Then you will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free
(John 8:32)
The context of what Jesus was addressing to the Jewish believers speaks volumes to all Christians today, and another verse that brings the weight of that message comes from John 18:32 – “Pilate said to him (Jesus) “What is Truth?”
The Gospel of John is my favourite canon because not only does it reveal the Logos, but more importantly, it reveals humanity. God revealed His message to John and, as the last book of the four Gospel, personifies the vast intellectual revelation of God which reveals who we are if only we view it through our lens. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke are biographies written as a witness to the birth, life, death and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ, but John’s Gospel is an accumulated summary of the three earlier Gospels interlaced with a discourse that exemplifies the Absolute versus Mortal reasoning.
God reveals through John a significant element of humanity’s reasoning viewed through the lens of mortal characters that are in conflict with divine revelation. As theology revealed the theological essence of God and the Christological impact related to eschatology, hamartiology, ponerology, soteriology and many vital aspects of Christain doctrine: we also see the mortal confrontation to these revelations. Undoubtedly, this is not an attempt to set aside the divine word, the Logos or the Pathos, but we seemed to have disregarded the Ethos. We study the word of God, but we forget to study the acts of man. We know the challenges of life that weigh on our objectivity and our reasoning, which dilutes our understanding of scripture. We are cornered into a false comfort zone of seeing only what we want to see while casually disregarding anything that confronts our systematic lifestyles and choices. I am guilty of this mindset, and the more I read John, the reality of the world and even the Christian church today mirrors that. Look at the human characters in John, and it mirrors who we are today. God shows us our mistrust and reasoning in disallowing our faith to open our hearts and souls to be indwelled by God. As Jesus reveals in John 14; 23 – Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” 23
ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Ἐάν τις ἀγαπᾷ με τὸν λόγον μου τηρήσει, καὶ ὁ πατήρ μου ἀγαπήσει αὐτόν, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐλευσόμεθα καὶ μονὴν παρʼ αὐτῷ ποιησόμεθα. (Michael W. Holmes, The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition (Lexham Press; Society of Biblical Literature, 2011–2013), Jn 14:23.)
ἀγαπᾷ – ἀγαπάω – agapaō and ἀγαπήσει – ἀγαπάω – agapaō – Here is what a secular definition of agapaō love is – Within Christianity, agape is considered to be the love originating from God or Christ for humankind. In the New Testament, it refers to the covenant love of God for humans, as well as the reciprocal human love for God; the term necessarily extends to the love of one’s fellow human beings. Spot On.
John reveals the intimate relationship of the agapaō love that grounds faith in our divine God which is found throughout the Gospel of John. However, to understand the Logos is to look through the lens of those who spoke to Jesus in the Gospel and encapsulate the context of the discourse between Jesus and the other party. Each time Jesus challenges the objective reasoning of the person. Jesus challenges them to set aside their earthly chains and seek divine love from God. Unless that love, which is the absolute, the agape love, not the Greeks version of love; philia (phileo), eros, xenia, storge, philautia and agape.
Ironic that we have taken the love of God and sectionalized them within convenient philosophical allegorical misconstrued justifications that satisfy our innate desire to avoid the agape love from God. Philosophy is the dumping ground of our passion for justifying anything we want. We justify everything and compartmentalize everything that has anything that challenges our focus on God. Try searching any philosophical topic on any subject and you will surround yourself with theories upon theories lined with formulas and concepts that will only confuse the everyday individual that only wants answers.
This is the legacy of humankind and its inability to see the truth, which brings me right back to my opening.
Then you will know the truth,
and the truth will set you free
(John 8:32)
MORAL LIFE 