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

Gospel Study of John's Gospel

3/11/2023

0 Comments

 
by John-Peter Gernaat
​In our study of John’s Gospel in October we learned something of the structure that John has used. John describes signs that Jesus did. Other Gospel writers may have referred to these as miracles or healings. John describes seven signs of Jesus and also seven “I am”-statements. Between two signs, John includes stories that bridge the one sign to the next.

The first sign is the turning of water to wine at the wedding feast in Cana. The stories that follow all have something to do with worship – the way we relate to God. We learn about this in the cleansing of the temple; in the understanding that we are born from above; in the experience of what it is to be the friend of the Bridegroom; and in the questions related to worship that Jesus asks the Samaritan woman at the well.

Each sign can be related to one of the sacraments. This makes it clear that the sacraments with which we are familiar, are archetypal. The first sign relates to baptism. The jars that are used by the servants are jars for purification. Jesus, as Christ, becomes Lord of Nature, turning water to wine. Baptism is the establishment of a relationship to God through a community. Baptism related a child to a community.

The second sign, the healing of the son of the courtier, describes a man willing to work with the inner reality and who does not need outer signs. The boy is suffering from a fever. This is a metaphor for the transition from childhood into adolescence. This sign relates to the sacrament of Confirmation. There are clear numerological indications in the story: Jesus goes “after two days” and the healing occurs at the seventh hour. Together we arrive at fourteen, the age of transition. Jesus confirms that the son will live. This is a confirmation that the boy will have new capacities to take on the challenges of life.

There are no stories between the second and the third sign. The third sign is of the man who has spent thirty eight years waiting to enter the pool called Bethesda so that he might be healed. The man confesses the reality of his life to Jesus. This sign is performed before the man’s fortieth year (the period of gestation). Before the condition he has suffered from is confirmed, he is released from it. He is made whole. This sign is related to the sacrament of Consultation (Confession).

After the fourth sign is the discourse that Jesus has about the working of the Father and of the Son and the witnessing for the Son. We come to understand the life which the Father bears in his being is also given to the Son to bear. We hear this in the Act of Consecration of Man in the words that follow each of the three prayers before the Communion: He who bears and orders the life of the world as He receives it from the Father …

Then comes the fourth sign followed immediately by the fifth sign. The fourth sign is the feeding of the five thousand and the fifth sign is of Jesus appearing to the disciples as they cross the sea by night and the waters having become tumultuous through a wind. These two signs were discussed in depth for the significance that they reveal.
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
Monthly and on festival Sundays        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. Michaël Merle
Mobile  +27 83 675 0836
​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
  • Market
  • Links