The corpus (body) of John the Apostle’s
work (the Gospel, three letters, and the Revelation) begins and ends with the
Word, the Lamb, a wedding and the Temple.
The Bible begins with the Word (“and
God said”), a lamb (an animal had to die to provide skin coverings for Adam and
Eve), a wedding (“for this cause a man will leave his father and mother and be
joined to his wife and they shall be one flesh”), and a Temple (Eden was a
place of communion with God and the sphere of that communion was to have
radiated outward into all the earth).
In John Chapter Two Jesus is at a
wedding in Cana of Galilee, then He is at the Temple in Jerusalem during
Passover; the chapter ends with a warning to the reader in the form of a
commentary on Jesus’ view of popular belief concerning Himself. Genesis has a
warning (“do not eat of this tree”), and Revelation closes with warnings in the
midst of promises (see Revelation Chapter Twenty-two). Revelation also
concludes with the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and the true Temple of God
coming into full expression; a Temple not of
inanimate material but a Temple
consisting of the Living God and His people, His Bride. The oneness of marriage
pronounced in Genesis is revealed to be a shadow of the oneness of God with His
people, the oneness of the Lamb with His Bride (see Ephesians 5:32).
The Word is transposed downward from
John 1:1 to 1:14; then transposed upward in John chapters 20 – 21 (the
Resurrection and Ascension); then transposed downward in its fullness in
Revelation chapters 21 – 22. The promised image of God in Genesis chapters 1 –
2 is fulfilled in Revelation 21 – 22; what the First Man (Adam) could not
fulfill, the Second Man (Jesus Christ) began anew and brought to completion
(John 1:14; 12:23 – 26; 17:22; Revelation chapters 21 – 22).
Paul writes, “So then you…are built on
the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the
cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a
holy temple in the Lord. In Him, you also are being built together into a
dwelling place for God by the Spirit,” Ephesians 2:19 – 22.
Then Peter, “…you yourselves like
living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood,
to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ,” 1 Peter
2:5.
To appreciate a tapestry, especially a
large and grand tapestry, we must step away to gain perspective, pause, and
contemplate. The image must come to us, and the image is not information per
se, it is not bits and bytes generated by a computer; the time for appreciating
the interwoven threads will come, but without perspective there is no
appreciation of interconnectedness, no understanding of the artist’s patterns
and techniques, no reception of the grand message of the colors and materials
and weavings.
I may be able to recite the books of
the Bible in order; I may be able to quote extended Biblical passages (though
more often than not we teach memorization of isolated verses); I may be able to
correctly identify the historical settings of Biblical books; and I may be able
to cite the salient beliefs of my particular tradition (though to find those
who have thought them through and understand them is a rarity – we tend to
applaud parrots rather than thinkers) – but if I do not see the Biblical
tapestry then what do I have? After all, the Bible begins with images and it
ends with images, and what a shame to be able to enumerate all the materials
within a tapestry but not be able to actually see and receive and describe to
others the images and patterns and story of the tapestry.
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