Gospel of John and Youth Group
We've been working on the Gospel of John in youth group. A key idea - to know Jesus is to know God. As we've been studying Jesus, I've been astounded by his responses to nearly every question. He masterfully guides conversation and "dodges" giving the expected answer better than a politician.
9The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?"
Jesus should have said - cause I love all people - race isn't an issue - I came to save all the lost. But he instead says - you should have asked me for a drink - if you knew who I was.
Then she says - ? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob,
He should have said - yes - I am the Messiah. But he talks about the water he gives that springs up to eternal life.
This goes on and on. Over and over. Jesus is intentional. Jesus shows sin to seekers without them being upset (though he's tougher on religious leaders who are self-righteous). It's not just John 4. It's nearly every encounter. I've been challenged to be more intentional in my conversations.
I should mention - the Gospels are just about the hardest part of the Bible for me to understand. I struggle with grasping the proper hermeneutic. I'm pretty picky - and I almost think Revelation is easier to study.
If you have any brilliant thoughts on a hermeneutic for the Gospels, hit me with them.
Labels: answers, Gospel of John, hermeneutic, intentional, Jesus, questions, sin
posted by Tim @ 9:18 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
tim,
pick up Blomberg's book on interpreting the parables. he goes into depth on not just teh well-known parables, but also some of Jesus actions that were telling a story in and of them self.
i think he hermeneutic though not clearly stated is quickly pick up
Tim,
You are correct in the fact that Jesus is intentional, however, what is it that he is intentional about? Is it meerly showing unbelievers who he is in a very roundabout way, showing them their sin, etc... I believe that the Gospels cannot truely be understood without a firm grounding in Christ's teachings throuh Paul in the Epistles. Christ came to bring his truth to the world through the establishment of the church, and if we look carefully at the OT, the Gospels and the epistles, we can see that the gospels were based off of the epistles. Let me clarify, Yes the gospels were an accurate and historical account of Christ's life here on earth, however, they were written, with exception of maybe Mark, before the gospels, I dont have much more time to expand right now, but when you have questions about this comment, I will continue. In the meantime, check out "The Challenge of Jesus" by NT Wright.
Reagan
Hey Reagan - I'm not sure how that deals with my questions. I'm not certain that Matthew and Luke were written long enough after most of Paul's Epistles to be based on them - but even if that is true, I'm not sure how that helps me.
Tim
Tim,
I am sorry, in my excitement about what I am learning, and the fact that I wrote this in about 30 seconds, I was not thinking clearly, I will rerespond to the previous question tomarrow, taking more time and thouroughly thinking through the question and my response. Sorry bout that.
Reagan
I also did not mean to say that the Gospels were based off of the Epistles, but until the time they were written, were kept in a sort of Grecco biography type of notebook or writing, then written after the epistles, mostly for the jews who were falling into dissaray.
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