Mark 14:27-52 — From Table to Trial

July 16, 2012

Leaving the upper room of the Last Supper, Jesus leads his disciples across the Kidron Valley onto the Mount of Olives to a place called Gethsemane. Here Jesus will pray and then suffer betrayal and arrest. That is an answer to prayer none would relish.

Several trajectories are at play in this narrative that take the reader from the table to a trial. One thread is the total disintegration of Jesus’ discipled community. Despite their protestations, they all forsake him and scatter. At his trials, Jesus will stand alone. The narrative moves from vehement denials of the disciples (14:31) to “everyone deserted him and fled” (14:50). Another trend is the sense that the story is scripted. I don’t mean that the actors in the drama are puppets, but that the movement of the story is shaped by the Hebrew prophets. “The Scriptures,” Jesus says, “must be fulfilled” (14:49). A third thread is a sense of climatic drama. Jesus endures a night of prayer as he waits for the “hour” to arrive. When Judas arrives with the arrest party, the “hour” has also arrived. These threads are entangled as they weave a narrative that moves us from table to trial, from communal intimacy to abandonment.

Jesus recognizes what is coming. While Zechariah 14 looms large in the hearts of hopeful Jews as they stand on the Mt. Olivet (since that is where the triumphant Messiah is expected to reclaim Jerusalem for God), Jesus takes them to the Mount to pray in darkness and anguish. There is no triumphalism. Even though Jesus has just spoken of the kingdom of God once again at the table, the disciples follow him as he walks into a trap laid by the betrayer.

Rather than Zechariah 14, Jesus quotes Zechariah 13:7. The shepherd will die and the flock will scatter. While they do not believe the latter, no one denies the former. They protest their innocence and loyalty, especially Peter. But his subsequent denial highlights how they all abandoned Jesus in his “hour.”

Reaching Gethsemane (“oil presses”) Jesus left the majority of the disciples behind and took Peter, James and John deeper into the Olive trees. This is Jesus “intimacy group”—it is the three with whom he has shared previous private moments (e.g., the Transfiguration). Jesus shares with them his deepest emotions. He allows the three to look into his soul (“intimacy” is allowing others to “see into me”).

He reveals the depth of his angst. As the “hour” approaches, he becomes “deeply distressed and troubled.” His grief is unbearable. He sees no other option than to spend the evening in prayer. Sometimes praying is more important than sleeping. He asks his intimates to “keep watch” while he prays privately. He hopes they will pray with him, but, alas, they sleep…another abandonment.

Mark has a dual purpose here. On the one hand, the narrator stresses the anxiety of Jesus which is ultimately resolved by a determination to meet the “hour” at hand. On the other hand, the narrator stresses the disloyalty of the disciples. Jesus, determined to do the will of God, moves through the grief to a decision for God. The disciples, blinded by their own interests, sleep.

The very disciples who protested the loudest are the three whom Jesus finds sleeping. James and John, who said that they could drink the “cup” that Jesus drank (Mark 10:32-45), sleep and then scatter with the other disciples. Peter, who protested the loudest that he would die with Jesus, also sleeps and will shortly deny his Lord three times. The “cup of suffering” is something that the disciples refuse to drink while Jesus, after the struggle of prayer, takes the cup from God and drinks it. Mark parallels the three moments of prayer by Jesus with the three denials by Peter. Whereas Jesus pursued God in prayer to drink the cup, Peter (along with the other disciples) were afraid to drink it.

Jesus has given his disciples every indication that this is a serious night: betrayal, the striking of the shepherd, the abandonment by the disciples, the anguish of his soul, his sorrow to the point of death…. And yet the disciples sleep. Three times Jesus approaches them and three times they are asleep.

Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Jesus also had “weak” flesh but the determination of the his spirit meant that he pursued prayer rather than sleep. The spirit of the disciples, weakened by the flesh, faltered.

Even the disciples are dumbfounded by their behavior or befuddled by Jesus’ seriousness this evening. They don’t know what to say in response to Jesus. They have no words. They are not fully aware that Jesus’ “hour” approaches. But the “hour” does come when the “betrayer” comes.

Judas, again identified as “one of the Twelve,” appears with an armed “crowd” sent by the temple authorities. They may have expected some kind of violent encounter. One of the disciples responded with the “sword,” but Jesus immediately rejects any thought of resistance by dismissing the need for an armed party. Was he not in the temple courts where they could have arrested him?

The disciples desert Jesus and flee. Curiously, one of their number is singled out for explicit comment. It is a rather enigmatic reference. Identified simply as a “young man” who followed Jesus, he, too, flees, but he does so naked as some of the crowd attempt to seize him like they did Jesus. Why does Mark highlight this moment? Some think that the young man is Mark himself, though this is highly speculative. Perhaps he is merely a representative disciple–the guards try to arrest him, but he flees “naked.” This notation suggests the shame that comes over all the disciples.

But the significance of this moment is lost on the reader until we reach chapter sixteen when the “garment” (sindona; cf. Mark 15:46) and the “young man” (neaniskos) apparently make another appearance in the narrative. This episode, perhaps, is not simply a specific example of how the disciples fled, but is also a narrative clue for the future that awaits the disciples. A “young man” will appear again in Mark’s narrative but this time sitting in an empty tomb with an announcement that Jesus will meet his disciples in Galilee (16:5). This is the same hopeful expectation that Jesus announced earlier as the disciples come to the Mount of Olives (14:28).

This young man, perhaps a youthful John Mark, also (and more importantly) represents the disciples as a whole. They all run away “naked” because they left their “linen cloth” behind. But Jesus is wrapped in this “linen cloth” and the “young man” appears in the empty tomb. Though the disciples scattered, they will yet meet Jesus again in Galilee as Jesus promised (14:28) and the “young man” in the tomb promised (16:5). The “young man,” then, is a narrative marker of movement from despair to hope, from scattering to gathering.

As we move from the table to trial, Jesus is abandoned to his fate by the disciples. They failed to discern the significance of the night. They failed their friend. But the narrative never loses sight that a new day is about to dawn and the failures of the disciples are transformed into something much more glorious.

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Posted by John Mark Hicks

Salvation: Sector 6

January 16, 2010

What is salvation?

In my first post in this series I proposed the below chart as a way of answering that important question. In this post I will comment on the sixth sector (6).

  Past
Justification		 Present
Sanctification		 Future
Glorification
Personal Forgiveness of Sins and Relationship with God (1) Moral (Inner and Outer)  Transformation (2) Resurrection of the Body (3)
Communal One Body of Christ: One New Society (4) Reconciliation and Social Transformation (5) The Fullness of the Kingdom of God (6)
Cosmic Resurrection and Exaltation of Jesus (7) Redemptive Emergence of New Creation (8) New Heaven and New Earth (9)

Sector 6 identifies salvation as the fullness of the reign of God in the community of God’s people. The goal of God for human community is transformation into the likeness of God and the experience of the Triune love of God as participants in the divine fellowship. When humanity fully participates in the circle of God’s loving fellowship, then the reign of God will have fully arrived.

This salvific reality does not entail a loss of finitude or creatureliness. When glorified in the new heaven and new earth with glorified bodies that conform to the glorious body of the resurrected Lord, we will not be saved from finitude but we will be saved as finite creatures invited to share in the divine fellowship of the Triune community. We will not become omniscient or omnipotent, that is, we will not share God’s divine essence.  But we will become Godlike, that is, full participants in the divine love.

At the same time, our participation in the divine love–because it is experienced as finite creatures–is a journey  into the heart of God, deeper into the fellowship of the divine persons. Every morning God will be new to us because as finite creatures the infinite God will always have more to share with us and we will experience that love more deeply. God is like a bottomless well from which we drink–we will experience daily filling, joy and satisfaction but there is always more to drink. God will give us more moment by moment throughout eternity.

As community, we will grow more intimate with each other. It is important to emphasize the continuity between Sector 5 and Sector 6.  The relationships we begin now will continue into our glorification. More than that they will grow deeper, wider and more inclusive. Our relationships will not remain static but deepen and expand. We will know not only those with whom we have relationships now but we will also initiate new relationships with people we have never known.  The fullness of the kingdom of God as a community is an interactive web of relationships which will provide opportunity for growth on the new heaven and new earth.

The glorified community is not a static accomplishment as if we attain “perfection” (as in some kind of Platonic immutability where any change is bad) and thus there is no more work, no more loving, no more growing, no more knowing, no more connecting, etc. to be done. Rather, the fullness of the kingdom of God involves a dynamic growth into the heart of God as well as a dynamic growth among the people of God (growth in intimacy as well as growth in the numbers of people and the diversity of people with whom we will become intimacy). When God recreates, just as in the beginning God created, the Triune fellowship will create a dynamic reality that invites the redeemed community to pursue growth, intimacy, fellowship and relationship within the kingdom.

The reality that God created in Sector 4, though it is so dimly and rarely seen in our broken contexs, will be fully revealed in Sector 6.  The oneness of the people of God will emerge brightly on God’s visitation and the unity of the body of Christ–the kingdom of God–will be recognized as a gift of God’s gracious work. But the oneness does not entail some kind of Stepford human beings who are all identical. Rather, the oneness, like the oneness of the original creation, includes a diversity and a dynamism that reflects the reality of God who is both diverse (three) and loving (dynamic) while at the same time remaining one.

The fullness of the kingdom, then, is the reality of community as the image of God’s Triune fellowship.  It is the experience of intimacy without fear, love without suspicion, trust without doubt. It is love because God is love. No more barriers, no more ethnic bigotry, no more snobbish class-wars, no more alienation or marginalization.  The kingdom of God will experience community in a way that images the community of God’s own life and participate in the community of God’s life.

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Posted by John Mark Hicks

Jesus as “Son of Man” in the Gospel of John

July 28, 2009

The “Son of Man” is Jesus’ own self-description—he uses the title twelve times in the Gospel of John (1:51; 3:13, 14; 5:27; 6:27, 53, 62; 8:28; 9:35; 12:23; 13:31; in 12:34 his language is quoted back to him). It ranks second behind “Son” (in the sense of Son of God) as Jesus’ favorite self-description in the Gospel of John.

“Son of God” reflects the unique and intimate relationship between the Father and Jesus. He is uniquely Son—he is monogenes (the only one of his kind; John 3:16); there is no other sonship like his. Father and Son share an intimacy that is rooted in their shared divinity. They are one.

“Son of Man” has often been characterized as a focus on the humanity of Jesus, that is, he was born of woman. He is a human being. The Gospel of John certainly stresses the humanity of Jesus. Jesus eats and drinks like other humans; he experiences fatigue and he sheds blood. He dies.

But what is the function of this title on the lips of Jesus? Does he use the title to alert his hearers to his own humanity and his identification with the human predicament? Does Jesus use “Son of God” to refer to his divinity but “Son of Man” to signal his humanity? Or, is there more to the story than that?

“Son of Man” in the Gospel of John

Initial Use (John 1:51). John 1 is strewn with titles applied to Jesus: God (John 1:1), Son (John 1:18), Lamb (John 1:29, 36), Elect (John 1:34), Messiah (1:41) and Son of Joseph (1:45). “Son of Man” is Jesus’ own language for his identity. Nathaniel believed on Jesus because of Jesus’ intimate knowledge of him, but Jesus promised that he would “see greater things than that.” Specifically, and with the emphatic emphasis of “I tell you the truth,” he promised all the disciples (“you” is plural) that they would “see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

The language alludes to Jacob’s vision in Genesis 28:12. It is a rich metaphor which probably includes several ideas. Jesus is where humanity and divinity intersect. He is the revelatory Word of God addressing humanity through the presence of divine glory. That “heaven opened” pictures the pouring out of divine reality into the world which includes judgment (Isaiah 24:18; cf. John 5:27) and life (Deuteronomy 28:12; cf. John 6:53). Jesus is the locus of divine glory on earth—the place where heaven and earth meet.

Nicodemus Story (John 3:13-14). Responding to Nicodemus’ inquiries, Jesus declares that kingdom people are born “from above” (or, again) through the work of the Spirit. This, according to Jesus, is a “heavenly” thing, and only the one who can speak it is the one “who came from heaven—the Son of Man.” At the same time the one “came from heaven” is also the only one who “has ever gone into heaven.” This is the language of descent and ascent. The Son of Man is a heavenly persona who comes down from heaven (incarnation; cf. John 1:14) and returns to heaven (ascension; cf. John 20:17).

However, between the descent and the ascent is a crucial saving event called “lifting up.” Like the snake in the wilderness (Numbers 21:4-9), “the Son of Man must be lifted up.” The wilderness event saved those who trusted in God through looking at the snake, but judged those who refused. In the same way, the cross of Jesus will save those who believe but condemn those who reject the Son (John 3:16, 36). Life comes to those who believe but judgment to those who do not.

Judgment Theme (John 5:27). Jesus rehearses a similar theme in John 5:24—“whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life” but those who do not will be condemned (John 5:29). The Son of God is given “authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.” This judgment is eschatological in character, that is, it is occurs on a coming day when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of Man and rise to life or condemnation. The Son has authority to give life (John 5:21) or to condemn (judge; John 5:27).

Living Food (John 6:27, 53, 62). The Son of Man, Jesus tells those who are seeking loaves that only satisfy for a moment, gives “food that endures to eternal life” (John 6:27). Indeed, the Son of Man is himself the living bread of the Passover meal. He is the “bread of life” (John 6:35). This eternal life is present but also eschatological, that is, it is the life of the resurrection on the last day (John 6:40).

Jesus, then, becomes more specific about the reality of this living food which gives eternal life. One must, Jesus says, “eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood” in order to have life (John 6:53). Flesh and blood clearly point to the humanity of the Son of Man but the “eternal life” (John 6:54) that comes through eating and drinking points us to the heavenly nature of the Son of Man. Eating and drinking are means by which, Jesus says, one “remains in me, and I in him.” It is a spiritual union, an intimacy that is made possible by the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb and by our ingesting that sacrifice.

“Eating flesh” is too much for some disciples as they grumbled about his meaning. But this eating is a one that is rooted in the exalted nature of the Son of Man whom they will “see…ascend to where he was before” (John 6:62). His return to heaven—the ascension—empowers the Spirit to give life even when flesh in and of itself “counts for nothing” (John 6:63). The exalted, ascended Son of Man gives life by the power of the Spirit to his disciples through the eating of his flesh and the drinking of his blood.

Uniqueness of the Son (John 8:28). Jesus is the “light of the world” (John 8:12)—the revelation of God, the Word of God. This is rooted in his unique relationship with the Father (John 8:16) and the fact that he is “not of this world” (John 8:23). He has come down from heaven as one sent by the Father. But the climactic revelation of this relationship is the cross when fallen humanity lifts up the Son of Man (John 8:28). In that moment the heavenly origin of Jesus will be revealed and the world judged.

Healing Presence (John 9:35). In Jerusalem Jesus healed a man who had been born blind. Refusing to accept the miracle, the temple leaders excluded him. When Jesus “found him,” he asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” The association of “Son of Man” title with this healing act reflects the eschatological reality that the Son of Man will inaugurate. There will be no curse, no blindness, but only the revelation of the glory of God. A blind man sees the Son of Man—that is the life and joy that God brings through the Son of Man.

The Son is Lifted Up (John 12:23, 34). Now the “hour” has arrived. It is the moment when the Son of Man is to be lifted up—and this involves both glorification (John 12:23) and death (John 12:32-34). When the Son of Man is lifted up, the name of the Father is glorified (John 12:28). Also when the Son of Man is lifted up, the Son of Man dies like a “kernel of wheat” planted in the ground to produce life. The Son of Man glorifies the Father through submissive obedience as an expression of the intimacy the Son feels for the Father (John 12:27-28) and this glorifies the Father. The Son of Man is the Lamb of God who goes to the slaughter (cf. Isaiah 53:1 quoted in John 12:38) and is lifted up for the sake of the world in obedience to the Father. Disciples who serve Jesus must also “follow” him in honoring the Father who will in return honor the one who serves Jesus (John 12:26).

The Glory of the Son (John 13:31). The glory of the Son of Man is to glorify the Father through his death, and in response God will glorify the Son. This is the intimacy of their relationship. The Son of Man obeys the Father and the Father loves the Son, and they share the glory of redemption by inviting humanity into their own communion. The glory of the Son and Father is the inclusion of broken humanity in the Triune fellowship of the Father, Son and Spirit—a theme prominent in the Farewell Discourse (John 13:31-17:26).

The Theology of the Son of Man in the Gospel of John

The identity of Jesus as the Son is the one who descended from heaven to obey the Father by being lifted up on a cross in order that believers might have eternal life in the resurrection and the disobedient judged by the light of God’s glory.

Son of Man as the Descended Heavenly Figure. Jesus’ role as the “Son of Man” is deeply connected with his unique relationship to the Father as the Son of God. It is because he is Son of God that he comes to earth as Son of Man. The Son of Man is sent by God from heaven to earth to accomplish the redemption of humanity through his obedience and to be the light of God in the midst of the world’s darkness. The Son of Man descends from a pre-existent status as “God” (John 1:1) to incarnate himself in human flesh and dwell among us. This is the one who not only lived in the bosom of the Father but now comes to earth to reveal the Father and manifest the glory of God in a broken world. The Son of Man is not simply a human being but the one who comes from heaven and is returning to heaven.

Son of Man as the One Lifted Up. The Son of Man is lifted up in obedience to the Father. The Son loves the Father, trusts the Father and thus obeys the Father. Their intimacy bears the fruit of redemption in the cross. The cross of Jesus, however, both saves and condemns. The cross draws some into fellowship with the Father but it repels others. Some trust in Jesus but others reject him. The cross is God’s saving act for believers but it condemns those who trust the darkness. The Son of Man is an apocalyptic savior and judge—the whole cosmos will answer to him. The cross is the focus of both God’s saving work and his judgment.

Son of Man as Ascended Eschatological Figure. The Son of Man does not remain dead but is born again through resurrection. The seed that is planted in death produces a new life in the resurrection. In this sense the Son of Man is a human being from the future; he is new humanity anticipating a new creation. The resurrection inaugurates a new reality that will be consummated in a new heaven and new earth. The Son of Man, as new human, returns to heaven; he ascends to the Father. There he pours out the Holy Spirit upon his disciples who live in the intimacy, power and giftedness of the Spirit for the mission entrusted to them. By the power of that Spirit, the Son of Man is yet present to his disciples through eating and drinking, that is, the Eucharist or Lord’s Supper. This is life, and it is the eternal life of the Ascended One who will raise us from the dead on the last day. The Son of Man is both the guarantor of our own resurrection and the life of our resurrection because of his own resurrection.

So What?

In conclusion, it is important to raise the question of significance and meaning for the contemporary church. There are many points to raise, but four are particularly significant for our present walk with God.

First, the Son of God became Son of Man in order to reveal the Father. We know the Father most clearly and fundamentally through Jesus—he is the image of the Father. The Son of Man is the revelatory bridge between God and humanity. He is the intersection between heaven and earth and to see—to know him—is to know the Father.

Second, through the Son of Man we are united to the Father and experience the same intimacy with the Father that the Son of Man has with the Father. The Father loves us just as he loves the Son (John 17:23). The Father dwells in us and we in him just as the Father dwells in the Son and the Son in him. The Father and Son did not abandon us when the Son returned to heaven but sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in us through whom we experience the intimate communion and love of the Triune God. Our intimacy with the Father in the Son through the Spirit is real, authentic—and it is available to all who trust in the one who was lifted up for our sakes to the glory of God.

Third, the Son of Man is yet present in the world through the power of the Holy Spirit when we eat his flesh and drink his blood at the table of the Lord. While flesh means nothing, the Spirit gives eternal life through eating and drinking. The realistic language upsets many—as it did disciples at the time it was spoken—but the reality is the spiritual communion between Jesus and his disciples through the Holy Spirit. By the Spirit we enjoy not only the forgiveness that the death of Jesus (flesh and blood) produced for us but we also enjoy the eternal life that is experienced in the communion of the Father, Son and Spirit with those who sit at the table eating and drinking in the kingdom of God. This is communal, spiritual nourishment as we experience eternal life even now while we yet live in these broken bodies. When we eat and drink the life of the Son at this table we experience even now the new, abundant life he brings and anticipate the fullness of that life in the coming resurrection.

Fourth, just as the Son of Man was sent, so now he sends his disciples. The Son of Man was obedient, even to the cross, and those who believe on him must follow him, even to a cross. Just as the Son of Man, we are sent into the world for the sake of the world to the glory of God. His mission has become our mission, that is, to obey the Father so that the glory of God might shine in the world. Redeemed by the Father, sent by Jesus, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, this is our mission.

An audio presentation of similar material is available here (delivered at the Highland View Church of Christ in Oak Ridge, TN, on July 29, 2009).

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Posted by John Mark Hicks

Our Triune God: The Wonder of the Story (SBD 8)

May 18, 2009

[Note: I am attempting to keep these SBD installments under 2000 words each, but that is--of course--quite inadequate for the topics covered. Consequently, these contributions are more programmatic than they are explanatory or defenses of the positions stated. You may access the whole series at my Serial page.]

The divine ontology is Being-in-Relation—the Christian narrative describes God as one and three.

Trinitarianism has a checkered history at the practical level. In the average congregation, or ministerial gathering, or seminary classroom, the subject of the Trinity comes as bad news rather than good. Just when we have struggled to believe in God, Christians also believe that God is, in some inexplicable way, both one and three. This incomprehensible affirmation seems to have nothing to do with daily life.

It is as if Christians come to know God first, and then tack on the Trinity as an addendum. Whether God is triune or not becomes insignificant to discipleship. When it appears that the God is better understood without the doctrine of the Trinity, some regard it as superfluous, though it may be reverently acknowledged as a mystery. When it seems incompatible with divine unity it is jettisoned by others.

But the confession of a Triune God is eminently practical and theologically rooted in God’s redemptive-historical self-revelation. Trinity is the Christian doctrine of God.

Economic Trinitarianism

We cannot begin with abstract ideas of threeness and oneness in discussing the Trinity. Instead, we begin with the concrete threeness of the Christian Scriptures. The starting point for Trinitarian thinking is the narrative of God where the Father, Son and Spirit participate in revelatory events (historical acts).

Christians did not begin talking about threeness because they were fond of the number. Rather, as they experienced God in Jesus through the Holy Spirit, they spoke in terms of three. The starting point for understanding the Trinity is the economic Trinity—God’s self-revelation in the narrated history of redemption. Jesus, the Son, prayed to the Father who poured out the Spirit upon him. This economic revelation is an authentic revelation of the God’s own identity (immanent Trinity, e.g., God’s own transcendent life before the creation). In the history of redemption, the one God is revealed as, in some sense, three.

The God of Israel is one God. There is no other. Israel confessed this monotheistic faith through the Shema: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 4:6). Paul unpacked the Shema where the Father is the one God and the Son is the one Lord (1 Corinthians 8:6). Christians reinterpreted the Shema as the affirmation of God’s community as well as unity.

The God of Israel sent the Son into the world—born of woman (enfleshed), born under the law (an Israelite)—who prayed to the Father as “Abba.” The Son who shares the reality of the Father as theos (God; John 1:1; Romans 9:6) became flesh and dwelt within the cosmos (John 1:14). As the monogenes theos (“the only God,” John 1:18), nestled in the bosom of the Father, he is the exegesis of the Father. The Son reveals the Father since he is one with the Father. The confessed identity of the Son—distinct in person but united as theos—moved Christians to worship the Son along with the Father (Revelation 5:13).

When Jesus, the Son of God, ascended to the right hand of the Father, the Father through the Son poured out the Holy Spirit upon Israel at Pentecost (Acts 2). By this Spirit believers cry out to the Father through the Son as “Abba” (Galatians 4:6; Romans 8:15-17). The Incarnate Son was the first Paraclete, the Spirit is the “other Paraclete” whom the Son promised he would send from the Father (John 14:16). The Spirit appears as the medium of the communion of Jesus with the Father and the means by which believers participate in Christ. This is clear in terms of the resurrection and the indwelling of the Spirit in Rom. 8:11-15. The Spirit is the one through whom we have fellowship with God—the Spirit is the presence of God among us since Jesus did not leave us as orphans (John 14:18).

The Christian experience of God is a communion with the Father, Son and Spirit. The presence of the Spirit is our communion with the Father through the Son (2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 2:18, 22). Consequently, the very structure of salvation within Pauline texts (as an example) is triune (three-fold). Here are a few representative texts:

1 Corinthians 12:4-6: “the same Spirit…the same Lord…the same God.”
Ephesians 2:18: “for through him [Christ] we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.”
Ephesians 4:4-6: “one Spirit…one Lord…one God and Father of us all.”
2 Corinthians 1:21-22: “God who makes both us and you to stand firm in Christ…set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts.”
Galatians 4:4-6: “God sent his Son, born of a woman…because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts.”
Titus 3:4-6: “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior….He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.”

The three are one in their divine work to redeem humanity. The Father elects through the redemptive work of Christ as the Spirit renews God’s love in our hearts. This is a divine work from beginning (election) to end (transformation) which the Father accomplishes through his Son in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Johannine Trinitarianism

The Farewell Speech in the Gospel of John (chapters 14-16) depicts God as a three-fold (communal) unity. The four triune statements in the speech underscore the distinct personal identity of the Father, Son and Spirit but their shared communion in the unitary work of redemption and shared life (John 14:16-17; 14:26; 15:26; 16:7, 16).

The shared communion is characterized by love and mutual indwelling. This is quite explicit in the relationship between the Father and Son as each dwells in the other and they share a love for each other (John 14:10-11; 15:9; 17:21, 26). The Spirit represents and is the medium by whom the Father and Son continue their work in the redemptive story once the Son goes to the Father (John 16:28). As Jesus glorifies the Father and not himself, so the Spirit does not glorify himself but the Son (John 16:14). Precisely by not speaking of himself but bearing witness to Jesus, he shows himself to be the Spirit of truth. Distinct from the Father and the Son, he nevertheless belongs to both.

The Gospel of John pictures what some have called the “mystery of divine interpenetration” or “inness” (John 10:38; 14:10, 20; 17:21, 23). It represents an ineffable union, an intimacy transcending our finitude. Even though they are one, they are not one person. It is a unity in community—a communal oneness; it is organic and familial. The Father, Son and Spirit live in full transparency, love and mutuality.

The Triune God is the epitome of unity and diversity—united as theos they are also a community of love. They are the ground of the cosmos—God as Being-in-Relation. The cosmos is, at its root, both one and many, both one and three. Relationality is the cosmic ontology and this is rooted in the Christian doctrine of Trinity.

Iconic Trinitarianism

Andrei Rublev painted the “Holy Trinity” around 1411. He was beatified by the Russian Orthodox Church as “St. Andrei” solely for the extraordinary intensity and majesty of this icon. The image embodies the essence of Trinitarian dogma.trinit1

The icon portrays the visit of the angels to Abraham in Genesis 18 but excludes Abraham and Sarah from the picture in order to focus on the dogmatic meaning of the Trinity. The three sit around a table with a chalice as the centerpiece. The figure on the left—the Father—is arrayed in an indistinct gold (a transcendent tone), the figure in the middle—the Son—in brown (an earthy tone), and the figure on the right—the Holy Spirit—in green (the vibrancy of living earth). Each one is also dressed in blue to represent their equality—they are divine. The unity and diversity of the triune life is thus pictured in vivid colors.

Rublev depicts the theophany in an open circle with their heads gracefully inclined toward each other. The circular pattern embodies the theological idea of perichoresis—the loving dance of the Triune persons. Their faces are filled with peace and harmony while their gestures are gentle and loving. The Father and Son look at each other lovingly while the Spirit looks at the chalice as if to descend upon the cup. The chalice represents the Eucharist which is the center of Orthodox liturgy and its theology of redemption. The Eucharist is communion with the Triune God.

The open circle invites others to come to the table and experience the divine community. We are invited into the inner circle of God’s own life to sit at the table of God with God. This is salvation. As the ancient Orthodox sang (Lossky, The Meaning of Icons, 201):

“The blessed Abraham saw the Trinity,
as far as man can,
and regaled It as a good friend.”

So What?

Relationality—communal subsistence—is woven into the fabric of the cosmos itself. God is not an isolated, single monarch whose only relation is to rule. God is a community of equals (they share the divine nature) united in mutual love. The perichoretic love within the Trinity is a love willing to be vulnerable that sovereignly decides to enter into relationship with others. This is the heart of who God is as Creator and Redeemer. All forms of human love, then, are faint reflections of that Triune love internal to God’s own life.

The communion of the divine persons is a model for human community: family, church, and society. The doctrine of the Trinity provides the theological resources for communal life and relationality. We-in-the-plural images God (though it has been defaced by sin). This cautions against the individualism of modern culture as well as the individualistic soteriology of much modern theology (including Evangelicalism).

The doctrine of Trinity assures us of God’s economic presence through the incarnation and indwelling Spirit. God as Immanuel came in the flesh but now God dwells among us and within us as the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Spirit is the presence of God who links heaven and earth (2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 2:18). The Father did not orphan us, that is, he has not left us without his personal presence. That presence is not mediated by some inferior being, angel or mediator but by his own Spirit in our hearts. God is still with us as the indwelling Spirit.

The triune picture of God grounds missionary theology. The divine community shares an intimate and full love for each other, but also extends that love in both creation and redemption beyond that community. In creation, the divine community shared its love with others. It invited those who are made in their image to participate in the joy of communion. In redemption, the divine community shared its love with a hostile and sinful humanity. The incarnation itself is the great missionary project and the model of all missionary activity. God himself came to a hostile world to invite it back into communion with the divine community. If the divine community is a model for the church and the church is to be one just as the Father and Son are one (John 17:20-21), then the church must ground its missional spirit in the doctrine of Trinity.

Liturgically, we praise the Father through the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit. This doxological approach keeps the economic roles of the Trinity in focus, preserving the fountainhead of the Father, recognizing the redemptive instrumentality of the Son and honoring the empowering presence of the Spirit. The Christological and pneumatological dimensions of Christian liturgy reflect the newness of God’s work in the present age. We do not worship God in the abstract but we worship the Father because he has acted in Jesus for our sakes and God is present among us by the Spirit. Liturgy, therefore, reflects the triune nature of God as the Father is praised through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.

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Posted by John Mark Hicks

Jesus, the Unlikely Apprentice VI

March 1, 2009

Connected Living: Levels of Community

The Triune God, of course, lives together in perfect unity, transparency and intimacy. The Father loves the Son, the Son loves the Spirit and the Spirit loves the Father. They are one (John 17:20-25). Their community is unbounded; it is infinite.

Living life as a human, however, Jesus learned to live in community in bounded ways; he lived as a finite human being. He could not be intimate with everyone; he could not share his day-to-day life with everyone; and he could not even speak to everyone. Rather, he lived out his humanity as we live out ours—he connected with others at different levels of community.

We may call these “circles of fellowship” or “levels of community.” Whatever we call them the Gospel narratives indicate that Jesus experienced communal life in various ways and at different times. His experience is a model for reflecting on our own experience as we seek to become fully and authentically human ourselves.

The Levels

Solitude. Jesus took time to be alone with God—the Father and Spirit. This was foundational for everything else in his life. This time confirmed his identity and focused his mission. In this time we face our true selves and learn to love ourselves because we are loved by God.

Intimacy. Jesus shared life and feelings with Peter, James and John. They were his intimates with whom he could share experiences, burdens and fears that perhaps he could not share with others. We need people who know our secrets, to whom we confess our sins, and who will hold us accountable. We need people who know our stories, our true selves and before whom we are emotionally and spiritually “naked and unashamed.” Many have “covenant groups” but sometimes they are too large. Intimacy happens with three or four people, perhaps six, but rarely much larger than that.

Relationship. Jesus traveled with the twelve and a few female supporters. He ate with them, prayed with them, recreated with them, and served with them. They were his “small group” – a group of people which numbers between 10 and 20. These groups are not intimacy groups, but they are relationships which supply mutual support, social interaction, and even fun. These are the people who surround us with their love in times of tragedy and join us in celebration in times of joy. They share life with us. These are the people with whom we eat the “last suppers” or the “Passovers” of our life.

Community. Jesus also spent time with larger groups of disciples than the twelve. He gathered seventy disciples to send out two by two in Luke 10. In the setting of most of our congregations, these are the Bible classes we attend or the ministries in which we serve. They are twenty to a hundred people whose names we know and with whom we share a common interest or task. This level of community is generally task-oriented with less focus on inter-personal interaction.

Assembly. Jesus also went to the Temple to worship with the people of God, with the crowds and multitudes. He attended the festivals and synagogue assemblies. He stood in the congregation and praised the Father. Assemblies, of course, range in size from small communities (30-100 people) to crowds of people (thousands). But the focus of community here is not interpersonal interaction as much as the presence of God within the community. Here, together, we encounter God as one people; here we join the heavenly assembly of saints and angels to praise Father, Son and Spirit. And we are thereby encouraged and empowered as a community to embrace and pursue the mission of God in the world.

Living Community in Levels

At different times in our lives we emphasize different levels. Someone who has been hurt or abused by intimacy may only desire anonymity in the assembly for a period of time. Someone who has experienced loneliness in assembly may want to focus on developing intimacy with others. Someone who has for years focused on community tasks may discover a need to focus on solitude for a period of time.

There is no single way to slice this pie. Everyone is different and at different times has different needs. That is fine and leaders should have the patience to let people be where they are instead of forcing them into particular molds or church programs.

At the same time while community can happen naturally at all these levels, leaders may encourage believers to seek out community at every level in appropriate ways at appropriate times. Healthy congregations provide opportunities for the experience of community at every one of these levels. Leaders strategize how to best promote these experiences for their flock.

We cannot expect one form of community to supply the need for which another level is designed. We cannot expect a Bible class (community) to provide the intimacy that a group of three or four friends can. If we do expect it, then we will be sorely disappointed. Neither can an assembly be a “small group” where we know everyone. However, we can seek out each level of community so that our lives find balance, nurture and fulfillment just as Jesus found in his human relationships.

Questions for Discussion:

  1. Identify what you find most valuable and helpful about each level of community?
  2. What do you think makes each level of community different from the other? Why is it important to recognize those differences?
  3. On what level of community do you need to focus more of your attention at this moment in your life?
  4. How can the church guide people to or help them discover these different levels of community as part of body life?

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Posted by John Mark Hicks

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