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When Jesus Gave Birth (Part 5)

April 29, 2013 — Leave a comment

The best evidence for the piercing of Christ’s side (John 19:34) being an allusion to the creation of Eve (Genesis 2:21-22) is found in its seamless connection to John’s core message and themes. In my last post I noted three verbal and or circumstantial parallels between John 19:34 and Genesis 2:21-22: Death as sleep, opened side, and the substance. In this post we explore John’s theme of new creation.

The Source of Creation

Beginning with John’s opening allusion to Genesis 1:1 (“in the beginning”), references to the creation abound in this gospel. John ascribes the creation of all things to the Word/Logos (1:3) and connects the Word/logos with Jesus (1:14) and so declares that what came into being through Jesus was a new creation – a new beginning.

Life and Light. As the author of creation, Jesus, the Word made flesh, is the source of life and light (Gen. 1:3). John 1:4 states, “in Him was life, and that life was the light of all people.” And throughout the gospel we see Jesus offering life and light to the people he encounters, most notably light to the man born blind in chapter 9 and life to the dead man Lazarus in chapter 11.

Sabbath Work. Jesus’ Sabbath “work” is also tied to creation narrative. When people object in John 5 to Jesus’ healing on the same day God rested from creation, Jesus responds, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” (5:17). Jesus implies that neither God nor himself has ever stopped working. The people are outraged. “This is why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God” (5:18). For Jesus, in John, there is yet to be a completion to the creation and therefore there has been no true day of rest. We’ll return to this important idea below.

A New Week

John also interestingly opens his gospel with a series of six days (John 1:29, 35, 39, 43; 2:1, 12). Such a tight sequence is unique in John and appears to allude to the days of creation. But more than simply echoing the number of days, each day conceptually parallel the corresponding day in the creation account. Note the following similarities.

On the first day God creates light and separates the light from the darkness (1:3-5). On the first day in John (note: John 1:29 begins the second day) John distinguishes light from the darkness (1:5).
On the second day, God separates the water which was below from the waters above (1:6-8). On the second day in John (1:29-34), John the Baptist states twice that he baptizes “in water” and then goes on to proclaim that Christ will baptize “in the Holy Spirit” (1:33) Like the higher and lower waters in Genesis, there are two baptisms; an earthly baptism and a heavenly one, a baptism in water below and baptism in water from above.
On the third day, God gathers the water into one place and causes dry ground to appear. He also causes the earth to produce fruit after its own kind. On the third day in the gospel of John (1:34-39), Jesus speaks for the first time. He also bears fruit, reproducing himself in the gathering of his first disciples.
On the fourth day, God creates “the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night.” In John (1:39-43), Jesus meets with Peter. Jesus, the greater light (8:12), governs the day (9:4) while Peter, a lesser light, will govern the night.
On the fifth day of creation, God creates fish in the sea and birds in the air. On the fifth day in John, Jesus calls Philip who, like the fishermen Peter and Andrew is from a place called Bethsaida, meaning “house of fish.”
On the sixth day of creation, God creates male and female. Genesis 2 provides the full details, revealing it as the first marriage in scripture. “For this reason a man shall leave his mother and father and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.” On John’s sixth day, Jesus attends a wedding.
And as with Genesis, John’s sixth day is the last day of this series of active days. God rests on the seventh day. In John’s gospel Jesus remains at Capernaum for a few days.

For more on this see Paul Trudinger’s article “The Seven Days of the New Creation in St. John’s Gospel: Some Further Reflections.”

I think it’s again interesting that we find no clear rest day in this “creation” week. The Sabbath may be hinted at but it’s not reproduced. Jesus simply continues his work without ever truly resting. This matches Jesus words that He and His Father have only continued to work. Jesus’ whole ministry in John should be understood as a continuation of the sixth day – the day in which God made man in his own image.

“It is Finished!”

Allusions to the creation account also cluster around Jesus’ arrest, death and resurrection. Andreas Kostenberger points to several possible instances of the new creation motif here.

The setting of the passion narrative in a garden, invoking the memory of Eden (18:1, 26; 19:41)
Pilate’s identification of Jesus as “the man” (19:5), which may present Jesus as the new Adam
The possible portrayal of Jesus’ resurrection as the beginning of a new creation (1:3; 20:1)
The identification of Jesus as “the gardener” by Mary (20:15), reflecting misunderstanding and possible also irony
Jesus’ breathing on his disciples and his giving of the Spirit in the final commissioning scene (20:22), invoking the creation of Adam in Genesis 2:7 (Ezek. 37:9)

To this we need to add Jesus’ cry from the cross in John 19:30, “It is finished.”

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “it is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. (19:28-31)

Note the similarities to the creation account. Jesus is declaring his work finished on the day immediately preceding a weekly Sabbath, a word which means rest. Here’s Genesis 2:1-3,

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Given John’s repeated references to the creation and Jesus’ insistence that the Father and He had not stopped working even for a Sabbath, we should hear Jesus’ cry as the ultimate completion to their work. In Jesus’ death and burial the creation was completed and the Sabbath finally realized.

The Creation of Eve from the Side of Adam

The capstone of this new creation occurs a few verses later in the piercing of Christ’s side and the flow of blood and water (John 19:34). As an allusion to the creation of Eve, John 19:34 fits seamlessly with John’s theme of new creation. In my next post we’ll explore John’s theme of new birth.

In Bible, Easter, Gospels

The Best Method for Memorizing Scripture

April 16, 2013 — Leave a comment

I’ve never been much for memorizing bible verses. I’m referring to the typical way we go about memorizing the bible – a verse here and verse there – written down on a flashcard and placed on a mirror or fridge. Why? I think it trains us to think of the Bible as a book of isolated verses rather than a unified whole with a context that defines and gives meaning to each individual verse.

For instance we memorize and quote Matthew 5:13-15, “you are the salt of the earth…you are the light of the world“, and in so doing we simply believe Jesus is referring to us. But the context clearly defines the “you” in those verses and it may or may not be us. Memorizing individual verses apart from their setting leads us to distort what scripture is actually saying.

Is there a better way to familiarize ourselves with the Bible? Yes! And it doesn’t require flash cards.

Think of the first time you took your commute to work. If it wasn’t already a familiar place, you may have arrived at your job and not remembered the whole of your drive. Maybe a certain curve stuck out in your memory, a landmark or a sign. But as the days and months went by that stretch of road became a little less mysterious. The bold sights that once attracted your eye began to fade with repetitiveness and more unassuming details took their place. Whole sections of the road began to fill in, anchored around those original markers. Eventually even the smooth flat road seeped into your mind. Unconsciously, bit by bit, it was there when you tried to recall it. So one day, without perhaps even realizing it, you knew the road like “the back of your hand.”

Knowing and understanding Scripture comes about in much the same way as our repetitive drives to work. On the first reading we may find a verse here and there resonating in our mind like an eye catching sign. But they hang isolated and alone, with nothing remembered before or after. Its only through repeated reading that these significant gaps begin to fill in.

So how should we go about acquainting ourselves with scripture. The answer is just keep reading!

In Bible, Devotions

Is that Promise for You?

April 15, 2013 — Leave a comment

Jesus says in Matthew 5:13-16,

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

Who is the “YOU” in that passage? For those of us who apply the bible directly to our own lives its quite natural to see the “YOU” as referring to us. For instance, The Personalized Bible renders that verse for me this way

“Matthew is the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “Matthew is the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

Since the “YOU” is plural, we also might apply it to a particular Christian group. “My Church is the salt of the earth” or “those who say a sinners prayer are the salt of the earth…”

But Jesus’ “YOU” is more specific than that. It has a context which we all too often ignore. Jesus has already told us to whom that “YOU” refers.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are YOU when people insult you, persecute YOU and falsely say all kinds of evil against YOU because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is YOUR reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before YOU.

YOU are the salt of the earth…

The “YOU” Jesus addresses are those who possess these qualities. While I hope those qualities are represented in you and me, I recognize that’s not necessarily the case. Do you and I match the description? The promise is for those who in weakness demonstrate humble dependency upon God. It’s not for people who simply claim the promise by inserting their name.

In Bible, Devotions

When Jesus Gave Birth (Part 4)

April 12, 2013 — Leave a comment

This is part four in the series “When Jesus Gave Birth.” You can find the introduction to the series here and the second and third parts here and here.

How can the piercing of Jesus side and the flow of blood and water (John 19:34) have anything to do with the creation of Eve (Genesis 2:21-22)? Didn’t God use one of Adam’s rib to form Eve? There’s no mention of a rib in John 19. Is there?

The verbal and circumstantial parallels between the piercing of Christ side (John 19:34) and the creation of Eve (Genesis 2:21-22) boils down to these:

1. Death as sleep. The piercing and flow follow the death of Jesus. Genesis tells us that prior to taking Adam’s side to form the woman he caused Adam to go into a deep sleep (tardema). Deep sleep is commonly used of a night’s sleep as in Job 14:13; 33:15 and Proverbs 19:15. But here in Genesis 2:21-22 it is the same special work of God as when Abraham slept before the covenant with God (Genesis 15:12). Since Jesus rises again, His death is likewise comparable to sleep. Jesus makes the comparison between sleep and death explicit in John 11:11 before the resurrection of Lazarus.

2. Opened side. While “rib” is a good rendering of what God took from Adam in Genesis 2 it is unnecessarily restrictive. The Hebrew may refer to a rib but it more broadly means side. Besides it use in Genesis 2, it is used in the Old Testament for the sides of objects, buildings and hills. Side was also in the minds of the Greek LXX translators when they rendered the Hebrew as pleura. The substance God uses to form the woman is found in the man’s side. John 19:34 and Genesis 2 also share the unique fact that plerua is in both instances is singular when it normally occurs in the plural. It is the side (pleura singular) of Christ where John locates the piercing. Just as God takes from Adam’s side (pluera singular) so the solider pierces Christ’s.

3. The Substance. In Genesis God takes a part of Adam to fashion a helper just like him. In a similar fashion, what flows from Jesus side is a representations of his two natures. The blood stands for his flesh or humanity while the water His spirit and divinity. You can somewhat see this in the standard views on the flow of blood and water reviewed in the second part to this series. But I would also like to turn you attention to this post where I quote a work that delves a little more deeply into this issue.

These verbal and circumstantial parallels are by no means definitive. With just a few similarities it’s clear how Brown and Stibbe could have dismissed it. While the church fathers may have believed in such a connection this in no way proves that John intended it.

But strengthening the connection are the multiple themes in the gospel which point to it. The greatest support for the connection may not necessarily be the ‘textual’ similarities in 19:34 but rather how it corresponds so neatly with John’s message and themes. Volume, as we have already seen, is not the only way to judge an allusion.

We’ll begin to look at how this allusion fits John’s message in our next post.

In Bible, Gospels

Star Wars, Literary Parallels and the Bible

April 11, 2013 — 1 Comment

Have you noticed how the second Star Wars trilogy (episodes I-III) parallels the first (episodes IV-VI)? Here are a few examples.

A New Hope (IV) and the Phantom Menace (I)

Both Luke and Anakin Skywalker leave their family on Tatooine to be trained by Obi-wan as a Jedi.
Obi-wan is killed by a Sith lord in front of his apprentice Luke just as Qui Gon is killed by a Sith lord in front of his apprentice Obi-wan
Both films climax with Skywalkers (Luke and Anakin) in a space battle in which they blow up the enemy space-station
Full cast appears in triumphant award ceremony

The Empire Strikes Back (V) and Attack of the Clones (II)

Male leads are separated during “romantic” chapter of the film.
Both Boba and Jango Fett follow heros in Slave I through astroid field while heros hide behind an asteroid and escape with the garbage.
The first begins with a battle against giant robot walkers and the later ends with battle against giant robot walkers
C-3PO is dismantled in a droid factory
Both Luke and Anakin Skywalker lose an appendage and get a robotic replacement.

Return of the Jedi (VI) and Revenge of the Sith (III)

The original title of Return of the Jedi was Revege of the Jedi
The Emperor makes his first real appearance both these films
Both Luke and Anakin Skywalker wear a black glove to cover their robotic hands.
Luke battles Vader while Palpatine watches just as Anakin battles Dooku while Palpatine watches
Luke cuts off Vader’s robotic hand in light saber duel just as Obi wan cuts off Grevous’ robotic hand in the same way
Ewoks battle from tree homes on Endor just as Wookies battle from tree homes on Kashyyk
Vader unmasked in the former while Vader is masked in the later
Ends with funeral

The list of parallels goes on. You can find a more complete list here webpage. It’s pretty clear that the two Star Wars trilogies were arranged in a parallel a-b-c-a’-b’-c’ pattern.

Parallel Patterns in the Old Testament

I bring this up because I think it’s interesting that at least some people still recognize and value such implicit parallels. For the ancient writer and reader it was no different. These parallels in Star Wars are great illustration of the way the biblical writers structured some of their writings. Here’s what David Dorsey says in his extremely helpful book the Literary Structure of the Old Testament.

Parallel arrangements are relatively common in the Hebrew Bible. They generally feature two sets (or panels) of units, in which the units of the first set are matched in the same order by those of the first set (a-b-c II a’-b’-c’ or variations). When a parallel scheme has an odd number of units, the unmatched unit can be placed at the end (a-b-c II a’-b’-c’ II d), center (a-b-c-d-a’-b’-c’), or (more rarely) beginning (a-b-c-d II b’-c’-d’).

Parallelism frequently occurs in Hebrew poetry. Note for example, the a-b-c II a’-b’-c’ pattern in Psalm 19:1-2 {19:2-3}:

a the heavens

b tell of

c God’s glory

a’ the sky

b’ proclaims

c’ his handiwork

a day by day

b they pour forth

c speech

a’ night by night

b’ they declare

c’ knowledge

The pattern can also be found in larger unites. For example, the creation story in Genesis 1:1-2:4, although primarily linear (first day, second day, etc.), exhibits a secondary parallel pattern (a-b-c II a’-c’c’ II d):

a light

b sea and sky

c dry land

a’ lights

b’ fish and birds

c’ land animals and humans

d Sabbath

Whole books may likewise be arranged in this way. The seven parts of Jonah are primarily linear in arrangement (following a chronological order), but also exhibit a secondary parallel pattern (a-b-c II a’-b’-c’ II d):

a Jonah’s commissioning and disobedience (1:1-3)

b Jonah and pagan sailors: Yahweh is merciful (1:4-16)

c Jonah’s response to Yahweh’s mercy: praise (1:17-2:10 {2:1-11})

a’ Jonah’s recommissioning and obedience (3:1-3a)

b’ Jonah and pagan Ninevites: Yahweh is merciful (3:3b-10)

c’ Jonah’s response to Yahweh’s mercy: resentment (4:1-4)

d Yahweh’s lesson (4:5-11)

Parallel Patterns in the New Testament

But its not just in the Old Testament. I’m fascinated by the way the Gospel writers conveyed meaning through the arrangement of there parts. Here’s one very significant example.

We all know that Luke begins his story with two annunciation scenes. But did you know that Luke uses parallels to arrange them in a meaningful structure. Look at this:

a Description of Zacharias and his situation (1:5-10)

b Angel’s message to Zacharias (1:11-22)

c Zacharias returns home and Elizabeth reacts to the news (1:23-25)

a’ Description of Mary and her situation (1:26-27)

b’ The Angel’s message to Mary (1:28-38)

c’ Mary goes to Zacharias’ home and Elizabeth reacts to the news (1:39-

d Mary’s sings a song

When we miss the pattern we miss some of the message that Luke’s attempting to convey. And the same goes for other patterns in the New Testament. For more on how Luke uses this parallel pattern to convey meaning check out these two posts: What Happens When You’re Filled with the Spirit and Why God Shut Zachariah’s Mouth.

In Bible, Culture, Film, Gospels

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