In the gospel of John there is a shift, as I see it, from how the word belief
is understood and used as compared with the synoptic gospels of Mark,
Matthew, and Luke.
These two contrasting uses of the word belief are:
1) Belief in or acceptance of the personhood of Jesus.
and...
2) Belief in or acceptance of the soundness of Jesus' positions.
In the former, belief in the person - who he is - is of concern. In the
latter, belief in the position - what he advocates - is of concern.
John uses the word "belief" about fifty times in his gospel. Six times as often
as Matthew and nearly twice as often as all the other evangelists combined.
Compare some verses that use the word belief in the synoptic gospels with
verses from John:
Emphasis is upon believing: the good news, my words, all that the prophets
have spoken. Examine the paradigm shift in use of the word belief when
reading verses on belief in John:
Notice how the shift is to personhood: believes in him, you may have life in
his name, to believe in the one, believing you may have life in his name.
Matthew of the synoptic gospels is an action man, a "deeds" man. Below is what
he thinks we should do in life and what he thinks will be the consequences of
our performance or nonperformance. Here Jesus is recorded as having said:
Note that Matthew's criterion of judgment is not confession of faith in
Christ. Nothing is said of grace or justification. What counts is whether one
has acted with loving care for needy people.
There are other evidences in Matthew which suggest that he believes in
salvation by works:
He does not have Jesus say that the reward will be in heaven, but these
subsequent verses suggest that that is what he had in mind:
Again Matthew is consistent when he writes what we have come to call the
great commission where instead of personhood he opts for action, for
performance, "...teaching them to obey..."
By the time the gospel of John was written, some ten years after the last
synoptic gospel, their may have been indeed a paradigm shift in the word
belief from the mere acceptance of the soundness of Jesus' positions to the
acceptance of his personhood; from more of a concern with what he advocated
to more of a concern with who this Jesus is.
Yet even in John's gospel: [14:23] "Jesus replied, 'If anyone loves me, he
will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and
make our home with him." Surely all verses from John must be put in context
with this one. [Emphasis mine.]
Yes, in John we find: "[1:31] "But these are written that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have
life in his name."
But while John's gospel may have argued that belief in Jesus as God's son was
necessary it did not imply that it was sufficient for salvation. Jesus
himself gave the lie to that interpretation in Matthew's gospel where he
said: [7:21] "Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in
heaven."
But what is this teaching that Jesus wants to obey? It is this one:
In Matthew's gospel [12:37-39] Jesus tell us: "Teacher, which is the greatest
commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "`Love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first
and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: `Love your neighbor as
yourself.'"
He goes on to tell us in verse 40 that the achievement of this end was what
all the requirements of the law and all the endeavors of the prophets were
about: "All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
The gospel has very good news for those of us who are transgendered, gay, or
lesbian. There is no exclusion listed because of sexuality in Matthew's
passage stipulating Jesus' only mandate for salvation -- that passage in
Matthew in which Jesus very graphically insisted that his followers show
their love for God and neighbor by showing concern for the poor and needy.
In fact, Jesus never said anything negative about gay people. He did say that
the sin of Sodom was inhospitality.
It was Paul's conjectures in the New Testament that mention homosexuality.
Paul tossed out the idea that idolatry might be causative of homosexuality.
He also suggested that it was unnatural. We are indebted to Paul for having
told us why he thought homosexual conduct was undesirable.
Today, now that it has been politically correct to look, we find that
homosexuality is not uncommon in the animal kingdom. Few of today's
homosexual oriented Christians have anything to do with idolatry. If Paul had
the kind of knowledge we have today about what constitutes the natural or if
he had the experience of knowing life-long, loving, same-gendered couples
raising the cast off children of heterosexuals he might have been more
supportive of gay people.
Paul was well intentioned but he found it impossible to rise above his chauvinistic, homophobic culture when it came to gays and women.
So what does it mean to believe?
Belief in the synoptics meant trust - trust that Jesus was on the right track
-- an affirmation that the overall theme in scripture had been love of God
and love of man.
Belief in John's gospel emphasized an acceptance, an acknowledgment, that
Jesus, as son of God, had put his imprimatur on this affirmation.
Matthew 25:33-46 "He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his
left. Then the King will say Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take
your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the
world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and
you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I
needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick ... ...Then he will say to
those on his left, `Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire
prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me
nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink... ...Then
they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
[6:1-6] "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be
seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the
hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I
tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you
give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is
doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what
is done in secret, will reward you." And when you pray, do not be like the
hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the
street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received
their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door
and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is
done in secret, will reward you."
[6:20] But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust
do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
[28:19-20] "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching
them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you
always, to the very end of the age."
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The Effects of Belief: Exile and Holiness
