The Popeular History Podcast by Gregg Gassman

Welcome to the Popeular History Podcast: History through Pope Colored Glasses. My name is Gregg and this is episode 0.21h: Sayings of the Savior Part VIII: The Last Gospel

All of these aught episodes are made to let us build our Pope-colored glasses so we can use the same lenses when we look at history together. If you're lost, start at the beginning!

Today we continue our Sayings of the Savior series with a look at the Gospel according to John, covering everything Jesus said there that we haven't yet discussed–yes, still leaving off things like the miracles we did in 0.20 and the parables and other sayings we did in earlier Sayings of the Savior installments--once again leaving you in suspense right before the concluding few chapters discussing Jesus’ death and such, which we'll cover as we finish the remaining mysteries of the rosary in future episodes of our Catholic Worldbuilding series.

Before we get into it, a quick reminder that the Gospel of John is the odd one out of the four canonical gospels, that is, the Gospels that made it into the Bible. There are other Gospels, but not others that the Catholic Church holds as part of Scripture, that is, the inspired word of God.

As you likely remember very well from the other episodes unless you're starting here for some reason, and if you're starting here because you don't know where to find the others you can check out the Catholic Worldbuilding section of my website, Popeularhistory.com, in any case, as you probably do recall the other three Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are all known as synoptic gospels, that is, Gospels that should be read together, and clearly have a close relationship, with most of all of them being found in the rest of them. Luke Is the most unique, something like 35% of its material being standalone, much of that parables, some of that is Luke's memorable infancy narrative, while the approximately 20% of Matthew that's only in Matthew is a hodgepodge including Matthew’s take on Jesus’ infancy, and the 3ish % of material that's unique to Mark is… well Mark is the shortest Gospel so 3% of it isn't much but even so we haven't hit the most memorable bit of that small slice of the synoptics. We'll get there, but of course not yet because like I said today is about John. And I don’t mean John Mark, the guy who wrote the Gospel of Mark, which really should be called John because you know, John is his actual first name, Mark’s just a second part of it, anyways, uh yes so guy named John wrote half the gospels, don’t worry about it, it’s fine, one’s the Gospel of Mark, one’s the Gospel of John. I’m sure that’s not confusing anything. Anyways, ignore the fact that I haven't said much about John yet today. I needed to give the Synoptics a bit of a collective farewell before we moved on and it seemed like a bit of statistics might be just the thing to get you all ready for me to change the topic.

Now, though John’s Gospel (not John Mark’s Gospel) isn't one of the synoptics, there are a few parallel areas I'll flag as we go, so don't think we're leaving the other Gospels behind entirely. Even if we tried, they're a big part of looking at history through Pope Colored glasses overall, which, in case you've forgotten, is the actual main plan for this podcast. Allegedly these worldbuilding episodes are just the background materials for that.

Overall, John stands out as the most theologically sophisticated of the Gospels, which has generally led scholars to argue it’s the last-written of the bunch, a stance that actually aligns with tradition that credits the Gospel of John to, well, John, the longest-lived of the Twelve Apostles. Scholars, of course, aren't so sure about that specific attribution, as we've mentioned here and there they often like to think of a school of multiple authors writing the texts attributed to John, not just the Gospel but his three letters and the Book of Revelation.

In any event, that sophisticated theology is on full display right from the beginning of the text, and the opening verses of John, often called the Prologue, are extremely well known and influential within Christianity. Which I know is a given for pretty much every section of the Gospel texts, but I mean like even more so than the average Gospel text. As in, these verses used to be read as an epilogue to nearly every Mass, something that gave it the nickname of “The Last Gospel”.

Let's take it in:

JOHN 1:1-14

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

GREGG

First, I'll simply note that it would have been a straightforward enough matter for me to start the podcast here, rather than back in Genesis. In fact, the basics of Christian theology, the trinity I discussed in that first episode before launching into Genesis’ actual narrative, all that is more at home in a discussion of these verses than in that creation story, because here is what makes Christian history: the Incarnation. The Word made Flesh.

This word and flesh and light and darkness business is also a pretty natural tie-in to the oldest wrong theology in the history of Christianity, and it's fair enough that various commentators have seen hintings at gnosticism in the text of John's gospel. In fact, some have theorized that the Gospel of John was written as a refutation of Gnosticism, but of course I'm treating this as a start-from-scratch beginner friendly kit, so it wouldn't be right of me to just keep saying “gnosticism”, “gnosticism” without spelling out what that means. Oh, and speaking of spelling, it starts with a silent “G”, check out the transcript I'm now consistently creating for the show notes in the episode description if you'd like the full spelling.

Gnosticism, in a nutshell, is the idea that the physical world is evil, created by a flawed God. To the gnostics, this evil, broken world is something to be rejected, to escape from. For many of the gnostics, Jesus is the servant of the higher God, and is our ticket out of the icky yucky material, fleshy world. The knowledge of the evil of the world and how to escape from it is the secret that gives gnosticism its name, “gnosis” being Greek for “knowledge”. Gnosticism had a habit of piggybacking off Judaism and Christianity, with Gnostics basically forming secret clubs within the already generally secret Christian communities.

We'll talk plenty more about Gnosticism as we go, as it was a sort of theological cancer within the Church for many years, but there's your official high-level overview.

Getting back to John 1, the first verse is probably the most famous:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

The notion that Jesus has been around since the beginning, as outlined in this chapter, is ultimately what cemented the victory of Catholic theology over Arianism, another wrong belief found among some Christians, aka a heresy, this one teaching that Jesus is not God Himself but is simply a creature-an important creature sure but in the end still one of God's creatures and so not as exalted as God Himself. Like gnosticism, the The Arian refrain of “there was a time when he was not” cannot be be squared with John 1, hence the fundamental importance of The Last Gospel to Nicene Christianity. And yes, we'll talk about what “Nicene” Christianity is in the future, specifically in 0.24. But we'll need to get past the first verse of John to get there.

The second verse, “He was with God in the beginning” really solidifies the anti-Arian interpretation, but believe it or not I’m actually not going to repeat the rest of the prologue, because ultimately this section, while very, very, important to Christian history, isn't one of the sayings of the Savior we're focusing on in this series.

So, when does Jesus show up? Well, after a focus on John the Baptist, Jesus appears in verse 36, and speaks in verse 38:

JOHN 1

38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”

They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”

39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”

GREGG

This particular calling is a favorite of the tv series The Chosen, which I know I've mentioned before but am not expecting to mention again, as we're heading out of their wheelhouse, at last as far as they've gotten up to this point. But it's worth checking out if you've got the time, and let's be honest, if you're listening to this, you probably do.

What's next? Andrew and Simon Peter!

JOHN 1

40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter ).

GREGG

This section allows us to introduce the split between Catholicism and Orthodoxy, though first off, there's been many splits and resolutions in that relationship over the years, not just the one in 1054, and second, while there’s not currently unity there's not as fundamental a split as there has been previously since the mutual excommunications were lifted sixty years ago. Oh, and we've also made some reference to the difference already, when we were talking about the differences in biblical canons back in 0.7.

Anyways, that's all years in the future. For now, just know that the tie-in is that eventually St Andrew would be credited with founding the Church in what wouId become Constantinople, the chief see of Orthodoxy, while St Peter would go down as the first Bishop of Rome, the beating heart of Catholicism.

Having Saint Andrew as the first-called of the two--and the first-called Apostle overall–is therefore a point of pride for Orthodoxy, and one that I daresay as I look through these pope-colored glasses is a sorely needed one given Peter's elevation on pretty much every count afterwards. Note that he's already picked up his Peter slash Rocky nickname, much earlier in John than in the other Gospels, for example in Matthew that didn’t happen until Chapter 16.

Before we move on, I want you to know that I tried to look into Peter and Andrew’s mother, considering we featured Peter's mother-in-law already and therefore it would seem to be quite the oversight to skip his actual mother, especially since she was apparently also the mother of Saint Andrew. Plus, it happens to be Mother's day when I'm writing this. But it turns out there's surprisingly little tradition on Peter's mother. Google seems to think her name is Joanna, but she's definitely not the better-known Saint Joanna mentioned at a few points in the Gospels. In fact, she's not a saint at all, according to the one story I did find about her, from, and this is the actual name: iamnotmakingthisup.net. Which isn’t exactly an authoritative source but it points to a Venetian folk tale that describes Saint Peter's mother as irredeemable to the extent that Saint Peter has no way to let her into heaven based on her deeds. Which to be clear is incorrect theology considering your deeds aren't what get you into heaven, but let's roll with it. Apparently there was a time she gave someone an onion, so she got to try to climb to heaven via a string of onion roots, an effort which failed but got her promoted to taking care of Heaven's used wine barrels, ‘cause Venice.

Speaking of promotions, before Chapter 1 is out Jesus promotes two more randos to disciple status, first Philip, who He tells “Follow me”, and then Nathanael, who gets to hear “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

When Nathanael asks Jesus how He knows him, Jesus replies, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you,” to which Nathanael replies “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”

Which leads us to Jesus's reply in the last couple verses:

“You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

The next chapter begins with Jesus’ first public miracle, the miracle of the wedding at Cana, turning water into wine to keep the party going, which we covered in our miracles roundup in 0.20.

The next scene is Jesus driving the moneychangers from the Temple, another one that shows up much earlier in John than it did in the synoptics, and always a crowd pleaser. Here's John's version:

JOHN 2

13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”

19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

20 They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.”

GREGG Considering John is already talking about the resurrection in Chapter 2, I guess my running gag of treating it as a spoiler is done.

In John 3, we have the first appearance of Nicodemus, a man unknown to the Synoptics but a recurring figure in John's account. If you’ve ever heard the phrase “born-again Christian”, you've got this colorful exchange to thank for the imagery:

JOHN 3

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

GREGG

If you're thinking, “gosh that last part sounds like crucifixion imagery”, good job reading ahead; if you're *not* thinking “gosh that last part sounds like crucifixion imagery”, perhaps It would be helpful if I reminded you that the bronze serpent Moses had lifted up in the wilderness was lifted up in a pole, and that anyone who looked at it, according to Numbers 21, was cured and saved from the “firey serpents” that were plaguing the grumbly Israelites at the time.

Interestingly, at least to me, the dominant symbol of healthcare worldwide is another serpent on a pole, which more cautious scholars don't necessarily connect with Moses’ bronze serpent as it's definitely a symbol of the Greek god Aesculapius so not a Hebrew slash Jewish thing directly, but still, serpents on poles associated with medicine has to be a relatively limited field. And yet, not as limited as you might think, as there is apparently a shocking amount of controversy over whether to use one serpent or two on a pole to symbolize healthcare.

But let’s get back to John 3, which doesn't assign any speaking lines to Jesus, though the next few verses are, like John's prologue, a reflection that's proven *quite* influential in the history of Christianity, especially John 3:16, which reads:

JOHN 3

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

GREGG

The next verse hammers the same sort of anti-gnostic point we saw in the prologue:

JOHN 3

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

GREGG

So yay world! It's not all bad. Though it is pretty bad.

Let's hear the rest of John's reflection without further interruption:

JOHN 3

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

GREGG

The chapter finishes with a heavy emphasis on John the Baptist, during which John says “He must become greater; I must become less.”

So we'll take that and run with it, keeping John as a side character and chasing the sayings of the Savior into chapter 4, another classic scene, this time it's the Samaritan woman at the well. The parenthetical thoughts you'll hear early on are part of John's account:

JOHN 4

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

17 “I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

GREGG

We've spoken about Samaritans before, though it was during my daily show experiment, specifically in the context of Samaritans Deacon Philip baptized in Acts 8. In case you missed that, in a nutshell the Samaritans are traditionally descendents of the ten “lost” tribes left behind when Assyria invaded the Northern Kingdom of Israel, though the fact that they're generally called the “lost” tribes gives an indication of how that tradition is generally received outside the community. The mountain the Samaritan woman is referencing Is Mount Gerizim, in Samaritan tradition the holiest place on earth and the proper site of worship, never mind that Jerusalem Temple business. So, yes, there are some similarities and some differences between Samaritans and Jews. Oh, speaking of Jews, next time you're talking to a Christian antisemite, remind them that here we have Jesus saying, and I quote, “salvation is from the Jews”.

Also note that the woman lied to Jesus and also had five husbands before her current non-husband partner, which is probably not something Jesus approved of. And yet, no reproach is recorded. Because you don't have to be hammering people's faults all day, every day.

Of course, we did stop at an odd point, with Jesus telling the woman–who Eastern Churches know as Saint Photine and consider not only a martyr but Equal to the Apostles, a level of veneration I genuinely wasn’t expecting-anyways we left with Jesus telling the future Saint Photine He is the Messiah, and then I just cut things off. Why? Well, because my bible considered that the end of the section, but of course that just begs the question still. The reason we don't see her direct reply is the Apostles show up and interrupt things. Let's continue where we left off:

JOHN 4

27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

GREGG

Interesting the specific call out for what they didn't ask, perhaps John wants to draw attention to how Jesus was bucking normal expectations here but the disciples were used to it. Anyways,

JOHN 4

28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.

42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

GREGG

One aspect of this section is it has confirmation that my Sayings of the Savior series will always be incomplete, which isn’t a surprise, presumably Jesus said lots of things that weren’t recorded, in fact John basically says as much towards the end of his Gospel. Perhaps he hit the Samaritans with more of his patented harvest metaphors. Whatever it was, he spent two days at it.

After that, Jesus went on a healing spree with miracles I covered in 0.20, including one on the Sabbath that got him into trouble with the local Jewish leaders. Here's the aftermath of that starting in Chapter 5 Verse 16:

JOHN 5

16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17 In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

GREGG

Jesus has a very lengthy response to this pushback, and it's another one that helped solidify Christian theology, so brace yourselves:

JOHN 5

19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is true.

33 “You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. 34 Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. 35 John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.

36 “I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing—testify that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

41 “I do not accept glory from human beings, 42 but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

45 “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47 But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”

GREGG

The next chapter, chapter 6, opens with a couple extra familiar miracles- feeding the five thousand and walking on water- and then gets real. Like, really real. Like, prepping for some Eucharistic mysteries level real. And the Eucharistic theme is touched off by folks from the five thousand looking for more bread. When they pursue him across the lake, he gives them a big old talk about what Catholics are happy to identify as the Eucharist, which we'll obviously be talking more about as we go.

JOHN 6

“Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”

29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

GREGG

It's worth noting how controversially this is landing. Let's continue:

JOHN 6

43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

GREGG

Controversial for sure, but Jesus certainly shows no indication of a willingness to change analogy–or clarify that he's speaking metaphorically. So believers in the Catholic understanding of the Eucharist are perfectly willing to note that he must indeed be being literal here when he says this next part:

JOHN 6

“Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum”

60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

GREGG

After letting many of his followers walk over this whole bread is flesh and you must eat it business, and given passages like this and the Last Supper it's no wonder most Christians are big on the Eucharist, anyways, after that, Jesus turns to the Twelve:

JOHN 6

67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

70 Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

GREGG

It’s always nice to see Peter stepping up, and it's always fun to queue up the boos when Judas Isacriot gets a mention .

In the next section, chapter seven now, we see Jesus interacting with folks in the Feast of Booths aka the Festival of Tabernacles aka Sukkot. The scene naturally starts with Jesus declaring that he will do no such thing.

JOHN 7

“My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. 8 You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” 9 After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.

GREGG

Wait, didn't I promise Jesus at the Festival? What gives? Well, read on!

JOHN 7

10 However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. 11 Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?”

12 Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”

Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” 13 But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.

14 Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. 15 The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?”

16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. 17 Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18 Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”

20 “You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”

21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”

25 At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? 27 But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29 but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”

30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?”

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.

33 Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”

35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? 36 What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”

37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

GREGG

The rest of the chapter is devoted to describing various responses to this preaching, from believing Jesus and accepting Him as the Messiah to wanting to execute him. Here Nicodemus pops up, perhaps unsurprisingly recommending the authorities hear Jesus out.

Chapter 8 starts out with something of a tense scene, with Jesus effectively being given power of life and death over a woman who had been caught in adultery–no mention of the man. This woman, like many others, is unnamed in the text. The most common tradition in my experience is to associate her with Mary Magdalene, but that seems to miss the mark on several accounts, not least that John seems to like spelling out connections like that like when we saw Nicodemus pop up again last chapter when he was not only called Nicodemus but also described as “Nicodemus who had gone to Jesus earlier”, which is pretty straightforward. Also, Mary Magdalene's reputation as a reformed prostitute–apparently first popularized by none other than Pope Gregory the Great–doesn't have much of a leg to stand on unless you confuse her with the other Mary of Martha and Mary fame.

Anyways, Mary Magdalene or not–probably not–but Mary Magdalene or not, the woman's life is in Jesus’ hands:

JOHN 8

“3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11 “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.””

GREGG

First off, note the presence of a call to repentance here, because my point earlier was not that it should never happen, but that it does not have to happen every time.

This is also the only time we see Jesus writing, which I honestly probably wouldn't be pointing out if it weren't for the fact that we have no idea what he wrote. Like none. You tell me if you have ideas, [email protected].

One surprising bit about this passage is that apparently most Scripture scholars argue that it's a later addition, not an original part of the Gospel of John. An early addition, mind you, but an addition nonetheless. From the whole Pope-colored glasses perspective it doesn't matter, the canon of Scripture is settled and this passage is part of it. As we've discussed before, from a Catholic perspective the human authorship is theologically irrelevant.

Of course, the number one use for this passage in Catholic water-cooler circles is a mariology joke:

“Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone”... *rock whizzes by*- mom!

*drum sting*

In verse 12, the scene shifts abruptly, possibly due to the later addition scenario I mentioned a minute ago. Let's pick back up without any gap, and see yet another passage of John's Gospel at pains to explain Christology, which just in case I haven’t said it already is the mainstream Christian theological understanding of Christ. Anyways:

JOHN 8

12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

13 The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”

14 Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. 16 But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. 18 I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”

19 Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”

“You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.

GREGG

It's interesting to see Jesus referencing court here, or at least the temple courts, because I’ve got to say there’s no way the argument He's giving would hold up in court. I probably would be pretty skeptical myself if I were one of the Pharisees here. Then again, I definitely get the sense that He's not primarily talking for *their* benefit here.

Anyways, let's continue:

JOHN 8

21 Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”

22 This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”

23 But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”

25 “Who are you?” they asked.

“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. 26 “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”

27 They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” 30 Even as he spoke, many believed in him.

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

GREGG

This is the high water mark for this group following Jesus. It goes very far downhill as we continue, and understandably as Jesus has some hard things to say. You might also detect some feelings Jesus has about His own fate:

JOHN 8

33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. 38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.”

39 “Abraham is our father,” they answered.

“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did. 40 As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. 41 You are doing the works of your own father.”

“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”

42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! 46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

GREGG

Only after being called children of the devil do the Pharisees turn on Jesus here. Some might argue that they were never on his side to begin with, because that's how some similar accounts play out elsewhere in the Gospels, but there’s no hint of that here, in fact quite the opposite, remember partway through this section John had noted that some of the Jews were starting to believe in Him and Jesus began speaking to them in particular. This is heavy stuff. Anyways:

JOHN 8

48 The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?”

49 “I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. 50 I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”

52 At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”

54 Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55 Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”

57 “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”

58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

GREGG

So in the end, let it never be said that Jesus was unwilling to antagonize.

Chapter 9 opens with a miracle, and the entire chapter is devoted to the fallout from that miracle. It was the case of a man who had been blind since birth, and we did cover the miracle itself and its immediate aftermath in our miracles series--now that we're making sure we hit all the sayings of the Savior it's time to cover a later portion of the chapter, after the Pharisees conduct an investigation that does not go well for the healed man. We're picking up in Verse 35:

JOHN 9

35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

36 “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.”

37 Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.”

38 Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

39 Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”

40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”

41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.

GREGG

The next chapter opens with one of the closest things John has to a parable, and it's a big one: The Good Shepherd.

JOHN 10

“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

GREGG

The image of the Shepherd is all over Christianity. Priests are called pastors, bishops carry a shepherd’s crook, and archbishops’ pallia are made from the wool of lambs from Tre Fontane Abbey in Rome. Of course some overtones of the imagery predate Christ's parable, with the blood of the passover lamb marking Jewish door lentils since the Exodus. More on the Lamb of God soon.

Later in the chapter, Jesus gets asked a pretty blunt question, and gives a pretty blunt answer:

JOHN 10

“How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.

GREGG

And, like last chapter, this declaration is not well received:

JOHN 10

31 Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”

33 “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”’? 35 If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? 37 Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. 38 But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” 39 Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.

40 Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed, 41 and many people came to him. They said, “Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.” 42 And in that place many believed in Jesus.

GREGG

All right, I need to address how I can possibly have hope for everyone when Jesus is walking around calling many of the people he interacts with children of the devil, as he did in chapter 7, and specifically not his sheep, as he does here. It’s one thing to hope for universal salvation in the face of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, John's been hitting different. And yet in John 12:32 we'll hear Jesus say “I will draw all people to myself”. How do we get there from here?

Well, ultimately, from a Christian perspective, the same way we get anywhere: by the grace of God. Not only at a higher level–the ”draw all people to myself” business is framed as being part of the Crucifixion–but also at a more intimate and personal level.

Yes, I am suggesting that calling folks children of the devil is intimate and personal. When my children mess up, I parent them by clearly pointing out what they've done that's wrong and contrasting it to what they should be doing. It's not the warmest, fuzziest part of parenting, but it's an important part of parenting. I submit to you that Jesus is doing the same here.

Of course in the end you may well not agree with me. That's to be expected. As long as you're getting something out of listening to all this, and presumably you are since you're a good chunk of the way through episode whatever, carry on.

Let’s get back to John’s narrative.

“If you do not believe me, believe the works”, Jesus said, and the next section, Chapter 11, is dominated by one of Jesus’ most famous works, the resurrection of Lazarus. Of course we covered that among the miracles, and the Savior is silent outside of that portion, so on to Chapter 12, the anointing at Bethany. Those of you that listened to the daily show and Cardinal Numbers will recall the use I got out of the Martha/Mary dynamic, and I'm not the only one to use this Gospel scene as a parable. Let's go ahead and take it from the top, where it clearly ties in to the resurrection from the previous chapter:

JOHN 12

12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

GREGG

Judas, Judas. Get yourself together, man. And so we set the stage for one of the most badly applied sayings of the Savior, see if you can spot it:

JOHN 12

7 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

GREGG

The interpretation I'm referring to is the idea that because there will always be poor people we should do nothing to help those in poverty. Thankfully, that's straightforwardly rebutted by the beatitudes and by every parable that shows acts of compassion for the least among us as the way to love Christ. This section is, however, a reminder that the “sell the Vatican, feed the world” position is also wrong, not only economically–you'd feed the world for a day and then what–but spiritually as well. We're a physical people, the more our senses are engaged the more fully we can participate in liturgy. And yet for someone who has an allergy to incense, incense isn't going to help them worship, and for someone who has baggage associated with one style or another, they may be served more effectively by another approach. One of the most controversial things you'll hear me say is that there are multiple right answers as far as liturgy goes. Worship is made to draw people to Christ, and people are coming from different places. As long as it's within bounds according to the Church, God can and will supply what is lacking. And sorry for getting into a “what kind of Mass is best” discussion here, that's decidedly looking into the future, but this passage features prominently in such discussions, and you all know I like teasing things before they properly emerge, so yes, get hype for 0.31: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.

John 12 continues with that standard sign that we're coming towards the end of Jesus’ time on earth, the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Jesus doesn't say anything in John's account, but it's a significant scene, so let's check out John's version:

JOHN 12

12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the king of Israel!”

14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written:

15 “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion;

see, your king is coming,

seated on a donkey’s colt.”

16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him.

17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

GREGG

The most particular feature is that last bit, with the frustrated Pharisees still getting a spotlight even among the triumph. John's account is really very interested in that conflict.

The next section opens with a surprisingly long message chain:

JOHN 12

20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!”

GREGG

Jesus is a bit less direct about predicting his death in John than He was in the synoptics, calling it his “glorification”, but it's definitely still there, with the talk of seeds dying to spread growth. You get the sense that it's not really His first choice with His own description of His troubled soul, something that parallels Luke 22:42, Jesus’ prayer in the garden at Gethsemane, pretty closely. And, yet while we will discuss that scene and that prayer, we actually haven't gotten to it yet, as Luke has it as part of his overall Passion narrative, a passion narrative being something discussing Jesus’ finale of life, patior being a Latin term meaning to suffer, or to endure. By my counting, and folks vary, we're not *quite* to John's passion narrative yet, but the overlap is a sign that we're really very close.

Then, God the Father, apparently, speaks, in a first for John’s Gospel as John skipped the voice-from-heaven part of Jesus’ baptism:

JOHN 12

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.

30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

34 The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. 36 Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

37 Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:

“Lord, who has believed our message

and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:

40 “He has blinded their eyes

and hardened their hearts,

so they can neither see with their eyes,

nor understand with their hearts,

nor turn—and I would heal them.”

41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

GREGG

That is a bit fascinating. Basically, those who don't believe Jesus are there for prophesy purposes. I'm reminded of Pharaoh in the Exodus narrative, who the text clearly presents as willing to let Moses go until God intervenes and hardens his heart, again and again. You've got to wonder how that impacts culpability.

Let's continue:

JOHN 12

42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved human praise more than praise from God.

44 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

47 “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. 49 For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

GREGG

Let's hear that piece of hope again: “I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.”

It certainly could have been God's plan for Jesus to come as judge without an offer of redemption for any. But it wasn't. It certainly could have been God's plan for Jesus to come as judge without an offer of redemption for all. But it wasn't.

Ok. I *was* tempted to cut things off right there, especially since the next chapter has John's account, such as it is, of the Last Supper, which definitely fits into the Passion Narrative in my book. But Jesus isn't going to be arrested until Chapter 18, and he's an absolute chatterbox until then, so forgive my inconsistencies, but I'm going to treat the next five chapters here under Sayings of the Savior, since that’s largely what they are. That'll take us a bit deeper into Jesus’ last days than we've gone before, but that reality is much less obvious in John than it would have been with the synoptics. Ready?

We start with John 13:6. It's the beginning of the Last Supper, though you'd hardly know it as the actual meal is second fiddle and, surprisingly for the Gospel writer that brought us the Bread of Life discourse in John 6, there's no “this is my body/this is my blood” business in John’s telling. But like I mentioned, Jesus *does* have a lot of other stuff to say here, and it starts with footwashing. Peter takes some convincing:

JOHN 13

6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

9 “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

10 Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

GREGG

Washing someone’s feet was and I think it's fair enough to say still is an act that puts the washer below the one being washed, both figuratively and literally, hence Peter's objection that Christ should not wash his feet. But when Christ insisted, Peter was all in, because, I don't know if you've noticed this, no matter which Gospel we look at, Peter was not a man of half measures.

The fact that the footwashing scene is traditionally recreated at Holy Thursday masses- that's the Thursday before Easter and I'll talk church calendar eventually I promise– the fact that the footwashing scene is traditionally recreated at Holy Thursday masses has implications from high to low, high where Pope Francis has taken to washing the feet of prisoners and women, and take a guess as to which has been more controversial. Going to the local and lower end of things, I definitely remember picking Holy Thursday of all days as a day to show my friend who was curious what mass was like, winding up a bit mortified when it came to be footwashing time. He took it in stride and I noted that it's not normally that weird, though I suppose I'm saying that about an event that fundamentally can be described as having human sacrifice at its core, so I suppose it is always *that* weird..

Anyways, Jesus then starts talking about a betrayal, and the disciples are pretty interested to hear who that might be, though the only explanation I can think of for them not being able to work it out despite Jesus’ sufficiently clear and only very slightly indirect explanation is divine interference somehow signal-blocking their reasoning because the Crucifixion is something that basically needs to happen.

Here we go:

JOHN 13

18 “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’

19 “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. 20 Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”

21 After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”

22 His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. 23 One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. 24 Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”

25 Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

26 Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” 28 But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. 29 Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. 30 As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

GREGG

After Judas leaves, Peter once again tries for extra credit, and is shut down:

John 13

31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

36 Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”

Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”

37 Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

38 Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

GREGG

No points for correctly predicting whether Jesus’ prophesy there will prove correct. We'll be revisiting this bit more than once, as Jesus’ prediction and Peter's denials are both listed in all four Gospels.

But Jesus quickly bounces off that bit of a downer note into something more uplifting. In the NIV, the beginning of John 14 is titled “Jesus comforts his disciples”. Let's hear it:

JOHN 14

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

GREGG

Well apparently they don't know the way, or at least don’t know that they know the way:

JOHN 14

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

GREGG

Philip might have something of a death wish here, given that traditionally seeing the Father is fatal. Of course that didn’t stop Moses from making the request, and indeed getting to see the Father's backside, something Philip would have known. And Jesus was fond of saying “ask and you shall receive”, He does so in every Gospel. Well, ok, He hasn't said it in John yet but He's going to. So how does he respond to Philip?

With more Christology, of course!

JOHN 14

9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

GREGG

Then Judas has a question. And John is at pains to stress this is *not* Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple also named Judas, who understandably usually goes by Jude or even Jude Thaddeus to avoid confusion after the events of this long night.

JOHN 14

22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.

“Come now; let us leave.”

GREGG

You can see why that last bit, “Come now; let us leave” made for a suitable transition between chapters 14 and 15, but it really sums up the Gospel of John in a nutshell that I am confident no one reading it has a real idea where Jesus is proposing they head out from or where they are going. It's not even clear they actually follow His suggestion, He just starts talking again:

JOHN 15

15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

GREGG

Lovely, lovely love, but then things take a bit of a turn:

JOHN 15

18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’

26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

GREGG

As you may have noticed, the Gospel of John isn't just an important factor in Christology as I've already mentioned, but pneumatology–the study of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, also called the Holy Ghost--as well. Don't worry, you don't need to remember what pneumatology is, as I had to look up the term myself. Discussions about the Spirit do have a role in theology and early Church councils, but the active back and forth is nothing compared to Christology.

Anyways, on to chapter 16, which carries on with the general theme of preparing the disciples for a future without Christ among them. It’s generally not a great situation.

JOHN 16

16 “All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them. I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, 5 but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. 7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

GREGG

In the latter part of the chapter, the disciples have some clarifying questions, which then lead to some silver lining:

JOHN 16

16 Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.”

17 At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18 They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.”

19 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? 20 Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”

31 “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. 32 “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.

33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

GREGG

The seventeenth chapter of John's Gospel covers a number of prayers that will be Jesus’ last before the Passion kicks off properly in the next chapter with his arrest in the garden.

Consistent with his narrative so far and all the other gospels, John presents Jesus as quite aware of what's coming. Unlike in the other Gospels, Jesus does not seem to struggle with His fate, though there was that bit way back in chapter 12 where He had mentioned His soul was troubled. But even then He knew and accepted His difficult calling, just as He does in every account. After praying for the success of his mission, he prays for the disciples, and then, movingly, for his future followers as a whole–ut unum sint–that they may be one.

JOHN 17

17 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

GREGG

The rest of John takes us into and through Christ's passion proper, so I'll be going through it and the other passion accounts in the coming episodes as we parse all that. In the meantime, you've officially heard every blessed saying of the Savior present in the Gospel of John–and indeed in all the Gospels–except of course for the ones you haven't heard yet. Very qualified celebration is in order, but let's not get ahead of ourselves, because I've decided we might as well lean into the enormity with one more episode in the Sayings of the Savior series. Next episode will not be introducing any new Sayings of the Savior, but it *will* be recapping general themes we saw in Christ's words, as well as covering all the various little things I had meant to touch on by this point but hadn't gotten around to, due to flow, time, or whatever else. See you next month for 0.21i: Sayings of the Savior Part IX, What's One More?

This was a long one, so I'm going to skip Saint or Aint, which means if you don't know what that is you've got another chance, just give a listen to the last few minutes of last episode and get your prediction ready for the end of next episode. Thank you for listening, God bless you all! Thanks, Joe!

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