Only Son (part 11)

With Adam?  Is the reader of the Gospel supposed to think that when Nicodemus heard Jesus speaking of the Creator God’s love for the world, the Son of God, belief, and eternal life, that he was not only supposed to be having ruminations along the lines of the exodus (because of the reference to Moses), but that he was also supposed to connect Jesus’ words all the way back to the beginning of Genesis?  Is this what Jesus had in mind? 

The case has been made that Jesus is grounding this conversation with Nicodemus in the history of Israel.  Since Israel’s history and purpose is wrapped up with the Creator God’s purpose for the world, one can be fully justified in understanding that Jesus grounded His mission within His God’s purposes and plans that He would certainly have believed stretched all the way back to Adam, from whence His mission derives the fullness of its purpose.  Naturally, Jesus’ statement is multi-faceted, and this study is now positioned to explore the Adamic-oriented premise of these wonderful words. 

So how is it that Nicodemus is going to connect all of these things to Genesis?  How can it be insisted that Jesus is making the same connection?  It has to do with Jesus’ use of the “one and only Son.”  Turning then to the third chapter of the Gospel of Luke (though John is not relying on knowledge of Luke, Luke presents material that would have been familiar to a member of the nation of Israel, thus a modern reader needs to be able to position himself or herself to operate with the same type of knowledge that would have certainly been held by a Pharisee and member of the ruling council), the first piece of the puzzle can be found.  There, Luke provides the genealogy of Jesus. 

For purposes of the point being here made, it is not Jesus’ genealogy that is important, but rather the information communicated in the presentation of the genealogy that reflects what would have then been general knowledge within the defining narrative of the covenant people.  Luke’s genealogy begins with Jesus and works its way backwards.  For what it’s worth, there is another genealogy in Matthew.  It begins with Abraham and makes its way to Jesus.  Luke’s genealogy is more extensive, as it traces Jesus’ lineage beyond Abraham, taking it all the way back to Adam. 

Significantly, in his genealogy, Luke refers to Adam  as “the son of God.”  If Luke refers to Adam in such a way, one can rest assured that this is not a novel concept.  It is quite likely (and probably certain) that Adam is widely thought of in this way by those that fill the role of teachers of Israel.  If Adam is thought of as the son of God, then is it possible that Jesus is referring to Adam when He speaks of God sending His “one and only Son”?  One would have to respond that it is absolutely possible that Jesus is making such a reference.  This is especially so in light of the historically grounded lens through which Jesus is causing Nicodemus to look at Him and to consider the mission of the Son of Man, as He answers the questions that have been posed to Him by Nicodemus.  This is even more obviously the case when one takes the time to think about the fullness of Jesus’ statement, and that with which it begins, which is “For this is the way God loved the world,” which is followed by “He gave His one and only Son.” 

Again, it simply cannot (and should not) be imagined, when Jesus says this to him, that Nicodemus is supposed to connect the statement exclusively to Jesus.  If that is so for Nicodemus, then those that would hear these words through John’s report of them are most definitely not supposed to think solely along the lines of a personal salvation experience.  This would not have been the mental framework of Jesus, of Nicodemus, or of the author.  Such thinking would make no sense, as a personal, world-escaping salvation experience, contexted by the usual, short-sighted dichotomy between the alternative eternal choices of either heaven or hell, carried absolutely no theological weight inside the Judaism of that day.  

According To His Own Image (part 1 of 2)

When Adam had lived 130 years he fathered a son in his own likeness, according to his own image, and he named him Seth. – Genesis 5:3  (NET)

From the beginning, it seems that Seth was looked upon as something of a replacement for Abel.  His name means “placed” or “appointed”.  Upon his birth, Eve, who is said to have named him, declared that “God has given me another child in place of Abel because Cain killed him” (4:25).  In the name that is given to him, and in the statement of Eve, there is a faint echo of what was said by Eve when she gave birth to her first son, Cain. 

When Cain was born, Eve said, “I have created a man just as the Lord did!” (4:1b)  This can be expanded upon, and considering the ordinary course of the process of giving birth, it is possible to hear Eve saying, “The Creator God brought forth this world in which we live from the waters, and I brought forth a man through the waters.”  Given the mindset reflected in “I have created a man just as the Lord did,” one can imagine her repeating this type of statement upon the birth of Abel, and along with what is recorded in the Scriptural narrative, also doing so upon the birth of Seth.  With the name given to Seth, there is almost a sense of “Not only can I create a man just as the Lord did, but I can also appoint and replace that which was lost.  The Creator can restore His creation.  I can do the same.” 

From there, Scripture moves along to the genealogy of Adam, which is then traced through Seth.  It is reported that Adam “fathered a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and he named him Seth” (5:3b).  Seeing these words, and considering that the entirety of the Genesis narrative is shaped and premised by the first two chapters of the story, it is possible to look to the first chapter of Genesis so as to consider the creation of man. 

There it is reported that “God said, ‘Let Us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the creatures that move on the earth’.” (1:26)  In this there is both creation and vocation.  The divine image that humankind was intended to be and to bear, from the outset, included ruling over the earth.  That rule was to exercised in the image and likeness of the Creator God, reflecting His glory into the world and reminding the creation of its Creator. 

Continuing to the very next verse one is able to read the confirmation of the intention of the Creator, as “God created humankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them, male and female He created them” (1:27). In accordance with the plan that went along with His original consideration of their creation, the Creator God is said to have spoken to the human beings that He had created and said “Be fruitful and multiply!  Fill the earth and subdue it!  Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground” (1:28b).  When humankind took up the charge to multiply, with this occurring (at least according to the Biblical record) after the fall, doing so induced an understandable measure of pride in the achievement.  Indeed, the words that the serpent is said to have spoken to Eve rang true.