Category Archives: John

Thirteen is a chapter famous for the unique version of “the supper” and Jesus’s paradigmatic act of service. Once again, John gives us a different version of a Synoptic teaching. Where Mark would say “even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve,” John gives us an otherwise unknown scene withContinue reading “John 13”

Jesus’s interpretation of Mary’s anointing dramatically sets the stage for the subsequent chapters. Now six days before the passover, death looms large. The extravagance of the gift surely has its basis in the resurrection of Lazarus, as an expression of gratitude for the life of a loved one. Just as Jesus saw the act asContinue reading “John 12”

After the charge of blasphemy, the threat of death looms over Jesus and his little band. With the news of Lazarus’s illness, Jesus seems to have picked his moment. As the story unfolds, it becomes apparent that his prediction of glorification through Lazarus foresees more than simply the fame of raising a man from theContinue reading “John 11”

Following the presumption of “sight” by the Pharisees at the end of ch. 9, Jesus launches into an extended metaphor regarding his identity and, more to the point, theirs. As usual, Jesus doesn’t hesitate to mix metaphors, claiming to be at once the shepherd who leads the sheep (10:2) and the gate by which theContinue reading “John 10”

This is at once one of my favorite stories and one of the most troublesome to me. A Caedmon’s Call song captures the essence of what I love about it: Spit in the clay, when washed away Gave the blind man sight New eyes couldn’t comprehend the sun That by light ended the night ShackledContinue reading “John 9”

The battle between testimony and judgement, revelation and perception, is heating up. John continues with Jesus’s second self-defining “I am” statement in 8:12: “I am the light of the world.” This saying, like the first, is related to life. We have the bread of life and now the light of life, harkening back to 1:4.Continue reading “John 8:12–59”

If you have a study Bible that does its job, you may have noticed brackets around this passage, or at least a footnote. There are only two substantial passages in the Greek NT texts used by modern translations (the ever-stubborn NKJV notwithstanding) that don’t have pretty good attestation as original to their respective books: thisContinue reading “John 7:53–8:11”

It is a very twenty-first century idea, but I often wish I could hear the soundtrack that goes with the biblical narrative. For me there is nothing that conveys the feeling of a moment more than music. Sometimes I stumble upon the realization that, though not written in the powerful, sweeping narrative that evokes my emotionsContinue reading “John 7:1–52”

I wrote this on Saturday, but sadly I wasn’t able to post it before Easter Sunday morning. This passage is one that I have returned to again and again for a couple of reasons. For many years I have struggled to understand new facets of communion. The supper is one of the deepest wells fromContinue reading “John 6b”

Chapter 6 is loaded. Two first class signs. A big clue into what is really going on with the mob chasing Jesus cross-country. One of his longest discourses. The first “I am” saying. And a pivotal moment in discipleship. I’ll split it into 6a and 6b. Only a few stories are attested in all fourContinue reading “John 6a”