 
# Journey- Lesson 31 The Word Became Flesh

by Marcel Gervais, Emeritus Archbishop of the diocese of Ottawa, Canada

Nihil Obstat: Michael T. Ryan, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.

Imprimatur: + John M. Sherlock, Bishop of London

London, March 31, 1980

This content of this book was first published in 1977 as part of the JOURNEY Series By Guided Study Programs in the Catholic Faith and is now being republished in Smashwords by Emmaus Publications, 99 Fifth Avenue, Suite 103, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5P5, Canada ON Smashwords

Cover _:"Jesus said,'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again but whoever drinks the water that I give him will never be thirsty again; the water that I shall give him will be an inner spring, welling up to eternal life.' "_

John 4:13-14

COPYRIGHT © Guided Study Programs In the Catholic Faith, a division of The Divine Word International Centre of Religious Education 1977. Reproduction in whole or in part is Prohibited.

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## CONTENTS

Chapter 1 The Fourth Gospel

Chapter 2 The Introduction to John's Gospel (John 1:1-51)

Chapter 3 Love in Place of Love (John 2:1 - 4:42)

Answer key to practice questions

Self-test

Answer key to self-test

Recommendations tor group meeting on Lesson Thirty-one

About The Author

Psalm 33

A hymn of praise to God, the creator of the universe and the director of human history. By his all-powerful word God brought all into existence and by the same word he sustains all that is. The firmness of creation reveals God's love (vss 4-9). By his divine plan God directs the course of history; no earthly power can thwart his purpose (vss 10-17). He nourishes those who rely on him, he rescues them from death (vss 18f). Such truths bring joy to H10se who trust in the Lord and who pray to be guided by his love (vss 20ff).

The divine Word of God is the eternal Son of God; through him all was made and in him all is held in place. He is God's plan: through him and towards him God directs all human history. Though he is equal to God he became flesh of our flesh and gave himself to us as the food of eternal life. He is the perfect expression of the Father's love, and the fullness of joy for all who believe in him.

**Lesson Objective** : To recall the main points of introductory information on the Gospel according to John and to describe the basic teaching found in its first four chapters.

## Chapter 1 The Fourth Gospel

**Section Objective** : To recall the main points of introductory information on the Gospel according to John.

The Formation of the Gospel

To take up the Gospel according to John after Matthew, Mark and Luke is to enter a new world. Gone are the familiar parables on the kingdom, the teachings of Jesus on justice, the love of enemies, marriage and the like. Only a few miracles are reported and of these none involves the casting out of demons. Important events such as the Transfiguration and the institution of the Eucharist are absent. Terms we have come to expect, such as "apostle", are never used. Instead, we find new words ("sign", "hour", "glory", "the Word"}, events not heard of until now (the wedding at Cana, the cure of the man by the pool), and persons never met before (Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, Lazarus, the beloved disciple).

Even when this Gospel records events found in the other three it handles them in its own way. Like the others it gives us the testimony of John the Baptist, the cleansing of the Temple, the miracle of the loaves, the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the Last Supper, the Passion and Resurrection; but in each case its presentation is unique. The order of events is often different: for example, in the first three Gospels the cleansing of the Temple is set at the end of the ministry of Jesus; in the Fourth Gospel it is placed at the beginning. Many other differences could be listed. Suffice it to say that while John is obviously presenting the same Jesus, and while he is clearly acquainted with the traditions preserved in the other Gospels, he usually chooses to go his own way.

Why is the Fourth Gospel so different? The answer lies in the way in which it was formed. In composing their Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke were bound by the traditions which their communities revered. While free to arrange and even to modify these traditions to some extent, they could not make full use of their creative powers; they had to use materials already formed by others. In other words, the first three evangelists inherited the traditions out of which they composed their Gospels; they had little or nothing to do with the actual formation of the sayings and stories they employed. It is not so with John: he himself formed the traditions which make up his Gospel, and his influence made itself felt at every stage of the Gospel's development.

Just as the guidance of one great personality accounts for the distinctive character of the Gospel, so it accounts for its extraordinary unity.* One, unique approach to Christ, to the Church, to discipleship is maintained throughout. One way of thinking, one way of viewing

Christian life prevails in every part of the Gospel. The unity of thought is expressed in a uniform vocabulary and style. Though some parts of the Gospel (notably the Prologue, 1:1-18; and chapter 21}, have a somewhat different vocabulary and style, the thought expressed in these passages is consistent with what is found in the rest of the Gospel.

*The episode of the woman caught in adultery is an exception (John 7:53- 8:11). While it is beyond question a part of sacred Scripture, it cannot be the work of John. Many ancient manuscripts place it after John 7:52, but some place it elsewhere in John, and some omit it altogether from John. Still others place it in Luke. (In fact, the language and style of the story is closer to Luke's than to John's.) Clearly, this precious unit of inspired writing is a tradition which was not incorporated into the Gospels by the evangelists themselves, but by the Church after all four Gospels had been written.

Coherent and magnificently unified as the Gospel is, it nevertheless bears unmistakeable signs of having been written in several stages. The history of its development appears to have been complex and scholars do not agree on every step in the process. The most reasonable assumption is that the evangelist himself wrote almost everything now found in the Gospel, but that he did not coil} pose it at one sitting. He seems to have made a first version of the Gospel and then, some years later, to have revised it, adding new material and changing its plan somewhat. Later still, probably after the death of the evangelist, his disciples made a final edition, inserting passages some of which were by the evangelist himself, while others were composed by his disciples.

It is obviously going to be hard to tell where the evangelist made revisions. His reworking of the original version was done expertly, as we would expect. Work by his disciples, however, is easier to detect. We give a few examples: the evangelist's own version of the Gospel clearly comes to an end in 20:30f, where he gives the reason why he wrote; but there follows another whole chapter with a conclusion of its own (21:24f). Chapter 21, though inspired by the thought of the evangelist, is written in a different style and is quite clearly the work of a disciple. It was added by the final editors. In 14:31 Jesus brings his instructions at the Last Supper to an end by saying, "Come now, and let us be on our way." But then three chapters of further instructions are given before Jesus and his disciples actually depart (18:1). The explanation for this apparent inconsistency is probably to be found in the attitude of the final editors. At some time after his revision of the Gospel, the evangelist wrote the magnificent speeches of Jesus found in chapters 15, 16 and 17. His disciples were resolved that these precious writings should not be lost. They ensured their survival by inserting them at the end of chapter 14, thus achieving their purpose without disturbing the text of the evangelist. (His version of the Gospel had already become sacred in their eyes and they did not want to tamper with what he had written.)

Many other exam pies could be given, but these are sufficient to illustrate the way in which this great Gospel came to be. As for the length of the process, competent scholars calculate about fifty years, beginning in the 40's and ending in the 90's of the first century. If this estimate be correct, there follows the interesting and important result that the Fourth Gospel is at once the earliest and the latest. It is the earliest because it will contain traditions dating all the way back to the 40's, that is, just after the resurrection. It is also the latest, for it will reflect the faith of the Church of the 90's, a decade or so after the other Gospels had been composed.

The evangelist

Who was this amazing person whose genius marks the whole Gospel? He is difficult to identify. The reason is that he has taken great pains to conceal himself. Were it not for chapter 21, added by his disciples, not even a good guess would be possible on the basis of the Gospel itself. Even with the information given in the final chapter we cannot be absolutely certain. But it appears that the author who is so intent on remaining unknown is the "beloved disciple" mentioned in the second half of the Gospel. This man was present at the Last Supper where he enjoyed an intimacy with Jesus not shared by the others ( 13:23ff), he stood at the foot of the cross ( 19:26), he was the first to believe in the resurrection of Jesus (20:2ff) and the first to recognize the risen Lord on the shore of the lake (21 :7). He apparently did not die a martyr's death as Peter did (21:20ff). At once two questions present themselves: Is the beloved disciple the same person as that unnamed follower of John the Baptist who becomes a disciple of Christ (1:35, 40)? Is he to be identified with the same anonymous disciple who was acquainted with the high priest (18:15)? We do not really know.

While we are quite secure in maintaining that the evangelist is the beloved disciple, we are not at all certain who this man is. In recent years scholars have proposed such persons as John Mark, the companion of Paul, Luke the evangelist and even Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead. The traditional name, of course, and still the most likely, is John the son of Zebedee, one of the apostles. Nowhere is he named in the Gospel. Even in chapter 21 where the "Zebedees" are mentioned, his name does not occur. If this identification poses problems of its own (and it does). perhaps these only show how successful the evangelist was in hiding his identity. If he is a member of the Twelve, it would appear that he did not prize this position as much as the love Jesus showed him.

Though the beloved disciple saw, heard and touched the Lord, he openly admits that he and the others had only the shallowest understanding of Jesus before the resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (e.g. 2:21f). It was only when the Spirit came that he began to understand what he had witnessed. It was then he realized that the One he had seen and heard, and on whose breast he had rested his head was God. What he came to know in Jesus was not sheer power, but a love like no other, pure as light, clear as running water, good as bread, heady as wine. He understood that the love which had taken hold of him was in fact embracing the whole world.

Through the Spirit the beloved disciple became aware of his oneness with the risen Lord. Though Christ had ascended to the Father, the Paraclete had so profoundly united the risen Lord to him that he could say Jesus was in him and he in Jesus. John knew that this same experience of union with Christ was being offered to every disciple. The evangelist wanted all whom he taught, indeed the whole world, to know the joy, the peace, the ecstasy of being one with the Lord. In John, and no doubt in many of those whom he guided, the experience of union with Christ reached depths which only the greatest saints have known. This profound and intimate relationship with Jesus marks the whole Gospel.

The purposes of the Fourth Gospel

The first and most important purpose of the Gospel is to impart that clearer and more profound understanding of Jesus which the Holy Spirit made possible after the resurrection. Central to this clearer understanding is the truth that Jesus is the eternal Son of God made man. He is God the Son who was with the Father before time began, equal to the Father and yet obedient to him in every way. If in this Gospel Jesus is as gentle and familiar as He who walked in the garden of Eden in the cool of the evening and yet as disturbing and strange as Ezekiel's vision

( Ezek 1:1-28); if the Christ of Saint John is as arresting and inexplicable as the burning bush and as awesome as the thunder and lightning of Sinai, it is because in describing Jesus, John is describing God.

The divinity of Christ, then, governs the thought of the entire Gospel. Opening with the pronouncement that the "Word was God" it closes with Thomas' profession of faith, " _My Lord and my God_ ", while throughout Jesus is proclaimed as equal to God and rightfully deserving of the divine Name, " _I AM_ ".

John, however, does not overlook the humanity of Christ. In fact some of the most forceful affirmations on the full humanity of Jesus are found in this Gospel. Jesus is the Word of God made "flesh", a word which powerfully communicates the idea that Jesus shared our earthy, limited and mortal nature. In John we see Jesus tired, thirsty, angry, in tears, and of course we see him die. But the evangelist feels no need to emphasize the human nature of Jesus; he seems confident that his readers know and accept this aspect of our Lord. It is the divinity, the Godhead of Jesus that some of his readers appear to doubt. And so it is this truth he will drive home.

The second purpose of the Gospel flows from the first. John wishes to proclaim Christ as the Spirit had led the Church to understand him, but it is one thing to communicate this knowledge to Jews and quite another to teach it to, let us say, Samaritans. In the community for which the evangelist wrote, different groups appeared at one time or another. Some were followers of John the Baptist, and among these some had come to believe in Christ, while others still clung to their first teacher. There were Jews who had entered the Church, but refused to accept the divinity of Jesus. There were Samaritans whose beliefs were considered heretical by Jews and Christians alike. The evangelist's Church was also threatened by hostile Jews who treated Christians as the most heinous of blasphemers. And of course there were the Gentiles, both those who had entered the Church and those still on the way. The message of the Gospel had to be brought to each of these groups and to do so the evangelist had to take seriously the special character of each.

We must not overlook the most important group of all - the devout members of the Church whose faith rested firmly on the teaching of the apostles, who revered the leadership of Peter and who saw in the beloved disciple the model for every follower of Christ. These had to be nourished, encouraged and patiently led to the fullness of faith. The second purpose of the Gospel, therefore, is to proclaim Christ to the various groups present to the evangelist and his Church.

The method of the evangelist

The task which the evangelist set for himself was to preach Christ, not merely in the spoken language of his listeners, but in ideas and images dear to them. He made it his duty not only to translate the words of Jesus from Aramaic to Greek, but to translate the meaning of the person of Christ into the thought of each of the groups he was dealing with, whether Jews, or followers of the Baptist, or Samaritans or pagans.

To accomplish so great a task, the evangelist had to assimilate profoundly the message of Christ. Once it had become thoroughly his own, John could impart the Good News to any group. The method he used appears to have been something like this: when faced with the challenge of proclaiming Christ to Samaritans, for example, he would reach back into the life of Christ for an encounter between Jesus and a Samaritan, and, relying on the Holy Spirit to help him remember and understand (14:25f; 16:13), he would probe his memory for whatever could help. His extraordinary gifts as a writer would then enable him to compose a narrative which powerfully combined the historical event (a meeting between Jesus and a Samaritan woman) with the deeper understanding of that event granted by the Spirit. Such dramatic units were probably composed as need arose and only later put together by their author to form a continuous account. As different groups came to his community he composed other narratives, some of which he incorporated in a second version of his Gospel. And even after this second edition was finished the evangelist, as has been suggested, continued to write new passages which his disciples added to the final version.

What matters for our purposes here is that Saint John unites historical events with the clearer understanding of them which came about as a result of the resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is true that John's is a 'spiritual Gospel', that he uses many symbols in order to lead his readers beyond the merely literal and hence is bound to attach less importance to accuracy of detail and chronology, but it would be an absurd mistake to dismiss entirely the historical basis for the scenes and events to which he refers.* We should however, take care not to commit the opposite error of reading the Gospel as though it were a record of the life of Jesus such as would be made by a tape-recorder and camera.

It may be difficult to accept that in the Fourth Gospel. Even more truly than in the others, we have the words of Jesus in the words of the evangelist. But this is so. This Gospel is one of the most striking examples of what is meant by divine inspiration of the Scriptures. God speaks in human ways; he adapts himself to the human author. In John it is Jesus, God the Son, who adopts the human language and thought of the evangelist; he speaks in the words of the disciple he loved above all the rest.

The plan of the Gospel

The basic plan of the Gospel is clear: it has an introduction, two major sections and an epilogue.

Introduction (1)

The Book of Signs (2-12)

The Book of Glory (13-20)

Epilogue (21)

The Introduction contains the testimony of John the Baptist; the first major section (The Book of Signs) deals with the public ministry of Jesus; the second half (The Book of Glory) covers the period between the Last Supper and the resurrection of Jesus. Except for the Epilogue, this basic plan is much the same as that of the other three Gospels.

The Fourth Gospel is simple in broad outline, but it is not so in detail. The reason for this state of affairs is probably the way in which the book was formed. We suspect, for example, that the plan of the first edition was based upon the Jewish feast days (Sabbath, Passover, Tabernacles, Dedication). When the evangelist drew up his second edition he introduced new materials and was therefore obliged to make changes in the original outline. When his disciples made the final additions, the design of the Gospel was altered once again. The result is that while the general plan is easily recognized, the task of fitting in the details is far from easy.

*It was once the fashion to treat John as a book offering truth of a poetic and symbolic nature but little in the way of hard fact. Discoveries of the last century, however, have forced a shift of opinion. For example, the pool with its five porches (5:2) was seen only as a symbol of the five Books of Moses. Now it has to be accepted also as real. Archaeologists have dug it up! Similarly, many considered that John used words and expressions foreign to Palestine. But study of the recently-discovered Dead Sea Scrolls has proven that John's language, even at its most peculiar, was common usage in the countryside of Jesus.

Faced with the apparent confusion within the major sections•, some scholars propose a desperate solution: they suggest that by some accident pages of the manuscript were mixed up. They then proceed to rearrange the passages in the order which seems best to them. Others suppose that a disciple, unequal to his master, tampered with the original order. However, the entire manuscript tradition supports the order we have. It is safe to assume that there is good reason for the present arrangement of passages, even though at times it may be difficult to discover. We propose the following plan.

Introduction (chapter 1)

Prologue (1:1-18)

Testimony to Christ (1:19-51)

The Book of Signs (2:1 - 12:50) (structured in seven episodes)

1. Love in Place of Love (2:1 - 4:45)

2. The Life-giver (4:46- 5:47)

3. The Bread of Life (6:1-71)

4. I am (7:1 - 8:59)

5. Judgment by the Light (9:1 - 1 0:39)

6. Life Triumphs over Death (11:1-54)

7. Life through Death (11:55- 12:36) Conclusion to the Book of Signs (12:37-50)

The Book of Glory (13:1- 20:31)

The Farewell Discourses (13- 17)

I am the Way (13:1- 14:31)

I am the True Vine (15)

I have conquered the World (16)

Father, Glorify your Son (17)

The Death and Resurrection (18-20)

The Hour (1 8-1 9)

The Disciples Come to Faith (20)

Epilogue: Jesus, Peter and the Beloved Disciple (21)

If there is a key to the outline it is this: the Gospel is made up of "signs" and of commentary on the signs. Putting it simply, a "sign" is any act of Jesus (not necessarily a miracle). Acts of Jesus are called "signs" because everything he does is profoundly significant. The meaning of his deeds, however, is not immediately obvious. Some commentary, some explanation is needed to bring out their deep significance. For example, in the first episode of the Book of Signs (The Radically New, 2:1 - 4:45)

The signs are:_The wedding at Cana and

____________The cleansing of the Temple;

The commentary of these signs is provided by:

____________The dialogue with Nicodemus and

____________The dialogue with the Samaritan woman.

According to the plan we have adopted, therefore, chapters 2, 3 and 4 form a unit made up of signs and of commentary on the signs.

The evangelist does not always give us the sign first and the commentary afterwards. Some times he varies his method. He can, for example, weave together sign and commentary into one dramatic whole, as in the Raising of Lazarus (Ch 11). But the two-elements are present all the same. In the second half of the Gospel (The Book of Glory, 13-20), the author puts the commentary first and then gives us the sign. In this case the sign is the perfect act of Jesus, his death and resurrection. The meaning of this, the supreme work of Jesus, is provided by the Farewell Discourses at the Last Supper (13-17). As a general rule, therefore, we can say that the Gospel is designed to offer a series of significant acts of Jesus (signs) which are commented upon by Jesus. Throughout the Gospel the Lord is teaching us by both deed and word.

Note: Because we are able to devote only three lessons to John, the distribution of passages in each lesson will not follow the most natural divisions within the Gospel. Lesson 31 will deal with the first four chapters, Lesson 32 will comment on selections from chapters 5 to 12, Lesson 33 will consider chapters 13 to 21.

Practice questions

**1**. Indicate whether the following statements on the Gospel according to John are true or false:

___a. In John's Gospel we can read the familiar parables found in the other Gospels. b. The Gospel according to John was formed over a period of about fifty years.

___c. There are no similarities between the Fourth Gospel and the other three Gospels.

___d. The author of the Fourth Gospel had little or nothing to do with the formation of the traditions which make up his Gospel.

___e. The author of the Fourth Gospel makes a special effort to conceal his identity from us.

___f. The author of the Fourth Gospel is probably the "beloved disciple" mentioned in the Gospel.

___g. One unique approach to Christ, to the Church, and to discipleship is maintained throughout John's Gospel.

___h. It was only after the outpouring of the Spirit that John and the other disciples began to understand who Jesus is.

**2** From the following statements choose the one which best describes the first and most important purpose of the Fourth Gospel.

a. To proclaim that Jesus Christ is truly human.

b. To proclaim that Jesus Christ is truly divine.

c. To proclaim the truth about Jesus to different groups of converts.

d. To proclaim the truth that the Church is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

**3** From the following statements choose the one which best describes the method the evangelist used to preach Christ to the various groups in his Church.

a. He recalled and reported Christ's own words and deeds.

b. He used ideas and images that were dear to the various groups.

c. He took from the other Gospels only those traditions that were familiar to the various groups.

d. He used Old Testament images which he knew to be meaningful to everyone.

## Chapter 2 the Introduction to John's Gospel (John 1:1-51)

#  Section Objective: To describe the meaning and background of the expressions " _the Word_ ", " _the Word became flesh_ ", " _Lamb of God_ " and of Jesus' declaration, " _You will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man" ( 1 :51).*_

John's introduction is made up of the Prologue (1:1-18) and the Testimony (1:19-51). The Prologue is a majestic poem which identifies Jesus Christ as the eternal Word, God the only Son, who became man. The Testimony brings before us the principal witnesses to Christ, John the Baptist and the apostles, who proclaim him under various titles. The introduction concludes with Jesus declaring himself to be the Son of Man come to unite heaven and earth (1:51).

In his introduction John accomplishes what the other evangelists do in theirs. By their Infancy Narratives and their accounts of the baptism and temptations of Jesus, Matthew and Luke proclaim Jesus as the fulfilment of the Old Testament, the Son of God and son of Mary who is the Victor over sin and Satan and the Saviour of the world. John does the same and more. John's first chapter bears an even closer resemblance to Mark's introduction (cf., for example, Mark 1:1 with John 1:1, and Mark 1:10, 11, 15 with John 1:33, 49, 51). John differs from the others mostly in the clarity and intensity of his proclamation of the divinity of Christ. He also differs in the point at which he begins.

Mark opens with the ministry of John the Baptist, Matthew and Luke with the events preceding the birth of Jesus; all three point to the Old Testament as the beginning of the Good News. Matthew takes us as far back as Abraham (Matt 1:1 f), Luke all the way to the creation of Adam (Luke 3:38). John, however, leads us beyond the Baptist, beyond the birth of Christ, beyond the father of all Israel, beyond even the first light of creation into the timeless presence of God. Here, he tells us, is where the Good News begins (John 1:1).

The Prologue (1:1-18)

The poem describes one great movement from God to earth and back again. In its opening lines we find ourselves in the realm of God,

"In the beginning was the Word;

The Word was in God's presence. .. "

By degrees we descend to a point within time and space,

"And the Word became flesh

And made his dwelling among us."

Then once again we are raised into the presence of God,

_"No one has ever seen God; it is God the only Son, ever at the Father's side, who has revealed him_."

*Unless otherwise noted, the translation of John used in these lessons is that of Fr. Raymond Brown. We have preferred his version because it is consistently as good as the standard modern English translations, frequently superior in exactness and often provides enlightening alternatives. From THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN (Anchor Bible), translated and edited by Raymond E. Brown. Copyright <O 1966 by Doubleday & Company, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Doubleday & Company, Inc.

The evangelist employs a technique of Hebrew composition perfectly suited to the movement of the Prologue. This technique is called "enclosure". It is used to make the end of a composition correspond to its beginning; the first and last lines echo each other and throw light on each other. Thus, in the Prologue we are to read the first verses in the light of the last: " _the Word was in God's presence_ " of verse 1 is matched by " _God the only Son, ever at the Father's side_ " of verse 18. The opening lines can now be understood as teaching: in the beginning was the Son; the Son was in the Father's presence, and the Son was God. The Word, therefore, is "God the only Son" who became flesh in Jesus Christ (vs 17).

_"In the beginning_... "These words are taken from the first line of the Bible (Gen 1:1). Both in Genesis and in John's Prologue creation is about to be described. The phrase, therefore, refers to that timeless present before anything was created.

_"... Was the Word_. "The Word simply _"was_ ". The Word was not created, but exists as God does, outside of time. Why is the Son given the title "Word"? Two general reasons can be offered: first, because the title aptly describes the entire ministry of Jesus, the Incarnate Son of God, and secondly, because it conveys a meaning which is part of familiar daily experience. The two reasons support each other.

In the last line of the Prologue the evangelist gives us a summary of the work of Jesus: " _No one has ever seen God; it is God the only Son ... who has revealed him._ " In all that he said and did Christ made the Father known. The function of Christ then. Was to reveal, and this is the recognized function of words. In everyday experience we use words to reveal our thoughts and feelings; it is by words that we communicate with others. John is reasoning that, if in his earthly ministry the Son was the revealer, the most perfect expression of the Father that mankind could have, this was only possible because in his eternal pre-existence the Son was already the full expression of the Father. Thus the evangelist boldly leads us from Jesus of Nazareth to the inner life of God. There, within God, the Father is God speaking and the Son is God spoken. From all eternity the Father expresses himself, and the self-expression of the Father is the Word. The Son is the Word, because he is God expressed, God communicated.

John now continues his awe-inspiring exposition on the inner life of God. (He has not yet so much as hinted at any possibility that the Word could have become one of us.)

_"The Word was in God's (the Father's) presence_. "This line establishes the distinction between the Father and the Son. The Father is a distinct "self" (person), and so, since the Word is the perfect expression of the Father, the Word too must be a distinct "self".

" _And the Word was God_." If the Word is the total and complete expression of the Father, then the Word is equal to the Father. They are both God, but God remains one.*

_"He was present with God (the Father) in the beginning_." This line reaffirms the distinction between the Father and the Son. The Son is not the Father; they do not have one identity. The phrase " _he was present with_ " expresses harmony and communion, yet makes it clear that the Two are not one in a way which rules out their separate identity.

*The evangelist does not intend these lines to be a complete statement on the mystery of the Blessed Trinity. He will make it clear later in his Gospel that he understands the Spirit as the love which flows from and unites Father and Son, and which they send in order to draw mankind into unity with them. After the Fourth Gospel was written some time would be needed before the Church could articulate clearly the great mystery of three Persons in one God. That she was eventually able to do so is owing in good measure to Saint John.

We cannot at this point comment any further on the first verses of the Prologue without risk of misrepresenting the intentions of the evangelist. His interest is not in speculation on the inner life of God. He intends one thing: to proclaim Jesus Christ. If he speaks at all of the mysterious life within God, it is only so as to be able to teach us that the Word who was eternally with God entered our history in Jesus Christ. And it is therefore in Jesus that the Father reveals himself fully to us. What matters most for the evangelist is what the title " _Word_ " teaches about God's actions towards us, his creatures. In order to understand this title more clearly, we shall look further into the meaning and purpose of "words" in our human experience, and then apply what we can learn to the divine Word.

In our common understanding a word is a part of speech, a sound uttered to communicate a meaning. We may communicate by other means of course, by signs which spring from nature (groans, laughter, sighs) and by signs agreed upon by society (flags, traffic signals, gestures). But a word differs from all these. A word is a sound of the living voice which carries a thought. The meaning of a word is carried both by the quality of the sound (loud, soft, harsh, gentle) and by the idea it expresses. By its very nature then, the word is something very close to us, it partakes of our whole life, for it communicates feeling and thought, heart and mind. When we utter a word we are sending forth ourselves, because we are revealing both what we think and what we feel.

All of this is true only if our words are true, if they are faithful to what is in our minds and hearts. For the word can be abused, made to conceal, mislead, injure, kill, rather than to reveal, guide and bring people together in mutual understanding.

Indeed, only lovers know the full meaning and purpose of words. The self-revealing word of one who loves is always a gift of self-asking to be accepted by the beloved. The purpose of such words therefore is not merely to inform, but to unite the lover and the beloved. True words are light (they reveal) and life (they impart one's life to the beloved). To sum up, at their best words are acts of self-revelation and self-gift through which one enters into communion with another.

With these thoughts in mind we can say that the Father is the one who loves, we, his creatures, are the beloved, and the Word is the self-revelation and self-gift of the Father through whom he unites us to himself. Everything done through the Word has the quality of revealing God and has for its purpose union with God. And so, for example, since the universe was made through the Word, it reveals something of God and is destined to be united to him.

Every act God performs through the Word is therefore an act of love. In effect. The Prologue is a poetic history of these acts which the evangelist describes as love added to love: " _love in place of love_ " (1:16). In language as simple as it is profound the poem speaks of the creation of the universe and mankind (1:3f), God's offer of life everlasting (1:4ff), the formation of his People (" _his own_ ", 1:11), all of which led to and was fulfilled in the perfect union achieved in the Incarnation (1:14) and continued in the Church (the " _we_ " of 1:14, 16). From the beginning of human history, however, darkness (sin) struggles against the acceptance of the Word, but cannot overcome the light of God.

Reading John 1:1-18

The Word and the universe (1:1-3). The first line of the Prologue directs us to the opening words of the Bible: " _In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth_." In Genesis each act of creation is introduced by the phrase, " _God said, 'let there be._ ...". God spoke and all things came into being. This is why the Scriptures can say " _by his word_ " the universe was made (seeps 33:6; was 9:1). For the evangelist this expression is not simply a happy coincidence, but a prophecy of the full truth made known in Jesus Christ: when God created, it was through his Son, the Word: " _Through him all things came into being, and apart from him not a thing came to be_ " (1:3). Since it was made through the Word, the universe in all its goodness (Gen 1:9, 12, 18, 21, 25, and 31) reveals something of the glory of God and is destined for union with him. All the harmony, the order and beauty of creation speaks both of the Father and of the Son through whom it was made and by whom it is sustained.

The Word and mankind (1:4, 5, 9, 10). Genesis tells us that God made man, male and female, in his own image and likeness (Gen 1:26ft). More than any other earthly creature, man expresses God. In a special way, therefore, man is patterned after the Word who is the full expression of God. Human nature itself reveals its Maker and is destined for union with him.

God offered mankind union with himself when he permitted our first parents to eat of the Tree of Life (Gen 2:9, 16). Through the Word he gave them natural life and through the Word he offered them a share in his own divine life: " _That which came to be in him was life_."

Man is so profoundly formed by the Word that he is destined for communion with the Father and nothing less than this will satisfy him. Although man lost access to union with God because of sin, he did not lose the yearning for it, he did not lose his potential for it. This longing, which we find expressed in every culture and religion, is like a light placed deep in our nature by the Word who is light and life: " _and this life was the light of men_."

Darkness (Satan, the serpent of Gen 3:1 off), attempted to put out this light. While darkness succeeded in having mankind exiled from the garden and barred from the Tree of Life (Gen 3:23f}, it would finally be totally defeated. God promised that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head (Gen 3:15); life and light would triumph through the Word made flesh: " _The light shines on in the darkness, tor the darkness did not overcome it.''*_

But darkness has its victories. Sin can produce a night so dark, no one can see the light of God in the beauty of the universe and the greatness of mankind. Darkness can overtake individuals and even whole societies. Saint Paul berates the Romans for failing to recognize God through the things He made (Rom 1:18-32); Saint John would go further: in failing to come to a knowledge of God through created things, mankind becomes incapable of recognizing the Word by whom ail things were made: " _He was in the world, and the world was made by him; yet the world did not recognize him"_ (1:10).

'Note: Many scholars interpret verses 9 to 13 as referring already to the ministry of Jesus, the Word made flesh. While this is a valid interpretation, we have chosen to follow a different opinion, also held by competent commentators. We apply these verses to the activities of the Word in mankind through creation (vs 10}, and then among God's People in the Old Testament (vss 11-13}, culminating in the Incarnation of the Word (vs 14a). This view has the advantage of pointing out an historical progression in the Prologue. But the Prologue is superb poetry and therefore open to several interpretations.

The Word and the People of God (1:11-13). By his Word God called Abraham to be the father of his People. By his Word God acted to save his People when they were slaves in Egypt: " _For when the peaceful silence enveloped all things, and night in its swift course was now half spent, from the heavens, from your royal throne, your almighty Word leapt down into the midst of that doomed land like a relentless warrior, bearing the sharp sword of your inflexible command_ " (Was 18:14f). It was through his Word uttered to Moses that he made a Covenant with them (Exod 19:3ff). In revealing his will to them, God acted through his Son, the Word. So deeply did he plant his Law within them that no one needed to ask who would go across the sea or into heaven to find it: " _No_ ", Moses said, " _the Word is very near you; it's in your mouth and in your heart for your observance_ " ( Out 30:14).

*Support for this interpretation of " _life_ " and " _light_ " can be found in the work of a disciple of the evangelist, the Book of Revelation. There we find that the Tree of Life is a symbol of the life offered by Jesus (Rev 22:2). We also see that John's disciples saw in the victory of Jesus a fulfilment of the promise made in Gen 3:15 (see Rev 12).

In sending the prophets to reveal his will, God again acted through his Son. The " _word of the Lord_ " which they proclaimed, was announced through the eternal Word. And so God could say, " _For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return without watering the earth ... so the Word that goes forth from my mouth does not return to me empty without accomplishing my will, and succeeding in what it was sent to do"_ (Isa 55:1 Of).

To John, these and many other passages of the Old Testament teach that God was acting through his Son throughout the history of his chosen People. And so, even before the Incarnation the Word had come to his own People: " _To his own he came_ " (1:11 a). As surely as God acted through his Son, the People rebelled, refusing to abide by the Covenant, breaking his Law, rejecting his prophets: " _yet his own people did not accept him_ " (1:11b). (The pattern of rejection was set and would inevitably be repeated, and with even greater vehemence, when the Word came in the flesh of man.)

Happily, rebellion was not the response of all God's People. Many, in every generation, accepted God's revelation, and, in doing so accepted the Word. These faithful servants were empowered to become truly members of God's family: " _But all those who did accept him he empowered to become God's children_ " ( 1:12). To be the sons and daughters of God, it was not enough to be blood descendants of Abraham; it was not by any normal process of human birth that one came to share the life of God: " _That is, those who believe in his name - those who were begotten, not by blood, nor by carnal desire, nor by man's desire, but by God_ " ( 1 :12f). Through the Word all the saints of the Old Testament arrived at union with God. Insofar as they accepted God's revelation, they accepted the Word. And so Jesus could say that Abraham rejoiced when he saw him (8:56).

The Word and the new People (1:14-16). Finally, John announces the achievement of what the Father intended from the beginning. The triumph over darkness is proclaimed: " _And the Word became flesh."_ Each word is to be given its full weight. " _The Word_ " is the eternal Son, equal to the Father. He is the One through whom and by whom all was made. It was through him Abraham was called, the Covenant was made, the prophets spoke. " _Flesh_ " is man, man born to die. The word suggests mortality, changeableness. " _All flesh is grass. ... (It) withers. .. Fades_ "

(Isa 40:6f). The mystery of the Incarnation is this: the all-powerful, unchanging, eternal Word became weak, changeable, mortal man. " _Became_ " is an especially important word. John does not say the Word " _took on_ ", or " _assumed_ ", or " _accepted_ " flesh. He deliberately chooses " _became_ " to represent an act far deeper and completely irreversible. The Word so identifies himself with the man Jesus that there is no telling them apart any more. One is the other. The Word is now and forever the Son of Man. Not even in death was there separation, much less in the ascension to the Father. No, the Word could not leave behind the man he now is; and so, it is the Child of Mary who is now the Father's equal forever, " _sitting at his right hand_."

John realized that the phrase, " _the Word became flesh_ " could be misunderstood; some might take it to mean that in becoming Jesus the Word ceased to be God. In one of the most extraordinary lines of his poem, the evangelist makes sure that we shall never fall into such an error. Unfortunately, our English translation cannot make his meaning immediately clear. Here is what he says: " _And he made his dwelling among us_ " (1:14b). Literally it reads: and he pitched his tent (tabernacle) among us. This is an allusion to the Tent of Meeting and to the Temple, which were the dwelling of God upon earth.

Now it is Jesus, born of a woman, who has become the new and permanent dwelling place of God, the one and only meeting place of God and man. As the glory of God filled the Tent of Meeting and the Tern pie of Solomon (Exod 40:34f; 1Kgs 8:1Off), so the glory of God fills Jesus. He who sees Jesus as the Word made man, beholds the glory of God. And what is the glory of God made manifest in Christ? It is the enduring love of the Father revealed in the death and resurrection of his only Son: " _And we have seen his glory, the glory of an only Son coming from the Father, filled with enduring love_ " (1:14).*the " _we_ " refers to the apostolic witnesses to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. These are the founders of the new People of God whose Temple is the body of Jesus risen from the dead. The new Temple is not a thing apart, outside its worshippers as though it were a building one could come in and out of. The risen Lord is like a vine whose branches are his members (15:1 off); Temple and worshippers are one.

Twice the Prologue makes explicit reference to John the Baptist. According to our interpret ton, the first mention (1:6-8) is symbolic. John stands for the Jews, God's chosen People. Just as salvation for all men is from the Jews (4:22), so John's role as witness is to bring all men to the Saviour (1:7). But neither John the Baptist nor the nation he represents is the full Light (1:8). Only Christ is the true light. In this Gospel it is through the Baptist that the founders of the

Church come to Jesus, and through them eventually all others who enter the Body of Christ. The high esteem given to John the Baptist cannot be separated from the privileged position of the Jews in God's plan. The second mention of the Baptist (1:15) refers explicitly to his ministry. But even here his testimony is a statement of what the People of God, after hearing the Gospel, should have been able to discover from their sacred books; John the Baptist speaks for the Jews who have come to the fullness of faith when he proclaims the pre existence of the Son, the Word through whom all was made: " _he existed before me_ " ( 1:15).

All the love, all the life, all the light of God are present in Jesus, the Word made man. By his resurrection, that is, by his entry as man into the realm of God, his fullness is now ours to share: " _and of his fullness we have all had a share_ " (1:16). Even now on this earth the life, light and love of God which are in the Lord Jesus belong to us as members of his new People.

It was the love of God which sought man out through Moses and the Law. Now his love has been fully given in Jesus. Since all of the Father's love has been given in Christ, no one should rest content with God's lesser acts of love, whether it be his self-revelation in creation or through the Law. The greatest of all gifts has replaced the lesser: " _love in place of love_ " (1:16c).

The greatest Old Testament passages which form the background for the Prologue we have left to the last. These are the magnificent poems on divine Wisdom. With only the slightest changes, these can be seen as proclamations of the divine Word. Since we have already commented on each of these texts in previous lessons, and since we have little space left in this one, we must limit ourselves to giving you the references to the passages concerned and to our commentary on them, leaving you the pleasant task of meditating upon them your selves. Time spent on these texts will be generously rewarded, for throughout the Gospel John describes Jesus in terms of divine Wisdom. In fact, many of the speeches of Jesus are

*Verses 14, 16 and 17 contain words which were usually translated as " _grace"_ and " _truth_ ". Since the first word (charis) represents the Hebrew word hosed, which means love, loving kindness or mercy, it is better rendered as " _love_ ". The second word (aletheia, usually translated as truth) stands for the Hebrew word 'emet, which means fidelity, faithfulness, constancy. The two Hebrew words frequently occur together in the Old Testament as an expression of God's unfailing love (e.g. Exod 34:6). In John 1:14e and 17 the corresponding Greek words occur together and should be translated as " _enduring love_ ", or something similar. Patterned after the discourses of Wisdom. The principal passages are the following:

Proverbs 8:22-31 (also 8:32-36; 9:1-6), Lesson 17, pp. 4f.

Search (Ecclesiastics) 24:1-23, Lesson 18, pp. 25f.

Wisdom 7:22-8:1 (also 8:2-16; 9:1-18), Lesson 19, pp. 25f.

The Testimony (1:19-51)

The second part of the introduction consists of a series of testimonies to Christ given by John the Baptist and then by the first disciples. With Peter among them as the " _Rock_ ", these will become the founding members of the new People of God. The passage is constructed in four sections, each marked by a new day (1:19, 29, 35, 43). On the first day (1:19-28) John the Baptist vehemently denies being the M messiah and speaks in a general way of the One who is to come. On the second day (1 :29-34) John points out Jesus and identifies him as the Lamb of God, the One who existed before him, the One on whom the Spirit rests, the Chosen One. On the third day (1:35-42) he directs his disciples to follow Jesus. They follow Jesus and stay with him. After being with Jesus, they begin to recruit other disciples. Finally, on the last day of the four (1:43-51), Jesus himself calls disciples to follow him. In these last two sections more testimonies to Jesus are given: he is the great Teacher (Rabbi), the Messiah, the One described in the Law of Moses, the Son of God, the King of Israel. The entire introduction is brought to its climax by Jesus' own testimony to himself: he is the Son of Man who unites heaven and earth, God and man (1:51).

In this passage John makes a single whole of the material which, in the other Gospels is presented in separate scenes. The Testimony weaves into one narrative what Mark, for example, presents in a series of episodes: the Baptism of Jesus, the initial proclamation of the Kingdom, and the call of the first disciples (Mark 1:9-20).

Two final points before reading the Testimony: first, the evangelist sometimes has people say more than they consciously intended when they actually said it. For example, the high priest Caiaphas (11:49ft), without realizing the profound meaning of his words, prophesies the effect of the crucifixion of Jesus. Similarly, John the Baptist and Nathanael, in the passage you are about to read, use words which have a meaning much more profound than they could possibly have intended at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. In saying that Jesus " _existed before me_ ", John the Baptist historically might have meant only that Jesus is the ancient prophet Elijah who was to return to usher in the end of time; but his words take on a much more profound meaning for they express the truth that the person of Jesus existed before all creation. Nathanael might have intended simply to give Jesus a title of honour treasured by every Israelite when he called Jesus " _Son of God_ "; but for the evangelist and his readers, this is a declaration of the divinity of Christ.

The second point concerns discipleship: the evangelist teaches that genuine discipleship is more than obeying Jesus, more than conforming to the behaviour he commands. To be a disciple is to " _come and see_ "; to come to Jesus and stay with him, and to see in him the Son of Man and Son of God who unites God and mankind.

" _Jesus replied, 'You believe because I said to you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.' And he added, 'In truth, in very truth, I say to you all, you shall see heaven laid open and God's angels ascending and descending upon the Son of man.' "John 1:50-51_

Reading John 1:19-51

_"Lamb of God._ " What could John the Baptist have intended by this title? In the centuries immediately before the coming of Christ, many books were written about the end of time (see Lesson 19, p. 29). Though they were never part of sacred Scripture, these books were very popular in Palestine. One of these (Book of Enoch) is a kind of fable in which animals act out the history leading to the end of the world. At the last judgment, according to this book, a lamb appears whose role is to destroy all evil from the earth. The Book of Revelation alludes to this lamb and identifies him with Jesus who, by his death and resurrection, triumphs over all evil (Rev 7:17; 12:11). John the Baptist was possibly identifying Jesus with this triumphant lamb of popular literature. (In Matthew 3:12, even though the lamb is not referred to, the function John the Baptist attributes to Jesus is much the same as that of the symbolic lamb.)

The evangelist, however, wishes us to see much more in the title. Jesus is the Lamb of God first because he is the Servant of the Lord who takes on himself the sins of the world and is led like a lamb to the slaughter (lsa 52:13- 53:12). Jesus is the Lamb of God, also because he is the fulfilment of everything symbolized by the paschal lamb. As it was by the blood of the lamb that the Israelites were spared when the wrath of God came over Egypt (Exod 12:21ff), so is it by the blood of Christ that mankind is saved from the judgment of God. As it was by eating the paschal lamb that the People participated in their deliverance from death in Egypt, so it is by partaking of the " _flesh_ " of the Lamb of God that mankind is freed from death and brought into eternal life (6:52ff).

John writes so subtly and describes the first meeting with Andrew, Peter and the others so naturally that we are likely to overlook the fact that in 1:43-51 he is presenting Jesus as divine Wisdom.* Old Testament writers taught that wisdom is found only by those who " _look for_ " her (Was 6:12 ). Jesus asks the two disciples, " _What are you looking for_?" (1:38). the wise men also urged that one must not only study Wisdom but " _live in the same house_ " with her (Was 7:28). The disciples ask Jesus, " _Rabbi, where are you staying (living)?"_ And when Jesus replies, " _Come and see_ ", they " _stayed with him_ " (1:38f). Wisdom is " _found_ " by those who seek her (Was 6:12): Andrew joyfully declares, " _We have found the Messiah_ " (1:41). Wisdom allows her self to be " _seen_ " by those who love her (Was 6:12): Jesus promises his disciples, " _You will see ..._ " (1:51).

The vision which Jesus promises to the apostles is that they " _will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man"_ (1:51). (For the phrase, " _the sky opened_ ", see Lesson 21, p. 9.) The apostles are the founders of the New Israel, the new People of God. Jacob (Israel), the father of the Twelve Tribes of the old Israel, was granted a vision of a ladder to God on which angels descended and ascended (Gen 28:10-22; see Lesson 2, p. 16): the " _fathers"_ of the New Israel will be given a much greater vision. They will see Jesus as the " _ladder_ " which joins heaven and earth, God and man. (The movement to the angels simply indicates the freedom and the directness of the access to God which Jesus makes possible.)

Since the original vision granted to Jacob took place in Bethel, " _the House of God ... the gate of heaven"_ (Gen 28:17), the evangelist could also be suggesting that Jesus is the new Temple, the true dwelling of God on earth and the only gateway to heaven (an idea already suggested in 1:14b and which will be said explicitly in 2:13-22).

*The Book of Wisdom 6:12-20 is especially important as background for this section.

Practice question

**4** Indicate whether the following statements on the expressions " _the Word_ ", " _the Word became flesh_ ", " _the Lamb of God_ ", and " _You will see the sky opened ..._ " are true or false:

___a. " _The Word_ " is a good title for the Son of God because he reveals the Father and unites us to him.

___b. The Prophets and the Wisdom-writers referred to the Messiah as the Word.

___c. The Word was created by the Father.

___d. Creation was made through the Word and reveals something of God's glory.

___e. The Word was a distinct self before becoming a man in Jesus Christ.

___f. _"Flesh_ " is a blunt way of saying mortal.

___g. When the Word became flesh he ceased being God.

___h. "Lamb of God" is a good title for Christ because he is the paschal lamb who shed his blood and allows his " _flesh_ "to be eaten so that mankind can be delivered from God's judgment.

___i. Jesus promised the apostles the same vision as Jacob received.

## Chapter 3 Love in Place of Love (2:1 - 4:42)

**Section Objective** : To describe the meaning of the words " _sign_ ", " _hour_ ", " _glory_ ", " _lifting up_ ", " _see_ ", and " _the Jews_ ", and to describe how Jesus completes and replaces all religions and forms of worship (John 2:1 - 4:42).

The evangelist concludes his version of the Gospel with the words, " _Jesus also performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, signs not recorded in this book._ ..." (20:30). To John everything Jesus did had about it the quality of a " _sign_ ". But the evangelist uses this word mostly in the first major section of his book (2: 11, 18, 23; 3:2; 4:48, 54; 6:2, 14, 26, 30; 7:31; 9:16; 11:47). Because he uses the word so frequently in chapters 2 to 12, many commentators entitle these chapters The Book of Signs.

What does the evangelist mean by a " _sign_ "? Firstly, as in ordinary language, a sign is some thing which can be seen, heard or touched; something that can be perceived by the senses. Secondly, again as in ordinary usage, a sign points to or reveals something other than itself. For example, the Cleansing of the Temple is a sign because it is a visible deed, and one which points to a greater reality, the death and resurrection of Jesus by which he becomes the new Temple.

But the evangelist gives the word " _sign_ " still deeper meanings. He has taken the word from the Old Testament where, again and again, the actions of God on behalf of his People are called " _signs_ " or " _signs and wonders_ " e.g. Exod 7:3; 10:1; Num 14:22; Deut 6:22; 7:19; Was 8:8; 10: 16). All of God's deeds were signs of his saving might, signs of his powerful love. The Exodus, for example, was a visible event- anyone could see the Egyptians dead on the shore and observe the Israelites being led to freedom. As a sign this event pointed to or revealed God the Saviour and his mighty power. In like manner, the gift of Manna in the desert was a sign of God's fatherly care.

Now all of these signs given by God in the period before Christ were leading up to the greatest act of God, the most perfect sign of his saving power- the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is the dying and rising of Jesus which is the perfect sign worked by God, for by it God's will to save is fully accomplished. All the signs of the Old Testament were in fact pointing to and revealing something of the perfect sign, Christ dying and rising.

For the evangelist, the same can be said of everything Jesus did before his death and resurrection. All the events of his public ministry led to the hour of his greatest deed; all pointed to and revealed something of the perfect sign. In this sense, therefore, the evangelist considers the events of Jesus' public life as " _signs_ " pointing to and revealing something of the perfect " _signs_ ", the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is why he can refer to the Wedding at Cana as a sign; while not itself the perfect sign, it nevertheless reveals something about the death and resurrection of the Lord.

John wants us to see even further into " _signs_ ". During his public life the deeds of Jesus were signs to those about him, signs they could accept if they had faith in him. But after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus to the Father, would the community of disciples be left without signs of any sort? Would the Church have to survive and grow without tangible signs? The evangelist would emphatically answer " _No_ ". The Lord gave the Church signs, signs which point to and reveal the cross and resurrection, and even more than this, signs which actually give entry into the mystery they signify. The evangelist refers to two of these signs, or sacraments. Of the Church: the waters of baptism and the bread and wine of the Eurcharist.* The Church too has its signs by which people enter into the saving mystery accomplished by the perfect sign, the death and resurrection of Jesus.

We now turn to the first episode of the Book of Signs. It is made up of two signs {the Wedding at Cana and the Cleansing of the Temple), and of commentaries on these signs provided through dialogue with a teacher in Israel {Nicodemus), John the Baptist and the Samaritan woman. The whole episode is held together by the common theme of religion and worship, and by the recurring images of water and marriage.

The theme of religion and worship is introduced by the jars used to hold water for purification rituals {2:6). These stand for the most common form of ceremonial religion, practiced by the Pharisees and by most religions throughout the world. These jars, John tells us, stand empty before Jesus fills them with the best wine. The theme of religion and worship is developed further by the Cleansing of the Temple in Jerusalem. This was the place of true worship of God as revealed in the Old Testament.

Even this worship is to come to an end and be replaced by a new Temple, the body of the risen Lord {2:21). Finally, John presents us with the worship of the Samaritans {4:20ff). The religion of the Samaritans was mixed, partly based on the revelation received through Moses. Partly derived from religions imposed by the various pagan empires which conquered Samaria in the centuries before Christ. This religion and worship is also to be replaced by Christ.

The Wedding at Cana (2:1 2)

How Jesus replaces all the religions and ways of worship found in human history is the topic of this episode. It is important to notice that the first sign John provides for us is a wedding, a celebration which Christ rescues from disaster by providing it with an abundance of the finest wine. Jesus fills up and transforms the religions of the world the way the empty jars are filled up with water and made to contain the best wine. Jesus is good news for all religions in the way the wine was good news to the thirsty guests at the wedding.

At Cana we are introduced to the mother of Jesus. The way in which the evangelist writes of her is so unusual that it calls for some explanation. Firstly, Jesus refers to her as " _woman_ ", a term not unusual in addressing a woman, but never used by a man speaking to his own mother. What is more striking is that when Jesus speaks to his mother from the cross, he refers to her again as " _woman_ " {19:25ff). It is clear that the evangelist wishes us to see some symbolism in the term. The most probable symbolism is that Mary stands for Eve, the " _woman"_ {Gen 2:23), the mother of all the living {Gen 3:20). This symbolism, recognized through many centuries of Christian interpretation, is still held today by competent scholars. We accept it as a first level of symbolism where Mary, the " _woman_ " stands for Eve and represents all of mankind, the offspring of Eve.

*John gives us only two of the signs in the life of the Church, but he does not intend us to see these as the only ones there are, any more than he wishes us to think the signs he records in his Gospel are the only ones Jesus performed {see 20:30).

**The Book of Revelation, written by a disciple of the evangelist, also refers to a " _woman_ " {Rev 12). It is clear that this woman stands for Israel, the People who gave birth to the Messiah; but she also represents Eve, the mother of all the living whose offspring would crush the head of the serpent {Gen 3:15). The only historical personage to whom this symbolism could possibly apply is Mary, the Mother of the Messiah.

Secondly, John does not use her personal name, Mary, as do the other evangelists. If he speaks of her only as the " _mother of Jesus_ ", it is because he wishes us to see in her a symbol of God's People: Mary, who gave physical birth to the Messiah, stands for Israel, the People chosen by God to bring forth the Christ.

Finally, John points out that the mother of Jesus is with " _the disciples_ " of Jesus (2:1, 11 f; see

19:26). This gives to Mary a third symbolism - she stands for the new People of God which Jesus creates out of his disciples. There is, therefore, a threefold symbolism attached to Mary in John's Gospel: she is Eve, standing for all mankind; she is Israel who gave birth to the Messiah; she is the Church, the community of the disciples of Jesus.

The dialogue between Jesus and his Mother in the passage you are about to read can only be understood by appreciating the symbolism. As the " _woman_ ", she is Eve speaking for all mankind which has become aware of the emptiness of its many religions and is anxious to have Christ save it from its desperate situation. As the " _mother of Jesus_ " she is at once Israel and the Church giving the instruction which should always be coming from God's People: " _Do what ever he tells you"._

Reading John 2:1 2

" _There was a wedding at Cana."_ The occasion is a wedding, and this immediately suggests the Covenant of God with his People. Frequently the Covenant is expressed in terms of a marriage between Israel and her Lord (e.g. Hos 2; lsa 54:4f; 62:4f; Jer 2:2; 3:20). This wedding had its time. and while it lasted it had wine to drink, but now the wine is exhausted, the time for the new and eternal Covenant has come, and for this marriage the best wine will be provided in abundance.

" _What has this concern of yours to do with me_ " (2:4)? On the purely historical level these words of Jesus to his Mother simply state the truth: the shortage of wine is not the concern of the guests at the wedding. However, here we are to rise above the purely historical level. Jesus tells his Mother, " _My hour has not yet come_ ". Neither the longing of mankind, nor the desires of God's chosen People can determine the time for Jesus to bring about the salvation of mankind. The appointed time has been set by God. No human agent can hurry or delay that hour.

The " _hour_ " refers to the death and resurrection of Jesus. The same is true for the word " _glory_ " (2:12). The hour of Jesus, the time when his glory will be made manifest, cannot be advanced. Jesus cannot change the moment when he lays down his life and takes it up again. What he can do during his public ministry, and what he does at Cana, is to give a sign which points to his hour and which reveals something of his glory. The miracle at Cana, therefore. Is a sign of the death and resurrection of Jesus; it reveals something about his hour.

What Cana reveals about the death and resurrection of Jesus is that by this act Jesus establishes the new, universal and eternal Covenant of God with mankind, the everlasting marriage, the total union of God and mankind. Because all religions, including the true faith of Israel, had as their purpose union with the Eternal God, and since this is accomplished by the death and resurrection of Jesus, then all of these religions find their fulfilment in the "hour" of Jesus And once fulfilled, they are replaced by the faith and the worship Jesus makes possible.

Cana also points to the creation of the new People of God. By his death and resurrection Jesus establishes the Church, and here at Cana, we see the Church already present in the Mother of Jesus and the disciples. When we come to the account of the death of Jesus we shall once again find the Church present through his Mother and a disciple (19:25ff).

" _Thus he revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him._ "The wonderful and joyful miracle at Cana reveals something of the wonderful effects of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Since the disciples believed in the miracle at Cana, they were disposed to believe in the effects of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.

Because John's account of the Wedding at Cana is written with such vivid realism, it is tempting to read it as though it were merely an historical account. John, however, does not want us to read it simply on an historical level. He tells us that the miracle at Cana was the first " _sign_ " which Jesus gave (2:11). It is therefore as a sign that we are to interpret this incident. John invites us to see the sign, and to see the sign is to look for the proper symbolism of the passage.

" _They have no wine_." We have already seen that the theme running through this first episode (2:1- 4:42) is that of religion and worship; we have also seen the symbolism attached to Mary. If we combine these two insights, then we can read the words of Mary at the level of symbolism. As Eve, the mother of all the living, Mary speaks for all of mankind (including Israel). When she says, " _They have no wine_ " she is expressing a profound truth and a deep desire. The truth she speaks is that all the religions of the world, which God accepted in all their strengths and all their weaknesses, have now come to an end. The wine they once had has run out. Since the Saviour of the entire world has come (4:42), the time for all religions and forms of worship not directed through Christ has ended. Mary's words also express an urgent desire to have the transformation take place quickly.

In his own way John has communicated to us at the beginning of the public life of Jesus what Mark conveys at the same point in Jesus' lite: " _The time has come ... believe the Good News"_ (Mark 1:15). What better way could there be to express the joyful Good News proclaimed by Jesus than by a wedding feast whose rejoicing is assured by an abundance of the finest wine?

The Cleansing of the Temple (2:13-25)

Though John does not explicitly call the Cleansing of the Temple a " _sign_ ", he does treat it as such. He gives us a saying of Jesus which clearly indicates that the Cleansing of the Temple is a sign of the death and resurrection of Jesus. When people object to the eviction of the buyers and sellers, Jesus replies: " _Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up"_ (2:19). John tells us that after the resurrection of Jesus, the disciples understood that Jesus was referring to himself as the new Temple.

Reading John 2:13-25

The Temple stands for the authentic religion and worship of God's People, a religion and worship based on true revelation. In Jesus' day the Temple was defiled by a variety of commercial enterprises (see Lesson 23, pp. 4-6). The Lord purifies it of these abuses and affirms it as his Father's house (2:16). The Temple provided the place of encounter between man and God. But this purpose is now fulfilled in Jesus. Once risen from the dead the glorified body of Christ will become the only " _place_ " of encounter between God and man. The old Temple in Jerusalem will find its purpose fulfilled in the risen Lord and will have no reason to continue in existence. By implication, therefore, the Cleansing of the Temple foretells the end of the ancient place of worship.

_"... Many believed in his name, for they could see the signs he was performing. For his part Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all_ " (2:23-24). In the language of the evangelist there are three ways of " _seeing_ " the signs: first, some see only the externals, the physical, visible aspect of the acts of Jesus. These see nothing of significance in what

Jesus does. For example, having witnessed the sign of the Cleansing of the Temple, the Jews ask for a " _sign_ "(2:18). They see nothing more than a man acting with unauthorized boldness. Secondly, some see only the miracles as signs, and in these they see only the action of a wonderworker, a man with exceptional powers. John speaks of this group of people as " _believing_ " in Jesus, but their faith is not sound, it is inadequate and cannot be trusted (2:23-24; see also 6:14f; 8:31 off). However, this second way of seeing acknowledges some superhuman powers in Christ and is open to growing into true faith. The third way of seeing is that of true faith, a faith which accepts Jesus as truly human and truly God.

Note: The term " _the Jews_ " in John's Gospel carries different meanings depending on the context. Failure to notice this has led to serious misinterpretations. There are basically three ways in which the evangelist uses the term: positive, neutral and negative. An example of a positive use is found in 4:22: " _Salvation is from the Jews_." Here John is referring to the whole nation as God's People, the recipients of revelation. By implication, this phrase reminds us that Jesus is the Jew through whom salvation comes to mankind. In 11:19 we find an example of a neutral use of the term: " _Many of the Jews had come out to otter sympathy to Martha and Mary_ ... "(see also 11:31, 45; 12:9). In this case the Jews are simply citizens of Judaea. John also employs the term in negative senses. First, he refers to " _Jews who believed_ " in Jesus (8:31). The context (8:31-59) makes it clear that these are disciples who refuse to believe in the divinity of Christ. The evangelist is referring to Jews of Jesus' day (and in his own Church) who claimed to be followers of Christ, but did not accept that Jesus is God. Finally, the negative use of the term most frequently refers to the authorities among the People who are hostile to Jesus. In these cases " _the Jews_ " are the leaders whom the other evangelists call the chief priests, elders and scribes.

In John's Gospel, therefore, the term " _Jews_ " has a very positive meaning when it is used in an ethnic sense of the whole nation. When John gives it a negative meaning it applies to only a segment of the nation, either to false disciples, or to the authorities who are plotting to do away with Jesus. If this is kept in mind, it becomes clear that there is no basis in John for anti- Semitism. It is an inexcusable tragedy that this Gospel, the Gospel of Love, should ever have been used to support racial prejudice.

Nicodemus (3:1-21)

We have just said that in this Gospel the most common negative use of the word " _Jew_ " refers to the leading men who were hostile to Jesus; but the first one of these we meet is an exception. Nicodemus, a member of the ruling class, is friendly and well-disposed to Jesus. His faith, however, is inadequate. He sees the miraculous signs as proof only that Jesus is a wonder worker.

Nicodemus represents those compatriots of Jesus who were impressed by the things Jesus did, who were drawn to him, but could not see in him anything more than a mighty prophet, a 'man of God', sent to call the People to conversion. They see Jesus as a great reformer, and they are open to the need for serious reform. However, the thought of anything radically new, the possibility of a thorough-going change does not enter their minds.

These people are satisfied with the old concept that membership in the Chosen Race is first and foremost by natural birth; discendance from Abraham is the best and the normal way of belonging to God's People (see Luke 3:2-18). Step by step Jesus' answer to Nicodemus teaches him that nothing short of a totally new beginning, a new birth, is required for the completely new faith and worship he brings about. To enter into eternal life ("see _the kingdom of God"_ ) one needs to be begotten of God, the only source of life everlasting (3:3). Natural life is received by being begotten of an earthly father; eternal life can only come by being begotten of the Father in heaven. That is the first step in Jesus' reply. The remainder of his speech can be divided into three sections: the first deals with the Spirit (3:4-8), the second with the Son (3:9-i5), the third with the Father (3:i6-21). The new birth of which Jesus speaks is possible only through the agency of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (compare Matt 28:18f).

"Nicodemus said to him, 'how is it possible for a man to be born when he is old? Can he go back again into his mother's womb and be born?'" John 3:4

Note: In 3:3 and 7 John uses a word which means both " _from above_ " and " _anew_ ". He intends us to understand that the birth he writes of is both new and from God. The word he uses for Spirit (pneumatic) also means " _breath_ " or " _wind_ ".

Reading John 3:1-8

Jesus tells Nicodemus that being born physically into the race of Abraham counts for nothing: _"Flesh begets flesh_ " (3:6). The birth he speaks of can only be from the Spirit of God: " _Spirit begets spirit_ ". This birth is both as real and as mysterious as the movement of the wind over the earth (3:8).

The change that Jesus brings about as he completes and replaces all the religions and ways of worship of the world is one that comes from God, from above. No amount of human effort, no length of human striving can reach up from earth into the realm of God and obtain this new and eternal life. Only one who has come from heaven and who returned to heaven can make this new birth possible.

Note: In 3:11-15 the words of Jesus and those of the evangelist are so closely wedded that it is not possible to distinguish between them. The phrases move freely from the " _we_ " of John and his community to the " _I_ " of Jesus.

Reading John 3:9-15

The new birth being offered is one that comes about not by Jesus' divinity alone. It is precisely as Son of Man, the human being who is flesh of our flesh, that Christ offers eternal life to all who accept him by faith. To make this point as forcefully as possible John brings before us the image of Jesus, nailed to the horizontal beam and being " _lifted up_ " physically on the cross. For John this upward movement of the dying body of Jesus is the beginning of his ascension, his return to the Father. The expression " _lifted up_ ", therefore, refers to both the death and resurrection of Christ. The evangelist compares the lifting up of Jesus on the cross to the lifting up of the serpent of bronze (see Num 21:4-9). Those who looked with faith upon the serpent Moses lifted up were healed by God (Was 16:5ff); those who believe in the lifting up of Jesus (his death-resurrection) will receive eternal life (3:14).

Throughout the Gospel the evangelist wants us to hold together the death and resurrection of Jesus as one mystery of faith. Though he is fully aware that these events occurred at separate moments in time, he deliberately uses single words to refer to the death and the exaltation. Thus he uses the " _hour_ ", the "glorification", or the " _lifting up_ " of Jesus as terms which encompass both the death and the resurrection of the Lord. For John the lifting up of Jesus to the vertical pole of the cross is the great and perfect sign: for by dying Jesus is revealed as most at one with humanity whose common fate is death, and by rising he is revealed as most at one with divinity whose unique attribute is undying life. The lifting up of Jesus is the hour when he reveals his glory as most " _flesh_ " and most " _Word_ ". It is in that hour that the union of man and God is not only signified, but achieved.

The reference to _"water and Spirit_ " in 3:5 now becomes more understandable. John, who has shown us that Jesus completes and replaces all ritualistic religions, does not want Christians to fall back into that kind of worship. While he clearly accepts the sacraments of the Church, the evangelist carefully avoids anything which might encourage man's natural love of ceremonies at the expense of the radically new way of worship Jesus brings about. To John baptism by water is not simply a ritual of cleansing, but is the entry into the saving hour of Jesus his death and resurrection. Baptism by water and the Spirit is entry into that total union between God and man achieved in the " _lifting up_ " of Jesus, and it is only by entering into this saving hour that man receives eternal life.

The crucifixion of Jesus was a cruel and ugly spectacle, one which spoke of judgment and condemnation. It could easily be seen as an event in which mankind was condemned by God. But this is not the case. It was not to pass judgment on his creatures but to give them eternal life that God sent the Word. It is the love of the Father for mankind which is revealed by the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Reading John 3:16-21

If men find themselves judged, it is by their own choice. Whoever has been offered the Good News of Jesus and refuses to believe in him, stands condemned. Such a person is like one who, when invited to come into the light, prefers to remain in darkness. The final words of Jesus confront Nicodemus with a stark truth; there is nothing wrong with his seeking out Jesus _"at night_ ", but if he remains in the dark after encountering Jesus, then he is judged. (The Gospel shows us Nicodemus again in 7:45ff and in 19:38ff where he is acting with Joseph of Arimathaea, a disciple.)

John the Baptist (3:22 - 4:3)

To underline and confirm the fact that Jesus is not simply a reformer, but the creator of a totally new order, the evangelist now presents John the Baptist, the greatest of the reforming prophets. And he shows us that the accomplishment of each is of a totally different nature. (It is clear that the evangelist wrote passages like this one with a view to instructing and converting disciples of John the Baptist who were making their leader out to be the Messiah.

Reading John 3:22-36

" _It is the bridegroom who gets the bride_ " (3:29). According to Jewish custom at the time of Jesus, the best man (called " _the friend_ " of the groom) saw to the proper preparation of the bride for the wedding. Once she was ready, it was his duty and privilege to lead her to her husband. John the Baptist sees himself in this role. The People of God, often referred to as the bride of God (see Hos 2), are to be prepared for the new and eternal " _wedding_ ", the new Covenant which will be made in Jesus. It would be as wrong for John the Baptist to draw the People of God to himself as it would be for the best man to take the bride. Important as he is, he may not usurp the place of Christ: " _He must increase while I must decrease_ ".

" _The one who comes from above is above all_ " (3:31). The union between God and man which Jesus achieves is one which originates in God; this " _marriage_ " is not the result of human effort, but of divine initiative. It can only come about by one who is _"from above_ ". Mighty prophet that he is, the Baptist is still a man, only a man; he is earthly, " _from below_ ". He can in no way bring about the outpouring of the Spirit of God required for the new Covenant (3:34). All that John the Baptist can do is to direct all men to Christ, for it is through Christ that they will enter the eternal life-giving Covenant, the marriage between God and mankind.

The Samaritan Woman (4:4-42)

The theme we have been pursuing in this first episode of the Book of Signs is that of the completion and replacement of all religions by Christ. In the water-jars of Cana we saw a symbol of ritualistic religion, in the Temple we saw the authentic religion, the worship of the old Covenant. In the story we are about to consider we meet a Samaritan woman who represents religions which are a mixture of truth and falsehood, and we shall see that Jesus fulfills even these and in doing so replaces them.

The Samaritans had their origins in the People of God.* Over the centuries, however, they had been conquered by many pagan empires, each of which influenced their life and religion. Cut off for centuries from Judaea and the worship in Jerusalem (see Lesson 16, p. 8) they had gradually developed their own interpretation of the faith of the People of God. They considered themselves to be true followers of Moses, whose five books alone they held to be inspired. In their version of the Book of Deuteronomy they read that God had ordered Joshua to erect a shrine on Mount Gerizim, a high hill near their capital city.* They maintained a temple there for centuries until it was destroyed by the Jews in 128 BC. But at the time of Jesus they still carried out some form of worship on the ruins of their ancient temple.

*Originally Samaria was the name of the_ capital of the Northern Kingdom (1 Kgs 16:23ff). In time the name was extended to the area around the capital. In the period of the New Testament, Samaria was the name of the province in the central hill country of Palestine. The Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom and destroyed its capital in 722-721 BC (2 Kgs 16; Lesson 11, p. 30; Lesson 12, p. 3). In succeeding centuries the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans overran the area and subjected it to their power. Each of these conquerors left t: heir mark on the Samaritans. At the time of Christ, the ancient capital city had been rebuilt by Herod the Great and renamed Sebastian. In honour of the Romans he built in Sebastian a temple to the emperor Augustus.

The Samaritans hoped for a great and final messenger from God, one who would be a prophet like Moses (Deut 18:15-18). He would reveal the things of God and complete the work begun by Moses. This hoped-for prophet was their version of the one the Jews called " _the Messiah_ ".

To the Jews. The Samaritans were impure pagans pretending to be true believers. The hatred between the two groups had hardened over the centuries. No pious Jew, and especially no Pharisee, would have any contact with Samaritans; he would not even touch an article handled by Samaritans.

Jesus does not share this animosity. He travels through Samaritan territory, stops there for a rest, asks for water from a Samaritan woman, and. in fact stays with them for a few days.

Symbolically the Samaritan woman represents religions which are a mixture of true revelation and paganism (or natural religion). Like so many groups in New Testament times (and today) the Samaritans had some of the truths of revelation, but along with these they had ideas and practices which varied from good to inadequate to false. The friendly and u threatening approach of Jesus to the Samaritan woman is the model for the way his disciples are to approach similar religions in every age.

Note: The evangelist's mastery of the art of the dramatist is displayed beautifully in the next reading. It is almost as if he intended his account to be acted out on a stage, with characters entering and leaving, and with action going on in the foreground and background. At the end all the characters appear together. It is helpful to keep this in mind. For example, the words of Jesus on harvesting the ripe fields (4:35-38) are best understood if we visualize in the background the woman gathering disciples for Christ among her own townsfolk (4:39ff).

Reading John 4:4-42

This passage concludes the commentary on the two signs (Cana, Cleansing the Temple,

2:1-25 ). The evangelist takes up the two images of water and marriage which he has featured in these chapters and makes some final statements on his theme: how Jesus completes and replaces all religions and forms of worship. The new order of faith and worship that Jesus introduces calls for a new community, one that is entered by re-birth through the sacrament of baptism (" _water and the Spirit_ ", 3:6). The sacramental entry affirms the primacy of God's action in the making of disciples (" _begotten from above_ ", 3:3ff). In this part of the commentary, however, (ESP. 4:28-42) we see the human task, that of gathering disciples to form the new People of God, the worshippers in Spirit and truth.

*Deut 27:4, in the version passed on by the people of Judah and accepted by Christians, Joshua is ordered to build the shrine on Mount Ebla, a hill next to Gerizim.

" _Jacob's well_." Jacob (Israel) was the father of the Twelve Tribes which formed the People of God under the old Covenant. While God's People were a blood-related family on the human level, they aspired always to be a people of faith. The religious life of the Samaritans was based on the Law, the five books of Moses. The Law was their source, the well from which they drew the waters of life. The revelation contained in the books of Moses was the basis for their faith, and, indeed the faith of the Jews also.

_"The water I shall give him will become within him a fountain of water leaping up unto eternal life_ " (4:14). The contrasts being made are between the still waters of a well and the running (that is, living) waters of a spring, and between the water contained or restricted within the limits of a well and the free flowing water that gushes from a fountain. The Law was water indeed, it was true revelation. But it was limited, like water confined within a well. The " _wate_ r" Jesus brings, because it is the fullness of revelation, is like a fountain that leaps high into the air. The truth revealed by the Law could bring a measure of life. but the teaching of Jesus " _leaps up_ " unto eternal life.

But there is a further contrast which the evangelist wants us to notice: the Law was like a well to which one went to draw water; the well was outside, exterior to the believer. The fullness of truth which Jesus offers becomes a fountain of water " _within_ " the disciple. And here we find a second meaning for the water Jesus gives: the water is the Spirit (see 7:37-39). The Spirit Jesus sends enters a disciple's heart and becomes within him a fountain ever renewing itself. (We shall see more on this theme in connection with 7:37ff.)

The living water, therefore, is a symbol of both the truth which Jesus reveals and of the Spirit he sends. John is poetically bringing together the images and ideas of the ancient prophets on the new Covenant. Jeremiah (31 :31-34) had foretold the day when God would plant know edge of himself in the very hearts of his People; Ezekiel foresaw the renewal of the Covenant as the day when God would sprinkle water on his People, forgive their sins and put within• them a new heart of flesh to replace their hearts of stone. This, Ezekiel wrote, would happen by the Spirit of God (Ezek 36:25ff). Jesus establishes this new and eternal Covenant by sending the Holy Spirit into the hearts of his followers.

" _You have had five husbands_ ..." (4:16ff). While there is no special symbolism attached to the number five (or six). There is significance in the fact that the woman has had many husbands. The Samaritans were not faithful to their one Lord and God; over the centuries they had given allegiance to many gods. Their religion was not pure; it was adulterous. Jesus, however, is not harsh with the woman; he does not condemn her (see 3:17). Her next words, a question about the temple, show that she has grasped the meaning of the dialogue about husbands. She realizes that Jesus is saying the Samaritan religion with its own " _heretical_ " temple is not authentic (4:20).

" _You will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem_ " (4:21). The time is over for disputes about the right geographical location for true worship. No spot on earth will ever again be more holy than another; no particular building will be better than another for worship. The new Temple will be the body of the risen Lord (2:21 f), to which the new People of God will be united as branches to the vine (John 15). The place of worship will be wherever the disciples gather.

" _Salvation is from the Jews_ " (4:22). This is one instance where the evangelist uses the term " _Jews"_ in an ethnic sense, and its meaning is positive. The nation of God's choosing is the instrument through which God saves. As much truth as there might be in all or any other religions of the world, none can claim to have been guided by God as Israel's was, none can boast of the true revelation God's chosen race received. And no race on earth can claim, as the Jews can, that the Saviour of the world was one of theirs by blood.

_"True worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth_ " (4:23). We have already seen that the " _living water_ " Jesus gives refers to both his teaching and to the Holy Spirit. Now these two gifts are applied to worship. Those who worship in Spirit and truth are disciples who have received the Holy Spirit and who profess the truths that Jesus taught. " _God is Spirit_ ", that is, he bestows the Spirit of truth who completes in the disciples the revelation given by the Son (John 14:26; 16:13).

In the past some have interpreted " _worship in Spirit and truth_ " as an interior, spiritual kind of worship free of external manifestations in rites and ceremonies. This is an incorrect interpret ton, because the " _Spirit_ " here is the Holy Spirit, not the spirit or soul of man. Moreover, neither Jesus, who used external gestures himself in worship (6:11; 17:1; see Luke 9:16), nor the evangelist, who insists on external signs in the ministry of Christ and of sacraments in the work of the Church, could conceive of a purely spiritual or angelic worship for creatures of flesh. It is not to be denied of course that all true worship must be of the heart, sincere and genuine; this the prophets of old and psalmists urged (lsa 1:11ft; 29:13; Ps 51:6, 16). Nevertheless this interior devotion is not what is meant here. Worship is " _in Spirit and truth_ ", not because it is sincere, but because it is based on the full revelation of the Father which Jesus gives and which the Holy Spirit makes known to the community of disciples ( 14:26; 16:13).

The Samaritan woman is moved by the words of Jesus; she wonders if he could possibly be the hoped-for messenger of God. Jesus openly identifies himself as the Messiah (4:25f). She then hurries into the village and begins to tell her townsfolk about Jesus. To the evangelist she is a "missionary" gathering disciples for Christ. And so the topic of conversation between Jesus and his disciples, now returned from making their purchases, turns to bringing in the " _harvest_ " of disciples ( 4:27-38).

The closing words of Jesus (4:34-38) and the final scene (4:39-42) bring this episode (Chs 2-4). And indeed the first four chapters, to a magnificent conclusion. In these lines the main themes of the Prologue, the Testimony and the first signs and commentary are restated in new images which provide deeper insight into the message of the evangelist.

" _Doing the will of Him who sent me and bringing His work to completion - that is my food_ " (4:34). The imagery changes from the water Christ gives us to drink to the food by which Christ himself is nourished. Jesus is sustained by doing the will of his Father. The Father wills that His work be brought to completion. In our commentary on the Prologue we saw what the Father's work is: he created the universe, made mankind, called Israel his People into existence, gave them the Law, the Temple, the prophets. In all his work the Father was acting out of love and revealing himself and giving himself to his creatures. His purpose in all of these works was to draw all that he had made into union with himself, and, in particular to give mankind a share in his own eternal life.

All of these works of love God did through the Word who is the perfect expression of the Father. And so the beauty of creation reveals something of the Father because it was made through the Word; mankind, made in the image of God, is patterned after the eternal Word through whom it was created. Israel, God's People, were summoned into being by the Word, rescued out of Egypt by the mighty Word, bound to God in the Covenant through the Word, given the Law, the Temple, the prophets through the eternal Son, the Word.

The mission of Jesus, the Word-made-flesh, is to bring to completion the work of the Father. This work, all that the Father did, was done in order to bring his creatures into unity with himself. It is the task of the Word-made-flesh to accomplish this unity between God and man, between Creator and creatures. The work of the Father is brought to its perfection when Jesus in his " _hour_ " cries out from the cross, " _It is completed_ " ( 19:30).* In his death Jesus is revealed as most at one with mortal man; in his rising he is revealed as most at one with divine power. And his " _lifting up_ " is the greatest sign, the greatest act of God which accomplishes what it signifies, the union of God and man.

All of the Father's acts of love from the beginning of creation were leading up to the " _hour_ " of the Word-made-flesh. And now in the ministry of Jesus the time has come to " _harvest_ " the fruit of all these labours of God throughout the history of man: _"look at the fields; they are ripe for the harvest_!" (4:35).

All the " _sowing_ " which the Father did through the Word has now produced fields ready for reaping. The Father's love expressed itself in part in the various religions and cultures of mankind. Though they were incomplete, unfinished, the ritualistic religions and cultures of man had in them a measure of truth, a limited truth which called for completion. Other religions were more endowed with truth. But still had within them an admixture of falsehood, and these too were reaching out to be made pure and whole. The religion and life of God's own People. The Jews, was the most perfect, the most enriched with truth, but it too was both defiled and incomplete. Since the goodness and beauty of all these religions and cultures came about through the Word, the completion of them all will be brought about by the same Word, now made flesh.

And so we can see already in the public life of Jesus the signs of what he is accomplishing: he fills the jars of purification with the best wine; he purifies the Temple of God's People and replaces it with the temple of his risen body; he provides a fountain of living water to replace the still waters of the Law. Jesus, the Word-made-flesh, could not condemn, could not simply destroy or carelessly cast aside what he himself, the eternal Word had brought about through out the history of man. As a member of our race the Son of God perfects, completes what he had been doing since time began.

" _Sower and reaper ... rejoice together_ " (4:36). The Father sowed, the Son-made-man reaps, and both rejoice. But the Sower and the Reaper are one (1:1), the joy of one is the joy of the other.

" _What I sent you to reap was not something you worked tor. Others have, Done the hard work, and you have come in for the fruit of their work_ " (4:38). Jesus addresses these words to his disciples, those who will share in his work. The disciples are the Church, the new People of God. Their work is to harvest what others have sown, to bring in the grain from fields others have tended. The disciples (the Church) do not create from nothing, they do not bring about the goodness and the truth in the peoples they encounter, and for God the Word has already done this. Long before the missionaries arrive on the scene, God has been at work.

As Jesus speaks these words the truth they contain is being acted out in the background where we see the Samaritan woman gathering disciples for Christ. The Word who was already at work in the long history of the Samaritans has brought his work to completion by his personal encounter with the woman at the well. And now the Samaritans themselves, without the intervention of the disciples, are coming to Christ. All that the Church has to do is harvest what others have worked hard for. These " _others_ " are the unnumbered millions of people in the history of man who have tried to reach out to their Creator in countless ways, the " _others_ " are all the holy men and women among God's People, Abraham, Moses, David, the prophets, the lawmakers, the wise men. These did the " _hard_ " work for they laboured before the fullness of revelation, before the completion of the work of God.

*Fr. R. Brown translates the words from the cross as, " _It is finished_ ". This is accurate, but since the evangelist uses the same basic Greek word in 4:34 and 19:30, it seems more appropriate to use one English word in both places. In this way it is more evident that the completion of the work of the Father is brought about •in the _"hour_ " of Jesus, his death and resurrection.

The work of Jesus is to add the perfect act of love to all the acts of love which prepared for it; he completes what was begun. He perfects what was imperfect. He does not smash the water jars of ritualistic religion, he fills them with wine. He does not allow the wedding feast of the old Covenant to end in sadness, he provides it with an abundance of the best wine. He does not reject the Temple worship, he purifies it and assures its continuance in the temple of his body. He does not condemn the mixed religion of the Samaritans, he does not refuse to drink the waters of its well. He offers them and all the religions of the world a spring of living water _"leaping up unto eternal life_ ". Jesus' work is to give " _love in place of love_ " (1:16).

Whatever good was and is in the world, its origins are in the Word, and it is in the Word-made flesh that all goodness finds its perfection: _".. enduring love came through Jesus Christ"_ ( 1:17 ). To all the titles of honour given to Jesus in the Testimony (1:19-51}, the Samaritans now add theirs: " _We have heard tor ourselves, and we know that this is really the Saviour of the world"_ (4:42).

Practice questions

**5** Which two of the following events in John 2:1 -4:42 are considered signs?

a. The filling of empty pots with good wine.

b. The conversation with Nicodemus.

c. The cleansing of the Temple.

d. The conversation with the Samaritan woman. e. The baptism of John the Baptist.

**6** Indicate whether the following statements about " _sign_ ", _"hour_ ", " _glory_ ", " _lifting up_ " and

" _See_ " as used by John are true or false:

___a. The word " _sign_ " refers to those events in Jesus' public ministry which reveal something about his death and resurrection.

___b. The word " _hour_ " means the time of Jesus' greatest deed, his death and resurrection.

___c. Jesus fully revealed his glory at the wedding feast of Cana.

___d. Jesus has left the Church signs by which disciples can enter into the mystery of his death and resurrection.

___e. The word " _see_ " always refers to true faith which accepts that Jesus is both human and divine.

___f. The phrase " _lifting up_ " refers to the one movement of Jesus dying, rising and ascending to the Father.

**7** The " _sign_ " of the miracle at Cana best signifies:

a. the personal interest of Jesus in the predicament of a bride and groom at Cana.

b. that the time for a new and eternal covenant with mankind through the death and resurrection of Jesus is about to arrive.

c. the proclaiming of Mary as mother of the Church.

d. that marriage will become a sacrament enabling a bride and groom to enter into the mystery of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

**8** The " _sign_ " of the cleansing of the Temple best signifies:

a. the anger of Jesus towards those who abuse the Temple as a place of worship.

b. the end of the Jewish rites of divine worship.

c. that the Jewish Temple will be destroyed by the Romans.

d. that the glorified body of Jesus will become the true Temple for man's worship of God.

**9** When John uses the term " _the Jews_ " in a positive sense, he is referring to the:

a. whole Jewish nation.

b. citizens of Judaea.

c. Jewish disciples of Jesus.

d. Jews who secretly admired Jesus.

**10** Choose the two groups for which John uses the term " _the Jews_ " in a negative sense.

a. Disciples of Jesus who do not accept his divinity.

b. Citizens of Judaea.

c. Followers of John the Baptist.

d. Religious authorities who were hostile to Jesus.

e. Jews who would have nothing to do with Samaritans.

**11** From the following statements choose the one which best explains the faith the disciples had at Cana when Jesus " _revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him_ " (John 2:12).

a. They were granted a vision of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

b. They believed in Jesus as a miracle-worker.

c. They believed that Jesus was divine.

d. They were disposed to believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus.

**12** From the following statements choose the one which best explains the phrase " _worship in Spirit and truth_ " (John 4:23).

a. Worship of a purely spiritual kind.

b. Worship that is sincere and well-intentioned.

c. Worship of the Father as Jesus and the Spirit reveal him.

d. Worship in the Temple as urged by the prophets and psalmists.

**13** Many of the things that are said in John's Gospel are to be understood in a symbolic sense.

Match the symbolic meaning in column B with the corresponding text in column A. There will be only one answer to each item in "A". Each item in "B", if used, will be used only once.

A. Texts

a. " _My hour has not yet come_." (2:4)

The religions of the world are awaiting the good news by Jesus.

b. " _They have no wine_." (2:3)

c. " _Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up_." (2:19)

d. " _Spirit begets spirit_." (3:6)

e. "The water that I shall give will become within him a fountain of water leaping up unto eternal life."(4:14)

f. " _Look at the fields; they are ripe for the harvest_." (4:35)

B. Symbolic meaning

i. The Religions of the world are awaiting the good news by Jesus

ii Eternal life comes only from God.

iii All the religions of the world have now come to an end.

iv The time for Jesus' death and resurrection is determined by God alone.

v. Jesus is now the only "place" of encounter between God and man.

vi Jesus is most at one with man and most at one with God in his death and resurrection.

vii The gifts of the Holy Spirit and eternal life offered by Jesus reveal the limitations of the Law.

##  Answer key to practice questions

1 a. F

b. T

c. F

d. F

e. T

f. T

g. T

h. T

**2** b.

**3** b.

**4** a. T

b. T

c. F

d. T

e. T

f. T

g. F

h. T

i. F

**5** a. and c.

**6** a. T

b. T

c. F

d. T

e. F

f. T

**7** b.

**8** d.

**9** a.

**10** a. and d.

**11** d.

**12** c.

**13** a. iv

b. iii

c. v

d. ii

e. vii

f. i

## Self-test

**1.** The Fourth Gospel is unique because it was written:

a. with the traditions already formed by others and used by John.

b. with the traditions formed by John himself.

c. by a person who knew nothing about the other Gospels.

d. by the disciples of John who wanted to safeguard his teachings about Jesus.

**2** In writing this Gospel John tried to most emphasize:

a. the miracles of Jesus.

b. the humanity of Christ.

c. the divinity of Christ.

d. the teachings of Jesus.

**3** In his account of the wedding at Cana. John attaches to Mary the mother of Jesus a threefold symbolism. which includes all of the following, except:

a. Mary as " _woman_ " symbolizes Eve. the mother of all the living, who realizes the emptiness of all religions.

b. Mary as " _the mother of Jesus_ " symbolizes Israel and the Church who should always be willing to do God's will.

c. Mary as " _the mother of Jesus_ " symbolizes Israel whose own religion and forms of worship can never be replaced.

d. Mary, who is " _with the disciples_ ", symbolizes the new People of God created out of the disciples of Jesus.

**4** Fill in the blanks in the following statements so as to complete their meaning.

a. Because he is the full expression of the Father, the Son is_________ (the Lamb of God, the Messiah, the Word).

b. The Son of God and the man Jesus are identified as completely one person forever in the phrase__________ (" _the Word became flesh_ ," " _the Lamb of God_ ," " _God's chosen one_ ").

c. The apostles are the founders of the New Israel who will see________________ (John the Baptist, Peter, Jesus) as the " _ladder_ " joining heaven and earth, God and man.

d. According to John the perfect sign is__________________ (the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus, the conversion of Gentiles, the death and resurrection of Jesus).

e. The cleansing of the Temple is a sign because it is a visible deed which points to_________ (the divinity of Jesus, the humanity of Jesus, the death and resurrection of Jesus).

f. The word " _hour_ " refers to________________ (the death of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, the death and resurrection of Jesus).

g. The disciples of Jesus believed in him when he revealed his_____________ (wisdom, glory, humanity) at Cana.

h. The use of the term " _the Jews_ " in the phrase " _the Jews who believed in him_ " is _______________ (positive, neutral, negative).

i. The use of the term " _the Jews_ " in the statement " _salvation is from the Jews_ " is ______________ (positive, neutral, negative).

j. The truth that the death of Jesus on the cross is the beginning of his ascension to the Father is best expressed in the phrase___________________ (hour, glory, lifting up).

5 Those who have true faith in Jesus see the signs he performs and accept him as:

a. a true prophet sent by God.

b. a miracle-worker sent by God.

c. true man and true God.

d. the Messiah of God.

## Answer key to self-test

**1** b.

**2** c.

**3** c.

**4** a. the Word

b. the Word became flesh

c. Jesus

d. the death and resurrection of Jesus

e. the death and resurrection of Jesus

f. the death and resurrection of Jesus

g. glory

h. negative

i. positive

j. lifting up

**5** c.

## Recommendations For Group Meeting for lesson 31

**1** Re-read John 2:1-25; review the meaning of the ward "sign" as it is used in John (see com

mentary, pp. 21-22 and the three ways of "seeing"the signsJesus performs (commentary, p.24f). Discuss the difference between true faith (John 2:11) and faith which is inadequate (John 2:23).

Jesus is still performing signs in the lite of the Church, signs which can be "seen" in different ways. Discuss.

**2** The story of the Samaritan woman (John 4:1-42) shows the attitude of Jesus toward the religions and cultures which the woman symbolizes.

What qualities do you find attractive in the persan of Jesus as shawn in this story? Discuss. The Ward of God is present in every authentic longing for union with God. Discuss the signs

of his presence in other religions and cultures.

Some people believe that there is no good to be found in any religion other than their own. Others believe that one religion is as good as another. What does John 4:1-42 tell us about these attitudes? Discuss.

## About The Author

#  Archbishop Gervais was born in Elie Manitoba on September 21 1931. He is the ninth of fourteen children. His family came from Manitoba to the Sparta area near St. Thomas Ontario when he was just a teenager. He went to Sparta Continuation School and took his final year at Saint Joseph`s High School in St. Thomas. After high school he went to study for the priesthood at St. Peter's Seminary in London, Ontario. He was ordained in 1958.

He was sent to study in Rome. This was followed by studies at the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem. He returned to London to teach scripture to the seminarians at St. Peter's Seminary.

In 1974 he was asked by Bishop Emmett Carter to take over as director of the Divine Word International Centre of Religious Education. This Centre had been founded by Bishop Carter to provide a resource for adult education in the spirit of Vatican II.

This Centre involved sessions of one or two weeks with many of the best scholars of the time. Students came not only from Canada and the United States but from all over the globe, Australia, Africa, Asia and Europe.

By the time Father Gervais became the director Divine Word Centre was already a course dominated by the study of scripture to which he added social justice. This aspect of the course of studies was presented by people from every part of the "third world"; among which were Fr. Gustavo Gutierrez and Cardinal Dery of Ghana.

In 1976 the Conference of Ontario Bishops along with the Canadian conference of Religious Women approached Father Gervais to provide a written course of studies in Sacred Scripture for the Church at large, but especially for priests and religious women. This is when Fr. Gervais began to write Journey, a set of forty lessons on the Bible. He was armed with a treasure of information from all the teachers and witnesses to the faith that had lectured at Devine Word.

He was assisted by a large number of enthusiastic collaborators: all the people who had made presentations at Divine Word and provided materials and a team of great assistants, also at Divine Word Centre.

The work was finished just as Father Gervais was ordained an auxiliary bishop of London (1980). He subsequently was made Bishop of Sault Saint Marie Diocese, and after four years, Archbishop of Ottawa (1989).

He retired in 2007, and at the time of this writing, he is enjoying retirement.

"~~~~~~"

" to see other works by Marcel Gervais go to "www.journeywithbible.com

**"Journey-Lesson-32 The Light And The Life** " is next in this series.

**JOURNEY** a series of 40 lessons on both the Old and New Testament

**"The Word Made Flesh** "- A commentary on the Gospel of John

" **The Teaching of the Church on the Bible** "- a commentary on the document "Dei Verbum"

"~~~~~~~~~~"

