THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS, THE CHRIST AND THE SON OF GOD, ACCORDING TO JOHN. Manfred Diefenbach

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СКАЧАТЬ when He took to Himself the flesh of human weakness, was in every way made like men” (Dei Verbum 13)”. That is the task of all preachers in the Church and teachers and catechists in schools.

      May we be guided in our preaching and teaching by Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God who opened the minds of the disciples of Emmaus (cf. Luke 24:27) and the other disciples (cf. v. 45) to the understanding of scripture(s), making their hearts burn within them (cf. v. 32):

      “Christ has no hands, only our hands to do His work.

      He has no feet, only our feet to lead people on His way.

      Christ has no lips, only our lips to tell people about Him.

      He has no help, only our help to bring people to His side”.

      So runs the prayer of Saint Teresa of Ávila (1515–1582 A.D.).

      In this way, we Christians have to present and represent – with body and soul – Jesus Christ, the “Son of God”, the “Christ”, the incarnate “Word of God” so that we already bring a little bit of Heaven to earth.

      0. The Macrostructure/Composition of the Gospel according to John

      The Gospel according to “John” composes his story about the life of Jesus who is the “Christ” and the “Son of God” (11:27; 20:31), in two⁶ parts after the “Prologue” (cf. 1:1–18):

      - The so-called “Book of Signs” (cf. 1:19–12:50⁷) as Jesus’ public ministry in the world and

      - The so-called “Book of Glory” (cf. 13:1–20:31⁸]) as Jesus’ return to His heavenly Father.

      With John 21:1–25, we have a second conclusion of “John” in the form of an “appendix” which was later (probably in the second or third century) added to the original Gospel to “John”.

      The Fourth Evangelist tells about Jesus’ public ministry in words and deeds in Galilee, in Samaria and in Judea/Jerusalem (cf. 1:19–12:50) as a “teaching about His role” as the “Son of God” concerning His Passion (cf. 13:1–19:42) on earth. The Evangelist as an ancient author concludes with the Crucified (cf. 19:16b–42) and the Risen/Glorified Jesus (cf. 20:1–31/21:25).

      We agree – more or less – with the renowned catholic biblical scholar Raymond E. Brown’s structure of John’s Gospel. Therefore we slightly modify the composition of the Gospel “according to John” in allusion to Raymond E. Brown as follows:

      1. Prologue/Beginning (John 1:1–18)

      2. First Part of John’s Gospel: “Book of Signs” as Jesus’ Public Ministry/Self-Revelation in the World (John 1:19–12:50)

      2.1 Christological Basic Chapter (1:19–51)

      2.2 From Cana to Cana (2:1–4:54)

      2.3 Jesus and the Jewish Feasts (5:1–10:42)

      2.4 Jesus’ Journey to the last Passover in Jerusalem (11:1–12:50)

      3. Second Part of John’s Gospel: “Book of Glory” (13:1–20:31 + “Appendix” in 21:1–25)

      3.1 Jesus’ Self-Revelation for His Disciples (13:1–17:26)

      3.2 The Passion and Death of Jesus (18:1–19:42)

      3.3 The Day of Christ’s Resurrection (20:1–20:29)

      3.4 Epilogue (vv. 30–31)

      3.5 “Appendix” (21:1–25)

      Chapter 1

      The so-called “Prologue” – or “preamble” respectively “proem”⁹ – as the “preface”¹⁰ to the Fourth Gospel is similar to a kind of musical overture and emphasized with the words (vv. 1a, 2: “in the beginning”) in allusion to Genesis 1:1a (LXX = Septuagint) as a “hymn”¹¹/poem of the incarnate “Word” (in Greek “lógos” in vv. 1a, b, c, 14a) of God in “Jesus” (cf. vv. 14, 17). It has three parts (cf. vv. 1–5, 6–13, 14–18¹²). The first two strophes are connected with the keyword “light” (in Greek “phõs”) in verses 5a, 8a, b, 9a, b. In each of them, the first theme is the “Word” (cf. vv. 1–5, 14) and then the theme is the witness of John the Baptist (cf. vv. 6–8, 15) and then the decision/beliefs of the human beings for Jesus Christ as “God’s Word” (His acceptance) or against Him (His refusal). “Not” John the Baptist (cf. v. 8¹³ [“the light”], v. 20 [“the Christ/Messiah”], v. 21 [“Elijah”] and v. 25 [“the prophet”]), but Jesus is the “true light” (v. 9).

      The passage of 1:19–51 is structured with the help of the phrase “the next day” in verses 29, 35, 43. Verses 6–8 are a part of the prologue (cf. vv. 1–18). The keyword “witness” in verses 7a, b, 8b emphasizes in verse 19 the mission declaration of John the Baptist in the form of his juristic investigation by the Jewish Temple “police” from Jerusalem as a dialogue (cf. vv. 19–28). Between verses 6–8 and 19 the Fourth Evangelist meditates about (incarnate) Jesus as the light of the world (cf. vv. 9–18). He uses some verbs of the conversation in the context of the investigation between the Temple “police” of Jerusalem and John the Baptist with regard to John’s identity (cf. vv. 19–23) and his authority (cf. vv. 24–27): The verbs to “ask” in verses 19d, 21a, 25a and to “say” in verse 22a, d are used for the delegation from Jerusalem; however the Evangelist uses the two special terms of the jurisdiction to “confess” in verse 20a, c, to “deny” in verse 20b and the verbs to “answer” in verses 21g, 26a, to “say” in verses 21d, 26a as well as to “reply” in verse 23a in the view of John the Baptist. He answers four of five questions (cf. vv. 19d, 21a–b, d, 22; 25) in the negative (cf. vv. 20b, 21c, e, 26c, 27b). A comment by the Evangelist concludes the juristic hearing and it localizes John the Baptist’s ministry at the river Jordan near Bethany (cf. v. 28).

      John 1:19–51 contains a list of witnesses to Jesus by John the Baptist to two of his disciples (cf. vv. 19–28, 29–34) and by Andrew to Simon (cf. vv. 40–42), one of his own disciples, who follows Jesus (cf. vv. 35–42) of “Nazareth” (v. 45), “the Lamb of God”¹⁴ (vv. 29, 36) as well as by Philip to Nathanael (cf. vv. 43–51) with the help of the phrase “the next day” in verses 29, 35, 43. After the call of His first two disciples (cf. vv. 35a–39c), a comment by the Evangelist (cf. vv. 39d–40) emphasizes the call of Simon Peter (cf. vv. 41–42) which differs from the synoptic versions of the call of His first disciples (cf. Mark 1:16–20; Matthew 4:18–22 in contrast to Luke 5:1–11).

      Microstructure of John 1

      1. Prologue/Beginning (vv. 1–18)

      The background of the prologue is the principal question: Who is Jesus? The “chief actor” of the “hymn” is the original “word” (in Greek “lógos” in vv. 1a, b, c, 14a) like in Wisdom 9:1–2 which is described with the attributes of a hero or of God.

      - Strophe 1: The (Divine) Logos-Hymn (vv. 1–5)

      vv. СКАЧАТЬ