Theology 25 multiple choice
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51John.docxChapter Fifty-One
THE Gospel OF JOHN
(7:1-13:30)
7. Jesus at the Festival of Tabernacles I (7:1-52)
In chapter 7, Jesus makes his third trip to Jerusalem. Consistent with his interest in this section of the Gospel (5:1-10:42), John presents Jesus in relation to another Jewish liturgy: the weeklong Festival of Tabernacles. All of John 7:10-10:21 takes place within the general context of this festival. When Jesus was last in Judea, conflict broke out between him and the Jerusalem religious authorities over his activities on the Sabbath and his claim to be “equal to God” (5:18). During his visit, the conflict escalates and intensifies. The question of Jesus’ identity, especially in terms of where he came from, is central in John 7.
7.1 Jesus goes to the Festival on his own terms (7:1-13)
Jesus remained in Galilee, where the events of John 6 took place, because the Jews in Judea were trying to kill him. The open hostility of the Jerusalem authorities (“the Jews”) toward Jesus started in Judea after he healed a paralyzed man on the Sabbath (5:16) and grew into a desire by some to kill him following his claim to be “equal to God” (5:18).
The Jewish feast of Tabernacles was near. Tabernacles was one of three annual religious festivals for which Jewish men were required to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. As an observant Jew, Jesus will go up to this feast, and there he will employ elements of the festival liturgy – water and light – to reveal aspects of himself and his work. The Jewish feast provides the context for understanding Jesus, as Jesus reveals how the festival liturgy foreshadows his own mission.
Before going to Jerusalem, Jesus has an encounter with his brothers. New Testament writings refer to a group known as “the brothers of the Lord” (see Mark 6:1-3; 1 Corinthians 9:5), among whom was James, a leader of the early Jerusalem church (Galatians 1:19). The New Testament does not say that the “brothers” of Jesus are biological children of Mary. Consistent with testimony from the early Church, Catholics believe that Jesus’ mother, Mary, remained a virgin throughout her entire life. Tradition has offered two explanations for the identity of Jesus’ brothers: they are Joseph’s children from a previous marriage or brothers in the broad sense of kin.
As in the Synoptics, Jesus’ brothers do not think favorably of him during his ministry: they did not believe (see Mark 3:21). They challenge Jesus to go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. If Jesus does great things and wants to be known publicly, then he should not work in secret. Instead, he should manifest himself to the world. The brothers want Jesus to make a grand public display of himself at the festival so that people will come to know him. The brothers’ challenge resembles the temptation in which Satan asks Jesus to throw himself off the parapet of the temple and make a spectacle of his divine sonship – a temptation to seek honor and praise for himself (see Matthew 4:5-7; Luke 4:9-12). But Jesus acts according to his Father’s will and does not conduct himself to win the praise of others (5:41). His miracles are not meant to impress but to lead people to faith (2:23-25).
Jesus rejects his brothers’ wishes. His time corresponds to his hour (2:4; 7:30; 8:20): the divinely appointed time of his cross and resurrection, through which he will preeminently reveal the Father’s love and accomplish his work.
7.2 Who is Jesus that he can say and do these things? (7:14-30)
7.3 Jesus announces his own departure (7:31-36)
7.4 Rivers of Living Water (7:37-39)
For the first seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles, the priests would carry water from the Pool of Siloam in procession to the temple and pour it our as a libation – a sacrificial offering – and a symbolic prayer for rain. On the eighth day, the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus uses this liturgical use of water to talk about the spiritual life that he gives. Jesus makes the invitation, Let anyone who thirsts come to me and drink. His words recall the Lord’s invitation in Isaiah 55:1, “All you who are thirsty, / come to the water!” This Isaiah passage speaks of the gratuitous abundance that God will provide when he works his definitive act of salvation. Jesus previously said that he will give living water which satisfies forever – an inner “spring of water welling up to eternal life (4:14). Jesus now elaborates on his gift of living water: it is the Holy Spirit.
Jesus describes his gift by reference to scripture. The statement, Rivers of living water will flow from within him, is not a direct quotation from any biblical book, but it evokes several biblical texts. It alludes first of all to the garden of Eden, from which a river of life-giving water flows (Genesis 2:10-14). Biblical traditions employ the imagery of Eden, the original creation, to depict the perfected, future state of affairs, the new creation, that God’s definitive act of salvation will inaugurate (see Isaiah 65:17-25; 66:22-23). Ezekiel sees God’s new temple as the centerpiece of this perfect future world, and that new temple is the source of an Edenic river that gives life, healing, and unending sustenance to the whole world (Ezekiel 47:1-12). Zechariah says that on the Day of the Lord, when the whole world comes to know that YHWH is king, “fresh water shall flow from Jerusalem” (Zechariah 14:8-9). These eschatological promises provide background for Jesus’ teaching about the Holy Spirit as the living water.
John clarifies that Jesus’ words about living water refer to the Holy Spirit that believers were to receive. Old Testament prophets foretold that God would pour out his Spirit in the end times. By speaking about his gift of living water at Tabernacles, Jesus shows that the liturgical outpourings of water during Tabernacles are an anticipation of God’s pouring out his Spirit upon believers at the time of salvation. Jesus, the source of living water, gives the Holy Spirit to believers, and the Spirit then flows from within them. When believers are “born of water and Spirit” (3:5) in baptism, they receive the Holy Spirit, the living water, from Jesus and become a new creation in him (see 2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15; Ephesians 2:15).
John’s comment – There was … no Spirit yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified – should not be taken to imply that the Holy Spirit did not exist before Jesus’ hour, because the Holy Spirit had already appeared in the Gospel (1:32-33; 3:5, 8, 34). The Spirit, however, is poured out upon believer only after Jesus’ glorification (16:7; 19:30; 20:22). John is not talking about the existence of the Holy Spirit as such, but the Spirit’s indwelling in believers.
7.5 Divisions in the crowd and the leadership (7:40-52)
Again there is debate over Jesus’ identity. Like those in 7:31, some in the crowd proclaim, “This is truly the Prophet,” that is the Prophet-like-Moses. Others think that Jesus is a different Messiah figure, the new Davidic king promised by God.
A third group objects to calling Jesus Messiah because they know he came from Nazareth in Galilee (see 1:45-46). For support, they appeal to scripture and its promise that the Messiah will be of David’s family and come from Bethlehem, David’s hometown (1 Samuel 16; Micah 5:1-5). This objection implies their belief that Jesus is neither a descendant of David nor born in Bethlehem. While Jesus’ Davidic ancestry is attested in many New Testament writings, and his birth in Bethlehem is found in Matthew and Luke (Matthew 2:1; Luke 2:4-7), neither point appears in John. If, however, one reads the crowd’s statement in 7:42 as irony, one could detect a subtle affirmation of both Jesus’ Davidic ancestry and birth in Bethlehem. That is, the crowd does not realize that Jesus is the Messiah, which he is, and John underscores their ignorance by having them deny Jesus’ Davidic ancestry and birth in Bethlehem, both of which are also true. For John, while Jesus is the Messiah and the Prophet-like-Moses, what is really important is that Jesus is the Son sent by the Father. Recognizing that Jesus is from the Father, not knowing his lineage and hometown, is the real key to grasping who he is.
8. Jesus at the Festival of Tabernacles II (7:53-8:59)
Chapter 8 presents a story of Jesus and a woman caught in adultery, who was being used by his enemies in an attempt to trap Jesus. The narrative then resumes its account of Jesus’ visit to Jerusalem for Tabernacles. This chapter develops a number of themes that appeared in John 7. Various groups continue to debate the meaning of Jesus’ words, often failing to understand that he is speaking at a spiritual level. Jesus continues to receive a mixed response from people: some begin to believe in him while others, especially some religious authorities, are hostile. Their hostility increases over the course of an intense debate. The antagonism reaches a boiling point at the very end when Jesus declares his divine identity and his opponents try to kill him.
8.1 Jesus and a Woman Caught in Adultery (7:53-8:11)
The Story of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery (John 7:32-8:11) has a complicated history. It does not appear in any major Greek copy of John before the sixth century, which is why it appears in brackets in the NABRE, although it does appear in earlier Latin manuscripts. In some Greek manuscripts of John, the story appears in places other than its present location. One manuscript group has the account at the end of the Gospel, after 21:25. In addition, it appears in some manuscripts of the Gospel of Luke, after 21:38. The Greek language in this story differs noticeably from that in the rest of John. These factors suggest that the story did not originate with the rest of the Fourth Gospel. Rather, it resembles conflict stories found in the Synoptics. The Church receives this text as inspired Scripture and proclaims it liturgically on the fifth Sunday of Lent in Year C.
Early in the morning on the next day, Jesus went into the temple area, where he attracted a crowd. While he was teaching, the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. Although the Torah prescribed an investigative test for suspected cases of adultery (Numbers 5:12-31), there is apparently no ambiguity here: this woman is unquestionably guilty. They made her stand in the middle as one accused of a capital crime (see Sirach 23:22-24).
The woman’s accusers address Jesus as Teacher and claim, This woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. According to the Torah, adultery is a capital offense, and Deuteronomy 22:22-24 prescribes stoning for both the man and woman involved (see Leviticus 20:10). Since the woman is unquestionably guilty of a capital crime, the answer should be straightforward: she should be stoned to death. But they ask Jesus, So what do you say?, not to administer justice (notice that the adulterous man is nowhere to be found) but to entrap Jesus. If the scribes and Pharisees can corner Jesus into taking a stance against the law, then they will have some charge to bring against him (see 5:45; Matthew 12:10; Acts 24:2).
The meaning of Jesus’ nonverbal response – he bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger – is unclear. It could simply be a sign of indifference, showing that he refuses to be drawn into this trap. Another possibility is that Jesus’ gesture is a subtle allusion to Jeremiah 17:13, which literally reads, “O Hope of Israel, O YHWH, all who abandon you will be put to shame, those who turn away will be written in the earth because they have abandoned the Fountain of Living Waters.” By writing on the ground, Jesus would be reminding the woman’s accusers that they too are sinners subject to God’s judgment, sinners who refuse Jesus’ invitation to come in faith to him, the “Fountain of Living Waters” (Jeremiah 17:13; John 7:37).
After the scribes continued asking, Jesus straightened up and said, Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her. According to Deuteronomy 17:6-7, the witnesses who testify to the guilt of an accused person in a capital case are the ones who begin the execution. The scribes and Pharisees are the woman’s accusers. But Jesus reframes the issue by calling attention to the accuser’ own sinfulness. While the particular sins may differ, both the woman and the accusers are sinners and stand guilty before God. Jesus then exhorts the accusers to reject self-righteousness and embrace genuine humility., which is to recognize the truth about oneself before God and with respect to others (see Matthew 7:1-5; Luke 6:41-42). After this pronouncement, Jesus once more bent down and wrote on the ground.
After hearing Jesus’ words, the woman’s accusers went away one by one, beginning with the elders. Their motives in leaving are not clear. Perhaps they realize that their plan to entrap Jesus has failed. Or perhaps Jesus’ words touched their hearts: they acknowledge their own sinfulness and have a conversion of heart. After all departed, Jesus was alone with the woman before him.
Jesus addresses the woman and calls attention to the fact that all her accusers are gone. The woman acknowledge that no one is left to condemn her, and Jesus replies, Neither do I condemn you. As he did to the formerly paralyzed man in 5:14, Jesus tells her to change her ways: Go, [and] from now on do not sin any more. Jesus offers this woman a fresh start by turning away from her sins and opening herself to God’s infinite mercy.
8.2 The Light of the World (8:12-20)
Drawing on another element of the Tabernacles liturgy, Jesus identifies himself as the light of the world. The Pharisees, who emerged as Jesus’ opponents in 7:45-52, confront him directly and challenge his claims. Jesus defends himself on the basis of his unique relationship with the Father, a relationship his opponents do not understand.
In his teaching about the living water, the Holy Spirit (7:37-39). Jesus alluded to the water ceremonies at Tabernacles. Now he uses light, another prominent part of the Tabernacles liturgy, to reveal himself as the light of the world. According to the Mishnah, during the week of Tabernacles giant lampstands were set up in the temple precincts to provide illumination so the festival pilgrims could celebrate at night. The theological symbolism of these lights is not clear. One possibility is that the lights were anticipation of God’s end-time salvation described in Zechariah 14. Zechariah says that on the Day of the Lord, YHWH will come to save his people and defeat their enemies. Unending daylight will follow, and the Gentile nations will come to Jerusalem annually to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles (Zechariah 14:7, 16-19).
As the light of the world, Jesus says, Whoever follows me, those who respond positively to him with faith and discipleship, will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (see Isaiah 8:23-9:6). The Father sent Jesus into the world, darkened by sin, to be its spiritual light (1:4-5). As the light, Jesus guides us on the way to eternal life with the Father. The presence of Jesus in the world as Light is also the occasion of judgment, because the light provokes a response from people (3:19-21). Those who follow Jesus believe that he illumines the way to the Father, and they live their lives accordingly. A negative response to Jesus is a decision to remain in spiritual darkness.
8.3 The Obedient Son Reveals the Father (8:21-30)
8.4 The Jerusalem Debate I: Jesus Brings True Freedom from Sin (8:31-36)
8.5 The Jerusalem Debate II: Affiliation and Action (8:37-47)
8.6 The Jerusalem Debate III: Greater than Abraham and the Prophets (8:48-59)
9. The Light of the World: Illumination and Judgment (9:1-41)
Ever since Jesus arrived in Jerusalem for Tabernacles, he has encountered a mixed response. Some people are sympathetic, while others are hostile. At the end of chapter 8, he has left the temple area after a heated exchange that culminated in an attempt to kill him. John 9 builds upon these contrasts with the account of the blind man. Jesus has previously identified himself as the light of the world (8:12), and John 9 displays in narrative form what it means for Jesus to be the light. Two key aspects of Jesus’ identity as the light are on display in this account: first, he is the revealer, who gives spiritual light and life; second, his presence becomes the occasion of judgment.
9.1 The Light Illumines One in Darkness (9:1-7)
9.2 The Questioning begins (9:8-12)
9.3 The Pharisees Debate: Sin or Sign? (9:13-17)
9.4 In the Dark (9:18-23)
9.5 Sight and Blindness (9:24-34)
9.6 The Fullness of Sight (9:35-38)
9.7 The Verdict (9:39-41)
The Fifth Sign: The Healing of the Man Born Blind (John 9)
The fifth sign is the healing of the man born blind in John 9. The events of John 7-9, including the miracle, take place during or after the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. It would be helpful to know a little bit about the Feast of Tabernacles in order to fully appreciate the healing of the man born blind.
The Jewish Feast of Tabernacles celebrated God’s dwelling with the people of Israel in various holy sanctuaries through history – past, present, and future: the Tabernacle in the wilderness built by Moses; the present Temple built in Jerusalem; and the miraculous future temple that the Messiah would build.
Various Old Testament prophecies said that the Temple to come would be a source of light and water for the whole nation (Ezekiel 47:1-12; Joel 3:18; Zechariah 14:6-8). So the Jews put on light and water ceremonies during the weeklong Feast of Tabernacles. For a week, they lighted huge candelabras (menorahs) in the Temple courts that were so big they had to be lit by priests climbing up ladders. Then, during the night, the priests would come with torches and perform fire dances. It was so bright that people said, “There is no shadow in Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles”. This symbolized that the Temple was – or at least would be – the source of light for the whole world.
At the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the priests would go down to the Pool of Siloam – the main source of water for the city of Jerusalem – and fill a golden pitcher with water. Then they would carry it up to the Temple and pour it out on the steps of the altar, making a little artificial stream flowing from the center of the Temple. This was to act out the prophecies that in the future, a stream of fresh water would flow out of the Temple bringing life to the land (Ezekiel 47:1-12).
In the course of John 7-9, Jesus speaks of himself as both light and water. In John 7, on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus stands up on the very day when they made the artificial stream coming from the Temple, and says, “If any one thirst, let him come to me, and let him drink who believes in me. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37-38). It’s not the stone Temple but Jesus himself who is the source of the life-giving stream of God. Jesus’ body is the New Temple, and at his crucifixion, we will see a stream of blood and water flowing from his temple-body.
Again, in John 8, Jesus proclaims, “I am the light of world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (v. 12). Again, it’s not the stone Temple but Jesus himself who will illuminate the whole world.
When we get to John 9, Jesus performs a miracle, a “sign”, where he uses water to bring light to a man who was born blind. Jesus becomes the miraculous new Temple for this poor man (John 9:1-12). Now, this whole sign is a teaching about the Sacrament of Baptism. As with this man, each one of us is born in the darkness of original sin. It wasn’t this man’s fault that he was blind; it was something he was born with, but he still needed healing. That’s parallel to original sin. Original sin is a lack of God’s life in our soul, lost by Adam and Eve. In other words, our first parents lost the Holy Spirit, and we only get it back through Baptism.
Everyone is curious why Jesus bothers to spit and make mud. Apparently, the Jews of Jesus’ day had a certain way of imagining how God created the first man. Genesis says, “The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground” (2:7), but dust doesn’t naturally stick together. You need a little moisture. So where are you going to get that moisture? Jewish tradition (in the Dead Sea Scrolls) thought of God spitting on the dust to make clay and forming the body of a man.
Jesus spitting and making clay for this man is a powerful symbol. Jesus is reenacting the creation of Adam. New creation has been a theme from the first verse of this Gospel. Here again, Jesus re-creates this man. Just as God’s first creative act was the creation of light, so Jesus pours light into this man’s world by opening his eyes.
Baptism is a re-creation. The classic form of Baptism is to be plunged under the water and pulled back out. And that’s like the earth as a whole, which began under water (Genesis 1:2) and then emerged as dry land through the power of God’s “wind” or “Spirit”.
Later, Noah and his family experienced a “new creation” when they went through the waters of the flood and then saw the dry land emerge once more when God sent out his “Spirit”. Likewise, the Israelites were re-created when they plunged into the Red Sea and came back out as a new people the other side. A generation later, their children would plunge into the Jordan and emerge as a new people on the other side of the Promised Land.
All these events – the creation, the flood, crossing the Red Sea, and crossing the Jordan – are applied to you when you are baptized. The Sacrament makes you a part of this story.
It is not the mud that heals the man’s eyes. Jesus sends him to wash in the Pool of Siloam, and that’s very significant. The Pool of Siloam was where the priests took the water to pour on the altar on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. The Pool of Siloam caught the waters of the Gihon – the one constantly flowing spring that provided water for the city of Jerusalem. The Gihon was named after one of the rivers that flowed out of the Garden of Eden. In Jewish tradition, it was virtually a sacred river flowing with the waters of creation. It passed through a half-mile tunnel carved by King Hezekiah and out into the Pool of Siloam, which Herod rebuilt into a beautiful, paved, Olympic-sized pool were all the people of Jerusalem could get water to drink or wash.
The water of Siloam was symbolically the waters of Eden. And the name “Siloam” means “sent”, which has two senses with respect to Baptism. First of all, to be baptized is to wash in Jesus, who is the “Sent One”, the one sent by the Father into the world. Second, when we wash in Baptism, we ourselves are sent. Everyone who is baptized is on a mission. God commissions every one to share with others the Good News about Jesus.
When the man comes back from washing, he can see! His old neighbors don’t know what to make of it. They argue; some say he’s the same man, but others say he’s someone else who just looks like the old blind man who used to hang around there. The man’s own response is ambiguous: “I am”, he says. Is he the same guy or a different guy who looks the same? He is the same guy who used to sit and beg; but he is also a new creation, a new man who just resembles the old man who used to be here. And that is a parallel with Baptism because after Baptism a person is and is not the same person. As St. Paul says, “If any one is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). After Baptism, we can truly say, “I am” because we now share in the divine nature and have the Spirit of God. We truly begin to exist because only God’s life is true life.
10. The Good Shepherd and the Festival of Dedication (10:1-42)
John 10 contains two major sections, both of which take place in Jerusalem. First, the Good Shepherd Discourse (10:1-21) continues the story in John 9. This story features a series of contrasts, including faith and unbelief, sight and blindness, and the relationship between different religious authorities and their disciples. John 9 ended with the formerly blind man professing faith in Jesus and Jesus pronouncing the Pharisees, the religious authorities, to be spiritually blind on account of their unbelief in him. The Good Shepherd Discourse develops the theme of religious teachers and disciples, but with a different set of images: shepherds and sheep.
The second section (10:22-42) recounts an incident several months later at the Festival of the Dedication (Hanukkah). The two exchanges between Jesus and the Jewish authorities at this festival revolve around Jesus’ union with the Father.
10.1 The Shepherd Discourse I: Introducing the Imagery (10:1-6)
10.2 The Shepherd Discourse II: Interpreting the Imagery (10:7-21)
10.3 At the Festival of Hanukkah (10:22-30)
10.4 Blasphemy? (10:31-42)
11. The Resurrection and the Life (11:1-51)
After the subsection concerning Jesus and the Jewish liturgies (5:1-10:42), we arrive at the last part of the Book of Signs (11:1-12:50). This narrates the final events of Jesus’ Public ministry and looks forward to the hour of his passion and resurrection.
Over the course of the Gospel, the magnificence of Jesus’ signs has been increasing: 1) a superabundance of good wine (2:1-11); 2) healing the official’s son (4:43-54); 3) healing a man paralyzed for thirty-eight years (5:1-9); 4) feeding a crowd of over five thousand (6:1-15); 5) healing a man blind from birth (9:1-7). In John 11, Jesus performs the greatest sign of his public ministry: he brings Lazarus, who has been dead for four days, back to life. This sign reveals Jesus’ divine power over life and death, and many come to believe in him as a result. While the sign reveals Jesus’ power to give life, it is an important factor leading to his death. John 11 concludes with a decision by a group of Jerusalem religious authorities that Jesus must die.
11.1 The One You Love is Ill (1:1-6)
John introduces us to a family of Jesus’ friends: Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha )see Luke 10:38-42). They live in Bethany, a village just to the southeast of Jerusalem, and the Synoptics report that Jesus stayed there when visiting Judea (Mark 11:11-12). Although John does not narrate it until the next chapter (12:1-8), he mentions the incident of Mary anointing Jesus with perfumed oil and drying his feet to show that his family and Jesus are close friends. The sisters send messengers to inform Jesus that his friend Lazarus is ill.
Jesus’ response, This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it, resembles his words about the purpose of the man’s congenital blindness in 9:3. Like the man’s blindness, Lazarus’ illness and then death is not a meaningless tragedy. Rather, it serves larger purpose in the Father’s plan: the revelation of Jesus’ divine glory.
We might expect Jesus to rush to help his sick friend, but instead he remained for two days in the place where he was. John heightens the emotional tension for two days in the place where he was. John heightens the emotional tension by reaffirming that Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
11.2 Lazarus has died (11:7-16)
Two days later, Jesus invites his disciples, Let us go back to Judea. They left Judea because of the attempts to arrest and stone him to death in Jerusalem (10:31, 39). Surprised that he wants to go back to Judea, the disciples remind Jesus of the dangers there: The Jews were just trying to stone you. He answers with a figure of speech. When people walk around during the day, … the light of the sun helps them avoid falling or stumbling. So too does Jesus, the light of the world (8:12; 9:5), provide guidance for those who walk in his ways. Jesus exhorts his disciples to follow him as the light, for the failure to do so (i.e., one who walks at night) will result in greater problems than the threats in Judea. Schnackenburg paraphrases Jesus’ statement thus: “If you refuse to walk with me, … you run into darkness and are in danger of a much worse sort of fall, failing to attain salvation.
Just as the “good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (10:11) and confronts the danger to his sheep head-on (10:10-14), Jesus now courageously heads into danger to help Lazarus. These actions foreshadow what he will receive life.
Jesus says Lazarus is asleep, a biblical metaphor for death, and he is going to awaken him. Consistent with the sleeping metaphor, “awakening” or “getting up” can refer to those whom God delivers from the brink of death (Jonah 2:7) or whom God will resurrect from death (Daniel 12:2-3).
Although Jesus was talking about Lazarus’ death, the disciples thought he meant ordinary sleep and say, Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved. If Lazarus can get some rest, then he will recover his health – for “saved” can also mean “healed” (see Matthew 9:21-22 and Mark 6:56, where the same Greek word is variously translated “cured,” “healed,” and “saved”). Since the disciples do not understand, Jesus tells them plainly, Lazarus has died. No one told him that Lazarus had died or even that his sickness was very serious. However, Jesus is the incarnate Word, who knows everything pertinent to his mission.
Jesus continues, I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. He already said that he will use Lazarus’ death to manifest his glory (11:4). The raising of Lazarus will be a sign that reveals the mystery of Jesus and provides an opportunity for others to believe in him. Accordingly, Jesus gives the order, Let us go to him.
Since they are heading back into danger in Judea, Thomas, one of the Twelve, says to others, Let us also go to die with him. By faithfully following Jesus, the disciples head into the same situation with their master (see Mark 8:34-35; 2 Timothy 3:10-12).
11.3 The Resurrection and the Life (11:17-27)
Nearing the outskirts of Bethany, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Some ancient Jewish speculation held that the spirit of the deceased left the burial area after three days, and thus there is no question here: Lazarus is definitely dead.
The notice that Bethany was near Jerusalem reminds us of the dangers for Jesus in the area (11:8-10, 16). Some in Jerusalem tried to stone him to death (8:59; 10:31), and here many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. In this episode, however, the response of these Jews will be quite different, because of the great sign that Jesus works in raising Lazarus from the dead (11:45).
11.4 The Grief of the Son of God (11:28-37)
11.5 The Dead Hear the Voice of the Son of God (11:38-44)
11.6 Plans and Prophecies (11:45-54)
12. Jesus Goes to Jerusalem for His Passover (11:55-12:50)
John 11 marks the end of Jesus’ public ministry. Many themes established in the first half of the Gospel are continued here: Jesus’ obedience to the Father, who sent him (12:27-28); his hour (12:20-26); his being “lifted up” on the cross (12:31-36); his relationship with Jewish liturgies (11:55-57; 12:12); his messianic identity (12:12-19); the mixed responses to him by different groups (12:9-16, 34). The events of John 12 also look forward to Jesus’ death and resurrection. Mary, the sister of Lazarus, anoints Jesus at dinner, and this gesture anticipates his approaching burial. Jesus makes his final trip to Jerusalem, where he is welcomed as the messianic king. He announces that the hour of his passion has come, and he explains the significance of what he will accomplish in it. This section, and the first half of the Gospel, comes to a close with Jesus departing the public scene.
12.1 Setting the stage for Jesus’ Arrival (11:55-57)
55Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. 56They looked for Jesus and said to one another as they were in the temple area, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast?” 57For the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should inform them, so that they might arrest him.
The third Passover in the Gospel draws near (see 2:13; 6:4), and John describes the situation in Jerusalem as he looks ahead to Jesus’ crucifixion. Participation in the festival required one to be in a state of ritual purity (Numbers 9:1-13; 2 Chronicles 30:14-20). To purify themselves, the Jewish pilgrims would arrive several days before the festival and wash in pools known as miqva’ot (singular miqveh). Remains of these pools have survived to today.
The situation in Jerusalem resembles that before Jesus’ arrival at the Feast of Tabernacles (7:11-13): the crowd looked for Jesus and discussed his whereabouts. And as at Tabernacles, their discussion is overshadowed by a threat from the authorities: For the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should inform them, so that they might arrest him. The stage has been set for Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem for Passover, when he will accomplish his saving work.
12.2 Mary anoints Jesus for burial (12:1-11)
1Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him. 3Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. 4Then Judas the Iscariot, one [of] his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, “5Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?
12.3 The King of Israel (12:12-19)
12.4 The Hour has come (12:20-26)
12.5 The Hour of God’s Triumph and Glory (12:27-36)
12.6 Foretold in the Scriptures (12:37-43)
12.7 Summary of the Book of Signs (12:44-50)
These verses summarize Jesus’ teaching during his public ministry in the first part of the Gospel (chaps. 1-12).
13. On the Night Before He Died (13:1-30)
John 13-21 comprises the second major part of the Gospel and is called the Book of Glory because the chapters focus on the revelation of God’s glory in Jesus’ passion and resurrection. After Jesus departs from the public scene at the end of John 12, the Gospel narrative slows dramatically. All of John 13;17 takes place during the Last Supper. Like the Synoptics, John’s account of the Last Supper features the announcement of Judas’s betrayal and of Peter’s denials. But unlike the Synoptics, John does not narrate the institution of the Eucharist. Instead, he presents Jesus prophetically signifying his death by washing his disciples’ feet.
13.1 The Footwashing (13:1-11)
1Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. 2The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over. So, during supper, 3fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power and that he had come from God and was returning to God, 4he rose from supper and took off his outer garments. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. 5Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them with the towel around his waist. 6He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Master, are you going to wash my feet?” 7Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not understand now, but you will understand later.” 8Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.” 9Simon Peter said to him, “Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.” 10Jesus said to him, “Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed, for he is clean all over; so you are clean, but not all.” 11For he knew who would betray him; for this reason, he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
As Passover approaches, Jesus knew that his hour, when he will accomplish the Father’s saving work and reveal his love, had come. The events of Jesus’ hour are his new Passover and exodus, the great act of salvation in which God’s love defeats the power of sin and ransoms those enslaved to it (8:34-36). Jesus approaches his hour filled with love for his disciples, his own in the world. John expresses the intensity and extent of Jesus’ love through the phrase: he loved them to the end. The Greek word for “end” (telos) has several dimensions of meaning. Here it means that Jesus loves to the end of his own mortal life. “End” here also means the maximum: Jesus loves to the greatest extent possible by giving his life on the cross. And “end” means the goal or that which completes something. Jesus’ perfect love on the cross brings the Father’s work of salvation to its goal.
In contrast to Jesus’ love stands the powers of evil. The devil is his principal opponent in the Gospel, and he seeks to defeat Jesus by destroying him. Sometime before the supper, the devil had persuaded Judas to betray Jesus and thus bring about his death. Jesus’ hour is the showdown between the powers of evil and the love of God that will conquer them in Jesus’ cross and resurrection.
Having emphasized Jesus’ love in 13:1, John also emphasizes his knowledge, sovereign power, and divine identity. Jesus was fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power. Thus Jesus is completely sovereign over the events of his passion: they happen because he permits them to happen. John also reminds us of Jesus’ divine identity by referring to his origin (He had come from God) and destiny (and was returning to God) with the Father (see 7:28; 8:14).
During the supper, Jesus interprets the meaning of his cross with a symbolic action. After removing his outer garments and wrapping a towel around himself, Jesus poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and dry them. This is a parabolic action, which displays the Passion in anticipation. In Jesus’ day, people most often traveled by foot, walking either barefoot or with open sandals. Traveler’s feet would become extremely dirty, and it was an act of hospitality to offer guests water for washing their feet (Genesis 18:4; Luke 7:44). Culturally, the underside of the foot was considered a dishonorable part of the body. The washing of another’s feet was performed by a slave or person of lower status (1 Samuel 25:41).
The footwashing here has several theological meanings. Most fundamentally, it is a symbol of Jesus’ death. By washing his disciples’ feet, Jesus “the master and teacher” (13:14), performs the degrading work of a slave. Similarly, by dying on the cross, Jesus, the divine Word through whom “all things came to be” (1:3), will descend to the most miserable depths to which creaturely existence can be reduced for other’s sake. Jesus’ gesture is a parabolic enactment of Paul’s statement in Philippians: “Though he was in the form of God, … taking the form of a slave … he humbled himself, / becoming obedient to death … Because of this, God greatly exalted him” (2:6-9).
The necessity of washing by which Jesus cleanses a person is also an allusion to baptism. Jesus spoke of the need to receive new heavenly life through a new birth of “water and Spirit” (3:5; see also Acts 22:16; Titus 3:5). Jesus’ cross brings cleansing from sin, and this cleansing power is communicated to believers through baptism. Thus Thomas Aquinas teaches, “The sacraments of the Church derive their power specially from Christ’s Pasion,” and the risen Jesus acts in the Church’s sacraments to communicate the saving power of his passion.
But Jesus indicates that some are not clean, some will not receive the benefits of the cross. John clarifies that Jesus refers to Judas the betrayer. Since Judas rejects Jesus and yields instead to the devil’s suggestions, he will not receive the spiritual purification that proceeds from Jesus’ cross.
13.2 An Example for the Disciples (13:12-20)
13.3 Judas’s Betrayal (13:21-30)
Having already hinted at his impending betrayal, Jesus again becomes deeply troubled (see 11:33) and openly announces, One of you will betray me (see Matthew 26:21). As with the Scripture quotation in 13:18, Jesus testified about his betrayal to reveal it as part of God’s plan, for Jesus’ mission is “to testify to the truth” (18:37).
