1Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God’s mountain, to Horeb. 2Yahweh’s angel appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the middle of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3Moses said, “I will go now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”
4When Yahweh saw that he came over to see, God called to him out of the middle of the bush, and said, “Moses! Moses!”
He said, “Here I am.”
5He said, “Don’t come close. Take off your sandals, for the place you are standing on is holy ground.” 6Moreover he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”
Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.
7Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 9Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me. Moreover I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
11Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
12He said, “Certainly I will be with you. This will be the token to you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
13Moses said to God, “Behold, when I come to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what should I tell them?”
14God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM,” and he said, “You shall tell the children of Israel this: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15God said moreover to Moses, “You shall tell the children of Israel this, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations. 16Go and gather the elders of Israel together, and tell them, ‘Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have surely visited you, and seen that which is done to you in Egypt. 17I have said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ 18They will listen to your voice. You shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and you shall tell him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to Yahweh, our God.’ 19I know that the king of Egypt won’t give you permission to go, no, not by a mighty hand. 20I will reach out my hand and strike Egypt with all my wonders which I will do among them, and after that he will let you go. 21I will give this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, and it will happen that when you go, you shall not go empty-handed. 22But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, and of her who visits her house, jewels of silver, jewels of gold, and clothing. You shall put them on your sons, and on your daughters. You shall plunder the Egyptians.”
The Gospel of John stands out as unique among the Gospels. Whereas Matthew, Mark and Luke share a considerable amount of the same information, though with different emphases, John shares only two-percent of the text of the Synoptic Gospels. That means that his work is ninety-eight percent different.
Who wrote this book, and why is it so different? Among the church fathers who lived close to the time of John, there was no question. He was the disciple whom Jesus loved, the youngest member of the apostolate group, probably in his mid-teenage years. He is the John who leaned on Jesus at the Last Supper. John lived to the end of the first century, and also wrote three epistles, and the book of Revelation.
Both the authorship and dating of John’s Gospel have been called into question by many critical scholars, believing that it was written by someone other than the apostle John, and even that it was written at the end of the second century. After a portion of John’s Gospel was discovered that dates to the early second century, the late date was abandoned.
John’s Gospel uniquely emphasizes the words of Jesus, being composed of discourses. Why would John do this? I believe that it is because by the time he wrote his Gospel it had been more than two decades, or more, since the other Gospels had been written and circulating throughout the Christian communities of the empire. Christians were familiar with the events and words of Jesus from these other apostolic Gospels. John needed to provide new information. Also, in view of the challenges to the person of Jesus by heresies that had begun to develop, it was needful for him to present a more theologically cohesive statement about the humanity and deity of Messiah Jesus.
Who was John’s audience? The Gospel does not tell us, but in view of the post-A.D. 70 date of the book, and that he wrote it, most likely, in Ephesus, in Asia Minor, a Gentile audience is in view.
The main purpose of this mid-80s book is stated toward the end. He says, “these things are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life in His name” (John 20:31). The book was to introduce Jesus to a Gentile audience and to equip believers in the truths about who Jesus is. Matthew and Luke contain genealogies and birth narratives, and Mark excludes these, focusing on the servanthood of the Messiah. Uniquely, John begins in eternity with His Gospel, revealing that the man who had walked among them on the earth, was in reality the God of creation, one with the Father before all time. Though the Son of God, known also as the Word, was with the Father and was the same God, nonetheless, He chose to enter among humanity as a human. The apostle demonstrates by Jesus' acts and words, and the response of people to Him, that He was true God and true man. At the end of the first century there were those who accepted His humanity, but not His deity, as well as those who rejected His true humanity. John responds to both.
Not only does John reveal the person and nature of the Son of God, but he speaks plainly that only through belief in the Son of God was there salvation. He repeats the words of Jesus that the one who has the Son has life, and the one who does not, has the judgment of God. Similarly, the one who does not have the Son, does not have the Father, but the one who has the Son, has the Father also. At another time, John gives the words of Jesus, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me.” In a world of pluralism, both in the Graeco-Roman world of the early church, and the world of today, such exclusivism grates the ears of many. Yet John’s teaching is clear: Jesus is the only way to God.
John’s Gospel does have many thought provoking discourses, but it as well has many wonderful stories. We have the encounter of Jesus with a leader of the Jews late one night, in which He tells this teacher of the Jews that he had to be born from above if he is to enter the kingdom of God. Following this exchange is one of the most famous, and significant, biblical verses in the Bible, that God loved the world and gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. There is also the fascinating encounter of an immoral Samaritan woman with Jesus when He was traveling through the region. As a religious Jew, it is unthinkable that He would converse with the woman at the well. She was a woman, a Samaritan, and an immoral woman. Jesus set aside all social conventions in order to reach into the heart of this woman to bring her to faith in Him.
Not only did Jesus seek to bring spiritual salvation to humans in John’s Gospel, but He reaches out in compassion to the physical ailments of the people He encountered. Thus we have the stories of the man lying by the pool of Bethesda who could not walk. Jesus raised him from his bed. Another time He healed a blind man on the Sabbath, demonstrating that Jesus still cares for people, even on the holy day set apart by Him for His people.
We find in John's Gospel an emphasis on the physical nature of the resurrection. Certainly the other Gospels indicate that the resurrection of Jesus was genuine and was physical in nature, but John goes beyond this. He has Mary of Magdala grasping Him in the garden, and we have the invitation of Jesus for the disciples, particularly Thomas, to touch the wounds of His hands and side.
The theology of John’s Gospel is rich. We see, as said before, the humanity and deity equally true of Jesus. Jesus, in John 8, even declares Himself to be the I AM of Exodus 3. We discover that salvation comes by God’s grace through faith to all those who come by His sovereign call in John 6. Special focus on the nature of the Son as true human, though God, is given throughout the book, particularly in John 1:14 and in the resurrection accounts.