Jesus and the Beloved Disciple

from Google Images

John concludes his narrative by pointing to himself. He identifies the writer of the fourth Gospel narrative as the man who leaned upon Jesus’ breast the night before he was crucified (John 21:20, 24). It was he, the disciple whom Jesus loved, singled out from all others in that manner, who asked the Lord who would betray him. Peter asked him specifically to inquire of the Lord about the identity of the betrayer, precisely because he was not one of the Twelve, because Jesus said it would be one of the Twelve who would betray him. As Jesus and Peter walked together, the disciple whom Jesus loved followed at a distance, and Peter inquired of Jesus what would become of him (John 21:21). Nevertheless, Peter was told only what would become of himself, no one else (John 21:18). Jesus wanted to heal Peter’s depressed and broken spirit, not merely satisfy his curiosity (John 21:22).

 

The Word Was Made Flesh

from Google Images

Although the prologue of the Gospel of John is all about the Word, for the first time since verse-1 the Gospel narrator specifically mentions the Word in John 1:14. We are told the Word, who was in the beginning, vis-à-vis the One responsible for the Old Covenant, the Word who was also with God in the beginning (John 1:1-2), inferring that both God and the Word were equally responsible for the creation of Old Covenant, this Word, who was also God, became flesh (John 1:14)! One needs to pause in order to imagine the impact of such a statement! The God of the Old Covenant, the God who spoke with the fathers (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), the God who spoke with Moses, who led Israel out of Egypt and parted the Red Sea, that very God became flesh and dwelt among his people (John 1:14).

 

The True Light Has Come Into the World!

from Google Images

What I find interesting about this Gospel writer is that he is fond of telling us who God is, or put another way what God is in his essence. In his first epistle he tells his readers that God **is** Light (1John 1:5), vis-à-vis light is not merely an attribute of God, but Light describes God’s essence. Light is what God actually is. In his Gospel narrative he tells us that God **is** Spirit (John 4:24). So, God isn’t merely a Spirit, rather, he is in his essence Spirit. Finally, and once again in his first epistle, he tells us that God **is** Love (1John 4:8, 16). Presently, however, I’m concerned with the idea that God **is** Light (1John 1:5), and, here in chapter one of his Gospel narrative, the context is that the one referred to in John 1:1 as the Word is also described as the true Light.

 

The Word of Life!

from Google Images

In the study of the prologue of the Gospel of John (John 1:1-18), we have come to the place where it says of the Word: “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (John 1:3). While it is true that the Word, together with the Father (cp. Colossians 1:16) is the Creator of all that exists (John 1:3), the text isn’t speaking of the physical creation, as is normally understood by Biblical scholars. As I mentioned in my previous three studies, I believe the writer of the Gospel of John has covenants in mind, specifically the Old Covenant, at John 1:1-2, for the Old Covenant was his creation according to Hebrews 9:11, and together, both the Word and the God, have taken responsibility for that covenant or creation. In this context, then, the all things that have come into being (or were created; cp. John 1:3) refer to the things of the Old Covenant.

 

The Memorial of the New Covenant

from Google Images

At this point in Jesus’ public ministry, he instituted or ratified the New Covenant. This was done during his final meal with his disciples. It may be interesting, as we seek to understand what Jesus did, to compare each of the Gospel narratives to see how this was done before drawing any conclusions. First of all, a quick comparison of the Synoptic narratives would show that Jesus passed the bread and the cup around to his disciples at least twice, and we are able to understand this is so by reading Luke’s record (Luke 22:14-20). Both Matthew and Mark seem to record the first passing (Luke 22:14-18), and this was done for the many. However, Luke’s mention of the Lord’s second passing of the bread and the wine was different in that he said it was “for you” (Luke 22:19-20). That is, the institution of the memorial has a special significance for Jesus’ own disciples. Whether this meant only those present in the upper room or included all who embrace him as Savior due to their spreading the Gospel isn’t clear, but it seems to be inclusive of all believers.

 

Beware of False Christs!

from Google Images

One of the oddest parts of the Olivet Prophecy, at least from a cursory reading, is when Jesus warned his four Apostles, who were with him on Mount Olivet, not to go after false christs (Mark 13:21-23). How could he think the Twelve would ever reject him and go after another? Nevertheless, in his second epistle Peter mentions folks, whom he refers to as scoffers. They were men not claiming to be Christ, per se, but they came in Jesus’ name (cp. Mark 13:5-6) wanting to rule over the Lord’s elect. That is, they sought to get Jesus’ followers to believe and follow them. They named Jesus as the Messiah, but they wanted the Messiah’s power and influence over the elect.

 

Unless the Lord Had Shortened the Days

from Google Images

I am involved at this time in a study of the Olivet Discourse in my current study series of the Gospel of Mark. Four of Jesus’ disciples came to him, privately, as he sat atop Mount Olives, overlooking the city of Jerusalem and its Temple. They asked him to explain some shocking statements he had made just prior to leaving the city. During Jesus’ preliminary statements leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, he told his disciples they would need to flee Judea once they saw the abomination that would bring desolation (Mark 13:14).

 

Jesus Is Greater than Gedaliah!

from Google Images

It is quite odd that the disciples of John are mentioned in agreement with the Pharisees in Mark’s narrative at this point (Mark 2:18), especially since John took such a dim view of their religious habits (Matthew 3:1, 5-7). It seems, therefore, that something was going on in Mark’s narrative at this point that doesn’t clearly appear at first. What might that be? First of all, the phrase “used to fast” should be translated that the disciples of John and those of the Pharisees were observing a fast, while Jesus and his disciples were feasting at Levi’s home. The Greek phrase shows they were fasting at the time Jesus was questioned about his and his disciples’ behavior.[1]

 

The Nature of the Kingdom of God

from Google Images

Mark’s mention of John’s imprisonment is meant to point to Jesus (Mark 1:14). In this verse he used a Greek word, paradidomai (was put in prison; G3860), to terminate John’s ministry that he often used to refer to Jesus’ betrayal (G3860)[1] or of delivering him up (G3860)[2] to the gentiles to be crucified. The other Gospel writers also use this word to refer to Jesus’ betrayal, but Mark is the only one who also uses the word to refer to how John ended up in Herod’s prison. He was handed over, betrayed, no doubt by the Pharisees who also sought Jesus. Thus, Jesus had to immediately flee Judea with his disciples and enter Galilee by way of the land of the hated Samaritans, which the Pharisees strenuously avoided (John 4:1-4). In fact, in these two verses of Mark, he encapsulates the whole of Jesus’ public ministry, which is found in his account, going forward. First, we have Jesus’ fate inferred in the fate of John—betrayal (Mark 1:14). Secondly, we have Jesus’ message, which is “the time is fulfilled… the Kingdom of God has drawn near… repent and believe the Gospel” (Mark 1:15), which, in point of fact, are the first words Jesus spoke in Mark’s Gospel, thus beginning his public ministry!

 

Three Witnesses for Christ

from Google Images

For quite some time, now, I’ve been involved in the study of the Challenge of Christ. Basically, this is Jesus saying to those who challenge him as being the Messiah, the Christ (John 10:24-25), telling them not to believe his words, unless his works prove his words. That is, Jesus told his enemies, if he (Jesus) didn’t do the works his Father had sent him to do, they would be correct in believing he was not the Christ. Nevertheless, if he did do those works in the Father’s name, they should believe the works, and in doing so, they would come to see that he is the Messiah / the Christ, who is in the Father and the Father in him (John 10:37-38). Jesus claimed the Father had given him the work of judgment to do (John 5:22), which in the context of Matthew 26:62-64 was to judge the Jews of the generation that rejected and crucified him. Did he do it? Did Jesus prove he was the Christ (the Messiah) by coming in judgment against the Jews in that very generation that rejected him (Matthew 16:27-28; 24:30-34)?

 

The World that Then Was, Perished!

by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 2 Pet 3:6 (NKJV)

At this time I’m involved in a study showing that Jesus’ return had to have been fulfilled in the first century AD, if we are to believe he will return at all. To claim Jesus will return in our future fulfills nothing. Our day in the twenty-first century has nothing to do with scripture as far as fulfilling prophecy is concerned. The fact is, Peter claimed the prophets spoke of his day (1Peter 1:12), that is of the events pertaining to the first century AD—of Christ crucified, the resurrection, the preaching of the Gospel, the end of the Old Covenant, the establishment of the New Covenant in its place, the resurrection and the judgment. Jesus preached that he would come into his Kingdom before the end of that generation in which he then lived (Matthew 16:27-28). He predicted that he would return in the first century to judge the Jewish nation (Matthew 24:30-34, and the high priest living at that time would live to see it occur (Matthew 26:64).

 

The Struggle With Christ’s Words

from Google Imagers

For centuries, actually millennia, believers have struggled with Jesus’ words that he would return within the first century AD. Moreover, all the writers of the New Covenant text, testify the same thing, i.e. Jesus said he would return in that generation, and they preached that he would return in that generation in the first century AD. Jesus was very clear in what he stated about the Gospel. He wasn’t being ambiguous when he said: “For the Son of man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, ‘There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom’” (Matthew 16:27-28; emphasis mine). The question is not: ‘what did Jesus mean?’ but do we believe what Jesus said. That’s the struggle many believers have today. What happened, or how can we change the clarity of Christ’s words into an ambiguous statement to point to something else? Do we struggle with Christ, or do we believe Christ?

 

What You Heard from the Beginning…

from Google Images

John told his readers to “…let that abide in you, which you have heard from the beginning” (1John 2:24), but what does this mean in the context of “you need not that any man teach you” (1John 2:27)? On the one hand, John warned his readers against the false teachers, saying they are liars and no liar is of the truth (1John 2:21-22). On the other hand, and in contrast to this, John tells his readers you have an unction or an anointing and “you know all things” (1John 2:20). How had they come to “know all things”? Wasn’t it because they had an anointing? So, in other words, the anointing itself teaches them the difference between the truth and the lie. So, in the light of this, how should we understand “what you have heard from the beginning” (1John 2:24)?

 

1 & 2Thessalonians and Isaiah

from Google Images

In my previous study on the eschatology of Paul’s letters to the Thessalonian church, I developed the idea that Paul’s mention of the believers’ gathering together (G1997) at the coming of the Lord (2Thessalonians 2:1) refers not to a physical or literal gathering to Jesus but to a spiritual, covenantal gathering to him. This idea is reinforced with the text in Matthew where Jesus says: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to her, how often would I have gathered (G1996) your children together, even as a hen gathers (G1996) her chicks under her wings, and you would not!” (Matthew 23:37). I showed that it simply isn’t possible for this to be literally true, but, in fact, represented Jesus setting aside the Old Covenant (your House is left unto you desolate; Matthew 23:38) in order to establish the New Covenant.

 

Paul’s Hope for the Jews at Jerusalem

from Google Images

In just a few short years (cir. five to seven) Jerusalem and the Temple would have been conquered and destroyed, so there really wasn’t a future in clinging to the Jewish religion and the Old Covenant. Paul’s statement, to go to Jesus who is outside the camp and bear his reproach, has to do with leaving the then present social norms (Hebrews 13:13). The walled city (Jerusalem) was set up to provide protection for the people during an adversarial invasion. Paul was recommending that believing Jews leave all that behind (Hebrews 13:14), or at least not be dependent upon the sense of security such things offered.