Changes - Sensus Plenior

While John’s prologue is unique among the gospels, the first five verses of the book of Acts is comparable John's prologue. Also, the opening verse of 1 John, or the book of Hebrews have similar prologues. But in these 18 verses, John compresses the Gospel into a condensed form. He gives the setting; he states the theme; he introduces the main character and he relates the elements of conflict. Every good novel must have conflict to make a plot. And here the conflict is between belief and unbelief.

We find that the language of these opening eight verses is more formal than is true in the rest of the book. And there are some scholars that feel these verses are an adaptation of some early Christian hymn. Reading through these 18 verses, we note the pattern that is involved. Verses 1-5 talk about “the Word.” Verses 6-8 speak about John the Baptist. Verse 9-14 again underscore “the Word.” Verse 15 refers back to John. And then the concluding verses 16-18, come back to “the Word.” So, it’s the word, and John and the word, and John, and then the Word. That is the pattern, or the structure of these opening verses.

It is very possible that John may have written he narrative of his gospel first, and then came back to summarize all of it in these opening verses. But he very clearly in these opening verses, shows the mission of the word—who he is, referring to him as word, and light and life. Telling why he came—to make known the Father; to reveal God. How he was received—there were twofold responses of either belief, or unbelief. What he did in terms of giving light and giving life, and coming with grace and truth. What he revealed—all focusing around the mission of the Word.

What is the meaning of this term ‘Logos’ or word? The scripture makes a distinction between the Word of God written—which of course refers to holy Scripture—and the Word of God incarnate, which refers to Jesus Christ. It interesting that John holds back in his use of the name Jesus Christ in this prologue. Instead he gives him a different title. And what an unusual name for Christ—"The Logos”—the Word. Apparently, he did not coin the term. He did not make-up a new word. Instead he gave a new meaning to a word that was already in use. There is wide spread speculation among the theologians as to the roots as to the origin of this term. Where did it come from? There are some who say that it comes as a carryover from Greek philosophy, the philosophy of Philo the Jew. He was an Alexandrian, allegorizing, philosopher in the first century who used this word logos about 1300 times in his writings. And yet it is never clear whether Philo meant an abstract impersonal force, or whether he meant the divine thought behind the universe. It is unclear as to his meaning even though he uses the term so frequently.

Unique to the autoptic gospel is John’s use of repetition (arguably a poetic device) early in his Gospel narrative. From the beginning, his provocative anaphoric use of use of “word” serves to conjoin the notions of the term ‘logos’ (λόγος) (Greek for ‘word’) and the repetition serves to “underline the thought he would communicate.” John’s penchant for Hebrew parallelism is a prominent hallmark of style in the first ten lines of his gospel narrative. This parallelism whether meant to capture the attention of Hellenized Jews, or simply be thought provoking to any audience also serves to set John’s narrative apart from its synoptic cousins which share more provincial openings. Beasley-Murray (1987) posits the “poetic quality of the prologue is observable, even in translation.” And, in fact, C.F. Burney (1922) maintains John’s poetic style is indicative of an “Aramaic original.”

Adding to the provocative nature of John’s opening, Ernst Haenchen (1984) adds John’s parallel structure to Genesis 1 is no coincidence and “tells of something that was in existence already in time primeval” which is in fact the “Logos”—whatever this ‘Logos’ is—as it defies definition in most any modern language. This “elevated” state of “Logos” reaches such “heights that it almost becomes offensive.”

Additionally, Raymond Brown (1966) suggests that that hymn like structure of John’s opening can be divided into three strophes where the first strophe is verses 1-2; the second strophe is verses 3-9; the third strophe is verses 10-12; and the fourth strophe consists of verses 14-18. While the poetic nature (hymn-like quality) maintains its obvious parallel to Genesis 1, it “does not necessarily give us the original meaning intended by the author of Genesis.”

What is clear, as Merril C. Tenney (1976) instructs, is that while both Jesus Christ and John the Baptist and are both mentioned, the “latter is treated only in relation to the former, and is of subordinate importance.” Further, while confirming the poetic nature of John’s literary structure, Tenney also asserts that “the term ‘Logos’ implies the intelligence behind the idea, the idea itself, and the transmissible expression of it.” Finally, he advances the notion that John’s theological agenda “commences a presentation of the person of Jesus Christ which is quite different from that of the other Gospels.”

Beasley-Murray, George R. ''John'' (Word Biblical Commentary). Word Book Publishers, Waco,

Burney, Rev. C. F. Burney. ''The Aramaic Origin of the Fourth Gospel''. Oxford University Press,

Brown, Raymond. ''The Gospel of John''. The Anchor Bible. Double Day and Company, New

Haenchen, Ernst. ''John'' (Hermeneia). Fortress Press, Philadelphia 1984.

Tenney, Merril C. ''John, The Gospel of Belief''. William. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,

Scroggie, Graham. ''A Guide to the Gospels''. Kregel Publishing, Grand Rapids, 1995.

John was the master of the mystery. In the book of Revelation he uses the symbols of the mystery to tell the story of the cross as it is told throughout the Old Testament. In his letter he expounds on the meaning of the letters in the words 'heaven' and 'earth.' Though there are many speculations where he got the idea of the ''Logos'' or the 'Word' in John 1:1, now that the mystery can be read, it is plain that he got it from Genesis 1:1 and from the Hebrew words themselves. Some of the tools he used to exegete his doctrine are still used by rabbis today, though they twist them to hide Christ. Our chapter on the dietary law instructed us that the rabbis do not make good teachers. Some will turn to them because of curiosity, or scholarly research to validate claims made here. Do so with care. Do not apply any method that they teach which you do not find practiced by the New Testament authors. They have perverted the teaching. Rabbi Blech <ref>The Secrets of Hebrew Words, Benjamin Blech, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 2004</ref> provides several examples:

Blech examines the name Israel ישראל. He says it is an anagram for the names of the three patriarchs and four matriarchs of the nation of Israel. The yod יis for Jacob and ~~Isaak~~Isaac. The shin is for Sarah. The rosh ר is for Rebekah and Rachel. The aleph א is for Abraham. And the lamed ל is for Leah.

So far this type of Anagram is not found in the New Testament. And it really is a bad anagram. Five letters represent seven people. What is there to constrain it to seven, can we add more people to make it twelve? They are not in any kind of order. Men and women are mixed; Sarah comes before Abraham. This has all the red flags of a free for all.

Moses made the appeal to God's integrity before the Egyptians, when God was about to destroy Israel for worshiping the golden calf. <ref>Ex 32:10-13</ref> Though Israel deserved to be destroyed, God had made a promise to Abraham. The reality of the situation is that God could have fulfilled (and did fulfill) his promise without the nation of Israel. But he honored Moses appeal because Moses was concerned about what it would look like to the Egyptians of his day who would not see the ultimate fulfillment.

Blech's most egregious violation is by scrambling the letters to לי ראש meaning 'I have a head.'. This is pure nonsense. The order of letters is important when the meaning is combined to form a word. In the two-letter gate, if the order is reversed, there is a reversal in the sense of the meaning. ''Ab'' אב for father means 'After he created the heavens and the earth א he revealed himself to man ב.' God took the initiative to introduce himself. If the letters are reversed to form ''ba'' בא it means 'come'. Now it is an invitation. The sense has been reversed. Blech violates the very principle of Hebrew word formation.

Following the teaching of the rabbis, who refuse to acknowledge Christ, will assuredly lead to confusion. Only use those tools demonstrated by the New Testament authors <ref>Many well-intention-ed Christians trust the rabbis too much in their zeal to understand Hebrew</ref>.

''Joh 1:1 ¶ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God. Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. Joh 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.''

Like Paul, John taught from the Old Testament <ref>Ac 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.</ref> Without knowing ~~Johns~~John's methods of interpretation, it is nearly impossible to discover his source for his unique teachings.

First we will examine the individual letters within the first three words of Genesis 1:1, ~~Then~~ then we will ~~extricate~~ unpack the doctrine of John from those same three words, using the tools demonstrated in other articles.

The yod is conceptually an infinitesimally small dot. That is difficult to draw and even harder to see, so the ''yod '' is used to represent it. To the Greeks it is the iota. In English we call it a jot. It represents the first idea that God had for creation. It is pronounced ''yah'';one of the names of God, and is a vowel, using only breath to form the sound. It signifies that God is 'spirit'; the same word as breath.

As a metaphor, the yod can be used as a subject when referring to God; the one who created. It can be used as the completed action of creating, or as the subject of creation. It can even be used as an adjective to describe something new.

It is formed with a yod-vav-yod where the vav separates two yods or 'creations.'. Since there is only one creation, this is interpreted as separating two aspects or views of the one creation. This thought is expressed in multiple ways:

The aleph can be translated as 'I.'. Hidden in the aleph is the name of God he gave himself before creation. Because the aleph is a silent letter, you cannot say his name. If we try to pronounce the yod-vav-yod which form the aleph, it would sound something like 'ee-oo-ee' which is very similar to ''Yahweh.''. It is a matter of myth that we can't say 'Yahweh'. This is the name God told Moses to call him. We really can't say his name in the aleph, because the aleph is silent.

These letters (the dalet and rosh) represent a communication from God. You can tell them apart by the top right corner. Notice the top right corner of the dalet ד is a right angle, and it is rounded for the rosh ר. The rosh is a communication with personality. It is God walking in the garden with Adam, or the three visitors to Abraham. You can ask questions to a rosh kind of communication. In these writings the word 'revelation' is used as a technical term to express the idea of the rosh.

The dalet, with the square corner, is less than this. It is a command. It expresses the idea of God speaking the world into existence or of giving the law. There is no dialog with a dalet kind of experience. Yes, in the general usage, there are revelations. For clarity sake, 'command' is used for a dalet kind of experience.

The he ה is formed with a dalet and a vav returning part way up the left side. It represents 'hearing' as in the sheep hearing his voice <ref>Joh 10:3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.</ref> Though the sheep hear his voice, the do not understand the words. The short vav returning on the left signifies only a partial response.

Some letters have two forms; one when found inside a word and one when placed at the end of a word. Since the meaning of the letter is formed by the strokes which form it, a letter and it's final form have a related meaning, but it is different. The final mem ם is formed by connecting a kof כ and a zayin ז at the top and bottom. The mem מ is formed by connecting them only at the top. Both letters represent the marriage of the Son of God כ to his bride ז. The mem is a metaphor for the Father arranging the marriage. The final mem symbolizes the completion of the marriage in the flesh, being connected at the bottom.

The tov represents the finished work of God, being the last letter, as well as by the meaning of the strokes. The revelation of the rosh ר now has a new life spontaneously returning to God, represented by the vav on the right. This is the finished work of God; his people genuinely love him.

The lamed, like the dalet ד and the rosh ר, is a kind of communication. It represents 'teaching.' The word ''lamed'' even means 'teaching.' It begins above the upper horizontal, having it's origin above that which can be known about God. It begins in the very heart of God, much of which remains a mystery. Most letters have the communication come down the right side, saying that he first speaks to us in love. The lamed ל comes part way down the left side; it starts in holiness. The horizontal line is between the upper and lower horizontals of the square template. It is the shared heart. In teaching, the teacher and student share their love; one expressing the knowledge, and the other eagerly receiving it.

John begins his gospel with Hebrew word-play. Even though you may not read Hebrew, you can see that the first three letters of 'In the beginning' ''bereshith'' בראשית (read right to left) are the letters in 'created' ''bara'' ברא.

Now be role play being the child ~~of Christ~~. In the word ''bereshith'' is the word ''bara'' or . Can you see it. Can you see the Word in the beginning? 'In the beginning was the Word." Did it make you chuckle? Did you have a moment of joy? Did your eyes roll back in their sockets like when you hear a 'dad joke?' Hold on to that moment of wonder, there's more.

It is appointed unto [the] man once to die <ref>Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:</ref> The time of the cross was fixed from the beginning. Had it been delayed, 'no flesh would have been saved'. <ref>Mt 24:22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.</ref> This is why Jesus was rushed through his tribulation.