The Human Side to the Word of God

September 22, 2009, 8:30 am by dc-agape.

John Chapter 12: 1 – 19

A number of variations occur that are similar but different from the Synoptic Gospels.  We do not know how long Jesus stayed in Ephraim.  We do know that between their incident with Lazarus and begin the chapter 12 Jesus stayed Ephraim.  The Gospel of John records nothing occurring during this period.  Oddly Jesus is just last Bethany and now at the beginning of this chapter he returns to Bethany.  The author John seems to have forgotten that Lazarus and his sisters were rich (john 11: 38 indicates that Lazarus with what was wealthy due to the tomb he was buried in).  John also seems to have special knowledge that even Jesus did not have about Judas Iscariot.  In this section called the Triumphal Entry, two interesting things are recorded.  The first miss of john ignores how Jesus got the donkey.  The second is how Jesus fulfilled a prophecy by planning.  In the first case the synoptic gospels tell us how Jesus told his disciples to steal the donkey.  And the second case it is a self fulfilling prophecy when Jesus chooses to ride the donkey.

I should have noticed this in my last post, but John introduces Mary by what she’s about to do:

John 11: 2 This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.

Since John makes it clear that the family of Lazarus is very important to Jesus, we can be certain that the events of the anointing by Mary had not occurred prior to chapter 12.  This plus John’s foreknowledge of Judas’ theft indicates that the human element is difficult to separate from the supposed supernatural origin of this text.  In fact, the concept that Judas was a thief has no physical evidence in the bible.  On the other hand it is quite clear that Jesus had a special relationship with Judas.  I will have to leave the verses indicating Jesus’ relationship with Judas to a special post, the gospels are ripe with the examples.  For John two know that Judas was a thief seems like an addition after the fact.  It would seem more like a human emotion to defame Judas for the acts that he committed which were required for the salvation of the human race.

On the subject of the Triumphal Entry, it is humorous the john would record the story of stealing the donkey without introducing the theft.  The Synoptic Gospels make it quite clear that Jesus told his disciples to take what did not belong to them without payment.  It’s also very clear that the dock you would not be returned.  John, on the other hand, makes it seem like the  possession of the donkey was perfectly legit.  The other part of the Triumphal Entry that seem strange, to the non-believer, is how Jesus self fulfills a prophecy about himself.  When Jesus chose to ride the donkey he chose to fulfill an old prophecy.  As a result, any one attempting to prove themselves the Messiah could also perform this “miracle”.

Reading this section as a non-believer is even worse than reading the last chapter.  At least in the last chapter faith was involved, at the beginning of this chapter has a number of questionable remarks: contradictions, human emotions, defamation, and cover-ups are recorded in numerous places.  A lot of Christian Apologies must be made to explain away these non-supernatural attitudes.  Even with these Apologies, the Word of God looks very human in nature.  Since this Gospel was written after Pentecost, should not the  Holy Spirit have been a better guide?  Or is the guidance of the Holy Spirit not as powerful as the Word of God describes it?

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