| John 5:2 ), and that entire Psalm assures its hearers that the God who acted in the past exodus would act again ( Ps 77:8–15 ). 5752 Such an exodus allusion is not particularly clear, and even John " s biblically literate audience may not have recognized it even if he intended it. Other proposed allusions, if any allusions are present, are, however, weaker. While some see the passage as a baptismal reference, 5753 others find the basis for baptismal interpretation «fragile» 5754 or see an antibaptismal motif reflected in the fact that the water was not efficacious. 5755 The last point is the most likely, given earlier references to water in the Gospel, but it depends almost entirely on the cumulative support of the other references. There is no reference to purification, and while replacement by the Spirit could have been implied by replacement of a popular healing shrine, there is no definite evidence that this is the case in this text. What demonstrates that this water text fits into the others is the clear antithetical parallel it provides with ch. 9, 5756 where the evidence of ritual water and the Spirit (in the context of Sukkoth) is much clearer. 1C. The Johannine Context This miracle story provides a direct foil for the miracle story in 9:1–14, together coupling a positive and negative example of response to Jesus. Being touched by Jesus is inadequate without perseverance (8:31–32). Other ancient texts also sometimes coupled the lame and the blind; even though other healings might be mentioned in the context, a summary statement could focus specifically on the lame and the blind, perhaps as the most dramatic cures. 5757 Culpepper lays out the parallel structure of the passages as follows: 5758 Lame man Blind man (1) History described (5:5) (1) History described (9:1) (2) Jesus takes initiative (5:6) (2) Jesus takes initiative (9:6) (3) Pool " s healing powers (3) Pool of Siloam, healing (9:7) (4) Jesus heals on Sabbath (5:9) (4) Jesus heals on Sabbath (9:14) (5) Jews accuse him of violating Sabbath (5:10) (5) Pharisees accuse Jesus of violating Sabbath (9:16) (6) Jews ask who healed him (5:12) (6) Pharisees ask who healed him (9:15) (7) Doesn " t know where or who Jesus is (5:13) (7) Doesn " t know where or who Jesus is (9:12) (8) Jesus finds him and invites belief (5:14) 5759 (8) Jesus finds him and invites belief (9:35) (9) Jesus implies relation between his sin and suffering (5:14) (9) Jesus rejects sin as explanation for his suffering (9:3) (10) Man goes to Jews (5:15) (10) Jews cast man out (9:34–35) (11) Jesus works as his Father is working (5:17) (11) Jesus must do the works of one who sent him (9:4) Contrasting of characters was a common enough rhetorical device; John presents both a positive and a negative paradigm of initial discipleship, fleshing out the warning for perseverance in 8:30–36. |
| Jesus revealed to the disciples God " s «name» (17:6), partly meaning his honor 9437 but very probably also implying his character and identity (14:9; 17:26). 9438 Acting by God " s name could represent dependence on God (e.g., 1QM 11.3). When God acted in history, he often did so for the sanctifying of his name, 9439 as he would do also at the final day. 9440 God expected his people to sanctify his name (kiddush haShem was central to Jewish ethics), especially by righteous deeds. 9441 Some rabbis opined that God " s name was hidden in the present age but would be revealed in the coming age; 9442 Jesus» revelation of the Father " s name is thus consonant with John " s emphasis on realized eschatology. Moses sought to know God " s «name» to reveal God to the people (Exod 3:13; cf. 33:18; 34:6–7); here Jesus provides his disciples, who are like Moses, with the same privilege. 9443 This experience would continue more fully after Jesus» glorification (14:21). That Jesus» disciples kept the word he gave them (17:6; cf. 8:51; 14:23; 15:20), as Jesus kept the Father " s (8:55), may recall the obedience of Moses but probably reflects more generally the obedience of Israel or a faithful remnant within Israel ( Deut 33:3, 9 ) . 9444 Yet in giving them the Father " s word (17:6, 8), Jesus is again greater than Moses, who gave the word to Israel; in John " s language, the law was given «through» Moses, but the actual giver of the law was God himself (1:17; cf. 6:32); thus the passage again portrays Jesus in a divine role. At the same time, Jesus remains subordinate to the Father, emphasizing that whatever he gave the disciples was from the Father (17:7). Perhaps, in the language of Exodus, Jesus is the «angel of YHWH» (Exod 3:2), but in the language of John (1:1–18) and of the early Jewish context he reflects, Jesus is divine Wisdom, which imparts God " s teachings to Moses and all those who will hear (e.g., Wis 7:27; 10:16; 11:1). The disciples realized that all that the Father had given Jesus was genuinely from the Father (17:7), in this case referring especially to Jesus» message (17:8; cf. 12:47–50; 16:15). That the Father had «given» disciples to Jesus (17:9; also 17:24) reiterates a striking image in the Fourth Gospe1. Early Judaism taught that Israel as a whole was predestined (see comment on 6:43–44), but like some other early Jewish Christian writers (e.g., Rom 9:6–32 ; Eph 1:4–5 ), John emphasizes the predestination of individuals in Christ through their faith in Christ. Jesus prays on behalf of the disciples (17:9) in a way that provides a model for how disciples will soon be authorized to pray for themselves in his name (16:26–27). |
| It is remarkable to me how deeply biblical the Jesus Prayer is: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.” The emphasis on the Holy Name of the Lord is a thoroughly biblical emphasis. For example, at the Tower of Babel, we are told that God divided both the language and the lip of the people. That is, he broke their unity by creating diverse forms of polytheistic religion. If there are many false religions rather than a single, united false religion, the wicked cannot unite. That “lip” refers to religious confession is evident in the way the Psalms use it: David only takes the name of Yahweh on his “lip.” Zephaniah predicts that one day, the Gentiles will worship with a true “lip” and Isaiah says the same of Egypt in the eschaton. This is related to the concept of “calling on the name of the Lord.” When Abraham comes out of Mesopotamia, he is told that God will make him a great “Name” just as the builders of Babel wished to “make a name for themselves.” In response, Abraham builds altars and begins to “call upon the name of the Lord.” Note that emphasis on the “Name” of the Lord. That emphasis will develop and grow throughout the Scriptures. In Exodus 6, we are told that the patriarchs did not know God by “Yahweh” but by “El Shaddai.” Why? Because a Name discloses the most fundamental aspect of who a person is. Yahweh is the Name of the one who is faithful to His promises: God promised in Genesis, but He faithfully enacted those promises in Exodus. In Exodus 34, God discloses the “Name” to Moses. (Exodus 34:5-7) The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” |
| In the Prophet Hosea, we find this definition of God: “I am God, and not man.” If God, Who has reason and will, as is clearly reflected in the Bible (3 Kings Kings] 3:28; Job 12:13, 16; Proverbs 3:19-20; Sirach 1:1, 5; 15:18, 42:21; Esaias [Isaiah] 11:2; 28:29; Luke 11:49; Romans 11:33; 14:26; 1 Corinthians 1: 21, 24; 2:7. Will of God: Psalm 106 11; Wisdom 6:4; Mark 3:35; Luke 7:30; Acts 20:27; 1 Peter 2:15; 3:17; 4:2, 19; 1 John 2:17; Romans 1:10; 8:27; 12:2; 1 Corinthians 1:1; 2 Corinthians 8:5; Ephesians 5:17; 6:6; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; 5:18; Hebrews 10:36; Revelation 17:17), is not man, this means that He is a being of another order, located by His nature beyond our world. He, as philosophers and theologians say, is transcendent with respect to the world. This transcendence – that is, God’s natural distinction from the physical world – is described in the Bible by the word “Spirit.” “God is a spirit” (John 4:24. Cf., Genesis 1:2; 6:3; 41:38; Exodus 15:10; 31:3. Numbers 11:29; 23:6; 24:2; Judges 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 14:6, 19; 15:14; 1 Kings Samuel] 10:6, 10; 11:6; 16:13; 19:20, 23; 2 Kings Samuel] 23:2; 3 Kings Kings] 18:12; 1 Paralipomena Chronicles] 15:1; 2 Paralipomena Chronicles] 15:1; 20: 14; 24:20; Neemias [Nehemiah] 9:20; Judith 16:14; Job 4:9; 26: 13; 33:4; Psalms 32 50 103 138 142 Wisdom of Solomon 1:7; 9:17; 12:1; Esaias [Isaiah] 11:2; 32:15; 34:16; 42:1; 44:3; 48:16; 61:1; 63:10–14. Ezekiel 11:1, 5; Aggeus [Haggai] 2:5; Zacharias 4:6; 7:12; 2 Esdras 6:37; Matthew 1:20; 3:16; 4:1; 10:20; 12:31–32; 28:19. Mark 1:10, 12; 3:29; 13:11; Luke 1:35, 67; 2:26; 3:22; 4:1, 18; 11:13; 12:10, 12; John 1:32–33; 3:5–6, 8, 34; 6:63; 7:39; 14:17, 26; 15:26; 16:13; 20:22; Acts 1:2, 5, 8, 16; 2:4, 17–18, 33, 38; 5:3, 9; 7:51; 8:29; 9:31; 10:19; 11:12, 28; 13:2, 4; 15:28; 16:6–7; 19:6; 20:22–23, 28; 21:11; 28:25. 1 Peter 1:2, 11–12, 22; 5:5; 8:9, 11, 14–16, 23, 26–27; 11:8; 14:17; 15:13, 16, 19, 30; 1 Corinthians 2:10–14; 3:16; 6:11, 19; 12: 3–4, 8–11, 13; 15:45; 2 Corinthians 1:22; 3:3, 17–18; 5:5; Galatians 3:5, 14; 4: 6; Ephesians 1:13, 17; 2:18. 22; 3:5, 16; 4:30; 5:9; Philippians 1:19; 1 Thessalonians 1:5–6; 4:8; 2 Thessalonians 2:8, 13; 1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timomhy 1:14; Titus 3:5; Hebrews 2:4; 3:7; 6:4; 9:8, 14; 10:15, 29; Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22; 14:13; 22:17). |
| file/Getty Images There are certain erroneous or distorted beliefs that are widespread among the faithful. In this brief note, I am concerned with the one that starts out from the basis of the Bible to erroneously state that the face of God in the Old Testament is not the same as in the New Testament. Some believe that God in the Old Testament is only a god of war, cruelty, violence and racism, while in the New Testament, He is only a god of love, forgiveness, mercy and kindness. This erroneous belief is the result either out of ignorance of the Old Testament, its interpretation and its structure or under the influence of misconceptions similar to the approach of those critics of the Bible who attack it for reasons too numerous to refute here. In each case, the approach to the bible is wrong because it is not a theological approach to a religious book. Many also arrive at erroneous conclusions because they do not understand the essence of inspiration in Christianity or because they take a merely historical approach to the Bible. In Christianity, divine inspiration has taken place over the course of a long pedagogical relationship of about eighteen and a half centuries. God inspired humankind with what He wanted to say through the historical events that they experienced, speaking to them in their language and according to their understanding, gradually bringing them toward Him. The Bible is not a book of history, even though it uses history to speak theology. By way of example and not exclusively, I will cite some verses of the Old Testament where God’s face appears merciful, loving and forgiving: “ And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin… " ” (Exodus 34:6-7, see also Numbers 14:18, Deuteronomy 4:31, Psalm 86:5 and 108:4, Joel 2:13). God says, “ I drew them with gentle cords, w ith bands of love… I will not execute the fierceness of My anger… For I am God, and not man, the Holy One in your midst; and I will not come with terror” (Hosea 11:4 and 9). |
| INTRODUCTION The Feast of Holy Pentecost is celebrated each year on the fiftieth day after the Great and Holy Feast of Pascha (Easter) and ten days after the Feast of the Ascension of Christ. The Feast is always celebrated on a Sunday. The Feast commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, a feast of the Jewish tradition. It also celebrates the establishment of the Church through the preaching of the Apostles and the baptism of the thousands who on that day believed in the Gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ. The Feast is also seen as the culmination of the revelation of the Holy Trinity. BIBLICAL STORY The story of Pentecost is found in the book of The Acts of the Apostles. In Chapter two we are told that the Apostles of our Lord were gathered together in one place. Suddenly, a sound came from heaven like a rushing wind, filling the entire house where they were sitting. Then, tongues of fire appeared, and one sat upon each one of Apostles. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as directed by the Spirit (Acts 2:1-4). This miraculous event occurred on the Jewish Feast of Pentecost, celebrated by the Jews on the fiftieth day after the Passover as the culmination of the Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:10). The Feast of Weeks began on the third day after the Passover with the presentation of the first harvest sheaves to God, and it concluded on Pentecost with the offering of two loaves of unleavened bread, representing the first products of the harvest (Leviticus 23:17-20; Deuteronomy 16:9-10). Since the Jewish Feast of Pentecost was a great pilgrimage feast, many people from throughout the Roman Empire were gathered in Jerusalem on this day. When the people in Jerusalem heard the sound, they came together and heard their own languages being spoken by the Apostles (Acts 2:5-6). The people were amazed, knowing that some of those speaking were Galileans, and not men who would normally speak many different languages. They wondered what this meant, and some even thought the Apostles were drunk (Acts 2:7-13). |
| Tweet Нравится The God of the Bible Metropolitan Saba (Esber) Source: Notes on Arab Orthodoxy November 30, 2016 There are certain erroneous or distorted beliefs that are widespread among the faithful. In this brief note, I am concerned with the one that starts out from the basis of the Bible to erroneously state that the face of God in the Old Testament is not the same as in the New Testament. Some believe that God in the Old Testament is only a god of war, cruelty, violence and racism, while in the New Testament, He is only a god of love, forgiveness, mercy and kindness. This erroneous belief is the result either out of ignorance of the Old Testament, its interpretation and its structure or under the influence of misconceptions similar to the approach of those critics of the Bible who attack it for reasons too numerous to refute here. In each case, the approach to the bible is wrong because it is not a theological approach to a religious book. Many also arrive at erroneous conclusions because they do not understand the essence of inspiration in Christianity or because they take a merely historical approach to the Bible. In Christianity, divine inspiration has taken place over the course of a long pedagogical relationship of about eighteen and a half centuries. God inspired humankind with what He wanted to say through the historical events that they experienced, speaking to them in their language and according to their understanding, gradually bringing them toward Him. The Bible is not a book of history, even though it uses history to speak theology. By way of example and not exclusively, I will cite some verses of the Old Testament where God " s face appears merciful, loving and forgiving: " And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, " The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin... " " (Exodus 34:6-7, see also Numbers 14:18, Deuteronomy 4:31, Psalm 86:5 and 108:4, Joel 2:13). |
| 2340 Sanders, Jesus to Mishnah, 3. Cf., e.g., Vermes, Religion, 5,73–74; Horsley and Hanson, Bandits, 257. 2342 For Elijah and Elisha as examples of healing miracles in Josephus, see Betz, «Miracles,» 219–20. 2346 Sanders, Jesus and Judaism, 171; Meeks, Prophet-King, 163–64; Horsley, «Prophets»; see Josephus Ant. 20.97–99, 168–172; War 2.259, 261–263; 6.283ff. For a Greco-Roman context for signs-prophets, consult Kolenkow, «Miracle» (her Jewish examples are actually less convincing). 2348 See further Betz, «Miracles,» 222–30, on the «signs» (smeia) of the messianic prophets; their signs invited faith, but some responded with unbelief (pp. 224–25). 2350 E.g., Isa 12:2; 35:1, 8–10; 40:3; 51:11; Hos 2:14–15; 11:1–5, 10–11 ; Zech 10:10. In Isaiah, see Glasson, Moses, 15–19. Daube, Pattern, addresses exodus typology through the OT; he notes that no other OT patterns of deliverance are comparable to the exodus motif (11–12). 2351 E.g., t. Ber. 1:10; b. Ber. 12b (attributed to Ben Zoma); Exod. Rab. 2:6; Lev. Rab. 27:4; Deut. Rab. 9:9; Pesiq. Rab. 31:10; Teeple, Prophet, 51; in Matthew, see Davies, Setting, 25–93. Note the exodus as «Israel " s first salvation» (CD 5.19) and «first visitation» (CD 7.21). 2352 Deut 18:18 ; Gen. Rab. 100:10; Deut. Rab. 9:9; Pesiq. Rab Kah. 5:8; see further Meeks, Prophet-King, 246–54; Longenecker, Christology, 34–37,72–73; Mauser, Wilderness, 55–56; Patte, Hermeneutic, 173 (on Pss. Sol); and on the «hidden Messiah» tradition some commentators find in John 7 ; in the DSS, see Aune, Prophecy, 126 (who cites 1QS 9.10–11; 4QTest 1–20). Many scholars appeal to the new Moses picture in NT interpretation (e.g., Georgi, Opponents, 174; Hengel, Mark, 56), although its prominence in Judaism increased in the later period. 2353 Jub. 48:4; L.A.B. 9:7; Sipre Deut. 9.2.1; 4Q422 frg. 10 line 5; see further Meeks, Prophet-King, 162–63. 2356 Cf., e.g., Smith, «Typology,» 334–39; Meeks, Prophet-King, passim; Schnackenburg, John, 1:527. The ten plagues of Exodus (cf. the ten miracles for Israel at the sea in Mek. Bes. 5.1, Lauterbach 1:223) are paralleled in the seven plagues of Revelation, but probably also in the Fourth Gospel " s seven signs; compare the water turned to blood with water turned to wine as the first sign in each (Smith, «Typology,» 334–35, on John 2:1–11 and Exod 7:14–24). The seven signs may follow the midrash on Exodus implied in Wis 11–19 (Clark, «Signs»); the seven miracles of Pirqe R. E1. 52 are probably irrelevant (the document probably dates to the ninth century; see Strack, Introduction, 225–26). |
| 3701 Many commentators acknowledge the allusion to Exod 34:5–6 here, e.g., Westcott, John, 13; Barrett, John, 167; Epp, «Wisdom,» 138; Boismard, Prologue, 54–56; Dahl, «History,» 132; Lee, Thought, 40; Gaston, Stone, 209. Most acknowledge that the phrase is dependent on the Hebrew expression even if they do not cite Exod 34as the specific allusion (e.g., Stuart, «Examination,» 316; Dodd, Bible, 75; Hoskyns, Gospel, 150; Ladd, Theology, 230). Readers naturally continued to find God " s special mercy toward Israel in this passage (b. Roš Haš. 17b), rightly understanding it to imply that God " s mercy exceeds his anger (e.g., t. Sota 4in Urbach, Sages, 1:450). 3702 Hanson, «Exodus,» 93; Vellanickal, Sonship, 153–54. Χρις can mean «charm» (Demetrius 3.128–156) or, more aptly here, «generosity» (Grayston, Gospel, 12, citing inscriptions). 3704 Barrett, John, 167; Epp, «Wisdom,» 138; Richardson, Theology, 281–82; Schnackenburg, John, 1:272. Philós preferred term for God " s gracious activity is also χρις (Schnackenburg, John, 1:272). Because only χρις recurs in the prologue and neither term occurs in the Gospel outside the prologue, Johannine usage is not decisive in this case (Epp, «Wisdom,» 139). Though when conjoined with speech (λγος and other terms), χρις could mean «charm» (e.g., Homer Od. 2.12–13; Plutarch Cic. 39.6; Demosth. 7.2; Menander Rhetor 2.5, 395.4; 2.6,400.1; 2.7, 405.28; 2.17, 446.12), the exodus background and the «word» as Torah suggest «generous kindness» instead. 3706 See Charlesworth, «Comparison,» 415, who cites in 1QS 4.4 and in 1QS 4.5. The component ideas by themselves need require no allusion at all; cf. God " s «grace and mercy» in Wis 3:9; his «kindness» and «truth» in Wis 15:1; the «graces of [his] blessing» in 1QM 12.3. God " s names that are not sacred (perhaps meaning nontechnical titles) include «full of grace» and «full of mercy» in p. Meg. 1:9, §17. 3707 Michaels, John, 8, is among those who suggest that it modifies Jesus instead, citing Acts 6:3, 5, 8; 7:55; 11:24); the adjective is itself indeclinable. |
| Moule, Birth Moule, C. F. D. The Birth of the New Testament. New York: Harper & Row, 1962. Moule, «Factor» Moule, C. F. D. «A Neglected Factor in the Interpretation of Johannine Eschatology.» Pages 155–60 in Studies in John: Presented to Professor Dr. J. N. Sevenster on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday. Edited by W. C. van Unnik. NovTSup 24. Leiden: Brill, 1970. Moule, «Individualism» Moule, C. F. D. «The Individualism of the Fourth Gospe1.» Pages 21–40 in The Composition of John " s Gospel: Selected Studies from Novum Testamentum. Compiled by David E. Orton. Brill " s Readers in Biblical Studies 2. Leiden: Brill, 1999. Moule, Mark Moule, C. F. D. The Gospel according to Mark. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965. Moulton and Milligan, Vocabulary Moulton, James Hope, and George Milligan. The Vocabulary of the Greek New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976. Mounce, «Eschatology» Mounce, Robert H. «Pauline Eschatology and the Apocalypse.» EvQ 46 (1974): 164–66. Mounce, Matthew Mounce, Robert H. Matthew. A Good News Commentary. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985. Mowinckel, «Geist» Mowinckel, Sigmund. «Die Vorstellung des Spätjudentums vom Heiligen Geist als Fürsprecher und der johanneische Paraklet.» ZNW32 (1933): 97–130. Mowinckel, «Remarks» Mowinckel, Sigmund. «Some Remarks on Hodayot 39.5–20.» JBL 75 (1956): 265–76. Mowry, «Scrolls» Mowry, Lucetta. «The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Gospel of John.» BA 17 (1954): 78–97. Mowvley, «Exodus» Mowvley, Henry. « John 1.14–18 in the Light of Exodus 33.7–34.35.» ExpTim 95 (1983–1984): 135–37. Moxnes, «Relations» Moxnes, Halvor. «Patron-Client Relations and the New Community in Luke-Acts.» Pages 241–68 in The Social World of Luke-Acts: Models for Interpretation. Edited by Jerome H. Neyrey. Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson, 1991. Moyer, «Purity» Moyer, James. «The Concept of Ritual Purity among the Hittites.» Ph.D. diss., Brandeis University, 1969. Mozley, «Introduction» Mozley, J. H. Introduction. Pages vii-xx in Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica. Translated by J. H. Mozley. Rev. ed. LCL. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1936. |
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