John Quotes

“As we have noted repeatedly, faith is not a one-time event, but a process. Many believe in Jesus only to later reject him; others have a tenuous belief that competes with their fear; even those who do believe do not fully understand. The Gospel offers its invitation to any who would begin to believe, or continue to believe, that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“The completion of Jesus’ work on earth involves a new relationship to God (v. 17) and also a new mission for the faithful, one that is sustained by the Spirit. Since John has defined sin as not recognizing and embracing the revelation of God in Jesus (see comments at 8:21–24; 9:2, 39–40; 15:22–24), forgiveness of sins (v. 23) is not about the act of penance in relation to individual deeds. Rather, forgiveness of sins is the community’s Spirit-empowered mission to continue Jesus’ work of making God known in the world. Through that work of making God known, the disciples will bring the world to judgment and decision through its response to Jesus (see 3:19–21; 15:22–24). They participate in the work of the Paraclete, who will “prove the world wrong about sin” (16:8).”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“Jesus’ next words, “Do not hold on to me” (v. 17), imply that Mary’s comprehension of Jesus is still not complete. Because Jesus has not yet ascended to the Father, Mary must not interrupt the events of the hour by trying to hold onto Jesus. John’s metaphor for Jesus’ glorification, being “lifted up” (3:14; 8:28; 12:32), includes his crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. The glorification began in his life (2:11; 12:28), continued through the earlier events of his hour (13:1, 31–33), and must be completed by his ascension (17:5, 13).”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“Belief in the Fourth Gospel is an important category, and the statement by the narrator that the beloved disciple believed is not to be overlooked. While this disciple does not yet know the full story of the resurrection, he probably believes in some sense that Jesus has overcome death. The burial clothes point in this direction. Their detailed description establishes a contrast with the Lazarus story. Lazarus emerged from the tomb still wrapped in his burial wrappings (see 11:44), but for Jesus, the wrappings of death are completely left behind. The disciple sees these wrappings and believes in Jesus’ power over death even before he fully understands.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“The life that was offered Israel in the pivotal story of the exodus—a life both of freedom and of walking according to God’s law—is now available anew to those who believe in Jesus.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“Jesus is not the Passover lamb because of his suffering or sacrifice but because his death is a reenactment of God’s Passover (see Exod. 12). The Passover lamb was not a sacrifice of atonement, as many commentators on John imply, but a communal meal that marked the people as God’s own and prepared them to follow God out of slavery and into the wilderness. Jesus also takes on these functions.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“This declaration, “We have no king but the emperor,” flies in the face of Israel’s claim that God alone is king (for example Judg. 8:23; 1 Sam. 8:7; Isa. 26:13). Wayne Meeks has pointed out that the language of this verse is an ironic twisting of the Nišfnat, a hymn sung at the conclusion of the Passover Seder meal (Meeks, The Prophet-King). A portion of the Nišmat reads: From everlasting to everlasting you are God; Besides you we have no king, redeemer, or savior, No liberator, deliverer, provider, None who takes pity in every time of distress and trouble. We have no king but you.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“eternal life” is not a gift of immortality or a future life in heaven, but of a life shaped by the knowledge of God as revealed in Jesus.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“Logos figured prominently in Greek philosophy of the time, for example, where it was used to speak of the rational principle that governed the universe. Among Jewish writers, most especially Philo (a Jewish contemporary of the author of the Fourth Gospel), logos was used to speak of the creative plan of God that governs the world. God and God’s Word also have a prominent role in the Hebrew Scriptures. In the creation account in Genesis 1, the world is called into being solely through the power of God’s word.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“John 1:1–18 can be very frustrating to read if we think that we must figure out the precise meaning of each word and how everything fits together in order to understand these verses.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“The full significance of much that is said in these verses will become clearer after the whole story has been told, and like the overture to a good musical, one’s joy from recognizing key themes continues to increase with time.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“John’s language is coherent, even if it is not logically consistent at every point. It speaks to the mystery of human relationships to God. Overlapping statements of the role of Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit, and the believing community are not simply redundant but express something of the interlocking nature of these roles.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“If Jesus has “made known to you everything” (15:15), why does he still have “many things to say” (16:12)? How is it that Jesus is “coming” (14:18), “going” (16:28), and “abiding” (15:4), all at the same time? One option is to try and eke out of John’s language one consistent picture of each of these, but this would flatten and diminish John’s language. Recognizing that John’s language here is metaphorical can be an aid to interpretation.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“John’s literary style is not merely repetitive. Changes in the subject matter mean that the reuse of similar language can have a different effect in a new context. For example, Jesus speaks numerous times about prayer: “If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it” (14:13–14; see 15:7; 16:23–24, 26). In the context of chapter 14, these words are related to the “greater works” that Jesus predicts the disciples will do. In chapter 15, asking “for whatever you wish” is part of abiding in Jesus and bearing fruit. In chapter 16, the disciples are instructed to ask the Father in Jesus’ name, whereas in 14:13–14, they are to ask Jesus. Each statement has something to contribute to the role of prayer in the disciples’ lives and their understanding of their relationship to Jesus following his ascension. The repetition in language also addresses the complexity of the relationships of which Jesus speaks. As it doubles back over similar territory and echoes words the reader has already heard, the language of the farewell discourse both clarifies and obscures.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“fluidity of verb tenses. Jesus declares the fulfillment of the events of his hour in the past, present, and future tenses.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“Life” is a distinctively Johannine expression. The noun form occurs thirty-six times in John (compared to seven in Matthew, Mark, and Luke combined).”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“concepts about what it means for Jesus to be the Word: he illumines a path in the darkness, but also may be understood as the path itself.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“Sometimes aspects of John’s metaphors are so distinct that they may seem to contradict each other.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“There is not a single overarching way of understanding Jesus, but many ways, each of which can contribute something to the reader’s understanding of Jesus.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“Interpreters have sometimes distanced John from Jewish tradition, arguing that Jesus offers an alternative to the Jewish stories. In such a reading, for example, the manna loses its importance, for Jesus has arrived. His claim to be the “bread of life” renders the former bread unnecessary. In contrast to this, our reading of John emphasizes that by putting these various images in relationship to Jesus, the Gospel claims that Jesus in some way embodies or continues these traditions. God is still giving manna to the people, God is still shepherding the people, God is still tending the vineyard. And now God is doing all of these things in and through Jesus, who is manna, shepherd, and vine.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“The choice between opposites is complicated by the presence of John’s characters, most of whom would be difficult to categorize as, for example, “born from above” or “from below.” Such birth is held out as a metaphor for receiving the new life that Jesus offers; at the same time, John’s characters communicate that receiving this life is not a matter of a one-time assent or belief. Their stories point instead to a need for constant transformation to a way of seeing the world in which death no longer captures the human imagination.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“And Jesus is not merely a vehicle for this message of freedom: it is in Jesus himself that freedom from captivity is to be found. The presence of Jesus makes available new life for all.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“Our approach in this volume is to ask what it means that John includes different and even competing views within one work. The variety within John is part of the distinctiveness of the Gospel’s literary style.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“Characterizing the theology of the Fourth Gospel is a difficult task. One reason is that the Gospel conveys a variety of views on important theological topics. For example, regarding the subject of Jesus’ relationship to God, the Gospel makes both of the following statements: “the Father and I are one” (10:30), and “the Father is greater than I” (14:28). A result of this diversity has been that Christians have drawn on John as support for a variety of theological positions.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“Although John’s language often portrays human belief and unbelief as simple opposites, the characters of the Gospel are not easily categorized this way. Alongside John’s oppositional language of belief and unbelief is a highly realistic portrayal of actual people. The characters of the Gospel are people who worry about what their colleagues will think of them, who mourn a brother’s death, who question how it is that Jesus—this person from Nazareth, whose father and mother we know—can possibly be the Messiah. In the midst of a stark call for a decision between belief that brings light and life, and unbelief that means darkness and death, are a group of people confronting the real challenges that this choice offers. John does nothing to shield the reader from the ambiguities that their individual choices represent.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“Although the Gospel identifies belief in Jesus as a primary goal (20:30–31), the practical question of who does believe in this Gospel is a difficult one to answer. This is true even for those who are closest to Jesus: Peter denies Jesus; Judas betrays him; Mary Magdalene does not recognize him; Thomas will not believe he is risen without proof.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“The ability of this Gospel to evoke the reader’s questions arises in part because the status of John’s characters as believers is often somewhat ambiguous. The Gospel sends conflicting signals about the degree to which a particular character has understood Jesus and believes in him.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“The perception of irony calls on the reader to make judgments about who is trustworthy and who is not. Should one trust the soldiers’ perspective as accurate? By leaving this question open, John draws the reader into an act of decision making about who they understand Jesus to be. The reader who understands that the soldiers’ words have greater significance than they intend has grasped a central message of the Gospel.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“Irony occurs when the reader notes the presence of some disparity or incongruity in the text, and as a result perceives a double meaning.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John

“many of the stories of Jesus’ life are set at the time of Jewish festivals. The miracle of the feeding of the five thousand in John 6 takes place at the time of Passover (v. 4). Another lengthy segment of the Gospel is set during the Festival of Booths (see 7:2). In each of these cases, the stories draw on other imagery from the festival: the feeding of the five thousand is told in ways that evoke the Exodus story; Jesus’ discussion during the Festival of Booths draws on imagery of light and water that was associated with that festival.”
― Gail R. O'Day, John