Gospel of John

F. Ford David

Description

John is a Gospel of abundant truth, life, and love. David Ford, one of the world's leading Christian theologians, invites readers into a fresh, profound encounter with Jesus through the Gospel of John in this comprehensive theological commentary. This commentary will appeal to a wide audience, including pastors, church leaders, and other readers interested in the intersection of theology and spirituality. It will also be of interest to professors and students doing research on John and the reception of the Gospel in Christian theology.

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 07 décembre 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781493432271
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Title Page
Copyright Page
© 2021 by David F. Ford
Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakeracademic.com
Ebook edition created 2021
Ebook corrections 03.25.2022
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-3227-1
Scripture taken from New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright ©1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
“Agnus Dei” by Denise Levertov, from Candles in Babylon , copyright ©1982 by Denise Levertov. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.
“On a Theme from Julian’s Chapter XX” by Denise Levertov, from Breathing the Water , copyright ©1987 by Denise Levertov. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp. and Bloodaxe Books.
“A Wedding Toast” by Richard Wilbur, from The Mind-Reader , copyright ©1972, renewed 2000, by Richard Wilbur. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
“The Answer” by R. S. Thomas, from Collected Poems: 1945–1990 , copyright ©2000 by R. S. Thomas. Reprinted by permission of The Orion Publishing Group.
Text by Jean Vanier, from Drawn into the Mystery of Jesus through the Gospel of John (London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 2004), 227–29, is reprinted by permission.
Baker Publishing Group publications use paper produced from sustainable forestry practices and post-consumer waste whenever possible.
Dedication

For Deborah
Contents
Cover
Title Page 1
Copyright Page 2
Dedication 3
Acknowledgments vii
Preface xi
Introduction: Why John? Why Now? 1
John 1:1–18 The Unsurpassable Horizon: God and All Reality, Jesus and Us, Ultimate Mystery and Intimacy 25
John 1:19–51 The Formation of a Learning Community 43
John 2:1–25 Signs of Glory and New Life 61
John 3:1–36 Astonishing Teaching 82
John 4:1–54 Two Surprising, Life-Giving Encounters 106
John 5:1–47 Into Controversy 124
John 6:1–71 Food in Abundance: Three Dramas and Four Courses 141
John 7:1–52 Danger and Division, Identity and Desire 162
John 8:1–59 A Drama of Bitterly Contested Identities 173
John 9:1–41 “He Opened My Eyes” 189
John 10:1–42 Wonderful Shepherd, Abundant Life, Father and Son 203
John 11:1–57 “The Dead Man Came Out” 215
John 12:1–50 “The Hour Has Come”: Ultimate Glory, Attraction, and Decision 230
John 13:1–38 Love like Jesus—Utterly, Intimately, Vulnerably, Mutually 251
John 14:1–31 Comfort and More: Trusting, Dwelling, Praying, and Loving 269
John 15:1–27 “Abide in Me” 289
John 16:1–33 The Final Realism and Encouragement 306
John 17:1–26 The Summit of Love 328
John 18:1–40 Arrest and Trial 354
John 19:1–42 Condemnation and Crucifixion 368
John 20:1–31 “Mary!”—The Free, Surprising Presence of the Crucified and Risen Jesus 394
John 21:1–25 The Ongoing Drama 416
Epilogue 433
Bibliography 445
Scripture Index 460
Author Index 471
Subject Index 474
Back Flaps 485
Back Cover 486
Acknowledgments
The account given in the epilogue of the writing of this commentary over a twenty-year period includes many of those to whom I am most indebted: my wife, Deborah Ford; her father, Daniel Hardy; Micheal O’Siadhail; Peter Ochs; Frances Young; Hans Frei; Sarah Snyder; Giles Waller; Simeon Zahl; Frances Clemson; Paul Nimmo; Rachel Muers; Michael Volland; Jean Vanier; 1 Justin Welby; Peter McDonald; Jonathan Aitken; Maria Dakake; Richard Hays; Richard Bauckham; Margaret Daly-Denton; Susan Hylen; Dorothy Lee; Vittorio Montemaggi; Loraine Gelsthorpe; and Ian Randall.
The epilogue also names some of the groups and institutional settings that have been important, and to which I am very grateful: the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge, where I was teaching during fifteen of the twenty years, and where the final year undergraduate course on the Gospel of John and a masters course in theology that included study of John were especially helpful; the Lyn’s House community in Cambridge; those who responded to eight Bampton Lectures on John at the University of Oxford; the symposium on John sponsored by the McDonald Agape Foundation; the students who took a course on John in Candler School of Divinity, Emory University; the Community of St. Anselm at Lambeth Palace; a great many diocesan, clergy, and lay conferences of the Church of England and other churches; the Rose Castle Foundation; and the multifaith Scriptural Reasoning community.
Elsewhere in the commentary other significant companions on the journey are noted: Tom Greggs, Jeremy Begbie, Richard Chartres, Amy Plantinga Pauw, Ashley Cocksworth, Paul Murray, Lesslie Newbigin, Andrew Lincoln, Trond Dokka, Kate Sonderegger, Susannah Ticciati, Judith Lieu, Donald MacKinnon, Peter Carnley, and Mike Higton.
But these are not all! There are other communities and groups significantly related to my thinking about John: three church congregations in Cambridge in which my wife, Deborah, has successively served as a priest—St. Bene’t’s, St. James’ Wulfstan Way, and now St. Andrew’s Cherry Hinton—and in which I have preached and taught on John; the chaplaincy team at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, in which Deborah also serves, and the wider network of healthcare chaplains in the United Kingdom; the Theological Retreat Group hosted by Justin Welby in Canterbury; the Cambridge Muslim College; Minzu University in Beijing; Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya in Haridwar; the Society of St. Francis; the Monastery of St. Barnabas the Encourager in Wales; St. Mary’s Abbey West Malling; two weeklong gatherings with prisoners in Louisiana State Penitentiary (known as “Angola”) initiated by Peter Kang; four gatherings of the primates of the Anglican Communion, 2000–2003; the Council of Christians and Jews theology project led by Tony Bayfield; L’Arche UK and the L’Arche International Federation; the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Muscat, Oman; Kalam Research and Media; Faith in Leadership; and the Elijah Interfaith Institute in Jerusalem.
Then there are the many others with whom I have had encounters and relationships that have helped in diverse ways to shape this commentary. Even the long list to come is just a representative sample, and it covers only the two decades of the writing. It was tempting to try to shorten it or to limit it to those still living, but at every name gratitude took over. So my thanks to each of you: Anna Abram; Nick Adams; Donald Allchin; Abdullah Al-Salmi; Mother Anne; Brother Anselm, SSF; Fergus and Frank Armstrong; Michael Barnes, SJ; Tony Bayfield; Barbara Bennett; Georgette Bennett; Hanoch Ben-Pazi; You Bin; Dave Bookless; James Broad; Rob and Joanna Brown; John Casson; Frank Clooney, SJ; David Clough; Chris Cocksworth; Drew Collins; Ken Costa; Dick and Lena Curtis; Tim Dakin; Ellen Davis; Lejla Demiri; Beth Dodd; Ben Evans; Miriam Feldmann-Kaye; Jennifer and Sean Fields; Jim Fodor; Alan Ford; Annie Ford; Phyllis Ford; Nicolas and Virginie Fournier; Jason Fout; Ben Fulford; Joseph Galgalo; James and Judith Gardom; Sister Gemma, CJ; Nigel Genders; Julie Gittoes; Rachael Gledhill; Paula Gooder; Alon and Thérèse Goshen-Gottstein; Thomas Graff; Matthias Grebe; Heather Greggs; Robin Griffith-Jones; Isabelle Hamley; Perrin Hardy; Annie and Alan Hargrave; Richard Harman; Sarah Hills; Cameron Howes; Yang Huilin; Peter and Catherine Ievins; Denise Inge; Carole Irwin; Tim Jenkins; Anderson Jeremiah; Greg Jones; Emily Kempson; Steve Kepnes; Karen Kilby; Daniel King; Graham Kings; Basit Koshul; Dominic Krautter; Catriona Laing; Patrick Leckie; Robbie Leigh; Doug Leonard; Natan Levy; Miriam Lorie; John and Wenna Marks; Ed Marques; Victoria Mason; Georgia and Owen May; Edward McCabe; Ian McFarland; Christine McGrievy; Patrick McKearney; Dominic McMullen; William McVey; Suzie Millar; Walter Moberly; Aref Nayed; Rachel Noel; Madeleine O’Callaghan; Amiel Osmaston; Chinmay Pandiya; Theresia Paquet; Jean-Christophe Pascal; Janette Pearson; Antti Pentekainen; Chase Pepper; Stephen Plant; Leonard Polonsky; Philip Powell; Ben Quash; Alex Radford; Krish Raval; Chloë Reddaway; Kavin Rowe; Miikka Ruokanen; William Salomon; Brother Sam, SSF; Christoph Schwöbel; Bryan and Dorothy Scrivener; Greg Seach; Jutta and Martin Seeley; Hugh Shilson Thomas; Sarah Simpson; Nicola Slee; Daniel Smith; John Snyder; Janet Soskice; Gillian Spence; John Swinton; Nadiya Takolia; Lindsey Taylor-Gutharz; Jonathan Teubner; Gabby Thomas; Angela Tilby; Margie Tolstoy; Graham Tomlin; Iain Torrance; Miroslav Volf; Karin Voth-Harman; Jim Walters; Daniel Weiss; Caroline Welby; Jo and Sam Wells; Christina Weltz; Jerry White; Andy Wolfe; Alison Wood; John Wood; Alexandra Wright; Tom Wright; Jon and Sophie Young; Peter Young; Bonnie Zahl; and Laurie Zoloth.
Finally, there are our children and their partners, Rebecca and Joe, Rachel and John, Daniel and Alex; and our grandchildren, Solomon and Azalea. They have been vivid signs of the abundant life, light, and love that John speaks of, and have influenced what has been written here in so many more ways than they can imagine. My thanks to them, and above all to the one to whom this book is dedicated, Deborah.



1 . For more on Jean Vanier see the section “Ongoing Drama” in the epilogue.
Preface
Earlier in its life, this book was signed up as a contribution to the Westminster John Knox Belief series of commentaries on the Bible by theologians. As will be clear to those who know any of the volumes in that excellent series, it is aimed at a broad readership, especially those within churc