On Line Bible Study - For the Week June 11 - 17, 2012

John 8:21-30

If you click on the link above you will go to a web site for Bible Gateway.  Notice that verses 12-20 are labelled: Dispute over Jesus' Testimony.  That was the subject of our previous lesson.  This lesson - verses 21-30 - are labelled: Dispute over Who Jesus Is.

It is interesting to wonder just what exactly Jesus thought of himself.  We have a paradox here - Jesus comes into the world with no earthly distinction.  He rather slips onto the planet the way any of us common folk arrive.  Beyond the excitement of the immediate family, we can't say for certain that anyone else was excited that Jesus was born.  (The birth narrative of Matthew and Luke seem to be as much for theological purposes as they are for actual genealogical purposes.  The earliest Gospel - Mark - and the Gospel of John don't find the birth of Jesus as necessary for the telling.  The ministry of Jesus begins with his baptism.)

St. Paul will go so far as to point out that God is emptied of any and all divine prerogative in the birth of Jesus.  There seems to be a paradox between this humility of Jesus on one hand, and the need for him to self-proclaim as "light" and "living water" in these verses of John.  Indeed, this is part of the problem for the Jewish leaders - Jesus seems to come out of nowhere.

You are from below; I am from above, says Jesus to the Jewish leaders (John 8:23).  The question is put directly and succinctly to Jesus in John 8:25:  Who are you?  The answer comes back in somewhat cryptic form - I am he, says Jesus.  The text tells us that people did not understand Jesus was telling them about his Father.  But we are also told that many put their faith in him.

We are left wondering: What is it that tips a person toward faith in Jesus?  What did he believe about himself, and what does he want us to believe about him?

In a couple of chapters we will come to some more I am ... statements that Jesus makes.  For now, we might entertain the question Father Raymond Brown ponders in his commentary on this gospel: How do you explain divinity?

On Line Bible Study - For the Week June 4-10, 2012

Lesson 539

John 8:12-20

There are three (at least!) components to these nine verses in John 8.

1. Jesus is the Light.
2. Jesus is his own witness.
3. Jesus is the judge.

Jesus as the "light" anticipates the major event that is coming in Chapter Nine - the healing of a blind man.

Jesus as witness and judge - as well as the themes of not being able to arrest Jesus and uncertainty with regard to where Jesus is from (or where he is going to) - these are all reminiscent of verses in Chapter Seven.  For scholars and the very serious student of the New Testament these textual and literary details are most interesting.  For those simply trying to follow Jesus, what import is there to knowing of these repetitions and the textual telescoping that occurs in the Gospel?

Perhaps the simple fact of being reminded of these intricacies in the Gospel server to remind us that this is a work carefully crafted, painstakingly edited, and intensely focused with the hope of bring us to faith in Christ and to a deeper understanding of the implications of his message.

I am the light of the world, says Jesus (John 8:20).  If ever you have felt that life was confusing, that you were groping about with no sense of whether you were heading in the right direction or not, this text reminds us that when we intentionally follow Jesus, new insights occur.  We find ourselves on a path that has purpose and clarity of direction, even if we remain uncertain as to the final destination.

My testimony is valid, says Jesus (John 8:14b).  Truth can be so illusive.  At times it can seem to be entirely relative - and yet we yearn for some 'absolute'.  The Gospel invites us to accept the truth of who Jesus is and what Jesus says.  The notion that the majority somehow always steers toward the truth just doesn't work for us.  We who live in a democracy are all too aware of the fact that "Most of us" don't always necessarily get it right!  Jesus comes along - not by the will of the majority, but by the grace and love of God.  Can we accept that?  Can we believe that?

If I do judge my decisions are true, says Jesus (John 8:16).  Is it possible for any human being,including Jesus of Nazareth, to judge by anything other than human standards?  Even when the conclusions are difficult for us to accept, when Jesus' teachings convict us, we find ourselves both corrected and inspired.  We are "corrected" in such a way that we are assured of forgiveness.  We are "inspired" to go back out and try again, believing we will 'get it right' this time!

There is a lot going on in these nine verses.  If you have a chance, spend a few moments with them in the next several days.

On Line Bible Study - For th Week May 28 - June 3, 2012

The Woman Taken in Adultery, Guercino.

Lesson 538

John 8:    ¹ Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

² At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the
 people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. ³ The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group ⁴ and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” ⁶ They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. ⁷ When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

⁹ At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. ¹⁰ Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹ “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

 

Questions regarding the authenticity of this text date as far back as the Third Century. While the oldest manuscripts don't contain the story, most manuscripts do.  Some theorize that early church leaders removed the story for fear it would be interpreted as sanctioning adultery.

In spite of the textual uncertainties, this is one of the best-known stories in the Christian Testament.  From it we derive the idiomatic phrase: "cast the first stone".

Let's consider two things - The Trap, and Jesus' Escape.

The Trap   The Law of Moses calls for the execution of adulterers. However, under Roman occupation, were the Jews authorized to put persons to death?  The fact that the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees had not already done so is an indication of their reticence to enact the punishment called for in their law, perhaps out of fear of Caesar's law.  The trap is meant to put Jesus in an untenable situation - one in which he has to be in clear violation of either religious or secular law.  No matter which way he decided, he would be in trouble either with Jewish leaders or Roman leaders.  The "trap" was very well thought out, masterfully set and had a high probability of accomplishing its goal.

Jesus' Escape    Jesus did not respond immediately.  (Sometimes that is the best  strategy - to wait!)  By saying nothing, he puts the accusers in the position of having to escalate their position.  He stoops down and lets them turn up the volume.  As I imagine the scene, it must have been a bit awkward for the leaders and Pharisees.  Their attention is focused downward, away from the woman and toward the bending Christ who does not look them in the eye.  When Jesus finally does stand up, his tone is not harsh.  He does not 'put the accusers in their place', but he does set a trap of his own.  The difference between the trap they set for Jesus and the one he sets for them is simply this: one is intended to pin us down; the other is intended to set us free.  Let those without sin cast the first stone ...

By stooping down a second time, Jesus once again removes himself.  This time I imagine that, whatever their physical posture, the spirit of the accusers was directed heavenward.  Now they were invited to consider their own worthiness - or unworthiness, as the case may be - and in so doing the harshness of their judgment began to crumble.  The essence of life and the truly important issues are not the ones between us and some other 'sinner', or between us and Jesus.  The real issue is to be honest with ourselves before God.

The Gospel Message: We are forgiven.

The Gospel Challenge: Sin no more.