Transcript for:
Exploring the Gospel of John Themes

test viewers you can also use or download that powerpoint slides that i am presenting to you so the gospel of john week 4 we will study the gospel of john itself thinks about john's gospel we ask who is the johann and jesus johann and jesus how is he portrayed in this gospel also we will talk about the johannine community what kind of people a community what issues are there behind this gospel that we call john right what kind of people are behind this gospel in other words why was this gospel written for whom dealing with what issues certainly we need to think historically when we consider what this gospel is so obviously we are not historian right we are exploring theology so johannine theology all these are the topics in our preview overview date of the gospel this gospel we believe was written you know about 90 through 100 ce which means at least 10 or 15 you know years after matthew and luke was written down we call this gospel the fourth gospel because the idea is we can't name right who wrote but just number four fourth gospel author as you know traditionally it is attributed to apostle john one of the disciples of jesus john but the critical scholarship today says this gospel is also anonymous because there's no clear evidence that the disciple of john you know no disciple of jesus right john wrote this gospel there's no internal evidence or external evidence like other synoptic gospels it is safe to say that the author of john's gospel is also anonymous so questions or debates about the real author of john's gospel as you wish to know but nobody you know gave you or told us to share evidence that you know john or whoever even some people suggest lazarus wrote this gospel or even mary magdalene okay so there are all kinds of you know questions and a theories about the author but that is not your you know take on at this time you don't need to worry about just like other gospels let's assume that we don't know who wrote this gospel the place of the gospel composition again we can't definitively say about the place no information but the place composition although some people suggest the gospel was written in rome or or episodes the source of this gospel the fourth gospel is very very different from the synoptic gospels in terms of a source a writing style in terms of a source as you will see later right john's gospel includes so many unique materials which are not found in the synoptic gospels at all just give you one easy example is what wedding at cana you know where jesus turns the water into wine the first miracle by jesus wedding at cana is recorded only in john's gospel so there are plenty of unique materials which we can't identify where john got that from right so source is very very different but also writing style writing style we'll see later is very very different but this does not mean that the gospel of john or fourth gospel is less historical than the synoptic gospels sometimes people say that ojan is not only different from synaptic but does not reflect the historical jesus so john's gospel is degraded to you know only theological product which doesn't contain much of you know historicity okay but that is not true we'll see more about later this gospel also contains early traditions about jesus and the historical information about the early community that we call johanna in community so let me check quickly here jack do you have a question i have a quick question um i know it's kind of all subject but the paper um is that due at the beginning of class or at the end that is tonight by 11 59 p.m okay check us okay on mute all now if you have a question raise your hand okay so i'll go ahead so let's talk about the audience of this gospel the audience is different from other gospels i mean synoptic gospels a small close-knit and deeply spiritual community expelled from the synagogue this big key word expelled from the synagogue a small close knit okay deeply spiritual community where what jewish christians early followers of jesus right they were expelled from the synagogue they were part of the synagogue like other jewish friends but some people who profess that jesus is the messiah you know they're not tolerated so eventually they're expelled from the synagogue that's what we think that is a historical reasoning obviously john's gospel does not you know say about this straightforward but there is there are indirect allusions to that kind of historical happening the johannine community behind this gospel was formed out of its expulsion or separation from the synagogue because members of the community have faith that jesus is the messiah this is a very important backdrop against which we have to read the gospel so that you know things were written in this gospel make sense to us in a way maybe we may explain why john's gospel includes so many different materials or theological you know statements because this reflects the johannine experience how the gospel begins the gospel begins with the logos logos is a very important word in this gospel logan's greek means the word or reason capital al reason for logos word in the beginning was the word logos that's how john 1 1 okay has in the beginning was the word logos that's a matter of a translation or understanding what logos means that's big being but we just say it now in the beginning was the word that is first first wait a minute where do we see this kind of a similar thing in the old testament that is very beginning of what the torah genesis 1 1 in the beginning god created heaven and earth oh that's interesting okay genesis begins with the statement in the beginning john 1 1 also beginning with in the beginning right so there is something you know uh relationships between genesis 1 1 and john 1 1. there must be something that john claims what does john claim by saying you know in the beginning was the word that is made of interpretation so we'll see more and later so how the gospel begins in the beginning phrase right which you know which is reminiscent of genesis 1 1. now how the gospel ends it ends with the jesus appearing with wounds eating breakfast spreading the holy spirit on his disciples you don't see this thing in synaptic gospels right pleasing the holy spirit on his disciples jesus concerned with right his disciples so that they may receive the holy spirit the purpose of the gospel is at the end 20 31 chapter 20 31 that must be the original ending although we have a chapter 21 that most people think that is an added chapter by a later generation of the johannes community when you read the chapter 20 verse 31 that is the real ending when you close your letter or the gospel or any writing right you may say like this 20 31 but these are written so that you may come to believe that jesus is the messiah anointed so you can replace this one with christ believe that jesus is the christ or the anointed right the anointed messiah means anointed so that you may come to believe that jesus is the anointed one the son of god and death so one more thing through believing you may have life in his name this is very important you know john's theology through believing you may have a life in his name here two things so let me explain to you a little bit about believing here in john's gospel also in the synoptic gospels believing is not the same as knowledge not equivalent to knowledge oftentimes people think that believing is something that you agree to your mental knowledge agreement you consent to something some facts faith is knowledge or confession that is a part of a faith about the real meaning of a faith of believing in the gospels also in post-authentic letters faith primarily means relationships in which people have to show loyalty commitment right faith requires loyalty and commitment it is not mental agreement to something so through believing in john's gospel you know believing means what following jesus for example when you read the john chapter uh 12 i guess you know there were jews standing you know with jesus jews who believed in jesus came to jesus they were standing by jesus there were jews standing with jesus and also john 12 says they were believing in jesus in this situation jesus says if you abide in my teaching you are my disciples if you stay in my teaching if you abide if you continue to stay in abide in if you continue well if you remain in my teaching meaning you have to understand the jesus message and you have to participate in his work following his footsteps right that is what you know of staying in his teaching then one you are truly my disciples there is if 10 close if then if you do this then you are something if you don't follow me if you don't do what i teach you you are not my disciples a period that is what believing of faith means in john's gospel so with that faith you may have a life in his name here life is what oftentimes john's gospel you know writes a lot you know eternal life uses eternal life or life the same meaning basically interchangeable you may have an eternal life or a life or abundant life here all life meaning something you know holistic life and relationships with god and living in the world with love god okay blessings and following the way of jesus so here life is also kind of metaphor in a sense you may have a life in his name so we'll see more about later but my point is okay chapter 20 verse 31 looks like what the real ending of the gospel but surprisingly we have a chapter 21 again this may have been added by a second generation of the johannine community if you read the you know 20 chapter 21st and 25 verse here but there are also many other things that jesus did if every one of them were written down i suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written so that this looks like right another ending so john's gospel both beginning and are different when we talk about jesus first of all he is very jewish messiah okay on one hand he is claimed as jewish messiah very jewish messiah like you know messian gospel right where jesus seen as the jewish messiah but the jewish messiah in john's gospel does something peculiar and his word is different from john anyway but both of them you know refer to the jewishness of messiah he's sent from heaven and witnesses to the father dies glorify the test of a love and will be available spiritually to believers after his death several things here you see some differences from the synoptic first of all sense from heaven that is the new language right sent from heaven so you may wonder whether jesus was really coming from heaven in some literal sense or is it spiritual sense or even just theological statement right what does it mean sent from heaven you know john 1 6 there is an illusion to john the baptist he is also said to come from god sent from god or heaven okay so essentially john's gospel you know when he says you know when he uses this language absent from heaven this is not unique to jesus but that is kind of a theological you know a sketch of you know people you know in other words you and i can say the same language theologically speaking i may say i'm sent from heaven there's nothing wrong with that statement because what i mean is right theological statement we confess that god sent me to the world what's wrong with that you know if i'm saying you know i'm really from god you know something strange things are claimed that may be wrong or otherwise sent from heaven doesn't mean that you know somebody is coming literally from heaven but more importantly what jesus does in his gospel is witnesses to the father doing the work of god doing the work of god he never said that i came to do my work rather the opposite is true always every time he speaks to those who don't believe that he is the messiah the johanna and jesus says believe the work i do even if you don't believe me but you have to believe the work that i do so that you must know that i am the messiah so witness to the father even when he was standing before pancho's pilot in the later narrative of john's russell right he's eventually arrested and stands before you know the trials and a pilot asking him people say that you are king are you the king jesus said yes and he said i was born into this world to testify to the truth to testify to the truth word truth the truth of god god is truth jesus came as a king he acknowledged but that king is not to glorify himself but rather what testifying to the truth that is a johannian language okay so witnessing to the father is a great thing that you will see recurrently in the gospel also the view of jesus death is very different from the synaptic gospels jesus dies glorify the test of the love she hears the word glorifies the moment of death is not a terrifying you know anguished moment jesus takes his steps as what a glorious time glory time of glory gospel you remember right the suffering suffering of the messiah is unavoidable yet jesus trembles he was agitated deeply troubled so he prayed to god if possible remove this cup from me nevertheless he followed the will of god and continued on his journey of preaching the good news of god because of that he was opposed and arrested and killed eventually but the way to the cross was not easy was not something that you can welcome but that is marcan gospel very realistic side of jesus right very human messiah but here in john's gospel jesus is quite opposite of death you know dies glorify the death of love and will be available spiritually to believers after his death jesus doesn't say that i will come back like the end of matthew right what to see the adult men do after a great commission and jesus says i'll be with you right don't worry i'll be with you right and also you know synaptic gospels basically expect that jesus is coming back so soon right except for luke obviously but basically you know jesus is expected to come back right because paul russia is very important thing for them but here jesus does not say that kind of a promise but instead he prays to the god the father asking god father right god will send the advocate or comforter in greek there is parakletos parakleti parakletos is advocate or comforter or counselor another name for the spirit the spirit of god the holy spirit or the spirit of a truth there are different names for you know the spirit in john's gospel the bottom line is what after jesus is gone which means what after jesus died there will be the holy spirit coming back and to remind them of what jesus taught and deed so jesus will be available spiritually to believers after his death very different right theology and language who are disciples in this gospel they know who jesus is and they receive the holy spirit the human condition is not knowing god or immoral or spiritually dead knowing means not you know cognitive level of knowledge knowing but not here knowing means holistic right holistic knowing relationships right so true understanding of god and in good relationship with god but people did not know god in that sense in that level they are immoral they live in darkness they are spiritually dead right that is the human condition we see in this gospel the vision is what knowing god holistically right knowing god and the people i have to have true relationship with god mystical doesn't mean that okay mysterious but holistic spiritual relationship with god then they may have eternal life even now eternal life now is not in the future john's gospel emphasizes eternal life begins now okay in the present tense i end the resurrection jesus says he doesn't say i will be resurrected then you will have a resurrection there but rather he's says i am the resurrection if you believe me right even now you are living the resurrection life you don't die anymore what does it mean it doesn't mean that we don't die physically jesus means a spiritual life if you are in relationships with god through jesus your life is going alive forever that is his point now let me go to two persons here okay quickly lance franklin what do you have so my question is is since you know uh he's here you can we can have a relationship with him now so in essence john the gospel has moved away from the uh a popular apocalyptic view that he's coming back that he you know it's like it's not even it's not even part of of the theology of the gospel john that there is this apocalyptic uh uh view yeah very very good very good fine john's gospel is not close to the typical nature or atmosphere of first century okay in palestine which is what apocalyptic okay expectation in other words most jews believe that well in the future their messiah will come unlike jesus right both jews believed the new world coming in sooner or later all right they expected the coming of the messianic kingdom you know most jews have that view that is the normative you know popular view which is what the messianic kingdom will come in the future and like a dead sea you know qumran community there are essence right asians live together you know their understanding of the messiah is also quite different from other jews you know they articulated the future messiah will be someone like a priestly messiah one kind also another kind of messiah who is a teacher messiah okay but then you know you know different groups of people what expected something right different kind of messiah all these have to do with what the future thing they're all pointing the future but as you see john castle right does not really talk about you know future judgment like that but rather emphasis well now see now now the time in that sense somehow john's gospel is also close to luke and theology right you remember luke and theology we saw so much of the world today right same around today you know today jesus says luke 4 16 today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing right so much you saw in john's gospel the johanna and jesus says i am the resurrection right you know mary martha you know the story right asking you know my brother will be you know resurrected in the future but jesus said i am the resurrection even now resurrection is possible you live the new life of resurrection right you know that's quite surprisingly different radical theological statement in a way good now christopher hilbert i had the same question [Music] same question okay that's good let's go yeah so earlier next parker who is not my you know club member here he called me but i stopped that i mean hang up i don't know why but i think he's my former student but anyway let me go ahead let's see the unique content unique content the prologue 1 1 through 18 in which the key word is the word or logos 14 now 1 1 114 the logos became flesh the word became flesh you know and and first few verses the word in the beginning was the word with the words with god the word was god that is really very abstract theological language it's very vague statement in certain way right you know until you read the entire gospel okay entire gospel with focus on the logos or world right it's really hard that you can explain or interpret john 1 1 through 18 right no we can't the only thing the only thing that you have to know now is what oh the new vocabulary logos became flesh john 114 what does that mean right we'll see later more about this statement because there is the incarnation idea that you are very familiar with that language right incarnation okay what does it mean you know who's jesus in this gospel and what is his relationship with god what's the relations between him and the world logos that is all all the questions that we have to struggle and we can answer only by reading the entire gospel so anyway the prologue is not only very different from the other gospels but also in terms of content the word logos became flesh and so forth very unique also we have the testimony of john the baptist you know he looks at jesus walking by right he says behold the lamb of god the lamb of god is very what jewish phrase in old testament right some leaders are called the lamb of god right the lamb of god okay like a shepherd leader okay of the community so we don't know what it means with only single verse but the only thing that is oh this is something new vocabulary new things right so lamb of god in what way if jesus the lamb of god we have to interpret only by reading the entire gospel unique content the wedding at cana turning water into wine cooking i love it that is only in john's gospel and also very interesting story jesus meet with nicodemus actually nicodemus right a jewish famous man you know jewish elite right pharisee nicodemus visit jesus by night and asking him right so there are conversations going on so when you read that conversation right somehow you may get some insights into johanna and gospel right so who is jesus talking about the kingdom of god by the way in this episode the first time and the last time jesus uses the kingdom of god you know kingdom of god who may enter the kingdom of god okay only tosua torn up the spirit right born of the spirit and the water right so nicodemus coming by night to jesus that's unique content samaritan woman at jacob's well right that is very interesting encounter for jesus because it is unexpected that jesus or jewish men right meet and talk with the a gentile woman samaritan samaritan okay so at that time you know a culture right man doesn't talk easily with a woman but also even in this case samaritan woman but there are interesting you know conversation going on there are something message about johanna and gospel right so we need to interpret this story nicodemus american all these unique contents which reveals something about the johanna and gospel and the community there are also i am sayings there are seven i am sayings about jesus for example jesus says i am the bread of life what does it mean i am the bread of life is it literally the bread no jesus talks about what the metaphorical sense of the meaning right i am the bread of life in what sense he is the bread of life in a metaphorical sense what does he emphasize when he says i am the bread of life but more than this right seven i am saying i am the resurrection i am the way and the life and truth and i am the light right i am the gate there are seven i am sayings that's unique the woman quote in adultery chapter 8 this is believed to have been inserted in a later time that's why you know many people and scholars don't consider chapter 8 as part of the original gospel so you may be interested in this chapter you know what the history of the text but in in general sense so we don't put this chapter okay in john's gospel there are other unique contents which are important raising of lazarus brother of mary and martha epiphany so this story is very famous one right so jesus raises lazarus was dead for a few days very famous one that's unique in john's gospel watching disciples feet chapter 13 this was a very important one because in other gospels jesus does not wash his disciples feet but only in in john's gospel jesus washes disciples feet why is it important because there is a service right service and dedication to service is important the death itself is not important before jesus is going to die right and before he is going to eat you know the supper he has to wash disciples feet that is a great service farewell this course chapter 14 through 16. very well this course is like a moses farewell discourse right when you are going to die you make a speeches to your people that is farewell speech or discourse so chapter 14 begins with right don't be troubled because i'm going right away from you believe in god and also in me right there are many dwelling places you know i'll prepare and i'll come back to take you there and blah blah and that chapter 14 continues and then 14 6 i'm the way in the truth and the life no one comes father except through me so chapter 14 is the topic for your group discussion today you will talk about the meaning of i am saying in particular john 14 6 that many people read it as what the divine exclusive statement in other words there's no other way of salvation jesus is the only name no other religions are true right the only way is you know jesus kind of exclusive salvation statement is it that kind of exclusive statement or something else which is my view there's still still a room for what interfaith dialogue in a good sense okay we will see more about that one and farewell discourse 14th chapter through 16. and some people add a chapter 17 to farewell this why chapter 17 is about jesus long prayer to the father you know extending his farewell discourse right he prays to the father the centerpiece of his prayer is simple he's concerned about his disciples leaving right behind he praised the father for them and asking the father sanctify them in the truth so that they may continue in my teaching and do the work that i did he said father as you have come you have sent me into the world all right to the world of love to love the world to love people like john 3 16 god so loved the world and he gave his only begotten son so that people may not perish but have eternal life they're the purpose of what the gospel right god sent his only son for what to judge the world no to save the world and people the gospel is not for judging okay not for hating or judging but rather to invite others to participate in the love of god in the love of jesus there's nothing in the gospel that is judgmental to other people right that's a misunderstanding so jesus in jesus prayer we know that how much he cares about his disciples and praying to the father don't take them out of the world but protect them in the truth and sanctify them in the truth so that they may continue my work of you you know the disciples are not doing the work of jesus don't be misunderstood see the same father as you have sent me into the world i send my people my disciples to the world okay jesus saying to his disciples i send you to the world with your job as my disciples to do the work of god as i showed you as i did the work of god you may need to continue in the essence of me don't worry the spirit will come to help you remind you of what i have taught you right for chapter 17 long prayer in which we may see theology what does jesus say you know in their prayer it is important always you need to make sense of the text by relating okay what was written there to the community behind that and overall right we need to figure out why jesus you know utters this kind of prayer at this point of time in the narrative but all i'm saying is farewell discourse is important characteristics of john schuster and in terms of the unique content you know doubting thomas you know the story right doubting thomas that's also you know unique only in two places by and large we may see the high christological statements one is here thomas you know he doubted earlier but when he saw met the region lord right and jesus asking you know put your uh arms you know and and touch you know my own and finally thomas says oh you are my god right you are my god so many people thinking oh jesus is god so thomas disciple here you know says jesus it's god you are my god the other place you know the statement that looks like high christology it is when jesus you know talked to jews the opponents okay his opponents or truth he says i was before abraham was right there also many people using that verse saying that oh jesus you see she's pretty existent and and the goddess yes in those two places looks like a you know really high christology but overall in entire gospel overall jesus said many times that the one who sent me is greater than i and also he said many times i'm doing the work of god and also he never said that i'm god his primary understanding self-understanding is what the son of god by the way think about the son of god language you know son of god certainly may be evasive depending on which context you talk about even today you know in your church you hear probably lots lots of time for your pastor or you even tell the people you are the son of god you are the thought of god we are children of god what's wrong with that statement right the thing is you know what kind of a son of god right that is the only one you know a unique you know kind of a second person in the trinity okay that is a you know much later language right when john's gospel were written down and when people johanna and community believe that jesus was the messiah right what did they think about you know him jesus right when they refer to jesus as the son of god right certainly is something you know important work attached to that title the son of god but overall i'm saying relatively speaking jesus in john's gospel receive received the high christology yes but it doesn't mean that you know this gospel claims that jesus is god the same as god what god is jesus okay there is something open question you need to discuss further okay my point is that well in my small book you know truth testimony and transformation which is which was the project that i got funded from you know really a foundation you know i dealt with the exclusive statement okay because many people read the john 14 6 right exclusively there are no other ways of salvation like that so my question was whether john 14 6 was really supportive of you know exclusive kind of theology or is there a room for us to engage with other people other non-christianity okay non-christian people so my argument was there's room for us to engage in the manner of god's love and cross christly service okay there is a way we can engage other than judging others or conquering other people right but rather loving the world loving the people we can show the examples of jesus in that way we may engage with other people you know when jesus says i'm the way okay it doesn't mean that the jesus is the way to heaven right through a special knowledge a special a faith a confession just like a nazi christians who believe that the jesus is the the gate through which they may get to heaven right dualistic kind of a theology is often people think that okay jesus is just the gate or the leather of going to heaven but the other way alternative way of reading you know of the i am the way is what as i read it that statement can be a christological or messianic functional statement pointing to the work of god in other words i am the way means what jesus exemplifies or embodies the word of god jesus embodies the word of god jesus discerns the way of god jesus lived the way of god jesus the way the way okay we need to interpret what the way means what is the way to do with jesus that is a metaphorical statement so we have to unpack the meaning of i am the way in terms of the metaphor in what way jesus becomes the way there are ways we can explain that statement okay there's a little bit of deviation but later slides anyway i'll talk about this issue okay christology not epilogue still we are in unique content okay epilogue as i said earlier chapter 21 we have here an appearance by the sea of tiberias okay jesus appears right by the sea of tiberias and the large catch of fish this unique content now outline outline looks like a very simple structure in a way very simple structure we have a parallel as i talked about next we have the book of science is another name this for uh miracles okay science means miracles the book of miracles great works by jesus the book of science so almost 12 chapters here right 119 through 12 50. here we have a wedding at cana dialogue with nicodemus samaritan woman at the well healing at the pool of pesada bread of life discourse i am the bread of life right from god i'm from the heaven and also chapter nine we have a very famous story a man born blind and raising the ladders etc all this you know many people uh uh put the label about the book of science in other words jesus did great marvelous works including miracles okay great things the book of science all here the point of the lesson is jesus did all these things to prove that he is the messiah tell the science that's why we call the book of science okay book of the sign we read earlier right 2031 you know this has was been written right this was written so that you may well believe that jesus is the messiah okay that's one folder one primary importance of this gospel being written right so that you me you may believe what jesus said in other words many people did not believe that jesus is the messiah understand that's why the book of signs are important so let people know that jesus did all these great things he must be the messiah the book of science this is very traditional you know outlining but it makes sense okay so a plain reading of the gospel the book of science is very sensible the next part is we call the book of glory [Music] as i said earlier glory means death the book of passion suffering here glory is not other kind of a normal sense of glory right but glory means solemn death of jesus holy sacrifice of love the book of glory chapter 13 through 20. here you see watching the disciples feet farewell discourses and jesus long prayer in chapter 17 and after that going fast to passion narrative just like the synoptic gospels right we have a passion narrative here and crucifixion scene and final scene is the resurrection jesus appears to his disciples especially to mary magdalene and thomas right mary magdalene according to the synoptic gospels who is what very very very important person right jesus cast right jesus you know expelled the demon from the seven spirits okay so mary magdalene was great follower of jesus as a woman so mary magdalene visits the tomb right jesus appears to her but she did not recognize jesus at all but when he when she heard the voice right calling her by name and finally you know she recognized him but anyway the book of glory the ending is mary magdalene and thomas and epilogue the last chapter i told you already so this is a quick outline of the entire gospel in detail certainly there are many things you have to you know read but this is overall big outline let me read the uh this parallel part because uh the prologue is not just a prologue but it is important preface for the readers right for the readers it is not just kind of a decoration thing right there is something important so we will try to read the what wasn't here in the beginning of the world echoing genesis 1 1 right referring to genesis 1 1 in the beginning of the world but let me tell you one uh thing that a little bit i would call ex-cursors okay extra curses about this phrase in the beginning the phrase of in the beginning in genesis 1 1 tells in the beginning in hebrew okay pareshit press it you know one one one word but within which there is you know two words combined actually you know hebrews often expressed okay in compound noun nonsense so pereship one word but this should be uh translated as in a beginning not in the beginning but in a beginning because there's no definite article okay if the if there's a definite article we can say pohara is but ha is a definite article but there's no ha in chinese one one just paraship means what in beginning in a beginning in a beginning means what once upon a time when when when god created heaven earth in the time when god began to create that's what the meaning in the time when god began to create heaven and earth it doesn't mean okay in the beginning i mean tereshi doesn't mean in the very first beginning of the time no because in a beginning all right so most likely you know just like as you you know give a fairy tale right sometimes you say what once upon a time there was a man right and living in a small village you know who had the five uh uh you know children and blah blah rich poor you know right so once upon a time so in the beginning so in the beginning it's not the beginning of the time but rather in a certain time at a certain time when god began to create heaven earth okay same thing here you know in one one here in the beginning we although we translate in the beginning right in greek is actually n r k two or the n is in right n and then r k a r you know rk that's where you know the english were arcane right you know archaic old or beginning so ang rk in beginning there's no dou okay notification article in between n and arca so even greek phrase okay and archaic connors right conveys the meaning of not the the beginning of the time but just like genesis 1 1 right just you know corresponding that same idea once upon a time what's the word okay so in other words why i say this because genes 1 1 is not a scientific book you you can argue that okay god created the you know everything in the beginning of a time that's not point why even that is conflicting within the text you know when you read the genes one two and three what they say there was already what chaotic words there right you know chaos there you know what god did was kind of a you know creating but also reordering right recreating reordering things like that you know and so in that sense okay even chinese the chinese one is not to support the famous doctrine christian doctrine of what means creation ex nihilo means out of nothing creation out of nothing yes theologically that's a beautiful statement okay yes the true god must be one you know anything must be possible right almighty creation of nothing certainly our beliefs are no problem because the true god must be like that no problem with that but the text tennis one one you know and two and three okay there's no sense that you know created out of nothing all right so you can't use you know genesis one as a proof text you know to talk about creation out of nothing okay that's somehow you know great misunderstanding in a way okay so you need to separate between one chance one and the christian doctrine of creation out of nothing okay otherwise christians are nothing and can't go you know to chinese one easily okay so this is an exocursors okay the actual curve just for your curiosity and in your you know bible biblical study in general so if you are interested more in this phrase in the beginning okay and genesis 1 and uh john 1 so you may study further i think that is enough so in the beginning was the word here we translate the word is loga's creek l-o-g-o-s logos means first of all reason in greek philosophy real reason our capital region which is what the rule or the principle of the universe right abstract reason it's not a person but reason right reason you you may translate to all the word that you find in john you know you can replace the word with what reason in the beginning was reason the greek philosophy thinking right reason okay something the foundation of the world the universe something reason but also we may translate it as the word right the word interestingly enough right god spoke the word let there be light right god created heaven and earth by what by word right by word you know and also tell the spirit or wind from god okay the rule of r u a h r you may translate as the spirit but also ruach is what the wind right the wind or the spirit was available when god created heaven and earth right you know and also god did so by the world so you may probably relate the language okay the word you see here word logos to very early time that god created heaven and earth okay that kind of a relationship okay you you you may recall that scripture if you are johannine community certainly okay you are informed by right some jewish scriptures so in the beginning what's the word logos and the word was with god no problem even when you know genesis 1 1 right the words you know what's we've got the word was god he was in the beginning with god here he is not jesus okay don't be misunderstood okay he pronoun israel refers to grammatically refer to what the logos because logarithm is what masculine noun if you know only english okay you must know that some other languages involves what involve what gender noun has agenda all nouns has one particular gender gender doesn't mean masculine female only but masculine female even in greek case a neural noun okay also you know a things right object a desk was fun whatever you see all nouns that's what either masculine or feminine or even neural right so the word logos that noun is what masculine noun is not man the word it's masculine noun that's why verse two he was in the beginning with god who did he the word understand this is where many people immediately got confused and misunderstood and misread the thinking deadline oh jesus was in the beginning with god no world okay technically grammatically speaking it must be evident obvious no questions about it the laws was in the beginning with god he was in the beginning all things came into being through him the same thing okay he is not jesus still love us and without him not one thing came into being what has come into being in him was life still in the laws of life law of theology okay in him was life and the life was the light of all people the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it so far the main topic is what the central world is to love us you don't see jesus at all here although as you read more and more right oh maybe the logos implicitly and clearly later connected with jesus but still grammatically technically speaking he pronoun is not jesus but the laws now let me see here christopher you have a question sir um that's really that's different from my theology here excuse me or what i was taught so this is one of these aha moments related to logos but i mean as we did the reading but i'm still a little confused but i thought that i heard you say that this is not that important so i don't want to go down a rabbit hole here is yeah yeah yeah so that's the that's right is this worth delving into or should we just move on if you have a particular question you may ask anything now okay ask me all right but i can answer no or not i'll think about it okay well i'm here very great thank you uh yes i [Music] took some french here many many years ago so i appreciate that nouns and are either masculine or feminine in other languages as opposed to english uh but what is the difference between one one and one two in the beginning the word excuse me in the beginning was the word is that lagos is the ghost yeah okay and he was in the beginning with lo or excuse me logos was in the beginning with god that seems to me to be saying the exact same thing [Music] so am i is that i mean i don't know why you'd say another thing if it wasn't if you want i don't know why would you you would repeat yourself immediately i guess that's what i'm saying no all i said here is what there's no jesus name from verse one through four that we have read that's my point you understand okay yeah there's no jesus name mentioned there all right the main topic is what the logos that that's what i said okay you you can't you know uh uh uh uh understand here because you hear the several pronouns i mean several times pronoun he like verse two see here he was in the beginning with god he is not jesus that's what i'm i said to you right that's my point okay okay thank you no problem and other questions brandon so we're making the logos different than jesus so we're saying that john 1 in its entirety is not speaking of jesus is that what to say yeah if you want to know about the relationship between jesus and love that's the next screen okay next slide i'll go to talk about that one so because i i'm i'm with the previous guy that was speaking i mean when you read john 1 in its entirety it looks like verses 1 through 4 is a is confirming or comparing how jesus and the logos is one so you ask me yeah there is a something you know jesus is uh implicitly okay conceived there in these verses in other words jesus may be robbed associated with the work of the logos in other words he may have to do something with the logos otherwise okay why john's gospel need to you know begin with the logos if it doesn't have to do with jesus so eventually right so with reader 14 all right the word became flesh so that means so if if john 4 john 1 14 is saying that the word is made flesh so the locus is made flesh that will let us know that john 1 1-4 is talking about jesus yeah that's true but what i'm saying is that jesus is alluded there but you know technically grammatically okay jesus is not found in those verses do you understand me i understand what you're saying but i'm just saying because i'm taking and i may be taking it wrong but the way i'm taking it is that you're saying that between verses one and four it is not jesus he's not talking about jesus yeah exactly not jesus not jesus but then john okay you may interpret that way because that's how you know usually right people understand that way i understand what you're saying that's a matter of interpretation but technically grammatically speaking for example first to he is not jesus that is logos that's correct grammatically what i'm saying to you but theologically how you interpret what what what is the logarithm here right in verse one through four and after that until 14th verse when it comes to verse 14 yes now readers are you know a certainty oh the word the logos became flesh oh it had to do with jesus that's my next topic we will try to interpret what that means all right but still i'm not going there yet i'm reading the text itself closely all right that's where i am now i hope you understand trying to say okay now next question check i was just going to make the statement that that you know the the it was my understanding that the gnostics uh thought that the this this i guess the logos this the spirit or whatever it it it indwelled into christ and and they believed that before he died or when he in the process of his death that the locals left him is that is that what you is that what you're going to allude to or there's nothing coming here i i'm not thought about you know uh gnosticism here okay nazism believed in the dualistic worldview dualistic worldview right so in their view you know certainly they will read this very with high christology right exactly you know they may think that one the world is jesus right in the beginning was jesus the same thing the word jesus the spirit the same thing okay it's perfectly they just believe what jesus the the divine not human at all understand but john's gospel and also the epistles of john right confirmed that well emphasize that jesus came in the flesh so there will see us throughout the johannine epistles actually some people in the johannine community guess what happened some people left the community because of their peculiar faith said what jesus came not in the flesh jesus was purely what the spirit and god all right so too much high christology made them believe that jesus is normal than god and i'm forgetting about all the earthly nature of humanity and his ministry in the world right yes you're right you know many people early of first century first second century third century you know among nazi christians guess what john's gospel was the favorite castle for them why because there are so many things they may interpret in the way that they want to make sense of in other words there is kind of otherworldly right spiritual relationship language right if you abide in me you are in god right jesus saying you know if you love me you love god if you believe me you saw you have seen god okay i understand so in many ways possibly right people easily love this gospel as well very spiritual dualistic gospel in which one jesus must be the same as one okay that high christological view is making sense in a few verses but as i said earlier right overall you have to observe and carefully see what jesus says in this gospel in the narrative i mean okay observe what he says anywhere else does he imply anything like that his identity as or does he always say i am the son of god i'm doing the work of god as the son of god i must glorify god as son of god eyewitnesses to the father that is the language of johannes gospel that's why i was so eager to reinterpret the gospel of john and also i said earlier okay i got funded i received funder to have some research on this exclusive statement in john 14 6. i am the way and the truth and the life for no one comes to father except through father what does that mean historically okay and theologically many people have taken this verse as a weapon to conquer the other world other non-christians saying that jesus is the only way of salvation the church is only the institution christian is only the religion right so you know what happened in christian history even in 19th century american protest protestantism right people send the missionaries to africa and asia other parts of the world apparently you know they went with the gospel but their gospel is pretty much the cast of a western civilization okay there's so many books and things about researchers about you know mission history okay so still the gospel of john is at odds with the many many christians i know that's why i'm bold enough to say all these things and you know in my book other things i'm building up why because i'm a scholarly model now and also i'm very very interested in what the transformation of the world and people in a real sense i'm not just archaic you know ivory tower thing in you know game just kind of a digging history i care about this world and care for the people in this world right i care you know so i i saw so so i have a right to say and introduce things that you are not familiar all right so otherwise one thing i will tell you you don't have to buy you don't have to accept no no no i am saying what i need to say but whether you will accept it or not you have to decide eventually and you have to call through right the stage and process of study right eventually maybe i hope but you'll get better understanding of the gospel in this case john's gospel right otherwise i'm not interested in pushing you to adopt my view but i am helping you to see some alternative understanding and views of johannes gospel but i'm not the only one who says this thing but there are increasing number of scholars who see john's gospel as well very you know important theological healthy you know gospel just just like the synaptic gospels so since you you asked me about this that's really i thank you all you asked me because actually in later screens right i prepared all these things so i'll go faster in later slides okay so i appreciate so if i have still one more hand here let me check check do you have a question dr kim what you said is somewhat electrifying for me but i just want to focus on one one through one four which i understand you to be saying listen not all and i'm gonna take a couple things you said to make sure i understand what you're saying not only is jesus not mentioned in that text but jesus is not referenced in that text by the use of the word logos or logos whatever might come later that's what i said exactly yeah okay okay that's what happens okay yeah so so far forward let me let me finish yeah so far you are correct that's what i wanted to say okay technically yeah grammatical speaking there's no reference to jesus at all okay yeah now let me finish reading this prologue i took too much time okay but because later actually we will have time to deal with all this logos theology and jesus relationship with the lord and so forth there are so many things we really need on tech but i'm just reading okay prologue five verse six there was a man sent from god you hear the language of men sent from god right john the baptist is he divine the human right but he was sent from god so what's wrong with the language right oftentimes jesus sent from god only jesus is the only special person who is sent from god the only one no you know in jerusalem in the old testament right easy prophet they think what they say you know god sent me right i was called by god even today you know test theological language even today we say that i was called by god god sent me you know obviously we must you know use that language carefully right otherwise you can't claim to abuse other people right you know kind of show your power you know authority in the name of god that's not certainly wrong but otherwise in good theology we can use that language so sent from god whose name was john john the baptist right he came as witness to testify to the to the light so that all might believe through him he himself was not the light but he came to testify to the light the true light which enlightens everyone was coming into the world but still you know technically there's no direct reference to jesus although there are allusions to jesus because eventually okay we see jesus in 14. now verse 10 he was in the world still he is what the lovers very surprising to many of you right technically grammatically even worse than he is the lowest loss in the beginning was the logos right in the view lovers logo still here in the world you know he was in the world logos in the world and the world came into being through lovas yet the world did not know the longest the word of god logos it may be what the word of god later in the narrative okay jesus says i came to deliver the word of god that is the lord the lord love us of god the word of god is another way of we can look at the word you know love us here you know the same grief the word of god is love us of god the word of god jesus came to testify to the logos and logos embodied the logos of god because of his testimony to the love of god he was captured and arrested and killed basically you know following the synoptic gospel lodging right because of his testimony to god he came to what was his own and his own people did not accept him but to all who received him who believed in his name he gave power to become children of god who were born not of love of the will of the flesh or the will of men but of god okay so far this very kind of abstract right it's kind of a very cloudy statement in a way because there's no jesus name but finally 14 not something okay if you're a reader right reading this gospel somehow you may hit the name of the son of god here and the word became flesh okay the word became flesh in other words we can think that before jesus was born the world was just a word in the world or okay you know in any place of the world but the word became flesh means what now the word was incarnate with jesus right flesh the word became flesh this statement is not the same as god is jesus but the lord is jesus he came flesh means one it's a metaphorical statement right how can you say that word became flake does it make sense by the way in john's gospel there are so many metaphors and ironies let me give you one example jesus says in chapter six right i'm the bread if you eat me my flesh you will live if you don't eat my flesh or if you don't drink my blood okay there's no life she talks about what metaphorical theological language otherwise he does not you know talk about can cannibalism i don't know pronounce it crap you know eating you know human flesh huh cannibalism yeah cannibalism right cannibalism i'm learning the word huh eating human flesh she doesn't talk about that anyone can read that way literally when you talk about if you do not eat my flesh or drink my blood we don't take that as literal right huh you know when jesus says i'm going away and you will not see me anymore right or people think where are you going okay here you go leaving us you know john 14 okay people are so you know it's kind of a replete with the just come every day ordering ordinary language where they don't understand you know the language of jesus usually jesus uses a lot of what metaphors and ironies you know metaphors and ironies so the word became flesh from johanna and gospel's perspective right we have to interpret because text itself is evocative not evasive ambiguous in certain way the world became flesh do you understand what does it mean although traditionally right people thinking that oh the word is god so god became flesh god became jesus there is too easy okay reading of this verse on next slide i'll show you why we have difficulty in understanding this statement the word lovers became flesh few flesh jesus right flesh means jesus actually flesh also flesh is more than jesus right flesh represents what vulnerability of this world okay human weakness everything that we are living in this world right flesh because we live in this world with flesh which means weakness right frailty right all kinds of things you know so jesus the world became flesh lived among us and we have seen his glory and the glory adult what a father's only son not here the father first time you see here right the word loras is relating to what the father's only son okay so technically you know before verse 3 you know 14 there's no jesus name appearing at all but finally here the word became flesh means well the word was incarnate with jesus the invisible word of god if you think the word as the word of god right the invisible the word of god was the invisible spirit of god right logos a reason okay the word of god something the word logos became what flesh means the loras became clear and exemplified through the life of jesus so leave the manners full of grace and truth the later part i'm not gonna read that this is uh um you know john's statement okay uh this society said who who he who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me so this is a you know spiritual baptism kind of sense right no water baptism actually and 18 uh no one has ever seen god is god the only son who is close to the father's heart no one has ever seen god is god the only son right got the only son who is close to the father's heart what made him known so this is the second person in trinity okay that's you know a systematic theology which is not my topic okay but nonetheless sun right is different from god god and god's a son right sun is close to the father's heart so jesus is kind of the agent okay the messiah the son of god who has a unique job okay doing things that unique so again this is a problem okay very different beginning okay if you compare with the other gospel that's my point how we understand i did not say yet okay still we have a lot to do before we unpack you know the prologue and the christology a little bit more than this let me talk about differences with the synaptic gospels in john's gospel there are no parables like the synoptic gospels no parables at all no exorcisms casting demons out of person no exorcisms we have a lot of exorcisms in mark for example beatitude we have in matthew and luke beatitude but nothing like a beatitudes in general there's no water baptism of jesus that's interesting right john mentions the spiritual baptism of jesus otherwise no water no jordan nothing like that there's no jesus first narrative why infancy narrative at all this really distinguishes john from other synaptic gospels in terms of right material also a little bit more detail about you know the duration of jesus ministry duration how long jesus had a public ministry in the synoptic gospels jesus has one year public ministry but in the fourth gospel jesus involved or has three years of public ministry three years because in the text jesus observes three times of the passover three times okay because you know passover right is once a year so three times in the synaptic gospels jesus makes one journey of a year from galilee to jerusalem is a linear movement okay from galilee to jerusalem taking one year and also with suspense and tensions right gradually the tensions are building up right and eventually you know his final destination is well one time final destination is jerusalem if you make a movie maybe you love this synoptic chronology right synoptic one okay because jesus has one year dramatic increasing kind of a one-year journey it's easy you can make it but in the fourth hospital we have multiple visits of jesus to jerusalem that's more realistic in a way you know jesus actually in the story guess what going to jerusalem and coming back to galilee and caesarea and other places and again you know he observed the passover again and then doing things in other places you know visiting here and there you know that's more realistic right when you see the synoptic gospels one year linear journey that is pretty much kind of a very controlled scenario right control the scenario you know but three-year public ministry seemed to seems to be more realistic you know so in that sense probably john help us to understand the better something the earlier right things about you know jesus that's what i said earlier right although you know some materials are later than the synoptic gospels okay but we can't say you know the gospel as entirety okay this all you really you know uh you know prostatin okay uh the synoptics that's not true and also we talk about writing style there are long prayer speech prayer farewell discourse and long prayer right and long discourse of the word i am statement i am the bread of life and he talks with the people right you know people are choosing him how you can say you are bread of life you know so writing style is also very very different continuing with the differences in terms of eschatology things about the end eschatology while mark and matthew emphasize future eschatology in other words the imminent end of the world imminent coming all right jesus coming back imminent future eschatology but the fourth gospel along the lines with the lucan gospel right where we see today emphasis john's the gospel of fourth gospel focuses on what the present eschatology some people say this as realized ethnology okay whatever term you use right the emphasis is what the present reality of the kingdom of god right you know i am the resurrection the new life eternal life begins now it is not coming in delay the future it is here i am the resurrection that is very different from you know market method in particular right so the textual evidence here 336 36 whoever believes in the sun has eternal life you see here notice the present tense whoever believes in the son has eternal life obvious here believes in is not a you know mental agreement to the fact something knowledge you know faith is not knowledge okay in john's gospel as well as in the synoptic gospel faith means what commitment loyalty swallowing relationships it's not knowledge whoever this obese son will not see life but must endure god's rest in other words there will be the consequence eventually but now the life begins 5 24 very truly i tell you anyone who bear hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come under judgment and has passed from death to life 6 47 8 very truly i tell you whoever believes has eternal life i am the bread of life so the present tense and the present reality of god's rule right in the world last supper if we see the last supper in the synoptic gospels jesus eats the past of a meal what does he eat test of a meal which is the last meal that he ate the point is what jesus ate the passover meal which was the last meal in the synaptic gospels but in john's gospel he does not eat the path of a meal why because he was killed slaughtered as a lamb like a lamb during the preparation day of the passover before the passover there was a preparation day right jesus was captured and killed which implies that jesus is being presented as pascal lamb to lamb sacrifice for the passover in others jesus is the very lamb for the passover that's why he could not read that meal the past of a meal that's theologically speaking right john wanted to say something about the significance of jesus death that is here in crucifixion in the synoptics jesus was crucified on the day of passover but in the fourth gospel he was crucified before the passover this implies that the fourth gospel considers jesus death as pascal lamb jesus death is pascal you know lamb death okay jesus is pascaline so passover theology right in some sense okay jesus you know does not replace the passover but he himself is still up for sacrifice holy sacrifice for the passover for the new kind of passover right through jesus so johanna and theologian gospel claims that jesus is the taska lamb you know there is something new however we understand what makes sense out of this text but the difference is clear in terms of all right the wording and things that was written here that's all i just want to say interpretation is always okay you know second step in other words you know we have to take time right take time struggling okay there are many things coming in that's not easy because even how we approach the text okay in biblical studies intro to biblical studies so many of you you know learned okay how we may approach the text and with that how we may read the john's gospel right there is another thing but also more specifically when it comes to jesus death you know the synoptic and johns hospital there are so many things were involved but i just tell you that there are differences between synaptics and science now let's talk about the historical community that we call the johannine community so each gospel involves a certain community right behind so it is important for us to see the gospel in few of the particular community or audience because we believe gospel did not fall from the heaven sky okay you know there are real people community issues in society right so gospel is not just purely abstract okay things that you know coming from uh heaven in that regard certainly it's important to think about the johanna community so there are three stages involved in the development of the johanna community the first stage is called the community in the synagogue the community in the synagogue in other words the early believers of jesus were mingling with black other people in the synagogue they are not separated okay still you know they try to uh proselytize or provide their fellow jews in the synagogue right saying that you know we found the messiah let us see come and see we have discovered the messiah so the community in the synagogue here jesus very early stage of his life i mean not life i mean his jewishness okay his humanity in other words low christology is found in this early stage we also textual uh you know a support for this law christology local scholars means what jesus is understood as what a jewish man and jewish messiah or rabbi or teacher jewish teacher okay after this we'll read the you know next screen actually you know john 1 35 after we will read you know the early part of jesus you know um story where we see the low christology 135 42 the lamb of god is a jewish title right and rabbi is also both hebrew and aramaic you know origin rap means teacher right rabbi the messiah interestingly you know the messiah the word was written in hebrew in other words um transliteration of the hebrew word you know mashiach okay in other gospels when you see the messiah this is usually what the greek what was written there is a crystals christos is greek word okay crystals but in this particular place that we will read okay jesus is called the messiah here the messiah the word is not crystals but the pronunciation of you know the hebrew word and messiah right that is a transliteration we call transliteration of what the hebrew word okay we don't find the crystals here that means one we can think of the early stage of jesus ministry where right his followers you know come and then also you know in the johanna and community experience somehow right it tells us of something evangelical movement okay so we will read anyway on the next screen so johanna members try to proselytize other members of the synagogue so all you need to know is a very early stage right the believers of you know jesus was part of the synagogue part of the synagogue okay so let's read the early stage of you know johannes community where okay jesus is referred to as very jewish one jesus is referred to as what the very jewish one okay that is we believe you know uh this text reflects the early stage of the johannine community let me read that the next day john again was standing with two of his disciples and as he watched jesus walk by walked by he exclaimed look here is the lamb of god the lamb of god is what the jewish man leader right you know it's not high christianity's sense right lamb of god you know from old testament in misery lamb of god very jewish setting the two disciples heard him say this and they followed jesus when jesus turned and saw them following he said to them what are you looking for they said to him rabbi which translated means a teacher this is interesting right because practice is a means some later readers but do not understand the rabbi right so you know john is kind enough to translate the meaning of a rabbi to go for some later christians okay the rabbi which translator means a teacher where are you staying he said to them come and see come and see jesus come and see but also this will look like what johanna members are early believe believer of jesus in the sinai what they might say to their fellow jews saying what come and see we have found the messiah come and see jesus the messiah come and see that kind of you know technique in evangelization right come and see even today right this is a good strategy when some people are interested in what you believe what you do right what you might say come and see what we do come and see they came and saw where he was staying and they remained with him that day it was about four o'clock in the afternoon one of the two who heard john speak and followed him was andrew who is simon peters a brother right andrew he first found his brother simon and said to him we have found the messiah messiah actually the greek is this messian okay messian is in you know the transliteration of the hebrew word messiah we have found what the messiah this is the only place you don't see crystals okay usually you know when you see christ is crystals or even christ is translated as messiah right but here in particular particular case we have found the messiah that's a real you know uh translation but even the messiah is not written in you know not coming from a greek word crystals but rather from hebrew word transliteration so machine tell how i read that word in greek that's why i put the machine like this which is translated anointed okay so the you know the first writer of this gospel whoever that person is right you know and thinking about what later you know readers right the other readers who don't know much about one early part of a jewish history right so explaining what this word means he brought simon to jesus who looked at him and said you are simon son of azam you are to be called sippers or kaipas this is aramaic kappas shippers which means what petros in greek that's where peter the word okay name coming from peter means what greek petros petrus means what rock right aramaic word for that you know rock is what c pass that's why sometimes pir is called right sipas or catas in aramaic all i'm saying is this in these verses we see no christology jesus is understood primarily you know as the one in jewish setting you know in jewish culture in two traditions such as a rabbi right and the messiah the hebrew word messiah the anointed one okay so also technique of something like come and see right may this kind of technique may reflect the early stage of evangelization within the synagogue by whom by the early followers of jesus obviously you know what i say to you is this is kind of a interpretation okay otherwise the tech itself doesn't say anything about you know uh the early stage of you know johannes community like that all right so what i'm telling you is this some you know scholars argue that john's story involves two layers of a story two layers or two dimensions of the story one layer is about jesus okay who is jesus what he did certainly right we we we we we may read all the gospels as well a story about jesus no problem right certainly in john's gospel as a story of jesus that's one layer primary layer but also there's another layer which is what a story about the community especially in john's case the narrative as a whole here and there reflect the experience or theology of the john's community okay whether you accept it or not some people argue that okay chance gospel involves two dimensions of story one is jesus story but also what science communities experience or theology is reflected very strongly in the narrative the next stage you can imagine right the community is finally excluded or separated from the synagogue why because their evangelization right proselytization is going too harsh right and somehow there is uh something you know a pressure or opposition right from the leaders of the community okay so stop leader okay so they were expelled probably so as time goes by they expelled from the synagogue because of what their faith that jesus is the messiah because back then right in first century toward the the end of first century we believe john's gospel was written toward the end of first century guess what in this time okay there are some numbers of jewish right fathers of jesus right they are part of the synagogue but when they made the strong voices guess what they were somehow pressured hard right by or from the synagogue okay so we have a a historical allusions to that the period of time that the first you know the end of first century where some jewish christians were you know abandoned or you know prohibited from you know speaking about you know the messiah you know like that even the cursed statement coming from the synagogue okay those who follow jesus occurs a curved statement that is happening when toward the end of first century but not during jesus time come on not during jesus time during jesus time there are no such thing right people were expelled from the sinai because of you know their faith in jesus no nothing that happened because why because still okay faith is very weak right but fathers are very small and nothing like that happened but yeah you know so it was only later time when more people accepting jesus the messiah right and somehow you know at a certain point of time you know in the synagogue there is great conflict and intolerance about these people who claim that jesus the messiah which is intolerable unacceptable claim by many jews back then especially in the synagogue okay that's non-sensible okay claim because as you know in church circle jesus is not even close to the messiah he was a failed messiah you know that's the truth understanding you know the fact that he was crucified on the cross means what failure failure period because the messiah they expected islam the one who liberates liberates to land them people from the grips of the foreign army right foreign you know clear simple like david who unified the the you know the land right someone who can do that marvelous glorious john right but jesus is not close at all you know he was not interested in so much in that political revolutionary you know kind of fight right jesus did not you know although we don't know for sure 100 whether jesus was a political revolutionary or not but what we have like gospels and other reasoning you know kind of uh uh you know study right through reasonable study we believe that jesus is not close to even revolutionary political revolutionary rather jesus emphasized one the transformation of a people's heart and mind and also society's change right through people's friends so he was critical of the leaders yes true her otherwise he was not like you know uh other you know later people we call what zealots right zealots well earlier time in in second century a pce you know maccabee and brothers right the cavean brothers they were a promoting one i'm the resistance right we have to you know stand up against okay we have to take swords and arms and you know defeat the armies but jesus you know i think is not even aligning with that you know a trend of revolutionary uh but anyway my point is at some point in time as time goes by get expelled and their experience johanna and experience is reflected in the following verses because during jesus time no followers of jesus were expelled from the synagogue it is historically unplausible okay historically unplausable you know then how can you understand all these references that i'll read for you now okay 9 22 his parents said this because they were afraid of the jews because his parents of the blind but you know men born blind right a man born blind you know asked by you know the jewish leaders are you the parent of this boy do you know you know who do you know jesus okay and who are you kind of you know questions so his parents were afraid so what they say they were afraid of the jews the reason is why for the jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed to jesus to be the messiah would be put out of a synagogue wait a minute did this really happen okay now think about historical matters right when you read this on one hand you know you can think oh wait a minute this thing really happened anyone who confessed jesus would be the messiah will be put out of the synagogue did this thing really happen during jesus time many historians believe that it is impossible why because i said right jesus movement was so weak okay there are not many followers you know and also almost like one non-existent in a way the existence or presence of what you know christians you know it's not important that's why even josephus you know barely mentions only one statement okay one paragraph one short you know a statement about jesus josephus flavius josephus is a first century church historian okay who recorded who wrote the two important books about the jewish history and jews jewish words and the other one is jewish antiquities you know he mentions apparently about jesus who came from galilee and who had some followers with him he taught about things about god and he was arrested and crucified that's it so the historical fact is true he he was he he lived in galilee and he had some good teachings he had some followers for some reason he was captured and crucified that's a very offense okay the other option that you can think you know this thing is this statement right to anyone confess jesus to be the messiah would he put others in oh this may reflect whose experience maybe the johanna and community experience that is the theory argued by some people i also agree with this idea because otherwise this statement is what it's kind of uh you know what is that uh the word i forgot uh the word you know it's um mistaken time what what is the word for them anachronistic exactly anachronistic exactly okay this is a mistaken time view otherwise anachronistic okay that's good word and the other verse that i'm reading chapter 12 again similar things we have pretty much similar nevertheless many even of the authorities believed in him right so it's suggesting well many believe in him right during jesus something really happened well but because of the pharisees they did not confess it for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue this is important right they would put out of the sinai simply simply because you you believe that jesus is the messiah you will be put on this you know that kind of thing didn't occur okay during jesus time that kind of thing occurred toward the end of the first century we have some historical mentions of you know uh prohibitions you know for for for for christians okay sixteen fourth chapter they will put you out of the cinema again put your arms expel you right from the sinai if you believe jesus the messiah you know again that thing did not happen in in jesus time but in the later time maybe in community time which we believe right was active in the the end of first century like 95 100 that period of time indeed an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to god so put you out of the channel in the same you know kind of uh phrases full of synagogue occurred in all these three places which may represent or reflect the nines experience right because they were expelled from the synagogue again this hypothesis otherwise we don't know exactly where johannes community lives or what kind of people we don't know but only by reading the text you know very carefully we can think of a possible scenario okay that's it the last stage of the rohana community which we call the community resisting the synagogue not either against right against not you know jewish christians are against the synagogue resisting means some against earth first of them we are good they are bad kind of a mentality right there is a sectarianism begins with that mentality you know that right once you are separated from the mother community oftentimes one there is a strong you know sense of animosity and also you have to defend right your members from others right there are two things going on on one hand you know feeling insecure about your membership feeling insecure right in your community because you are separated you are minority right you are isolated you are minority so this is important you know what john's gospel is not about triumph of the gospel but rather this gospel came a rosa out of what the very marginalized community john's community is a very marginalized community you know they are not you know historically kind of uh very victorious members okay triumph from the gospel no they are actually trembling in some sense but nevertheless they have to keep their faith right they have to stay in the faith right so they have to defend the fend for themselves off from you know the opponents because you know the synagogue right other people will not you know sit silent right so they will come back to you right asking you give up your faith come back to the cinema right so the community felt uh uh unsecured and persecuted sometimes that may lead to what the mentality of us versus them in other words we are good we are children of god we are light you are darkness you are children of the devil we are better than you that technique is kind of um kind of a defensive right uh technique in a way you know uh telling your your people right if you're a leader of the community right you are in the right place right we are better we are actually uh to to truth we live in the truth we are children of god that's where high christology may have been developed some people argue that because of what this community experience right us versus mentality here the high christology has been developed in other words you have to tell the synagogue people right the messiah is what truly powerful like great and okay so you know in every way possible you know jesus as the messiah son of god is perfect you know glorified and he did what he had to do that's where the christology in this gospel is a much higher attention of the gospels because as i said earlier there are statements alluding to that high christianity in two places although you know in overall right in the entire gospel jesus never claimed that he was god but nevertheless people think that jesus was you know pre-existent and he i said one time certainly right i was before abram was but other than that you know uh we don't see much of that you know very high high christology so we'll see more about this like the christianity issue in later flights love and jesus logos means many things actually reason or the world what may be your spirit or even wisdom okay so you you can't limit the meaning only one thing okay always in the study of the word right it must be open to you know many possibilities oftentimes in your translation the word in the beginning was the word but why not you know replacing that word with one just logos logos everywhere when you read the jump okay when you hit the word you know i mean the word okay when you hit the word the word you can immediately replace it with what loss law was greek means wrong word spirit or even reason you know sometimes jesus says i deliver i delivered the word of god to you you know john chapter 17 he said that to his disciples i delivered what the word of god is what the laws of god the longest of god jesus embodied the word the word of what the word of god the word is truth you know how can you interpret the word the word is jesus well there is a metaphorical statement you know the word became flesh that's where where i am now so we will see a little bit more about the peaceful language of metaphorical statement you know logos theology some people say law of theology or the incarnation theology right incarnation you know incarnation theology a lot of theology many people understood this incarnation of law of theology you know in major way i mean i know how they are understanding this thing only through high christology only through certain systematic theology doctrine perspective okay but apart from all those doctrines we have to read this gospel and language carefully within the narrative and also in field of right the real community behind this gospel so logos the big claim is what i argue that logos is not the same as jesus logos became flesh but otherwise right logan says lord was with god right lovers was god like genesis 1 1 okay from the from the beginning what's the word the logos logos is love us though that's not the jesus the word in genesis you know or wisdom tradition you know the the wisdom there so many ways we can allude to what greek word logos in the old testament and also here in johannes literature okay in johannes gospel because only at 114 the author says the narrator says right the word loras became flesh but when it took the form of flesh right that is the new history begins with jesus otherwise what before the you know the logos took the form of flesh well the law was still available through ancient classical prophets and through the people of jewish people right up to jesus the world the laws was working all the time all the time the law was there in the beginning and with god the lord was god in the sense that one the lord was something central power of god something had to do with god the word of god as i said you know chapter 17 i delivered the word of god i think that verse is important to me why because jesus well it's not the same as the word but jesus service what the incarnate right embodiment that's another language embodiment of the word of god or embodiment of the truth that's where pontius pilate okay people you know send him are you king yes i'm king i was born into the world as king but for what to testify testify to the truth who's the truth to the truth of god so lord became flesh this is the moment death right jesus incarnates the word the word of god so the rest of john's gospel is about love this language incarnation we have to see as readers how jesus incarnates the word of god come on how does jesus embody the word of god come on that must be the reader's task i would argue that must be the reader's task in what sense the word invisible the word right the invisible word a pre-existent word however you understand that the logos something had to do with god from creation and down to jesus time right the word logos was always available working for people prophets you know also work for god right the word came to the prophets you know they're right prophets deliver the word of god right deliver the word of god why that it's not you know the logos the same thing okay many ways you know you can relate to language of logos to old testament theology here and there prophets and the torah right even in new testament period of time here among early christians what does it mean that you know when you claim that jesus became flesh you know in what sense does it mean literally there's nonsense okay how the world became flesh literally but that's nonsense okay we are all born with flesh right jesus born with love flesh right was jesus just a spirit no right the gospel does not claim that thing at all that is actually well heresy okay when you claim that like nazi christians who believe that jesus came not in the flesh okay the fundamental claim about jesus among early christians as we have before gospel is what jesus came in the flesh and was just like us especially in mark right just like us who were one agitated who are trembling just like us all right different gospel talk a little differently about okay and jesus but nevertheless the bottom line israel jesus came as a human being right lived and testified to truth of god as a son of god yes but the bottom line is okay he's lived life and experience for god so much the lord became flesh that is an interpretation statement it is a matter of interpretation i'm not saying i understand this perfectly or i'm pushing for okay at certain things but rather i'm opening up many possibilities on one hand the traditional interpretation of this islam high christological you know uh interpretation in other words the law of you can flesh means god became jesus understand god is jesus but i don't think that that is the primary thing that is argued in this gospel as a whole okay that's my argument why because there is an alternative now interpretation that i'm arguing for that is we can take this statement as metaphorical statement and also i'm emphasizing the christological or messianic statement that points to what the work of god in other words jesus does the work of god if he doesn't do the work of god he is not the messiah of you know christ because he said in the narrative clearly because some people did not believe that he was the messiah he said to them okay guys if you don't believe me that's okay but by seeing what i do and believe me that i'm the messiah okay so we can't separate the work of jesus okay from one the title that he has this is very important many people ignore this fact he said what the connection between the work of jesus and the title he has but what kind of work that is issue right some people really think that oh jesus came to die for us so he uh accomplished all the requirements for for redemption jesus sacrificed once and for all for he came to die for us for our sins he removed all dirt and sins he cleansed all things we are saved once and for because of his once and for all death and sacrifice hallelujah that is too easy gospel that you know many people read whichever scripture they read or is they read through that lens you know but the other possibility is that one the lord has become flesh we can read it as along with the other i am sayings of jesus right i am you know the bread i am you know the way and the truth okay all these are metaphorical statements so the logos became flesh can be understood as well jesus incarnation jesus incarnates the lord jesus embodies the word of god then you may ask me oh what is the word of god 316 is a good example so loved the world he gave his only begotten son so that people may not perish but have eternal life so the word of god what the intention of what the goodness of god is one god wants to save the world you know love the god love the world god love the world what kind of world this fleshy world this dark world this evil people living in this world john's gospel does not say that you know i will deliver you out of the world i'll get to heaven as soon as possible so that you may not suffer in the bodily existence of your life like the nasty christians believe that this world and bodily life is bad right you're our destiny in this world is just bad unfortunate you know our body is a tomb of the soul the salvation is to escape this world as soon as possible there is a huge view gnosticism dualism here in second first first and second century yes there are lots of christians who wholeheld this view of dualism they are called what today we call them nasty christians for jesus embodied the love of god okay this whole thing read the whole narrative from beginning to end in order to understand in what way jesus incarnates or embodies the word what the truth of god this whole thing then shahana in gospel and theology really you know enlightens us a lot because many times we just you know understood the john's gospel too easily with focus on otherworldly dualistic salvation or spiritual gospel in the sense that while some people call this gospel the spiritual gospel only emphasizing our spiritual relationship with god without caring much on about this world right that's untrue why because the gospel was written chapter 20 31 the purpose of discussion written so there were you may believe that jesus is a messiah and also you may have one life in his name when and where now in the world that's the power of johanna and gospel and theology still you know making sense and it's important to us just where i am passionate about this gospel we need to dig in take out more okay the in-depth language of this gospel you know in light of the community's experience on one hand also going deeper within the story right how this gospel as a whole reveals something important about you know our relationship with god and and with jesus what it means to become disciples of jesus according to them it's not just by simply believing something about jesus god no if you continue in my teaching you are truly my disciples so johannes gospel is very deep on one hand also very realistic that's my claim you know on one hand very it has very deep language yes johanna and language and vocabulary are so much different from synoptic gospels but at the same time if we understand interpret the gospel you know in right way in good way carefully we must love cherish his gospel so metaphor has a t structure a is a b a direct comparison between two dissimilar things if i say to you you are a star or superstar right there is metaphorical statement i'm not saying you are star in heaven right you are what you are like a star in other words your achievements your excellence in whatever right i may want to talk about you pointing out certain qualities but instead of i'm explaining listing things that you have done right but i just say in metaphorical statement like this what you are which means a lot actually because metaphorical statement does not give you the one possibility or one clear picture of a thing because one thing we know is that ah this person is a great person right you you are a star but other than that one you have to come up with a certain details of a starness you know in what way right because what will be the what you know who you are how you become like a star right there are ways we can relate between what you as a person and start because there is one disciplined relationship you see between two dissimilar things one there is a display relationship between you and star but only by relating to different two dissimilar things we can make a sense right that is a metaphor so metaphor is a you know it really is open-ended in some sense because there must be one the reader's engagement with a statement okay because metaphorical statement is so concise and and you know and compact right and also the imagery of you know uh a and b for example if i say a is b like you are a star right a is called the target domain this is taking the term in literally literary criticism target domain and b is the source domain so there are target domain and source domain the abstract idea of the logos which is target domain right i need to you know explain the logos in order to explain or explicate the logos the target domain i'm borrowing certain lab relevant images right imagery from other things other dissimilar things in this case well the flesh the logos is explained or understood through the image of a flesh place is a source domain if you take this as metaphor right metaphorical statement flesh the word is flesh or became flesh flesh as the source domain evokes certain images certain things certain images certain things about what love us flesh evolves a real human life on the one hand also vulnerable world right this world will live in you know weak shaky world right also we have flesh so we are vulnerable so flesh the lord became flesh that is very unrealistic in some sense okay how the invisible world became the visible world reality that is really you know nonsensical right almost like akshay moroni okay strange combination between the word and flesh you know in one way this is not the usual way you can relate okay to different things the word and flesh how can you understand when we read not only this verse but the entire gospel as a narrative the word what is the word is the word of god or the truth of god the spirit of god right somehow we need to interpret the laws what is the word that is referred to in this gospel and also we have to tell right we have to say how jesus had to do what jesus had to do with the lovers so my interpretation is this the invisible wisdom or word of god became known seen felt and touched by people in this sacred world through whom through somebody's life there is flesh that's somebody's who jesus so the emphasis is the flesh and jesus together right not just by jesus name but jesus real life for that embodies and takes on the word of god this somebody is jesus who testified to the truth of god 1837 i said many times today right before pontius pilate yes i am king i was born asking to testify testify to the truth to the truth of god also in chapter 17 he said a few times i delivered the word of god i you see a logos right i delivered the laws of god jesus is the one who concretized embodied and showed the love of god and also told them how they can you know truly honor god how they can testify to god as he did he set great examples of one loving relationships with the god and the world for god's follow the world he gave his only begotten son why just simply to give you life just easy way there's no easy way you can get that life only believing what are you believing giving your loyalty and commitment following him as disciples right then you may dwell and live in the light the light and the life so the johannine gospel challenges our easy going right faith jesus delivered the lord of god otherwise the lord is not the same as jesus but it is embodied by him jesus makes clear that his job is to do the work of god for example chapter 10 25 here you may read it what of jesus argues for he argues that i am the son of god and doing the work of god you know son of god the same as god no way son is a son we also can say right in different way but still we can say i am the son of god i'm not saying i am jesus son of god same thing but you know in different way right of theology i can still say that you know i am the son of god doing the work of god i don't mean i am jesus but i'm still believe that right i still believe that god sent me doing the work of god if you're a daughter yes you can say i'm daughter of god doing the work of god sorry here son doesn't mean they're only limiting right you know the gender sense but yes you know the seven things i'm saying for jesus jesus said all this i am statement we call i am sayings of jesus which you do not find in the synoptics although we have some you know similarities with the synoptic gospels only in terms of uh indirect illusions right our themes yes certainly but otherwise not exactly the same language or wording we may find here so i am the bread of life a living bread i'm the light of the world i'm the gate of the seafold i'm the good shepherd i'm the resurrection and the life i'm the way and the truth and the life which is the topic for your group discussion today i'm the way and the truth and the life and no one comes to the father except through me which looks like a very exclusive christological statement that limits salvation only to some christians i'll explain more about what what you can do in your group discussion psalm 14 6 you're familiar with this i'm the way and the truth and the life and no one comes the father except through me what does that mean can you interpret john 1 14 6 out of context so you can take one verse and you can go anywhere that you want to make a sense a point that is we can say while nearly really reading right you can just you know make a voice anything that you want to make you know that that's not critical study right i critical study you know always we have to piece together things right different things you know and things in the gospel right certainly we should be careful on understanding all of this i'm saying i'm divine and the truth i'm true vine all devotee about i am sayings of jesus also one in a way metaphorical right construction metaphorical construction because a is b you know i is jesus right i am the light of the world certainly jesus is not the light in a literal sense right jesus one thing light is another thing two dissimilar things are connected so that one convey certain you know things about this dissimilar relationships in other words readers have to come up with a certain understanding that in what way jesus is the light of the world do we know the light right in our experience what does light have to do in our lives light expels the darkness you know that light like the sun right we need a light to do work light there are many functions of the light light is essential thing that we live by without light it's hard to live but no light no no life so all these things must be interpreted carefully through metaphor metaphor is the final few pages slides about letters of jam letters of jam okay and i'll finish by 11 30. that's good time that i'll finish and you'll have one hour we study gospel john's gospel along with letters of john why because we consider letters of them also a by-product of the community that we call johanna and community so we call johanna in literature johanna in literature we include the gospel and also all three letters just very small letters okay but johanna and literature the second and third johanna and episode you know letters have all the standard elements of ancient letters but the first letter does not nevertheless all three letters were written by the same author but this author was not probably the same author of the gospel of john so many themes are similar in other words the author of the these three letters are the same but this author is not the same as what the gospel's author the author of these letters are probably coming from what the second generation of the jazz community in other words after some time passed by okay there's something happened in the community as i talked about earlier some what members who claim that jesus came not in the flesh just like agnostic christians that's interesting that's really interesting okay johanna and community was expelled as separated from the you know synagogue community but now within their christian community john's community guess what happened there's another schism schism that's interesting why the scheme happened the letter told us that is because some people left us because they claimed what jesus did not come in the flesh so that the letter argued that what they are anti-christ they are liars they are called antichrist they are liars okay that's the issue this letter through these letters we know that there was a schism so evidence here i wrote here okay you write first john here and second john also here you read all the evidence here a group of people left the community because of their nasty christian-like claim that jesus did not come in the flesh that is really scandalous claim and unacceptable by the community because the real foundation all right christian community is one the fact that jesus came as the flesh in the flesh he lived like us he suffered like us right you know that's really important for christian experience and theology but some people argued just like a massive christians but eventually tewa they left the community still this kind of thing happened even today right always you know in the church wherever people gather right always schism things happening you know the reasoning for this sectarian is what jesus was god period and therefore could not be human you know still some people today think and read this gospel in this way just like the nazi christians she is simply god and not human then we loose all the important import of the gospel in the way that you know jesus you know came in the flesh the lord became flesh which is actually incarnation you know the invisible god of the word of god the invisible god was testified by jesus who is the son of god who revealed okay the love of god exemplified the truth of god in the shaky vulnerable world that is johanna theology very realistic very deeply theological in different way from the synoptics that's why i love john's gospel not according to the traditional understanding of the high christianity but rather you know hear the real message here embodiment john 14 6 i am the way that statement carries a deeper meaning of weight in terms of what jesus incarnation of the world i am the way we have to think the way that jesus lived or embodied the word of god yes i am the way i live the way i discern the way of god i live the way of god i show the way of god you know otherwise he doesn't say that you come to heaven like a nazi christian you know if you confess that jesus messiah then immediately you can go to heaven that is too simplistic and i don't think the cause of john you know tell us something that modern day very evangelical or some people say fundamental christians you know for them gospel is so easy you know package right just you know stadium people gathered together and praying a confession right and believing that jesus died for me you know and then all sins are dealt with so now you are saying that once and for all like a billy graham's technique you know evangelization is that really supported in the synoptics especially in byzantine's gospel i have doubt i have a long thought and research one of my research topic was on okay the gospels you know christology and also jesus work of god so anyway if you are more interested in read my chapter on your textbook that chapter i wrote i just tell you you know matthew mark and luke those three chapters written by my colleague mrs smith i wrote this chapter and also i wrote most of pauline chapters okay authentic letters to major letters of paul by the way i'm i'm like a pauline scholar you know my just tells my dissertation is about paul and i've also you know published some pauline books but anyway uh some important chapters in your textbook okay probably in chapters by me and then later some epistles of general epistles and the revelation were written by my colleague ms smith but anyway uh if you interested more about the johannine literature and theology and read the chapter carefully and also you may grab my book that's a very slender slender small you know small book it has only less than 100 page the title is truth testimony and transformation you don't have to buy it but probably you can read online you know but anyway uh get you know things that what i'm telling you okay so again uh the things that i'm presenting to you is very untraditional i know that but i was very vocal about this kind of thing through my scholarship and through online media so still i'm here okay so my debating with other people so i enjoy my work and it makes sense to me okay so that's all i have and then let me okay this i already explained to you so you you may read this as your evidence