03/27/2023 – Gospel of John Fellowship – Chapter Eleven – “The Tragic Irony” – John 11: 47-53
God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent (He wills our greatest joy); therefore, it is not surprising that over the years of study and prayer , that the Truth in His Word is revealed to us in endless layers, like peeling an onion? Once again, I am going to share an amazing excerpt from William Barclay’s “The Gospel of John Volume 2” (ISBN Reference 0-664-24105-0 (v. 2) . Let’s get started, from pg. #105:
“Then comes the first tremendous example of dramatic irony. Sometimes in a play a character says something whose full significance he does not realize; that is dramatic irony. So the Sadducess insisted that Jesus must be eliminated or the Romans would come and take their authority away. In A.D. 70 that is exactly what happened. The Romans, weary of Jewish stubbornness, weary of Jewish stubbornness, besieged Jerusalem, and left in a heap of ruins with a plague drawn across the Temple area. How different things might have been if the Jews had accepted Jesus! The very steps they took to save their nation destroyed it! This destruction happened in A.D. 70 *(C) ; John’s gospel was written about A.D. 100; and all who read it would see the dramatic irony in the word of the Sadducees.
*(C) – Insert note: Josephus, the renowned Jewish historian living in this period, estimated 1.1 million Jews killed in and around Jerusalem. Bar Hebraeus of the 13th century estimated roughly 7 million Jews worldwide back in the middle of the 1st century A.D. So, as a rough estimate, one in six or seven Jews living in the world were killed. The peak estimated worldwide Jewish population was 1939 with an estimated 17mm people. For context, it was back up to 14.2mm in 2015. Source – wikipedia.com (Sorry, I know, not the best)
Then Caiaphas, the High Priest, made his two-edged statement. ‘If you had any sense,’ he said, ‘you would come to the conclusion that it is far better than one man should perish for the nation than that the whole nation should perish.’ It was the Jewish belief that when the High Priest asked God’s counsel for the nation, God spoke through him. In the old story Moses chose Joshua to be his successor in the leadership of Israel. Joshua was to have a share in his honor and when he wished for God’s counsel he was to go to Eleazar the High Priest: ‘And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him… at his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in’ (Numbers 27: 18-21). The High Priest was to be the channel of God’s word to the leader and to the nation. That is what Caiaphas was that day.
Here is another tremendous example of dramatic irony. Caiaphas meant that it was better that Jesus should die than that there should be trouble with the Romans. It was true that Jesus must die to save the nation. That was true — but not in the way that Caiaphas meant. It was true in a far greater and more wonderful way. God can speak through the most unlikely people; sometimes he sends his message through a man without the man being aware; he can use even the words of the bad men.”
Jesus was to die for the nation and also for all God’s people throughout the world. The early Church made a very beautiful use of these words. Its first service order book was called the Didache, or The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles. It dates back to shortly after A.D. 100. When the bread was broken, it was laid down that it should be said: ‘Even as this bread was scattered upon the mountains, and was brought into one, so let the Church be brought together from the ends of the earth into the kingdom (Didache 9:4). The bread had been put together from he scattered elements of the Church must be united into one. That is something about which to think as we look on the broken bread of the Sacrament.” (*A)
*(A) – These last few sentences: So, back to the point I was raising in commentary on John 6: Is the eucharist / communion just mere symbolic, or does it include mystical union elements known and understandable only to God? Could it not be also another opportunity to just step out in faith, and believe Jesus, particularly that which was so emphasized by Him. No, the Didache is not infallible as the Bible is, but it is written right around the same time as the Gospel of John, through Apostleship leadership?
Thoughts? Reflections? Questions for us to work through?
- Another question for the group, that I have been thinking about throughout our entire study of John, so I will just throw it out here for discussion and sharing: I believe Jesus was fully divine and fully human from birth. But, I think he became increasingly aware as a human of that divinity over his short lifetime. Two catalysts: 1) Jesus’ baptism by John and “anointing” by the Holy Spirit; 2) His fasting and prayer – Forty Days of Temptation by Satan in the Wilderness. I have taken issue with Barclay along certain points, much as I respect him. One prime example: He commented with Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the well that there must have been some conversation beforehand we weren’t aware of, for how could he have known that the Samaritan Woman had a history of five husbands. My answer: Because He is God, thereby utilizing His omniscience. A contrarian could come back with: But elsewhere in the Gospels he notes that only God the Father “knows” the date for His second coming. But to me, that is not strong enough a counter-point to overrule the fact that he clearly is aware of the timing of when He is going to be glorified. On the other side of the coin, I don’t think he knew of the 5 Ws of his death and resurrection, or for the parousia.
*(B) On annointing, see link below:
And here for FYI only, is our current standard list of questions as fellowship tool generators:
- That does the text reveal about God’s character?
- How has this reading generated prayer for you and/or us?
- What themes stand out to you in this bible study?
- How does our reading fit into the bigger picture (creation, the fall, restoration, etc.)?
- What verse(s) jumped out at you like never before? Is it explainable at this point?
- Do you have any questions you would like to put before the group as to how to interpret any particular verse(s) in our reading. Let scripture testify to scripture: Share with us where you sense contradiction between passages elsewhere.
- What did you find convicting and inspiring at the same time? Share with us how the Spirit of God is working within you as a messenger, both within
and outside of our fellowship group.
- Share with the group how our study is calling or confirming to you a new mission to glorify God in our times.
Soli Deo Gloria!