Bible in A Year: Episode 32

Intro • 00:00
Welcome to Read the Bible in a Year with Matt and Hannah, a weekly podcast from Fairfax Bible Church where we explore scripture together, uncovering its themes and design patterns. We’re glad you’re here. Now, here are your hosts, Matt and Hannah.

Matt • 00:15
Okay, episode number 32, Hannah. 32. So last week I uh I was I was hung up on episode 31. We got there. Because of the Baskin Robbins flavors.

Hannah • 00:29
Uh-huh.

Matt • 00:29
Right. And then of all people, my my lovely wife, Christy, was like, you totally messed up 31. I was like, no, we talked about ice cream. That’s great. And she was like, your wife and your daughter were both born on the third first. How could you?

Hannah • 00:43
Yeah. Oh.

Matt • 00:44
So I missed I missed an opportunity there. So sorry, Christy. Sorry, Lexi. Love you. Um but it’s not episode 31 anymore. You missed your chance. So it’s episode 32. So now I want to use 32 flavors by Ani DeFranco and Alana Davis. So there we go. There’s your 32 people. Do you have a thirty thirty-two reference?

Hannah • 01:09
I don’t think so.

Matt • 01:10
I mean I’m always trying to think of uniform numbers. I’m sure there’s like some 70s football running back I could throw in here. My friend Don Burkle would know who number 32 is, but I don’t have one, so I’m gonna stick with my fai one of my favorite songs.

Hannah • 01:22
Hmm. I’ve never heard that song.

Matt • 01:25
Oh, okay. I’ll send it to you. I like it. I sh it should have been a big hit. I don’t know why it wasn’t, but what can I say? Apparently I’m one of the few people around with good music taste. What Anyway, well hi. Hello. Yeah. So we’re uh we’re reading the Bible in case people didn’t uh pick up on that. I don’t know. I don’t know what you’re doing here.

Hannah • 01:49
I would hope so.

Matt • 01:50
If you’re not reading the Bible with us.

Hannah • 01:52
Oh man.

Matt • 01:57
Amazing. That would be funny if somebody was like, yeah, there’s a lot about the Bible, but I really just want their opinions about coffee. That’s what I turned into.

Hannah • 02:06
Yeah. Yeah.

Matt • 02:09
All right. Well, yeah. So uh we’re working our way through the Gospels. We finished Mark last week and we got to start John. We’re doing this a little bit different order than you might find in your English Bible. Uh and we’ll explain that in a second. But we’re doing John. Um yeah, Gospel of John. Really different book, very different than Matthew and Mark. Uh really cool. Yeah. How would you rank John among the four gospels?

Hannah • 02:37
I don’t you know that I don’t do favorites. I don’t really do rankings. Like everything has its purpose and it it depends what you’re what you’re looking for.

Matt • 02:50
So what two

Hannah • 02:52
Out of what?

Matt • 02:58
Uh okay. All right. Well why don’t you catch us up? Where are we? Uh where have we been? And uh what’s What’s going on with this really beautiful and like really interesting challenging book that we call the Gospel of John?

Hannah • 03:12
Yeah, so we’re gonna talk about the whole book of John today. We um have another um week where the book of John ends exactly at the end of our Cut off for the podcast, which makes me feel so good.

Matt • 03:28
You like a neat and tidy.

Hannah • 03:32
Um, yeah, and John, you know, usually in our Bibles though the order it’s gonna be after Luke, but I think I mentioned last week The plan wants us to keep Luke and Acts next to each other since they’re written both by Luke. Um so John is uh no the other three gospel accounts are called the synoptic Gospels because they provide a synopsis. I think that’s what that word is coming from, right? Of Jesus’ life. I’ll allow it. Um, they give up more of an overview. I think um at least Matthew and Luke start with Jesus’ birth. Does Mark also?

Matt • 04:14
Uh not really. Mark’s. Not really. It jumps forward. It’s like this is about Jesus.

Hannah • 04:19
Here’s John the Baptist. Right, right. Yeah, but they’re at least starting pretty early in Jesus’ life. They’re for the most part going in order. S for different like literary strategies, they do change up the order a bit, but John is really changing up the order. Yeah. There’s really nothing about um his d Jesus’ childhood at all. It reads much more theological, thematic. We see all of these design patterns.

Matt • 04:51
Crazy use of design patterns.

Hannah • 04:54
There’s s so much rich imagery that’s being pulled from the Hebrew scriptures uh in John especially. The other gospel authors do it too, but um yeah, John in particular it really jumps off the page.

Matt • 05:07
Yeah. Yeah, and John has this thing where he’s using differ a lot of different stories uh then we see, you know, not that it’s repeated. I think we talked last week about how sort of Matthew and Mark and Luke a little bit, you’re looking at a painting, but like Matthew wants to wants you to see what’s happening in this corner. And Mark is like, no, no, look at the colors over there. John is like, no, I got a different painting. It’s still about Jesus and it’s different, but like we’re it’s doing something different. So different narratives. Different stories. There’s some accounts that we don’t see in the other gospels at all that are only in John’s account. Yeah, yeah, some things from the other accounts too. I mean the feeding of the five thousand and um and and that type thing. But uh but there’s a lot of stuff that we don’t see. We don’t see the uh turning water into wine in the other gospels. Um you know there’s a Different uh uh I think uh Lazarus and Martha and Mary is mentioned in the other gospels, but way more detail and way more about his relationship with them. in John’s account. So yeah, it’s really different, really interesting to read next to the other gospels.

Hannah • 06:09
Yeah. I don’t correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think John includes any parables. Um at least none n nowhere near as much. If there are, there might be a couple, but Yeah, not it’s certainly not in the way that Matthew and Mark do, and certainly not like Luke does.

Matt • 06:23
Lucas, as we’re gonna see. Lucas low loads and loads I mean, Jesus certainly does tell stories. Um use imagery to analogies. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, I don’t know that there’s parables in the way that we see. So um if if we are wrong, somebody Somebody’s put something in the chat and and tell us that’s okay.

Hannah • 06:42
Yeah. And the other interesting thing about John is that he tells us specifically what his purpose is for writing this account. And he tells us at the end. Um, so you gotta get all the way there to to realize what his purpose is. But in chapter twenty, verses thirty to thirty-one, he’s like, I could have written way more, but I I decided to tell you these stories. so that you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah and that you’ll have life in his name. Yeah. So like John has a very particular purpose. He he um has um a goal for his readers and he tells you right you know well I was gonna say up front but he tells you then Yeah I mean so uh he he he starts hinting at it up front.

Matt • 07:31
Yeah um In in the epilogue, uh the or is that what epilogue? Yeah, the beginning part. Epilogue is at the end, right? Yeah. What do you call the thing? Prologue. Thank you. See this is Yeah, this is why I need you around. You know, it’s interesting to me, John sort of does a similar thing in his letters, uh, certainly in first John. He’s like, I’m writing to you so that you will know that Jesus is the Son of God. So it’s kind of a theme that he works even in the revelation. It’s like I’m writing these these things down so that you will know or that you understand. So John’s working a lot of themes, not just in this gospel. but across his other works that we see from him.

Hannah • 08:09
So Yeah.

Matt • 08:10
Yeah. And I gotta say, I like a little clarity. What am I supposed to be looking for here Yeah, sure. So I appreciate that. Yeah. Yeah. Well, one of the big things he wants us to see or the a f Phrase he uses a lot or theme he comes back to is weaving in a lot of these, and this is eternal life Um certainly that’s it’s not a unique concept to John, but he plays it a little bit different uh than some other authors do. And he makes a big deal. He uses the phrases a lot. Um so yeah, so what are we what are we looking at here? What do we see? What’s this supposed to mean? Uh bring us bring this together for us.

Hannah • 08:53
Yeah, so all of the gospel authors use that phrase eternal life, but um I should have counted them. Should we give

Matt • 09:02
Yeah, you know, so I haven’t received uh the actual assignment yet, but she did say she accepted the assignment and is working on it. So Karis, we got another one for you.

Hannah • 09:11
Yeah. She sent me an initial count of what did we oh how many times the disciples were confused in Mark is what we asked her. She counted, I think, n No nine or something, but she wasn’t sure where she should draw the line. Like should it explicitly say they didn’t understand or Are they just like generally confused? So maybe we’ll get a more firm answer.

Matt • 09:35
Okay, yeah, we’ll get a little follow-up. Gold Star Karis, good work. Now we got another one for you.

Hannah • 09:40
Yeah, we got another one for you. Um yeah, the the authors of the synoptic gospels uh use the phrase, but nowhere near as much as John. John uses the phrase eternal life a ton. And Matthew, Mark, and Luke tend to emphasize eternal life. in connection with inheriting the kingdom of God and uh the resurrection. So it’s kind of like a future thing, the way that they emphasize it. Whereas John is emphasizing eternal life as something that followers of Jesus can experience already through their relationship with Jesus. So there’s um uh a pretty explicit verse um in John seventeen three um where Jesus defines eternal life in relational terms. So the verse says and this is while Jesus is praying to the Father. Jesus says, and this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. So eternal life is about knowing God the Father and knowing Jesus Christ, not simply about living forever in heaven after you die. But it’s about participating here and now in the life of God and his kingdom through a relationship with Jesus.

Matt • 11:02
Yeah. You know, as we say, perhaps the most famous verse in the Bible uh is in the Gospel of John, John 316, and it definitely plays hard into this idea. Uh you know, God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Uh and then he spends a lot of the book explaining what he means by eternal life. So yeah.

Hannah • 11:28
Yeah. Yeah, very cool. Yeah. The other thing that this phrase eternal life reminds me of is the choice theme. Okay. And so I d I don’t know this this eternal life the and the amount of times not just the phrase eternal life but the amount of times that Jesus says that he uh is he provides the way to life um Uh there was so much about life that was being emphasized in John’s gospel that it I was picking up all the language and how that ties back to those two paths.

Matt • 12:10
Yeah, so Deuteronomy, for sure, that’s a big theme that Moses leans into. You can choose life uh or death. And Joshua riffs on that a little bit. Jeremiah picks up that theme. Um, Psalm 1. uh picks up that theme. And then Jesus is m you know, and we we’ve talked about this before, Sermon on the Mount, he does that kind of thing if anybody obeys my teaching. But here he’s just like, it’s not even about my teaching, it’s about me. if you know me. So yeah, the the more we look at how Jesus talks about this, the more personal and interpersonal. He’s he’s making this.

Hannah • 12:45
Yeah. There are a couple times in chapter five where life, eternal life is connected to the idea of hearing. uh Jesus’ word and hearing the voice of the Son of God. So this is chapter five verses twenty-four to twenty-six. Um, so truly I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life. So there’s that connection between like the path of life and hearing, listening. Cause that was that also a connection in Deuteronomy, listening and the path of life. And then the next verse, um Truly I say to you, the hour is coming, and now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. Very cool.

Matt • 13:33
Yeah.

Hannah • 13:34
Yeah.

Matt • 13:36
Yeah. S um so l eternal life. So you touched on an idea that I think is really important. Sort of a Uh, I’m trying to think the best way to describe this. Sort of a maybe a comic book version of the Christian faith is your center Trust in Jesus so that when you die you can go be with him in heaven. Right. Which it’s not that that’s not true. It’s just it’s a little bit it’s a narrower view of what’s happening than is what really is shared in the Bible, especially in the gospels itself. You know, I th the idea of like I become a Christian, I put my trust in Jesus as just like sort of life insurance or like to to cover me when I die. That would be a very strange concept to certainly to Jesus and his disciples and the the early followers. They’re like Well yeah, but like if it doesn’t actually have anything to do with the life that you live here on earth, then you have completely missed the point. I think that’s how they would respond to us. Yeah.

Hannah • 14:41
Yeah, totally.

Matt • 14:42
Yeah.

Hannah • 14:42
Yeah. Yeah. It’s the the now and not yet that we sometimes use use those phrases of how Eternal life is sure a future forever. It will continue and be culminated when we’re in the presence of God, in the new creation, all of that. But that that doesn’t that’s not mutually exclusive from having fullness of life here and now living uh in this age and uh in this world. Yeah. Yeah. And the really beautiful thing that um all the gospel authors are emphasizing, but um John uh in particular is This path to life is only possible because Jesus laid down his life for us. So um yeah there’s like uh uh I don’t know w uh s a reversal in a in a way. You know. He had to submit his own life so that we could have life. Um so chapter 10 talks about this a lot. Um verse 17, for this reason the Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I think that’s um that stood out to me. That Jesus lays it down of his own accord so that we might take or have life. He gives us life. because he gives up, lays down his own life.

Matt • 16:19
Yeah. And just in case you missed it in John chapter ten, it’s it’s what the exchange that he has with Pilate is basically the same notes where Pilate says something like, Don’t you know I have the authority to release you and Jesus is like well you I’m I’m here of my own accord. You have you would have no authority except what’s been given to you. Yeah. Um and you know I’m I’m laying down my life for for my friends. So it’s Yeah, it’s it’s I mean we could spend hours and hours. There are tons of books written about that thing. It will never uh not be a mystery to me. Like the or the a wonderful mystery to me is like how is it your plan? that you have you die, you you choose to in encounter death so that I can have life. Whereas if he told me beforehand, hey, I’m here’s how this is gonna work. I’m gonna go do this thing. And when I die, that way you’ll be able to have life. I would have been like, uh A I don’t really know what you’re talking about. And B a Yeah, I I don’t even know what that does for me. I’m not sure I would believe it if he told me beforehand. And so, um, yeah, it’s just it’s a lot to get your head around. I find it that way anyway. But it’s beautiful. It’s beautiful. And it’s I every time that I really sink my teeth into it, I’m like, oh, like Jesus really did. give up his eternal privilege and his status as the son of God. And he makes reference to it. Like I could call up a thousand angels to could to come to my defense here. Um, but I’m willingly walking into this out of my love for you. I’m gonna give up my life so that you can have life uh through me. I’m gonna take the punishment that you deserve so that you can get the reward that you don’t deserve. And It’s just a beautiful, beautiful picture. Yeah.

Hannah • 18:03
Yeah. Yeah. I agree.

Matt • 18:05
Yeah. Um So there is something in John chapter ten. Wait a a question. Ian Cox, the gold star overachiever of this podcast. Had a great question in the chat this week about uh there’s a reference in John 10, 18.

Hannah • 18:24
16. John.

Matt • 18:26
Okay, do you have it? Can you read it for us?

Hannah • 18:28
Yeah, John 10, 16. So um ch in this section is about the good shepherd. Mm-hmm And so Jesus says that in verse 14, I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me. Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Speaking of laying down his life. Yeah. And then verse 16 says And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.

Matt • 19:02
Oh, look at that. You love a listen reference.

Hannah • 19:05
It’s great. It’s great. And then the end of this verse says, so there will be one flock, one shepherd. So Ian was asking, is this referring to Gentiles? And uh uh most commentators would say yes, definitely referring to the Gentiles. I think it’s very clear. Um In the gospel accounts, but it becomes more clear, you know, in like Paul’s letters that the goal was always to include the Gentiles and bring them into a unified flock, so to speak. But another interesting aspect of this verse and this whole like passage in general are the connections to the Hebrew Bible where uh Israel’s leaders were in several different books, uh prophetic books, they were accused of being bad prophets or sorry, bad shepherds. Yeah. Um And then in Ezekiel chapter 34, there’s a promise that there will be a Davidic Shepherd who will actually be a good shepherd, unlike all of these um Israel’s leaders who were being bad shepherds. And then if so if you read through Ezekiel chapters 34 to 37, there’s this imagery about the Davidic Shepherd And how uh God promises to rescue his scattered people and reunite Israel under this one Davidic Shepherd. And so uh some other scholars think that here Jesus may also be referring to other sheep that he’s gonna bring into one flock as the his the scattered people of Israel. But that doesn’t exclude the Gentiles. I think all of these images are coming together. of uh Jesus’ offer, you know, to all of humanity to be unified into one flock. So I think both of those those things work together.

Matt • 21:09
Yeah, that’s really interesting. I’ve we may have even talked about that when we talked about Ezekiel. That seems familiar.

Hannah • 21:14
Um yeah. Yeah, I think we might have.

Matt • 21:17
Yeah, so I think that’s really interesting because Jesus is using some of the same exact same words. Um whereas, you know, the the promise in Ezekiel 34 was like a a good shepherd, Jesus says, I am the good shepherd, and uh the it will be his his uh David would be kind of the the the shepherd or it would be from the line of David. So bringing a lot of these things together. So yeah, this this idea that the Jews are dispersed, I think one of the things that we we know about this time and place is A lot of Jews, maybe even most Jewish people, were not in the nation of Israel at this point. They’re dispersed dispersed all over the Roman Empire. So this idea that the king is gonna be the one who calls them back to live as one people.

Hannah • 22:00
Yeah, I think that’s really interesting. Yeah, and I think that idea of the restoration of Israel, that is the beginning of all of humanity’s restoration. So for that to be tied in along with the inclusion of the Gentiles makes sense that you can hold those two ideas next to each other.

Matt • 22:19
Yeah, that is see, this is why it pays to follow design patterns.

Hannah • 22:24
Yes.

Matt • 22:26
And it’s why we spend so much time in the Old Testament or Hebrew scriptures talking about design patterns, because then when we get to new new ones, or it’s like, oh wait a minute, I’ve seen this before. Oh, okay. I see what’s happening here. So yeah. And I think one of these things, one of the things that we’ve tried to highlight this whole year in this read-through is every page of the Bible is about Jesus. And so the more that we can really internalize and see the patterns and references in the Hiscriptures, and then when we see it come to fruition in the New Testament, it makes Jesus that much more worthy of worship and affection and affiliation and devotion, uh, because it’s him stepping into the the promises that we’ve been looking at all along.

Hannah • 23:05
So Yeah.

Matt • 23:08
Way to go, Bible writers. Good work there. Love it Core well one of the I think things that people come to quickly learn about the Gospel of John is the series of uh statements that are called the IMs. Yeah. Um and the I am is definitely hyperlinked, uh definitely loaded with some things because I am is associated with the name Yahweh. Um so going back to the Book of Israel or the Book of Exodus, I’m sorry, where when they ask God, who should I say is sending me? And he says, Tell them I am who I am, is sending you, that k comes to be known as Yahweh. Uh and so it’s this this thing is really loaded. Uh so the word Yahweh essentially means I am. Uh although you had a technical note. You you think it mean you it actually means he is.

Hannah • 24:01
Well Yahweh means he is. So the Hebrew verb that mean that’s to be is hiat, uh-huh. Which is kind of fun to say. Hayah. Karate hoof. Yes. Um but if you conjugate it, uh I am is Ehya.

Matt • 24:20
Okay. I thought I was done butchering people pronunciation.

Hannah • 24:24
Echye. Yeah, so it’s like the first person singular. Um And the first time in Exodus 3 that God tells Moses what his name is, he says, My name is Ehya, I am. But then when Moses is like, but who should I say sent me? He says, you should say Yahweh, which means he is. Yeah, but we still say that Yahweh means I am, because you know, that’s really how like God would say his own name, maybe. Yeah, whatever. Yeah.

Matt • 24:55
So when we get to the New Testament, especially when we get to John, where where Jesus is using all of these statements, I am, I am, I am, I am the good shepherd, I am the door, I am the bread of life. I’m the it’s very, very loaded. Like his he wants the audience to see that he’s sort of putting himself in that slot. Do I have the concept right here?

Hannah • 25:17
Yeah, totally.

Matt • 25:18
Yeah. So there’s a couple good well, we’ve already mentioned two. Chapter 10 is the story of the story of the Good Shepherd. Jesus actually uses two im that statement. They’re sort of stacked on each. He calls himself the door. There’s just this idea that um, you know, a good shepherd when he when the sheep are in the gate, there’s the this gate or this door. So that them when the sheep are going in and out, um they’re protected and they’re safe. So he talks about the door. And he also calls himself the good shepherd. And we’ve already talked about it a little bit, we don’t have to belabor that, but he’s the one who is looking out for the sheep. his life down for the sheep. And he’s not just a hired hand who’s just trying to like, you know, he’s going to get paid at the end of the day. He’s he’s the owner of the sheep. He cares very deeply about the the sheep. Uh chapter 11, pretty pretty popular story, uh the raising of Lazarus. There’s this moment where Martha says to him, If you had been here, my brother would not have died. And Jesus has an exchange with her and she says, Well, yeah, I believe in the resurrection. At the resurrection, we’ll see him again. And Jesus says to Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. So again, going back to another one. And then there’s probably uh I don’t know if controversy is the one, but probably the biggest mic drop I am. uh is in chapter eight, where Jesus is having an exchange with uh some of the Jewish leaders and they’re essentially saying Why should we believe who you are? We’ve we’ve got Abraham. What it what are you doing here? And Jesus says to them, before Abraham was born, I am.

Hannah • 26:56
Yeah.

Matt • 26:58
Yeah, for sure that’s a mic drop.

Hannah • 27:00
Yeah, because it doesn’t really make grammatical sense You know? And I don’t think it does in the Greek either.

Matt • 27:09
Okay.

Hannah • 27:10
So to say before Abraham was, I am. Like you know, I I think it’s obvious that he’s doing something more than just like saying like, Oh, I’ve existed some before Abraham was born. Yeah. You know, yeah. So I I think because the next verse says they picked up stones to throw at him. So I think they’re about to stone him for blasphemy. They know exactly what he said.

Matt • 27:37
They know exactly what he’s doing. Yeah. If a copy editor were working with Jesus, they’d be like, no, no, you don’t have the tense right. You’re mixing past tense and present tense. You can’t do that. So but thankfully Jesus is not beholden to the rules of grammar.

Hannah • 27:51
So yeah, uh

Matt • 27:53
Yeah, go ahead.

Hannah • 27:54
I I was gonna say uh Pastor Matthew also pointed out another one that’s more subtle, but another I am statement. Um this is in chapter six when Jesus is walking on the water And verse 20, Jesus says to the disciples, it is I, do not be afraid. But that’s the same, it is I is I am in the Greek.

Matt • 28:19
Okay.

Hannah • 28:20
Yeah.

Matt • 28:20
So in English we might not see it, but if we were reading this in the Greek, it would be another one.

Hannah • 28:25
Okay.

Matt • 28:25
Yeah.

Hannah • 28:25
Yeah.

Matt • 28:26
Oh. So how how many I am statements are there? I always thought there were seven.

Hannah • 28:30
So I there’s seven where Jesus is like, I am the blah blah blah. But then we get these, I think, two bonus ones, the one when he was walking on water in chapter six and the Abraham one in chapter eight.

Matt • 28:42
Okay. I love a bonus.

Hannah • 28:45
Yeah.

Matt • 28:45
Two bonuses. Little bonus I am. I dig it. Um awesome. Yeah. So uh so there’s sevens all over uh Book. There’s seven IMs and seven signs and yeah, tons of this. There’s also an interesting pattern, and I’m not fully prepared to describe this because I’m I’m relatively new to observing this, but there’s this pattern that John loves where Jesus has something happens, like he does a healing or there’s a something, and then he’s there’s this big sort of like monologue about it. Um like I’m thinking of the example, what is it? Let me Get this um where he heals the guy who was born blind. Let me find it real quick. Yeah, so it’s in chapter nine. So I feel you know there’s he’s passing by, sees a man who’s born blind, he heals him, and then the religious leaders are very upset about this because I think it happened on a Sabbath. Am I getting that right? Yeah. Yes. And so they’re like they’re having this big exchange with him. How could you do this? What what has happened here? And they actually call the blind guy in. And he’s like, look, I don’t, I don’t know. I was blind. Now I see. I don’t know what you want me to tell you. Whereas I feel like in Matthew and Mark, what we’ve seen is like there’s a miracle, and then that person sort of leaves the story. But in John, there’s like an account, like that person will often stay around and be part of the exchange. And there’s a little bit of that in Mark. Like I’m thinking where um where there was like the thing where uh the you know the friends sort of took the the thatches off the roof and and he healed their friend and there’s a little bit of exchange here but much different in John where The leaders will say to him, How could you do this thing? How could you not keep the Sabbath or whatever? And Jesus like enters into this exchange. So there’s this sort of sign and then there’s this like sort of monologue or dialogue or something that comes out of that sign. That’s very interesting. I think I’m just now seeing that this time around. So I’m not certain I I certainly couldn’t explain John’s rationale for doing this, but it’s definitely a I’ve noticed it in this reading that it’s a very different approach to the signs and miracles that I think uh Matthew and Mark used.

Hannah • 30:58
Yeah, interesting. I hadn’t really noticed that or thought of that. That’s an interesting observation.

Matt • 31:05
Yeah, I need to do a little more research on that and write some notes about that. So if you’re listening and you have an example you want to share with us, feel free to. But that’s something that I’m a little bit new to seeing on this one and that I’m definitely interested. uh to see how it plays out in the rest of the the book.

Hannah • 31:19
So okay I just fact checked us. There are with the seven IAM there are the seven IAM statements. That’s like I’m the bread of life, light of the world, the door of the sheep.

Matt • 31:32
Living water.

Hannah • 31:33
Uh hmm. It’s not on my it my my chat GPT list. Okay. You know, d uh don’t use chat GPT for th theology. But regardless of the there’s the seven I am statements which may or may not include living water. Maybe they merge like um if you’re gonna count seven, you might merge dwarf sheep with Good Shepherd. Okay. And then you would have living water. Then you would have I am the resurrection and life. Okay. Then you would have I am the way, truth, and life. And then I am the true vine. I think I don’t know. Those are maybe the seven. And then there’s seven additional I am statements. Can you believe there’s seven?

Matt • 32:22
I’m not surprised.

Hannah • 32:24
So like the ones we mentioned in chapter six and chapter eight, um, but then like in chapter four, Jesus says, I who speak to you am He. Ah, okay. Um and then like when he’s arrested in chapter 18, Jesus says, I am he. You know, as exampl as another example. Okay. So there’s seven of those, at least according to Chat GPT. But maybe a real human should fact check that. Okay. All right, Karis. Kiris, two homework assignments in one podcast.

Matt • 33:10
Uh Yes, all right. I love it. Yeah, I mean this and it sort of goes back to what we talked about before. John is super intentional with his design patterns and his construction. And so yeah, it’s all There. So if you’re seeing an IM, you’re like, is that part of it? Yes. Yes. 7, 14 bonus, yes. But yeah, Don John’s definitely leaning into this. He wants you to see eternal life and he definitely wants you to see Jesus. taking on the name and character of of the Hebrew the the god of the Hebrew scriptures. Like John’s definitely shining a light on that. Big and bright. So now there’s there’s a also interesting pattern uh or way that John has designed the book. The first half of the book has sort of got a certain pace to it. So Jesus is traveling a lot, he’s going to a different feast, and then about halfway through the book, the pace slows down very dramatically. And it is almost all focused on the last week of Jesus’ earthly life and ministry, with special emphasis on the last night. So there’s several chapters that recount his conversation over the Passover meal and in the Garden of Gethsemane. And I think chapter 15 is a favorite of both of ours You know, it’s certainly one, you know, I had a mentor in college named Nick DeCola, and uh it seems like every time that we got together we would read from John 15. Uh so I still hear Nick in my head saying, apart from me, you can do nothing, nothing. So uh so and then you you had some thoughts on John 15. So I’m I’m excited to hear those.

Hannah • 34:46
Uh yeah, it was just uh I’ve always liked that section, that passage in chapter 15 about abiding um that Jesus talks about. So I was just meditating on that a little bit more. this week when reading that. Um so yeah, verse five is great, but uh verse four as well I’m gonna read together. So abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine Neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me, and I in him, it is uh he it is, that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. Yeah, and I I’ve just been um been reflecting recently on a lot of my own burnout from like just being, first of all, very busy, but uh being f very focused on productivity and very self reliant on that productivity. And this chapter is just like such a beautiful reminder that Any fruit that I am like striving to produce on my own is never going to be produced unless I’m abiding in Christ and fully relying and depending on him for that fruit. Um, so that apart from me, you can do nothing is such a uh needed reminder for us so often, especially in our culture here in Northern Virginia, like people are so focused on being busy. Busyness is like a badge of honor. Productivity is so important and that’s where you’re of importance or value often comes from at least that’s like I experience that a lot. Um so yeah, apart from abiding in Christ, we can do nothing and we produce no fruit is just something I have to remind myself of a lot. And he goes on um in verse nine to say Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. Which I I thought was that stood out to me as um something I hadn’t quite thought about. Like what does it mean to abide in Jesus’ love to keep his commandments. And then a couple verses down it says, this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Um and he says I the one verse previous to that, that your joy may be full, like the reason you’re abiding in me. The reason that you should obey my commands, which is to love one another, is so that your joy will be full. And that’s uh a way more rewarding um outcome than like striving for our own productivity, our own achievement, our own success, which is often very joyless. You know, it it’s not fulfilling, it’s not um something that’s enjoyable. So that’s what I was reflecting on this week with this passage.

Matt • 37:56
It’s a good word. It’s you know a little bit kind of same Same thing, different language and different points of emphasis, but uh it’s kind of goes back to Sermon on the Mount for me. Do you want the good life? Here’s what it is. It’s love you me. Uh listening to me and doing what I say. So love your neighbor. Forgive people who sin against you. Don’t hold grudges. Don’t judge people. Don’t be critical of people. Like go out of your way for people. Don’t be so quick to be offended all the time. Like just like chill a little bit. Don’t don’t store up treasure in heaven. We gotta pay some bills, I understand that. But like don’t store up treasure in heaven. Like store up or don’t store up treasure on earth, store up treasure in heaven. You know, it’s A little bit different mix of words there, but to get to the same thing. I mean, this is this is where the good life is. Sort of going back to something we talked about at the beginning, you know, the the message of Jesus and the offer of Jesus isn’t just Yeah. Train ticket or plane ticket to heaven when you die. It’s a better, more full, rich, satisfying life Right here, right now.

Hannah • 39:03
Mm-hmm.

Matt • 39:03
Yeah. So it’s a really great reminder, Hannah. Thank you.

Hannah • 39:06
Yeah.

Matt • 39:06
Yeah. All right. So that’s John. I feel like John is just such a Thick rich book, I feel like we’re really just scratching the service. I’m not sure we’ve done John justice.

Hannah • 39:16
No, no, for sure not There’s so many more rich design patterns and imagery that we could spend so long talking about.

Matt • 39:24
Yeah. Well thankfully he wrote some other books, so we’ll we’ll give him his due when we get to the appearance.

Hannah • 39:29
Well that’s uh debated actually.

Matt • 39:31
Oh well that’ll be the same John or not.

Hannah • 39:33
Well, but yeah. Depends which which scholar you ask.

Matt • 39:37
Okay. All right. Well.

Hannah • 39:39
I don’t know what my opinion is.

Matt • 39:41
Yeah. I don’t know.

Hannah • 39:42
I try not to have too many opinions, but cool.

Matt • 39:45
Well hey, well I th so I think that’s the end of it, unless you got any kind of last minute things you want to throw in.

Hannah • 39:50
No, no, that’s it. All right.

Matt • 39:52
Good times. So John, what a rich experience. And how great it is to read this with all of you. So thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and your reflections. That uh makes it a lot of fun for us and really meaningful. So rich book. uh thick with imagery and language and just makes the wonder of Jesus uh that much more for me. So thank you all. Uh Hannah, why don’t you pray for us?

Hannah • 40:14
Yeah. Lord, we just thank you so much for this time in your word and to be able to discuss your word together. We thank you for the revelation of your character and of Jesus’ character in the book of John. Um ts uh Jesus being uh f fully identifying with uh your uh the father’s identity in being Yahweh and the unity that the Trinity has. is something that we want to reflect as the church of being unified to love one another um as you have commanded us for Following that command is how we abide in you, Lord. So teach us to abide in Christ, to rely on Him fully, to rely on the power of His grace and his mercy towards us, that we wouldn’t be so dependent on striving um by our own might or power, but that we would uh follow Jesus’ example of submission and humility uh before you. Um Yeah, that we would uh know uh based on Jesus’ example what that looks like, and that we would be fully reliant on you in each and every aspect of our lives. And so we just thank you for your word, for the gift of your revelation, for its beauty and for its truth. um and its grace that it um has on us when we read it, the power that it has to transform us, I pray that you would continue to Move your spirit in us as we read, that you would illuminate your truth and your wisdom to us through your word, and that we would be more united as a community as we read. your scripture together and we pray all this in Jesus name. Amen.

Matt • 42:14
Amen. Thanks so much, Hannah.

Hannah • 42:15
Yeah, thanks, Matt.

Matt • 42:16
Alrighty