal life. He would do the hard work of providing salvation, while others would be sent out to reap the harvest. Speaking of His purpose in salvation, Jesus once again reveals His divine nature.

The narrative quickly changes to the second recorded miracle of Jesus found in the gospel of John. Returning to Cana in Galilee, a royal official approached Jesus on behalf of his son who was close to death. In verse forty-eight one reads, “Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.” In this verse the student understands that the goal of Jesus ministry was that through faith, people might be saved. Through faith, those who were lost might come to know God personally. Jesus desired that the people believe, but He understood that they could not believe without having some evidence upon which to build their faith. Therefore, He healed the man’s son. The event resulted in the official and his entire household placing their faith in Jesus.

God is the God of all, not just of the Jews. John stresses this truth in his gospel by showing the first two miracles Jesus performed to be first to a Samaritan, and then to a Gentile. The facts of these miracles, supported by the eyewitness testimonies reveal the supernatural divine nature of Christ.

CHAPTER FIVE

Chapter five marks the beginning of the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry. In verse eighteen John states that, “the Jews sought the more to kill Him.” The reason they hated Him and sought to take His life was, “Because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.” Already Jesus had condemned their practices in the Temple. He had been seen publicly speaking with a woman and openly associating with Samaritans. In chapter five He breaks the Sabbath laws by healing a man with an infirmity on the Sabbath. He encouraged this man to break the Sabbath by carrying his mat. But the most damaging of all of Jesus’ actions was that He claimed to be equal with God, thus proclaiming His own deity.

In the healing of the man with an infirmity, one takes note of Jesus’ exercise of divine authority. In verses eight and nine John records, “Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk and immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the Sabbath.” On the subject to healing, according to Chappell, “Healing is a prominent topic in the Bible. Sickness is cured by the supernatural intervention of God with or without the use of earthly means. God himself proclaimed, “I am the Lord thy healer” (Jehovah-Rophi, Exod. 15:26), and Scripture clearly teaches that God heals all of man’s diseases (Ps. 103:3).”42 As with all the miracles recorded in John, this was more than an effort to relieve a man of his suffering, Jesus’ meant this action to be a sign and a revelation of His divine nature.

Interesting to note, the crippled man’s first step had to be a step of faith. Jesus required the man to do something that was impossible for him to do in his own strength. The healing required action and obedience. The man had to first trust Jesus. He had to believe that Jesus had the power and authority to make him walk again. Thus the sign was given to develop faith, not only in the man who Jesus healed, but also to develop faith in those who witnessed the miracle and those who would read the eye-witness account for ages to come. That faith must be placed in Jesus and Him alone, for He demonstrated the power of God through His healing ministry.

When Jesus met the deepest need of the woman at the well, He confronted her with her sin. Likewise, when He healed the crippled man at the pool, Jesus confronted him with his sin. In verse fourteen one reads, “Afterward Jesus findeth him (the man he had healed) in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou are made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.” According to Dods, “There is then some worse consequence of sin than thirty-eight years’ misery and uselessness. Apparently Jesus feared that health of body might only lead the man to further sin. His physical weakness was seemingly the result of sin...Jesus is not satisfied with giving him physical health.”43

Jesus’ knowledge of the man’s sin, and His concern and desire to free him from his sin, once again implies Jesus’ divine identity. Jesus’ purpose went beyond His action of healing physically. His actions reveal God’s heartfelt desire to deal with the problem of sin, through Jesus, on the behalf of humankind, so that there might be a restored relationship with Him. As Gossip writes, “In short, the man reveals himself as for the most part weak and stupid, with little in him to attract. Yet it was to benefit such a drab personality that Christ brought upon himself the open and declared hostility of the religious leaders...And it was here that Christ’s road turned sharply in the direction that led straight to Calvary.”44

The Bible indicates the man Jesus healed went to the officials and told them that it was Jesus who instructed him to carry his mat in opposition to Jewish law. The Jews were furious and they began to persecute Jesus because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. Jesus’ response to their opposition in verse seventeen reads, “But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. “According to Morris, “Jesus is there laying it down that He, the Son of man, is lord over even the divinely instituted Sabbath. Here His defense rests on His intimate relationship to the Father...He habitually thought of God as in the closest relationship to Himself. The expression implies a claim which the Jews did not miss.”45

The Jews clearly understood that Jesus claimed himself to be equal with God (verse 18). It is therefore difficult for the reader today to miss the facts concerning Jesus’ claims about Himself. According to Hull, “By thus identifying himself with the One who had given the Sabbath and its laws, Jesus dared to put himself beyond the reach of the established legal system. The Jews immediately sensed in this argument an implicit claim to be equal with God, a conclusion which seemed confirmed by the way in which he called God his own Father. Therefore, they sought all the more to kill him as one guilty of blasphemy.”46

In the remainder of the chapter, John records Jesus defense of Himself, which served both to infuriate the Jews and to establish His claim to deity. In these verses Jesus points out that His actions are in perfect harmony with the Father’s (vs 19). He reveals the unique relationship of love He enjoys with the Father (vs 20). The Father and the Son give life and raise the dead (vs 21). The Father entrusts all judgment to the Son so that the Son may have equal honor with the Father (vs 22). No one can honor the Father unless they honor the Son (vs 23). Jesus claims He will give eternal life to whoever hears His words and believes in Him (vs 24). A time is coming when whoever hears Jesus’ voice will be raised from the dead (vs 25). Jesus has life in Himself just as the Father has life in Himself (vs 26). The Father has given Jesus the authority to judge men (vs 27). Jesus claims to be the agent of the resurrection and the judging authority over who will be included in God’s grace and those who will not (vs 28-29). Jesus does nothing by Himself. Everything He does is in perfect harmony with what the Father does (vs 30).

Who but God could do the things Jesus claims He can and will do? Obviously, the underlying action of this passage is the power of God to do and work His will, which He displays in Jesus His Son. In these verses Jesus reveals the indivisible nature of the relationship of the Father and the Son. Although the Holy Spirit is not mentioned here, this section of Scripture is a clear example of truth that supports the doctrine of the trinity. Barclay writes, “This is an amazing passage, because it is woven together of thoughts and expression which are all claims by Jesus to be the promised Messiah.”47 Because Jesus has all the authority of God, because He works in perfect concert with God, because He in every way reveals God and His will, He is God in the flesh.

If the Jews revolted at Jesus’ assertion that God was His own Father, His explanation could only serve to increase their rage. Perhaps some were willing to give Him the benefit of the doubt at first, but after His explanation, all doubt would be removed concerning His claims about Himself. This man truly believed that He was the unique Son of God, the Messiah, and the Savior of the world. Understanding their resistance and skepticism, the rest of the chapter John devotes to Jesus legal argument to prove to the Jewish mind that He speaks the truth. As Barclay writes, “Once again Jesus is answering the charges of his opponents. His opponents are demanding, “What evidence can you adduce that your claims are true? Jesus argues in a way that the Rabbis would understand for he uses their own methods.”48

The Law established the need for two or three witnesses in order to settle a case. (Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15). In verse thirty-two Jesus says, “There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.” Jesus speaks on the one hand of the witness of John the Baptist, but on the other hand it is none other than God who revealed His Son through the prophet. In verse thirty-six He goes on to offer the work that God has given Him as a testimony of Himself. Thirdly Jesus says that the Father has testified directly, speaking of the recorded word of God in Scripture. Thus Jesus offers three witnesses; himself, John the Baptist, and the Scriptures, all of which are actually the witness of God the Father.

Although truth is the substance of Jesus testimony and the testimony of the witnesses given, He knew the people would not believe. The wisdom of God and knowledge of all things had once again been spoken by God through the lips of Jesus. While the Jewish leaders sought eternal life through the study and application of the Scriptures, they failed to recognize that the scriptures spoke about Jesus (verse 39). The Jews looked back to Moses for their future hope, but Jesus was the fulfillment of that hope. Even so, they did not recognize Him.

In this chapter John reveals Jesus both in His humanity and in His divinity. As Beasley-Murray writes, “The Evangelist reveals to us a Christ who, on the one hand, can neither utter a word nor perform an act without the Father’s direction and enabling, and on the other, by virtue of that direction and enabling, performs the works of God, including the ultimate works of raising humanity for life in the perfected kingdom of God and for judgement.”49 Jesus presents Himself as both the Son of man and the Son of God. He is both fully human and fully divine. In Christ God meets man and man meets God.

CHAPTER SIX

The narrative moves forward in chapter six, revealing the circumstances of two more of Jesus’ miracles. The first being His feeding of 5,000 men, plus women and children, from the contents of a little boy’s lunch. This happened on the far shore of the Sea of Galilee in the high ground known in the present day as the Golan Heights. John reveals that this occurred near the time of the Passover feast. Thus was the second of three mentioned in his gospel. This places these events approximately one year before Jesus’ crucifixion. Jesus used the occasion to test His disciples’ faith and understanding. He further uses this event as a springboard to His teaching that He is the ‘Bread of Life.”

The other miracle revolves around what happened after that day’s events. The disciples left in a boat ahead of Jesus. Being caught in rough seas and a strong wind, the disciples struggled. At some point, Jesus went out to them walking on the water. A secondary miracle occurred in that when Jesus entered the boat, the ship immediately arrived at the other shore.

As in the other miracles, there is no natural explanation for how Jesus might be able to do these things. Yet John gives his eyewitness account that these things really happened. The Synoptic Gospels all confirm the feeding of the five-thousand, the writer of each one giving their account while Matthew and Mark each confirm Jesus walking on the water. In understanding the importance of the presented miracles of Jesus, one might consider Spiceland where he writes, “Biblical miracles have a clear objective: they are intended to bring the glory and love of God into bold relief. They are intended, among other things, to draw man’s attention away from the mundane events of everyday life and direct it toward the mighty acts of God...This emphasis on miracles as the redemptive activity of God is continued in the NT, where they are a part of the proclamation of the good news that God has acted ultimately on man’s behalf in the coming of Jesus Christ into history.”50

There is in this passage an interesting observation to be made that might be missed in modern translations.  Verses nineteen and twenty read, “So when they had rowed about five and twenty of thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid. But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid.” The Greek words, here translated as “It is I”, are transliterated egw eimi. Thus the text suggests that in His words of comfort to the disciples, Jesus once again applied the name for God to Himself, saying, “Do not be afraid because “I AM”. There was no need to fear because God in the flesh was with them.

The miracles are signs. Signs that Jesus has authority over the physical universe. He can create. As He created the universe, He creates what might be necessary to meet people’s needs. The laws of nature and physics do not bind him, rather He rises above all restrictions at will. Even time and space do not present themselves as barriers to His will. His abilities, as presented in the miracles He performed, testify to His divinity.

Having given testimony to these events, John turns to Jesus’ teachings and the people’s response to the things He said.  The text reveals that the people He had fed sought Him out. But they did not seek Him as their Messiah, nor did they turn to Him as Savior and Lord. They saw Him as the best show in town. They wanted to see another miracle. They wanted another free lunch. They wanted to satisfy their curiosity about the things He said, but most were not yet aware of His true identity.

Jesus knows their thoughts and confronts the crowd in verse twenty seven where He says, “Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.” As Jesus offered Himself as living water to the woman at the well, in this passage He becomes the Bread of life, which brings eternal life to those who will receive Him.

The Greek word used in this verse, translated as “sealed” is transliterated as espragisen.  According to Vine, the word refers to, “the seal of the living God, an emblem of ownership and security, here combined with that of destination...the persons to be sealed being secured from destruction and marked for reward.”51 According to Schippers, “Jn. 6:27 says that God has put his seal upon the Son of man. By doing so he attests that the eternal food that the Son of man gives is the true food and not perishable; by his seal he authenticates the Son of man’s work.”52 Thus again Jesus claims that all of His actions, and all of His teachings, are from God.

In verses twenty- eight and twenty-nine, the reader gains insight into Jewish thought. Judaism found its basis in the law. How a person lived in light of the law determined whether he or she would be good, bad or somewhere in the middle. Status before God would be based upon their works. A person considered as being bad might move to good through the accomplishment of good works. Thus in verse twenty-eight, the Jews ask a legitimate question, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?”

In answering their question, Jesus reveals the eternal truth of His purpose in being. In verse twenty-nine one reads, “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” According to Christ, a righteous relationship with God would not be based upon human effort, but in receiving Him in faith, trusting Him for the salvation of their souls. According to McGrath, “A central theme of mainstream Christian thought is that salvation, in the Christian sense of the term, is manifested in and through, and constituted on the basis of, the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ...within the Christian tradition, the distinctively Christian understanding of what salvation is can only be realized on the basis of Jesus Christ.”53 The fact that eternal life will be contingent upon faith in Jesus signifies His divinity.

The Jews respond to Jesus, demanding a sign. They referred to the manna from heaven given to their forefathers by Moses. Jesus corrects them by pointing out that the manna came from God, His Father, not Moses. He uses this exchange to further identify Himself and thus reveal His divinity. This dialog may be seen in verse thirty-three through thirty- five where one reads, “For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”

In this passage Jesus claims to have come from heaven. Addressing this subject Stagg writes, “In Jesus Christ, God has come. He is the Word incarnate; he is Immanuel, God with us. The New Testament ascribes ultimate significance to Jesus of Nazareth, one “born of woman: (Gal. 4:4) yet one who was before Abraham (John 8:58). Christianity ...is rooted in Jesus of Nazareth. The redemptive activity of God came to its ultimate expression in Jesus, and the church is his creation.”54 Thus, coming from heaven, everything about Jesus, His person, His nature and His purpose is from God.

According to Jesus’ teaching, manna was a physical representation of the true bread of God. While manna sustained the people physically while they were in the desert, the true bread of God is His physical presence on the earth. God’s presence is His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself is the substance by which people may have eternal life. He is the bread of life that God has made available to the whole world. In verse thirty-five, Jesus once again uses the term egw eimi when He says, “I am the bread of life.” While this may be a subtle reference to His deity, the context demands a consideration that He applies the name of God to Himself here as He does elsewhere.

In verse thirty-eight, Jesus repeats the truth that He has come down from heaven. He goes on to promise eternal security to everyone who places his or her faith in Him. The promises that Jesus makes point to His divinity. As Hodge writes, “Christ promises to his people blessings which none but God has either the right or the power to bestow...It is obvious that the infinite God himself can neither promise nor give anything greater or higher than Christ gives his people.”55 Going on in verse forty one Jesus said, “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and Believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” Thus Jesus and His ministry are a result of God’s will. God wills that everyone who receives Jesus in faith will have eternal life. They will be resurrected on the last day.

Physical bread may be necessary to sustain physical life, but there is more to life than physical existence. Real life requires a personal relationship with God based upon trust (faith), love and obedience. God has made that relationship possible through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Apart from Jesus one may exist, but only through a relationship with Jesus may one have life. The hunger and thirst of the human soul may only be satisfied through Jesus. He is the bread of life, just as He is the living water.

As Jesus expands upon His teachings in the remainder of the chapter, one sees a balance between the sovereign actions of God and the personal choices of people. In verse forty, one reads, “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” But Jesus also says in verse forty-four, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” He at the same time says that no one can come to Him unless God draws him, and that everyone who looks to the Son will be saved. Everyone who sees Jesus must come to Him (personal accountability), but salvation is an act of God from beginning to end (sovereignty). Salvation is God’s plan. Jesus is the centerpiece of God’s plan. In Christ God offers Himself to humanity.

The text indicates that the people were anxious to receive what Jesus offered, but on their own terms. They had difficulty accepting that Jesus came from heaven, for they knew of his human origins. They had difficulty understanding His spiritual words because they could not comprehend beyond the limits of their own flesh. When Jesus said they must eat His flesh, they were repulsed. They could not understand the spiritual truth of His words that He offered to give them life. But the fact that Jesus revealed these truths points to His divinity, as do His words recorded in verse forty-six where Jesus said, “Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.” Jesus here claims to have uniquely seen the Father because He is uniquely of God.

It is not surprising that those who lacked faith did not understand Jesus’ teaching. The Bible records that some were grumbling and many stopped following Jesus at that time. Jesus speaks to them, once again revealing His divine knowledge. In verses sixty-one through sixty-four, the Bible reads, “When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from he beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.” Walvoord and Zuck write, “The life Jesus gives must be received by faith. The words do not work automatically. From the start Jesus knew which followers were believers and which ones were unbelievers. This is another evidence of His supernatural knowledge.”56 His supernatural knowledge may also be seen by the fact that this verse indicates that Jesus knew of Judas’ betrayal a year before the event occurred (also verses seventy and seventy-one).

This chapter also contains the testimony of Peter concerning the deity of Christ. In verses sixty-eight and sixty-nine one reads, “Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go: thou has the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou are the Christ the Son of the living God.” While others remained skeptical, Peter proclaims Jesus’ deity confidently. He has come to have genuine faith in Jesus. He believes that He came from God, from heaven, and that God provides salvation and eternal life through Him. He is more than a man. His deity may be seen in the fact that He is the Christ and He is the Son of the living God. Jesus has the mind of God, the power of God and is the will of God for the salvation of humankind. In Him God has made Himself known and offered the possibility for relationship and eternal life.

CHAPTER SEVEN

The chapter begins with an ominous verse, “After these things Jesus walked in Galilee: for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill him.” After healing the man at the pool, as recorded in chapter five, the Jews tried all the harder to kill him. Jesus broke the Sabbath. He encouraged others to do likewise. But most incriminating of all His actions, Jesus claimed that God was His own Father, thus making Himself out to be equal with God. The bitterness, hatred and desire to do away with Him would eventually lead to His crucifixion, but not until the God’s appointed time.

The setting for the passage is at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. It was a weeklong New Moon celebration, which began on the fifteenth day of Tishri. It was exactly six months before the Passover, and the arrest and crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. In verses three through five John reveals that Jesus’ half brothers, the other sons of Mary and Joseph, encouraged Jesus to go to Jerusalem to reveal Himself. The text seems to indicate that their motives rose out of jealousy and misunderstanding rather than faith in Him. Their faith would not come until after the resurrection from the dead.

Jesus resisted their efforts to persuade Him. He gives His reason in verse six when He says, “My time is not yet come.” His comments suggest that He knew what lie in the future. He would indeed face the persecution that awaited Him, but in His time and on His terms. Everything would come to pass according to God’s divine plan. Jesus is the centerpiece of God’s plan.

After His brothers had gone on up to Jerusalem, Jesus journeyed there secretly. The Scriptures declare that the people looked for Him to be there. Some watched for his arrival because they wanted to see a miracle. Some wanted to see Him because they had placed their faith in Him. There were some, however, who wanted to see Him because they were still looking for an opportunity to trap Him and to kill Him. They were divided concerning their beliefs about Jesus and His claims, but all seemed anxious to see Him.

Jesus arrived publicly half way through the celebration, but when He taught in the temple courts, He amazed the people with His teaching. Verse fifteen reveals, “And the Jews marveled, saying, how knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” How was it that Jesus knew such deep truths? How could He have such heavenly insights? How could He exhibit the wisdom of God when He Himself had not studied under the Rabbis of the day?

Jesus answered these questions in verses sixteen and seventeen, “Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” First He said that the doctrine was not His. The doctrine was not His in the sense that they looked upon Him as just a man. The reality was that as a man, God had sent him. The doctrine of Jesus is the doctrine of God. In Christ, God spoke directly to the people. Jesus did not need to be taught by men. He was God in the flesh, revealing the absolute truth. In Christ God spoke to them, and related to them, on a human level.

The test Jesus proposed for their discernment of the truth was doing the will of God. The traditions of the Jews suggested that God’s will was strict obedience to the Law of Moses. But Jesus taught the people earlier in chapter six verse forty where He said, “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” God’s will then is to look to Jesus. Believe in Him. Receive Him as God in the flesh. Through faith in Him, people would know the truth of His words.

Jesus offers further evidence of the truth of His teachings by pointing out that everything He says brings glory to God. His purpose is not to glorify His flesh, but to bring glory to God through the submission of His flesh to the perfect will of God. He accomplished God’s will by living a perfect life and then offering Himself as a perfect sacrifice for the sins of humankind. If Jesus were just a man He would be incapable of sinless perfection, yet because He is divine, He succeeded in accomplishing God’s purposes.

Jesus’ divine knowledge may be seen again through the fact that in verses nineteen through twenty-one the reader discovers Jesus confronting the opposition with the hatred they held in their hearts for Him. Bruce writes, “Jesus explains himself by reminding them of the healing of the cripple at the pool of Bethesda. They might well be amazed at the cure of a man who had been disabled for thirty-eight years, but their amazement was largely mixed with indignation because the cure had been performed on the Sabbath. Jesus, however, argues that such an action was specially appropriate for the Sabbath day.”[iii] Jesus could establish the righteousness of His actions only if He had the divine authority to do so. He asks them directly concerning their desire to kill Him. They deny His charge and call Him demon-possessed. But Jesus knowing their hearts and minds reveals that He knows what is hidden there, giving further evidence of His divinity. The Jews had become more concerned about keeping the Law of Moses than simply doing what was right. Jesus confronts them with the problem in order to get them to face the truth.

Jesus’ presence and teaching had an effect on the people. Verse twenty-six reveals that some said, “But, lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ?” This verse suggests that some more people began to turn to Jesus in faith. Their testimony that He is the Christ indicates an understanding of His divinity. The verses that follow, however, show a growing tide of doubt among some.

In the second part of verse twenty-eight and continuing in verse twenty-nine, Jesus said, “I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not. But I know him: for I am from him, and he hath sent me.” Jesus clearly states in these verses that He is from God. His directness cannot be misunderstood. Those who heard His words did not misunderstand it and His sayings became a source of division among the hearers. Some of the people tried to seize Him because to them He spoke blasphemous words. Others, however, put their faith in Him. Those who sought to kill Him could not. Verse thirty reads, “Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.” This reoccurring theme reveals the fact that God in Christ controlled the unfolding events to accomplish His purposes. The fact that Jesus could preserve His life during such opposition suggests His sovereignty.

Because Jesus had stirred the crowd, the Pharisees and the Chief Priests sent the temple guard out to arrest Jesus. Jesus responded to them by telling them in verse thirty-three and thirty-four that He was going where they could not go and they would look for Him but could not find Him. From the context of the entire gospel, the reader understands that Jesus here referred to His impending death, resurrection and ascension into heaven. While His hearers would not have understood the depth of His words, in retrospect the reader understands that Jesus knew the divine details of God’s plan and His role in it.

Another prophetic utterance may be seen in verses thirty-eight and thirty-nine where Jesus said, “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”  In this verse the reader finds another reference to Jesus as the source of living water and mention of the role of the Holy Spirit in salvation. The Trinitarian language, along with the mention that Jesus would be glorified bears further evidence to His divinity.

Verse forty-one reveals that as a result of His encounter with the people, some professed Him to be the Christ. Along with their testimony, the chapter concludes with the revelation that some of the temple guards, sent to arrest Him, were also moved by His words, suggesting that they too believed in Him. In verse forty-four, John again mentions that they tried to seize Jesus, but could not. They could not because it was not yet time. They could not because God in Christ remained sovereign over the events of Jesus’ ministry.

CHAPTER EIGHT

In verses one through eleven of chapter eight, John records the account of the woman caught in adultery. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees tried to trap Jesus. Since it was common practice to inquire of Rabbis on issues of the law, the conspirers decided to give Jesus a tough case. The law stated that adulterers should be stoned, but Roman law prohibited the Jews from administering capital punishment. If Jesus did not uphold the law, He would be discredited as a Rabbi. If He said she must be stoned He might be seen as a hypocrite because of His practice of associating with sinners. He also would be breaking civil law and find Himself in conflict with the Roman authorities.

The ungodly attitude of the Scribes and Pharisees reveals their faults. They were obviously prejudice against women. Under the law the man was to be condemned as well. She had been caught in the act of adultery, but apparently they let the man go. They had a faulty conception of authority. They had no feelings of compassion or grace. They showed no sense of obligation towards the restoration of the defendant. They loved their own authority but used it as a power to pass judgment on others, to criticize, censor and condemn. They beat up others with the law and so exalted themselves above those whom they judged. They exhibited a lack of compassion towards people. They did not consider this woman as a person at all. They were looking at her only as a thing, and instrument whereby they could formulate a charge against Jesus. Walvoord and Zuck write, “The purpose of bringing this woman before Jesus was to discredit Him as a teacher.”58

Jesus’ attitude stands in stark contrast to the accusers. In verse seven Jesus responded, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” Not only did Jesus rise above the test, by His reply he taught the Jews that goodness, not knowledge, is not the basis of judgment. In that respect God alone may judge with qualification. He further demonstrated that the emotional response towards a person who has made a mistake should be mercy, rather than condemnation.

In His response to the woman, Jesus demonstrated the heart of God. He answered Her honestly from His heart. He gave her a second chance when He instructed her to go and sin no more. Rather than the condemnation of the Pharisees and Scribes, Jesus met the woman with pity and compassion. He wanted to forgive her and told her in verse eleven, “Neither do I condemn thee.” He challenged her to leave her life of sin. He inspired her to leave the old life behind and start living a life that would be pleasing to God. When he instructed her to leave her life of sin, the implication is that it was a warning, so that she could avoid future condemnation.

As in other examples already mentioned, Jesus’ wisdom and intimate knowledge point to His divinity. His divine wisdom in dealing with difficult problems suggests a close bond with the almighty. His ability to know the thoughts and motives of the accusers, as well as the true situation of the woman, implies a supernatural knowledge. His ability to confront and forgive sin is something that only God can do. As Walvoord and Zuck state, “Theologically Jesus could forgive her sin because he has the authority (cf. Mark 2:8-12) and because He is the Lamb of God who bore “the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Besides having the divine ability to forgive her sin, His manner of dealing with her was gracious. He was revealed to her as the One who is “full of grace” (1:14).”59

Following the account of the woman caught in adultery, the scene changes in verse twelve where one reads, “Then spake Jesus again unto them saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” This verse introduces an interesting passage that further testifies to the divinity of Christ.

John, back in chapter seven, provided information concerning the setting for this teaching. Jesus and His disciples were in Jerusalem at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. One of the most spectacular celebrations during the feast included a ceremony that involved the illumination of the temple. Torches lit up the court of the women inside the temple and light bounced off of four great chandeliers. The reflected light then lit up the entire temple area. Evening torches lit every courtyard in the city while people danced and sang until morning.60 With these events for a backdrop, Jesus uses the splendor of the festival lights to teach that He is the light of the world.

In verse twelve one finds yet another of Jesus’ use of the Greek words egw eimi, applying the literal name of God to Himself. Thus in one statement Jesus says that God is the light of the world and that He (Jesus) is the light of the world. This interpretation suggests that Jesus understood equality with the Father in terms of function and being. Jesus is the very light of God come among men. He is the light that gives life unto men and women. Following Jesus suggests giving of oneself, body, mind and soul. It suggests obeying Him as Lord. Doing these things will bring a person the light of life.

As with Jesus’ use of the term “living water” and “bread of life”, His use of the terms “light of the world” and “light of life” shows that Jesus had a very good understanding of God’s word and of Jewish thought. In Psalm 27:1 David writes, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid.” Isaiah 60:19 reads, “The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.” In Job 29:3 one reads, “When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness...” in Micah 2:8 the prophet writes, “Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.” Jesus careful choice of these terms suggests that what the scriptures declare about the light of God is fulfilled in Him.

The Scripture implies that the Pharisees understood Jesus’ Messianic claims in stating, “I am the light of the world” because they challenged His authority for saying such things.  Borchert writes, “ Jesus’ words of announcement in this context would have sounded like an outrageous claim to the ears of the Pharisees. He went beyond the usual religious assertions of enlightenment and actually claimed to be the luminary itself. Moreover, he claimed to be the light “of the world,” a role reserved for Yahweh, the creator (cf. Gen. 1:3), who was regarded as superior to all deities.”61 In verse thirteen, John records, “The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou barest record of thyself; thy record is not true.” Their opposition arises from the law where in Deuteronomy 19:15 one reads, “One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.”

Jesus answers their charge in verse fourteen where John records, “Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whiter I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whiter I go.” In effect Jesus claims that His witness alone is enough. The limitations imposed by the law do not apply to Jesus because His words are always true. His words come from a source that is above and beyond the law. The law protected others from false accusation, but there was no need for further witness to the words Jesus spoke.

Jesus knows His witness is true because He is aware that He is from above. Jesus, His word, His life and ministry are all of God. He came to bear witness of Himself. He came to reveal God personally to the people. But because some demanded another witness, Jesus offered the witness of God, His Heavenly Father. The witness of God could be found in Jesus’ words and deeds. The witness of God could be found in Jesus’ effect on people and in their reaction to Him. Everything about Jesus was a witness from and of God.

Speaking of His own witness and judgment, Jesus proclaims in verse eighteen that the Father’s witness is in total agreement with His. The Jews judged by human standards. Jesus judged only from the mind of God. Whatever words come from Jesus’ lips could be spoken only if they were in perfect agreement with God. All of Jesus’ actions were in effect the actions of God. The Father and the Son were in perfect harmony in every aspect. The opponents of Christ demonstrated their lack of faith and understanding in verse nineteen where John writes, “Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? Jesus answered, “Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.”

Jesus’ claim once again points to His nature and being which are inseparable from God the Father. If a person knows the Father, he or she will also know the Son. If a person knows the Son, he or she will also know the Father. A person cannot truly know one without knowing the other, nor can they recognize one without recognizing the other. The reason behind this truth is that they are the same. The opponents could not see God because they refused to see Jesus for who he was. Morris writes, “Their failure to understand the significance of Jesus and to enter into an appreciation of His mission and message meant that they were quite unable to perceive the witness of the Father to Him. They prided themselves on their knowledge of their God. Jesus tells them that they have no knowledge of Him at all.”62

With each encounter, opposition to Jesus grew. His confrontation with the religious leaders could have resulted in His death. John suggests the severity of this opposition in verse twenty he mentions that even though Jesus said these things in the temple treasury, no one laid a hand on Him because His time had not come. As in previous instances, this clearly indicates God’s sovereign action in the progress of the events of Jesus’ earthly life.

John picks up the narrative in verse twenty-one where he writes, “Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.” One might wonder how anyone could be so bold and so direct. Either Jesus had an insane God complex, or He really spoke with the authority of God. Saying that He was going away and that they could not follow, Jesus again referred to His crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. This foreknowledge, along with the testimonies concerning the fulfillment of these prophesies; prove that Jesus knew all things, even the future. But His boldness in telling His hearers that, rather than following Him, they would die in their sins, might have caused an instant revolt.

Jesus’ statement, however, contained truth that they could not quite grasp. He used the opportunity to show them how to apply His teaching to their current condition. God was with them, in that moment, but only for a limited time. He would be going away. If they would take advantage of their opportunity to receive Jesus in faith, they would be saved. If they missed the opportunity, they would die in their sins for not coming into the light while it was available to them. They might look for Him, but they would be unable to find Him or to follow Him.

Verse twenty-two indicates the Jew’s lack of understanding. They thought Jesus might be talking about taking His own life. Jesus then takes the opportunity to explain Himself in verse twenty-three and twenty-four where one reads, “And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” Jesus answer provides rich truth supporting His divinity. “Only an eyewitness of heaven could fully testify about heaven.”63 Clearly, He claims that He is not of the world, but of heaven. He is eternal. They are not. He will return to heaven, but they will not. The fate of the unbelievers is that they will die in their sins. The reason why they will die in their sins is that they do not believe that Jesus is who He says He is.

The reader of the King James Version of the Bible would do well to notice that the word “he”, in the phrase “I am he”, is in italics. The reason for this emphasis on the word “he” is that it does not appear in the Greek text. The translators supplied the word to fill out the sentence, so that in its context the total thought might be conveyed to the reader. The literal translation from the Greek reads, “You shall die in your sins, for if you do not believe that I AM, you shall die in your sins. The Greek words egw eimi appear in this verse, as they do in the previous verses mentioned, showing that Jesus actually applied the understood name of God to Himself. In effect He tells them that if they do not believe that He is God, they will die in their sins.

The Jews did not fully understand so they continued to question Jesus. But, as Phillips points out, “They could not have missed the plain identification Jesus had just made with the great I AM of the Old Testament revelation. His statement provoked an immediate and, one suspects, an incredulous response.”64 Morris writes, “It is unlikely that the Jews perceived the full implications of Jesus’ words. There is a mystery in them, and the mystery is open only to faith. But they caught enough to discern that Jesus was making a large claim and the outrageousness of the claim (as it seemed to them) caused them to explode into the question, “Who are you?””65 In a natural response, Jesus proclaims that He is who He has claimed to be all along. Judgment would come upon the people because they refused to believe the truth that Jesus spoke about Himself. In verse twenty-eight He proclaims that the words He speaks are the very words of God.  The authority behind Jesus’ words is the God of heaven. Receiving Jesus and His words as truth, result in God’s grace. Rejection of Jesus, and His word, results in the promise of judgment. God’s authority supports the truths revealed in Jesus’ words.

While the Bible indicates that the Jews did not understand, it goes on to proclaim that no adequate answer could be given until God completed His purpose in Christ. In verse twenty-eight one reads, “Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.” According to Beasley-Murray, “The term “lift up” is closely associated with “glory” (doxa) cf. especially 12:23, with 13:31-32; 17:1. The lifting up of Jesus on the cross is one with his exaltation to heaven, and the whole event reveals his glory.”66

The cross along with the resurrection and ascension of Christ would be the definitive answer to their question; “Who art thou?” The culmination of Jesus’ life and ministry would bring about God’s divine glory manifested in His Son. Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:14 - 15, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” In this passage Jesus once again predicts the fulfillment of His ministry in the sacrifice of Himself on the cross. His victory over sin and death would provide the necessary means for sinful men and women to be reconciled to God. Of this event, Hull writes, “In that supreme hour of revelation, surely some of his hearers would come to now that he was the great I am who represented God so completely that he did nothing on his own authority but spoke only as the Father had taught him.”67

Jesus reveals, in verse twenty-eight through thirty, that all of this happens under the ultimate sovereign control of God the Father. Jesus came into the world to reveal the Father. He revealed the Father most fully in His death on the cross. Jesus’ ability to accomplish these things comes from the very presence of God with Him. Jesus’ thoughts are God’s thoughts. Jesus’ words are God’s words. God is ever-present with Jesus and Jesus actions are always in accordance with God’s will. Jesus never acts alone. His actions always please God. Verse thirty states, “As he spake these words, many believed on him.”, thus adding their own testimonies that Jesus is who He claims to be. Of this passage Tasker writes, “Such a clear statement that He (Jesus) is in fact not just a man but the supernatural Son of man, whose knowledge is no product of his own human wisdom but divine truth, leads many to commit themselves unto Him in faith (30).”68

Interestingly the narrative continues in verses thirty-one and thirty two where one reads, “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Once again Jesus offers divine insight into the state of having a personal relationship with God. While the relationship begins with belief, a person continuing in Jesus’ word will exhibit a true relationship. Discipleship requires consistent abiding in Christ, which results in the knowledge of the truth. A working, applied knowledge of truth leads to freedom for the believer

Verse thirty-four reveals that the provided freedom is freedom from sin. The verse reads, “Jesus answered them Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” Beasley-Murray states, “There is a slavery from which Abraham’s descendants are not exempt and which Abraham’s merits cannot affect: bondage to sin is a reality for every one who sins, including Abraham’s children. Unlike slavery that is external, this is an inward condition from which one cannot flee, with its roots in a wrong relation to God.”69 In offering freedom, Jesus promises to break the bonds of sin and to restore the sinner to a right relationship with God, some things that are impossible by human merit.

In verses thirty-seven and thirty-eight, Jesus goes on to say, “I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.” In these verses Jesus again displays His supernatural knowledge. He knew their hearts. He knew of their desire to kill Him. He knew that His word was not indwelling them. Jesus understood their state, and their need, better than they knew themselves. While they lacked understanding, Jesus demonstrated that He had the divine knowledge of God, being able to look into their souls.

Jesus further proclaims His deity in stating that He speaks of things that He has seen with His Father. He boldly claims to have been in God’s personal presence and bears witness to the realities of heaven. By presenting Himself as being in a right relationship with God, He exposes the people’s unrighteousness, which prevents them from enjoying that desirable relationship. Phillips writes, “He contrasted his Father with their father, his words with their deeds. He revealed his origin, and they revealed theirs. His Father was God; their father was the devil. He revealed God in his manner of life; they revealed the evil one in theirs. Far from being the spiritual seed of Abraham, they were the spiritual seed of the devil.”70 Jesus made them aware of their fallen spiritual state, so that they might understand their need for the freedom that He alone could provide.

Jesus continued to reveal His divinity in verse forty-two where the Bible records, “Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.” If the Jews had the relationship they claimed, if they were truly living in faith as the children of God, they would have loved Jesus. They would have discerned that He was from God. Jesus became the message and the messenger from God. Everything about His existence, life and ministry were an expression and revelation of God to the people.

In verses forty-five through forty-seven, Jesus continues by saying, “And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.” Careful examinations of these verses reveal the divine nature of Jesus. Unlike the rest, He is without sin. He speaks the absolute truth of God, and by association He proclaims that His words are the very words of God. They do not know the Father because they belong to the devil. They do not know Jesus because they do not know God. They do not accept Jesus words, the words of God, because sin has separated them from Him and blinded them to the truth. They cannot hear, because they do not belong to God.

In verse fifty-one, Jesus makes another divine claim when He says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.” This promise of Jesus proclaims that those who keep Jesus’ words will never see spiritual death, nor will they ever loose eternal life. This great truth could not be received, however, without the element of faith. “Commitment to Jesus and his word would not lead to condemnation, Jesus said, but to the avoidance of death –“never see death.” But this statement was too much for the Jews to accept, and they countered with the argument that they now had the proof they needed that he was demon possessed. Since their hero Abraham had died and likewise the prophets after him, they were convinced that Jesus must have been deranged (8:52).”71

Jesus continues His discourse with the Jews in verses fifty-four through fifty-six where one reads, “Jesus answered, If I honored myself, my honor is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: yet ye have not known him: but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.” Through these words Jesus again reveals His divine nature and origin proclaiming that God is His Father in a unique sense. The honor and glory Jesus receives is that of God His Father. His purpose is not to glorify man, rather to glorify God. But, that glory of God is His because of His relationship to God.

The Jews could not accept Jesus for who He claimed to be. The extent of their bitter resentment may be seen by what John writes in verses fifty-eight and fifty-nine, “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” Once again Jesus used the words egw eimi (I am) applying the name of God to Himself. The fact that the Jews became so infuriated, to the point of trying to kill Him, shows that they understood that Jesus claimed to be God. As Bruce writes, “Jesus’ reply to their protest repeats the affirmation “I am He” (egw eimi), used twice already in this chapter (verses 24, 28), and does so in a way which underlines the magnitude of the claim which it expresses. He echoes the language of the God of Israel, who remains the same from everlasting to everlasting: “I, the Lord, the first, and with the last, I am He’ (Isa. 41:4). How can a man who is “not yet fifty years old” speak like that? Only if he speaks as the Word that had been with God in the beginning and was now incarnate on earth.”72 Jesus’ divinity may be further seen by the fact that the mob, who sought to take His life, could not do so. God remained sovereignly in control of the events. Jesus would surrender His life at the proper time. Since His time had not yet come, He passed by in the midst of them, unharmed.

CHAPTER NINE

John devotes chapter nine to the account of Jesus’ miracle in healing a man born blind. The uniqueness of this miracle may be seen in that it is not recorded in the synoptic gospels, and by the fact that it is the only gospel miracle recorded where the person healed had the infirmity from birth. Verse two indicates that the disciples of Jesus assumed that the condition of blindness was a result of sin. Their question revolved around their desire to know whose sin caused the blind man’s condition. “Jewish teachers believed that suffering, including blindness, was often due to sin; one could suffer for one’s parents’ sins or even for a sin committed by mother or fetus during the pregnancy.”73 These beliefs arose from an understanding of Scripture that suggested that the consequences of the parent’s sin might be passed on to their offspring (Exodus 20:5, 34:7, Numbers 14:18).

The miracle might suggest to Jewish thought that, in this healing, Jesus had authority over sin. However, He used this miracle as a teaching tool to support His claim to be the light of the world. Jesus made this claim at least once before, as recorded in chapter eight verse twelve. In chapter nine verse five Jesus repeats this truth when He says, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” In both instances He uses the term egw eimi, applying the name of God to Himself.

Sin was not the reason for the man’s blindness. In verse three Jesus reveals that he was blind, “that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” Jesus tells His disciples that He must do the work of God while He is in the world. He demonstrates that His actions are the work of God, by giving sight to the man born blind. But the physical act goes beyond the blessing to one man. It is a tool in the Lord’s hand to demonstrate the reality and dangers of spiritual blindness. Hull writes, “for here Jesus, the light of the world, shines into the life of a blind beggar while the Pharisees demonstrate what it means to walk in darkness.”74

The method chosen by Jesus to perform the miracle was to anoint the man’s eyes with clay and spittle. It required a step of faith demonstrated in an act of obedience. In order for the man to see, Jesus required him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. One cannot help but note the similarity between this event and that of the healing of the lame man recorded in chapter five. In both instances, Jesus demonstrates His divine authority, even over the Sabbath laws of the Jews. The miracle itself testifies to Jesus’ divinity. Tenney suggests, “Since the blindness was congenital, the healing would be creative rather than remedial. However, the emphasis of John seems to be on compassion rather than creation.”75 In either case, Jesus demonstrated the authority, power, compassion and heart of God in His actions on behalf of the blind man.

Having taken the required step of faith, the blind man received the light of Christ, first in his physical eyes, then in his spiritual eyes. That light which shown in the man healed, stood in stark contrast to the spiritual darkness of the Pharisees. They could not accept what they witnessed. “The Pharisees believed that since Jesus violated the Sabbath, He was a false prophet turning the people away from God (Deut. 13:3-5). So they concluded, This man is not from God. Later they said Jesus was a sinner (John 9:24).”76 Others could not comprehend how such a wonderful event could come from any source other than God. Thus by the miracle, Jesus divided the people based upon their willingness to believe in Him.

The debate and testimonies that follow further separate the people into two groups: those who believe in Jesus, and those who oppose Him. The man healed, however, demonstrated his faith during his interrogation by the Pharisees. Verses thirty through thirty-four record, “The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvelous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshiper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing.” Here the man once blind now adds his testimony to the deity of Jesus. The Pharisees however, too proud, and void of faith, cast the man out of the Synagogue and refused to accept the testimony of the man or the miracle.

The chapter concludes with the man’s confession of faith to Jesus. Jehovah’s Witnesses say that Jesus was a good man. Islam proclaims Him to be a prophet. The Mormons admit He is from God, but the blind man believed Jesus, the Son of man, and worshiped Him. The confession of faith in Christ as God in the flesh, and a complete surrender of trust of oneself into His hands, separates those who live in His light, from those who remain in spiritual darkness.  This is God’s purpose in Christ. This purpose may be seen in verse thirty-nine where one reads, “And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.”

This judgment does not mean that Jesus judged the people at that time. His presence, however, forces people to choose whether to believe in Him and to follow Him, or not. Those who choose Jesus escape the coming judgment. Those who refuse Jesus pass judgment upon themselves. Those who believe and receive Jesus have their spiritual eyes opened. Those who refuse Him remain spiritually blind. Those who claim to see but choose to justify their position against Jesus, remain guilty of their sins. One who realizes spiritual blindness and turns to Jesus receives spiritual sight. The one, who thinks he or she knows it all, and is not open to God’s invitation in Christ, will remain trapped in spiritual blindness. Jesus is God’s provision for spiritual light and truth. Jesus is God, making Himself known. He is God giving Himself to save lost sinners from eternal separation from Him.

CHAPTER TEN

The student of God’s word does well to remember that scholars added the chapter and verse divisions of the Bible, to the original word, in order to provide a system of reference. Their placement may at times sub-consciously cause the reader to think that the beginning of a chapter is the beginning of a new set of circumstances. Chapter ten, however, presents an uninterrupted extension of chapter nine. The first twenty-one verses record the bulk of Jesus’ teachings on the heels of His healing the man born blind.

In this first section of chapter ten, Jesus applies the name of God (egw eimi) to Himself four times. In verses seven and nine Jesus says, “I Am the door” and in verses eleven and fourteen He says, “I Am the good shepherd.” As in some of the other cases, one might argue that Jesus made a simple statement, without reference to His deity. The context of the passage however lends itself to the interpretation that Jesus purposefully used these words to reveal Himself, and His true identity, to the people.

“The treatment of the healed blind man by Jews in the preceding account made Jesus doubly certain that the people of God were being harassed by false religious leaders, here likened to a thief and a robber. These terms may refer to the Pharisees who had just tried to take everything away from the beggar cured by Jesus.”77 In contrast to the false teacher, Jesus, the good shepherd, enters through the door. He is open and direct. He comes from God, not from the world. His motives are pure, not selfish. Carrying His analogy further, Jesus becomes the door through which people may come to God through faith in Him.

Barclay points out that, by claiming to be the “good shepherd”, Jesus appropriated an Old Testament term for God and applied it to Himself:

In the Old Testament God is often pictured as the shepherd, and the people as his flock. “Thou didst lead thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron” (Psalm 77:20). “We thy people, the flock of thy pasture, will give thanks to thee for ever” (Psalm 79:13).  “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou who leadest Joseph like a flock” (Psalm 80:1). “He is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand” (Psalm 95:7). “We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture” (Psalm 100:3). God’s anointed One, the Messiah, is also pictured as the shepherd of the sheep. “He will feed his flock like a shepherd: he will gather the lambs in his arms, and will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young” (Isaiah 40:11). “He will be shepherding the flock of the Lord faithfully and righteously, and will suffer none of them to stumble in their pasture. He will lead them all aright” (Psalms of Solomon 17:45).78

The reaction of His opponents suggests that they did not miss this subtle claim. Coupled with the rest of His argument, Jesus obviously associated Himself with the God they claimed to worship. Using these terms He also claimed to be the promised Messiah.

Jesus goes on to say in verse nine, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” In this verse Jesus promises to provide security for those who follow Him. This security covers not only the dangers people face daily, but it also includes eternal security for the believer. He affirms and clarifies this statement in verse ten where one reads, “The thief commeth not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” Contrasting Himself to the false teachers, and particularly the Pharisees, Jesus promises to give the life God desires for His people and to protect them from danger.

Four times in verses fourteen and fifteen, Jesus uses the present tense of the Greek word hear transliterated as ginosko, which means to know. The present tense use of the verb indicates an ongoing action. Thus the shepherd’s knowledge of the sheep, and the sheep’s knowledge of the shepherd are timeless. The same may be said of the knowledge the Son and Father share of one another. When Jesus says’ I know my sheep”, the phrase suggests a personal intimacy in a relationship which does not change with circumstances. Likewise, the relationship of the Son to the Father cannot change. Jesus has already shown Himself to be uniquely joined with the Father, and in these verses the verbs indicate that relationship to be permanent and unbreakable.

In the context of His relationship with the sheep and with His Father, Jesus again announces His sacrificial death when in verse fifteen He says, “and I lay down my life for the sheep.” This announcement, along with the verses that immediately follow, point to Jesus’ deity in several ways. He again demonstrates His foreknowledge of the events, which lie in His certain future. He reveals His purpose in coming from God: He will bring other sheep (Gentiles) into His fold. He will not only lay down His life, but also take it up again. He does these impossible things in His own power and by His own authority. All that He does is in agreement with the will of the Father.

For Jesus to make such claims, He either had to be who He said He was, or He was demon possessed. The division His words caused among the Jews, as recorded in verse nineteen, should not surprise anyone. His actions called for a personal choice. Jesus’ impossible claims could only be accepted in faith. Either the Jews believed Him or they thought Him to be a liar. Thus, then as now, the great requirement for a person to receive all that Jesus promises is to place faith in Him and in His words.  Perhaps the greatest testimony to His deity is the fact that after predicting His death and resurrection on many occasions, the Bible records the eyewitness accounts of both of those actions coming to pass.

Verse twenty-two moves the reader forward in time to the Feast of Dedication. The festival memorialized the cleansing and rededication of the temple under Judas Maccabees in 164 B.C.79 The setting is in Solomon’s Colonnade inside the temple. Verse twenty-four records, “Then came the Jews around about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ tell us plainly.” In the next two verses, “Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.”

The context of the passage suggests that when Jesus said, “I told you”, the implication is that He here claims to clearly proclaim to them that He is the Messiah of God. However, He avoids the politically loaded word Messiah. By accepting the title He might set into motion events that would hinder His purpose.80 He offers instead the testimony of the miracles, which He did in the power of and to the glory of His Father, to point to His divinity. Those who were His sheep would receive Him in faith. Those who were not His sheep would live in doubt.

In verses twenty-seven and twenty-eight, Jesus proclaims that those who belong to Him hear His voice, and follow Him. He knows them and offers eternal security to all believers by saying, “they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” The offer of eternal life and eternal security once again point to His divinity. His claim to know His sheep suggests, for the believer, an intimate relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus then ties verses twenty-eight and twenty-nine together in order to make a very clear statement about His divinity. Even as no one man can pluck Jesus’ sheep out of His hand, neither can any man pluck them our of the Father’s hand. Jesus gives the reason in verse thirty where He said, “I and the Father are one.” If by faith a person places himself or herself into Jesus’ hands, they are in the hands of God. The Father and Son are one in heart and purpose. Jesus says nothing apart from the words given Him by God. As Paul says in Colossians 1:15, Jesus is “the image of the invisible God.” Jesus is the physical manifestation of God who is Spirit. As far as human perception will allow, Jesus is as God in every way.

The Jews certainly understood Jesus claim of divinity because they answered Him in verse thirty-three, “For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.” There was no mistake among the Jews concerning what Jesus’ teaching meant. His opponents simply could not accept that His claims might be true. They could see that He was a man. They questioned how He could claim to be God. Thus they considered His words to be blasphemy.

After offering the testimonies of scripture and the miracles, Jesus reaffirms His claim in verse thirty-eight where one reads, “But if I do (the works of God the Father), though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.” Jesus’ words suggest a mutual indwelling presence of the Father and Son. They are inseparable in essence and purpose. The remainder of the chapter indicates the clear distinction drawn between people who believed in Jesus and those who continued to oppose Him. The opposition would be used of God to fulfill His purpose in the Sacrifice of His Son. Those who believed give additional testimony that Jesus is God in the flesh.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Chapter eleven bears the account of the last of the “signs” recorded by John. Tasker writes, “The claim of Jesus to be working in complete and conscious union with His Father led the Jews to attempt unsuccessfully to stone Him. But it was His claim to bestow upon believers the gift of eternal life by raising them from spiritual death which led, according to the Johannine narrative, to His crucifixion.”81 Jesus’ demonstration of this truth came through the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead, and resulted in the setting into motion the events leading up to Jesus own sacrifice and resurrection.

In Luke 9:58, “Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” It seems however, that Jesus had a place in Bethany where He could relax with friends. Matthew 21:17 reads, “And he (Jesus) left them and went out of the city to Bethany; and he lodged there.” In Luke 10:38-42 the author records an account of Jesus’ visit in the home of Mary and Martha. In this chapter, John records an amazing event, the raising of Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, from the dead.

The close relationship Jesus enjoyed with this family may be seen in several ways. Verse five records, “Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.” In chapter twelve, John again places Jesus in their home where he identifies Mary as the one who anointed Jesus’ feet. Jesus’ love for the family may be seen in His comforting words, given to the sisters at the time of Lazarus’ death. His compassion may be seen in verse thirty-five where the Bible records that, “Jesus wept.”

The love and compassion Jesus expressed toward this family, in reality expresses the true nature of God. God has concern for people. God is love. He cares about personal situations. He will intervene and provide comfort and relief according to His will and purpose. The reader may be certain that these are attributes of God because Jesus continues to reveal His divinity through these recorded events.

The text reveals that Jesus already knew of the condition of Lazarus when He was given the news of the man’s sickness. “The sisters assumed, because of the Lord’s ability and His love for Lazarus, that He would immediately respond to their word about Lazarus’ illness and come.”82 But Jesus did not go immediately.  Jesus knew of the impending death of this loved one. Jesus knew that his death would result in his resurrection. Jesus had divine knowledge of the future and the outcome of these difficult circumstances. He goes on to state the purpose behind these events in verse four where one reads, “When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.”

Through the cure of the death of Lazarus, Jesus enabled men to see the glory of God in action. The death and raising of Lazarus is a part of a central theme which runs throughout John’s gospel. Lazarus’ death and resurrection is a foreshadowing of the glory, which would come to Jesus in connection with the cross. In John 8:39 one reads, “But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.” In chapter twelve verse sixteen John writes, “These things understood not his disciples at the first: but when Jesus was glorified, then remembered they that these things were written of him, and that they had done these things unto him.” In Chapter twelve verse twenty-three, at the time of His arrest, John writes, “And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.”

The trip to Bethany and the raising of Lazarus was one of the final steps Jesus took leading to the cross and His glorification. According to Tenny, “Knowing Jesus’ interest in them and the power of God to heal the sick, the sisters sent for him when Lazarus became ill. The malady must have been serious, for they were sufficiently alarmed to call Jesus back to the area where a price had been set on his head. The appeal was on the basis of love. The sisters’ implication was that if Jesus loved Lazarus, he would return. They seemed quite confident that he would be prompt.”83 Jesus put His own life in danger to help a friend. He thus demonstrated how he would surrender His own life for all who would place their faith in Him. The raising of Lazarus is a picture of Jesus rising from the dead. It is a demonstration that through faith in Christ, death results in resurrection and life. All that Jesus promised and demonstrated is a gift from God. Jesus is God’s instrument for making provision for forgiveness and life. Thus God worked through and in Jesus to reveal Himself and His will for humankind.

Jesus demonstrated His foreknowledge and divine will by purposefully waiting to go to Bethany. Jesus could have healed Lazarus from a distance, just as He healed the official’s son as recorded in chapter four. He had the authority to heal Lazarus as soon as He got word that he was sick. He had the foreknowledge to prevent Lazarus’ death even before the sisters sent word to Him. He chose to wait until there could be no doubt that Lazarus was dead so that He could reveal God’s glory and that He might be glorified through the miracle. All the events of Jesus’ ministry glorified the Father. The Father’s glory, however, was passed on to the Son. Because Jesus and the Father share the glory of God, they are one and the same in the essence of their purpose and being.

The text reveals that when Jesus announced they were returning to Judea, the disciples resisted going back because of the earlier threats on Jesus’ life. According to Hull, “Unlike Jesus, who sought only the glory of God, the disciples shrank back from the summons to save another man’s life because they feared that it might cost them their own. Therefore, when Jesus bade them to join him in a return to Judea, the disciples incredulously retorted that the Jews were seeking to stone him and, if he contemplated going there again, they would not be with him.”84  Jesus continued to reveal His foreknowledge by telling them in verse nine that there was only a limited amount of time in which to fulfill God’s will and purpose. Jesus showed that He was sovereign over the events as they unfolded. Everything happened according to His will and purpose. He announced God’s plan in this event where in verses fourteen and fifteen one reads, “Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was no there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.”

The death of Lazarus was a crisis for the family, but it was an opportunity for Jesus to demonstrate the power of God in a person’s life. The resurrection of Lazarus would give the disciples evidence to support their faith in Jesus. Jesus would perform the greatest of all of His miracles to date and demonstrate the fulfillment of the promise of resurrection and eternal life through faith in Him.

A witness to faith in the divine power of Jesus may be found in verse twenty-one where John writes, “Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” The verses following reveal Jesus teaching the bereaved woman even as He comforts her. She knew of Jesus’ teachings concerning the resurrection. She believed everything Jesus told her. But as Phillips writes, “Martha accepted his words, understanding them as having some distant, future significance, and gave assent to the doctrine of resurrection - as we do, when confronted with the loss of a loved one.”85 Jesus promised Martha that her brother would rise again, but she did not understand in verse twenty-five and twenty-six where, “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” In that moment, Martha could not fully grasp all that Jesus said; yet she believed Him. As verse twenty-seven records, “She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.”

With this confession of faith, Martha joins a growing number of witnesses given in the Bible that attest to the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Martha testifies that Jesus is the Christ. She gives witness that He is the resurrection and the life, even though her full understanding will not come until she witnesses the miracle Jesus would soon perform. She professes that Jesus is the unique Son of God and the fulfillment of God concerning the coming Messiah.

Martha’s sister Mary adds her testimony of faith in verse thirty-two where the reader discovers, “Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” Mary’s comment brings her testimony to light that she believed Jesus capable of doing divine miracles. She knew if Jesus had been there, He could have preserved her brother’s life. She fell at Jesus’ feet, humbling herself and submitting to His authority.

Verses thirty-three through thirty-five reveal an important characteristic of God. God has feelings. Because Jesus demonstrates human emotion, believers can be certain that God empathizes with their circumstances. In these verses the Bible records, “When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept.” The Greek text, however, shows that Jesus had a broader range of emotions than what the English translation suggests.

When the text declares that Jesus groaned, the Greek word used by John is transliterated as enebrimhsato. It is the same word used in verse thirty-eight when Jesus approached the tomb. “In ordinary classical Greek the usage...is of a horse snorting. Here it must mean that such deep emotion seized Jesus that an involuntary groans was wrung from his heart.”86 The use of the word in Matthew 9:30 suggests a stern warning or admonishment where the writer records, “And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it.” In Mark 1:43 one reads, “And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away.” The word used in Mark 14:5 carries the meaning of a strong rebuke where one reads, “For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. In each instance the word carries the meaning of sternness to the point of anger. Jesus groaned, not just because of grief, but because He was upset and angered over what He saw.

Perhaps Jesus’ anger arose because the sisters seemed to lay the blame for their brother’s death on Jesus. Perhaps His anger came from the hypocritical display of false grief by the professional mourners present, while the family truly hurt from their loss. Perhaps Jesus’ response came because of the devastating effects of sin that brings death and the reminder of His own impending death. Regardless of the reasons, the use of the word enebrimhsato reveals an honest human emotional response to all that was going on in light of what lie ahead in Jerusalem.

Throughout the gospel, John records that Jesus presented Himself as God in the flesh. Since John wrote to a primarily Gentile audience, his portrayal of Jesus as deeply moved by emotion becomes significant. As Barclay writes, “To any Greek reading this - and we must remember that it was written for Greeks - this would be a staggering and incredible picture. John had written his whole gospel on the theme that in Jesus we see the mind of God. To the Greek the primary characteristic of God was that what he called apatheia, which means total inability to feel any emotion whatsoever.”87 Jesus reveals a God who cares about what goes on in people’s lives. Jesus is a God who feels things the way people do.

Further evidence of divine emotion may be seen in the fact that Jesus wept. As Bruce writes, “Some commentators have found it difficult to suppose that he who is presented in this Gospel as the incarnate Word, knowing what he was going to do, should be genuinely moved by sorrow and sympathy...But the friends and neighbors who were there had no doubt about the cause of his tears: he was weeping for a dearly loved friend.”88 God in the flesh reveals a God who is in anguish for the people He loves. Jesus is God who looks deep within the heart and feels the emotions of His people.

Verses thirty-six and thirty-seven picture a confused crowd. Of this account Morris writes, “ They (the people present at the grave side) misinterpret His tears as though they meant frustration. But there is no reason for doubting their sincerity.”89 The people knew of Jesus’ demonstration of divine power in the healing of the man born blind. But if He was divine, why could he not save Lazarus’ life? One gets the sense from the text that at least some of the crowd wanted to believe in Jesus, but had not yet made up their minds. Perhaps it was this unbelief that caused Jesus to display some indignation as He approached the tomb. As John records in verse thirty-eight, “Jesus therefore again groaning (embrimwmenos) in himself cometh to the grave.” Jesus would give the most powerful demonstration yet, that He is the resurrection and the life. By raising Lazarus from the grave, Jesus would replace doubt with faith (verse 45) and once again reveal Himself as the Messiah and God in the flesh.

In verse thirty-nine the reader discovers, “Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord by this time he stinketh: for he had been dead four days.” Martha did not understand what Jesus had in mind to do. She must have thought that He simply wanted to see the body. As may be seen in other passages, Martha liked to take control of the situation. She thought she knew better than Jesus what ought or ought not to be done. While spices had been used to preserve the body, after four days, decay would start to set in. To the Jewish mind, to come into contact with the dead would make them unclean. A decaying body would be doubly repulsive.

The fact that the Bible records that Lazarus had been dead four days reveals the reason why Jesus delayed going to him. There would be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Lazarus was really dead. He had not swooned. He was not in a coma. Lazarus really died. His death and resurrection not only foreshadow that of the Lord’s, it also gives witness to the reality of Jesus’ own death, burial and resurrection.

In verse forty, “Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” Here Jesus shows the necessity of faith for a person to see the glory of God. The glory of God may be seen in the resurrection. Jesus is God’s instrument of resurrection. Because Jesus called Lazarus back to life, He received the glory for the miracle. Jesus’ glory is the glory of God. Once again the text portrays Jesus as God in the flesh.

The demonstration of God’s power came in concert with faith. The people demonstrated their faith through obedience. Jesus commanded they take away the stone, which covered the entrance to the tomb. Their faith became practical through obedience and thus God revealed His glory in the resurrection.

In verses forty-one through forty-three, the reader discovers the first of three of the Lord’s prayers recorded in the gospel of John. John 12:27-28 records Jesus’ prayer as He faced death. John 17:1-26 presents Jesus’ prayer for His disciples and those who will follow them. But this prayer is unusual as one may see when they read, “Then they took away the stone form the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.”

Of interest to note, Jesus’ prayer was not for Lazarus’ resurrection. According to Beasley-Murray, the second clause of the prayer “implies a perpetual union with the Father, on the basis of which his continuing prayers are ever heard and therefore granted.”90 Based upon His unique relationship with the Father, Jesus resurrected Lazarus by His own authority. The resurrection had already been settled and was God’s sovereign purpose in the unfolding of these events. Jesus offered His prayer to the Father for the benefit of the people, that they might believe. Jesus’ desire was that the people would place their faith in Him. He wanted them to understand that the promises of God for resurrection and life would be fulfilled through faith in Him. He wanted them to see the glory of God in Him.

Jesus’ prayer ended with the resurrection. Jesus commanded Lazarus to come out of the grave. He demonstrated His authority over death and His ability to raise Lazarus to mortal life. In so doing He foreshadowed the events of His own resurrection, which would bring eternal life to those who place their faith in Him. Jesus commanded the mourners to take off the grave clothes and to let him go. In so doing Jesus presented a picture of what He does for people of faith in removing the clothing of death and setting them free. He used the people who were there to remove the stone and the grave clothes so that they might be participants and witnesses to the glory of God revealed in the miracle. As verses forty-five and forty-six reveal, some did believe in Him, while others could not wait to report the matter to the Pharisees who were laying in wait to take Jesus’ life. Tasker writes, “As is made clear so often in this Gospel, the deeds of Jesus invariably divide mankind into believers and unbelievers. So it was after the raising of Lazarus. Some of the Jews, who had come primarily to sympathize with Martha and Mary, believe on Him. Others with malicious intent report the incident to the Pharisees.”91

The remainder of the chapter reveals the growing plot of the religious leaders of Israel to take Jesus’ life. The Pharisees called a special meeting of the Supreme Court of their nation. The seventy-one members of the Sanhedrin composed of the majority party of the Sadducees and the minority party of the Pharisees, and presided over by the high priest, met to discuss what might be done about the Jesus problem. Their concern, as revealed in verse forty-eight, “If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.” Barclay writes:

In the Sanhedrin there were both Pharisees and Sadducees. The Pharisees were not a political party at all; their soul interest was in living according to every detail of the law; and they cared not who governed them so long as they were allowed to continue in meticulous obedience to the law. On the other hand, the Sadducees were intensely political. They were the wealthy and aristocratic party. They were also the collaborationist party. So long as they were allowed to retain their wealth, comfort and position of authority, they were well content to collaborate with Rome. All the priests were Sadducees. And it is clear that it was the priests who dominated this meeting of the Sanhedrin. That is to say, it was the Sadducees who did all the talking.92

Thus their unrighteous self-concern led them to plot to kill Jesus. They were concerned that all of the people would follow Jesus rather than them. They were concerned that He might cause an upheaval of their comfortable lifestyle. But while their hearts were bent on selfish evil, the remainder of the gospel reveals that God used even their ungodly actions in His divine plan of salvation.

Interesting to note, when the high priest, Caiaphas, addressed the Sanhedrin, the Bible proclaims that he prophesied concerning Jesus’ death and suggests that he had received that information from God. Also in verse fifty-two the reader discovers that he had an understanding of the effect of Jesus death where one reads, “And not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad.” In truth this was God’s purpose in Christ, to gather a people for Himself from among the Jews and the gentiles scattered abroad. Having this information, rather than coming to Jesus’ support, they used the truth of God for their own advantage and plotted to take Jesus life.

These events confirm that God had sovereign control over all the events surrounding Jesus’ life and ministry. Jesus knew what lie ahead. He would willingly surrender His life according to the perfect will and purpose of God. The raising of Lazarus not only revealed the glory of God in Jesus, but also set into motion all that must take place in order to accomplish His purpose. While the people would look for Jesus, He would retreat until time for the Passover. At that time He would become the perfect once for all sacrifice, as He had intended all along. According to Borchert, the concluding verses of chapter eleven provide a, “crucial conclusion because they announce the coming of Passover and thus the close of the Festival Cycle. They also prepare the reader for the next event, Jesus’ anointing for death (12:7). The hostility that had developed throughout this cycle had here reached its finale. The orders for Jesus’ arrest were certified by the Council (11:57), and all Jerusalem had come to a fever pitch of excitement (11:56). The die had been cast.”93

CHAPTER TWELVE

Chapter twelve serves as a transition chapter, which introduces the events of the last week of Jesus’ life. Verse one indicates that the timing for these events began on Sunday, six days before the Passover. The setting is in Bethany where Lazarus lived. Jesus continues to reveal His deity through the movements of the narrative. At Lazarus’ home, at His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and during the period of His teaching before the night of His arrest, John’s gospel continues to present evidence that Jesus is God in the flesh.

Chapter twelve clearly portrays Lazarus as being alive. John’s testimony, concerning His presence at the dinner given in Jesus’ honor, gives further witness that Jesus did raise him from the dead. Verse nine indicates that many others came seeking to see Lazarus as well as Jesus. Thus the gospel presents an ever-growing number of eyewitnesses to the divine miracle of resurrection that Jesus performed. It further gives evidence of an increasing number of people who believed on Him.

At the center of activity, in the home of Lazarus, the reader discovers Mary anointing Jesus’ feet. This action not only demonstrated respect and faith, but also represented a great personal sacrifice. Tenney writes:

Spices and ointments were quite costly because they had to be imported. Frequently they were used as an investment because they occupied a small space, were portable, and were easily negotiable in the open market. Mary’s offering was valued at three hundred denarii (v.5 Gr.), approximately a year’s wages for an ordinary workingman. Perhaps it represented her life savings. She presented it as an offering of love and gratitude, prompted by Jesus’ restoration of her brother to the family circle. Wiping his feet with her hair was a gesture of utmost devotion and reverence. The penetrative fragrance of the ointment that filled the house told all present of her sacrificial gift.94

The act of love and devotion Mary expressed, by anointing Jesus, suggests her testimony of Jesus’ divinity. The text implies that Mary understood the eminent death of Jesus. But, rather than saving the ointment for His burial, she chose to use it that evening. Phillips writes concerning this event:

Then one day there was a resurrection! Jesus came to Bethany and raised her brother from the dead. We can imagine that many a time around the supper table Martha would tell her brother and sister what Jesus had said: “I am the resurrection and the life.” Mary hid this saying in her heart. Then one day the light went on in her soul. Jesus said he was going to be crucified, he was going to be buried, and he was going to rise again. There was to be a resurrection like that of Lazarus. That had to be it. He was the resurrection. Death would not be able to hold him. He had said he would rise on the third day. As for his body, it would need no spices. David had prophesied: “Thou wilt not...suffer thine Holy One to see corruption” (Psalm 16:10). Jesus would not need the spikenard when he was buried after all. So, she said to herself, I’ll give it to him the next time he’s here. It was a marvelous demonstration of her faith. She had kept that ointment for his burial, but she gave it to him a week before-because now she believed in his resurrection.95

Judas protested this expression of Mary’s love because of the expense of the ointment. The Bible records in verses seven and eight, “Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept it. For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.” While one might speculate concerning the motives of Mary, the text makes clear that Jesus had divine knowledge concerning the events that were about to take place. Jesus knew what He must do and showed Mary’s actions to be appropriate in light of His impending death.

John’s account moves from the evening in the home of Lazarus to the next day when Jesus made His way into Jerusalem. Passover brought an exciting and festive atmosphere to Jerusalem and the surrounding area. Many pilgrims traveled long distances to observe the feast. Jesus naturally had a large crowd of people following Him. In the general area one would find the disciples that had been following Jesus from Ephraim, as well as a multitude of others who had been searching for Him. There had been a large crowd of mourners who were present at Lazarus’ funeral. Verse nine indicates that there was a large crowd who had come to see Jesus and Lazarus.  Barclay provides a logical estimate of the number of people in and around Jerusalem when he writes, “At such a time Jerusalem and the villages round about were crowded. On one occasion a census was taken of the lambs slain at the Passover Feast. The number given was 256,000. There had to be a minimum of ten people per lamb; and if that estimate is correct it means that there must have been as many as 2,700,000 people at Passover Feast. Even if that figure is exaggerated, it remains true that the numbers must have been immense.96 With this information in hand, one might surmise that the road from Bethany, across the Kidron Valley into Jerusalem, might be filled with a sea of people, on either side, waiting to see Jesus.

The crowd consisted of many kinds of people. Some were sightseers, thinking Jesus to be the best show in town. These would later call for His death. Others looked to Jesus as a conquering hero. As verse thirteen records, some of them, “Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.” According to Barclay, “Many among the crowds were greeting Jesus as a conqueror. That, in face, is the predominant atmosphere of the whole scene...The word Hosanna is the Hebrew for “Save now!” And the shout of the people was almost precisely: “God save the King!” The words with which the people greeted Jesus...are a quotation from Psalm 118:25, 26...the last Psalm of the group known as the Hallell...means praise God.”97

The people’s reference to Psalm 118 and John’s reference to Zechariah 9:9, suggests that Jesus fulfilled these prophesies concerning Messiah. He presented Himself as their Messiah king. The people, however, came out to see the one they expected to rescue Israel from Rome. Verse sixteen reveals that even the disciples did not have a complete understanding of these things until after Jesus was glorified.

The great crowd following of Jesus struck jealousy and fear into the hearts of the religious leaders. The events served to strengthen their resolve to do away with Jesus. With each passing day Jesus moved steadily closer to the cross and His ultimate glorification. Beginning with verse twenty-three, He again predicts His impending death and reveals His divine knowledge and sovereign control over the events as they unfolded.

The introduction of the Greeks, who were seeking to see Jesus, offers an opportunity for Christ to teach the truth of the gospel. In these verses Jesus predicts that He will die for all people, Jews and Gentiles. As a single seed bears much fruit, Jesus’ death will bear many lives. Jesus had to die in order that people of faith might live in Him and be resurrected with Him.  In verse twenty-three the Bible records, “And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.” Speaking of His glorification, Beasley-Murray writes, “It is a remarkable representation of the work of Christ for humanity, inasmuch as the death of Jesus on the cross is not regarded as the depth of shame from which he is raised to glory, but the death itself is the moment of glory wherein God is glorified (v28) and one with his exaltation to the throne of God.98

Through His death, the King of Israel would be glorified. In contrast to other world powers, and the expectations of the people, a new power, gentile, human and gracious will rule the earth. The Son of man should be glorified, but not as the world sees it. His glorification will not be with power, wealth and prestige. Jesus’ glory will come through death by crucifixion. The great paradox of the gospel is that Jesus gives life through His death. By His own authority, by the will of God, the gospel gives life. Through His glorification, Jesus proves Himself to be God in the flesh.

Jesus clarifies His effect upon the believer where in verses twenty-five and twenty-six He says, “He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor.” With these words Jesus teaches that only through death to self, may one live for Him. The follower of Christ must be willing to martyr himself or herself for the sake of Christ. Only with a complete surrender in faith may one follow Christ through physical death to enter into eternal life with Him. As Phillips writes, “We can live for Jesus and in the world to come, and be with him for all eternity. Or we can live for this world and be the losers in eternity.”99

Only through spending one’s life in love for Jesus may that life be preserved. A life motived by self leads to death, but a life motivated by love of Jesus leads to a fulfilling of God’s will in ministry to others. Greatness comes through service. Service to others, in Jesus’ name, leads to others finding faith in Him. The world’s idea of greatness moves a person towards worldliness, but a life lived according to the will of God brings greatness in terms of eternal rewards. God made possible all of this, by acting in Christ to bring forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

The text suggests that perhaps Jesus, in His humanity, felt the temptation to avoid the pain and suffering of the cross. His conviction and commitment to the will of the Father, however, allowed for no other course of action. In verses twenty-seven and twenty-eight one reads, “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. Then came a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” Concerning this verse, Tasker writes, “But Jesus’ own glorification is also the Father’s glorification. The two are inseparable. Accordingly, He now prays that His Father’s name may be glorified, i.e. that in and through His forthcoming suffering His Father will be recognized as being what in truth He is, the lover of sinners.”100

As Jesus faced the greatest of all trials, He knew that His death would bring victory for those who place their faith in Him. By His death Jesus would break the power of Satan and the power of evil in the world. By His death He would break the power of death itself. This was God’s will. This was God’s purpose in Christ. As Jesus glorified God with His life, He would also glorify Him in His death, resurrection, ascension and second coming. God worked in Christ to reveal Himself, to glorify Himself, and to provide the means for a personal relationship with Him. The people heard God the Father speak His approval from heaven bringing the testimony of God as to the divine nature of Christ in His purpose and His person.

Then as now, those who heard the truth of God were divided in their belief.  Some tried to explain the voice in physical terms, saying that it had thundered. Others tried to explain the voice in terms of their own doctrines and beliefs, saying that it was an angle. Jesus gives the explanation for what just happened when, in verse thirty, one reads, “Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sake.” Jesus did not need to hear God’s voice, for it was the voice within Him that motivated every action of His life. God spoke, so that those who heard might have reason to believe. God spoke audibly in order to allow the people to understand the authority behind Jesus’ words. The authority behind Jesus’ promises is the authority of God.

In verse thirty-one Jesus said, “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” In this verse Jesus reveals His divine authority. Through Jesus’ death, God brings judgment to Satan and judgment to the world. Concerning this verse, Walvoord and Zuck write, “His power over people by sin and death was defeated and they can now be delivered out of his domain of spiritual darkness and slavery to sin.”101

Just as Jesus’ sacrificial death brings salvation and eternal life to people of faith, it also brings God’s righteous judgment upon those who refuse to believe. In His righteousness, God judges everyone’s sin. For those who trust Jesus, God passes His judgment by allowing Jesus to assume the cost, of the penalty for sin, through His sacrificial crucifixion. Those who refuse Jesus’ sacrifice on their behalf will take the judgment upon themselves. The death of Christ is God’s plan and only provision for the forgiveness of sin.

In verses thirty-two and thirty-three, Jesus again demonstrates His divine understanding of God’s purpose in Him, and of the events that were soon to take place. In those verses Jesus said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die.” Here is another example of Jesus prophesying His emanate death and resurrection. By Jesus telling the people on many occasions what He would do, He reveals Himself as God in the flesh when He fulfilled all that He had promised.

The response of the crowd reveals a lack of understanding. They knew that Christ would remain forever, but they did not understand what that meant. They would not understand until after Jesus arose from death. They thought the Son of man being lifted up meant that He would be removed from earth in some way. They saw in Jesus the fulfillment of the promise of Messiah, but misunderstood those promises, thinking He would be with them physically forever. In response to their doubt, Jesus returns to His theme of light and darkness.

Jesus once again presents Himself as the light. The light of Jesus is analogous to life and a relationship with God as opposed to darkness and being lost. Jesus promises that the person who walks with Him will be delivered from the darkness. Following, Jesus promises deliverance from fear of the unknown, and fear from doubt concerning the truth, or direction of one’s life. By living in Jesus, believers become sons of light, or children of God. Jesus’ plea is to trust in the light while it is available. Jesus calls for a personal decision in the time available. He gives urgency to the need to respond to Him.  When the opportunity passed, the Bible records that Jesus left them and hid Himself from them. It is important for people to respond when God in Christ makes Himself available. Those who refuse Him may not have future opportunities. Those who refuse the light may condemn themselves to darkness. John indicates that the unbelief of the Jews had been predicted in Isaiah 6:10 and in Isaiah 53:1. Once again the author shows how the events of Jesus life fulfilled prophesy concerning the Messiah who would be God with His people.

John goes on to indicate that still many did believe in Jesus but apparently lacked genuine faith. Even some of the religious leaders believed on Jesus, but were afraid to confess Him publicly. Jesus used these circumstances to give further teachings that reveal His divinity. In verses forty-four and forty-five, “Jesus cried and said, He that believeth on me, believeth not on me, but on him that sent me. And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me.” Jesus claims that to believe in Him is the same as believing in God. To see Him is the same as seeing God. His claims to be divine cannot be mistaken.

In the remaining verses in this chapter, Jesus once again claims that He is the light of God come into the world. As light He reveals truth. As light He reveals God to a world in darkness. In verse forty-nine and fifty, He claims that His words are the words of God and they are the source of truth that leads to eternal life. Morris writes, “The things that Jesus speaks He speaks just as the Father has spoken to Him. “Hath said” ,in the perfect tense, stresses the permanence while the present “speak” indicates that Jesus continues right to this moment to speak in this way. The whole verse (vs 50) puts stress on the permanent relation between the Father and the Son. This is a striking note on which to end the account of the ministry of Jesus. Jesus is not a figure of independent greatness; he is the Word of God, or he is nothing at all.”102 As far as John’s gospel goes, this ends Jesus’ teaching to the people. Chapters thirteen through seventeen comprise the record of some intense teaching to His disciples, concluding with His prayer for them, and for those who will follow. In that section, as in this one, Jesus reveals Himself as the divine Son of God, the Savior

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Chapter thirteen begins with the account of Jesus washing the disciple’s feet, at a time that coincides with the synoptic accounts of the Lord’s Supper. After leaving them with an example of how they should express their love for one another, Jesus goes on to predict Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial. Throughout this passage, Jesus continues to reveal Himself through His divine knowledge and by making certain claims about Himself.

John begins in verse one by stating, “Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.” By telling the reader that, “Jesus knew that his hour was come”, John once again points out Jesus divine foreknowledge. On several occasions in this Gospel, John records that Jesus slipped away, from those who meant Him harm, because His time had not yet come. But at this point in the narrative, Jesus knew that He was about to fulfill His purpose in coming. Jesus knew (verse two) that the devil had entered into Judas. Jesus knew that by Judas’ betrayal a series of events would be set into place that would result in His arrest. The time had come for His sacrificial death. The time had come for Him to allow Himself to be captured, tried and executed. He would do this willingly, in submission to the perfect will of the Father. In Christ, God was about to act to take care of the problem of sin, once and for all.

To set up the events surrounding Jesus washing the disciple’s feet, John writes in verse three, “Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;”. The statement, “Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands” suggests the absolute sovereignty of Christ. The phrase, “that he was come from God, and went to God” also suggests that He is one with God. Tenney writes, “Jesus was fully aware of his authority, his divine origin, and his destiny.”103 Morris declares, “John does not see the cross as the causal observer might see it. It is the place where a great divine work was wrought out and the divine glory shown forth. So he describes it in terms of the Father’s giving all things to the son... He (the Father) is no idle spectator at the Passion, but He works out His will there.”104 Considering these truths, one comes to understand that Jesus did not work independently of the Father. On the contrary the work of Jesus is the work of the Father.

As Jesus demonstrated His love for the disciples, and set for them an example of how to treat one another, the narrative reveals in verse eight, “Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou has not part with me.” Peter did not think it appropriate that his Lord should wash his feet. In his mind Jesus had reversed their roles. But Jesus used this occasion to teach Peter an important principle. As Walvoord and Zuck write, “This does not mean, “Unless you are baptized you cannot be saved,” but, “Unless I wash your sins away by My atoning death (cf. Rev. 1:5) you have no real relationship to Me” (cf. 1 John 1:7).”105 Therefore Jesus’ act demonstrated for the disciples how God in Christ would offer the disciples a personal relationship with Him.

In verse eleven, the narrative turns the readers attention back to Judas. John writes of Jesus, “For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.” Jesus once again demonstrated His divine knowledge. Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him. Jesus also knew that Judas remained unclean, even when he was present, as Jesus washed the disciples feet. Christ knows when a person is in a right relationship with Him, and He knows when a person who has gone through ritual religious motions remains lost in their sins.

In verses thirteen and fourteen the reader discovers some claims that Jesus makes about Himself. John records that Jesus said, “Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.” The Greek word used here, translated as Master, is transliterated as didaskalos. Concerning this word, “The term covers all those regularly engaged in the systematic imparting of knowledge or technical skills...(the word) is often more closely defined by the subject he teachers...(In the early church) Men holding this office had the task of explaining the Christian faith to others and of providing a Christian exposition of the OT.”106 In the context of the passage, Jesus presents Himself as the teacher of the things of God and heaven. The disciples declare Him to be their Master / Teacher, and Jesus accepts this title for Himself.

The other Greek word of interest, here translated as “Lord”, is transliterated as kurios. The word occurs 749 times in the New Testament and fifty-one times in John’s gospel. It is used interchangeably for God or Jesus. According to Louw and Nida, kurios is, “(a title for God and for Christ) one who exercises supernatural authority over mankind.”107 Since Jesus readily accepts the title “Lord”, He in effect claims His own deity. As Stagg writes, “In Jesus Christ, God has acted and spoken, but more is to be said. In Jesus Christ, God has come.”108

Verses sixteen and seventeen record Jesus saying, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” With these words, Jesus places himself above the disciples because He is their Lord. But as their Master Teacher, He demonstrates love and humility by washing their feet. He encourages them to be servants of God to the people, just as God in Christ came to serve man.

The deity of Christ may also be seen in verse eighteen where one reads, “I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the scripture may be fulfilled, He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.” Jesus again demonstrates His divine knowledge of the future. He reveals His divine nature by stating that He knows the condition of people’s hearts without having been told by them. He details that the circumstances are proceeding under the sovereign hand of God by declaring that these things will happen so “that the scripture may be fulfilled.” The passage Jesus refers to is the prophecy of Psalm 41:9 which foretells the betrayal of the Christ.

In verse nineteen, Jesus says, “Now I tell you before it come, that, when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he.” Here Jesus clearly tells the disciples why He reveals these things to them. His prophesies serve the purpose of helping the disciples believe that He is who He claims to be. He offers proof to His claims to deity. If His predictions do not come to pass, then they have reason not to believe. But, if everything happens just as He predicts, and if He fulfills all scripture, then He must be the One He claims to be. Insight into the phrase “I am he” may be gained by noting the Greek words used here are egw eimi. Jesus once again applies the name of God to Himself, thus revealing His divinity.

Verse twenty reads, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whosoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.” The purpose of the Apostles sent by Jesus is to reveal Him to the world. The promise of the Gospel is that those who receive Jesus, receive God the Father who sent Him. Thus Jesus in this verse makes Himself equal to God. To receive Jesus is the same thing as receiving the Father. They are one and the same.

The narrative progresses in verses twenty-one through thirty. In this passage Jesus foretells of Judas’ betrayal. He again shows His divine knowledge of the events of the immediate future. He demonstrates that He can look into a person’s heart and know them in a way that is humanly impossible. He reveals these things in order that after His resurrection from the dead, His disciples may have additional evidence to support their faith that He is God in the flesh.

With Judas temporarily out of the picture, John picks up the narrative in verse thirty-one where one reads, “Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him.” The text ties the glory of the Son to the glory of the Father. As Harrison writes:

By virtue of being the Son, Christ shares the glory of God (He. 1:3), not merely as a reflection but as the manifestation or radiance of that glory. Through Him the knowledge of God’s glory (His essential being) is made available to mankind (2 Cor. 4:6). Before the world was created He that glory in fellowship with the Father (Jn. 1:1, 17:5). The Incarnation made it possible for those with spiritual understanding to discern His glory, which consisted in being the unique Son of God, full of grace and truth (Jn. 1:14). The divine nature loses nothing of its essential character by being yoked with humanity, and the human nature is not so overshadowed by the divine as to cease to be truly human. This glory could be seen (apprehended) by true believers.109

Chapter thirteen concludes with Jesus again predicting His death, resurrection and ascension. In verses thirty-three through thirty-six, Jesus makes it clear that He will go away and the disciples will not be able to follow Him. They will be able to follow Him through death to eternal life, but after His ascension, they will remain until God fulfills His purpose in them. Not only does Jesus again predict His death, He also predicts that Peter will deny Him three times before the cock crows (verse thirty-eight). All of this again points to His divine knowledge of God’s purpose and the future.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

As in other sections of the gospel, there is no break in the narrative as one moves from chapter thirteen to chapter fourteen. Jesus’ words concerning the coming betrayal, His impending death, and Peter’s denial, would have been very troubling to the disciples. They needed the comforting touch and assurance from Jesus that He was still in control. They needed to know that they had nothing to fear.

With His words of comfort, Jesus uses the opportunity to explain the gospel in terms that will help the disciples to understand who He is. His divinity shines forth through the narrative. John fills the chapter with dialog that introduces the new role of the Holy Spirit and defines God in terms of the Trinity. Throughout, Jesus shows Himself to be God in the flesh.

In verse one, Jesus says, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.” Of this verse, and the troubles of life, Gossip writes:

Believe in God, he (Jesus) says. Believe that there is a God; that you are never alone, are never asked to manage somehow for yourself and by yourself; that you can always go to him and be helped by him; that even when you forget about him, he comes to you and finds ways to steady and bring you through with honor. Believe in God as we do in a man to whom we have often turned and he has never failed us, so that now we are entirely certain that he never will. Believe in God...Believe also in me, says Christ; in all that I have told you about God, and man, and life, and sin, and salvation, and immortality. And, especially and specifically here, in me...But, says Christ, I am not deserting you, and I will not forget you. You have a sure and permanent place in my heart; and wherever I may be, I shall be thinking of you, working for you, expecting you.110

Jesus gives an imperative command to His disciples and He equates faith in God with faith in Him. To trust God, one must trust Him. To experience the grace that comes with a relationship with God, one must enter that relationship through Jesus. According to Phillips, “This puts God and Christ as close together as possible and puts the two identical responses at the beginning and the end. Whatever we render to God we are to render to Jesus. There is not one particle of difference between the two. Jesus is God as God is God. Both can and must be equally trusted.”111

Jesus continues to reveal Himself in verses two and three where He says, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” In these verses Jesus refers to heaven and eternal life in terms of His Father’s house. He also claims divine authority to prepare a place in heaven for those who receive Him in faith. Jesus determines who will live in the Father’s house. He alone makes it possible for a person to dwell there with Him.

Jesus makes this truth emphatic. In verse six, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” By using the now familiar term egw eimi, Jesus uses the unspeakable name of God to refer to Himself. In so doing He claims that He is the way to where He is going. He is the map by which His followers may find their heavenly home. Furthermore, He is the only way that a person may go to find heaven. Jesus not only proclaims truth. He is the truth. He is the embodiment of all truth. He is the absolute standard by which a person measures all claims to truth. He is the truth demonstrated in moral perfection. Likewise, He is life. He is everlasting life. He is the source of all life from creation. He is the source of life for the believer, today, tomorrow and forever.

In verse seven, Jesus makes another direct claim to deity. John records that Jesus said, “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.”  According to Jesus’ own words, if a person follows Him and really knows Him, at the same time, that person follows and really knows God. To know Jesus is to know God. Furthermore, to see Jesus is to see God. According to this verse, Jesus is God in the flesh.

When Philip did not understand what Jesus taught, verses nine through eleven record, “Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.” Philip lived with Jesus, the embodiment of truth, yet to this point he had not understood the truth. The Son came into the world to reveal the Father. Jesus had been revealing the Father throughout His ministry. To know the Son is to know the Father. To see the Son is to see the otherwise invisible Father. There was a mutual indwelling of the Father and the Son. Jesus’ words are the words of the Father. Jesus’ works are the works of the Father. In Jesus God reveals Himself as a person so that believers may know Him personally. God offers Himself in an intimate relationship with the person who receives His Son in faith. Jesus is God, making Himself known. Walvoord and Zuck write, “The Father is in Jesus and Jesus perfectly reveals Him (1:18). Hence no theophany was necessary, for by seeing Jesus they were seeing the Father.”112

With Jesus’ call for His followers to believe in Him, He offers a great promise. In verses twelve through fourteen, Jesus says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” The promise of God’s word is that people, who enter into a faith relationship with God, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, will be used by God to accomplish God sized works in this world.

The impact of this promise may be understood when one considers the works of Jesus as recorded in John’s gospel. Jesus made disciples (1:35-51). Jesus revealed His glory when He changed the water into wine (2:1-11). He protected His Father’s house when He cleansed the temple (2:14-19). Jesus did many miraculous signs (2:23). He taught others the truth about salvation (3:1-21). He confronted people with their sin so they could be forgiven (4:1-18). Jesus taught others about true worship (4:19-26). He did the Father’s work (4:34). He healed the sick (4:43-5:14). Jesus gave people the hope of eternal life (5:24). He fed the hungry (6:1-15). He walked on the water (6:16-24). Jesus worshiped with His brothers and sisters (7:1-24). He forgave people (8:1-11). He helped people to see physically and spiritually (9:1-41). Jesus was a shepherd, willing to lay down His life for His sheep (10:1-21). Jesus prayed and raised the dead (11:1-44). Jesus prophesied concerning the future (12:20-29). Jesus showed people the way to eternal life (12:35-36). Jesus washed the disciples feet (13:1-7). He comforted His disciples (14:1-4). The Lord’s great promise is that anyone who has faith in Jesus will do what Jesus did. As God was at work in Jesus, He will continue to work in and through those who follow Christ in faith.

Jesus’ promise is more astounding in that He proclaims that those who follow Him will do even greater things than He did. How is this possible? Because Jesus is going to the Father and He promises to do anything asked in His name so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. Thus asking in Jesus’ name implies that the requests are to the Father. The Father does not deny the Son, so that the Father treats the believer’s requests as if they came from the Son.

The promise is absolute. The believer, however, must not allow himself or herself to get caught up in false doctrines, which seek to obligate God to fulfill the desires of a person’s flesh. God’s promise comes with some conditions. A person must have genuine faith in Jesus. The request must bring glory to God. It must be made in Jesus name, being truly representative of a person’s submission and relationship with Him. As seen in the following verses, the request must be founded in love, obedience and the counsel of the Holy Ghost. This power of God, demonstrated in the life of the believer, supports Jesus’ claims to be One with the Father. Concerning the works of the believer, Tasker writes, “To have faith in Jesus as such a revealer of God will moreover enable the disciples to do even greater works than Jesus Himself had been able to do owing to the enforced restrictions of His human life, during which He was confined to the land of Palestine and was able to minister for the most part only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It will enable them to carry the gospel of redemption to the heathen world, and to make the reign of God a relation in the hearts of thousands who never knew Jesus on earth.”113 Thus it is in the sense of the continuing work of God in bringing salvation through faith in Jesus Christ that the disciples will do greater works than Jesus Himself.

In verses fifteen through eighteen, the gospel presents a remarkable picture of the Trinity. Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever. Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”  Bromiley defines the word Trinity as, “The term designating one God in three persons. Although not itself a biblical term, “the Trinity” has been found a convenient designation for the one God self-revealed in Scripture as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It signifies that within the one essence of the Godhead we have to distinguish three “persons” who are neither three gods on the one side, nor three parts or modes of God on the other, but coequally and coeternally God.”114 These verses support this doctrine. Already Jesus revealed His unique unity with the Father. Here He says that He will come to the disciples by sending them the Holy Spirit. Thus, as He did with the Father, He makes Himself to be one and the same with the Comforter.

The outworking of the relationship with God, promised by faith in Jesus, may be found in verse twenty where one reads, “At that day (when the Holy Spirit comes) ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.”  Through faith in Jesus and the presence of the Holy Spirit, God will be personally present in the believer. Those who place their faith in Jesus will be able to do the things He did, and even greater things, because God will work in and through the believer to accomplish His will. The indwelling presence of God in the person of the Holy Spirit affords relationship and intimacy between the believer and God. This relationship may be entered only through faith in Jesus. He is the member of the Godhead that makes relationship with God possible.

The text further pictures the unity of Jesus with the Father in verse twenty-three where one reads, “Jesus answered and saith unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” As Jesus will come with the Holy Spirit, so too will the Father come with Jesus. God will live with man. He will reveal Himself using all three members of the Godhead, each serving His own purpose in God’s self-revelation.

In verse twenty-four, Jesus said, “He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.” Once again Jesus equates His words with the Father’s words. He speaks nothing on His own, because He is one with the Father. He continues the Trinitarian language in verses twenty-five and twenty-six where Jesus says, “These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” As before, Jesus mentions members of the Godhead in terms that make them inseparable. It is the One true God working in the distinct persons of the Godhead. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are all one and the same God.

The chapter concludes with another example of Jesus’ divine foreknowledge. He says in verse twenty-nine, “And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.”  He goes on in verse thirty to say that the prince of this world, the devil, will come, speaking of the events that were about to take place. Jesus reveled Himself and the future for the purpose that His disciples might believe that He is who He says. He is God, personally present with them. He is going away, but will return as the Holy Spirit who will be God personally present with them. Through faith in Him, the disciples know God.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

As the narrative of the gospel continues, this chapter is largely an exposition of the previous chapter. Through His continued teaching, Jesus explains and reinforces the truths already revealed. In His dialogue, He further reveals His relationship to the Father, which supports His claims to deity.

Verse one begins with the last of the “I Am” statements. Jesus proclaims, “I AM the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.” Once again Jesus asserts His deity by applying the Greek words egw eimi, the personal name of God, to Himself. To understand further Jesus’ relationship to the Father, it is helpful to understand that the Old Testament extensively uses the word vine as an analogy for Israel (Ps 80:8, Is 5:1-7, Jer 2:21, Ez 15, 17:5-10, 19:10-14). Here, Jesus presents Himself as the true vine or the true Israel. God was in the process of creating a people for Himself through the nation of Israel. Jesus proclaims that God is creating a people for Himself through Him. God promised that He would bless the nations through Israel. He will fulfill His promise through Jesus, the true Israel. Speaking of Jesus, Tasker writes, “He is what God had called Israel to be, but what Israel in fact had never become. With Him therefore a new Israel emerges, the members of which draw their spiritual sustenance form Him alone.”115

In His analogy, Jesus presents the Father as the husbandman or gardener. God is the one who plans, plants, cultivates and provides everything needed for growth. He cuts off every branch that does not bear fruit and prunes the branches so that they will be more fruitful. The branches, however, cannot survive unless they remain in the vine. Jesus is the vine, which God provides in order that people may remain connected to Him. Bruce writes, “A vine-branch is lifeless and useless unless it remains attached to the vine. The living sap from the stock flowing into it enables it to produce grapes; otherwise it is fruitless. So with Jesus’ disciples: only as they remain in union with him and derive their life form him can they produce the fruit of the Spirit. Paul does not use Johannine idiom but he expresses the same truth when he says, ‘It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me’ (Gal. 2:20), and ‘I can do all things in him who strengthens me’ (Phil. 4:13).”116

The call to remain attached to God through faith in Christ comes with the promise that God will provide everything the believer needs. In verses seven and eight one reads, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” The reader readily understands that in these verses Jesus continues His teaching started in the previous chapter. Asking in His name brings glory to Jesus, but ultimately faith in Him brings glory to the Father. Thus when one receives glory, they both receive glory because they are one and the same.

In verse nine Jesus speaks of the love He demonstrates towards His disciples as being the same as the love the Father demonstrates toward Him. Thus the love of the Father is the same as the love of Jesus. He draws the same parallel with obedience in verse ten. In verse fifteen, He shows that the truths, which He teaches, are the same as those truths, which God teaches. In ever action and in every conceivable way, Jesus is God revealing Himself to man. God in Christ avails Himself personally to everyone who places his or her faith in His Son.

In verse sixteen, Jesus said, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”  Jesus here repeats the great promise introduced in chapter fourteen. The purpose behind God answering the disciple’s request is so that they might bring forth fruit. The fruit of the disciple is the building of the people of God. In the proclamation of the gospel and the salvation of souls, glory comes to God. That glory comes as a result of faith in Jesus. The greater work of the disciples is the spreading of the gospel to the whole world. Fruit that lasts is faith that takes permanent root in the hearts of the hearers of the gospel. Phillips writes, “The key to God’s inexhaustible riches is given to those who abide in Christ and who have his words abiding in them. The key to getting what we want is wanting what he wants.”117 God’s purpose and the disciple’s obedience will be accomplished through Jesus’ command in verse seventeen to love one another. The love of God, demonstrated in Christ and displayed to the disciples, must be shared with the world in order for people of faith to bear fruit.

In the remainder of the chapter, Jesus continues to reveal His divine knowledge. He tells the disciples, before it happens, that they will be persecuted because of their faith in Him. In verse twenty-one, Jesus says, “But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.” Jesus makes this claim to enforce His previous teaching that if a person knows Him, he or she will know the Father as well. In rejecting Jesus, a person rejects God the Father and, according to verse twenty-two, remains lost in his or her sin. In verse twenty-three He goes on to say, “He that hateth me hateth my Father also.” Again Jesus equates Himself to God the Father by emphasizing that the personal attitude toward one cannot be separated from the other.

Jesus again speaks in clear Trinitarian language in verse twenty-six and twenty-seven where one reads, “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.” According to Jesus, He will send the comforter. The comforter comes form God, but His purpose is to be a witness to Jesus. As Phillips writes, “The Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son, a clear incidental proof of the deity of Christ.”[iv] From this verse one can see dependence among the members of the Godhead. While each member serves a specific function, the result of the efforts of the Godhead, is the glory of God in the life of the believer. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work in perfect concert for the glory of God. They are one.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

In the dialog of chapter sixteen, Jesus continues to reveal Himself to His disciples, and to further explain the role of the Holy Spirit. This passage is rich in Trinitarian thought. As Jesus continues to reveal His divine foreknowledge, He helps His disciples to better understand who He is, where He has come from and where He is going. As the chapter concludes, the Gospel reveals that the disciples at last come to a deeper understanding of who Jesus is.

In verses one and four Jesus says to the disciples that He tells them these things so that they will not be offended or caught off guard when they occur. Hull writes, “Throughout John 13-16 Jesus gave splendid reassurances to the disciples in order that they might have abounding joy (cf. 15:11; 16:24; 17:13). One promise not made, however, was the absence of conflict. In fact, side by side with tender comfort came stern warnings of inevitable persecution. The coexistence of these apparently contradictory themes in the same section creates the paradox of sorrowful joy which is clarified in vv. 16-24.”119 He foretells future events so that when they happen, rather than being discouraged, the disciple’s faith will be increased. Jesus tells them that they will be hated, thrown out of the synagogues and even killed on account of their faith in Him. He warned them while He was with them, but He would soon leave them. With this information, Jesus goes on to explain that He is going away, but the Holy Spirit would soon come.

In verses five through seven one reads, “But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, whither goest thou? Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”  Already John’s gospel revealed that God presented Himself personally, in human form, in Jesus Christ. A part of God’s plan, however, was to supplant the personal presence of Jesus with His immediate disciples, with the giving of the Holy Spirit to all believers. Jesus’ departure would benefit the disciples, not only in providing the sacrifice for forgiveness of sins, but also in making way for the personal presence of God in the person of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus continues His teaching in verses eight through eleven where Jesus said, “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” Jesus had to go back to the Father in order that He might send the Holy Spirit. This was for the disciple’s good. The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, would reprove the world. The Spirit’s role in reproving involves convicting or convincing. He serves as a prosecuting attorney who cross-examines until the accused confesses the truth. According to Jesus, in His convicting role, the Holy Spirit focuses in three primary areas.

Through the Holy Spirit, God convicts the world of sin. Walvoord and Zuck write, “Conviction is not the same as conversion but is necessary to it...Sin is rebellion against God and this rebellion reached its climax in the crucifixion of Jesus.”[v] According to Beasley-Murray, “The recognition that the prime sin is unbelief in relation to God’s revelation in Christ runs through our Gospel (cf. 1:11; 13:19; 15:22). Such unbelief entails rejection, to ignorance, of the proclamation of Christ in the Gospel. Since the “exposure” of the world is one of a continuing situation, it has to do not only with the vote of the Jewish Sanhedrin and the decision of Pilate but with the attitude of the “world” as such.”121 When the Jews crucified Jesus, they thought they were doing a service to God. When the Holy Spirit came (Acts 2:36-37) He convicted them that they had killed the Son of God. The conviction led to repentance from sin, faith in Jesus and salvation in His name. The Holy Spirit also convicts in terms of righteousness. He convinces people concerning the righteousness of Christ and their unrighteousness when compared to His. Because of the Holy Spirit, many Jews who believed Jesus to be a blasphemer had a change of heart. They went from condemning Jesus to understanding that He was God in the flesh. They were able to understand that He did not deserve death. Because of sin, they deserved to die. He was righteous. They were not. He died so that they might have life.

The Holy Spirit further convicts the world in terms of judgment. Through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, people understand that on the cross sin and evil stand condemned. He further reveals that every person will one day face the judgment of God. For the lost soul, the Spirit intercedes to lead the sinner away from judgment to live in faith. For the child of God, the Spirit convinces of the certainty of judgment for all lost souls, so that the believer might be encouraged to witness to others.

To the unbeliever the Holy Spirit is the prosecuting attorney who brings evidence of personal sin. He continues to do that in the life of the back sliding Christian. But His greater role for the child of God is that the Holy Spirit becomes their advocate for defense. By the sealing of the Holy Spirit, the believer receives the righteousness of Christ. On the cross He assumed the cost of the penalty of sin. He sends His Holy Spirit to seal the believer in Him, giving confidence and security before almighty God.

The Bible reveals an additional role of the Holy Spirit in verses thirteen and fourteen. Jesus said, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” Of these verses Bruce writes, “Jesus had come to earth as the revealer of the Father, but the limited period of his ministry was too brief for the disciples to take in all that he had to reveal. His ministry of revelation would, however, be carried on after his departure by the Spirit.”122 Earlier, Jesus proclaimed Himself to be the truth. He is the embodiment of truth. The role of the Spirit is to guide believers to Jesus the truth. As Jesus only spoke what He heard from the Father, the Spirit likewise will not speak of Himself, but will speak what He hears from God. As Jesus revealed future events, the Spirit will also reveal the future. As Jesus glorified the Father, the Spirit will glorify Jesus. Thus the role of the Spirit is to reveal Jesus, just as Jesus’ role is to reveal the Father. Through faith in Christ, and the presence of His Holy Spirit, the believer enters into a personal, intimate relationship with God. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are distinct in person and in role, but are united in the being of the One True God.

Through the presence of the Holy Spirit, God speaks directly to the believer. Through the Holy Spirit, God reveals the truth. Through the Spirit, the child of God knows God’s will, and discerns the truth from a lie. He or she distinguishes between light and darkness, and receives an understanding of God’s will and purpose. By the presence of the Holy Spirit, God confirms faith, offers assurance and eternal security, and brings understanding to the Scriptures.

In verse sixteen Jesus said to His disciples, “A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.” Once again Jesus reveled His divine foreknowledge. Once again He predicted His death and resurrection. Once again He spoke of the fulfillment of God’s will in Him. He told them before it happened so that after the fact they might believe. He told them over and over that He would give His life and rise again, but the disciples still did not understand.

Jesus comforts the disciples and continues to reveal His divine knowledge. In verse twenty He says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.” Morris writes, “Jesus makes it clear that His followers will have a difficult time while their enemies triumph, but He does not explain this in detail.”123 In verse twenty-two He goes on to say, “And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.” In verse twenty-eight He says, “I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.” Throughout this passage, Jesus predicts His death, resurrection and ascension back into heaven. The proof of His identity as God in the flesh may be seen in the fulfillment of His prophecy. He gave His life. He rose again. He went back to heaven to be one with the Father, because He had the authority as God to do so.

Jesus’ divinity may also be realized in His promise to the disciples as recorded in verses twenty-six and twenty-seven. Jesus said, “At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: for the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.” Jesus just told the disciples plainly that He had come from the Father and was returning to the Father. He then promises that His disciples may ask the Father for anything in His (Jesus) name. Through faith in Christ, the believer has permission to ask God the Father directly, because He loves His own and is willing to do whatever He is asked. Jesus came to reveal the Father. He will send the Spirit to further reveal the Father. The Spirit will enable the life of faith so that the child of God may ask, in faith, according to God’s will. In all Jesus will be glorified. The Christian will live empowered by the Spirit and enjoy a personal relationship with God.

In verse twenty-nine, one reads, “His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.” Finally, the disciples believe and understand. They here give their testimony concerning the deity of Christ. He is omniscient, knowing all things. He knows even the thoughts of a person. His knowledge is complete without aid from others. The disciples now confess that Jesus came forth from God. He is the very essence of God. He is God with them, relating to them on their level.

The chapter concludes with verses thirty-two and thirty-three where Jesus says, “Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Jesus had divine knowledge of the situation. He knew the time had come for His arrest, crucifixion and resurrection. Not only could Jesus answer their unasked questions, He knew the strengths and weaknesses of their faith. The disciples had genuine faith, but their faith would be tested beyond their comprehension. Although they loved Jesus, they would abandon Him in His greatest hour of tribulation. The disciples would leave, but His Father would remain with Him, because they are inseparable.

Through the circumstances of His sacrifice, Jesus taught the disciples about their own circumstances and their relationship of faith. They lived in two spheres. Their physical existence remained in the world, but their spiritual being dwelled in Him. Just as Christ suffered the tribulation of the world, the disciples also faced the tribulation of the world. As Jesus overcame the world, so too would the disciples. The presence of God that sustained Jesus would be present in the disciples to sustain them. In overcoming the world, Jesus provides peace through faith in Him. The peace of God reigns in the believer’s heart because he or she is eternally secure through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Jesus’ upper room discourse with His disciples concludes with an intercessory prayer for His followers. In this prayer Jesus consecrates Himself for the ultimate sacrifice, where He serves as both the administering priest and the sacrifice itself. He also consecrates the people for whom the sacrifice will be made, both His current disciples, and those who will believe in Him based upon the disciple’s testimony. The communion with His disciples becomes communion with His Father.124

Through His prayer Jesus’ deity may be seen in several ways. He speaks of the authority and glory He shares with the Father. Jesus reveals the Father and the Father’s word to His disciples. Jesus is in the Father, and the Father is in Jesus. After His sacrifice and resurrection, Jesus will return to the Father in the same sense that He was with the Father before creation.

Verse one reads, “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.” Jesus’ ministry drew near to an end. It was time for Him to be glorified. Unlike others, He seeks the glory that can only come from the Father. The cross will be the means by which that glory will come. Jesus prays that He may accept it and that it will bring glory to the Father.

Jesus will glorify the Father by doing His will. He will endure the cross in order to fulfill God’s purpose in bringing blessings to the people who place their faith in Jesus. In going to the cross Jesus accepts the authority of God over all flesh, even the one who is God’s own Son. In verse two one reads, “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou has given him.” Thus the cross proclaims the kingship of Christ. By His obedience to the Father, He receives authority over all people and becomes the blessing of God for the people of faith. Jesus gives eternal life to all people given to Him by the Father.

The definition of eternal life may be found in verse three where one reads, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou has sent.” Eternal life is to know God. As in earlier passages, this knowledge is more than intellectual. It is a relational knowledge of God. Speaking of the term, “that they might know”, Tasker writes, “In the Greek the verb is in the present subjective indicating that the knowledge is a growing experience.”125 The only way to know God is to know Jesus. The personal knowledge of God may be understood from the perspective of personally knowing the One He sent, the Lord Jesus Christ. Growing deeper in that knowledge and relationship requires continued discipleship in Christ. Jesus shares the intimate knowledge of the Father with those who have an intimate knowledge of Him. When people know Jesus, they know God. People cannot know God apart from knowing Jesus.

Verses four and five pick up the theme of the shared glory of the Son and the Father. Jesus continued to pray, “I have glorified thee on earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” Verses ten and twenty-four repeat this theme. Jesus brought glory to the Father by completing the work that God gave Him to do. The consummation of God’s purpose in Christ came at the cross. Because of Jesus’ obedience unto death, God glorifies Jesus. When Jesus ascends into heaven, He will receive the glory He shared with the Father from the beginning. They will be perfectly united in every way, as they were before God sent His Son to save humankind.

Jesus’ prayer goes on to show that He reveals the Father to the world. Verses six, seven and eight record Jesus saying, “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou has given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.” In these verses Jesus proclaims that He has manifested, revealed and made known, God’s name. Morris writes, “The name stands for the whole person. To manifest the name of God then is to reveal the essential nature of God to men.”126 Each time Jesus applied the term egw eimi to Himself, He revealed the name of God. Jesus enabled people to see the real nature of God. While in the Old Covenant, the Jews could not speak the name of God; Jesus brought God so close that the most common of people could speak of God by proclaiming Jesus to be God in the flesh.

Jesus, in these verses, equates God’s name with His own, and says that He gives it to those who place their faith in Him. He further claims that the words He speaks are in truth the words of the Father. Jesus is from the Father and everyone who receives Him, receives the Father who sent Him. Faith in Jesus is the God given means for knowing God personally.

Jesus’ prayer continues in verses nine and ten where one reads, “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou has given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.” Jesus came to save the world, but only those given to Him, those who receive Him in faith, will be saved. In becoming His disciples, they glorify Him. In glorifying Jesus, they glorify the Father. The Father and Son share in the children of God. They share in the glory brought by people of faith. Jesus and the Father share in everything because they are the same. God manifest Himself in Father, Son and Spirit to people who might, through faith, know Him personally.

In verses eleven through thirteen, Jesus’ prayer focuses on the fact that He will return to the Father. Jesus will no longer be with His disciples physically. Already He promised that God would be with them through the presence of the Holy Spirit, but He will return to heaven to be totally one with the Father again. His prayer for the disciples is that they might be one in the same way the Father and Son are one. He goes on to pray for their eternal security and that they might have the joy of Christ in them through faith in Him.  Beasley-Murray writes, “These things uttered by Jesus in his prayer, indicate that through his departure to the Father the saving sovereignty of God comes to its climatic action, and in their communion with the Father the disciples are to experience a unity such as that which exists between the Father and the Son. In this the joy of Jesus reaches its perfection. For the disciples to be reminded of these things should suffice to enable them to share his joy to the fullest.”127

The source of the disciple’s joy may be discovered in verse fourteen. Jesus said, “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” Back in John 8:31-32, John wrote, “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” The disciples have joy because they received the word of God through faith in Jesus. The world hates Jesus’ disciples, but they are no longer of this world. The Disciples of Christ are different and separated from the world. They have the light of God. They know the truth. They do not fear death because they have the words of eternal life given by Jesus.

In verse eighteen, Jesus affirms that God sent Him into the world. In verse twenty-one He again claims that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him. He ties these ideas together, along with their effect on the believer, in verse twenty-three where one reads, “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.” This verse affirms the unity between the Father and the Son. The Father sent Jesus. The love of the Father is the same as the love of Jesus. As Jesus is one with the Father, disciples are made one with God and each other through faith in Jesus. God’s purpose in salvation is to create a people for Himself, who will continue to reveal Him to the world through faith in Christ.

The conclusion of the chapter continues to proclaim the deity of Christ, where in verses twenty four through twenty-six Jesus prayed, “Father, I will that they also, whom thou has given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.” In these verses Jesus speaks with the authority of God on behalf of His disciples. He desires that they be with Him and that they personally see His glory. Of this glory Phillips writes, “This is the glory of his perfect and sinless humanity: God manifest in flesh, God seen, known, heard, and touched in the glorious person of the Lord Jesus.”128 He speaks of His eternal being and His intimate knowledge of the Father. He has made God known. He desires the love of God to rule in their lives. Through faith in Jesus, God has made Himself known to His disciples. God in the flesh revealed Himself.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Jesus’ discourse with the disciples, which began in chapter thirteen and concluded with His prayer in chapter seventeen, forms a bridge between His earthly ministry and the events leading up to His death. In chapter eighteen John presents the account of Jesus’ arrest and trial. While all of these events are central to the Gospel, this writer will focus only on those recorded events which further support the doctrine of the divinity of Christ.

The omniscience of the Lord Jesus Christ may be seen in the statement of verse four where one reads, “Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye?” Lewis writes, “God differs from other spirits not only in being but also in knowledge. God’s intellectual capabilities are unlimited, and God uses them fully and perfectly. God is omniscient. God knows all things (1 John 3:20). Jesus has this attribute of deity also, for Peter says, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you” (John 21:17). God knows all inward thoughts and outward acts of humanity (Ps 139). Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.”129

In chapter fifteen the reader discovers Jesus’ final use of the words egw eimi in conjunction with a metaphor to reveal His deity. In John 15:1, Jesus said, “I am the true vine.” But the reader does well to notice that Jesus again applies the name of God to Himself in verses five and eight. When Judas brought the soldiers and officials to arrest Jesus, and they said they were looking for Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus told them, “I am he (egw eimi).” The Bible declares that when Jesus said this, the men sent to arrest Him “went backward, and fell to the ground” (verse 6). He repeats His claim in verse eight, thus it is likely He chose these words to proclaim His deity till the end. According to Keener, “I am can mean “I am he (whom you seek)”, but it can also allude to Exodus 3:14, translated literally. A Jewish tradition, purportedly pre-Christian (attributed to the early Diaspora Jewish writer Artapanus), said that when Moses pronounced the name of his God, Pharaoh fell backward. (If Jesus’ hearers had thought he was pronouncing the divine name, they might have also fallen back in fear, because magicians were said to try to cast spells in that name.)”[vi]Verses eight and nine record, “Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way: that the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none.” This verse shows that Jesus’ fulfilled the prophetic words He spoke in John 6:39.

In verse eleven, after Peter resisted the guards, “Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into thy sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?  Throughout these events, and with these words, Jesus confirms His sovereign purpose. Barclay writes, “It shows us his authority. There he was, one single, lonely, unarmed figure; there they were, hundreds of them, armed and equipped. Yet face to face with him, they retreated and fell to the ground. There flowed from Jesus an authority, which in all his loneliness made him stronger than the might of his enemies. It shows us that Jesus chose to die. Here again it is clear that he could have escaped death if he had so wished. He could have walked through them and gone his way. But he did not. He even helped his enemies to arrest him. He chose to die.”131

Jesus’ deity may be seen in another event. John records at the end of chapter thirteen that Jesus predicted Peter’s denial. That event finds fulfillment in verses fifteen through twenty-seven. Further fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy may be seen in verses thirty-one and thirty-two where one reads, “Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death: That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die.”

Because the Jews would settle for nothing less than Jesus’ death, they brought Him before Pilate to be judged according to Roman law. The only charge they could bring against Jesus, that would have effect in a Roman court, was that Jesus claimed to be king of the Jews. Verses thirty-three and thirty-four record, “Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell thee of me?” Jesus’ answer demonstrates His divine insight into the proceedings. He knew that Pilate would not perceive Him to be a threat to Rome. He knew that His accusers were the Jewish leaders. Jesus remained in control of the situation. He did not offer a defense that would keep Him from going to the cross.

When Pilate asked Jesus in verse thirty-five what He had done, the Bible records in verses thirty-six and thirty-seven, “Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice.” In this dialogue Jesus presents Himself as a king. His kingdom however is not of this world; it is in truth the kingdom of heaven. The heavenly hosts would come to His defense if He commanded, but, if they did, He could not fulfill His purpose in presenting Himself as the embodiment of truth. According to Ladd, “The kingdom of God is the redemptive rule of God in Christ defeating Satan and the powers of evil and delivering men from the sway of evil. It brings to men righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17). Entrance into the kingdom of Christ means deliverance from the power of darkness (Col. 1:13) and is accomplished by the new birth (John 3:3, 5).”132 Through His sacrificial death, Jesus would usher in His kingdom in the hearts of the believers and make His eternal kingdom available to them. He is king of heaven because He is God in the flesh. While through human eyes His situation seemed desperate, Jesus remained sovereignly in control, allowing the proceedings to continue so that He might sacrifice Him

CHAPTER NINETEEN

In this section of Scripture, John records the conviction, crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus. The factual accounts of these events are central to the gospel message. Jesus truly suffered the ultimate sacrifice so that sinners might be forgiven and have a right relationship with God. In several verses, John presents Jesus in His deity. The chapter in whole depicts Jesus as the ultimate sacrificial lamb of the Passover. Jesus’ divinity also shines forth through John’s explanation of how these events fulfilled prophecy concerning the Messiah.

The Jews understood Jesus’ claim to deity. In verse seven one reads, “The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.” As in previous examples, the Scripture makes certain that the reader understands that the religious leaders knew that Jesus claimed to be the Messiah. This was their reason for insisting upon His death. Tenney writes, “Pilate must have realized the Sanhedrin could not execute the sentence. His apparent relegation of Jesus to them was an act of sarcasm. The Jews knew this and made a new approach to Pilate, claiming that by their law Jesus was worthy of death for blasphemy because he claimed to be the Son of God. So they invoked the law of blasphemy (Lev 24:16) as ground for their insistence on Jesus’ crucifixion. To the Jews, Jesus’ claim was the height of sacrilege.”133

This revelation of Jesus’ claim struck fear in Pilate’s heart. The Bible reveals that Pilate did not want to have any part in killing Jesus. He would have let Him go if only the Jews had let him save face. When Pilate confronted Jesus, verse eleven records, “Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.” Jesus’ answer suggests His sovereignty. Because Pilot was a coward and refused to do the right thing, his action against Jesus was sin before God. But Pilot was not in control of the situation. Jesus controlled the events. His willful sacrifice of Himself would be the fulfillment of God’s purpose in sending His Son.

Pilate, feeling that he had no other choice, bowed to the demands of the Jews and sentenced Jesus to death. Verses nineteen and twenty record, “And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh onto the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek and Latin.” Pilate used this inscription to mock Jesus and insult His accusers, but it served God’s purpose in clearly proclaiming that Jesus was the King of the Jews. Morris writes, “It is worth noticing that John stresses the kingship motif right to the end. For him the royalty of Jesus is the significant thing. He does not let us forget it.”134

Other actions recorded in the account of the crucifixion reveal Jesus’ deity through the fulfillment of prophecy. In verses twenty-three and twenty-four the reader discovers, “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.” The referenced Scripture is Psalm 22:18. In this Psalm of David God provided prophecy, concerning the sacrifice of the One to come, so that when it occurred, readers might know for certain that Jesus was the Messiah.

In verses twenty-eight through thirty, one reads, “After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” This passage states emphatically that Jesus had divine knowledge in that He knew that all things, which had been prophesied about Him up to this point, had been accomplished. Jesus’ sovereign control may be seen in the fact that He purposefully said, “I thirst” in order to fulfill Psalm 69:21. He then declared, “It is finished” indicating that He knew all things. He perfectly understood His mission. He also knew that He had perfectly fulfilled His mission. Of this event Hull writes, “Only after Jesus finished all of his work which he had been sent to do, and faced the fact that death was near, did he think of himself enough to say, I thirst, thereby reflecting his full involvement in one of the most agonizing accompaniments of crucifixion. Even this admission was not a sign of weakness, however, but was to fulfill the scripture in Psalm 69:21 which depicted the plight of the righteous sufferer who was given only cheap sour wine to quench his thirst.”135

Another instance of fulfilled scripture may be seen in verses thirty-three through thirty-seven. Here the Bible records, “But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.” The fact that they broke none of His bones fulfills Exodus 12:46, Numbers 9:12 and Psalm 34:20. The fact that they pierced Him fulfills Zechariah 12:10. Everything predicted about the Messiah in the Old Testament Scriptures had been fulfilled in the life and ministry of Jesus, thus presenting strong evidence that He truly is the Son of God.

Further evidence of God’s action in Christ may be understood by considering the setting of the events of Jesus’ crucifixion. Verse fourteen reads, “And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, behold your King!” In verse thirty-one the Scripture declares, “The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, (for that Sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.” Concerning the timing, Keener writes, “The day of Preparation was the day that the Passover lamb would be slaughtered to be eaten that night...the slaughter of Passover lambs probably had to continue all day and was finally completed about the time the evening offering was slaughtered, roughly when Jesus died (about 3 p.m.).”136 Rather than being coincidental, the timing of Jesus death suggests that the Passover, instituted with Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, served as a prophecy concerning God’s provision to redeem His people from slavery to sin. Wilson writes, “In referring to His death as a sacrifice, Jesus was comparing Himself to the Passover lamb (cf. Rev. 5:12, “Lamb who was slain”). John the Baptizer calls him “the Lamb of God” (Jn. 1:29, 36). Paul reflects this same rich symbolism: “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Cor. 5:7). Peter describes God’s children as redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Pet. 1:18f.). this blood-redeemed community is called a new lump of “unleavened dough” (1 Cor. 5:7). The prophetic significance of Christ’s death, “Not one of his bones will be broken” (Jn. 19:36), is fulfillment of Scripture that states the bones of the Passover lamb were not to be broken (Ex. 12:46; Nu. 9:12; cf. Ps. 34:20 {MT 21}).”137 Thus God’s will for the redemption of human-kind may be seen in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. In His crucifixion, Jesus is glorified and His deity revealed.

As the chapter concludes, verses thirty-eight and thirty-nine reveal that Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemas were disciples of Jesus who came to tend his body. Mention of these two men help to confirm Jesus’ physical death. Their faith in Him also points to their understanding of His deity. While they could not fully comprehend Jesus and His actions, they soon would have a better understanding because of His resurrection from the dead.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Perhaps no stronger evidence exists, concerning the deity of Jesus, than the proof provided by His resurrection from the dead. In this chapter the reader discovers this account. The narrative includes several of His appearances to His disciples. The eyewitness testimonies of those who saw Jesus after His crucifixion offer strong evidence of His divinity. The Son of God has divine authority, even over death. Stagg writes, “The cross alone would show us how to die in order to live, but the resurrection enables us to die the death that leads to life. The cross without the resurrection would be the ultimate example, but the cross with the resurrection becomes the dynamic making possible for us the way of the cross. Without the resurrection we would be left alone in the frustration of trying in vain to follow the example of his death. With the resurrection we are confronted with the living Christ, a living and transforming presence, able to bring us through death into life.”138

The chapter begins with Mary Magdalene’s discovery of the empty tomb. “What she saw must have first filled her with astonishment, then with apprehension. The tomb was no longer sealed. It was wide open. The soldiers were gone. The stone was rolled back.”139 She thought that perhaps the body had been stolen, or at least moved to another place. She ran to tell Peter and John the news, thinking that they might be able to investigate and make some sense out of these things.

Verses five through eight reveal that these two disciples also witnessed the empty tomb. They saw the linen clothes lying in the otherwise empty tomb where Jesus had been laid. The napkin, which had been wrapped around His head, lay in a separate place. Verse eight reveals that they saw and they believed, but did not yet fully understand. Verse nine records, “For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.” On many occasion Jesus told them that He would die and rise again, but it did not make any sense to the disciples, even when it happened. Douglas and Tenney write, “In the providence of God, revelation is a matter of progress rather than full clarity all at once. The Lord educated his people from truth to truth, as any careful teacher does. Each age was given sufficient light for its own needs so as to enjoy spiritual life and fellowship with God. The full revelation of immortality awaited the advent of our Lord and Savor who “brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim 1:10).”140 So it was with the disciples. They believed, but were not sure what they believed. Conviction of their faith in the resurrection would come only when Jesus showed Himself to be the risen Lord.

The witness of the two angles, present in the tomb as Mary looked in, may be seen as proof of the resurrection, and thus Jesus’ divinity. Mary became convinced when, in verses fourteen through seventeen, the Bible records that Jesus appeared and revealed Himself to Mary. Overcome with joy and relief, Mary wanted to cling to Jesus, but in verse seventeen, “Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” Hull suggests Jesus’ divinity may be seen in this verse when he writes, “Further proof of the unique role that Jesus would play after the resurrection is provided by the careful distinction here maintained between my Father and your Father...my God and your God. Two affirmations are held in balance. First, the Father’s direct relationship to Jesus was fundamentally different from his mediated relationship to the disciples. We could say that God was the Father of Jesus by nature but the Father of the disciples by grace. At the same time, the fact that there was only one Father meant that the disciples could share in the victory of Jesus. The same God that brought Jesus from the dead and enabled him to ascend would quicken the disciples and cause them to dwell in heavenly places.”141

In obedience to the Lord’s command, and with great joy in her heart, verse eighteen records, “Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.” If the disciples met Mary’s testimony with doubt, Jesus would make believers out of them by personally appearing in their midst. In verse nineteen the reader discovers, “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.”

As His resurrection from the dead was miraculous, so too was His supernatural appearing into a locked room. Not only did Jesus reveal Himself to them, risen and alive, He went on to commission them with the authority of the Father. By their testimony lost souls would find forgiveness of their sins. He breathed on them so that they might be empowered by the Holy Spirit of God. Thus all of the disciples accept Thomas, add their eyewitness testimonies that Jesus really did rise from the grave. Eight days later, the Bible records that Jesus appeared again to them, this time to specifically reveal Himself to Thomas. The record of these appearances, and the fact that they could be verified by simply asking those who were present, provides strong evidence for Jesus’ divinity.

John concludes this chapter in verses thirty and thirty-one where one reads, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that by believing ye might have life through his name.” In this verse the reader discovers the central them of the entire Gospel of John. Bruce writes, “From the much greater number of signs that the Evangelist might have recorded had he been so minded, he selected those which are actually ‘written in this book’ in order to produce and foster faith in his readers...The substance of the faith is stated in propositional terms- ‘that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God’ - but it is plain from the whole of this Gospel that more than propositional faith is intended: the faith in view is personal faith in Jesus as ‘the Christ, the Son of God.’”142

Some say that the gospel might well end with these verses. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, however, John concludes his gospel with yet another appearance of Jesus to His disciples. As with the others, chapter twenty-one provides additional evidence that Jesus is God in the flesh.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

John concludes his gospel with a third recorded appearance of Jesus after His resurrection from the dead.  Verse one reveals, “After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself.” Of this passage Phillips writes, “Jesus knew where they were and what they were up to. He knew that Peter was toying with the idea of giving up and going back into business and that the others would follow his lead. He allowed them to have a thoroughly disappointing night of it.”143 Because of Jesus’ sovereign knowledge and will, He appeared to the disciples to strengthen their faith in him.

Verse seven reveals that John knew it was Jesus. Verse twelve says that all of the disciples present knew that it was the resurrected Jesus that ate with them and verse fourteen reads, “This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.” Verse fifteen suggests that Jesus ate with His disciples, giving further evidence of His physical presence. From verse two the reader learns that Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel, James, John and two other disciples saw Jesus alive during this encounter. Their eyewitness testimonies provide strong evidence to support the resurrection and the doctrine of the deity of Christ.

One should not dismiss as coincidence the record of the catch of fish recorded in verses five through ten. Luke 5:4-7 tells the story of a similar catch of fish at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry when He first called His disciples. Appropriately, He repeats this miracle when He calls Peter back to obedient ministry and commissions the disciples to carry the gospel to a lost world.     Central to the chapter is Jesus’ personal dealings with Peter. The passage reveals Jesus’ divine insight into Peter’s soul. As Peter denied the Lord three times the night of His arrest, Jesus now confronts Peter so that he might be restored and prepared for future ministry. In verses eighteen and nineteen one reads, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou was young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkest whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not go. This spake he (Jesus), signifying by what death he should glorify God. And, when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.” This passage not only reveals Jesus’ intimate knowledge of every part of His disciple’s lives, but also confirms that He knows the future and is divinely able to prepare His disciples for whatever may come.

Verse twenty-two is an interesting verse that might be overlooked if one were not considering the deity of Christ. Peter had asked Jesus about John. The Lord corrected Peter and John records, “Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me.” In this verse Jesus speaks of His second coming and His sovereign control over the lives of His followers. Bruce writes, “Peter is told that his business is to follow the Lord and be faithful to his own commission; the Lord has his own plans for the beloved disciple, but it is not necessary that Peter should know them. The beloved disciple may, like Peter, have to suffer a martyr’s death; he may, on the other hand, live on until the Lord’s coming, but there can be no advance certainty of this even for the beloved disciple himself, still less for Peter.”144 Jesus has a divine plan for all of His followers. The best good a person can do is to be faithful to that calling through submission to Jesus as Lord of all.

In verse twenty-four, John speaks of himself when he writes, “This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.” With these words, John testifies that he was an eyewitness, not only to the events of chapter twenty-one, but of everything recorded in his gospel. These are the true events surrounding the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, which John could testify about with certainty. All of these events really happened. They all give strong evidence that Jesus was no ordinary man. He was God present with man. He was God in human form. Just in case someone might argue that John had not made a convincing argument for the deity of Christ, he goes on to write in verse twenty-five, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.” Thus John instructs his readers to understand that while his gospel is absolutely true, there is more to the story of Christ. There is more told in the other gospels and in the epistles. And there will be more to be told leading up to Jesus immanent return. Everything that may be truthfully said supports the doctrine of Jesus’ deity. He is the Messiah / Christ. He is the Son of God. He is God with us. He is God in the flesh. He is God.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Beasley-Murray, George. Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 36, John. Waco: Word Books        Publisher, 1987.

Barclay, William. The Daily Study Bible Series, The Gospel of John Volume 1, Revised Edition.   Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1975.

Barclay, William. The Daily Study Bible Series, The Gospel of John Volume 2, Revised Edition.   Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1975.

Bauer, Walter, Gingrich, F. W. And Danker, Fredrick. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New    Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,     1979.

Borchert, Gerald L. John 1-11, The New American Commentary, Volume 25a. Nashville:       Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996.

Bromiley, G. W. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, “Trinity”, Walter A. Elwell Editor. Grand   Rapids: Baker Books, 1984.

Brown, Colin. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Volume 2. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986.

Bruce, F. F. The Gospel According to John, The New International Commentary on the New       Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1971.

Bruce, F. F. The Gospel According to John. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1983.

Carson, D. A., Moo, Douglas J. and Morris, Leon. An Introduction to the New Testament. Grand       Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992.

Chafer, Lewis Sperry. Systematic Theology, Vols. 1 & 2. Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications,        1976.

Chappell, P. G. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, “Heal”, Walter A. Elwell Editor. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1984.

Cothen, Joe H. Equipped for Good Work. Gretna: Pelican Publishing Company, 1981.

Dods, Marcus. The Expositor’s Greek Testament, The Gospel of St. John. Grand Rapids:     Hendrickson Publishers, 2002.

Douglas, J. D. And Tenney, Merrill C. The New International Dictionary of the Bible. Grand       Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1987.

Edwards, R. B. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Volume Four: Q-Z, “Word”, Geoffrey W. Bromiley Editor. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,   1988.

Fee, Gorden D. And Douglas, Stuart. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. Grand Rapids:      Zondervan Publishing House, 1993.

Friedrich, Gerhard. The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1968.

Geisler, Norman L. Baker Encyclopedia Of Christian Apologetics. Grand Rapids: Baker Books,    1999.

Gossip, Arthur John. The Gospel According to John, The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 8.       Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1952.

Grenz, Stanley J. Theology For The Community Of God. Nashville: Broadman & Holman     Publishers, 1994.

Hahn, H. C. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Volume 2, “Light”, Colin Brown Editor. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986.

Harrison, E. F. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Volume 2, “Glory”, John L.   Nuelsen and Edgar Mullins Editor. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1972.

Hodge, Charles. Systematic Theology In Three Volumes, Volume I, Third Printing. Grand      Rapids: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2003.

Hull, William E. The Broadman Bible Commentary, Volume 9. Nashville: Broadman press, 1970.

Hunter, Archibald M. Introducing the New Testament, Third Revised Edition. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1972.

Johnson, A. F. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, “Gap Theory”, Walter A. Elwell Editor. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1984.

Keener, Craig S. The IVP Bible Background Commentary, New Testament. Downers Grove:         Inter Varsity Press, 1993.

Kromminga, C. G. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, “Repentance”, Walter A. Elwell Editor.     Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1984.

Ladd, G. E. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, “Kingdom of Heaven”, Walter A. Elwell Editor. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1984.

Lewis, G. R. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, “God”, Walter A. Elwell Editor. Grand Rapids:        Baker Books, 1984.

Lowu, Johannes P. and Nida, Eugene A. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on   Semantic Domains, Volume 1. New York: United Bible Societies, 1989.

McGrathe, Alister. Christian Theology: An Introduction. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers Inc.,    1997.

Morris, Leon. The Gospel According to John, The New International Commentary on the New    Testament. Grand Rapids: Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1971.

Orr, James. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Volume 4, “Pharisee”, John L.     Nuelsen and Edgar Mullins Editor. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1972.

Phillips, John. The Gospel of John. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1989.

Schippers, R. The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Volume 3, “Seal”, Colin Brown Editor. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1971.

Southern Baptist Convention. Baptist Faith and Message. Nashville: Lifeway Church Resources,         2003.

Spiceland, J. D. The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, “Miracles”, Walter A. Elwell Editor.      Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1984.

Stagg, Frank. New Testament Theology. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1962.

Tasker, R. V. G. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, The Gospel According to St. John.        Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994.

Tenney, Merrill C. The Gospel of John, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 9. Grand     Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981.

Thiessen, Henry Clarence revised by Doerksen, Vernon D. Lectures In Systematic Theology.        Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979.

Vincent, Marvin R. Word Studies in the New Testament, Volume II. The Writings of John.    Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, no copyright given.

Vine, W. E., Unger, Merill F. and White, William Jr. Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of    Old and New Testament Words. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1985.

Walvoord, John F. And Zuck, Roy B. The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Old Testament. Dallas:       Victor Books, 1985.

Wilson, M. R. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Volume 3, “Passover”, John L.       Nuelsen and Edgar Mullins Editor. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1972.

PERSONAL PROFILE

Gregory A. Robards was born on November 9, 1951 in Louisville Kentucky. He married Deborah Ufford in 1976 and has two children (Matthew and Elle) and seven grandchildren. God called him into the Gospel ministry on November 8, 1992. He began his Seminary training at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary where he earned both the BGS and MDIV with languages degrees. He also earned a Doctor of Ministry Degree from Lake Charles Bible College, and a Th.D. from Slidell Baptist Seminary. This paper was originally submitted for completion of Ph.D. in Bible and Theology at Louisiana Baptist University, and later revised for general publication. Rev. Robards served six years as pastor at Pleasant Home Baptist Church in Milton, Florida. In 1998 God called Him to the ministry at Hickory Hammock Baptist Church in Milton, Florida, where he currently serves as Senior Associate Pastor and Church Administrator.

NOTES

[1]Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Faith and Message (Nashville: Lifeway Church Resources, 2003), 8.

[2]D.A. Carson, Douglas J. Moo, and Leon Morris, An Introduction to the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 138-143.

[3]Ibid, 145.

[4]This and every Biblical quote is from the King James Version of the Bible.

[5]Archibald M. Hunter, Introducing the New Testament, Third Revised Edition. (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1972), 62.

[6]Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary, New Testament. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 260.

7Southern Baptist Convention, 7.

[ii] Henry C. Thiessen, Lectures in Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979), 89.

[9]John Phillips, The Gospel of John (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1989), 17.

[10]Stanley J. Grenz, Theology for the Community of God (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1994), 101.

[11]Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, Volume II. The Writings of John. (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, no copyright given), 25.

[12]Ibid, 32.

[13]R. B. Edwards, “Word”, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Volume Four: Q-Z. (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1988), 1102-3.

[14]J. D. Douglas and Merrill C. Tenney , The New International Dictionary of the Bible. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1987), 393.

[15]George R. Beasley-Murray, Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 36, John. (Waco: Word Books Publisher, 1987), 11.

[16] H. C. Hahn, “Light”, The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Volume 2, Colin Brown Editor. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986), 494.

[17] Johannes P. Lowu, and Eugene A. Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament Based on Semantic Domains, Volume 1 (New York: United Bible Societies, 1989), 832.

[18]Ibid, 543.

[19]J. D. Douglas and Merrill C. Tenney, 645.

[20]Beasley-Murray, 2, 16.

[21]R. V. G. Tasker, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, The Gospel According to St. John. (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 55.

[22]William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible Series, The Gospel of John Volume 1, Revised Edition. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1975), 103.

[23]W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger and William White, Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1984), 267.

[24]Walter Bauer, F. W. Gingrich, and Frederick Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1979), 661.

[25]Marcus Dods, The Expositor’s Greek Testament, The Gospel of St. John . (Grand Rapids: Hendrickson Publishers, 2002), 708.

[26]Walvoord and Zuck, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament Edition. (Dallas: Victor Books, 1983), 280.

[27]Brown, 10.

[28]James Orr, “Pharisee,” The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol 4, ed. John L. Nuelsen and Edgar Mullins (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1972),  2361.

[29]Gerhard Friedrich, “pneuma,” The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 6 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company), 1968, 332.

[30]Louw and Nida, 141.

[31]Bauer, Gingrich and Danker, 681.

[32]Louw and Nida, 722.

[33]F. F. Bruce, The Gospel According to John. The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1971), 210-211.

[34]R. V. G. Tasker, 70.

[35]Beasley-Murray, 48.

[36]Brown, 215.

[37]Tasker, 71.

[38]Brown, 220.

[39]Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Wm B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1971), 222-3.

[40]Gerald L. Borchert, John 1-11 The New American Commentary, vol 25a (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 233-4.

[41]Phillips, 91.

[42]P. G.  Chappell “Heal, Healing” Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, ed. Walter A. Elwell (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1984), 497.

[43]Dods, 738.

[44]Arthur John Gossip, The Gospel According to John. The Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 8 (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1952), 542.

[45]Morris, 308-9.

[46]William E. Hull, John. The Broadman Bible Commentary, vol. 9, (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1970), 264.

[47]Barclay, 185.

[48]Ibid, 194.

[49]Beasley-Murray, 79.

[50]J. D. Spiceland, “Miracles” Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, ed. Walter A. Elwell (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1984), 723.

[51]Vine, 553.

[52]R. Schippers, “Seal” The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology. vol 3, ed. Colin Brown (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1971), 499.

[53]Alister E. McGrath, Christian Theology: An Introduction (Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers Inc., 1997), 324.

[54]Frank Stagg, New Testament Theology, (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1962), 35.

[55]Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Volume 1, (Grand Rapids: Hendrickson Publishers, 2003), 502-3.

[56]Walvoord and Zuck,  298.

[iii] F. F. Bruce, The Gospel of John, (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1983), 176-7.

[58]Walvoord and Zuck, 347.

[59]Ibid.

[60]William Barclay, Daily B Study Bible Series ,The Gospel of John, Vol. 2. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1975), 11.

[61]Borchert, 296.

[62]Morris, 443.

[63]Keener, 270.

[64]Phillips, 166.

[65]Morris, 448.

[66]Beasley-Murray, 131.

[67]Hull, 292.

[68]Tasker, 115.

[69]Beasley-Murray, 134.

[70]Phillips, 172.

[71]Borchert, 307.

[72]Bruce (1983), 205.

[73]Keener, 288.

[74]Hull, 297.

[75]Merrill C. Tenney The Gospel of John. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 9 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981) ,101.

[76]Walvoord and Zuck, 308.

[77]Hull, 304.

[78]Barclay, 53-4.

[79]Borchert, 337.

[80]Phillips, 202.

[81]Tasker, 137.

[82]Walvoord and Zuck, 313.

[83]Tenny, 115.

[84]Hull, 313.

[85]Phillips, 213.

[86]Barclay, volume 2, 97.

[87]Barclay, volume 2, 98.

[88]Bruce (1983), 246.

[89]Morris, 559.

[90]Beasley-Murray, 194.

[91]Tasker, 141.

[92]Barclay, 104.

[93]Borchert, 367.

[94]Tenney, 125.

[95]Phillips, 227.

[96]Barclay, 115.

[97]Ibid, 116

[98]Beasley-Murray, 211.

[99]Phillips, 235.

[100]Tasker, 149.

[101]Walvoord and Zuck, 318.

[102]Morris, 609.

[103]Tenney, 136.

[104]Morris, 615.

[105]Walvoord and Zuck, 320.

[106]Brown, Vol 3. , 766,768.

[107]Louw and Nida, 139.

[108]Stagg, 35.

[109]E. F. Harrison, “Glory” The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol 2, ed. John L. Nuelsen and Edgar Mullins (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1972), 483.

[110]Gossip, The Gospel According to John The Interpreter’s Bible, Vol 8 (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1952), 698-9.

[111]Phillips, 262.

[112]Walvoord and Zuck, 323.

[113]Tasker, 165-6.

[114]G. W. Bromily “Trinity” Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, ed. Walter A. Elwell (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1984), 1112.

[115]Tasker, 174.

[116]Bruce (1983), 309.

[117]Phillips, 289.

[iv] Ibid, 297.

[119]Hull, 342.

[v] Walvoord and Zuck, 328.

[121]Beasley-Murray, 281-2.

[122]Bruce (1983), 320.

[123]Morris, 705.

[12]4Bruce (1983), 328.

[125]Tasker, 191.

[126]Morris, 723.

[127]Beasley-Murray, 299.

[128]Phillips, 331.

[129]G. R. Lewis “God, Attributes of” Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Walter A. Elwell Editor. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1984) , 454.

[vi] Keener, 306.

[131]Barclay, 223.

[132]G. E. Ladd “Kingdom of Christ, God, Heaven” Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, ed. Walter A. Elwell (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1984), 608.

[133]Tenney, 177.

[134]Morris, 807.

[135]Hull, 360.

[136]Keener, 311-12.

[137]M. R. Wilson “Passover” The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol 3, ed. John L. Nuelsen and Edgar Mullins (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1972), 678.

[138]Stagg, 123.

[139]Phillips, 374.

[140]Douglas and Tenney, 855.

[141]Hull, 366.

[142]Bruce (1983), 395.

[143]Phillips, 393.

[144]Bruce (1983), 407.

Table of Contents

Table of contents

INTRODUCTION

Statement of Thesis

John the Author of the Fourth Gospel

Occasion and Purpose

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

PERSONAL PROFILE

NOTES