A New Kind of Christianity - Brian McLaren [151]
25. This reading is strengthened by the fact that both Paul and Peter use the images of temple of God and household of God (echoing John’s “in my Father’s house”) to refer to the church. For temple, see 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19; Eph. 2:21; 1 Pet. 2:5. For household, see 1 Tim. 3:15; 1 Pet. 4:17.
26. This, by the way, is the general line of interpretation followed by Lesslie Newbigin in his commentary on John, called The Light Has Come (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1982). It takes seriously the mystical/experiential character of the book as few other commentaries seem to do.
27. What Jesus seems to be after—what he wants his disciples to believe and understand—is not so much where he is going, but where he is from, meaning the Father. That comes through clearly at the climax of this whole “I’m going away” theme in 16:28–31. The ultimate point is that his disciples have confidence in him, believe in him, and believe he is from the Father.
28. Most interpreters assume that when Jesus says, “that where I am, there you may be also,” he means, “you will then be where I will then be.” But in light of 12:26, Jesus may be saying, “you will then be where I am now, at this moment,” meaning in full communion and oneness with God. This experience of communion, interbeing, abiding, and oneness with God, then, could be the “place” he will bring them (14:3). It is the place of being alive because Jesus is alive (14:19), the place of knowing “that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (14:20; also 10:38). This place or experience or kingdom would transcend death (11:25–26), since it would be the same experience before and after death.
29. As I read it, this fascinating interchange between Thomas and Jesus mirrors Martha’s equally fascinating interaction with Jesus in 11:17–27. Like Thomas and so many others in John’s gospel, she’s working on a “flesh” level, not a “spirit” level (6:63). She talks about the resurrection that she believes will occur sometime in the future. But Jesus directs her, just as he does with Thomas, away from her line of thinking, so that she will see a reality that is right in front of her face in the present moment. Just as Jesus says to Thomas, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” to Martha he says, “I am the resurrection and the life.” He tries to help her see a “life” that is in him (1:4), that he is (11:25), and that all who believe can share, a life that “never dies” (11:26). The two passages, taken together, have themes that resonate through John (in the image of “living water,” for example; 4:13; 7:38), and they have much to say about our considerations in this book and the spirit in which they should be pursued.
30. Thomas is falling into the trap that people slip into again and again in John (2:21; 3:4; 4:15, 33; 6:52; 7:39; 8:57; 11:12; 13:8; 21:23)—taking literally what Jesus intends as a figurative statement, forgetting that “the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (6:63).
31. This reading takes seriously the play on the word “know.” Thomas is saying, “How can we have intellectual clarity on where you’re going or the route or technique to get there?” Jesus replies, “You don’t need intellectual clarity; you need personal knowledge. It’s not a matter of ‘knowing about,’ but rather ‘knowing.’” Similarly, when Philip says, “Lord, show us the Father,” Jesus replies, “Philip, don’t you know me?” Remember, this theme of personal knowing as interactive relationship (closely related to friendship) is strong through all of John’s gospel. Just three chapters later Jesus says, “And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (17:3). “I am the life” in John 14:6, then, has a powerful resonance with John 17:3, in effect saying, “Eternal life is to know God and to know Jesus Christ, whom he has sent.”
32. By the way, it would also make me want to scream if you misread what I’m saying to mean, “It doesn’t matter what you believe. Anything goes. God doesn’t care, as long as you’re sincere.” That would be equally