Historical chs. 21-22

Discussion Questions

1. Why did John use the Greek term, logos, to describe Jesus as God (John 1:1)?

   What are the layers of meaning and how would Greek’s understand Jesus as the “word?”

2. Taking us right back to the beginning, John begins the gospel with, “In the beginning was the Word…” Where then is Jesus in the beginning (i.e., in Genesis and Exodus) and what is the significance?

3. The utterance of Plato, the most pure and bright in all philosophy, scattering the clouds of error… (Augustine)

   … Before the advent of the Lord, philosophy was necessary to the Greeks for righteousness. (Clement of Alexandria)

   Question: The church fathers imply that John understood Plato’s influence on Greeks. How do Plato’s teachings connect or disconnect to John’s teaching, according to the lectures on John?

   • Take It from the Church Fathers: You Should Read Plato The end of the Timaeus reads:

   • Christianity As Mystical Fact

     And now at length we may say that our discourse concerning the Universe has reached its termination. For this our Cosmos has received the living creatures both mortal and immortal and been thereby fulfilled; it being itself a visible Living Creature embracing the visible creatures, a perceptible God made in the image of the Intelligible, most great and good and fair and perfect in its creation — even this one and only begotten world.

4. Consider the contrast between Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman. Put yourself in the shoes of each one. How do you interpret the contrasts, including gender and power differences, and what do you think John is trying to communicate through these contrasts? Observe chart below:

   Nicodemus (John 3)	Samaritan Woman (John 4)
   He is well-known	She is anonymous
   He is a religious leader	She is a religious outsider
   He is a great teacher of truth	She believes Samaritan heresies
   He is a high government official	She has no power
   He is morally respectable	She is broken
   He seeks out Jesus at night	Jesus seeks her out at noon
   He knows that Jesus is a teacher from God	She knows that Jesus is a Jewish man
   Jesus does not fully reveal himself to him	Jesus teaches her clearly that he is the Messiah
   He does not understand the living water	She asks Jesus for the living water
   He leaves lacking understanding	She leaves knowing who Jesus is
   He hides his belief	She tells her whole town about Jesus

5. Contrast the Pharisees’ stages of becoming more and more blind and the blind man’s eyes opening wider and wider. What is John trying to teach us through the contrast, and how does this relate to your observation of people’s response to Jesus–and to miracles–today?

6. While the Pharisees were expressing their disbelief to the blind man they said,

   What have you to say about him? It was your eyes he opened. (John 9:17)

   At this point, they acknowledge that Jesus opened his eyes! Can you give a contemporary example of such a contradiction in which people who do not believe Jesus, acknowledge Jesus at the same time?