Authenticating Miracles in JOHN’S
GOSPEL
Setting the Scene
The Prologue
John wrote his gospel after Matthew, Mark and
Luke had completed theirs. The subject
of His book is “Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God”.[1] He begins with a prologue explaining the
person and work of the Messiah, and initially calls Him “the Word”, “o λόγος”: “In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God”[2].
Because the gospel was written in Greek, some commentators
use the Greek philosophical definition of ‘logos’, that it is ‘reason and
speech’, modifying it only slightly, to explain John’s use of the word. Nevertheless, John is no Greek philosopher,
yet he did speak Aramaic (the main language in Israel at that time) and knew of
the Aramaic paraphrases of the Hebrew Scriptures that were in use in
synagogues, before, during, and after, the time of the Messiah. The synagogues employed these paraphrases,
called Targums, because many of the common people could not understand
Hebrew. The normal practice was to read
a verse from the Torah in Hebrew, and then the official translator known as the
Turgeman (or Meturgeman), would give the Aramaic rendering. The Aramaic paraphrase would contain more
than just the translation – it would sometimes carry a measure of
amplification. The popularity of the Aramaic versions is indicated by the
Rabbinic imperative to review the weekly Torah section twice from the Biblical
text and once from the Targum.[3]
In the Targums, the ‘Memra’ of YHWH is substituted for YHWH
(i) where YHWH is anthropomorphisised, or
(ii) where
two or more YHWHs seem to be indicated by the text,
(iii) where the immanent
aspect of God is indicated, i.e. to connote the manifestation on earth and
among men of several aspects of divine power such as goodness, wisdom,
justice. The Memra is “the intersection
between God’s response to Israel
and Israel’s
to God.”[4]
Examples include: “And Abraham worshipped and prayed in the
name of the Memra of YHWH, and said, ‘You are YHWH who does see, but You cannot
be seen’”.[5] Here, two YHWHs are apparent. Abraham prayed in the name of the Memra of
YHWH but is praying to the YHWH who cannot be seen.
As indicated, the Targums not
only paraphrased the Hebrew T’nach but also included some commentary that reflected
the views of the Rabbis. John, familiar
with the Targums, was also familiar with their theology of the ‘Memra’. Therefore, it is feasible that the Greek
title ‘Logos’ in John’s gospel is meant to convey the Aramaic ‘Memra’. The Rabbis said seven things in respect of
the Memra of God.
The Memra is the
same as God,
reigning supreme upon the Almighty’s throne: “For what people
so great, to whom the Lord is so high in the Name of the Memra of the
Lord? … the Memra of the Lord sits upon
His throne high and lifted up, and hears our prayers what time we pray before
Him and make our petitions.”[6]
Again, Genesis 28.20,21: “And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If the Memra of YHWH
will be my support, and will keep me in the way that I go, and will give me
bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father’s house
in peace; then shall the Memra of YHWH be my God”. Here, Jacob, Patriarch of Israel, worshipped
the Memra as God. Then again, “the Memra of the Lord created man in His
likeness, in the likeness of the presence of the Lord He created him, the male
and his yoke-fellow He created them.”[7] John echoed this in his prologue and said, “the
Word was God”.[8] The deity of Jesus is a major theme of his
gospel.
The Memra is Distinct from God.
For example, in Genesis 19.4, the T’nach says, “And YHWH rained
brimstone and fire upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah, from YHWH, from
the heavens”. In Hebrew, the grammar
indicates that one YHWH rains fire from another YHWH, so the Targum Jonathan
reads, “And the Memra (Word) of the YHWH caused to descend upon the peoples of Sodom and Gommorah,
brimstone and fire from the YHWH in heaven”.
John, while saying Jesus Messiah is the same as God also says He is
distinct from God. “The Word was with God”.[9]
The Memra is
the Agent of Creation.
“By the Memra
of YHWH were the heavens made; and all the hosts of them by the Spirit of his
mouth” (Psalm 33.6) “From the beginning with wisdom the Memra of the Lord
created and perfected the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1.1) It was used in the Aramaic translation of the
Old Testament. There is an example in Isaiah 45:12: “I have made the earth, and
created man upon it.” In the Aramaic it is, “I, by my word (Memra), have made ….”
Then again, Isaiah 48:13: “Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the
earth.” In the Aramaic it reads, “By my word (Memra) I have founded the earth.”
John says of Jesus, “All things were
made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”[10] Again,
“He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not
know Him.”[11]
The Memra
is the agent of revelation.
Moses
wrote, “The Memra of the Lord came
to Abram in a vision saying…”[12] On
this occasion the Memra declared, “I am
thy shield, and thy exceeding
great reward.” Abram’s response was to
ask for an heir, so he is given further revelation. “The Memra of the Lord came to him saying ….”[13] This further revelation was to promise a son
through whom would come a great nation.
The New King James Bible translates verse 6, “And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for
righteousness”, whereas the Targum Onkelos reads, “And Abraham trusted in the Memra of YHWH, and
He counted it to him for righteousness”.[14] John
wrote, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the
bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”[15] In
John’s writings Jesus (the Memra) is the agent of revelation, described in
terms of light and truth. He is, “the true Light which, coming into the world,
enlightens every man”.[16]
The Memra is the
Agent of Salvation.
In the section
in Exodus where God has come down to deliver, the Jerusalem Targum adds to the
aspect of creation by the Memra this aspect of salvation by the Memra. “And the Memra of YHWH said to Moses, I am He
who said unto the world ‘Be!’ and it was: and who in the future shall say to it
‘Be!’ and it shall be. And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel:
‘I AM’ has sent me to you.”[17]
Note that the Memra is the “I AM” of
Exodus, which is of particular significance to John. Then again, verses in the prophets speak of
salvation, for example, “Israel
shall be saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation”.[18]
The Targum Jonathan puts it, “Israel
will be redeemed by the Memra of God, an everlasting redemption”. Again, “Look
to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no
other”,[19]
which the Targum puts, “Turn to my Memra all dwellers on earth. I am the LORD, there is no other”. In Hosea, “I will have mercy upon the house
of Judah,
and I will save them by the Memra of YHWH, their God”.[20] John says of Jesus, “But as many as received
Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe
in His name”.[21]
The Memra is the means by which God became visible - the Shekinah.
The Shekinah is the visible manifestation
of the presence of God by light, fire or cloud (or a combination of any or all).
For example, at the burning bush, “the Memra of YHWH” spoke to Moses. Another
example would be, “when the ark came to a stop the cloud surrounded them ... And Moses stood in prayer and asked mercy
from God and said, Do good to us as the Memra
of God with your mercy for thy nation of Israel. And blessed is the Shekinah among them …”[22] John said, “the Word (Memra) was made flesh,
and dwelt (tabernacled) (Shekinah’d) among us, (and we beheld his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth”[23]
The Memra is the Mediator
of the covenants of the T’nach.
For example, Noah’s Covenant: “And YHWH said to Noah, This is the sign of
the covenant which I have established between My Memra and all flesh that is on
the earth.”[24] In addition, the Abrahamic Covenant: “I will
establish My covenant between My Memra and you and your children after you,
throughout their generations, as an eternal covenant to be God to you and to your
children after you”[25]. The Rabbis taught that the Memra established
the Mosaic covenant. John says that the
covenant of grace is similarly authorised: “For the law was given through
Moses, (signed by the Shekinah) but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ”.[26]
In summary, those that interpret ‘the Word’, mentioned in
the prologue to John’s gospel, in terms of reason and speech, or debate the
finer points of ‘logos’ and ‘rhema’ (simply because the gospel was written in
the Greek language) miss the fact that Christianity was born in a Jewish
context amidst Jewish teaching. John was
finding a way to demonstrate that the Memra, whom the Jewish nation accepted as
God, obeyed as God, and worshipped as God, was Jesus of Nazareth, the rejected
Messiah. He was, in fact, another and more perfect Shekinah manifestation, who
came to inaugurate the promised New Covenant.
Jesus the Logos, the Memra, the Word, is: 1. Distinct from
God; 2. The same as God; 3. The agent of creation; 4. The agent of revelation; 5.
The agent of salvation; 6. A visible manifestation of God; and 7. Mediator of
the New Covenant.
The prologue establishes each of these points:
“In the
beginning was the Word, and
the Word was
with God, (that is, (1) distinct from God) and
the Word was
God. (that is, (2) the same as God)
He was in the
beginning with God. (that is, (1) distinct
from God)
All things
were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (that is, (3) the agent of creation)
In Him was
life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness did not comprehend it. … That was the true Light which gives
light to every man coming into the world.
(that is, (4) the agent of revelation)
He was in the
world, and the world was made through Him, (that is, (3) the agent of creation)
and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive
Him.
But as many
as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those
who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (that is, (5) the agent of
salvation)
And the Word
became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth… (that is, (6) a visible
manifestation of God)
For the law
was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”[27] (that
is, (7) mediator of the New Covenant)
While John began with a prologue explaining the person and
work of Jesus, (the Word, the Memra, the Messiah), his final summary statement contains
his reasons for selecting the miracles included in his gospel biography. He wrote, “these miracles (signs) are written
that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that
believing you may have life in His name.”[28] His
record of the miracles were designed to illustrate what it was like to have the
Memra of God, the divine agent of creation, revelation, and salvation walking
among men as Messiah.
[1] John
20.30,31
[2] John 1.1
[3] b.Ber.8a
[4] Bruce D.
Chilton (Intro. To the Isaiah Targum): The Aramaic Bible – The Targums pub. By
T & T Clark Ltd. Edinburgh
[5] Genesis
22.14, (Jerusalem
Targum)
[6] Deut.4.7
[7] Gen.1.27
(Jerusalem
Targum)
[8] John 1.1
[9] John 1.1
[10] John
1.3
[11] John
1.10
[12]
Gen.15.1 (Targum Onquelos)
[13]
Gen.15.4 (Targum Onqelos)
[14] Cf.
Rom.4.3
[15] John
1.18
[16] John
1.9 (NASB)
[17]
Exod.3.14 (Jerusalem
Targum)
[18] Isaiah
45.17
[19] Isaiah
45.22
[20] Hosea
1.7 (Targum Jonathan)
[21] John
1.12
[22]
Numb.10.36 (Targum Jonathan)
[23] John
1.14
[24]
Gen.9.17 (Targum Onqelos)
[25]
Gen.17.7 (Targum Onqelos)
[26] John
1.17
[27] John
1.1-18
[28] John
20.30,31
