Lesson 12 Flashcards
- What is the issue concerning John 1:1 and the deity of Jesus?
i. Connections with Gen 1:1 (LXX)
1. Echo of Gen 1:1
2. In the Beginning was God – In the Beginning was the Word
ii. Meaning of Logos
1. Choices:
a. Stoics: The rational principle by which everything exists
b. Philo: the ideal world of heaven, not the real world
c. Clark: “reason”, “Logic”
**iii. OT background is better: **
1. Connected to God’s power of Creation,
2. Method of Revelation,
3. Saves and Deliverance, “with God”, “was God’
iv. Logos is Gods powerful self-expression in creation, revelation, and salvation
v. Lack of definite article before God mean “a god”?
1. Predicate Nomitive
vi. Mini Chiasm (with 1:1 in Greek)- Beginning → Word → God → God → Word → Beginning
vii. Unified thought in vv. 1-2
- Discuss the issue concerning the day of the crucifixion in John’s Gospel versus the day in the Synoptics.
2. Day of the Crucifixion (see 13:1; 18:28)
a. Problem
i. The Synoptics clearly present Jesus as being crucified on the day after the Passover lambs were slaughtered because the last supper is the Passover meal itself (Matt 26:17; Mark 14:12; Luke 22:7)
ii. Some argue that John presents Jesus as sacrificed on the same day the Passover lambs were killed, suggesting the Passover meal was yet to come that Friday night
Critics argument for:
iii. Jesus is called the “Lamb of God” (1:29)
1. John is the only one that calls “Jesus Lamb of God”
iv. Last supper in John is not explicitly called a Passover meal (13:1-11)
v. On Friday morning, Jews did not want to enter the Palace of Pilate because they wanted to eat the “Passover” (18:28)
** Response**
i. Calling Jesus “lamb of God” is not evidence that he had to be crucified on precise day as the Passover lambs (1:29)
ii. The fact that John does not call the last Supper the “Passover” is an argument from silence; John had another purpose, namely to highlight Jesus washing the disciples’ feet (13:1-11)
iii. The term cannot refer to the Passover meal that night because entering Pilate’s chamber would not have prevented the Jews from participating in that meal. (18:28)
iv. Contact with a Gentile would only require washing and waiting till sunset. Thus, the term most likely refers to some other day-time meal that Friday, perhaps hagigah (mid-day feast), feast offering offered on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
** Kruger’s Solution to the Problem**
* The Passover language has a wide semantic range and can refer to the entire week.
* There is no reason to believe this is a contriction.
* Referring to Passover but may refer to different mean, part of the Passover week.
* Does not prove the John changed the day.
* Take the synoptics word for it.
- Discuss whether the story of the adulterous woman is original to John’s Gospel. Should it be included in the Bible or not? Could it be a true account? Should we preach it?
i. Pericope of the Adulterous Woman: 7:53-8:11
Introduction
i. The main defender of its authenticity today is Zane Hodges (d. 2008), Dallas Theological Seminary
ii. KJ only would definitely defend the text being authentic
i. Pericope of the Adulterous Woman: 7:53-8:11
Introduction
i. The main defender of its authenticity today is Zane Hodges (d. 2008), Dallas Theological Seminary
ii. KJ only would definitely defend the text being authentic
** Case against authenticity**
i. Absent from all early Greek MSS
ii. Lacking from: P66 (2nd C), P75 (3rd C), Codices Sinaiticus and Vaticanus (4th C)
iii. First appears in early 5th C (Codex Bezae), but Jerome (4th C) mentions that numerous Greek and Latin MSS had the story.
iv. Not in a majority of MSS until the 13th C
v. Even later scribes marked it with notations suggesting it may not be original
vi. After entering the gospel tradition, the story is found in five different places in the gospels: John 7:52, End of John: 21:25, After John 7:44, After Luke 21:38, After John 7:36
vii. Non-Johannine literary features
viii. Natural transition from 7:52 to 8:12
ix. No Church father prior to the 4th C cites it.
** The story itself has an ancient history**
i. Didymus the Blind (4th C),
ii. Didascalia Apostolorum (Teaching of the Apostles) (3rd C),
iii. Papias (2nd C)
iv. Even if it is not original to John, it is possible the story captures authentic Jesus tradition in early Christianity
** Summary:**
i. Pericope of the adulterous woman is not original to John
ii. It may have circulated in early Christianity as an oral tradition of Jesus
iii. It was inserted into the Gospel of John probably sometime in the second (or third) century.
**
Don’t preach it but explain it to congregation.
