John’s allusions to Genesis

Posted by Paul | Filed under uncategorised

Having mentioned the way John’s Gospel alludes to Genesis 1 (see last post), and been questioned on it, here is a quote from Tom Wright summarising what is going on:

John declares from the start, with the obvious allusion to Genesis 1:1, that his book is about the new creation in Jesus. In chapter 20 he makes the same point by stressing that Easter was ‘the first day of the week’ (20:1,19; when John underlines things like this he clearly wants us to ponder the point). On the sixth day of the creation narrative, humankind was created in the divine image; on the sixth day of the last week of Jesus’ life, John has Pilate declare, ‘Behold the man!’ The seventh day is the day of rest for the creator; in John it is the day when Jesus rests in the tomb. Easter is the start of the new creation.

This is reinforced by the themes of light and life. ‘In him was life, and the light was the light of human beings,’ shining unquenchably in the darkness(1:4-5). Now Mary comes to the tomb while it is still dark, and discovers the new light and life which has defeated the darkness. … Reading chapter 20 in light of the prologue, we are thus to understand that Jesus’ death and resurrection have together effected for the discipes the new birth that was spoken of in 1:13 and 3:1-13. We should not be surprised when Jesus then breathes his own Spirit into them, as YHWH breathed his own Spirit into human nostrils in Genesis 2:7. What happens to Jesus’ people is a further indication of who Jesus is:the Word made flesh.

This emphasises another point, which we mentioned a while ago: we should guard against ‘new birth’ becoming a dead metaphor and keep in mind the allusion to an individual’s sharing in the new creation. It also links the gift of the Holy Spirit to new creation.

Other things that seem to be happening in John’s narrative that are worth mentioning:

As I said in the last post, Jesus is mistaken for the Gardener, which seems to be another link back to Gensis 1. This time with Jesus as the true human who is to steward creation as manking were commisioned to do.

Also, we see John hinting at the unravelling of the fall:
* In Genesis 3 we are in the context of the great act of disobedience: a woman is deceived and her ‘eyes are opened’; God comes into the garden looking for the couple, but they are hiding.
* In John 20 we are in the context of the great act of obedience: God comes into the garden and finds Mary; Mary is ‘un-deceived’ and sees clearly (she recognises Jesus).

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Permalink | January 13th, 2008

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