Jesus' Winter

In John 10:23, John records that Jesus was walking in the Temple courts in the winter. He's already established in the previous verse that he's moved to a new time frame, starting with the Feast of Dedication. Why then mention the winter?

I think it connects us to Solomon's dedication of the Temple, for that took place in the seventh month (December, if my facts are straight). Solomon, being the Son of God that he was, is a player in the discussion that ensues, and even gets mentioned once in 10:23. Jesus is dedicating a new Temple and moving in, the Temple of His Body, the Church. He's going to raise Lazarus and then deal with the public for just a little bit more before concentrating on His disciples through the last nine chapters.

I think it's doing a little more though. One of the things Jesus is doing in this section is showing Himself to be the Greater Prophet. There's lots of Ezekiel and Jeremiah connections, and I think this is one. In Jeremiah 36, Jeremiah writes a scroll through his scribe Baruch and sends it to be read in the presence of Jehoiakim the King of Judah. Jehoiakim will not listen and burns the scroll, and God tells Jeremiah that his line will be cut off. All this takes place in the ninth month, while Jehoiakim is at his winter house (Jer 36:22).

And that is what is going on with the Jews in the Temple in John 10. They have rejected Jesus and His signs, and shown that they do not love the Lord. They are prophesied for destruction when Jesus levels the city and Temple. We should notice that He removes Himself from the Temple for good at the end of the chapter, never to return (at least in John's account). The wicked Jews have worshipped their idols long enough, and now God is moving out of His winter home to a new home. But the spring will not dawn for these Jews.

Location Reversal

Here's an observation from John to explore. In my study we've spent two weeks now looking at ways that chapter five (the lame man healed at the Sheep Pool) and chapter nine (blind man healed at the Temple) correspond and contrast. Here's one for further reflection.

The locations involved in the two stories are opposed as the plot unfolds. The lame man is found outside the city to the north by Jesus, healed, and then encountered again inside the Temple. The blind man is found near the Temple (Jesus is on his way out from nearly being stoned), healed, and then encountered again somewhere near the Pool of Siloam, almost outside the city to the south.

A couple of interpretations present themselves. First, we must remember that the blind man conducts himself with faith in the Christ as the Pharisees interrogate him. He is rewarded by Jesus in hearing who the Christ is and believing. The lame man doesn't have much faith at all and is warned by Jesus to "stop sinning or something worse will happen to you." Remembering this, it becomes evident that the miracles of Christ combining with faith move you closer to the Living Water, while scorning His works through disbelief will remove you from it. It was the blind man who got into the pool through faith and the hearing and obeying of Jesus' word.

And the converse has implications too. Jesus is taking His disciples out of the Temple, for it will soon be destroyed. The old covenant is perishing because of the disbelief of its members. The lame man winds up in the Temple, suitable for destruction because of his disbelief. The blind man is thrown out, but that is a blessing because the Temple is not long for the world.

The Ten Commandments in John

John's Gospel focuses a great deal on the struggle between Jesus and the Jewish leaders. The Jews accuse Jesus of breaking the Law, especially in regards to the Sabbath (5:18, 9:28-29). Jesus claims to be above the Law, because God is His Father (5:18), He is the author of it (8:6-8), and He is greater than Moses anyway. But I think He also turns around the argument to show how the Jews are not keeping the law either. There's some obvious passages that point to this, like chapter eight where Jesus tells the Jews that lying and murder is not the behavior of someone who loves God through faith.

Here's another idea I had though, which is still in its formative stages. I'm thinking that John makes a point of showing how the Jews break each of the Ten Commandments. I haven't figured all ten out yet, but some of the similarities so far as striking.

1. "You shall have no other gods before Me." - This is the main problem with the Jews throughout the book. The passage I would choose to illustrate this at its most blatant is 19:15, when the Jews proclaim "We have no king but Caesar". This sin is everywhere though, since Jesus is the Son of God and the Jews reject Him.

2. "You shall not make for yourself an idol..." - I'm not sure about this one yet.

3. "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain..." - Not sure.

4. "Observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy..." - This is a major theme of the conflict in chapter 5. The Jews say that Jesus does not honor the Sabbath, but a careful study of the passage shows that Jesus is the one who honors it by bringing rest, celebration and salvation. The Jews prefer the wilderness wanderings instead of Sabbath rest, and set themselves against Jesus' right interpretation.

5. "Honor your father and your mother..." - Maybe the Jew's sin is that they are good at honoring their real father, the devil. They lie and murder because that's what he does (8:44). They claim that Abraham is their father, but they do not do his works (8:37-39).

6. "You shall not murder." - The Jews try repeatedly and succeed in killing Jesus. They also try to kill Lazarus after he's raised from the dead (12:10). The Jews are murderers because their father the devil is a murderer too (8:44).

7. "You shall not commit adultery." - It seems like Jesus is accusing the Jews of this sin in the story of the woman caught in adultery (8:1-11). The Jews bring her in on charges to test Jesus, but something funny is going on since this is the first time in recorded history where a single person was caught in the act of adultery. The Jews, if not directly involved with this woman, realize their guilt when Jesus asks for someone to cast the first stone.

8. "You shall not steal." - Not sure. Perhaps this is connected to making the temple into a "house of robbers" (2:16, Matt 21:13), or demanding the release of Barabbas, a robber (18:40).

9. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." - This is how the Jews get Jesus convicted, by lying about what He said. They are liars because their father is the devil (8:44,55).

10. "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife..." - Not sure.

The Light of the Gentiles

Later manuscripts of the Gospel of John add 7:53-8:11, the story of the woman caught in adultery. I've always taught that story as being part of the Gospel, because it picks up and advances a number of themes that are being developed at that point: Jesus' judgment of the Jewish leaders according to the Law of Moses, Jesus being greater than Moses, and Jesus being greater than the Temple.

If you take it out though, the story goes from the end of seven, where the Jewish leaders are arguing about Jesus' place of origin. "Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee." (7:52). Skipping through to 8:12, Jesus' response is "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life." Now consider Isaiah 9:1-2:

But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.

Jesus would rather be seen as "Mighty God" and "Prince of Peace" than merely a prophet.

The Five Senses in the Gospel of John

John tells us in the introduction to his Gospel that the Word "became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory" (1:14). One of the ways that John conveys that experience to the reader is by describing how Jesus engages all five of the reader's senses. Here's how.

Seeing and hearing are two main themes in the book. Jesus is, after all, both the Word and the Light (1:1-5). Hearing the Son of God leads to resurrection (5:28-29), it identifies His sheep (10:4), and it identifies those who are not (8:43). It even brings about new sight for those who believe, as it did for the blind man in Jerusalem (9:1-7). Sight is important in that chapter, with those who are blind starting to see, and those who think they can see being revealed to be blind (9:41). There's other important seeing examples in the book, with the most important probably being 14:9 - "He who has seen Me has seen the Father".

The next three aren't as pervasive as sight and hearing, but do appear in strategic places. We're told in a few places that belief in Jesus involves "eating" Him, for His flesh is true food and His blood true drink (6:55). We're not explicitly told what He tastes like, but we're given an example earlier when Jesus turns the Old Covenant water into New Covenant wine. Indeed, the headwaiter at the feast praised the groom for its excellent taste- "You have kept the best until now" (2:10).

Then there's two smell passages that come juxtaposed in chapters 11 and 12. Mary fears that when Jesus rolls away the stone from her dead brother's tomb that it will stink, but that does not happen because Lazarus is quite alive (11:39,44). Then in 12 Mary pours her expensive perfume on Jesus to anoint Him for His death, and the whole house is filled with the fragrance (12:3). (These two smells obviously highlight a connection between the passages that should and will be developed elsewhere).

And the most intimate sense, touch, is the key experience for Thomas at the end of the Gospel. When Thomas encounters Jesus face to face, he is commanded to put his hands in Jesus' hands and side and feel that Jesus is indeed alive and not a ghost (20:27-28). Having done so, Thomas exclaims "My Lord and My God!", the climax of the book.