1. Portraits of Jesus Portraits of Jesus
A Lent Course at Aldridge Parish Church
6 Wednesday evenings 7.45pm – 9.30pm
Portraits of Jesus
Handouts from earlier sessions are available this evening after the session
14th Feb Jesus - the Trailblazer (Letter to Hebrews)
21st Feb Jesus - the History Maker (Luke and Acts)
28th Feb Jesus - the Hidden King (Mark’s Gospel)
7th Mar Jesus - the new Moses (Matthew’s Gospel)
14thMar Jesus - the Lord who Reigns Now (Paul’s letters)
21st Mar Jesus - the Meaning of Life (John’s Gospel) 1

2. Creating a Portrait A Portrait is ‘the Remembrance of a Friend’
Portraits attend to the inner life, character and importance of the subject and the artist builds that into how the ‘appearance’ is re-presented.
The artist ‘plays’ with the tension between the visual (literal) and the ‘significant’ - which is less tangible, harder to express and usually more important. 2

3. A Portrait of Jesus 3

4. The Tools of the Literary Portrait Painter
The shape of the Text – ‘editor at work’
The Interactions between different characters
The selection of language – ‘playing with words’
The adoption of a ‘Point of View’ in the text
The invitation to the Reader to be a detective
The Scriptural ‘Trinity’ – Text, Readers, Holy Spirit 4

5. Portraits of Jesus Jesus - the Meaning of Life a portrait of Jesus in
A Lent Course at Aldridge Parish Church
6 Wednesday evenings 7.45pm – 9.30pm
Jesus - the Meaning of Life
a portrait of Jesus in
the Gospel of John

6. The Gospel of John
John, perceiving that the bodily facts had been made plain in the gospel, being urged by his friends, composed a spiritual gospel Clement of Alexandria (AD230)
John’s gospel is like a sea which is shallow enough for lambs to paddle in and deep enough for elephants to swim.
St Augustine (approx. AD400)
The gospel of John claims the attention of more scholars at the present time than any other book of the Bible.
George Beasley-Murray
To a new Christian starting to read the Bible I say start at the centre with one of the gospels which tells us about Jesus Christ (I often suggest John) Billy Graham
The gospel relates how by a relationship with Jesus we may come to see ‘where he lives’ and to make our home there.
Rowan Williams 6

7. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus
The Gospel of John – an Overview
The Prologue
John
The Epilogue
John
The Book of Glory
John
The life, death and resurrection of Jesus
John 1.19 – 20.31
John the Baptist
7 Signs begin in public
Jesus and Judaism
Jesus’ hour draws near
Last Supper
Passion Narrative
Resurrection 7

8. Signs – Miracles with a Message
The Gospel of John – an Overview
The Prologue
John
The Epilogue
John
My hour has not yet come
the hour has come
The Book of Signs
John
The Book of Glory
John
John the Baptist
7 Signs begin in public
Jesus and Judaism
Jesus’ hour draws near
Last Supper
Passion Narrative
Resurrection
Years of Public Ministry
1 week in Jerusalem
Signs – Miracles with a Message
1. Water into Wine; 2. Healing of son;
3. Healing by Pool; 4. Feeding 5000;
5. Walking on Water; 6. Healing Blind;
7. Bringing Lazarus back to life.
Jesus knew the hour had come to… go to his Father (13.1)… said ‘now is the Son of Man glorified’ (13.31). 8 8

9. Jesus - the source of Life
Gospel of John – two portraits of Jesus
The Prologue
John
The Epilogue
John
Jesus - the source of Life
Human face of God
The Book of Signs
John
The Book of Glory
John
Jesus is portrayed through:
7 signs with their messages
5 of the 7 ‘I am sayings’
I am Bread of Life
I am the Light of the World
I am the gate of the sheepfold10.9
I am the Good Shepherd
I am the resurrection and life 11.25
Jesus’ relationship with his Father
Jesus who ‘before Abraham was born, I am’ 8.58
Jesus is portrayed as:
servant – foot washing
where God’s glory is seen
a friend of disciples
the giver of Holy Spirit
returning to the Father
the way to the Father
King of the Jews who
was rejected by Jews
Thomas: my Lord and
my God 9

10. Jesus in the Book of Signs Jesus - the source of Life
Portrait of Jesus – 1
Jesus in the Book of Signs
Jesus - the source of Life
Jesus is ‘one who came from above’ and speaks what he hears from his Father;
Jesus is God’s Son and pleases his Father by doing what the Father wills;
Jesus gives eternal life (‘Life of the Age to Come’) to those who believe in him;
This ‘life of the Age to come’ is lived now and to the full; it is like water turned into wine and is found by believing all that Jesus is – the bread of life, the spring of living water, the light of the world, the one who makes the blind see; the resurrection and the life;
Jesus confuses ‘blind’ Jewish leaders who plan to kill him to avoid political problems
The Book of Signs
John
Jesus is portrayed through:
7 signs with their messages
5 of the 7 ‘I am sayings’
I am Bread of Life
I am the Light of the World
I am the gate of the sheepfold10.9
I am the Good Shepherd
I am the resurrection and life 11.25
Jesus’ relationship with his Father
Jesus who ‘before Abraham was born, I am’ 8.58 10

11. Jesus in the Book of Glory
Portrait of Jesus – 2
The Epilogue
John
Jesus in the Book of Glory
Jesus’ ‘glory’ is revealed in his dying and returning to his Father and no-one else is able to accompany him;
Jesus’ glory is revealed in washing the feet of the disciples;
Jesus explains that he is the Way, the Truth and the Life and asks disciples to believe;
Jesus promises that the Advocate (the Holy Spirit) will teach them all things;
Jesus rises again and appears to Mary, the disciples, Thomas: ‘My Lord and my God’; and at breakfast; Jesus reinstates Peter.
Jesus’ signs are written up so that ‘you’ may believe and have life in his name’
Human face of God
The Book of Glory
John
Jesus is portrayed as:
servant – foot washing
where God’s glory is seen
a friend of disciples
the giver of Holy Spirit
returning to the Father
the way to the Father
King of the Jews who
was rejected by Jews
Thomas: my Lord and
my God 11

12. Portrait of Jesus - 3 in the Prologue John the Baptist Verse 6 and 712

13. The Portrait of Jesus in the Prologue 13 The Word (Greek logos)
‘Logos’ is only mentioned 4 times in Gospel prologue – and never again;
‘Logos’ is the one who does all of the activities from verse 1 through to v13;
‘Logos’ is named as Jesus Christ (v17);
‘Logos’ is not explained – instead we are given stories of Jesus to show meaning.
Pause for Thought
John shows how Jesus expands and redefines the idea of a ‘logos’. 13

14. Lots of People! including many philosophers and theologians
Who Believed there is a ‘Logos’?
Lots of People! including many philosophers and theologians
Greek Philosophy
Heraclitus
logos brings ‘order’ to a world in flux logos is the ‘reason of God’ in
mankind, helping men think and
choose;
Stoics
Wondered about the order of the
world – which implies all things controlled by the Logos of God
Philo (Jewish Philosopher) the logos
is the ‘thought of God’ and is the
intermediary between God and man.
Jewish Theologians
In the OT scriptures, the logos is the
word that has power to make things happen;
In the Targums (Aramaic translation of Hebrew OT) to respect God, he is described as ‘‘the word of God’’
In the Wisdom literature (eg Proverbs)
the wisdom of God (which helped in creation) linked to ‘the logos’
Intertestamental Period – the ‘word of
God’ and ‘the wisdom of God’ became the same 14

15. The Portrait of Jesus in the Prologue 15 The Word (Greek logos)
‘Logos’ is only mentioned 4 times in Gospel prologue – and never again;
‘Logos’ is the one who does all of the activities from verse 1 through to v13;
‘Logos’ is named as Jesus Christ (v17);
‘Logos’ is not explained – instead we are given stories of Jesus to show meaning.
Pause for Thought
John shows how Jesus expands and redefines the idea of a ‘logos’.
John is addressing readers who already believe in ‘the Logos’; John says ‘Jesus is the real Logos’. This is brilliant mission.
Jesus can be the Saviour of all people because he has already enlightened them - so Jesus is Saviour of the World. 15

16. The Gospel of John – three Portraits
Jesus – the source of the ‘life of the Age to come’ in all its fulness; Jesus transforms our water into his wine.
Jesus – the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep and in so doing reveals what God is really like.
Jesus is the Saviour of the world – the personal meaning of life for all humankind because all have been created by him but do not recognise it. 16