The Gosple of John – Part Four

There are four books in the New Testament that we call the Gospels. The Gospels are ancient biographies of Jesus, whose purpose is to give an account of Jesus’ life and teachings. Three of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, share so many similarities that scholars call them synoptic, meaning to be of one in outlook.

The Gospel of John is very different in style, how Jesus talks, and, even chronology. So different is the Gospel of John from the Synoptics that during the 19th and 20th centuries, historians and Bible scholars doubted its historical accuracy. That view has begun to change. Why?

For starters, we now see that the Synoptic Gospels differ from each other in profound ways. Each Synoptic Gospel varies as much from the other two as it differs from the Gospel of John. Also, we realize that none of the four Gospels is exhaustive. No single Gospel gives us everything we would like to know about Jesus.

And, we have to pay careful attention to the details they do tell us, if we want to get the fullest picture of Jesus.    For example, the first four chapters of the Gospel of Luke lead us to believe that Jesus had only 12 followers. But in chapter ten, Luke tells us about 72 additional followers of Jesus, who were well enough informed and equipped by Jesus to do what the twelve disciples had been doing. Later, we discover that Jesus has three very close friends, siblings named Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.

Luke then tells us that Jesus has friends in Jerusalem, one willing to lend a colt to Jesus and another who made their home available to Jesus and his followers to celebrate Passover.

In brief, the Synoptics focus on Jesus’ work in Galilee, but we know that Jesus started his work in Judea alongside John the Baptist. The Gospel of John focuses on Jesus’ work and relationships in and around Judah, giving us materials only briefly touched on in the Synoptics.

This helps to explain why Jesus speaks differently in the Gospel of John than the way he speaks in the Synoptic Gospels. Recent discoveries shine a light on that. In the last 60 years, The Dead Sea Scrolls have helped us to understand that Jews living in the rural Galilees, most of who were carpenters, masons, and farmers, where having very different conversations about the faith than were the scholars living in the area of around Qumran, just outside of Judea.

The Judaism we find in Galilee tended to be a more rural, less educated form of Judaism, made up of what we might think of as artisans and agricultural workers. In Galilee, parables and everyday examples were suitable approaches for communicating with the people about the faith. But, around the area of the Jordan River, the people of these communities were wrestling with some pretty heady stuff. They loved delving into the abstract and esoteric ideas of the Bible. The Dead Sea Scrolls preserve this form of Judaism for us; in them, we find language very similar to what we see in the Gospel of John.

We know that Jesus’ ministry started in the area of the Jordan River, where these kinds of conversations were taking place. So, it is common to find Jesus talking to people in this region in a way very different from how he approached his teaching and preaching in Galilee. In both settings, Jesus took his audience seriously.

In our world, a gifted speaker might address her audience very differently, depending on whether she were speaking to a group of young teenagers, the Senior Citizens center, the Chamber of Commerce, or the faculty at Memphis University.

It is also important to note that in the Gospel of John, it is difficult to tell when Jesus’ words end and John’s words begin. It seems that before the Gospel of John was written, John’s community of faith used these stories as sermons, and these sermons were woven into the Gospel we now have. The teachers and preachers in John’s community did what your pastors do. They taught from the stories of the Bible. The Gospel of John even reads like a collection of sermons. That is why John goes into so much detail about what the stories mean. John used stories from the life and teachings of Jesus to instruct his community of faith. Knowing all of this helps us to look at today’s text.

Head – the Helpful Information

John’s Gospel was probably completed around 80-90 A.D., about a decade after the Romans destroyed the Temple and forced Jews from their ancestral homeland. When that happened, the forms of Judaism that focused on the Temple disappeared because their religious focus and way of making sense of life were gone. The Sadducees built their faith around the forms of worship that took place in the Temple.  After the Temple was destroyed, this form of Judaism no longer had a role to play.

But there was one form of Judaism that was particularly well suited to adapting to these changes – Pharisaic Judaism. The Pharisees focused on the details of daily living as proscribed in the Torah. In other words, they were interested in the cultural components of Judaism, found in the words of their Scriptures. They didn’t need a temple to do that.  Their focus was on the text.   After the destruction of the Temple, Pharisaism became the dominant form of Judaism. And, over the next several decades, the descendants of the Pharisees would give Judaism a new focus.

But the Pharisees had a problem. Among them were Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah. These Jews had an entirely different way of thinking about Judaism. They focused on the grand narrative of the Scriptures and how the Scriptures had anticipated the coming of the Messiah. Their way of understanding Jewish identity was based on looking to Jesus.

These two forms of Judaism where able to live together within the same community when no one form of Judaism dominated the religious landscape. But co-existence became a big problem after 70 A.D. The Pharisees were trying to prevent Judaism from disintegrating. This urgent task required the development of strict adherence to a very fixed approach to reading the Scriptures, codified in the Mishnah and Talmud. The followers of Jesus were seen as a threat to that task because they had an entirely different way of reading the scriptures and defining Judaism. In those chaotic years following the destruction of the Temple, Judaism did not need to have two competing versions vying for the future.

That is why, eventually, the descendants of the Pharisees found it too challenging to keep accommodating this other version of Judaism, which we now call Christianity. Somewhere around 85 A.D., synagogues began expelling the followers of Jesus from the Jewish community. Those expelled from the Jewish community experienced profound emotional, financial, and legal loss.

The Fear of Losing Control

These Christian Jews responded in many different ways. Some faced ostracism with courage. Some fled to other lands to avoid persecution. Some gave up their faith in Jesus. And a few tried to hide their faith in Jesus so they would not be kicked out of the Jewish community. They tried living their Christian faith in secret. John uses the story of Nicodemus to address these secret Christians.

Heart – The Personal Connection

Nicodemus was curious about Jesus. He even thought that Jesus might be the Messiah. Yet, he did not want people to know that he was seriously considering following Jesus. Before he could take such a risk, he needed to first be sure about some things.

Nicodemus was a public leader with a reputation to guard. He knew all about religious kooks and fanatics, and he had to be sure that Jesus and his followers did not fit into that category. After all, Jesus was not the first person people had regarded as Messiah. We know of at least six other people in that era who either claimed to be or were thought to be the Messiah. The careers and ministries of those six all ended in disgrace. Nicodemus did not want to get involved in something like that.

So, he came to Jesus by night when the crowds were gone. He addressed Jesus respectfully, calling him Rabbi. He then tried to pull Jesus into a conversation about theology. Jesus would have none of it. Instead, Jesus challenged Nicodemus. He said that what Nicodemus most needed was something that he could not do for himself. He needed to be born again. Now, the new birth is similar to our first birth. We can do nothing to make it happen. We cannot orchestrate it or control it. Why did Nicodemus need to hear that?

Because Nicodemus wanted to come to Jesus on his terms. He wanted to stay in control. He tried to tip-toe around the edges of discipleship without falling in. Jesus said to Nicodemus, what you need, you cannot have, so long as you are unwilling to give up control.

But giving up control is dangerous. Nicodemus had a lot to lose, and becoming a follower of Jesus was a big risk. For the people living in John’s community, being known as a follower of Jesus was dangerous. Letting people know that you were a follower of Jesus could cost you everything. But you cannot have what God is offering so long as your highest priority is staying safe.

Following Jesus was risky in the first century.  It is also risky for people living in the 21st century. I am not talking about our domesticated version of Christianity, which is so bland that it can simply be ignored. I am talking about the real thing, the full-bodied version, the caffeinated variety. Giving your life to Jesus could mess your life up. But you cannot have what God has to offer so long as your highest priority is keeping your life tidy.

Now, don’t let me kid you. I have struggled with this nearly every day since becoming a Christian. It is hard for me to give my future and my plans to Jesus, knowing that he may not have the same plans for me as I do. I bet that some of you have also struggled with trusting God in this way. We are not so different from Nicodemus.

Jesus knew that Nicodemus was afraid. He also knew that future generations would be afraid. He knew that Nicodemus and all prospective followers had a lot to lose. He knew that you and I would be afraid and have much to lose. So, the next thing that Jesus did was to assure Nicodemus that God sent his Son into the world because he loves us.

The God Who Calls Us to Risk Everything is the God Who Loved us Enough to Risk Everything.  

God is not a menace. He does not delight in things being hard for us. He is not cruel. He doesn’t find glee in people being persecuted. He loves us, and any risk he is asking us to take is motivated by that love. God can be trusted.

By the end of John’s Gospel, Nicodemus was willing to be identified as a follower of Jesus. He was one of the few followers of Jesus who came to the cross. Most of Jesus’ followers went into hiding after Jesus’ arrest. Those who stayed were in the danger zone. Nicodemus was one of those who had the courage to be there when Jesus was crucified.

We do not know how Nicodemus’ story ended. Church tradition tells us that he became an important leader in the Christian community, but we know nothing else. What else did he have to face as a follower of Jesus? What did it cost him? We do not know. We only know that Nicodemus was so convinced of God’s love that he was willing to let go of control and trust God with everything.

Hands – The Practical Application

Faith as Risk

I would like to say to you that a part of what we mean by faith is a willingness to live with uncertainty. Faith is a commitment for which are willing to lose everything.

Following Jesus comes with no guarantees. We have the promise of God’s love and his presence, yes. But following Jesus and living out our faith can be inconvenient, difficult, and even dangerous. Being a Christian requires something of us. So, why bother?

Because Jesus has promised to transform us into new people. He has promised to restore creation and to fill it with his glory. He has invited us to be a part of his work in the world. And saying yes to all of this connects us with our purpose and our destiny. But, we cannot have what God is offering so long as our highest goal is playing it safe.

“Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in love in a quite absolute and final way. What are you in love with? What seizes your imagination will affect everything.

It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love. Stay in love with God and it will decide everything.” – Fr Pedro Arrupe

Eddie Bromley