Rescuer

[ The Identity of Jesus according to John ]

Series Dates: 02/10/19 - 06/16/19

In 70 AD the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed.  The Temple complex was one of central constructions for the Jewish nation’s identity.  The Temple was a physical place of communion with God where worship practices fostered a sense of being and identity-“as long as our Temple stands and we are faithful to keep the law and fulfill the sacrifices, God will love us and we will be safe”.  The destruction of the Temple changed everything.  With it came the deconstruction of one of the primary things they had constructed their life around.  Everything was disrupted and the question may have emerged in their conscience- is God still with us?  Have we been left alone?  Are we safe?  In this vulnerable state, the Temple being destroyed was also a reminder to the nation, that the pages of the Old Testament are filled with a promise of a future, anointed king, messiah, a rescuer.  This king would be one like king David and would rescue the nation and restore the kingdom.  The 1st Century Judean landscape is filled with Messiah candidates- the question for them was not “if there is a Messiah?” but “who the Messiah is”

Constructing our lives around something or someone other than God is a functional working definition of sin.  It is when the thing we build our lives around is torn down, that often, we become aware of our vulnerable state, realizing the construct was never sufficient to save us to begin with, much like the Jewish nation in the 1st century.  In this place even our existence may feel as though it is being brought into question.  This is where our search for a rescuer begins, someone or something to preserve us, to save us and restore us.  Sin and its effects show us that something is desperately wrong in our condition that we can not treat or save ourselves from.  This is why the desire to be rescued, like the nation of Israel, is innate to our human experience.  The problem is that we underestimate the severity of sin and its effects and believe we can self-help, self-rescue or self-save.  One of primary points John is making through his account is not only that we need a rescuer, but that Jesus is the only rescuer who can uniquely save us.

This is why John writes.  Inspired by the Holy Spirit, in the wake of the Temple’s deconstruction, the one whom Jesus loved, writes to show his Jewish readers that Jesus of Nazareth, is the Christ, the Messiah, the Rescuer they had been anticipating and longing for.  Not only is he the Messiah rescuer but He is the Son of God.  It is Jesus being the Son of God that validates His Messiahship.  He pens his purpose explicitly in 20.31 “these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

John’s gospel shows us that knowing Jesus is not just an intellectual understanding of a 1st century Rabbi but a transformational experience that impacts the whole of our lives.  This is why John says the outcome is that we would have a new life (not just a new understanding) through believing in his name.  Through demonstration of power, discourse of truth, and dialogue with an array of people, John is painting a portrait of Jesus, not only as an example or good teacher, but as the anticipated Christ.

This is the aim of our Winter and Spring study of John’s gospel- that over the next few months, as we study verse by verse through The Daily, dive deep into dialogue in our Communities and hear broad themes and accounts taught at our Gatherings, we would be drawn deeper into the new life we have in the name of Jesus as we are being transformed by the power of His Holy Spirit.  Our prayer is that week by week the Lord would surface the areas in our lives that we are attempting to rescue ourselves and to see Jesus as the true and  only rescuer. 

grace + peace,

The Downtown Hope Theology Team

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