约翰福音

Meditative Reflection
The “Weakness” of God

“For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” (1 Cor. 1:25)

Reading the sarcastic remarks of the brothers of Jesus reminds me of the words of the Apostle Paul as he ridiculed the Corinthian Christians who made the same mistake as Jesus’ brothers: “For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.” (1 Cor. 1:25)

These brothers of Jesus had no doubt witnessed the many miracles performed by Jesus in Galilee and they said so with their own mouths, “Since you are doing these things” (Jn. 7:4). What is puzzling to us is why would they not believe in Jesus?

The problem appears to lie in the very fact that they had lived with Jesus for many years and witnessed the total humanity of Jesus. That, of course, does not mean they had seen Jesus sin; just the opposite is true (Heb. 4:15). However, what they saw was definitely the “weakness” of Jesus in that

- He fell sick just as they did.

- He had emotions of sadness and anger just as they did.

- He toiled and labored as a carpenter in order to support the family.

- He needed time to recuperate just as they did.

To them that was not “God-like”. As much as He performed miracles to heal others, He never did anything for Himself or for His family, and that included them. As a result, even though they could not fault His sinless life, and while they could only be amazed by His teaching and His in-depth and profound knowledge of the Scriptures, not to mention the many miracles He had performed, they did not believe that He was the Son of God. What they had failed to see was that Jesus lived exactly like them, so that

“He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might break the power of him who holds the power of death — that is, the devil…(and that we may not) have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet He did not sin.” (Heb. 2:14; 4:15)

Therefore, without this “weakness” of God who is Christ, we would not only not have a sympathizing high priest to go to, but we would still be held by sin and death. Indeed, the “weakness” of God is stronger than human strength and the “foolishness” of God is wiser than human wisdom!

Meditative Reflection
Judging by Human Traditions

“But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where He is from.” (Jn 7:27)

The debate between Jesus and the Jewish crowd concerning “Who He is” and “Where He is from” serves as an important warning to us against confusing human teachings and traditions with the actual teachings of the Scriptures. Allow me to share with you the comments by the renowned scholar of rabbinic traditions, Lightfoot, as follows:

“ ‘When Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence He is’(v.27). How doth this agree with v. 42 and with Matthew 2:5,6? They doubted not, indeed, but He should give the first manifestation of Himself from Bethlehem; but then they supposed He would be hid again; and after some space of time make a new appearance from what place no one could tell.

"Jewish authors tell you that Christ, before their times, had indeed been born in Bethlehem, but immediately snatched away they knew not whither, and so hid that He could not be found…Their conception in this thing we have explained to us in Midras Schir: ‘My beloved is like a roe or a young hart Cant. ii. 9. A roe appears and is hid, appears and is hid again. So our first redeemer (Moses) appeared and was hid, and at length appeared again. So our latter Redeemer (Messiah) shall be revealed to them, and shall be hid again from them; and how long shall He be hid from them? A little after…In the end of forty-five days He shall be revealed again, and cause manna to descend amongst them.' ”
(Lightfoot, Commentary on the NT from the Talmud and Hebraica, Vol. 3, 316)

Such was the human teaching and tradition that this Jewish crowd of Jesus’ days believed and which had caused them to reject Jesus. Therefore, we should be carefully to distinguish between biblical teachings and human traditions especially concerning the Second Coming of Christ.

Meditative Reflection
Jesus is the Living Water

“On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, "rivers of living water will flow from within him" '". (Jn. 7:37-38)

Allow me to share with you the background to the “last and greatest day” of the festival of the Ingathering or the Feast of Tabernacle, based mainly on the information provided by the Word Commentary on John (p.113).

It is virtually certain that the passage is based on the rite of water-drawing that took place on each of the seven days of this festival. The pilgrims who came from all over the world participated with greatest delight as one ancient document states, “He who has not seen the joy of the water-drawing has not seen joy in his whole lifetime.” (Sukk. 5:1)

At the break of day priests proceeded from the temple to the pool of Siloam. There they filled a golden pitcher with water and brought it back to the temple. On approaching the Watergate on the south side of the inner court, the shophar (trumpet) was sounded three times — joyous blasts which were explicitly related to Isaiah 12:3, “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”

The priests bearing the water then proceeded around the altar, watched by the pilgrims, while the temple choir sang the Hallel (i.e., Ps. 113-118).

When the opening words of Psalm 118 were read, “Give thanks to the Lord,” every man and boy shook the lulab (a bunch of willow and myrtle tied with palm) with his right hand and held aloft citrus fruit in his left hand (a sign of the harvest gathered in), and the cry “Give thanks to the Lord” was repeated three times. The same thing happened at the cry “O Lord save us!” of Psalm 118:25.

Since all this took place at the time of the daily offering, the water was offered to God in connection with the daily drink-offering (of wine). A chosen priest mounted the altar on which stood two silver bowls — one for the reception of the drink-offering and the other for the water. When the priest had poured the wine and the water into their respective bowls, they were then poured out as offerings to God.

The crowd then called out, “Lift up your hand!” (The demand was made as a sign that the rite was properly fulfilled.). Accordingly the priest had to raise his hand aloft to show that he had faithfully discharged his duty.

The ideas behind the rite were complex. Since the festival was essentially bound up with the agricultural year:

(1) Prayer for the sending of rain, a highly uncertain element in Palestinian weather, was a prime factor in the performance of the rite. (There appears to be a reference to this significance of the rite in the prophecy of Zech. 14:16-17.) Indeed, if rain fell during the festival it was regarded as a sign of plentiful rain that would be given in the coming agricultural year.

(2) Since the Feast of Tabernacles was also a celebration of the blessings of God upon Israel during the nation’s forty years sojourn in the wilderness, the water-drawing served as a reminder of the water that came from the rock smitten by Moses when the people were in danger of perishing from thirst (Exod. 17:1-6). According to rabbinic exposition, the rock remained with the people throughout their wilderness journey (cf. 1 Cor. 10:4).

(3) Furthermore the rite was also linked with the anticipation of the abundant gift of living water flowing from Jerusalem when the kingdom of God comes (with Isa. 12:3, cf. especially Ezek. 47:1-12 and Zech. 14:8, both passages being read during the festival).

The associations of the ceremony with the salvation of God, past, present, and future, were accordingly evident to the people at the festival.

Now, imagine, the priests drew water with the golden pitcher, and gingerly went up to the altar and poured the water onto the bowls and then offered it up to the Lord. At that very moment, on the last and greatest day which should be the 7th day, Jesus stood and cried aloud, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’” The effect on the crowd could not be greater!

Everybody would have known whose cry it was and its significance, namely that everything embodied in that rite of the past experience of salvation, present prayer, and future hope was available and offered through Jesus!

The message to the people was so clear that John said, “On hearing His words, some of the people said, ‘Surely this man is the Prophet’”— meaning the Messiah as promised by Moses. “Others said, ‘He is the Christ.’” Even temple guards were so convicted that they did not care to arrest Jesus as the priests would have them do!

Later on, the Apostle Paul would testify that indeed Jesus is the Rock that accompanied Moses. Paul said, “They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ!” (1 Cor. 10:3-4)

Meditative Reflection
Sin No More!

“‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin’.” (Jn. 8:11)

I have shared with you previously that a certain homosexual individual called up a talk show host to blast the hypocrisy of Christians in condemning homosexual behaviors based on this passage about how Jesus dealt with the adulterous woman.

The problem with his quoting this passage was two fold:

1. He misunderstood the meaning of “condemnation” and

2. He missed the last part of Jesus’ conversation with the woman in that He commanded her to “leave her life of sin”.

First, when Jesus asked the woman, “Has no one condemned you”, He was not referring to the passing of judgment as to whether she had committed a sin under the Law of Moses. He was asking if anyone actually carried out the punishment as mandated by the Law of Moses which was the putting her to death (Deut. 22:22-27).

And when He said, “Then neither do I condemn you”, He was expressing His giving of forgiveness, because she did not choose the opportunity to sneak away when all her accusers were gone. This was in itself an expression of her confession and of her willingness to face the consequence of her sin. The last word of Jesus obviously makes it very clear that Jesus affirmed that what she did was sin, and now as a forgiven sinner, she should leave her life of sin. No, while Jesus forgives sinners who repent, He does not condone sin for which He has come to die.

Meditative Reflection
The Light of the World

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (Jn. 8:12 )

Toward the end of the Feast of Tabernacles, and after dealing with the trap set by the religious leaders (using the woman caught in adultery), Jesus spoke again, powerfully with these words, “I am the Light of the world”. Allow me to share with you the special setting in which Jesus made such a powerful declaration:

What happened earlier, on the last and greatest Day of the Festival (7:37), meaning the 7th Day, was that He declared that He is the Living Water. After that, Jesus retreated to the Mount of Olives in the evening, possibly for the sake of safety and also as a symbolic rejection of the sin of Jerusalem.

Then he returned the next day in the temple courts (8:2) where the scribes and Pharisees were trying to set a trap for him, arresting only the adulterous woman and not the man. You know the story, how Jesus asked them to throw the first stone and everyone left (8:9) without wanting to admit their sins!

Now, allow me to quote from ancient Jewish documents, as referred to in the Word Commentary, on the backgound for this 8th day, perhaps towards the evening.

“Toward the end of the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, people went down into the court of the women…Golden lamps were there and four gold bowls were on each of them, and four ladders were by each; four young men from the priestly group of youths had jugs of oil in their hands containing about 120 logs and poured oil from them into the individual bowls…There was no court in Jerusalem that was not bright from the light of the place of drawing (water). Men of piety and known for their good works danced before them with torches in their hands, and sang before them songs and praises…”
(Word, John, 127)

Now, this procession took place during each of the 7 nights. So, on the 8th night, while some had begun to leave Jerusalem, all felt the anti-climax of the festival. With the bright lights gone — all of sudden, all of the court areas seemed much, much darker as a result.

It was at that moment that Jesus declared, “I am the Light of the World! Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of Life”.

Can you feel the impact of His words? All these festive rites — all the food, the dancing, the excitement — lasted only for 7 days, and were so fleeting; and they had to wait another year to have a taste of all this joy and excitement. With His powerful words, Jesus in essence is saying “Yes, these religious rites and the observance of the Law can only bring temporary relief and joy to you, and are of no use, no lasting value; but I am the Light of World that drives away darkness forever!”

Powerful words indeed!

Meditative Reflection
You are Really My Disciples

“To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free'.” (Jn. 8:31-32)

Why did Jesus tell those who had believed in Him that they still had to hold to His teaching in order to “really” be His disciples? Allow me to share with you the insights of Lenski as follows:

“The apodosis: then ‘you are truly my disciples,’ corroborates the implication in the protasis. Jesus implies that these believers are already his disciples…Yet there is a difference between being disciples and being truly disciples. The preceding aorist subjunctive indicates what this difference is. All are disciples of Jesus who in any way believe His word, but those are truly disciples who once for all become fixed in His word. Hence also the ‘if.’ Beginners, however genuine their beginning, may drop off again; but once they become fixed definitely to remain in the word, they will never drop off again. Note, too, that Jesus uses the present tense: then ‘you are truly’ my disciples; and not the future tense: then ‘you will be truly.’ This avoids the implication that only at some perhaps future time these believers can achieve the higher status. They can become fixed and established in Jesus’ word in short order. No long apprenticeship is needed. To remain in Jesus’ word (aorist) carries an intensive and not merely an extensive idea. Not the amount and quantity of the word makes us truly disciples but the fidelity and the firmness with which we hold the amount of the word which has been vouchsafed to us. While these beginners in the faith must learn more and more of the precious word of Jesus on which their incipient faith rests, and while all further portions of the word, such as the portion they already possess, will tend to hold them in the faith, for them to remain in the word of Jesus means primarily what Paul puts into the admonition, ‘Be ye steadfast, unmovable!’ (1 Cor. 15:58.)

"The word of Jesus, logos, is His teaching, the gospel; most emphatically it is ‘His’ word. The necessity for firm adherence to it is at once seen when we remember that this ‘word’ and this alone is spirit and life, outside of which is spiritual death. Jesus identifies Himself with His word, ‘If you remain in me, and my words (the one word in its different parts) remain in you’ (15:7). The word is the vehicle of Jesus, bringing Him to us, and us to Him. An example of remaining in His word is seen in the case of the 3,000 at Pentecost: ‘they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine’ (Acts 2:42). Compare Acts 13:43; Col. 1:23; Heb. 3:14; 1 Jn. 2:28 (John loves the word ‘to remain,’ ‘to abide’); 2 Jn. 9. Thus to remain is not only a mark of discipleship but its very essence.”
(Lenski, John, 629-630)

Meditative Reflection
Children of Satan

“You belong to your father, the devil and you want to carry out your father’s desires…” (Jn. 8:44)

I agree with Lenski that while v. 31 says Jesus was speaking to the Jews “who had believed Him”, the rest of the speech was directed to the crowd in general because they were the ones who sought to kill Him because of their unbelief.

However, to charge them as having Satan as their father, at first glance, appears to be too harsh. But as Jesus explains who Satan is, what the Jews are doing to Jesus does make them children of Satan.

Firstly, Satan “was a murderer from the beginning”: Jesus is referring to the killing of Abel by Cain, soon after Adam and Eve sinned against the Lord and were driven away from the Garden of Eden. The Apostle John echoes this truth in 1 John 3:12 as he writes “Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother.” Now they seek to kill Jesus, and Jesus points out to them that in so doing, “you want to carry out your father’s desires” (8:44). It is more than “like father, like son”, but a voluntary obedience to carry out the will of Satan.

Secondly, Satan is a liar and the father of lies: Jesus is referring to the deception of Satan in luring Eve to sin in the Garden of Eden. While pride is the root of sin for Satan, falsehood is his tool. “Therefore those who live in a false way as Jesus’ opponents were doing, do but reflect their kinship with the devil.” (NICNT, John, 412)

It is such a serious warning to all of us in that, whether consciously or subconsciously, if we harbor hatred (which is equivalent to murder according to Jesus in Matt. 5:22) and resort to falsehood in our attitude or action, we are “carrying out” the desires of Satan and that makes us children of the devil!