Trinity in the Gospel of John
I.
Introduction
Hard
to understand. In
Christianity, we believe in Trinity. But the problem is we can not
find the term about Trinity in the bible. Some of the question raised
are “Why do you Christians worship three God? What is the meaning
of trinity?”, “From what verse or chapter or book in the bible
explaining about the doctrine?”. It is difficult for Christians to
answer these questions. But as Christians, we have to be prepare to
give basic apologetical answers toward the questions of our faith.
Doctrinal
importance. When
we read the gospel of John, we will find the fact that the relation
between Father-Son is repetitively mentioned in the whole Gospel of
John. There is also a section in this gospel talked about the promise
of the Holy Spirit. The first section of this gospel magnificently
introduces Jesus as divine. Through this writing I tried to explore
about the Holy Trinity especially from the perspective of the Gospel
of John.
II.
Context: The Jews' perspective on monotheistic God
Monotheistic
context-One God.
As one of major theistic religions in the world, Judaism has
fundamental belief that God is the only one God. God is one.
Judaism's synagog service always begin with the creed of Deu 6:4
“Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the LORD is One”1.
The decalogue, in the first two commandments forbade Israelites from
having or worshiping any gods other than Yahweh (Exo 20:2-6, Deu
5:6-10)2.
Judaism insists that Israel has only one object of faith and worship,
who is God3.
Conflict
between monotheistic Judaism vs Triune God. That
is the reason why the Jews picked up stone to stoning Jesus, because
Jesus stated that He and the Father are one. Jesus broke the Sabbath
law, called God His own Father, made Himself equal to God. The Jews
said “For
a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that
thou, being a man, makest thyself God.” (John 10:33, KJV). Another
incident that the Jews want to stone Jesus is when Jesus stated about
His pre-existence, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham
was, I am.” (John 8:59). The conflict between Jews and Jesus became
intensify, reach its climax on the crucifixion of Jesus.
- Trinity in John's Gospel
Definition
of Trinity. Wayne
Grudem in his systematic theology define the doctrine of Trinity as :
God
eternally exist as three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and
each person is fully God, and there is one God4.
The passage in the bible which have been used in construction of
Trinitarian can be found in John's Gospel, especially chapter 15-165
.
John presents Father, Son, and Spirit as three characters who
identities are bound together in a profound and mutually determining
way6.
The
formula naturally formed.
The Jews have the problem to accept the divinity of Jesus. One of the
key of the doctrine of Trinitarian in John's gospel is the divinity
of Christ. The Gospel of John proclaiming about His divinity. Our
faith in Christianity is to confess the divinity of Jesus that Jesus
is our Lord and God. We devote our worship, praise and religious
devotion to Jesus, equal as God. The Holy Spirit also is equated with
God and has interrelation with the Son (John 14-16). Here we find the
formula of the Triune God: God the Father is God, the Son is God and
Holy Spirit is God, yet God is one.
The
questions about Jesus by people in the Gospel of John
The
questions of Christ identity.
In the gospel of John we will find that peoples several times
questioning about who is Jesus, His identity and His works. They
asked about proving His authority, they compared Jesus with Moses,
they asked about Christ identity, whether he is a prophet, they
questioned about validity of His teaching. The
crowds asked about “what must we do to do the works God's requires?
What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and
believe in You? What will You do?”. The people was not sure whether
he is a good man or a deceiver. The disciples questioning about His
hard teaching. His brothers did not believe in Him. These
conflicts are intertwined in the whole Gospel of John. The writer
openly presented to the readers about the conflicts and struggles of
believing or unbelieving toward Jesus Christ, the Christ, the Son of
God.
God
the Father
The
number of verses related to these term in the Gospel. The
Johannine literatures contain a fuller discussion of the relationship
between Father and Son than any other part of the NT. The most
prominent title of Christ is “Son”, and the most prominent title
of God is “Father”7.
In
the gospel of John the name God mentioned in 70 verses out of 879
verses in the gospel (KJV). The word “Father” can be found in 111
verses in the Gospel of John.
Jesus
addressed God as His Father (Father-Son relationship) is frequently
in the Gospel of John8.
Father-Son
relationship is a dominant picture to describe the relationship
between God and Christ. God as Father described in the Gospel as
transcendence and invisible which can be understood and approached
only through the Son. Despite of His transcendence, God who is
portrayed by Jesus is also a personal God. He works (5:17), He loves
and is compassionate (3:16), Jesus communicates personally with the
Father in prayer (John 17), He is holy, has power and authority
(17:11).
The
Divinity of Jesus
The
pre-existence of Jesus.
John 1:1-2 tells us about the pre-existence of the Word, the
distinction between God and the Word, and the Word was God. John 1:14
stated that the Word, who is Jesus Christ, dwelt among us. From the
prologue it is clear that these words identify Christ with God,
Christ is the creator of all the creation. He
is exist before the creation of the world (John 1:1) and
it is
supported
also by His affirmation that He is exist before Abraham (John 8:59).
Jesus
is equated with God
(John 1:1).Logos
in the prologue of John's Gospel regarded as living, intelligent and
active personality9.
Logos, which is Christ, is deity and identical in essence with God10
, He possessed and eternally manifested the very nature of God11.
This Gospel introduces the concept of equality and unity between God
the Father and the Son. It supports by His affirmation, “I
and the Father are one.”
(John 10:30), “..that
you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the
Father”
(John 10:38b). The use of words “I am” by Christ in the Gospel of
John in Septuagint translated “I am he”, which is often used by
Yahweh Himself, related to Ex 3:14 in which God describes Himself as
“I am”12.
Worship
and testimony of people. Other
evidence about the divinity of Jesus mentioned in the gospel of John
is the
worship
offered to Jesus and He accepted worship of people.
Jesus accepted worship from the healed blind-born man (John 9:38).
There are some people
mentioned in John's Gospel confessing His deity. John the Baptist
about Jesus: “the
thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie”; “look, the
Lamb of God”; and
“I
testify that this is the Son of God”.
Andrew said “We
have found the Messiah”
(1:41). Natanael said “Rabbi,
you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel”. The
Samaritans confessed “we
know that this man really is the Savior of the world”. Thomas,
the rationalist who needs proof to believe, finally confessed that
Jesus is his Lord and his God (John 20:28).
He
did extraordinary ministries and signs (omnipotent).
He
did miraculous and extraordinary signs as changing water into the
best wine, healed a 38 years paralyzed man, healed a sick son from a
distance place, healed the blind born man, feed more than 5000 people
with 5 small barley loaves and two small fish, etc. He also gave
extraordinary teaching which was different from the Pharisee's. He
was angry for unrighteousness and injustice in the Holy temple. He
also knows human heart (omniscience).
He
knew man's
true identity, who we are, he knew what was in a man. He is
everywhere, he is omnipresence.
The
Holy Spirit in John's Gospel
Description
of the Spirit in the Gospel of John.
Arthur W. Wainwright stated that the Johannine writings achieve a
greater clarity than Paul in their exposition of the relationship
between the Spirit and Christ13.
Further he stated that the Johannine writings make strict distinction
between Christ and the Spirit14.
The
qualities of Holy Spirit personal existence. Edward
Henry Bickersteth expounded about the qualities which evidence of
Holy Spirit personal existence15.
Some of the qualities he presented can be found in the Gospel of
John. Holy Spirit knows the future; He convinces of sin,
righteousness and judgement, He new-creates the soul, He teaches and
comforts and guides us into all truth, He testifies with personal
witnesses, and He is personally present.
The
Divine attributes of the Holy Spirit.
Bickersteth expound about the Divine attributes of the Holy Spirit.
From the Gospel of John there are some of the attributes found : He
is prescient and unveils futurity, He is absolutely free and
independent. He is omnipresent. In
the Gospel of John, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven on the
baptism of Jesus (1:32). The
Spirit of truth dwelleth with the disciples, and shall be in the
disciples (14:7). He is eternal, He is Holy. God is
a Spirit: and they that worship God must worship him
in spirit and in truth (4:24).
The
relationship between God the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit
The
relation between Father and Son.
This
Father-Son relation described in love. There are some sayings in
John's Gospel which describe that Christ is subordinate to the
Father16.
Jesus said that “The
Father is greater than I” (John 14:28), “The Son can do nothing
of himself, but what he seeth the Father do”(John 5:26); “I seek
not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me”
(John 5:30); “My
teaching is not mine, but his that sent me”
(John 7:16).
Priority
and unity.
On the other hand, there are some sayings that describe of the unity
between the Father and Son. Jesus said that “I
and my Father are one”
(John 10:30); “he
that hath seen me hath seen the Father”
(John 14:9); “I
am in the Father, and the Father in me... but the Father that
dwelleth in me, he doeth the works”
(John 14:10). This two reality of Father-Son relationship forms one
of the principles in the doctrine of Trinity : of the subordination
(or priority) and unity between Father and Son. In the Gospel of John
it is clearly define of the relationship between God the Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit. The Son is sent by the Father and the Holy
Spirit is sent by the Father and the Son (John 3:17, 15:26).
- Conclusion
Conclusion-answering
the question on introduction.
The
doctrine of Trinity is biblical and the evidence of this doctrine can
be seen not only in the Gospel of John but also other writings in the
Bible. John is a trinitarian Gospel, which is more clearly and
naturally explaining the reality of Trinitarian God than synoptic
Gospels. There are various verses in the Gospel which exposed about
the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost as divine: eternal, Holy,
creator of all things, omnipotence, omnipresent, and omniscience.
The
gospel of John is written in the late 60s to 70 AD and it
becomes a major source for Christian doctrines, including the
doctrine of Trinity. Bruce
Milne said in his book: “John is the most explicitly theological of
the four gospels and contributes important insights on all the
primary loci of Christian doctrines.17”.
Andreas J. Kostenberger and Scott R Swain stated that “From the
patristic periode until today, John's Gospel has served as a major
source for the church's knowledge, doctrine and worship of the triune
God”18.
This gospels contains some of the preliminary understanding of the
Triune God of the early church.
Application
for today.
First, this doctrine has implication for our world today as
Christians. We have a relational God in the fellowship of the Triune
God and this doctrine will impact our perspective of unity in
Christianity. Second, this doctrine is one of the stumbling blocks
for other religions to understand Christianity. Through study this
doctrine, at least we can give our stand point and our faith about
the doctrine of Trinity and witnesses about Christ to any person who
ask about this doctrine. Third, study this topic in the light of the
Gospel of John will help us in our personal struggles and questions
about the divinity of Jesus, as He is Christ, the Son of God.
1CV
Matthew, William Dyrness & Vell-Matti Kakkainen (Ed), Global
Dictionary of Theology, (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press,
2008), p. 880
2
Andreas J. Kostenberger & Scott R Swain, p. 34
3R.
Youngblood, Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, on subject about
Monotheism, Walter A. Elwell (Ed.), (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House,
1984)
4Wayne
Grudem, Systematic Theology: an Introduction to Biblical
Doctrine, (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994). p.226
5G.L
Bray, , New Dictionary of Theology, Sinclair B. Fergusson &
David F. Wright (Ed)(Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1988),
p. 692.
6
Andreas J. Kostenberger & Scott R Swain, p.27
7Arthur
W. Wainwright, The Trinity in the New Testament, (London: SPCK,
1962), p. 191
8Arthur
W. Wainwright, The Trinity in the New Testament, (London:
SPCK, 1962), p.49
9Merrill
C Tenney, John : The Gospel of Belief (Grand
Rapids: Eerdsman Publishing, 1997), p.64
10Homer
A. Kent Jr, Light in the Darkness: Studies in the Gospel of John
(Grand Rapids: Baker Book House Company, 1974), p. 26
11Tenney,
op.cit., p.65
12Arthur
W. Wainwright, The Trinity in the New Testament, (London:
SPCK, 1962), p.90-91
13Arthur
W. Wainwright, p. 221
14Arthur
W. Wainwright, p. 222
15
Edward Henry Bickersteth, The Trinity, (Grand Rapids: Kregel
Publications, 1976), p. 129
16Arthur
W. Wainwright, p. 192
17Bruce
Milne, Bible Speak Today : The Message of John
(Leicester:Intervarsity-Press, 1993), p. 25-26
18
Andreas J. Kostenberger & Scott R Swain, Father,
Son and Spirit: The Trinity and John's Gospel,
(Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008
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