Images of God in the Johannine Tradition

The Gospel of John was the last of the four Gospels to be written. John supplements what we know about Jesus Christ from other three Gospels. There were false doctrines such as Gnosticism challenging the claims of Christianity and John’s ultimate purpose in his Gospel is to explain that Jesus is God—and also fully man. He tells us of both His eternality and humanity—when Jesus was tired (John 4) and when He cried (John 11:36). Unlike the other Gospels that called Him “Christ,” John uses His human name, “Jesus.” Why? Because God became a man. John 20:31 is the key to understanding the Gospel of John: “But these [things] are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” and in this work Images and characterization of God in John’s Gospel is being studied, especially about Creator God, Self-giving God and Johannine reinterpretation of patriarchy.

1. Creator God: The Maker of the World

John’s Gospel begins, supplementing to the creation narrative found in the Book of Genesis. He starts his Gospel with the words, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1). John uses ‘the Word’ to refer to Jesus, showing that Jesus was present at the Creation of the universe. Nothing was made without him (John 1:3). John says that Jesus is the incarnated Word of God, bringing “grace and truth,” replacing the law given by Moses, and making God known in the world (1:17). The New Testament consistently uses careful language to indicate that the Father is the Creator,and He created through the Son, i.e. the Son is the agent of creation. “This way of putting it safeguards the truth that the Father is the source of all that is.”¹ John clarifies that Jesus acted as theagent in entire creation process that he writes “and without him was not anything made that was made.”² (John 1: 3) This also teaches that Jesus is not a created being, because He could not be an agent in His own creation. Therefore, the logos is the Mediator of creation in John 1. John equates logos with Christ, who is the Word of God, the Mediator and Sustainer of creation.

1.1  Father revealed through Jesus Christ:

It is God the Father who makes Himself known in the Son, in a new situation in which “God must be understood in terms of Jesus.” The Johannine perspective on God is stated concisely at the end of the First Epistle: “The Son of God has come and given us understanding, to know him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ” (1 Jn 5:20). That the God of Israel is the “true God” is a formula of Jewish monotheism (2 Chron 15:3; Jer 10:10; 1 Thess 1:9); therefore“he who is true” refers to God the Father. But we are “in” him who is true precisely in the sense that we are “in his Son Jesus Christ.” To be in the Son is to be in the Father; such is the means of abiding in God, because the Father himself is in the Son and the Son in the Father (cf. Jn 17:21).³

2.    Self-giving God:

2.1  The Father who Gives, Shows and tells everything to the Son

John presented Jesus as the Son who is dependent on the Father. He does not act independently apart from the Father’s will and purpose. Throughout this Gospel Jesus continually asserted that his work was to do the will of the Father (Jn. 4:34; 5:30; 8:28; 12:50; 15:10). John presents him as the Son, not as the slave, of God, yet as the perfect agent of the divine purpose and the complete revelation of the divine nature. So, the Father loves the Son Jesus. The Son is loved by the Father. The relationship is not that of master and slave, nor of employer and employee, but of a Father and a Son who are united by love. The Father has revealed to the Son the purpose and plan of his activity, much as the head of a family discusses with the others the plan he wishes to follow (Jn. 5:19f.). John portrays God as the Father who reveals everything to Jesus, the son. This emphasizes the love between the Father and the Son. Jesus is the beloved son to whom no secret is hidden. The Father shows the Son everything out of love. It is only due to love that the Father does this to the Son.

The Father also shows Jesus everything. As the Father and the Son are coeternal, coequal and coexistent, the Son also sees everything which the Father has seen. Though the Son is eternal and coequal with the Father, he incarnated into the flesh and made himself low, However, as the Father loves the Son God is making it therefore possible for him “to see” — all things that himself/herself does. The Son has been from eternity and is now, notwithstanding his incarnate lowliness, the continuous Spectator of the entire Father’s doing in all hearts and lives, in all places of his dominion.⁴

2.2  The Father who sends the Son into the World

John witnessed that God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son (Jn. 3:16). John Calvin interprets, “Christ brought life, because the heavenly Father loves the human race, and wishes that they should not perish.” This “Son” is none other than his only begotten Son (Jn. 1:14, 18). Just as Abraham had not kept back his only begotten son from God, so God has not withheld his perfect Image, his Well-beloved, his Eternal Logos, the perfect ideal of sonship.

The Father who sent his Son, Jesus, sent him not as an ordinary messenger, but the Father sent the Son with authority to judge the world (Jn. 5:22). This authority is questioned by all the religious leaders because in their understanding, there is only one God, the Father, and the Father does not have son. Hence, Jesus was accused of as divining himself which was a blasphemy against God. God is the only judge. But John presented Jesus that he is the Son, sent by the Father to judge the world.⁵

3.   Johannine re-interpretation of patriarchy:

The Gospel of John develops its feminist concerns over against the Greco-Roman and Jewish contexts where women were not permitted to share the privileges and opportunities alongside their male counterparts. Ancient societies of the Mediterranean world were not only shaped by the basic differentiation between upper and lower strata. This outlook of society reflects the cultural and anthropological insight that gender is a social construct in which female feelings were considered inferior to male role and status. Gender-specific behaviour was generally embedded in the fundamental values of the Mediterranean societies and was oriented toward the concepts of honour, shame, and disgrace.⁶

In a context in which women’s role and status were considered negative and limited, the Gospelof John develops as a paradigm in which women are treated on par with men⁷. Although the community of John adopted its ethos and pathos from the Mediterranean cultural contexts, the women of the Johannine community enjoyed considerable freedom⁸. The stories of the Gospel of John demonstrate that the Johannine women acted with a prophetic spirit and clear vision. Since Christ had liberated them from male-dominated culture and set them as model leaders, the womenbecame challenging figures.

3.1  Prominent Women in the Gospel of John

Mary, the Mother of Jesus: (Jn 2: 1-5; 19: 25-27)

Mary, the mother of Jesus, demonstrates her leadership quality at the wedding in Cana and her deep devotion to Jesus near the cross. Although the woman at the well was, by nature, misunderstanding and parochial, her progress in realising the prophet Messiah and guiding Samaritans toward the “true Saviour of the world” is persuasive. Martha and Mary of Bethany show their family confession that, if Jesus were with them, Lazarus would not have died. They progress in their faith in, and devotion to Jesus. While Martha shifts from her future-oriented eschatological hope to the present oriented realisation of the Messianic age, Mary demonstrates her identity through her superabundant generosity. Mary Magdalene’s speeches and actions reveal that she was a paradigmatic personality for the early Christian communities, including the male characters of the story. Her personal proclamation (“I have seen the Lord”) became the community proclamation (“We have seen the Lord”). In their encounter with Jesus, all these women showed their love for, and devotion to their Lord. They all used their intrinsic “woman power” to come out of their narrow confines of life.⁹

The Samaritan Woman: (Jn 4: 1- 26, 39- 42)

Jesus crosses the existing social, racial, and moral barriers when he engages in a dialogue with the Samaritan woman (4:1-26). After crossing all the human-made boundaries, Jesus asks her for a drink (v. 7). The woman’s surprising answer to Jesus enables the reader to understand how the Jews have treated the Samaritans for centuries (v. 9). As a representative figure, her response to Jesus cannot be considered insignificant; rather, it must be construed as her voice for justice and equality with a gnomic and universal intent. Jesus’ response concerning the living water and her misunderstood response reveal the conceptual conflict between Jesus’ eternal perspective and her temporal point of view (10- 12v).

Martha and Mary of Bethany: (11: 1- 45; 12: 1- 8)

The sisters in 11:1-45 and 12:1-8 reflect their devotion to Jesus and demonstrate their unique model of discipleship. Not only was Bethany known in their names, but Lazarus is also introduced as their brother. While the disturbed sisters sent a message to Jesus about Lazarus’ illness (v. 3), they showed their trust in him and Jesus showed his love for the family. Their message persuades Jesus to declare one of his glorification motifs in verse 4 (Borchert 1996:350). While Martha went out to meet Jesus, Mary stayed at home deeply distressed (v. 20; Brown 1966:423). In both Luke and John, Martha is represented primarily as a rather determined worker (Luke 10:41; John 12:2) and Mary as the worshipful one (Luke 10:39, 42; John 11:2; 12:3). Verses 20-27 focus on Martha as she engages in a dialogue with Jesus. She begins the conversation with Jesus: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (v. 21). She is assured of the fact that God can give whatever Jesus asks (v. 22). While Jesus assures her that her brother will rise again in the present life, she states her assurance about its happening on the last day.¹⁰

Conclusion:

John presents Jesus as God. The Word was God (1:1). In Jesus Christ the glory of the Father is manifested (1:18). Towards the close of the Gospel, the confession of Apostle Thomas about Jesus as Lord and God is given (20:28). The word “Lord was the one that was used by the Jews to translate the word “Yahweh” into Greek language in the Septuagint. The Romans used these words lord and god to denote their emperors.

The passages that speak of Jesus as God provides high Christology. They are intended to create faith in Jesus and make people accept Jesus as the savior. Thereby Jesus is also presented as the center of salvation history. Moreover, this evokes the thought that Jesus and the Father are one. Some faith declarations about Jesus reveal his humanity, but at the same time some other declarations emphasize his divinity. Thus through this work we could analyze the Images and characterization of God in the Gospel of John.

Bibliography

• Arthur Mc Gill, suffering: A test of theological method, phil:wominster,1982.
• Chakkuvarackal, T.J. Glimpses of the “feminine” in Indian religion and society: A Christian perspective. Indian Journal of Theology 44(1-2), 2002
• Fossum, JE. The Name of God and the Angel of the Lord. The Origin of the Idea of Intermediaries in Gnosticism. Utrecht: Drukkerij BV.1982.
• J. Thomaskutty, JOHANNINE WOMEN AS PARADIGMS IN THE INDIAN CONTEXT, Acta Theologica 2019. 75-80
• Kroeger, C.C. “Women in Greco-Roman world and Judaism.” In: C.A. Evans & S.E. Porter (eds.), Dictionary of New Testament background (Downers Grove, ILL: Inter-Varsity Press).2000.
• Lee, D. Flesh and glory: symbol, gender, and theology in the Gospel of John, New York : Crossroad, 2002.
• Lita Cosner, Jesus the Creator in the Gospel of John, JOURNAL OF CREATION 29(3) 2015.
• Morris, L., The Gospel According to John, NICNT, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI, 1995.
• Paul Andrew Rainbow, Johannine Theology: the Gospel, the epistle and the Apocalypse Illinois: IVP, 2014.
• Stegemann, E.W. & Stegemann, W. The Jesus movement: A social history of its first century. Translated by O.C. Dean. Edinburgh: T&T Clark.1999.

Footnotes

1. Morris, L., The Gospel According to John, NICNT, Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI, 1995, 71. ↩
2. Lita Cosner, Jesus the Creator in the Gospel of John, JOURNAL OF CREATION 29(3) 2015, 57. ↩
3. Paul Andrew Rainbow, Johannine Theology: the Gospel, the epistle and the Apocalypse (Illinois: IVP, 2014), 108. ↩
4. Lee, D. Flesh and glory: symbol, gender, and theology in the Gospel of John, (New York : Crossroad, 2002). ↩
5. Arthur Mc Gill, suffering:A test of theological method,phil:wominster,1982,76. ↩
6. Stegemann, E.W. & Stegemann, W. The Jesus movement: A social history of its first century. Translated by O.C. Dean. Edinburgh: T&T Clark.1999, 361-362. ↩
7. Kroeger, C.C. “Women in Greco-Roman world and Judaism.” In: C.A. Evans & S.E. Porter (eds.), Dictionary of New Testament background (Downers Grove, ILL: Inter-Varsity Press). 2000. ↩
8. Chakkuvarackal, T.J. Glimpses of the “feminine” in Indian religion and society: A Christian perspective. Indian Journal of Theology 44(1-2), 59. ↩
9. B. J. Thomaskutty, JOHANNINE WOMEN AS PARADIGMS IN THE INDIAN CONTEXT, Acta Theologica 2019, 75-80. ↩
10. Idib  87. ↩

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