Is there anyone else out there who finds the Gospel of John kind of funny? I'm not trying to be sacrilegious; I mean, I get that Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice dying for our sins, but the people around him -- both the disciples and the religious leaders -- were, well, kind of funny. I read almost the entire book in one sitting last week and a couple of things jumped out at me.
1) several times during the book, the religious leaders say, Is Jesus saying what we think He's saying? Ya, He is! I think He's saying he's God! And he's healing people -- on the Sabbath! LET'S KILL HIM! But Jesus slips away.(5:18, 10:30-39, 11:45-57). On a serious note -- and let's be clear -- when Jesus knows that the time is right for Him to die, he surrenders Himself willingly.
2) Jesus uses his surrounding and what's going on day-to-day as a means to instruct people -- using figurative language (bread, drink, thirst, sheep, etc). And often it's kind of funny because people don't get what He's saying. (John 10:5) Eat bread? Your flesh? What? Thirsty -- yes! Drink? You've got water? Where? And you've gotta love the disciples toward the end of the book when they say, with a sigh of relief, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”
As an English teacher, I can really appreciate this. The beauty and the transformative power of words, literature, and figurative language in particular, is that it challenges us to think and feel outside the norm of pedantic language. When people speak plainly (literally) we are invited to accept or dismiss what's being said to us at a very surface level. For example, if Nathan had told David that having sex with Bathsheba and then sending her husband, Uriah, to the front-lines to be killed so he could marry his wife was wrong, who knows how David might've responded. He might have gotten angry with Nathan and had him killed; he might've denied his wrong-doing; or he might've felt momentary guilt and then dismissed it (after all he was the king). Instead, Nathan tells David a story about a rich man who steals his poor neighbour's ewe. David is incensed and asks, Who is this man that I may punish him? Nathan tells David it's him and you know the rest of the story.
As an interesting side note, I spoke with two people recently -- a pastor and a bible school teacher -- who for years had little use for fiction, but have in recent years discovered the power, beauty and wonder of literature (to the point that they have both participated in book clubs). I wonder if they would resonate with the ideas above?
1) several times during the book, the religious leaders say, Is Jesus saying what we think He's saying? Ya, He is! I think He's saying he's God! And he's healing people -- on the Sabbath! LET'S KILL HIM! But Jesus slips away.(5:18, 10:30-39, 11:45-57). On a serious note -- and let's be clear -- when Jesus knows that the time is right for Him to die, he surrenders Himself willingly.
2) Jesus uses his surrounding and what's going on day-to-day as a means to instruct people -- using figurative language (bread, drink, thirst, sheep, etc). And often it's kind of funny because people don't get what He's saying. (John 10:5) Eat bread? Your flesh? What? Thirsty -- yes! Drink? You've got water? Where? And you've gotta love the disciples toward the end of the book when they say, with a sigh of relief, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”
As an English teacher, I can really appreciate this. The beauty and the transformative power of words, literature, and figurative language in particular, is that it challenges us to think and feel outside the norm of pedantic language. When people speak plainly (literally) we are invited to accept or dismiss what's being said to us at a very surface level. For example, if Nathan had told David that having sex with Bathsheba and then sending her husband, Uriah, to the front-lines to be killed so he could marry his wife was wrong, who knows how David might've responded. He might have gotten angry with Nathan and had him killed; he might've denied his wrong-doing; or he might've felt momentary guilt and then dismissed it (after all he was the king). Instead, Nathan tells David a story about a rich man who steals his poor neighbour's ewe. David is incensed and asks, Who is this man that I may punish him? Nathan tells David it's him and you know the rest of the story.
As an interesting side note, I spoke with two people recently -- a pastor and a bible school teacher -- who for years had little use for fiction, but have in recent years discovered the power, beauty and wonder of literature (to the point that they have both participated in book clubs). I wonder if they would resonate with the ideas above?
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