The Christian Community in Johannesburg
  • Home
  • About
  • Programme
  • Community Notice Board
  • Articles 2025
  • Contemplations 2025
  • Links

Gospel Study of John's Gospel

2/10/2023

0 Comments

 
by John-Peter Gernaat
​

In September we studied chapters 2 and 3 of John’s Gospel. Firstly we encountered John’s focus on the festival of the Passover. He uses this as a pointer towards the important deed of Christ on Good Friday.

We studied the cleansing of the temple. We came to understand a dual translation of the same Greek word. Greek has a very different word for the Temple of Solomon and for Sanctuary within the Temple. Yet, the word for Sanctuary is sometimes translated as Temple and sometimes as Sanctuary. When we use the correct translation and realise that Christ is cleansing the Sanctuary (the place of sacrifice) and not the Temple, a new understanding arises. The sacrifice of animals, the sacrifice of Abel that was acknowledged by the spiritual world, is coming to an end and a new sacrifice will replace it. For this reason the animals are cleansed from the Sanctuary. There is a second understanding that we gain from the Old Testament that the sacrifice made in the sanctuary is made freely and therefore the concept of trade for a sacrificial animal is anathema.

We learned about the building of Solomons Temple in 46 years. This is a symbolic number of forty and six. Forty is the period of gestation (40 weeks for a human being) and the number for initiation (something new coming into the world). The number six is the number of creation – in six days God created the world and on the seventh day He rested. Christ introduces a new number for creation: the number 3, the number of the Divine. This number was new to the Jewish people who were monotheist in their understanding of the divine.

We studied the conversation that Nicodemus has with Jesus at night. Jesus recognises the true standing of Nicodemus when he says in John 3:10 “You are THE teacher among the leaders”. The indefinite article is generally used in translation, which does not recognise Nicodemus’ true position. Jesus tells Nicodemus that the human being needs to gain a new insight of what it means to be on the earth in our relationship to the place from which we have come. We are beings with a spiritual existence that enter into an earthly existence. We are not earthly beings hoping to gain a spiritual existence. It is when we recognise our spiritual nature that the Kingdom of God is revealed in us. This birth of a recognition of our spiritual nature must occur in our earthly life.

We also came to a deeper understanding of possibly the most well-known words in scripture: “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son”.

And we studied the last witnessing of John the Baptist (described at the end of Chapter 3) whose primary mission was to bear witness to the Christ.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Use Ctrl-F to search this page
    Picture
    Picture

    Article Archives

    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023

    2024 - January to December
    ​2022 - January to December

    2021 - January to December
    ​2020 - January to December
    2019 - January to December
    2018 - January to December​
    ​2017 - January to December
    2016 - January to December
    2015 - January to December
    ​2014 - November & December
    2013 - July to December
    2013 - January to June
    2012 - April to December
    Picture
    Picture
    Send us your photos of community events.

      Feedback

      Please give feedback on anything related to this website and the content on it. Do this anonymously or with your name.
    Submit

    Subscribe to our newsletter or notifications

    * indicates required
    I wish to receive
    Email Format

    Articles (prefaced by month number)

    All
    01 - A Hopeful Glance To The Future
    01 - January
    01 - Striving To Realise Our Full Humanity
    01 - The Advent Fair
    01 - The Advent Of Christ In The Healing Process
    01 - The Gospel Study Of Luke's Gospel
    01 - The Tribes Of Israel - The Way Of Reuben
    02 - Candlemas
    02 - February
    02 - ​Gospel Study Of Luke's Gospel
    02 - The Way Of Simeon
    02 - The Way We Pray Informs The Way We Believe
    02 - The Zodiac
    03 - Gospel Study - Gospel Of Luke
    03 - March
    03 - The Way Of Levi
    03 - The Way We Pray Informs The Way We Believe - Amendments To The Creed
    03 - Visiting Our Far-flung Community
    04 - Gospel Study - Gospel Of Luke
    04 - Passiontide – And Not Lent
    04 - The Tribes Of Israel - The Way Of Judah
    05 - Denominations Of Christianity
    05 - Discovering The Easter Octave As A Way Of Renewal
    05 - May
    05 - The Gospel Study
    05 - Visit By Rev. Oliver Steinrueck
    06 - Africa Seminary - The Christ Impulse In Us
    06 - Flowering Plants
    06 - Gospel Study
    06 June
    06 - The Decalogue
    06 - The Way Of Naphtali
    06 - Who Are We?
    07 - Change And Being Changed - An International Gathering Of The Camphill Movement
    07 - July
    07 - The Gospel Study Of Luke’s Gospel And The Eighth Path Of Right Contemplation
    07 - The New Commandment
    07 - The Way Of Gad
    08 - August
    08 - Report On The Regional Council
    08 - The Divine Expression In The Structure And Composition Of Hebrew
    08 - The Way Of Asher
    09 - September
    09 - The New Decalogue
    09 - The Way Of Issachar
    10 - Gospel Study Of John's Gospel
    10 - In Search Of Sacred Origins Of Africa = The Golden Heart Of The World - By Stephanie Georgieff
    10 - Theology Expressed In Our Sacrament Of The Eucharist
    10 - The Way Of Zebulun
    11 - Exploring The Nature And Structure Of Koine Greek
    11 - Gospel Study Of John's Gospel
    11 - Introduction To The Book Of Revelation
    11 - November
    12 - Africa Seminary Module 4 Of 2023
    12 - December
    12 - Early Gothic Architecture - Salisbury And Well Cathedrals
    12 - Gospel Study
    12 - Spiritual Well-being Discussion Group
    13 - The Theology Of The Act Of Consecration Of The Human Being
    13 - The Way Of Benjamin

    RSS Feed


On this site

Home
About us
Community Notice Board            Articles of events      Community Programme       Contemplations
Businesses in the Community    Links to other Communities 
Links to other websites of our community
Artists in our community

Services

The Act of Consecration of Man
Sunday                            10h00
Wednesday                    07h00
Friday                               08h30
Always check the programme for the latest information.
Sunday Service for Children precede by a story
Sunday                          09h30

Contact information

​Address
46 Dover Street corner Pine Avenue
Ferndale
Randburg

GPS:S26.0887400, E27.9962600
​Telephone & Email
Telephone             +27 11 789 3083
WhatsApp              +27 76 697 1340
​Email                       [email protected]
​Office hours           08h00 - 13h00

Priests

Rev. Bridgette Siepker
Mobile  +27 84 958 6649
​Email​     [email protected]
Rev. Reingard Knausenberger (retired)
Mobile  +27 82 218 1515
​Email     [email protected]

Webmaster

[email protected]
Copyright © 2012 to 2025. | All rights reserved. | Powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About
  • Programme
  • Community Notice Board
  • Articles 2025
  • Contemplations 2025
  • Links