Nicholas Paré
40113173
Jon Waind
Theology 333
September 18, 2019
Reflection Essay: The Gospel of John
How was Jesus represented by John? Well according to his book, Jesus was a very kind
and noble man. He was given abilities to help those who were in need of saving. He was able to
resurrect the dead, heal those who were blind and cripple, offered himself to feed the hungry (his
body and blood were bread and wine). He was able to give water and people would never have to
drink it again. Despite those selfless acts of kindness and light. Darkness was just around the
corner. There were enemies such as the Jewish community, Judas, the Pharisees and others who
were against him. They refused to believe in him. They called him a liar even though he had
witnesses who have seen his power and how he used it to help people. I would have personally
believed that Jesus was in deed the Son of God based on the evidence shown to everyone. But
even though Jesus tried to Convince the Jews and the Pharisees that he was the Son of God and
that he would free them from their sins, they killed him by crucifixion. Even though he was
resurrected later, it shows that the Jews and the Pharisees were blinded by the truth; that he was
indeed the Son of God.
One of the Questions that first to come to mind is why the Jewish community and the
Pharisees refuse to believe that Jesus is the Son of God? Is it because that he does not observe
the Sabbath? Is it because it is so hard to believe that the myth is real? Jesus used all of his
abilities to help people. As mentioned previously, He was able to heal a blind person and has
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made a paralyzed man able to walk freely shortly after their encounter with the Son of God. The
once blind man who now sees was a witness that tried to defend Jesus by saying that he was
indeed The Son of God. He explained the scenario of how Jesus put some wet dirt(mud) on his
eyes and moments later he was able to see clear as day. Even Jesus tried to explain who he is and
what his purpose was. But after his explanation, the Jews and the Pharisees were not only angry
but confused as well.
A second question that I asked myself was why Jesus let Judas be a member of the 12
disciples if he was just going to betray him later on. Since Jesus is a part of God and vice versa.
Jesus knew that Judas was going to betray him at some point throughout their quest. There could
have been several ways to avoid such a betrayal. Jesus could have confronted Judas before the
betrayal and stop him from making the mistake. But Jesus allowed Judas to betray him and due
to that it led to his death.
A Third question that was thought of was why Jesus didn’t defend himself at all.
According to an author known as Allister E. McGrath, he mentioned about how God created the
world and how there were aspects of light and darkness. He also mentioned how God made this
world about his struggle to fight off the forces of darkness such as the Behemoth and Nahar.
Now knowing this, Jesus could have defended himself a bit more against the Jewish community
and the Pharisees. When the Jews were throwing rocks at him he could have said “enough, stop
it please”. He should not have let the police to get ahold of him to have him crucified. He could
have saved more lives if he had just stood up for himself.
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The last Question is why did the Jews and the Pharisees kill Jesus? It’s understandable
that it may be hard for most people to believe that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, that he had
impressive gifts and the fact that he was saying that he would go somewhere where other could
not follow him. However, there could have been alternate approaches instead of killing Jesus.
They could have just ignored him and said that all of his knowledge about God was ludicrous.
They could have banished him from certain lands. But my approach would be to listen to Jesus.
To hear for what he has to say could be very rewarding. But unfortunately, they chose to ignore
him and kill him instead.
In the end, Jesus Christ was person who dedicated his life to help people from their pain,
their sins and their sadness. He used his powers to support his cause and it always worked.
However, blinded with the truth, the Jewish communities and others were not interested with
what Jesus had to say. They just wanted to show him that he was a liar and that he is no Son of
God.
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