Glory, Grace, and Truth

Ratification of the Sinaitic Covenant according to the Gospel of John

Alexander Tsutserov

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN:
  9781556359767
  9781498251631
• eBook ISBN:
  9781630877163
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

In Glory, Grace, and Truth, Alexander Tsutserov argues that three concepts of the revelation of God as Jesus are unfolded throughout the Gospel of John in terms of a ratification of the covenant of the presence of God. The covenantal aspects of "glory," confirming the presence of God, are evident in Jesus: the visible appearance of God; the intrinsic character of God; the miraculous splendor of God (in Jesus's incomparable signs, deeds, wonders, and marvelous acts); and the divine honor of God (in the Son glorified by the Father). "Grace upon grace" alludes to the requests to confirm the presence of God. All believers gained the grace of the presence of God in Jesus, rather than Moses alone encountering the grace of the presence at Sinai. The Gospel of John depicts ratification of the covenant of the presence of God in Jesus according with the covenantal articles. "Grace and truth" alludes to Exodus 34:6. Each allusion in John depicts the full graciousness and integrity of God's character. The Son possesses and bestows the Father's character onto believers by means of the Holy Spirit, who is full of "grace and truth." The divine character and the divine Law complement each other in believers, thus fulfilling the Scripture. In essence, the revelations of God at Sinai and in Jesus are the same. In quality, the latter surpasses the former in all three aspects: glory, grace, and truth.

1

Allusions to Exodus 34:6

The matter of defining the background for plērēs charitos kai alētheias (John 1:14) is crucial because the course of interpretation of the entire Gospel depends on it. The issue is, “How to account for the discrepancy between wәrab-hesed we)ĕmet (Exod 34:6 mt), polueleos kai alēthinos (Exod 34:6 lxx), and plērēs charitos kai alētheias (John 1:14).”1 This is where we now turn.

We will first examine an argument against the case that plērēs charitos kai alētheias alludes to wәrab-hesed we)ĕmet and dismiss it as fallacious. We will then evaluate a number of attempts to establish the presence of such an allusion and demonstrate that they are flawed or inadequate. Finally, we will provide our own evidence for the case that plērēs charitos kai alētheias and hē charis kai hē alētheia are allusions to rahûm wәhannûn )erek )appayim wәrab-hesed we)ĕmet (Exod 34:6).

Critique of Accounts of the Discrepancy between wәrab-hesed we)ĕmet (Exod 34:6 mt), polueleos kai alēthinos (Exod 34:6 lxx), and plērēs charitos kai alētheias (John 1:14)

Bultmann’s Argument from the Alleged Incongruity in the Meaning

Bultmann objects to the proposal that (hē) charis kai (hē) alētheia is an allusion to hesed we)ĕmet on the grounds that “Jn. does not bring out the idea of faithfulness which )mt has in this verse.”2 This assertion then serves as a basis of looking at the Gospel as reflecting the Platonic or/and the gnostic concept of truth.3 Bultmann’s objection is invalid for the following reasons.

First, the profound Jewishness of the Gospel has recently been well recognized. Particularly, scholarship has begun recovering from Bultmann’s gnostic and Dodd’s Platonic erroneous outlooks on alētheia in the Gospel.4 This permits the )ĕmet meaning behind alētheia in the prologue and encourages envisioning connotations of alētheia in the sense of )ĕmet elsewhere in the Gospel.

The expression ho . . . poiōn tēn alētheian (3:21) is a Jewish idiom connoting “the practice of fidelity and steadfastness,”5 or “to conduct oneself faithfully, trustworthily.”6 ot background can be seen behind the Johannine references to the word of God, or the testimony of God or of Jesus, as true in the sense of reliable.7 Jesus’s plea to the Father, “Sanctify them in the truth [alētheia]; Your word is truth [alētheia]” (17:17), may well express Christ’s request of making the disciples as reliable as the word of God is. Kuyper puts it this way: “To be consecrated . . . through the truth . . . is to possess steadfast devotion by means of the steadfastness of God communicated through Jesus Christ.”8 It may well be that Jesus and Pilate do not quite communicate because they deal with different—Hebrew and Greek—concepts of alētheia (18:37–38). Jesus has come into the world “to testify to the truth [...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Allusions to Exodus 34:6
• Chapter 2: Terms of John 1:14–18
• Chapter 3: Allusions to Exodus 33:12—34:10 lxx
• Chapter 4: Exegesis of John 1:14–18
• Chapter 5: The Covenant of the Presence of God
• Conclusion
• Bibliography