John and the New Exodus

Last time we learned that John casts Jesus' life in the context of the CREATION account of Genesis. According to John, Jesus existed IN THE BEGINNING as the creative WORD. And so now Jesus is bringing a new BEGINNING to creation as demonstrated by the SEVEN signs He performed using the same creative WORDS as in Genesis. In fact, He performs his SIXTH sign using MUD (along with WORDS) as a symbolic act to call to remembrance God's creation of the woman from the MUD on the SIXTH day of creation. Clearly John wants us to know that Jesus was sent to RECREATE and reverse the Genesis curse. But John also wants us to know something else! Let's see what that is...

JESUS AND MOSES
John not only parallels Jesus' life to the Genesis account, he also parallels Jesus' life to that of Moses. Jesus was SENT by God (3:34; 4:34; 5:23-24, 36-38; 6:29, 38-39, 44, 57; 7:16, 18, 28, 29, 33 etc. with Exodus 3:12-15), Jesus performs SIGNS (2:11, 18, 23; 3:2; 4:48, 54; 6:2, 14, 26, 30 etc. with Exodus 3:12; 4:8ff), Jesus was LIFTED UP (just like the serpent in Numbers 21 with 3:14; 8:28; 12:32, 34), Jesus brings people living WATER (John 4:1-45 with Exodus 17:6), Jesus FEEDS the 5,000 (6:1-15 with Exodus 16), Jesus miraculously CROSSES the sea with his disciples (6:16-21 with Exodus 14), Jesus is the pillar of LIGHT to follow (8:12 with Exodus 13:21-22), Jesus is the manna BREAD from heaven (6:32-33, 41-58 with Exodus 16), and Jesus is 'I AM' (6:20 with Exodus 3:14). All of these images call to mind the book of Exodus and more generally the life of Moses!

JESUS AND THE FEASTS
Jesus also speaks about Himself in the Gospel of John using the backdrop of various Jewish Feast Days. And so Jesus calls Himself the "Bread of Life" and the "Bread from Heaven" during the Passover Feast. So how do Passover and these titles correspond to each other? Well, here is what Exodus 12:14-15, 17 says about the Passover in the Bible:

This day [Passover] shall be for you a MEMORIAL day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. Seven days you shall eat Unleavened bread...for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt.

The bread obviously serves as a REMINDER or memorial of the EXODUS and the rapidity with which the people had to be ready to leave Egypt. They did not have time for the bread to rise with leaven and therefore were instructed to make unleavened bread. But the feast also REMINDED the people of God's provision of MANNA after they left Egypt. By doing this, God sustained their very LIVES!

Jesus also calls Himself the LIGHT of the world during the Feast of Tabernacles. In John 8:12 Jesus specifically says, "I am the LIGHT of the world. Whoever FOLLOWS me will not WALK in DARKNESS, but will have the LIGHT of life." And we learn in Leviticus 23:42-43 that the Feast of Tabernacles REMINDED people of God's provision during the EXODUS:

You shall dwell in booths for seven days...that your generation may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.

During Israel's time in the wilderness, God provided shelter and direction. He led His people with a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day. The fire served as a LIGHT to guide the people. God sustained His people's LIVES by doing this!

Jesus also calls Himself the "Door" and the "Good Shepherd" during the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah). While this feast is recorded in the history of the inter-testamental period, it is not recorded in the Jewish Scriptures (the Tanakh). But clearly this Feast celebrated the reconsecration of the Temple after Judas Maccabeus forced the withdrawal of the Seleucid forces from Jerusalem (who had desecrated the Temple by sacrificing unclean animals on the altar). Many probably believed that Judas was THE Messiah! But as it turned out, he wasn't. He died like everyone else and failed to completely free the Jewish people from their oppressors. It is tentatively against this backdrop that Jesus affirms His identity as the TRUE Messiah, the 'Good Shepherd', and the 'Door'. Jesus is not like Judas Maccabeus. NO. He is the TRUE Messiah who will TRULY lead His people out of slavery and into a new LIFE in GOOD pastures.

This is where Jesus' final affirmations about Himself come into play. Jesus is the 'resurrection and the LIFE', 'the way, the truth, and the LIFE', and the 'true vine'. What do these titles imply? In Jesus, people will truly find new LIFE. Jesus will bring His people to the Promised Land (figuratively speaking)! Judas Maccabeus couldn't bring people to a new LIFE or the Promised Land, but Jesus can! And Jesus will bring people to the Promised Land and accomplish this new LIFE through His resurrection and the sending of the Holy Spirit (God's very presence in people's lives!).

THE BOTTOM LINE
So what does this tell us about what it means to follow Jesus (according to Jesus)? Well, the book of John flows from CREATION (the Word) to the EXODUS (Moses) to the RECREATION (the Spirit). Jesus was sent to HEAL by RECREATING a broken world! Jesus was sent to bring about a new EXODUS by rescuing people out of DARKNESS and bringing them into the LIGHT! Jesus was sent to bring LIFE to His people!

But then Jesus tells His followers in John 20:21, "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And so, HEALING people and bringing LIFE to people are at the CORE of following Jesus! And so I leave you with this question: What might 'being sent to HEAL and bring LIFE to others' look like in your everyday life? Do you bring LIFE to people through your words and actions or DEATH and discouragement? Have you tried to bring LIFE to your friends' spiritual needs by introducing them to Jesus?