Lesson 6: Nature of Light / the Good Shepherd

Gospel of John:  Lesson 6:  Chapters 9, 10

Bible Study, 14 April, 2013

Faith Mennonite Church, Twin Cities, MN

Lesson 6:  Restoring the Light / The Good Shepherd

    J. Vernon McGee opens Chapter 8 with an interesting observation, “The Lord has been giving His discourse on the Light of the World.  Because He claimed that He is Go0d, the Jews wanted to kill Him.  Jesus “hid” Himself as He went out of the temple, going through the midst of them” … It was a miracle that He could escape this angry mob.  His time had not yet come, and so they could not lay their hands on Him.”

    The observation is indirect.  Jesus is the Light of the World, yet, just as God had been forced to hide the full Truth and brilliance of His glory from Moses, so too, we find that Jesus has had to “hide” his light.

    This brings to mind an apocryphal story from the life of Menno Simons.  While journeying between congregations in northern Germany, the Emperor’s guards stopped the coach conveying Simons and his wife Gertrude between towns.  

    “Who is inside the carriage?” demanded the imperial guard.  “We are looking for the meddlesome troublemaker Menno Simons.  Is he inside this coach?”

    In an effort to disguise himself, Simons had taken a seat beside the driver.  In this the Lord’s Will was shown for thusly the driver could turn to the guards and truthfully reply, “In truth, Menno Simons is not inside this coach.”

    Simons was the father and Gertrude the mother of the Mennonite faith.  He was not an evangelist.  God had appointed others such as the Philipps brothers, David Joris and Hans Denck to that task.  Simons was the pastoral head and it was essential at that time that he remain alive and free to maintain the church and thus able to adjudicate the many squabbles and disagreements that were already tattering at the seams of the new faith culture.

    Chapter 8 closes with Christ similarly having to hide himself from the Jewish mob.  The mob had no interest in Truth or God’s plan, the mob had a political agenda all of their own … and their plan was not in accordance with the will of God or an accurate perception of Truth.  So Christ hid himself.

    This story also brings to mind that age-old hymn of Easter – He Could Have Called Ten-Thousand Angels.  We focus at Easter on the fact that Christ could have called forth legions of angels to save Himself from the Cross and the mob.  Similarly, here to Christ could have called forth an angelic bodyguard, but Christ was no Rockstar Diva, he did not require a Heavenly entourage.  Instead of forcing the issue and unmasking His glory and power to the mob, He withdrew and kept quietly to His disciples.  (Similarly, Simons traveled not with an armed guard of his own but rather trusted and accepted that it was God who had blinded the soldiers to his presence beside the driver.)

    In the age of televised Evangelism and the harsh rhetoric of certain teachers from Jerry Falwell and Pat Roberts to Westboro Baptist Church, Christ’s humility is a counterintuitive lesson.  As we learned in Mennonite Bible school, true Faith is not trying to bend God’s Will to our desires, our glory or even our understanding.  Rather, true Faith is bending our will, our desire and even our understanding to God’s Will.  This is a component of galessenheit.

    McGee sees less duplicity on the part of Christ.  To McGee, Christ is not hiding himself so much as he is giving the people over to their blindness.  

    In Chapter 9, despite the need for security, Christ begins to take corrective action.  In Chapter 9, we find Christ blatantly and symbolically healing a blind man.

    McGee’s key verse is verse 9, “For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.”

    Warren Wiersbe points out that “Our Lord performed miracles in order to meet human needs.  But he also used those miracles as a “launching pad” for a message conveying spiritual truth.”(cont...)

Lesson 3: Chapeters 2, 3 (Draft)

Gospel of John:  Lesson 3:  Chapters 2, 3

Bible Study, 24 February, 2013

Faith Mennonite Church, Twin Cities, MN

Lesson 3:  Two Weddings

    John Chapters 2 and 3 contain some of the best known versus in the New Testament, including the Wedding at Cana, John 3:16, and the story of Nicodemus, that queer night visitor.

    Read John 3:9-21

    Our theme today is two weddings.  We begin with Day 7 of Warren Wiersbe’s John’s Week of Creation wherein Christ’s preparation is completed and the historical ministry of Christ begins with the first “sign”-oriented miracle.  We will end with John the Apostle recording John the Baptist’s identification of Christ as the Groom predicted by the prophets Solomon (Song of Solomon) and Jeremiah (7:34, 16:9, 25:10; 33:11).

    Read John 2:1-10

    John records the wedding feast of a presumed young couple in that the wedding is on the third day – the day a virgin would marry her spouse – while the commentators are relatively silent on this point, I think that it refers directly to the imagery we will discuss shortly with John the Baptist’s further teachings regarding Christ (Chapter 3).

    J. Vernon McGee brings out that this is not a story about love or about the couple being married, but rather the story of Christ and his Mother.  Mary has remained steadfast and faithful in her role towards her son, but Christ has yet to vindicate her story that he is the son of God and that Mary’s strange story, that of the Nativity, is in fact true.  McGee questions how much the traditional interpretation that Mary is asking Jesus to aid and assist what might be poor newlyweds, perhaps even relatives or cousins, and how much she was thinking of herself and being vindicated before these kith and kin. 

    John reminds us that Christ is not on our schedule but on a higher spiritual schedule, nonetheless, he lends a hand, performs a miracle and accomplishes all of the purposes to which the miracle’s success is attributed (creates a type of transubstantiation, provides a sign of his divinity, assists the newly-weds, vindicates his mother’s story, etc.).

    Wiersbe points out that this miracle happened before a limited audience – before Mary, the six original disciples (including John as witness), and the servants.  The purpose of the miracle was not to bring Christ fame and glory but rather to both reveal his power and underline the truthfulness of his teaching to his new disciples.  Wiersbe’s perspective would still accomplish the vindication of Mary in that the household would comprise her kith and kin.

    I am going to go out on a limb and point out that in regards to recent debate on same-sex marriage, Jesus was here participating and facilitating a social event.  He did not institute a marriage rite, he participates in a celebration of love – and there is no teaching or mention of procreation.

    Skipping forward, we come to the second Wedding – that at the end of Chapter 4 – the future wedding of Christ – the rapture of the church, again the third part of the identity passages in John 3 – the past or the law, the present, Christ’s ministry, and the future, Christ’s return.

    Read John 3:22-30

    Again, we encounter the sign of baptism, as we discussed last week.  But now John introduces a new image – we move from the discussion of who is greater and who is less, who baptizes with water and who baptizes with the spirit.  Now, John the Baptist reveals Christ as the Messiah – but not in the manner of a warrior king, but in the manner of a groom (Song of Solomon, Jeremiah and etc.).

    Benny Hazelhurst, an Evangelical Christian pastor within the Church of England (Dorset to be specific), writes on his blog about the nature of this bride-groom relationship, including its gender neutral specificity:

…the Church as the 'Bride of Christ' contains both women and men.

As the inspirational evangelical preacher FB Meyer puts it, in his devotional commentary on Ephesians - 'Redeemed men compose that bride'. Here is the context to that quote:

Here is a mystery indeed. That scene in Eden is also a parable. It was not good for Christ to be alone. He needed one to love and to give love. But there was none among unfallen angels that could answer to Him. And therefore God the Father sought a bride for his Son from among the children of men; yea, He took the Second Eve from the wounded side of the Second Man, as He lay asleep in the garden-grave.

Redeemed men compose that bride... Then the Church shall cleave to Him forever, and He shall cleave to her. And they twain shall be one spirit.

The fact that the Church comprises both men and women and that this (according to John Richardson) is the ultimate paradigm for marriage, suggests that marriage is indeed 'genderless' - it has just taken the church a long time to realise it (like the abolition of slavery and the movement of the sun).

    Jesus would later seize upon this imagery himself, as we see in Matthew 25:1-13.

    This is a story that we see again and again repeated in the art of the church.

    The story is part of Christ’s Olivet Discourse wherein he relates mysteries of the future, relegating this spiritual marriage to the end times theology of the of future (we hereby enter into dispensationalism).  Not everyone agrees on the interpretations.  McGee feels that this story clearly refers to the tribes of Israel.  Wiersbe and others see this as referring to the Church – that up to half of the church will show itself false or unprepared and lose their entrance into Heaven.

    Rev. Hazelhurst wants us to turn to Ephesians 5 to examine the details of this marriage in terms of human marriage, but I am not sure we are yet ready to go that far… I would have us rather consider the first part of the marriage chapter, versus 1 through 20:

Ephesians 5 New International Version (NIV)

5 ¹ Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children ² and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

³ But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. ⁴ Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. ⁵ For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.^{[a] 6} Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. ⁷ Therefore do not be partners with them.

⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) ¹⁰ and find out what pleases the Lord. ¹¹ Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹² It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. ¹³ But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. ¹⁴ This is why it is said:

“Wake up, sleeper,
    rise from the dead,
    and Christ will shine on you.”

¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. ¹⁸ Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    Herein we find a return to many of Christ’s favorite tropes – wine, foolishness, wisdom, light and darkness, days and nights, being awake, sleeping, the fulfillment of the Flesh versus the higher meaning of fulfillment in the Spirit.

    Let us now examine the last theme for today – Nicodemus, the queerly closeted follower of Christ.

    Read John 3:1-12

    Many gay Christians readily identify with Nicodemus who came to Christ as a closeted follower.  He came to Christ in secret, at night, in a garden, and alone… he we spotted him trying to hunt down Christ’s attention and attempt to get him alone, we might have observed classic gay cruising behavior as Nicodemus attempted to catch his attention with attracting the attention of others, and then disappearing with Christ into a secluded area for a moment of intimacy – only in this case, intellectual and spiritual intimacy, not physical.

    As Anabaptists who are also attuned to the journey and experience of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters, we, like the gay community, seize upon the concept of the closet as integral to our spiritual and cultural identity – we, like Nicodemus, like the majority of gays and lesbians, find ourselves stumbling about in darkness.  We know that after which we seek, but we do not necessarily understand it or how to obtain it – and it can only be had from a direct, personal, intimate relationship with Christ.  Unlike Nicodemus, who may not have come out completely until he assisted Joseph of Arimathea in removing Christ’s body from the cross and burying it in the tomb, we are called to come out and present our testimony to the church in recognition and in testimony of the private realization of that momentary, personal, intimate act of relationship with Christ.

    In 1978, a doll came on the market – Gay Bob, and he came in a box shaped like a closet. 

    The press furor was great and the straight, non-welcoming public offended and non-accepting.  A writer wrote to Ann Landers about the doll and its inappropriateness.  Ann Landers laughed it off and said that she would believe when she saw it.

    The newspapers complied with stories and photos of the doll.  Ann Landers acknowledged the reality of Gay Bob and accepted it.  Bob and the gay community came out of the closet and the public then had to deal with it – to accept it or reject it, but its existence and reality had been revealed.

    Hithertofore, we are dealing with the Coming out of Christ – John the Baptist playing the role of the newspapers, and the Jewish establishment that of Ann Landers – only some would accept it and others would reject it. 

    So we actually have two types going on here in today’s readings – Christ’s coming out and that of Nicodemus as models for the Anabaptist Christian of today, and that of the two weddings – the physical wedding at Cana, a celebration of family, faith and love, and a spiritual wedding – again, one of family, faith and love – both of which are silent on or oblivious of all of the other restrictions, constrictions or rules that we might wish to imply on either or both. 

    These are tropes that we will continue to see revealed as we move on to next week’s lesson regarding a woman of perception and man whom society rejected – a woman who questioned boundaries (Chapter 4) and a man with queer sort of problem (Chapter 5).