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

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СКАЧАТЬ 11:52; Romans 8:16, 21; 9:8; Philippians 2:15; 1 John 3:1–2, 10; 5:2, 13 and Matthew 5:45; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 1:5)

      v. 13: because everyone is God’s creature (v. 13d: “ek theoũ egennéthesan” – “from God /were/ born” – cf. John 3:3, 5–6; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23). Note the contrast between the heavenly God and the human beings on earth with the help of a correction³⁴ (ouk … oudé … oudé … allá): “neither of” blue-“blooded” human beings “nor of /the/ will /of the/ flesh nor of /the/ will /of/ man” (= human reflections/ideas/plans, desires …), “but of God …”

      - Strophe 3: The Incarnated Jesus in the World (vv. 14–18)

      “A divine being (God’s Word [1:1,14], who is also the light [1:5,9] and God’s only Son [1:14,18] comes into the world and becomes flesh.”³⁵ “The Word” (vv. 1a, b, c, 14a) “was made flesh and lived among us”, so the “Angelus” prayer. The phrase “became flesh” is an expression of Jesus’ incarnation – the meaning of the Latin word is to “be(come) in flesh” – as the divine God’s Son on earth. Christ is the eschatological, authentic Revealer of “truth”³⁶ (in Greek “alétheɩa” in vv. 14e, 17b) and Saviour sent from God who was/is born through Mary as a human being like us – the Christmas story of Jesus of Nazareth is the history of the incarnate “Son of God” who was/is one of us in “flesh”³⁷ (vv. 13a, 14a) and blood. He “dwelt among us” (v. 14b) in the midst of human beings and in solidarity with us in allusion to the Jewish nomads who lived in tents (cf., for example, Exodus 29:45; Leviticus 26:11–12; Numbers 35:34; Ezekiel 37:27). He was a human being under human beings³⁸. In Jesus, God is present in the world and He links the divine world with the earthly world³⁹. The so-called doctrine of the “Hypostatic Union” at the Council of Chalcedon in 451⁴⁰ refers in allusion to John 1:1, 14 that the one person Jesus Christ had/has two distinct natures: Jesus of Nazareth was a human being, a man (100 per cent – cf. Romans 1:3; 8:3; 9:5; Philippians 2:7; Colossians 1:22; 1 Timothy 3:16; 1 John 4:2; 2 John 7) and He is the Christ, the divine “Son of God” (100 per cent – cf. Romans 1:4; 8:3; 9:5; Philippians 2:6; 1 John 4:2).

      For someone who did/does not believe in Jesus of Nazareth, He was only a human being (“sárx” = flesh) on earth⁴¹, but for His disciples (cf. v. 14c), John the Baptist (cf. v. 15) and for His believers in Him (cf. 16)⁴² – then and nowadays –He was/is the “the only” Son (cf. Genesis 22:2) “from the FATHER” (vv. 14d, 18b). So, the Fourth Evangelist suggests that he as Jesus’ disciples together with the others “have seen” (in Greek “theáomaɩ”⁴³ – cf., for example, John 20:18; Acts 9:27; 1 Corinthians 9:1) “(His) glory ( )”⁴⁴ (cf. Exodus 33:18; 2 Peter 1:17) and were His witnesses (cf., for example, 2 Peter 1:16; 1 John 1:1; 4:14).

      + The Witness of John the Baptist for Jesus (v. 15)

      John the Baptist (cf. vv. 6–8) is also a witness of Jesus – note the verb “marturéo” (= to testify) in verses 7b, 8b, 15a, 32a, 34a. The pre-existence of Jesus⁴⁵ in contrast to him is described with the help of an antithetic parallelism:

      Jesus “comes” temporally “after” him (vv. 15d, 27a, 30b and Mark 1:7; Matthew 3:11),

      but He ranks “before” him,

      because “[He was] /the/ first ... [ ]” divine One.

      + The Relationship to Jesus by His Believers (vv. 16–18)

      v. 16: We agree with Michael Theobald to define the phrase “we all” (in Greek “pántes” in vv. 7c, 16b) with the “graceful” believers (cf. Ephesians 3:19) in Jesus as the Christ and “the only” Son of God – then and nowadays as readers/hearers in the sense of the “receivers” (vv. 12a, 16a₂) of the Good News according to the Fourth Gospel⁴⁶.

      v. 17: We also agree with Theobald that the parallelism of verse 17a – “through Moses” – and verse 17b – “through Jesus Christ” (cf. John 17:3; 20:31⁴⁷) is not to be understood as an “antithesis”⁴⁸ (“aut – aut” – either-or) of “Law”⁴⁹/“Torah” (vv. 17a, 45c) – the first part of the Hebrew Bible, the so-called “TaNaK”: the Torah, the prophets (nebiim), the writings (ketubim) – versus “grace and truth”⁵⁰ (cf. Exodus 34:6; Psalm 25:10; 40:11; 85:11 [LXX]; Romans 5:21), but rather it is to be read in the positive sense of “et – et” (cf. Matthew 5:17–18; 7:12) that means both – “Law”/“Torah” & “grace and truth” – complement one another.

      v. 18: The Johannine Prologue concludes with the theological statement that the pre-existent “Jesus Christ” (v. 17b) and the incarnate “Son of God” (cf. 14a, d) had only “(seen)” (in Greek “horáo”) “God ( ), the only God” (cf. Exodus 33:20 and John 3:32; 5:37; 6:46; 12:45; 14:9; 1 Timothy 1:17; 1 John 4:12). This One is like an “exegete”⁵¹ (v. 18c) who could explain, interpret God and report about Him because of His (mutual) relationship with His divine “FATHER”. The believers in “Jesus Christ” (v. 17b) and “children of God” (v. 12c) are the receivers of His “explanation”, “interpretation” of the monotheistic God respectively His “report” about Him.

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

      2.1 Christological Basic Chapter (vv. 19–51)

      2.1.1 “First Day”⁵²: The Identity and Authority of John the Baptist – His Mission Declaration to the Jewish Authority of Jerusalem (vv. 19–28⁵³)

      Where: the river Jordan near Bethany⁵⁴ near Jericho and Qumran (v. 28)

      Who: John the Baptist (cf. vv. 6, 19a) as an individual versus the group of the Jewish delegation – probably the Temple “police”⁵⁵ – from Jerusalem (v. 19b) who was composed of priests⁵⁶, Levites⁵⁷ (v. 19b), Pharisees⁵⁸ (v. 24)

      A delegation “from Jerusalem” (v. 19b) on behalf of the authority in Jerusalem questioned (cf. vv. 19e, 21b–c, f; 22b–d; 25b–d) “John the Baptist” who clearly answered them in the form of three⁵⁹ negative (cf. vv. 20d, 21e, h) and two positive sayings (note v. 23b–c as a quotation of the prophet Isaiah 40:3 [LXX] and vv. 26b–27c).

      - The Identity of John the Baptist (vv. 19–23)

      v. 19: Two comments of the Evangelist John in verses 19 and 28 come before and after the juristic hearing (cf. John 9:13–34; 10:22–30; 18:19–24, 28–19:16b) between the Jewish Temple authorities and John the Baptist. Verse 19 is the setting of the actors of the interview (cf. vv. 19–28) in the view of the judicial inquiry whether the public ministry СКАЧАТЬ