Calvin / McGrath John

1. Auflage 1994
ISBN: 978-1-4335-1699-3
Verlag: Crossway
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, Band 5, 480 Seiten

Reihe: Crossway Classic Commentaries

For hundreds of years Christendom has been blessed with Bible commentaries written by great men of God highly respected for their godly walk and their insight into spiritual truth. The Crossway Classic Commentaries present the very best work on individual Bible books, carefully adapted for maximum understanding and usefulness for today's believers. The Gospel of John, called 'the spiritual gospel' in early church history, is among the most profound books of the New Testament. A powerful portrayal of the earthly life and ministry of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, it explores precious tenets of the faith-Christ's nature, His reasons for coming to earth, His determination to fulfill the Father's will by giving His own life for us, the splendor of His miracles, the supremacy of His love. A helpful volume that will enrich the faith of new and mature Christians alike.

John Calvin (1509-1564) was one of the most influential theologians of the Reformation. Known best for his Institutes of the Christian Religion, he also wrote landmark expositions on most of the books in the Bible.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Calvin, John

McGrath, Alister

Leseproben

John Chapter 1

Verses 1–5

1. In the beginning was the Word. In this introduction the evangelist asserts the eternal divinity of Christ, telling us that he is the eternal God who “appeared in a body” (1 Timothy 3:16). The intention is to show that mankind’s restoration had to be accomplished by the Son of God, since by his power all things were created, and he alone breathes life and energy into all creatures so that they remain as they are, and since in mankind he has uniquely shown both his power and his grace. Even after the fall of Adam he has not stopped being generous and kind to Adam’s descendants.

This teaching is very necessary. Since we should only seek life and salvation in God, how can we put our trust in Christ if we are not sure of what is taught here? The evangelist therefore assures us that when we believe in Christ we are not moving away from the one eternal God, and also that life is now restored to the dead through the kindness of Christ, who was the source and cause of life when mankind was still sinless.

The evangelist calls the Son of God the Word simply because, first, he is the eternal wisdom and will of God; and secondly, because he is the exact image of God’s purpose. Just as men’s speech is called the expression of their thoughts, so it is not inappropriate to say that God expresses himself to us by his speech or Word.

The other meanings of the Word are not so appropriate. The Greek certainly means “definition” or “reason” or “calculation”; but I do not wish to enter into philosophical discussion beyond the limits of my faith. And we see that the Spirit of God is so far from approving such subtleties that in talking with us his very silence proclaims how sober we should be in our intellectual approach to such high mysteries.

Now, since God in creating the world revealed himself by the Word, he had previously had Christ hidden in himself. Thus the Word has a double relationship, to God and to men. Servetus, that most arrogant and worthless Spaniard, imagines that the eternal Word came into being only when Christ was active in the creation of the world. As if he had not been active before his power was made known by his visible work!

The evangelist teaches something quite different here, for he does not ascribe a temporal beginning to the Word but says that he was from the beginning and thus transcends all times. I am fully aware how this dog barks against us and what quibbles were once raised by the Arians — that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1), but they are not eternal, for “beginning” refers to order and does not indicate eternity. The evangelist, however, forestalls this calumny when he says and the Word was with God. If the Word had a beginning in time, they must find some time sequence in God.

There is no doubt that by this clause John intended to distinguish Christ from all other created things. Many questions could arise: Where actually was this Word? How did he exercise his power? What was his nature? How could he be known? Therefore the evangelist declares that we must not limit our views to the world and created things, for Christ was always united with God before the world existed. Now, when men make the beginning refer to the creation of heaven and earth, do they not reduce Christ to the ordinary order of the world, from which this passage specifically excludes him? By doing this they dreadfully insult not only the Son of God but also his eternal Father, whom they deprive of his Wisdom. If we are not free to think of God without his Wisdom, we are not free to look for the origin of the Word anywhere else but in the eternal Wisdom of God.

Servetus objects that the Word cannot have existed before Moses refers to God as speaking. As if, because he was not yet openly seen, Christ did not exist in God! As if he had no inner existence before he began to show himself outwardly! But the evangelist destroys every excuse for such outrageous rubbish when he affirms, unconditionally, that the Word was with God. Here he expressly calls us away from all events in time. Those who infer a continuing existence from the imperfect tense of the verb are in a weak position. They say that “was being” expresses continuity better than if John had said “he was.” But such important matters demand more solid arguments. What I have suggested should suffice — that the evangelist sends us to God’s eternal sanctuary and teaches us that the Word was, as it were, hidden there before he revealed himself outwardly in the world. Augustine is therefore right when he reminds us that the beginning mentioned here has no beginning. For although in a natural sequence the Father is before his Wisdom, yet those who imagine any point of time when he preceded his Wisdom deprive Christ of his glory. And this is the eternal Son who, extending back for an infinite time before the foundation of the world, lay hidden in God (if I may put it like that) and who, after being dimly outlined to the patriarchs under the law for a long succession of years, was at length shown more fully in a human body.

I am surprised that the Latin versions translate the Greek word for the Word (logos) with the Latin word verbum, which translates a different Greek word. But even if we allow that translation as a possibility, it cannot be denied that the word “speech” would have been far more appropriate. This shows up the barbarous tyranny of those theologians who harassed Erasmus so fiercely because he changed a single word for the better.

And the Word was with God. We have already said that the Son of God is thus placed above the world and all creatures and before all ages. But at the same time this expression attributes to him a personality distinct from the Father. For it would have been absurd if the evangelist had said that the Word was always with God or in God’s presence unless he had a certain subsistence of his own in God. This verse, therefore, refutes the error of Sabellius, since it shows the Son is distinct from the Father. I have already said that such profound mysteries demand sober thinking. But the early church writers can be excused when, because they could not in any other way defend true and pure doctrine against the ambiguous quibbles of the heretics, they were forced to coin certain words which still said nothing but what is taught in the Scriptures in another way. They said that there are three hypostases or Persons in the one, simple essence of God. The Greek word hypostasis has this sense in Hebrews 1:3 and corresponds to the Latin for “substance,” as it is used by Hilary. They called distinct properties in God which present themselves for our contemplation Persons. As Gregory of Nazianzus says: “I cannot think of the One (God) without having the Three (Persons) shining around me.”

And the Word was God. In case any doubt should remain about Christ’s divine essence, the evangelist clearly declares that he is God. Now, since God is one, it follows that Christ is of the same essence as the Father, and yet in some way different. But we have already spoken about the second clause. Arius was extremely wicked about the unity of the essence. To avoid being compelled to confess the eternal divinity of Christ, he prattled on about God being some kind of creature. But when we hear that the Word was God, what right have we any longer to question his eternal essence?

2. He was with God in the beginning. In order to impress more deeply into our minds what had already been said, the evangelist condenses the two preceding clauses into a short summary: the Word always was, and the Word was with God — so that you may understand that this beginning was before all time.

3. Through him all things were made. Having declared that the Word is God and having asserted his divine essence, John goes on to prove his divinity from his works. And it is in this practical knowledge that we ought especially to be trained. Just attributing the name of God to Christ will leave us cold unless our faith feels this to be the case. But the evangelist correctly declares about the Son of God what strictly applies to the person of God. Sometimes, indeed, Paul simply says that “to him [God] are all things” (Romans 11:36). But when the Son is compared with the Father he is usually distinguished in the ordinary way of speaking used here: the Father made all things by the Son, and all things are made by God through the Son. Now as I have said, the evangelist’s purpose is to show that immediately after the creation of the world the Word of God was seen to be at work. Having previously been incomprehensible in...