Book Review of “A Study Guide to John” by N.T.Wright

“For Everyone Bible Study Guide to John” N.T.Wright

with Kristie Berglund InterVarsity Press, 2009 Downer’s Grove, 144 pp

        Every biography or book blurb about Nicholas Thomas (Tom) Wright, says that he is “the former bishop of Durham”, so we might as well say it too. But his impact on Christendom is far greater than any “bishopric” could ever have. He is not only the most published Christian author of recent decades, with commentaries on many New Testament books, but also works of exploratory and investigative theology, such as Evil and the Justice of God, and Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision. He also shows up in videos of his own on Resurrection and Evil, and even as a knowledgeable scholar and consultant in Day of Discovery videos.

        To be honest, I’ve always considered Wright to be a little bit on the edge. He sometimes takes me beyond my comfort zone, but he always backs up his positions with solid biblical scholarship and, especially in this Bible study, an unmistakable devotion to Christ.

        Wright takes John’s 21 chapters and divides them by stories and content into 26 individual studies. On the very first page he alerts us to the parallel between Genesis 1 and John 1—“in the beginning”. Wright shows us God’s creation, climaxed by the creation of humans, then the beginning of His “new creation” climaxed by the arrival of a very special human, “the Word”.

        We referred earlier to “devotion to Christ”. On the second page, Wright describes the format of each study: observation questions, interpretation questions, and application questions, “which help you discover the implications of the text for growing in Christ.”

        The sweetness of this study is firmly established in Chapter 1—“the Friend above all friends is coming out to meet them.” To quote Wright again, in Chapter 4 he says, “When we look at him hanging on the cross, what we are looking at is the result of the evil in which we are all stuck. And we are seeing what God has done about it.” A third quotation, this time from Chapter 8, says, “Philip doesn’t know what to do. Andrew doesn’t either, but he brings the boy with his bread and fish to Jesus’ attention…so often we ourselves have no idea what to do, but the starting point is always to bring what is there to the attention of Jesus.”

        My spirit was humbled as I read the comments, the questions, and the insights of this very enjoyable book. Every Christian should be thrilled as they read the Gospel of John, and this guide has been invaluable. One final comment from Wright is the last sentence of the book: “Pray that you might know what it means to follow Christ wholeheartedly—even when it leads to pain and suffering—and that your life might be a faithful living expression of his love for all to see.” 

The fruit of the Spirit is…love

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22, 23.

        The full quotation by Paul includes nine characteristics that every Christian should enjoy and be actively working to increase, with the Holy Spirit’s help. The first in the list is love and, as 1^st Corinthians 13 tells us in another comparison, “the greatest of these is love.”

        When we look at love in the Christian’s life, we are amazed at the greatest expression of love, in God Himself, and hence through Jesus. “God is love.” Since God is Trinity, the three persons of the Godhead have always had mutual, interactive love for each other. This would be part of the very definition of a trinity.

        But God’s love overflowed, and He created mankind to share it with. We don’t read that God loves the angels; they are His servants and always will be. But God loves men and women and, as the Lord Himself commanded us, “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35. Francis Schaeffer called this “The Mark of the Christian.”

        But what is this love? How do we recognize it? This is the agape love of the Father for the Son, and of God for His people. The NIV has over 50 references to love, in the gospels alone, and over 200 in the New Testament. We are certainly not adequate to a thorough discussion of this love, but a few key verses should get us heading in the right direction. We need to remind ourselves of just where our personal spiritual life stands in this regard.

        Matthew (7:18) reminds us that “a good tree cannot bear bad fruit.” Romans (5:5) tells us that “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.” If we follow this line of thinking, then Romans 12:10 is a logical next step, “Be devoted to one another in love.” In fact, this love goes beyond our own circle to “this one command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Romans 13:9).

        Trying to keep to a logical progression, we come to 1 Corinthians 8:1—“love builds up.” Even further, “love binds these virtues all together.” (Col.3:14) And 1 Corinthians 13 is the great chapter on love. This is the really tough part for us Christians. This is where the good tree bears its good fruit.

                  LOVE—

          Is patient

          Is kind

          Is not envious

          Is not boastful

          Is not proud

          Does not dishonor others

          Is not self-seeking

          Is not easily angered

          Keeps no record of wrongs

          Does not delight in evil

          Rejoices with the truth

          Always protects

          Always trusts

          Always hopes

          Always perseveres

          NEVER FAILS.

        After a list like that from Paul you would think nothing could be added, but John did complete the picture with two final statements:

·        1 John 3:16 says, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.”

·        And 1 John 5:2 wraps it all up with, “This is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.”

Christian Clarity

        As orthodox Christians, we believe in the Trinity, that is, one God, consisting of three Persons—the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. But sometimes we merge the work of these three Persons and get prayers like “Our Father in heaven, thank you for dying for me” or “Father, what agony You suffered, with the thorns on Your head and the spear in Your side”!

            This is a little bit sad because God wants mature understanding. He wants our minds to be going along with our words. Paul said “I will pray with my spirit but I will also pray with my mind.” (I Corinthians 14:15).

            When a Christian submits to God’s will, he is not required to give up his consciousness of what’s happening – or what he’s saying.  Jesus agreed that it was wise to “Love Him with all your heart, with all your understanding”. Mark 12:33.

Television News

          Last spring, I was watching a feature on WINK News in Florida. They were interviewing a naturalist whose fear was that “the Everglades are running out of water…” He was

drumming up support for various means of getting fresh water back into the Everglades. He was afraid that some species of plants and animals might die off. He wanted government to get concerned about this, and he also wanted ordinary people to take this more seriously and to donate money. However, early in September, the problem seemed to be instantly solved. As Forrest Gump would say, “Just then, God showed up!” Hurricane Irma suddenly and freely replenished those drying swamps with all the fresh water they could use, and then some! 

        Report by Joy Wilson

Hymn of the Month: “I heard the voice of Jesus say…”

     Horatius Bonar has 16 hymns in the Believers Hymn Book, including our choice for this month, #90:

I heard the voice of Jesus say,

“Come unto Me and rest;

Lay down, thou weary one, lay down

Thy head upon My breast.”

2. I came to Jesus as I was,

Weary, and worn, and sad;

I found in Him a resting-place,

And He has made me glad.

3. I heard the voice of Jesus say,

“Behold, I freely give

The living water: Thirsty one,

Stoop down, and drink, and live.”

4. I came to Jesus, and I drank

Of that life-giving stream;

My thirst was quenched, my soul revived,

And now I live in Him.

5. I heard the voice of Jesus say,

“I am this dark world’s Light;

Look unto Me, thy morn shall rise,

And all thy days be bright.”

6. I looked to Jesus, and I found

In Him my Star, my Sun;

And in that light of life I’ll walk

Till trav’lling days are done.

        This hymn was published under the title, “The Voice from Galilee”, and it does indeed have the words of Jesus deeply embedded in it.   Verse 1 quotes Jesus from Matthew 11:28 [“I will give you rest”], verse 3 is His words in John 4 to the woman at the well of Sychar [“I will give a spring of water welling up to eternal life”], and verse 5 is from John 8:12 [“I am the light of the world.”] The 2^nd, 4^th and 6^th verses expand beautifully on each of these themes.

      The church in Scotland in Bonar’s early days was made of stern stuff. The only hymnal was the metrical version of the Psalms.  But after he was ordained in the Church of Scotland at Kelso in 1837, Bonar began writing hymns, many especially for the children in his flock.  

        “Later, in his church in Edinburgh where only the Scottish versions of the Psalms were sung, only the children were allowed to sing his hymns. On one occasion in the adult services, two of his church leaders stormed out in protest when a hymn was announced. But the children never protested. They loved his visits to Sunday School when he would lead them in exuberant singing.” [from Then Sings My Soul, by Robert J. Morgan]

        “You had to take life, work, and verse together, so much was poetry part of himself”—in all he produced about 600 hymns. “The hymns of Horatius Bonar are intensely scriptural and often deeply personal. They include hymns that give a clear vision of Christ as Saviour, hymns that touch upon the blessedness of communion at the Lord’s supper and hymns that point onward to the glorious hope of Christ’s second advent.” [from Hymns and Their Writers, by Jack Strahan]

        Bonar’s list of hymns includes Blessed be God, our God; Done is the work that saves; For the bread and for the wine; Here, O our Lord, we see Thee face to face; and one of my personal favourites, No blood, no altar now:

No blood, no altar now,

The sacrifice is o’er;

No flame, no smoke ascends on high,

The lamb is slain no more;

But richer blood has flowed from nobler veins

To purge the soul from guilt, and cleanse the reddest stains.

        Horatius Bonar was born in Edinburgh on December 19^th, 1808 and passed away on July 31^st, 1889, back in Edinburgh again. From an internship in Leith (1833-1837), he moved to Kelso (1837-1866), then to Chalmer’s Memorial Church in Edinburgh from 1866-1889.

        There are many tributes to Bonar’s life and work but an ordered record of his life doesn’t seem to be had. “Among his last requests was that no biography of him be written. He wanted all the glory to be Christ’s alone.” 

The Church

       Shoreacres Bible Chapel is a local community of Christians. But on a wider view, “The Church” is, in God’s sight, more than a community, she is a living being.  Try as we Christians do, to separate believers by culture, or by splitting doctrinal hairs, God views the Church as a body, and a beautiful body at that.

        The Church is the bride of Christ. He loved her and gave himself up for her. He intends to make her holy, cleanse her and “present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” (Ephesians 5:26, 27).

        Some of us are in for a jolt, but we trust God to make it a happy one. Anyone who has trusted Jesus worldwide and down through all ages since Christ, is included. There are Baptists and Anabaptists in that mystical body—Catholics and Exclusives, Lutherans and Lollards, Saul the Persecutor and maybe even an Inquisitor or two.

        What a day that will be when Jesus takes all of our tangled threads of opinion and patches of prejudice, and exchanges them for “fine linen, bright and clean”. (Revelation 19:8).     

Satisfied!

"He shall see of the travail of his soul and 
shall be satisfied." (Isa.53:11)
One day---in fact even now, Jesus will look 
back on his work---he will look at you and 
me---and say "It was worth it!"