Word of Life Quotes

“John refers to flesh differently than does Paul”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“What is at stake in affirming the humanity of Jesus is the reality of God’s love and the nature of Christian discipleship. If Jesus is not truly human”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“John’s presentation of Jesus asks that we listen for the chord”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“The Gospel portrays Jesus by using a number of familiar categories”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“John recognizes that no amount of explaining creates faith.”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“Jesus tells her”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“The love conveyed through his death and the truth expressed by his words call people to believe and have life (3:16; 12:50).”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“love is manifested in obedience and that commitments are expressed in actions.”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“To abide is to be present with and for someone.”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“It is the transition from love of self into the service of Christ. All people will lose themselves and their lives—death is a given for everyone—but those who relinquish themselves in service to Christ remain in a relationship that bears fruit and brings them life. In this context they are no longer alone. They are with Jesus, sharing in community with him and his Father. And this relationship has a future through the promise of resurrection.”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“Like self-love, self-hatred can become an isolating preoccupation with oneself—and a debilitating self-loathing makes relationship impossible.”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“The second line moves to hating one’s life in this world. Here hatred is not an emotion but a movement away from the preoccupation with oneself. It corresponds to the death of the seed that Jesus spoke about. Jesus is like the seed in that he gives himself up to die by crucifixion. Those who follow him are like the seed in that they die to a life in which their love is focused on themselves. This begins the movement that leads to eternal life, which in John’s Gospel is life in relationship with God. To be clear, there are forms of dying to oneself and hating oneself that are destructive, not life-giving.”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“Living in the light of love has a militant quality; it asserts itself against the forces of hostility at work in the world.”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“In exasperation the authorities confess that they really do not know where Jesus is from, and they put their ignorance into action by sending the man Jesus healed out of the synagogue (9:29, 34). The man born blind speaks in the light of what he knows even when this costs him his place in the community (9:31–34).”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“This contrast between light and darkness can, of course, seem simplistic. When flattened out, the images might suggest that each situation can be reduced to clear alternatives that eliminate ambiguity. The world becomes black and white, the choices either/or. But John’s use of the imagery is more complex. The Gospel assumes that actions are shaped by basic commitments. These commitments do not eliminate complexity but operate as people cope with complexity. Since the situations described in the Gospel are anything but simple for Jesus, who is the giver of the light, we can infer that they will not be simpler for those who follow him. The contrast between light and darkness identifies different directions of action without eliminating the need for discernment.”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“Discipleship John’s Gospel uses word pictures to give readers a way of seeing themselves in relation to God, Jesus, and other people.1 They also find that the Gospel gives them remarkably few specific commands about what to do or not do. There is no list of virtues and vices, no detailed manual on how to act in each situation. When Jesus does give a command he makes comprehensive claims in very few words: “Love one another as I have loved you” (15:12). Studies of John’s perspective on discipleship, moral formation, and ethics usually focus on this command to love, which does have a central place. But the Gospel also includes other images, which help readers work out the implications of what Jesus’ command might mean.2”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“So what is Jesus’ role in judgment? Sometimes he says that the Father has given him responsibility for judgment and that he judges according to God’s will (5:22, 30). Elsewhere the Gospel says that Jesus was not sent to judge but to save (3:17). Paradoxically, Jesus can say that he does and yet does not judge (8:15–16, 26).”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“The Gospel uses words for knowing (ginōskō, oida) alongside terms for believing (6:69; 10:38; 17:8). Theologically, knowing involves recognizing someone’s identity or character. To know God is to be aware that he is the source of life (17:3). To know Jesus is to recognize that he has come from God, that he is the Holy One of God, and that he brings salvation (4:42; 6:69; 17:8). Accordingly, there is a cognitive dimension to faith. To believe that Jesus is the Messiah means recognizing that he is the one in whom God’s promises are fulfilled (1:41, 45; 20:31). Similarly, believing that Jesus is the Son of God means that Jesus is the one in whom God is present and active (20:31).”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“John poses clear alternatives when calling people to faith and life. Yet if taken alone, this can make his Gospel seem simplistic. One might conclude that people either know nothing of God or they know him completely, that they are either in the darkness or are fully enlightened. Here it is essential to recall how the Gospel portrays specific human beings.”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“the faith generated through words is sometimes confirmed by signs. It also creates the perspective from which signs can be understood. It even persists without signs. For people in later generations, the words that can evoke faith are communicated through the witness of Jesus’ followers, including that of the Fourth Evangelist. Through the Gospel the signs of Jesus come to readers in verbal form. The signs are made visible through the words of the Gospel.”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“Nathanael acclaims Jesus as Son of God and King of Israel (1:47–49). He believes because of what Jesus “said” to him without seeing any miracles (1:50). Then Jesus says that having come to faith, Nathanael and others like him “will see” greater things. They “will see” the glory of God revealed in the Son of Man (1:51).”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“During Jesus’ ministry the words people hear from or about Jesus enable them to make sense of the signs they see. For readers living after Jesus’ resurrection, this means that they have what is essential: they have received the words from and about Jesus.”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“Characters in the Gospel respond to the signs with genuine faith if they have already been brought to faith by what they have heard from or about Jesus.”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“we will find that signs in themselves are not the issue. People do not merely see signs, they interpret them. Their responses are not governed by seeing alone. The question is what they see in the sign, that is, what they think the sign means. Everyone sees the signs from some point of view. So we must ask what shapes that point of view.”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“The Father sent Jesus to bring release from sin (1:29; 3:17), and Jesus sends his followers to bring this message to the world. Yet retaining sins by holding people to account is the essential corollary to this, since forgiveness without accountability lets sin continue unchallenged. Jesus identified sin in order to overcome it, and this also shapes the mission of his disciples. The Spirit “blows where it chooses” (3:8), but its handiwork can be seen where faith is evoked, where sin is brought to light, and where people come to know the risen Jesus and his Father, who abide within the community of faith.”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“Retaining sins is a confrontational action that reaches its goal when the hearers recognize their accountability and are moved to change by embracing the release that comes through faith.”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“Surprisingly, John does not picture Jesus forgiving sins during the course of his ministry as the other gospels do (e.g., Mark 2:1–12). Instead, attention centers on the crucifixion, which removes sin. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“In contemporary usage, holiness can have the negative connotations associated with moralistic piety. In its basic sense, however, what is holy is “set apart” from what is common and is dedicated to God’s purposes. According to John, being holy or set apart is not an end in itself but a prerequisite for engaging the world. Those who are fully identified with the world are not in a position to speak the truth to it. They have no means to confront it. But Jesus was sanctified or set apart in order to be sent into the world with a truth that is different from what the world offers (10:36).”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“By embodying God’s Word, Jesus also embodies God’s truth and can say, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (14:6). To say that the Spirit is “of truth” means that the Spirit conveys God’s truth as revealed in Christ. It is how the Spirit engages with the world. In John’s Gospel, truth is not a timeless ideal that is reached by contemplation. It is a power that counters the enslaving dominion of falsehood. Truth is communicated in order to free people from bondage to sin (8:32), to awaken authentic worship of God (4:23–24), and to shape actions that are truly life-giving (3:21).”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel

“What is peculiar is that the first line calls the thirsty person to come, and the second line invites the believer to drink. This suggests that thirsty people and believers are in some way alike, which nuances and deepens the Gospel’s understanding of faith. Elsewhere it seems more clear-cut: Apart from faith people thirst, and those who believe no longer thirst (4:14; 6:35). But this passage recognizes that thirsting and believing actually coexist.”
― Craig R. Koester, The Word of Life: A Theology of John's Gospel