John 1 and the Ancient Covenant Text

Every baby raises the question “Who is he like?”

There is a family resemblance: how we look, move, speak, think, and react. Each of us has common features produced by genetics and our experiences in a family. As we age we catch a glimpse of our own parent (or grandparetns!) in the mirror, or hear their voice echoed in something we say. We “see through” our own self to see “the other” who is somehow living on “in us.”

Learning the skill of “seeing through” is also needed to read the Scripture.

To see the Face of God and hear His voice we must see through the NT to discern the Jewish Bible (and God's face/voice). Otherwise, we miss out on the deeper meaning.

In John 1 we read about ‘the Word’. John is a first century Jew. He speach is influenced by puns which is an ever-present feature of the Jewish Scriptures. Hebrew (and Aramaic) is built on roots words. So there are all manner of puns in the Bible which we do not see. We can not read Hebrew so we miss out on this. Sometimes the word play determines word choice in Hebrew which English translations cannot capture. We lose the fun of the game in Divine revelation and so we miss out on Who God is. Ironically, those who claim to take the Bible most seriously fail to encounter the God Who messes with us in language games and twists of phrase!

We read "The Word is made flesh", but what is “The Word?” One constant feature of the Fourth Gospel is John's multi-valent (meaning upon meaning) use of language. John plays with words and meanings. As you read a text it contains levels of meanings. The Greek word "Logos" has many meanings. One of them is “Scripture.” We call it the word of God. So Jesus is the revelation of God, the Book of God, or the Word. And we know the only Bible Jesus possessed is the Ancient Covenant text (Old Testament). It is that book which is alive and enfleshed and walking around first century Judah. we are invited to reflect on what that means...

So let us look at this first chapter of John to see if we can find the Father’s face in the face of the Son!

It doesn’t take long…. "En arche ho logos" = "In the beginning the word." John begins his Gospel with the same words as Genesis. The Jesus story, he communicates to us, is understood by the creation story. Genesis begins with darkness and chaos. God speaks and creation happens. Each symbolic day, we read again and again, consists of God speaking and His speech (word) creating. The ancient Jews sang of this in Psalm 33:6 (By the word of the Lord the heavens were made). The verb (speak) and noun (spoken content) are different aspects of the same thing.

The Ancient Covenant text also uses the terms Wisdom and Torah to communicate what John is saying here. Wisdom plays at the feet of God as a child and she is the guiding principle which shapes and forms creation. Torah is the Law, the reason and rationale for creation; the inner truth of creation. And, of course, there is the Word. The word of God which comes to the prophets:

Jeremiah 1:4 “the word of the Lord came to me saying.” (The word comes to the prophets) The Hebrew dabar means word, but it means so much more. It means a saying, a promise, a cause, a thing, a reason, an occupation, a deed. So we must read John through Hebrew thought:

The promise became flesh and lived among us.

God’s deed became Human.

The cause became a man.

God's Reason was enfleshed, living and breathing and walking the earth!

John continues:

“what came to be in Him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness but the darkness does not katalambano it”

The first creative act in Genesis is the creation of light.

Jesus is the Source of light, He is light. Light is life. This is literally true. Plants absorb sunlight to grow. We eat the plants (or other plant eaters). We live. No sun, no light, no life.

This is true physically, but also spiritually.

The light is supernatural, but the natural state of things is darkness. Darkness is always here, we just can’t see it because of the light. But once the light leaves a room darkness is revealed. Darkness, the absence of light, is also death, the absence of life.

We live in a world where the dark always remains. It cannot katalambano= apprehend/understand the WORD. That is why unbelief is so prevalent. Jesus cannot be grasped by those who would remain in the dark, whatever the reason. But (the pun!) katalambano which means apprehend/understand also means apprehend/overcome. The light who is Jesus appears defeated by the power of the world, but He is not…. And we who suffer in the darkness must cling to that hope of Light.

The world does not understand Jesus….

The world cannot defeat Jesus…

This is why we pray canticle 11 (Isaiah 60) Arise shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has dawned upon you. For behold, darkness covers the land and deep gloom enshrouds the people; but over you the Lord will rise and His glory will appear upon you. Nations will stream to your light….”

But the appearance of Jesus is rife with paradox and contradiction.

He made the world but when He appeared the world did not know Him. How can this be? How can creation not know the creator?

Even worse, God’s own people do not accept him. If Jesus is the Messiah why is there so much doubt?

Once more Isaiah provides the answer, Isaiah 1:2-3 “I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know and my people do not understand.”

The mystery of unbelief is all over the Hebrew text. Today I read it in Numbers 14 in my prayer time: The Lord said to Moses, 'How long will this people despise me? And how long will they refuse to believe in me inspite of all the signs that I have done among them?"

As it was, it still is. The mystery of human freedom begets all manner of good and ill, faith and unbelief, obedience and rejection.

But there is also faith and great blessing: Those who do believe receive the gift (says John). Each becomes a child of God. It is not a biological process or an act of human will. It is a gift from God, the gift of life poured out upon all who embrace God’s Son.

“The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” and hidden in the Greek word is a deeper meaning. Dwelt is Skanoo and literally means to tabernacle or tent among us. Read Exodus 40:34, Numbers 35:34, Joshua 22:19 and the dozens of other places where the CLOUD of God’s presence would tabernacle/tent in Israel’s midst on their journey and finally in the Temple. God "tenting" with His people is the deepest meaning of the phrase in John.

This Jesus, He is God living among us. His body is the new tabernacle, the new tent of that presence. And the OT is fully-filled-up in Him whom we call Emmanuel!

The life of Jesus for us is grace after grace, blessing upon blessing. When we look in His face we see the Father. When we hear Him we hear the Father. And the Father’s word to each of us is salvation as in Jesus He says to you, to me, “My Son. My daughter.” This is Good News, the kind of message to take into a new year. I pray your 2013 is filled with an abundant insight into your status as a child of God and your belief will produce abundance in dabar (word and deed)!