Exegetical Report / The Gospel of John, Chapters 1 & 2

by Chris A. Foreman on February 17, 2003

for GGBTS  S2324-01, The Gospel of John (Online), Dr. Jay Y. Noh, Spring 2003

 

I. The Prologue (1:1-18) Summary:  I like to think of this prologue as a genealogy, similar to the ones in Matthew or Luke.  Matthew addresses the linage of Christ through his step-father Joseph and Luke through his mother, Mary.  The fourth gospel addresses the linage of Christ (the second person of the trinity) through his Father (the first person of the trinity).  This linage is so remarkable that it can only be expressed in poetic terms.  These verses do seem to serve as a “foyer” to the rest of the Gospel.  I am not sure about the prologue introducing themes.  “Word” is not a big part of the rest of the gospel and “grace” is never mentioned again. Strange to me are the comments about John the Baptist that are woven into the fabric of these magnificent verses.  The gospel writer must have wanted his readers to know from the onset, that John was not the Christ. 

 

A.  Background:  The Greek word “logos” is used by the author in the prologue as a reference to the eternal Son of God.  After reading through several explanations of this word choice, it seems most likely that the author was “co-opting” a pagan philosophical term and “re-christening” it for his own purpose.  We cannot know God the Father, just as we cannot know a human being who does not speak to us. The logos is the expression of the Father, the voice of the Father, the manner in which the Godhead communicates directly to his human creatures.  This voice had been present before eternity, but only now are there human ears to hear the voice.

 

B.  Criticism:  I does seem that the prologue is a specially devised poem that was purposely composed as an introduction to the gospel.  Was this poetic device written by the author of the rest of the Gospel?  I think so, but we can never be sure.  Was it a popular hymn or poem of the 1^st century church?  Maybe.  I believe that much of intense debate surrounding the prologue is generated by the ABJ (Anybody but John) people.  If the Apostle John did indeed pen this prologue, then maybe his words are authoritative, then maybe the critics will have to change their personal morality.  That always hurts.  As I think of a modern analog to these 18 verses, maybe a book “preface” best fits.  I am reading another book for another class that has an author’s preface of 5 pages for his 233-page book.  The proportions are about the same as for the fourth Gospel.  The author of both books point out what the reader can expect to find in the main text.

 

C.  Theology:  A theological summary of the prologue can be stated with 4 words from verse one, 4 words from verse 14, and 4 words from verse 18. “The Word was God … The Word became Flesh … He (the Word) has declared Him (the Father)”.  The rest of the prologue expound these truths.  The prologue does make three things unequivocal: that Jesus is uniquely God’s son, that this Jesus dwelled among us, and that John is not the Christ.  Words to these effect are repeated several times in different permutations.

 

II. The Beginning of Jesus’ Ministry (1:19-51) Summary:  After the prologue, the Gospel story begins.  John is introduced as the one who is not Christ, but His harold. John bears witness to Christ and hands off two of his own disciples to Jesus.  One is Andrew and the other remains anonymous, probably the author (probably John).  Andrew gets Simon Peter to join the Jesus circle.  Jesus asks Phillip to join. Phillip gets Nathanial to join, first hesitatingly, then enthusiastically.

 

A.  Background:  There does seem to a purposeful allusion to the seven days of creation in this section (including 2:1).  The opening words of the prologue echo Genesis 1:1, except not  “In the beginning, God …” but rather “in the beginning, the Word …” The seven days of creation follow in Genesis chapter one.  In the first 52 verses of John we see the seven days in an echo.  On the first day, John is interviewed by the priests and Levites.  Verse 29 says “on the next day” (day 2).  Verse 35 says “Again the next day” (day 3).  Verse 43 says “the day following” (day 4) and finally chapter 2 verse 1 says “and the third day” (days 5, 6, and 7).  I think that what we see here is what we will see through all of the Gospel.  Like the seven signs that will be coming up, these seven days are factual, that is, the events really happened.  But the facts also carry a deeper truth and meaning.  The mission of God the creator as represented in Genesis 1, is being paralleled by God the savior in John 1.

 

B.  Theology: Names for Jesus Christ.

1. The author calls Jesus “the Word” (v1).  This term “logos” was discussed earlier.  

2. The author calls Jesus “the Light” (v9), a positive force.   Darkness is not the opposite of light, rather it is the absence of it.   

3. John calls Jesus “the lamb of God ” (v29).  This phrase is pregnant with OT allusion, especially as the Paschal lamb that is sacrificed for the people.

4. John also calls Jesus “the Son of God” (v34), a term that Peter will use as His premier title. 

5. Andrew and his companion call Jesus “Rabbi” (v38), anticipating his role as their teacher and leader. 

6. Andrew tells his brother that Jesus is the “Messiah” (v41), a fulfillment of OT prophecy and meaning “the anointed one”. 

7. Phillip describes him to Nathanial as the one that “Moses wrote of”, making it more sure that Jesus is legitimate. 

8. Nathaniel gives him the title “the King of Israel” (v49), giving Jesus the right to rule over himself  who is “an Israelite indeed”. 

9. Most intriguingly, Jesus calls himself “the Son of man” (v51).  This is the term that is most puzzling.  Morris addresses this self-designation on page 150.  Let me provide my insight.  Our son is sometimes called a “halfie” because he is half white American (me) and half Korean (his mother).  Jesus is in a sense a “halfie”: but fully man and fully God.  Now when Asian people look at my son, all they see is the American part (son of American).  When white Americans see him, all they see is the Asian part (son of Asian).  When we humans see Jesus and note how He is different,  we call him the son of God.  When Christ looks at himself and sees how he has taken on our human flesh, He calls himself the son of man. It’s all a matter of perspective.

 

C.  Other:

1.  How is John the Baptist understood as “the Elijah who was to come”?  John is the harold, the one who goes before the king and blows the trumpet causing all to stop whatever they are doing and come to attention.  Malachi refers to a messenger that will blaze the trail for messiah.  This was John, the last of the firsts and the first of the lasts.

 

2.  In the dialogue between Jesus and Nathaniel we see a skeptic converted to a believer with only one sentence.  The use of the words “Israelite” and “Israel” in close proximity to the image of angels descending and ascending on Jesus hint at the story of Jacob’s ladder found in Genesis 28:10. 

 

III.  Water into Wine (2:1-11) Summary:  It appears that Jesus traveled with his small group of disciples to Cana.  In chapter 21, we learn that Nathanial was from Cana, so maybe this incident was in someway connected to him.  It also appears that Jesus’ mother was connected to the wedding events, because Mary gives orders to the waiters.  Jesus performs the first of seven signs that the gospel writer will use as a vehicle to propel the narrative through to chapter 12.

                       

A.  Culture:  Commentators admit that they know little about marriage practices at this time.  The wedding was either on a Wednesday (if the bride was a virgin) or a Thursday (if she were widowed).  The betrothal was a bigger deal than the wedding ceremony which it brought to a close.  (I wonder if Mary ever experienced a real wedding ceremony?)  Cana was a small town so perhaps most of the inhabitants participated in the ceremony which probably lasted many days.

 

B.  Interpretation: To what level of allegory should we read this miracle?  Is it a straight story – no symbols – or should we attach symbolic meaning to every object and movement?  I find myself someplace in the middle.  I am willing to say that Jesus meets our needs in abundance and to the brim (like the huge water holders).  I also see that He meets our needs to a higher quality than we could have imagined (the comments of the banquet master).  Beyond that, I don’t know.  Maybe the details mean something more, maybe they don’t.  The Gospel of John does not specifically mention the initiation of the Lord’s Supper, but the author does mention a miracle with wine and a miracle with bread. The author states point blank that the purpose for this sign was not to provide an allegory, but  “to manifest his glory so that his disciples will believe on him”.

 

C.  Theology:

1. The interplay between Jesus and his mother is startling.  I see a deliberate attempt by Jesus to alter the terms of their relationship.  We see it later when Jesus comments “who is my mother and who are my brothers?”  Mary must now come to Jesus as any human being would, not as a parent, but as a child.  Maybe this is a bookend event to Luke 2:49.  As He said before when he was 12, now he says again.  For sure he must be about his father’s business but this time he would not be subject to his parent in all things.  It appears that this is the final time that Jesus was subject to the wish of Mary. Nobody has ever given better advice than Mary, “Whatsoever he commands you, do it!”

2. The comment of “my hour” spoken to Mary has a sound of foreboding.   It sounds like John the Baptist saying “the Lamb of God”.  In chapter 17, Jesus says “the hour is come”.  In chapter 19, he says, “it is finished”.   Jesus had an internal clock that no human could rush or could slow down.  The Pharisees may pick up stones to put him to death, but they can not rush the internal clock of Jesus.

 

D.  Other: Because we are Baptists we need to consider the question of the wine’s composition.  My evangelical footnotes tell me that there was no alcohol in the wine that Jesus made.  It was non-fermented grape juice. Did any exegete ever suggest that the wine as non-alcoholic before 1880 when the temperance movement began in the USA? What do you think?  Did Jesus make a chardonnay or a welches? 

 

IV.  Cleansing of the Temple (2:12-25) Summary:  Jesus moved from Cana to Capernaum to Jerusalem.  He visited the temple and found merchants hawking their products.  He chased them all out, with some violence.  The authorities are angry and ask for a sign that proves his authority to do such a thing.  He then tells them that he can rebuild a destroyed temple in three days.

                       

A.  Historicity:  Yes it is a thorny problem.  Each of the SG include a temple cleansing, but these three accounts place the incident at the end of Jesus’ ministry, rather than at the beginning.  It can scarcely be that the three SG are wrong, so that leaves two possibilities.  Either John got the timing wrong, or there were two cleansings: one at the beginning of His ministry and second one at the end.   After reading the arguments, I favor the idea of two cleansings framing the three year ministry. 

 

B.  Interpretation: Jesus was angry at the shopkeepers for encroaching on the house of God, but his anger was probably greater toward the religious authorities who permitted it and probably prospered by it by renting stalls.

 

C.  Destruction of Temple:  The SG do not mention this incident, but ripples of it reverberate at the trial of Jesus and in the mouths of mockers at the cross.  I do believe that it is an original saying of Jesus, he intended to provide a double meaning about destroying the temple and destroying his body.  The temple of Jesus’ body was destroyed and it did return in three days.  Does John speak in the book of Revelation about the temple of God and all Jerusalem being restored?  The Jews are always seeking after signs.  In the SG, Jesus says he will give the sign of Jonah.  Again this is the same sign of His burial and resurrection.  This is the ultimate sign of his deity and of his love for his children.  All the other signs relate to this one great sign.  Do you want a sign from Jesus?  Here it is: He died for you and he rose from the dead so that you may also.

 

V. Overall Reflection

A. (1:1-18) Jesus is eternal God … He walked the earth as man … Only through Him can we glimpse His Father.

B. (1:19-51) If we seek Jesus, He will invite us to follow and to be amazed.

            C. (2:1-11) Jesus provides more than we can imagine in both quantity and quality.

D. (2:12-25) The ultimate sign that Jesus gives all his disciples is this: that He died for our sins, and that He rose as our hope.