Author
The author of Revelation merely identifies himself with the common name John, with no further designation so it is doubtful that the author is trying to pass off a forgery or he would have said “John the Apostle.” For further discussion on authorship, see the lesson on The Beloved Disciple.
Audience
The key passage in this regard is John 20:31: “But these (signs) are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” This seems to clearly express a mainly evangelistic thrust. But things are unfortunately not that simple since a number of early manuscripts read “continue to believe” instead of “come to believe.” If this is the correct reading then it might be a close parallel to I John 5:13: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
Since that question cannot be answered definitively, what about the ethnicity of the intended audience? Was it primarily to the Jews or the Gentiles? Again, the evidence is divided. John's polished and sophisticated Greek writing style, the fact that he needed to define the word “Rabbi” in 1:38, and his use of Greek philosophical terms such as “logos” all argue for a primarily Gentile audience.
On the other hand, John's opening words which closely relate to Genesis 1 and his many references to Jewish customs and ceremonies (see below), indicate that a mainly Jewish audience is in mind.
Style of Writing
One thing the reader will be struck by is the way Jesus' speeches seem to sound considerably different from the way he talks in the Synoptic Gospels. One possibility is that John has paraphrased Jesus' words using his own personal style. Another possible reason for the difference is that, unlike the Synoptics, John concentrates much more on Jesus' extended teachings to individuals or to the apostles than he does on Jesus' public ministry.
When Jesus addresses groups of outsiders in the Synoptic accounts, he speaks in short “sound bites” that are so concise as to be almost incomprehensible at times or in short parables. By contrast, John's Gospel only contains three parables and they take up large portions of chapters 6, 10, and 15. The other stylistic difference separating John's Gospel from the others is seen in the way Jesus often speaks in what is called “elevated prose” that is similar to the Hebrew poetry found in the Psalms and the writing prophets. As a short example, look at John 1:3-5:
3. All things were made through Him
and without Him was not anything made that was made.
This verse is constructed using a combination of antithetic parallelism (the second line expressing the same idea as the first line but using a negative construction) and introverted parallelism (the second line expressing the same idea as the first line but reversing the order of the subject and verb).
4-5. In him was life
and the life was the light of men
the light shines in the darkness
and the darkness has not overcome it.
This sort of poetic construction is called stair-step parallelism, for obvious reasons.
It would be easy to feel that this sort of elevated prose is an invention of John and doesn't reflect Jesus way of talking, if it weren't for one fact. In Matthew 11:27 (and the parallel in Luke 10:22) we have what has been called an unexpected “bolt out of the Johannine blue.” Jesus' words there read as follows:
All things have been handed over to me by my Father;
And no one knows the Son except the Father,
And no one knows the Father except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
This passage has striking stylistic parallels to John 1:3-5 with its combination of introverted and stair-step parallelisms.
Major Theme: The Identity of Jesus
This key theme in the Gospel is expressed in a number of ways:
A. First to note is another literary device found in John's Gospel: the chiastic (mirror-image) arrangement of all references to the fact that Jesus was before:
Creation (1:1-2)
The Prophet John (1:15)
Abraham (8:58)
The Prophet Isaiah (12:41)
Creation (17:5,24)
B. Then there are the seven unimpeachable witness to the truth of Jesus' claims regarding himself:
John the Baptist: 1:7,8,15,32,34; 3:26; 5:32
The Father: 5:37; 8:18
The Scriptures: 5:39
Miracles: 10:25
Holy Spirit: 15:26
Apostles: 15:27
Beloved Disciple: 19:35; 21:24
Notice that seven times, John the Baptist is said to be a witness. The number 7 appears again and again in John's writings, symbolic of perfection or completion.
C. Another important group of sevens is found in the number of metaphorical “I am” sayings in John's Gospel. “I am” itself is, of course, a statement of Christ's true identity since that is what God revealed to Abraham as His name.
The bread from heaven (6:35-51)
The light of the world (8:12)
The door of the sheep (10:7,9)
The good shepherd (10:11-14)
The resurrection and the life (11:25)
The way, the truth, and the life (14:6)
The true vine (15:1,5)
Especially striking is Jesus absolute use of “I am” without any following noun, such as in John 4:86 – “One who stands before you, I am.” Or his statement in John 8:58 – “Before Abraham was, I am.” One commentator in referring to this last pronouncement says, “These are the words of the most impudent blasphemer that ever spoke, or the words of God incarnate.”
D. A number of titles for Jesus are revealed in John 1:
The Word (1), God (1), Creator (3), Life (4), Light (4), Only Son of God (14,18), Lamb of God (29), Son of God (34,49), Rabbi (38), Messiah (41), Fulfillment (45), King of Israel (49), Son of Man (51)
In John 12:34, the crowd asks Jesus what that last term means. One of the intended meanings is quite clear in Acts 7 where it states that Stephen “gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” This is an allusion to the divine being in Daniel 7 which the prophet sees as “one like the son of man coming with the clouds of heaven.”
In the eighty other times where “Son of Man” is used, it is always Jesus speaking. These reference are almost equally divided between three meanings for the term: (a) references to Jesus' glorified nature, as in the above examples, (b) as a synonym for “human being,” as also occurs in the OT, and (c) Jesus' dual nature which enables Him to act as a conduit between humanity and God (i.e., a replacement for Jacob's ladder).
Another person whose credentials are questioned in John's Gospel is John the Baptist. In John 1:19, he is asked if he is either the promised Messiah, Elijah (in fulfillment of Malachi 4:5-6), or the Prophet. This last personage is predicted by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15,18: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you – him you shall heed.”
John the Baptist's response is to deny that he is any of the three. This is a valuable lesson since it is not only cult leaders who are tempted to claim too much for themselves. Any in positions of church leadership are vulnerable to this temptation.
E. A final grouping of seven revealing the identity of Jesus is found in Chapter 9 where the blind man slowly comes to the realization of who has healed him. His titles for Jesus start with “man” in v. 11 and proceed to “prophet” (v. 17), “teacher” (v. 27), “miracle worker from God” (vv. 30,33), “Lord” (v. 36), “Son of Man” (v. 38a), and finally “God” (v. 38b).
F. Interestingly, a number of truths regarding Jesus are inadvertently expressed by unbelievers in an ironic way:
1. Jesus is greater than the temple, and his rejection will be the cause of the temple's destruction. (John 2:18-21)
2. Jesus is greater than Jacob. (John 4:12)
3. Jesus will be known throughout the world. (John 7:3-4)
4. Jesus will reach the Gentiles with His message. (John 7:35)
5. Jesus came from Bethlehem in fulfillment of OT prophecy. (John 7:41-42)
6. Jesus gave up his life willingly. (John 11:50)
7. He was the way, the truth and the life. (John 18:37-38)
8. He was the King of the Jews. (John 19:14)
Minor Theme: Timing of Events
Jesus' control over events and their timing as well as the inevitability of earlier prophesied events coming to pass represent another stream of thought throughout John's Gospel. In terms of Jesus' actions, three times in the earlier chapters, he purposely delays answering requests of his family and friends in order to act according to his predetermined plan:
John 2:1-11: The miracle at Cana
John 7:2-10: Visit to Jerusalem
John 11:1-7: Raising of Lazarus
By contrast, his dealings with opponents in the last half of the book are marked by his speeding up of events:
John 13:27: Judas' betrayal
John 19:30: Jesus' death
Another pattern emerges by considering the many references in Jesus' teachings to His “hour” or “time.”
My hour has not yet come (2:4)
An hour is coming and now is (4:23)
An hour is coming and now is (5:25)
An hour is coming (5:28-29)
My time is not at hand (7:6)
My time has not yet fully come (7:8)
His hour had not yet come (7:30)
His hour had not yet come (8:20)
The hour has come (12:23)
I have come to this hour (12:27)
Now is...now is (12:31)
The hour had come (13:1)
Now is (13:31)
An hour is coming (16:2)
An hour is coming (16:25)
An hour is coming and has already come (16:32)
The hour has come (17:1)
“An hour” is said to refer to the effect of Jesus on the believers at that time through his preaching ministry. “The hour,” however, refers more specifically to Jesus' atoning death on the cross.
When Jesus enters Jerusalem the predicted future becomes present reality.
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