The Word Was Made Flesh: A commentary on the Gospel of John

The Word Was Made Flesh

A Commentary on the Gospel of John

by Marcel Gervais

Emeritus Archbishop of the diocese of Ottawa, Canada

Nihil Obstat: Michael T. Ryan, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.

Imprimatur: + John M. Sherlock, Bishop of London

London, March 31, 1980

Cover:"Jesus said,'Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again but whoever drinks the water that I give him will never be thirsty again; the water that I shall give him will be an inner spring, welling up to eternal life.' " John 4:13-14

COPYRIGHT© Guided Study Programs ln The Catholic Faith 1978. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited.

This book was first published in 1980 By Guided Study Programs in the Catholic Faith and is now being republished by Emmaus Publications, , 99 Fifth Avenue, Suite 103, Ottawa,ON, K1S 5P5, Canada on Smashwords

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Contents

Foreword

Chapter-One- The Word Became Flesh

1 The Formation of the Gospel

2 The Introduction to John's Gospel (John1:1-51)

3 Love in Place of Love (2:1 - 4:42)

4-The Samaritan Woman (4:4-42)

Chapter Two- The Light and the Life

1-The Life Giver(4:46-5:47)

2 The Bread of Life(6:1-71)

3-I Am (7:1-8:59)

4-Judgement by the Light(9:1-10:42)

5 Life Triumps over Death(11:1-54)

6-Life through Death(11:55-12:36)

Chapter Three -It is Accomplished

1-The Farewell Discourses*(John 13:1 -17:26)

2-The Death and Resurrection of Jesus (18:1 - 21:25)

3-Epilogue: Jesus, Peter and the Beloved Disciple (21:1- 25)

Appendix -The Woman Caught in Adultery(John 7:53 - 8:11)

Bibliograpy

About the Author

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Foreword

This commentary was first published as part of The Journey Bible Study Program in 1977. At the request of the Ontario Conference of Bishops as well as the Canadian Religious Conference a bible Study program directed at the average lay person was produced. For many years Journey was widely used and translated into several languages.

It was decided to publish this part of Journey again in a revised version for two reasons: firstly, because there are so few popular commentaries on John available to the average reader and secondly, because today more than ever we need the powerful message that John delivers. In our world there are millions who claim to be following our Lord, but who do not believe that Jesus is anything more than a great human. We are living in a world where the old heresy of Arius flourishes: he denied the divinity of Christ. John makes clearly known that Jesus is the Word of God who existed from all eternity. The Nicene Creed, which combated Arius, states that Jesus is, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God. He is the Son whom the Father sent into this world to become one of us, incarnate of the Virgin Mary.

To simplify our commentary we have taken out all aids to distance learning which were very useful in the first edition, but are not considered necessary in this new one. We have also followed as best we can the requirements of inclusive language and clarified some passages that were too dense in the earlier version.

We also have printed in the text the passages from the Gospel of Saint John used in our commentary. The translation is the one made by Fr. Raymond Brown in his commentary on Saint John.

If I may make one recommendation: do not hurry your reading of this commentary, be a slow reader. Let it seep in gradually. You will enjoy it much more. I pray that all our readers will learn to relish this magnificent Gospel.

+Marcel Gervais, Emeritus Archbishop of Ottawa

Artwork by Peter Gaspari with maps and calligraphy by Ron Pickersgill, both of London, Ontario

ISBN-978-1-927766-00-2

Chapter One-The Word Became Flesh

1 The Formation of the Gospel

To approach the Gospel according to John after Matthew, Mark and Luke is to enter a new world. Gone are the familiar parables on the kingdom, the teachings of Jesus on justice, the love of enemies, marriage and the like. Only a few miracles are reported and of these none involves the casting out of demons. Important events such as the Transfiguration and the institution of the Eucharist are absent. Terms we have come to expect, such as apostle, are never used. Instead, we find new words (sign, hour, glory, the Word}, events not heard of until now (the wedding at Cana, the cure of the man by the pool),and persons never met before (Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, Lazarus, the beloved disciple).

Even when this Gospel records events found in the other three it handles them in its own way. Like the others it gives us the testimony of John the Baptist, the cleansing of the Temple, the miracle of the loaves, the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the Last Supper, the Passion and Resurrection; but in each case its presentation is unique. The order of events is often different: for example, in the first three Gospels the cleansing of the Temple is set at the end of the ministry of Jesus; in the Fourth Gospel it is placed at the beginning. Many other differences could be listed. Suffice it to say that while John is obviously presenting the same Jesus, and while he is clearly acquainted with the traditions preserved in the other Gospels, he usually chooses to go his own way.

Why is the Fourth Gospel so different? The answer lies in the way in which it was formed. In composing their Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke were bound by the traditions which their communities revered. While free to arrange and even to modify these traditions to some extent, they could not make full use of their creative powers; they had to use materials already formed by others. In other words, the first three evangelists inherited the traditions out of which they composed their Gospels; they had little or nothing to do with the actual formation of the sayings and stories they employed. It is not so with John: he himself formed the traditions which make up his Gospel, and his influence made itself felt at every stage of the Gospel's development.

Just as the guidance of one great personality accounts for the distinctive character of the Gospel, so it accounts for its extraordinary unity.* One, unique approach to Christ, to the Church, to discipleship is maintained throughout. One way of thinking, one way of viewing Christian life prevails in every part of the Gospel. The unity of thought is expressed in a uniform vocabulary and style. Though some parts of the Gospel (notably the Prologue, 1:1-18; and chapter 21}, have a somewhat different vocabulary and style, the thought expressed in these passages is consistent with what is found in the rest of the Gospel.

Note *The episode of the woman caught in adultery is an exception (John 7:53- 8:11). While it is beyond question a part of sacred Scripture, it cannot be the work of John. Many ancient manuscripts place it after John 7:52, but some place it elsewhere in John, and some omit it altogether from John. Still others place it in Luke. (In fact, the language and style of the story is closer to Luke's than to John's.) Clearly, this precious piece of inspired writing is a tradition which was not incorporated into the Gospels by the evangelists themselves, but by the Church after all four Gospels had been written.

Note:For our purposes our text will refer to the Evangelist as John, Saint John, the Evangelist or the writer.

Coherent and magnificently unified as the Gospel is, it nevertheless bears unmistakeable signs of having been written in several stages. The history of its development appears to have been complex and scholars do not agree on every step in the process. The most reasonable assumption is that the evangelist himself wrote almost everything now found in the Gospel, but that he did not compose it at one sitting. He seems to have made a first version of the Gospel and then, some years later, to have revised it, adding new material and changing its plan somewhat. Later still, probably after the death of the evangelist, his disciples made a final edition, inserting passages some of which were by the evangelist himself, while others were composed by his disciples.

It is obviously going to be hard to tell where the evangelist made revisions. His reworking of the original version was done expertly, as we would expect. Work by his disciples, however, is easier to detect. A few examples:: The evangelist's own version of the Gospel clearly comes to an end in 20:30f, where he gives the reason why he wrote; but there follows another whole chapter with a conclusion of its own (21:24f). Chapter 21, though inspired by the thought of the evangelist, is written in a different style and is quite clearly the work of a disciple. It was added by the final editors. In 14:31 Jesus brings his instructions at the Last Supper to an end by saying, Come now, let us be on our way. But then three chapters of further instructions are given before Jesus and his disciples actually depart ( 18:1 ). The explanation for this apparent inconsistency is probably to be found in the attitude of the final editors. At some time after his revision of the Gospel, the evangelist wrote the magnificent speeches of Jesus found in chapters 15, 16 and 17. His disciples were resolved that these precious writings should not be lost. They ensured their survival by inserting them at the end of chapter 14, thus achieving their purpose without disturbing the text of the evangelist. (His version of the Gospel had already become sacred in their eyes and they did not want to tamper with what he had written.)

Many other examples could be given, but these are sufficient to illustrate the way in which this great Gospel came to be. As for the length of the process, competent scholars calculate about fifty years, beginning in the 40's and ending in the 90's of the first century. If this estimate be correct, there follows the interesting and important result that the Fourth Gospel is at once the earliest and the latest. It is the earliest because it will contain traditions dating all the way back to the 40's, that is, just after the resurrection. It is also the latest, for it will reflect the faith of the Church of the 90's, a decade or so after the other Gospels had been composed.

The evangelist

Who was this amazing person whose genius marks the whole Gospel? He is difficult to identify. The reason is that he has taken great pains to conceal himself. Were it not for chapter 21, added by his disciples, not even a good guess would be possible on the basis of the Gospel itself. Even with the information given in the final chapter we cannot be absolutely certain. But it appears that the author who is so intent on remaining unknown is the beloved disciple mentioned in the second half of the Gospel. This man was present at the Last Supper where he enjoyed an intimacy with Jesus not shared by the others ( 13:23ff), he stood at the foot of the cross ( 19:26), he was the first to believe in the resurrection of Jesus (20:2ff) and the first to recognize the risen Lord on the shore of the lake (21 :7). He apparently did not die a martyr's death as Peter did (21:20ff). At once two questions present themselves: Is the beloved disciple the same person as that unnamed follower of John the Baptist who becomes a disciple of Christ (1:35, 40)? Is he to be identified with the same anonymous disciple who was acquainted with the high priest ( 18:15 )? We do not really know.

While it is quite safe to maintain that the evangelist is the beloved disciple, we are not at all certain who this man is. In recent years scholars have proposed such persons as John Mark, the companion of Paul, Luke the evangelist and even Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead. The traditional name, of course, and still the most likely, is John the son of Zebedee, one of the apostles. Nowhere is he named in the Gospel. Even in chapter 21 where the Zebedees are mentioned, his name does not occur. If this identification poses problems of its own (and it does). perhaps these only show how successful the evangelist was in hiding his identity. If he is a member of the Twelve, it would appear that he did not prize this position as much as the love Jesus showed him.

Though the beloved disciple saw, heard and touched the Lord, he openly admits that he and the others had only the shallowest understanding of Jesus before the resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (e.g. 2:21f). It was only when the Spirit came that he began to understand what he had witnessed. It was then he realized that the One he had seen and heard, and on whose breast he had rested his head was God. What he came to know in Jesus was not sheer power, but a love like no other, pure as light, clear as running water, good as bread, heady as wine. He understood that the love which had taken hold of him was in fact embracing the whole world.

Through the Spirit the beloved disciple became aware of his oneness with the risen Lord. Though Christ had ascended to the Father, the Paraclete had so profoundly united the risen Lord to him that he could say Jesus was in him and he in Jesus. John knew that this same experience of union with Christ was being offered to every disciple. The evangelist wanted all whom he taught, indeed the whole world, to know the joy, the peace, the ecstasy of being one with the Lord. In John, and no doubt in many of those whom he guided, the experience of union with Christ reached depths which only the greatest saints have known. This profound and intimate relationship with Jesus marks the whole Gospel.

The purposes of the Fourth Gospel

The first and most important purpose of the Gospel is to impart that clearer and more profound understanding of Jesus which the Holy Spirit made possible after the resurrection. Central to this clearer understanding is the truth that Jesus is the eternal Son of God made man. He is God the Son who was with the Father before time began, equal to the Father and yet obedient to him in every way. If in this Gospel Jesus is as gentle and familiar as He who walked in the garden of Eden in the cool of the evening and yet as disturbing and strange as Ezekiel's vision

( Ezek 1:1-28); if the Christ of Saint John is as arresting and inexplicable as the burning bush and as awesome as the thunder and lightning of Sinai, it is because in describing Jesus, John is describing God.

The divinity of Christ, then, governs the thought of the entire Gospel. Opening with the pronouncement that the Word was God it closes with Thomas' profession of faith, My Lord and my God, while throughout Jesus is proclaimed as equal to God and rightfully deserving of the divine Name, I AM.

John, however, does not overlook the humanity of Christ. In fact some of the most forceful affirmations on the full humanity of Jesus are found in this Gospel. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, a word that powerfully communicates the idea that Jesus shared our earthy, limited and mortal nature. In John we see Jesus tired, thirsty, angry, in tears, and of course we see him die. But the evangelist feels no need to emphasize the human nature of Jesus; he seems confident that his readers know and accept this aspect of our Lord. It is the divinity, the Godhead of Jesus that some of his readers appear to doubt. And so it is this truth he will drive home.

The second purpose of the Gospel flows from the first. John wishes to proclaim Christ as the Spirit had led the Church to understand him, but it is one thing to communicate this knowledge to Jews and quite another to teach it to, let us say, Samaritans. In the community for which the evangelist wrote, different groups appeared at one time or another. Some were followers of John the Baptist, and among these some had come to believe in Christ, while others still clung to their first teacher. There were Jews who had entered the Church, but refused to accept the divinity of Jesus. There were Samaritans whose beliefs were considered heretical by Jews and Christians alike. The evangelist's Church was also threatened by hostile Jews who treated Christians as the most heinous of blasphemers. And of course there were the Gentiles, both those who had entered the Church and those still on the way. The message of the Gospel had to be brought to each of these groups and to do so the evangelist had to take seriously the special character of each.

The most important group of all, however, must not be overlooked - the devout members of the Church whose faith rested firmly on the teaching of the apostles, who revered the leadership of Peter, and who saw in the beloved disciple the model for every follower of Christ. These had to be nourished, encouraged and patiently led to the fullness of faith. The second purpose of the Gospel, therefore, is to proclaim Christ to the various groups present to the evangelist and his Church.

*It was once the fashion to treat John as a book offering truth of a poetic and symbolic nature but little in the way of hard fact. Discoveries of the last century, however, have forced a shift of opinion. For example, the pool with its five porches (5:2) was seen only as a symbol of the five Books of Moses. Now it has to be accepted also as real. Archaeologists have dug it up! Similarly, many considered that John used words and expressions foreign to Palestine. But study of the recently-discovered Dead Sea Scrolls has proven that John's language, even at its most unfamiliar, was common usage in the countryside of Jesus.

The method of the evangelist

The task which the evangelist set for himself was to preach Christ, not merely in the spoken language of his listeners, but in ideas and images dear to them. He made it his duty not only to translate the words of Jesus from Aramaic to Greek, but to translate the meaning of the person of Christ into the thought of each of the groups he was dealing with, whether Jews, or followers of the Baptist, or Samaritans or pagans.

To accomplish so great a task, the evangelist had to assimilate profoundly the message of Christ. Once it had become thoroughly his own, John could impart the Good News to any group. The method he used appears to have been something like this: when faced with the challenge of proclaiming Christ to Samaritans, for example, he would reach back into the life of Christ for an encounter between Jesus and a Samaritan, and, relying on the Holy Spirit to help him remember and understand ( 14:25f; 16:13), he would probe his memory for whatever could help. His extraordinary gifts as a writer would then enable him to compose a narrative that powerfully combined the historical event (a meeting between Jesus and a Samaritan woman) with the deeper understanding of that event granted by the Spirit. Such dramatic elements were probably composed as need arose and only later put together by their author to form a continuous account. As different groups came to his community he composed other narratives, some of which he incorporated in a second version of his Gospel. And even after this second edition was finished the evangelist, as has been suggested, continued to write new passages which his disciples added to the final version.

What matters for our purposes here is that Saint John unites historical events with the clearer understanding of them that came about as a result of the resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit. It is true that John's is a 'spiritual Gospel', that he uses many symbols in order to lead his readers beyond the merely literal and hence is bound to attach less importance to accuracy of detail and chronology It would however be an absurd mistake to dismiss entirely the historical basis for the scenes and events to which he refers.* We should however, take care not to commit the opposite error of reading the Gospel as though it were a record of the life of Jesus such as would be made by a video-recorder. .

Note *It was once the fashion to treat John as a book offering truth of a poetic and symbolic nature but little in the way of hard fact. Discoveries of the last century, however, have forced a shift of opinion. For example, the pool with its five porches (5:2) was seen only as a symbol of the five Books of Moses. Now it has to be accepted also as real. Archaeologists have dug it up! Similarly, many considered that John used words and expressions foreign to Palestine. But study of the recently-discovered Dead Sea Scrolls has proven that John's language, even at its most unfamiliar, was common usage in the countryside of Jesus.

It may be difficult to accept that in the Fourth Gospel. even more truly than in the others, we have the words of Jesus in the words of the evangelist. But this is so. This Gospel is one of the most striking