The Gospel According to John.

[JONAH]

Great study so far.

One of my favorite things about John's gospel is the rich symbolism and typology therein. Take the account of Jesus walking on the water, for instance (chapter 6). As is the case with the opening passage of chapter 1, here John is alluding to Genesis chapter 1. Can anyone spot the common theme?

[Hansc]

Great study so far.

One of my favorite things about John's gospel is the rich symbolism and typology therein. Take the account of Jesus walking on the water, for instance (chapter 6). As is the case with the opening passage of chapter 1, here John is alluding to Genesis chapter 1. Can anyone spot the common theme?

There are a lot of themes a person could tease out of these passages, both passages naturally refer to the beginning of this creation and the author of creation. What to you is the most salient theme?

[Hansc]

4.) The Light of the World

John 1:4
…and the life was the light of men.

The LIFE was the light….

In the natural world, when the sun sets, it gets dark and hard to see, yet the physical darkness that comes with the setting of the sun is nothing compared to the spiritual darkness that engulfs this lost world.

This fallen world is encased in total spiritual darkness twenty-four hours a day, and nothing man can do on his own can penetrate that darkness.

Into this dark fallen world steps the Lord of Glory, the Word of LIFE, and with His advent sheds light to darkened, lost, fallen man.

Without light we cannot see, there is no vision, things seem gray, hidden, indistinct, hard to make out. With the dawn of light, those things which were unclear, hard to see, of uncertain form, become clear. The light shows things for what they are.

Jesus, the Light of the World came to give man a true revelation of God.

John 1:5
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

the light shineth…

In the Greek here, the verb, "shineth," (phaino) is in the present tense, and designates that Christ who is the Light continues to shine eternally as the Light of men.



comprehended it not…

The darkness here refers to the lost spiritual condition of fallen man. Man in his doubt, sin, separation and unbelief was not able to comprehend what was happening.

The Greek term for “comprehended” here is “Katalambano” and means to grasp, comprehend, put out, seize. The darkness of unbelief just cannot take it in, it cannot grasp the Light.

It also implies hostility between light and darkness, with the darkness being unable to put out the light. Although, in some parts of the world, including America; darkness sure is trying to put out the light.

Often when we tell people who are in a lost condition the need of a Savior, they just stand there like an old cow at a new gate; they just cannot comprehend the reality of the situation.

Many times when people do come to the Lord, they suddenly see it. They will often say things like, “I don’t know how I could have been so blind” It takes, God to enlighten us.

[JONAH]

What struck me was the imagery associated with both scenes.

Both scenes depict the sea under darkness, with a wind blowing over it. And then, light (Jesus) appears!

What other connections did you discern?

There are a lot of themes a person could tease out of these passages, both passages naturally refer to the beginning of this creation and the author of creation. What to you is the most salient theme?

[Hansc]

What struck me was the imagery associated with both scenes.

Both scenes depict the sea under darkness, with a wind blowing over it. And then, light (Jesus) appears!

What other connections did you discern?

One of the key ideas for me is that God is presented as a multiple unity. That is, while God is one, there are nonetheless elements of interaction within the Godhead.

[JONAH]

One of the key ideas for me is that God is presented as a multiple unity. That is, while God is one, there are nonetheless elements of interaction within the Godhead.

Yes, good observation. Father, Son (light) and Spirit (wind)!

[Hansc]

5.) Jesus Christ is the True Light

John 1:9
He was the true Light, which doth enlighten every man, coming to the world; (YLT)

true Light…

In the world at John’s time Greek philosophy had been ingrained into the thoughts of the people of the Roman Empire. John was presenting his Gospel to a Greek thinking world.

To the Greeks, the world was divided into two realms, the real, true and genuine yet unseen realm of divine light and form, and the seen world which was not the true, unreal and merely a reflection of the true.

To the Greek mind what John is saying is that Jesus is not just a reflection of the light, but is in Himself the real, true and genuine light. He is the world of reality stepping across the dark chasm and entering into the world of shadows to reveal the true and real light.

which doth enlighten every man…

Now that the Light is here man can know the truth of God. Every person will be judged in light of that Light.

Jesus, the Light of the world brings to us both a revealing light and a guiding light. He both reveals to us our true condition, and guides our steps.

[JONAH]

Nice.

I wanted to add that there is another symbolic application of "light" in John's gospel. Light represents LIFE, and darkness represents death. This symbolism is carried over into John's epistles as well. I think the story of Jesus walking on water in John 6 is a remarkable display of these symbols. Jesus, the light/life conquers the darkness and the sea. Here then is a picture of Resurrection- of the Lord's power over death! What do you think?

5.) Jesus Christ is the True Light

John 1:9
He was the true Light, which doth enlighten every man, coming to the world; (YLT)

true Light…

In the world at John’s time Greek philosophy had been ingrained into the thoughts of the people of the Roman Empire. John was presenting his Gospel to a Greek thinking world.

To the Greeks, the world was divided into two realms, the real, true and genuine yet unseen realm of divine light and form, and the seen world which was not the true, unreal and merely a reflection of the true.

To the Greek mind what John is saying is that Jesus is not just a reflection of the light, but is in Himself the real, true and genuine light. He is the world of reality stepping across the dark chasm and entering into the world of shadows to reveal the true and real light.

which doth enlighten every man…

Now that the Light is here man can know the truth of God. Every person will be judged in light of that Light.

Jesus, the Light of the world brings to us both a revealing light and a guiding light. He both reveals to us our true condition, and guides our steps.

[Hansc]

Nice.

I wanted to add that there is another symbolic application of "light" in John's gospel. Light represents LIFE, and darkness represents death. This symbolism is carried over into John's epistles as well. I think the story of Jesus walking on water in John 6 is a remarkable display of these symbols. Jesus, the light/life conquers the darkness and the sea. Here then is a picture of Resurrection- of the Lord's power over death! What do you think?

I think the example of Jesus walking on water as a type of walking on top of the swirling darkness below is an excellent analogy.

[Hansc]

6.) Jesus the Unknown

John 1:10
in the world he was, and the world through him was made, and the world did not know him (YLT)


Many people find it hard to believe that Jesus is God the creator. Yet, that is exactly what the light of the Word reveals to us. Many will accept the fact that He was a great moral teacher, or even a prophet of God. Some will even insist that He is the Son of God, but certainly not God Almighty, the creator.

All Bible based religious groups, have statements on Christ, yet many of them make Jesus a created being, which He’s not. To them He is still unknown.

In one sense, Jesus is one of the best known figures in history, yet on the other hand, most people don’t know who He really is, namely, God the creator.

John 1:11
to his own things he came, and his own people did not receive him; (YLT)

The creator came into His own created world and was unrecognized for the most part. He came unto His own special chosen people, the Jews, and for the most part was unrecognized.



Why? Because the world lies in darkness and cannot comprehend the light.

Many of the people that rejected Him, were the most educated in the world, many of them had a tremendous understanding of the Scriptures, and yet they still rejected Him. Unless a person has an open heart and a sincere desire to know the truth, the Spirit will not open their spiritual eyes.

Many today think that if they would have been around back then that they would have been one of the ones that recognized and chose to follow Him.

Yet, many of these same people today do not recognize the move of God’s Holy Spirit in the world today.

I find it amazing how many well educated Christian ministers, scholars, commentators, teachers and just plain Bible students, while being well versed in the Holy Scriptures, do not recognize the Holy Spirit when He is in manifestation.

And yet, they would have us believe that they would have recognized Christ when He was here, all the while being unable to recognize His Spirit, which is here.

God’s Spirit today is coming to His own and many are not receiving or recognizing Him.

I came across one Christian scribe, who commented that he was longing for and looking forward to the time of the end, when the Anti-Christ will be causing trouble and that he was looking forward to God using him and speaking through him at that time.

Yet, further in his writings, he completely rejects the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the world today.

It’s always amazed me how some can have lots of faith in regards to what God did in the past, and even a lot of faith of what God will do in the future, yet, when it comes down to experiencing God’s supernatural manifestations today, don’t believe a thing.

Many religiously educated people back then failed to recognize Him, and today, many of the religiously educated also fail to recognize His Spirit today.

Blindness is still rampant among the Biblical scholars of today, even as it was in Christ’s day.