The Johannine Writings Gospel, Epistles, and Revelation Background and Context Interpretation Part 2

The Johannine WritingsGospel, Epistles, and Revelation

Background and Context

Interpretation

Part 2

Proposed Backgrounds

• Mystery Religions and Theosophy

• Gnosticism

• Hellenism

• Diaspora Judaism and Wisdom

Of the proposed backgrounds, Gnosticism and Diaspora Judaism and Wisdom have received the lion’s share of the attention in recent years.

Gnosticism

• Radical Dualism — Creation and God, as well as ethics and spirituality

• Emphasis on special knowledge — only for the elect

• Strange view of human origins and nature

• Strange view of soteriology and eschatology

• Strange view of Jesus — docetism

Gnosticism as BackgroundDubious

The Traditional View: Since the second century to the nineteenth century (B. F. Westcott) John has been understood as having been written to combat incipient Gnosticism. Characteristic of Gnosticism were dualism, docetism, knowledge, elitism. John 1:14 (“The Word became flesh”) is against docetism.

A New View: The evangelist had been himself a Gnostic who later became converted to a more or less orthodox form of Christianity. Bultmann argued that the Prologue was based upon a hymn originally written in honor of John the Baptist, the person regarded as the true Messiah by this particular eastern Gnostic group. However, the evangelist brought over to his understanding of his faith much of his Gnosticism. He applied the mythological descending/ascending redeemer myth to Jesus. Rather than an itinerant teacher wandering through Galilee Jesus was now portrayed as the heavenly Revealer, One who would teach his faithful the way to the Father. The Trimorphic Protennoia (NHC XIII, 1), for example, contains pre-Christian myth and therefore provides support for this hypothesis.

Critical Reply: In my view, Gnosticism had no impact on the Johannine evangelist. The evangelist neither exploits Gnostic ideas nor opposes them.

John and the Gnostic Construct

John and the Synagoguea more plausible context

• Wisdom Christology

• Threat of expulsion from the synagogue

• Appeals to Scripture

• Rabbinic and Targumic traditions

• Jesus presented as superior to Moses, provider of New Covenant

• Exodus/Wilderness theme throughout

Wisdom Christology and the Diaspora Synagogue

In the Bible the “Word” (logos or dabar) was the agent of creation (Genesis 1: “and God said”; Ps 33:6: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made”). God’s word heals (Ps 107:20), gives life to those who obey it (Deut 32:46–47), and is a guiding light (Ps 119:105). John’s Logos reflects all of these characteristics. John’s Logos also resembles Sophia (wisdom) in Jewish wisdom speculation (Prov 8:22–31; Sirach 24), where Lady Wisdom existed with God from the beginning, assisted in creation, and “dwelt” (kataskhnou'n) among the people of Israel (Sir 24:8; cf. John 1:14 [skhnou'n]). According to 1 Enoch 42:1–3 Sophia visited earth, but returned to heaven, having found no permanent dwelling place.

Philo’s speculations regarding the Logos cohere with certain Johannine ideas. With God Philo associated “two powers.” These two powers are resident in the Logos, therefore the Logos may be called “God” and “Lord” (cf. Quaest. Exod. 2.68 [on Exod 25:22]). Philo’s ideas shed light on the possibility of monotheistic Judaism imagining some sort of plurality within the Godhead. Elsewhere Philo speaks of “ the second God, who is his Logos [to;n deuvteron qeovn, o{" ejstin ejkeivnou lovgo"]” (Quaest. Gen. 2.62 [on Gen 9:6]). He also says that “the title ‘God [qeovn]’ is given to his principal Word [lovgon]” (Somniis 1.39 §230). Philo’s concept of the Logos may also shed light on Johannine incarnation: God’s “Word [lovgo"]” is “the man [a[nqrwpo"] after his image” (Conf. 28 §146). “. . . the Word of God [lovgon qeou'] through [diav] whom (the world) was framed” (Cher. 35 §127; cf. Fug. 18 §95), which parallels John 1:3 (“all things came into existence through [diav] him”).

Wisdom Christology

John’s Wisdom Christology would have made good sense to members of the synagogue; much of it comes out of or closely parallels scripture. Observe the parallels in Proverbs 8, Sirach 24, and Wisdom of Solomon 7–9.

Threat of Expulsion• “For the Judeans had determined that if anyone confess him

to be the Messiah [cristov"], he should be removed from the synagogue [ajposunavgwgo" gevnhtai]” (9:22).

• “Indeed, many of the rulers believed [pisteuvein] in him, but on account of the Pharisees they were not admitting (it), lest they should be removed from the synagogue” (12:42).

• “They will remove you from the synagogue; but an hour is coming, that every one who kills you will suppose that he is offering service to God” (16:2).

These references to the threat of expulsion from the synagogue cohere with the purpose of writing the Gospel: “These things are written that you believe [pisteuvein] that the Messiah [oJ cristov"], the Son of God, is Jesus, and that believing, you should have life in his name” (20:31).

Allegations made against Jesus

Synagogue Polemic in Revelation

• “I know your tribulation . . . and the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews [or Judeans], and they are not, but are a synagogue of Satan” (2:9).

• “Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews [or Judeans] and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and learn that I have loved you” (3:9).

The polemic in Revelation reflects Judaic tradition and appears to be responding to rejection and persecution arising from the synagogue. Below, more will be said about this tradition.

Appeals to ScriptureAuthority in the Synagogue

• Authority of Moses and the Prophets assumed.• Person and Ministry of Jesus in keeping with

Scriptural teaching and requirements.• Rejection, suffering, and death of Jesus fulfill the

prophecies of Scripture.

The evangelist’s appeals to Scripture, which is the principal authority in the context of the synagogue, strongly argue for a synagogue setting for the Johannine community. More will be said on this aspect below.

The Diaspora SynagogueRabbinic and Targumic Traditions

Rabbinic terms and methods: “disciples” (maqhtaiv/talmidim); esp. “disciples of Moses” (John 9:28). In b. Yoma 4a the Pharisees (as opposed to Sadducees) are said to be “disciples of Moses.” See also John 7:15 (“not having been discipled”). “Search the Scriptures” (5:39; 7:52) to find life (Lev 18:5). According to Hillel: “If a man . . . has gained for himself the words of Torah he has gained for himself life in the world to come” (’Abot 2:7). Tg. Onq. Lev 18:5: “if one practices them, he will live by them in the world to come.” Extended midrash in John 6:31–51. “Bread means the Torah” (Gen. Rab. 70.5 [on Gen 28:20]). Peder Borgen, Bread from Heaven (Leiden: Brill, 1965).

Targumic and midrashic traditions: “reveal yourself to the world” (7:4)//“the King Messiah is destined to reveal himself” (Tg. Ps.-J. Gen 35:21); “taste of death” (8:52); “cup [of death]” (18:11); “a voice came from heaven” (12:28)//on the day that Moses died, “a voice fell from heaven” (Tg. Ps.-J. Deut 34:5); “many dwelling places in my Father’s house” (14:2)//“The glory of my Shekinah will accompany you and will prepare a resting place for you” (Tg. Neof. Exod 33:14); blood and water (19:34)// blood and water gush from rock Moses struck (Tg. Ps.-J. Num 20:11). Numerous words and phrases are targumic: “Word/Memra,” “Shekinah/ Dwelling,” and “glory” (1:14); “from the beginning” (8:44; 15:27); “come and see” (4:27); “sign” (12:37; 20:30); “hour [of affliction]” (12:27); “bear witness to the truth” (5:33).

More examples will be seen in the studies below.

Jesus and Moses

• Jesus over against Moses: The latter gave the Law (the first Covenant); the former provide Grace and Truth (the second Covenant).

• Exodus/Wilderness Theme: Just as Moses led the first generation through the wilderness, so Jesus has led the second generation through the wilderness. Just as the first generation failed to believe, despite the attesting signs, so the second generation has failed to believe (as Scripture foretold).

Studies in the Gospel of John

• Polemic and Persuasion in the Synagogue

• Reassurance in the face of persecution

We begin with a study of the Prologue (John 1:1–18) and the over-arching scriptural apologetic that the evangelist has constructed.

John 1:1–18Creation and Covenant

• Creation (vv. 1–5) In Jewish wisdom traditions the “Word” (dabar, memra, logos) was present at creation, or actually did the creating (e.g., Sirach 24; Genesis Targums); light and darkness struggled, with light finally prevailing over darkness.

• Covenant (vv. 14–18) In Exodus 33–34 God graciously gives Israel a second chance (after the calf incident in chap. 32). Moses asks to see God’s glory, to which God replies: “You cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live!” (33:20). God does permit Moses to catch a fleeting glimpse of God’s back, as he passes by, saying, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and full of grace and truth [rab hesed we-emet]” (34:6). “Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before you and all your people I will perform miracles which have not been done before” (34:10a). When Moses and the people finished the tabernacle, “the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory [dovxa] of the Lord filled the tabernacle [Grk: skhnhv]” (40:34; 33:7).

John 1 in ∏66

Bodmer papyrus ∏66 pages one (John 1:1–14a) and two (John 1:14b–21). Verse 14 reads (beginning with last word and p. 1 and continuing with first line on p. 2): kai [o logos] [s]arx egeneto kai eskhnwsen en hm[in] kai eqeasameqa thn doxan autou . . .

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we behold its glory”

• John 1:14 is not a polemic against gnostic docetism (which denied the reality of the incarnation).

• John 1:14 is an affirmation that what the first generation beheld in Exodus 40 (God’s glory filling the leather tent) and what God commanded Lady Wisdom in Sirach 24 (v. 8 “Make your dwelling [kataskhnou'n] in Jacob”) the second generation (i.e., those who lived in the time of Jesus) has witnessed in Jesus: The Word that became flesh and dwelt [skhnou'n] among us and we beheld its glory.

Variants in John 1:18

• monogenhs qeos ∏66 B a• o monogenhs qeos ∏75 ac

• o monogenhs uios Wsupp A 666 1345• unigenitus filius Itala (b aur, etc.) Vulgate• unicus filius Itala (a)• unigenitus filius dei Itala (q)• unigenitus Vulgate (gat)

The number of variants attests the difficulty in determining the precise nuance the evangelist intended.

“He explained Him to us”A clarification in Codex W

• In the Freer Codex (or Codex W[ashingtonensis]), at p. 114, a scribe has added the direct object hmin to the end of v. 18, so that we now know that the “only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has explained (Him) to us.”

<——

“The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father”

• Moses was only permitted a glimpse of God’s back (Exodus 33–34).

• Jesus the Son existed in the very lap of God, thus facing God.

• This is why the Prologue reads: “. . . and the Logos was facing [pro;"] God.”

• Masoretic Variant: “I was in his bosom” (Prov 8:30, Lady Wisdom speaking). “. . . before the world was made, the Torah was written and lay in the bosom of the Holy One” (’Abot deRabbi Natan A 31.3).

• Philo: “The Divine Word . . . is placed nearest . . . to the only truly existent One” (Fug. 101).

“No one has ever seen God”• “You cannot see my face, for no one can see

my face and live” (Exod 33:20).• “Who has seen [eJwvraken] him (God) and

can describe [ejkdihgei'sqai] him?” (Sir 43:31).

• “No one (except Jesus) has ever seen [eJwvraken] God . . . that one has interpreted [ejxhgei'sqai] him” (John 1:18).

Again we see the convergence of Sinai and wisdom traditions.

The Primary Purpose for Writing

• To shore up faith in the Christian community; and

• To evangelize an unbelieving and highly critical synagogue.

• To do both, the evangelist had to marshal the witness of Scripture, especially with regard to Jesus’ death.

• An important part of the evangelist’s strategy is seen in his use of quotation formulas.

Quotations in John

Analysis of Scripture in John pt. IThe Quotations and Introductory Formulas

• Scripture in Prologue contextualizes the entire Gospel narrative.

• Scripture in First Half underscores a ministry in step with scriptural requirements.

• Scripture in Turning Point explains unbelief.• Scripture in Second Half shows that rejection

and execution in fact fulfill Scripture, proving that Jesus is indeed God’s Son and Israel’s Messiah, and that to believe in him is to have life.

Analysis of Scripture in John pt. IIContents

• Prologue—Placing the person and work of Jesus in the context of the world (i.e., creation, vv. 1–5) and the people of Israel (i.e., covenant, vv. 14–18).

• First Half—Signs (1:19–12:36)• Turning Point—Unbelief and Fulfillment

(12:37–50)• Second Half—Passion (chaps. 13–20)• Epilogue—The Persons of Peter and the

Beloved Disciple (chap. 21)

The Occasion of the Scriptural Apologetic

• Ejection from the synagogue, as explicitly stated in John (cf. 9:22; 12:42; 16:2 “will think he is serving God”).

• Ejection from the synagogue, as explicitly stated in the Talmud, in reference to the revision of the 12th benediction of the Amidah (the “Standing Prayer”). “Rabban Gamaliel said to the Sages: ‘Is there one among you who can word a benediction relating to the Minim [heretics]?’ Samuel the Small arose and composed it. . . . If a reader (of the Amidah) made a mistake in any of the other [seventeen] benedictions, they do not remove him, but if in the benediction of the Minim, he is removed, because we suspect him of being a Min” (b. Berakot 28b–29a). [Berakot 29a is shown above right.]

The Twelfth Benedictionof the Amidah

• The original form: “For apostates let there be no hope, and the dominion of arrogance ( = Roman Empire) do speedily root out. Blessed are you, O Lord, who humble the arrogant!”

• The revised form (c. 80 CE?): “For apostates let there be no hope, and the dominion of arrogance do speedily root out. Let the Nazarenes and Minim be destroyed in a moment, and let them be blotted out of the book of life and not be inscribed with the righteous. Blessed are you, O Lord, who humble the arrogant!”

• Both additions are reflected in the Johannine writings. Contrary to the “benediction,” John says those who believe in Jesus will not perish (or “be destroyed”), even if they are expelled from the synagogue. The Revelation of John says that those who believe in Jesus will have their names written in the book of life. In two of the seven letters to the churches, the risen Christ refers to those who say they are Jews, but are not, and calls their congregation a “synagogue of Satan” (Rev 2:9; 3:9). In this context, the risen Christ assures the faithful that he will not blot their names from “the book of life” (3:5).

Revised Twelfth Benedictionfound in 1896

Here we have a photo of two pages from the Amidah, discovered in Egypt’s Ben Ezra Synagogue genizah in 1896. Prior to this discovery scholars could only make conjectures on the basis of the tradition preserved in Berakot 28b–29a.

Photo above is from the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit, housed in Cambridge University Library. The document is filed as T-S K–27.

What John Affirms

• We have considered what the Johannine evangelist has opposed (and what opposed him and his community).

• Now let’s consider what the evangelist has affirmed: Who is Jesus, the Word made flesh? And what has he accomplished?

The “I am” StatementsSeven Predicates

• 1 “I am the Bread of Life” (6:35)• 2 “I am the Light of the World” (8:12; 9:5).• 3 “I am the Door” (10:7, 9).• 4 “I am the Good Shepherd” (10:11, 14).• 5 “I am the Resurrection and the Life” (11:25).• 6 “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (14:6).• 7 “I am the True Vine” (15:1).• The unqualified “I AM” (8:58; 18:6; cf. 10:30;

17:5). Recall that there are also seven “signs.”

The “I am” Statementsin Broad Context

Again we hear echoes of Jewish wisdom traditions.

The “I am” Statementsin Biblical Context

• “I am the Bread of Life [a!rtoj th=j zwh=j]” (John 6:35).• “Bread from heaven he gave them to eat” (John 6:31; cf. Ps 78:24).

According to 78:25 the manna was the food of angels. According to rabbinic midrash, the Israelites who ate the manna become like angels (Midr. Pss. 78.4 [on Ps 78:25]).

• “Behold, from today you shall be renewed and made alive and shall eat the bread of life [a!rton zwh=j] and shall drink the cup of immortality” (Joseph and Aseneth 15:4; cf. 8:5, 11).

• “And all shall be taught of God” (John 6:45; cf. Isa 54:13; Targum: “Your sons shall be taught in the Law of the Lord”).

“This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:50–51). Again we have the wilderness theme and the contrast to the first generation of Moses and the second generation of Jesus.


• “I am the light [fw'"] of the world” (John 8:12; 9:5).• “And the light [fw'"] shines in darkness and the

darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5).• “I will give you as a light [fw'"] to the nations, that

my salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (Isa 49:6; cf. 42:6).

• “The first night, when the Lord was revealed above the earth to create it, the earth was void and empty and darkness was spread over the face of the abyss. And the Word of the Lord was the light and it shone ...” (Tg. Neof. Exod 12:42; cf. Frag. Tg.).

• “Then he will give light [fw'"] and grace to the elect, and they will inherit the earth” (1 Enoch 3:8).


• “I am the Door [quvra]” (John 10:7, 9).• Some have suggested images of gate or gates of heaven (e.g.,

Gen 28:17 “gate [puvlh] of heaven”; Ps 78:23 “doors [quvrai] of heaven”; 3 Bar. 6:13—angels open 365 gates of heaven).

• “This is the gate [puvlh] of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it” (Ps 118:20). James, brother of Jesus, was called “gate of the Lord” (“gate” = James; “Lord” = Jesus).

• 1 Enoch 89; Num 27:17. Perhaps the idea is that Jesus, “the door of sheep,” enables the sheep to reach safety and nourishment, perhaps enter God’s presence (cf. 4Q500 “gate of the holy height”; many times in the Pentateuch we hear of the quvra th'" skhnh'"). This idea is extended in the Good Shepherd metaphor that follows.


• “I am the Good Shepherd [oJ poimh;n oJ kalov"]” (John 10:11, 14); in contrast to the hireling who flees at first sight of the wolf, who seizes and scatters (vv. 12–13).

• The wicked shepherds are described in Ezekiel 22, 34, and 1 Enoch 89. “Her princes in the midst of her are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain” (Ezek 22:27).

• The Good Shepherd is foretold in Ezekiel: “I will feed my flock . . . I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered . . . And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd” (34:14, 15, 23; cf. 37:24). He will fulfill the request of Moses, who petitioned God for a shepherd “who shall go out [ejxeleuvsetai] before them and come in [eijseleuvsetai] before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in; that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep which have no shepherd.” Compare John 10:9, with reference to the “Door of the sheep”: “He shall go in and shall go out and shall find pasture.”

Who were the “bad shepherds”?The Testament of Moses (composed c. 30 CE) describes the ruling priests of the early first century this way:“3 And, in the time of these, destructive and impious men shall rule, saying that they are just. 4 And these shall stir up the poison of their minds, being treacherous men, self-pleasers, dissemblers in all their own affairs and lovers of banquets at every hour of the day, gluttons, gourmands. 5 . . . 6 Devourers of the goods of the (poor) saying that they do so on the ground of their justice, 7 but in reality to destroy them, complainers, deceitful, concealing themselves lest they should be recognized, impious, filled with lawlessness and iniquity from sunrise to sunset: saying: 8 ‘We shall have feastings and luxury, eating and drinking, and we shall esteem ourselves as princes.’ 9 And though their hands and their minds touch unclean things, yet their mouth shall speak great things, and they shall say furthermore: 10 ‘Do not touch me lest you pollute me in the place (where I stand’) . . . ” (chap. 7).Josephus and various traditions describe the ruling priests of the first-century as thugs, who beat people, including lower-ranking priests, in order to steal tithes (cf. T. Levi 14:1–6 “you plunder . . . you steal”; Josephus, Ant. 20.8.8 §181; 20.9.2 §206–207; 1QpHab 8:12 “seizing the wealth of the people”; 9:5; 10:1; 12:10; m. Keritot 1:7; t. Menahot 13.21–22; t. Zebahim 11.16–17; b. Yebamot 86a–b; b. Ketubot 26a).


• “I am the Resurrection and the Life” (John 11:25); cf. “Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live” (5:25); “those in the tombs [oi9 e0n toi=j mnhmei/oij] will hear his voice” (5:28).

• “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall arise [MlfwO( yy,'xal;/ei0j zwh_n ai0w&nion], some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan 12:2).

• “Your dead shall live, their bodies shall rise [Nw%mw%qy: ytilfb'n: K1ytem' w%yx;yi]. O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy!” (Isa 26:19). LXX: “The dead shall arise and those in the tombs will be raised [a)nasth&sontai oi9 nekroi/ kai\ e0gerqh&sontai oi9 e0n toi=j mnhmei/oij].”

• “For he shall heal the critically wounded; and the dead he will make alive [hyxy Mytmw]” (4Q521 2+4 ii 12).


• “I am the Way [h( o(do/j], the Truth [h( a)lh/qeia], and the Life [h( zwh//]” (John 14:6).

• “Prepare the Way of the Lord [hwfhy: K7rEd@E/th_n o(do_n kuri/ou]” (Isa 40:3). The evangelist may be suggesting that Jesus = “Way of the Lord.” Early Christians referred to their movement as “the Way” (cf. Acts 9:2; 22:4; 24:14). So did the Essenes: “He shall save reproof . . . for those who have chosen the Way [Krd] . . . These are the precepts of the Way [Krd]” (1QS 9:17–18, 21). Qumran’s “Way” also alludes to Isa 40:3 (cf. 1QS 8:14).

• “Truth” and “Life” are linked in the Scrolls: “Thus only can he gaze upon the light of life [Myyx] and so be joined to (God’s) truth [tm)] by his Holy Spirit” (1QS 3:7; cf. 4Q418 69 ii 13 “whose inheritance is eternal life . . . ‘We are weary of deeds of truth’”).

• “O Lord, the God of my father Israel, the Most High, the Mighty One, who made alive all things, and called (them) from darkness into light, and from error into truth [ei0j th_n a)lh&qeian], and from death into life [ei0j th_n zwh&n]. You yourself, O Lord, bring to life and bless this virgin” (Joseph and Aseneth 8:10).


• “I am the True Vine [h( a!mpeloj h( a)lhqinh/]” (John 15:1); “bearing fruit [karpo/j]” (vv. 2, 4, 5, 8).

• “Yet I planted you a choice vine [hOl@k@u qr"#&o/a!mpelon ... a)lhqinh&n], wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine?” (Jer 2:21). Israel as vine or vineyard: Isa 5:1–7; 27:2–5; Jer 12:10–13; Ezek 15:1–8; 17:5–6; 19:10–14; Ps 80:9–16.

• “Like a vine [a!mpeloj] I caused loveliness to bud, and my blossoms became glorious and abundant fruit [karpo/j]” (Sirach 24:17).

• “Then my Messiah will be revealed, which is like the fountain and the vine” (2 Baruch 39:7 [Syriac]).

• “‘The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the house of Israel’ [Isa 5:7]. Israel is the mind that contemplates God . . . while the house of the mind is the whole soul, and this is that most holy vineyard, which has for its fruit [karpoforw~n] that divine growth—virtue” (Philo, Somniis 2.26 §172–173).

• “Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard . . . it is made a complete ruin” (LXX Jer 12:10–11a). Recall the “bad shepherds” reviewed above.

• Josephus says a beautiful golden vine and grape cluster adorned Herod’s Temple (J.W. 5.5.4 §210; cf. m. Middot 3.8).


• “Before Abraham was, I AM [e0gw& ei0mi]” (John 8:58).• “I AM [e0gw& ei0mi]” (18:6).• “I and the Father are one” (10:30).• “Father, glorify me with your own glory, which I had with you

before the world existed” (John 17:5).• “God said to Moses: ‘I AM WHO I AM [hyeh;)e r#$e)j

hyeh;)e/e0gw& ei0mi o( w!n]” (Exod 3:14). [hwhy = “He Is”]

• “You are my witnesses and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I AM He [)w%h yni)j/ e0gw& ei0mi]” (Isa 43:10).The Johannine Jesus is not claiming to be God the Father, but to be his emissary, his Son. As such, he stands for God and represents him. This is what is meant by the statement: “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9); and “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (v. 11); and the wider context. In Jewish terms Jesus is shaliach (“sent”).

A note on the Shaliach idea

Jan-Adolf Bühner, Der Gesandte und sein Weg im 4. Evangelium (WUNT 2.2; Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 1977). Bühner finds numerous verbal and conceptual parallels between the Fourth Evangelist’s christology and the legal language of “agent” (or shaliach) in early Jewish writings: Bühner argues that the Johannine portrait of Jesus as one sent from heaven derives not from a gnostic descending redeemer myth, but rather owes its origin to “Jewish-esoteric and rabbinic” “association of ‘prophet’ and ‘angel.’” Herein lies the basic religious “presupposition of Johannine christology of the ‘way of the Sent One’” (p. 427). Bühner helpfully examines the concept of the prophet as the shaliach of God (pp. 270–316) and the concept of the mal’ak of God (pp. 316–73). These concepts, especially the latter, explain the Johannine descent/ascent christology (see pp. 374–99). In what ways Moses functions as a shaliach is discussed by Bühner on pp. 285–313. “The shaliach concept is encountered especially frequently in the Moses tradition” (p. 285). In Greek shaliach may be rendered apostolos. Note John 13: “Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent [a)po&stoloj] greater than he who sent him.”

More on ShaliachIn Mek. R. Sim. Yoh. on Exod 3:10-11 Moses answers God: “Lord of the world, you say to me: ‘Go to Egypt and lead the sons of Israel out of Egypt.’ Am I then

an uneducated jylv?” Moses says to God: “You are the Lord of the world. Do

you really wish that I be your jylv? ‘Behold, I am not a man of words’ [Exod 4:10]” (Exod. Rab. 3.14 [on Exod 4:10]). “‘And this will be the sign for you that

I have sent you’: and by this will you be known as my jylv, that I shall be with you, and all that you wish shall I do” (Exod. Rab. 3.4 [on Exod 3:12]). “The Torah, which the Holy One, blessed be He, gave to Israel, was given to them only through the hands of Moses, as it is written ‘between him and between the

sons of Israel’ [Lev. 26:46]; he appointed Moses to be jylv between the sons of Israel and God” (’Abot R. Nat. §1). Bühner also cites examples of Moses as agent in the Samaritan writing, the Memar Marqa: At the time of his departure

the people reply to Moses: “By your life, O apostle [jylv] of God, remain with us a little longer” (M. M. 5:3). “He who believes in Moses, believes in his Lord”; and “His words were from the words of his Lord” (M. M. 4:7). Similarly, “Your speech is the speech of God and He is the doer of all that you have

manifested” (M. M. 6:4). “Where is there any like Moses, apostle [jylv] of the True One, faithful one of the house of God, and his servant?” (M. M. 6:3).

The Messiah from the BeginningRabbinic Ideas

“And the light dwells with him” (Dan 2:22c) is quoted by R. Abba of Serungayya as an allusion to Messiah (Gen. Rab. 1.6 [on Gen 1:1]; Soncino ed., p. 3).“Six things preceded the creation of the world . . . [one was] the name of the Messiah . . . , for it is written, ‘His name existed before the sun’” (Gen. Rab. 1.4 [on Gen 1:1]; cf. Ps 72:17b; see also b. Pesahim 5a, 54a; b. Nedarim 39b).Pesiqta Rabbati 33:6 (commenting on Isa 51:12, “I, even I, am He who comforts you”):“You find that at the very beginning of the creation of the world, the King Messiah had already come into being, for he existed in God’s thought even before the world was created. Of his existence Scripture says, ‘And there came forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse’ [Isa 11:1]; it does not say, ‘And there shall come forth’ but ‘and there came forth,’ implying that the shoot out of the stock of Jesse had already come forth.“But where in connection with the creation of the world do you find a verse which speaks of the kingdoms’ oppression of Israel and of the redeemer, the King Messiah? ‘In the beginning God created . . . . Now the land was waste and desolate; and darkness was upon the face of the abyss; and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters’ [Gen 1:1–2]. In the word ‘waste’ there is intimation of the kingdom of Babylon . . . .“But where is the proof that the King Messiah existed from the beginning of God’s creation of the world? The proof is in the verse, ‘And the Spirit of God moved,’ words which identify the King Messiah, of whom it is said, ‘And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him’ [Isa 11:2]. But when will ‘the Spirit of God’ move [to bring about your redemption, O Israel]? When in contrition you pour out your heart like water—‘upon the face of the waters’—before the Lord. Then ‘I, even I, will comfort you’ [Isa 51:12].”

Documents

The Johannine Writings Gospel, Epistles, and Revelation Background and Context Interpretation Part 2