2026/08/31

263. The Gospel of John and the Priesthood of the New Covenant: "I Am the Bread of Life"

In John chapter 5, Jesus said: "I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe, who receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?" (Jn 5:43–44). These words of Jesus are also addressed directly to us believers today. What, then, is "the glory that comes from the only God" that we believers are urged to seek from Jesus? Up to John chapter 6, Jesus had spent over a year with his disciples, training them (cf. Jn 2:13, 6:4). In chapter 6, the disciples undergo the most significant experience relating to the priesthood of the New Covenant. We believers, having examined chapters 1–5 together, are also tested in our understanding of what they experienced. There are three key points there. 

The first point is the words of Jesus: "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal" (Jn 6:27). It was John the Baptist who bore witness to the statement "on him has God the Father set his seal" in these words of Jesus (cf. 1:32–34). This refers to the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus—who is both God and man—and thus testifies to Pentecost. Consequently, the "glory that comes from the only God" that we as believers are encouraged to seek here is to live our daily lives in cooperation with the Holy Spirit as Jesus did. 

The second point is Jesus' testimony: "For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me; and this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day" (Jn 6:38–40). Here, the work of the Eucharist in saving both the living and the dead is described. So, the "glory that comes from the only God" that we believers are encouraged to seek here is to receive the Eucharist so that the Eucharist may be at work. 

The third point is Jesus' statement, "I am the bread of life" (Jn 6:48), and His testimony, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you" (6:53). John the Evangelist adds a note here: "This he said in the synagogue, as he taught at Caper'na-um" (6:59). This was to make it clear that Jesus had spoken these words publicly in the synagogue. Thus, the "glory that comes from the only God" we believers are encouraged to seek here is to publicly declare, during the Mass, that the Eucharist is Jesus Christ, following the example of Jesus, who publicly proclaimed His own flesh and blood in this way in the synagogue. The Gospel indicates three manners of making this declaration. 

The first one is found in the scene where, after many of the disciples who had been listening to Jesus’ words had departed, Jesus asked the remaining twelve disciples, "Do you also wish to go away?" (Jn 6:67). Simon Peter replied as follows: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God" (6:68–69). These words, which Jesus had not taught, came from Peter's mouth because Peter was acting in cooperation with the Holy Spirit. Indeed, Simon Peter answered, inspired by the Holy Spirit. 

The second instance is also found in the Gospel of John, when Jesus, whilst guiding Martha, asked, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (Jn 11:25–26). Martha replied, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world" (11:27). In other words, Martha answered, inspired by Jesus. 

The third instance is found in the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus asked his disciples, "But who do you say that I am?" (Mat 16:15). Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (16:16). Jesus said to him, ‘"Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven" (16:17). Indeed, Simon Peter answered, inspired by the Father. 

Thus, in these three sets of questions and answers, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are each involved. Remarkably, the answer which Martha gave, guided by Jesus, and the answer the Father revealed through Simon Peter are the same. This is no coincidence; it is precisely as Jesus said: "I and the Father are one" (Jn 10:30). Therefore, we believers must publicly declare that the Eucharist is Jesus Christ through the words, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" and the words, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." However, this has not yet become a reality. I feel as though Jesus is saying to us, the Church: "I have bruised the head of the serpent. You must regenerate the bruised heel, for I have washed it." 

Maria K. M.

 2026/08/24

262. The Gospel of John and the Priesthood of the New Covenant: The Way to the Tree of Life

Jesus, who is God, knew that the people of that time would not believe even if they saw His works, for they lived in the world of the books of the Prophets and the Psalms rather than following Moses. So, Jesus said to them, "It is Moses who accuses you, on whom you set your hope" (Jn 5:45).

Among the commandments God gave to Moses are instructions on how a king should be chosen when the people demand one, and how one chosen by the people to be king ought to conduct himself. In particular, the commandment stating, "And he shall not multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply for himself silver and gold" (Deut. 17:17) was severe for the kings of that time. And the remorse felt by those kings who, having transgressed these commandments, were unable to lead the people to God is interwoven throughout the entire Book of Psalms. The hymns of praise and thanksgiving offered to God, rooted in this lament, resound as crying voices of supplication; and, owing to their unique character, many people still empathise with these voices and are captivated by them even today. The people of the old covenant understood the Law of Moses and the books of the Prophets within the fictional context of a narrative that a king like one of them would rise again to save them, chanting the Psalms.

The expressions of the Psalms that fell from the lips of kings—who took many wives and thus allowed their hearts to be led astray, hoarding vast quantities of silver and gold for their own sake—invited the people, who had been unable to form a father-son relationship with God, to savour the joy of the wedding day. In time, the people came to liken God and them to a bridegroom (husband) and a bride (wife). Drawn to this preference, savouring it in fiction, they often mistakenly perceive this sensation as highly spiritual. In this way, without realising it, as a particular sense of equality grows within them regarding their relationship with God, the desire befitting a person created in God's image and likeness transforms into a higher-order desire, such as desires for belonging, recognition and self-actualisation. They sometimes manifest as desires to dominate and control their neighbour. This gives rise to ceaseless conflict. It was no coincidence that, after Jesus had fasted for forty days before beginning his public ministry, the devil sought to tempt him by quoting from the Psalms. This is because the Psalms have such a tendency. Jesus replied by quoting from Deuteronomy, one of the Books of Moses (cf. Mat 4:1–11).

Jesus came as man from the Father, bearing the priesthood of the New Covenant to forgive sins and fulfil the Law. At the beginning of his public ministry, after reading from the Book of Isaiah handed to Him in the synagogue, Jesus clearly revealed Himself by saying, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Lk 4:21). Again, it is written that after His resurrection, He appeared to the disciples on their way to Emmaus, and that "beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself" (24:27). In this way, Jesus used the Old Testament "to bear witness to Himself." He did so to reveal and fulfil God's plan, which had unfolded over a long history. Then, He said, "You search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life" (Jn 5:39-40). By these words, Jesus is saying that, now that He has come, there is no longer any need to look for Him in the Old Testament.

Jesus said, "You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth" (Jn 5:33), reminding them that they had regarded John the Baptist—born into a family of legitimate priestly lineage and speaking as a prophet—as a lamp burning and shining, and had been willing to rejoice in his light. John the Baptist bore witness: that Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world; that the Holy Spirit had descended upon Him and that He was the one who baptised by the Holy Spirit; and that He was the Son of God (cf. 1:29–34). Thus, he bore witness to the truth. Jesus continued, "But the testimony which I have is greater than that of John" (5:36). The testimony "greater than that of John" was a testimony concerning the life—the life that leads to the Father—which lies beyond the truth of which Jesus had spoken: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me" (14:6).

The words of Jesus are the way to the "tree of life" which God closed off in Genesis. Through the truth contained therein, these words connect people with the "breath of life" (Gen 2:7) that God breathed into them, awaken them to God's life, and restore them to life before God. They revive the realm of the human spirit. All of these are mysteries of the Kingdom of God (the Kingdom of Heaven) about eternal life, which cannot be understood without studying the New Testament. Thus, the words of Genesis—"He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life" (Gen 3:24)—are reflected in the structure of the New Testament. The four Gospels, which even now guard the "way to the tree of life"—the words of Jesus—can be likened to the cherubim (cf. Rev 4:6–8). Similarly, the teachings of Acts of the Apostles and the various epistles represent the "flaming sword." And the Book of Psalms, which had filled the minds of the people of the old covenant and held them captive, was superseded by the Book of Revelation in its role.

The Book of Revelation depicts how these writings interconnect to perform their unique function. It implants truths that the conscious mind cannot grasp into the unconscious of believers who recite and listen to it every day, transforming them into tacit knowledge and preparing them to work in harmony with the Holy Spirit. Jesus, risking His very life, prepared all the new methods of formation introduced with the New Testament for the Holy Spirit sent in His name and for the believers. Unfortunately, we believers have not yet fully utilised such treasures. Instead, we search for the shadow of Jesus within the Old Testament, which bears witness to Him, and place our complete trust in the Psalms. Thus, the following statement that Jesus spoke to the Jews is also addressed to us, who make no effort to optimise our understanding for the new formation set out in the New Testament.

"I do not receive glory from men. But I know that you have not the love of God within you. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me " (Jn 5:41–43).

Maria K. M.

 2026/08/17

261. The Gospel of John and the Priesthood of the New Covenant: "I can do nothing of my own authority"

"I can do nothing on my own authority; as I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me" (Jn 5:30). In these words, we find an image of the Eucharist. In Chapter 6, where Jesus says, "I am the bread of life" (6:35), He not only repeats the theme we discussed last time, but also states, "I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me" (6:38). He thus moves the discourse forward from "seeking His will" to "doing His will." He then made it clear: "This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day" (6:39). 

These words are linked to the passage in John 18: "This was to fulfil the word which he had spoken, 'Of those whom thou gavest me I lost not one'" (Jn 18:9). At this very moment and in this very scene, not a single one of the Apostles must be lost. That was because, they—upon whom Jesus had conferred the priesthood of the New Covenant through the institution of the Eucharist and the command to continue it, and with whom He entrusted kingship—would, in collaboration with the Holy Spirit, continue to make the Eucharistic Christ present, who carries on the work of Jesus, to the world and shepherd, care for and serve the Church that brings priests forth (cf. 21:15-19). In this way, they serve the living. The Eucharist saves every spirit of both the living and the dead. This is because, united with the drawing power of the Father, the power of Jesus—who draws all to Himself on the Cross—flows forth from within the Eucharist. 

In this way, the words in Chapter 6, "I should lose nothing of all that he has given me," are interlocking with the scene in Chapter 18, and the dead are particularly evoked. Even now, the number of people who have died in ignorance and await in Hades is likely far greater than those who are called to the path of salvation whilst still alive. Among them are also those who died without accepting death. The spirits of these people, now wandering as evil spirits, therefore attempt to possess living people, seeking death. They wish to be saved by reliving death alongside them. However, those possessed by the evil spirit will be gripped by extraordinary inner conflict because they also have a realm of the spirit into which God breathed the "breath of life." 

To save people from such suffering, Jesus granted His disciples the authority to cast out evil spirits. And Jesus Himself—who was both divine and human—during His time on earth merely cast out evil spirits, not saving them; He demonstrated that saving evil spirits is something humans cannot do. Jesus died and rose again as a human being and bore witness to eternal life for us. But not only that, He had resolved to bring about a second Incarnation—the Eucharist—to draw near to and save also the spirits of those who had become evil spirits. The place where this will take place is Armageddon, as described in the Book of Revelation (cf. Rev 16:12–16, 20:7–10). Jesus intended to carry out God’s perfect plan to raise, on the Last Day, every individual whom the Father had given Him, without losing a single one. 

Therefore, He said to those who were living: "This is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day" (Jn 6:40). The Father desires that those who are living should come to realise, whilst they are still alive, that they have received eternal life by accepting Jesus and believing in His name. The Eucharistic Christ gives Himself to us so that, by partaking of Him, we may experience the Father's desire. This very experience is the great power that draws us back to the Mass, to the Eucharist, even as we return to our daily lives after the blessing of dismissal at the end of the Mass. 

We return to our daily lives because the Holy Spirit is waiting there, ready to work in partnership with us. By working with us in our daily lives, the Holy Spirit brings about, so to speak, the mystery of a third Incarnation, enabling us to demonstrate the likeness of God. And the Holy Spirit, whilst spreading the Gospel of Jesus, remains with us, seeking to lift us to the heavenly celebration of the Mass when our spirit is separated from our body. As it is written in the Acts of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit, sent in the name of Jesus, rests upon each of us believers: "And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them" (Acts 2:1–3). 

As Jesus testified, whether we can actually fulfil the Father’s will—"I will raise him up at the last day"—depends on the extent to which we are aware that we are those who see the Son and believe in him, thereby obtaining eternal life, and on how deeply we internalise this realisation. Therefore, believers are those who earnestly desire to receive the Eucharist for their own salvation. Yet do we, as believers, truly understand our own hearts, express them honestly, and strive to put them into practice? Jesus knew that the people of His time would not believe even when they saw the works He performed. 

Maria K. M.

 2026/08/10

260. The Gospel of John and the Priesthood of the New Covenant: Death and Hades

Chapter 5 of the Gospel of John reveals that, deep within those who persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him, lay a lack of understanding regarding the Sabbath and the frustration of a people who were unable to call God their Father. Rather than feelings regarding the legalistic observance of the Law of Moses, the recitation of the Psalms must surely have sustained the people’s longing for the era of the kings, said to have enjoyed the height of prosperity, and their hope for the day when they would be liberated from Roman subjugation and saved. Might Jesus, together with those who now longed for the emergence of a prophet who would become a king greater than David or Solomon, or a saviour, have also recited the Psalms and opened the prophetic books with them in the synagogue? Yet Jesus carried with him an entirely new teaching and formation for the priesthood of the New Covenant. From that point on, everything was made new. 

In the previous issue, we discussed how the priesthood of the New Covenant—which Jesus conferred upon the Apostles at the same time as the institution of the Eucharist through the words "Do this in remembrance of me"—unites with the Holy Spirit sent in Jesus' name to re-enact the scene of the table of the Last Supper, at which Jesus was present, during the Mass. We therefore also considered that the Mass is celebrated not only for the faithful to share in that table, but also offered towards the tables around the world where people gather. Moreover, we concluded that it is so that we, believers, by continually receiving the Eucharist, may perpetuate the work of Jesus—who, through His once-for-all death on the Cross, atoned for all the sins of humanity, descended into Hades, and saved the souls of those who suffer even after death due to their ignorance. We then cited and confirmed the passage in Peter's Epistle conveying this fact. 

The Gospel of Matthew describes the events following Jesus' death on the cross as follows: "And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and the rocks were split; the tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many" (Mt 27:51–53). In Chapter 5 of the Gospel of John, Jesus speaks a teaching that appears to corroborate this description. He says, "For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will" (Jn 5:21). These words refer to those who had died and been laid in their tombs, for the living already have His teaching. Therefore, Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life" (5:24). 

Regarding those who have died and are in their tombs, Jesus said as follows: "Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, and has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of man. Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment" (Jn 5:25–29). These words are deeply connected to the "second death" described in the Book of Revelation: 

"Then I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it; from his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Also another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead in them, and all were judged by what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire; and if any one's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire" (Rev 20:11–15). 

The Eucharist unites us, the faithful who receive it, with the only begotten Son of God and through it brings unity to the Church. The Eucharist is truly the Bread of Life that gives life to both each believer and the Church. However, not only that: by our receiving the Eucharist, Christ, who is truly present therein, can descend once more into Hades to call the souls of the dead—who await there in suffering—to salvation. We who receive the Eucharist are thus able to offer Christ with the opportunity to do so. 

At the conclusion of this theme in Chapter 5 of the Gospel of John, Jesus says, "I can do nothing on my own authority; as I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me" (Jn 5:30). Next time, we shall continue our reflection from this point and examine in detail the events unfolded in Chapter 6, as the words "I can do nothing on my own authority" evoke the image of the Eucharist, the Bread of Life. 

Maria K. M.

 2026/08/03

259. The Gospel of John and the Priesthood of the New Covenant: To the Table of God

At the Last Supper, Jesus conferred upon the Apostles the priesthood of the New Covenant at the very moment He instituted the Eucharist, saying to them, "Do this in remembrance of me" (Lk 22:19). Then, He entrusted His kingship to the Apostles with the words, "I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (22:29–30). This kingship was the very one of which the angel had told Jesus' mother: "The Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever" (1:32–33), by which it was guaranteed that, through the Apostles to whom it was entrusted, the priesthood of the New Covenant would be perpetuated for ever.

The Holy Spirit required tacit knowledge which unconsciously directs the believers' senses towards the Mass prepared by Jesus, so that they might receive the priesthood of the New Covenant. Thus, the Book of Revelation was given. Its training is structured so that, by entering a daily loop that repeatedly passes through the seven prophecies (cf. diagram below), believers learn to thoroughly distinguish "human information"—which constitutes the greatest obstacle to reaching the Mass. Furthermore, the Seven Beatitudes guide the faithful so that they may place the Mass at the centre of their daily lives and recognise the path leading to it as the concrete "Way of Jesus." As the First Beatitude (cf. Rev 1:3) proclaims, the training of the Book of Revelation can become tacit knowledge that, through sensory stimulation, unconsciously triggers signals or commands to prompt them to walk along the "Way of Jesus." This is because the Book of Revelation alludes to the contents of each book of the New Testament and prophesies the completion of the New Testament as canonical scripture as well as the completion of the liturgy of the Mass.

The people of the Old Covenant were entrusted with the priesthood, which involved repeatedly offering sacrifices and interceding on behalf of the people, so that they might continue to live in communion with the holy God. However, the people, anxious about the reliability of those entrusted with the priesthood, asked God for a king and placed all their hopes in the king who was given to them. Eventually, both the king and the people raised their voices in longing for a Saviour. The Psalms served as a foundation for maintaining communion with God by unconsciously uniting the voices of the king and the people, and by enabling them to continue directing their hope towards the future Saviour. Therefore, there is absolutely no point in using it as a textbook for the formation of modern believers, who have already been entrusted with the priesthood of the New Covenant and are striving to perfect the liturgy of the Mass in preparation for the Kingdom of God. Whilst it is necessary to make the Old Testament known to believers as part of their education, as required, we must not engage in a form of formation that seeks to engrave it upon the believers' memories (cf. Lk 5:36-39).

The priesthood of the New Covenant, which Jesus conferred upon the Apostles at the same time as He instituted the Eucharist through the words, "Do this in remembrance of me," makes the scene of the Last Supper, at which Jesus was present, present, in union with the Holy Spirit sent in Jesus' name. That is so that we may continue the work by which Jesus, having atoned for all the sins of humanity through His single death, descended into Hades and saved the spirits of those who were suffering even after death, as a consequence of sin (cf. Matt 27:51–53). The Epistle of Peter conveys this as follows:

"For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit; in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water" (1 Pet 3:18-20).

There are still many people today who are dying as those "who formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited." As Peter says, "that he might bring us to God," we believers are by no means an exception. The Mass is, in nature, an act of gathering around a banquet table, just as Jesus said: "that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom..." However, until that day comes, we believers, whilst gathering at the Lord's table, continue to stand at the foot of the Lord's Cross, so that through receiving the Eucharist, we may offer Christ the opportunity to go and preach to the spirits in prison.

The San Damiano cross, with which St Francis of Assisi encountered and which we have discussed in the previous issues, speaks volumes about this. The pattern painted surrounding the Cross of Jesus, like white lace edging, breaks off beneath his feet, signifying that it continues beyond that point. This suggests that the Mass is offered not only for the congregation gathered in the Church, but towards the tables surrounded by people throughout the world. There will be also those who, because of our lack of zeal in proclaiming the Gospel, must wait even after death. In the gaze of Jesus, looking into the distance from the Cross, the following words of Jesus are hidden:

"I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd" (Jn 10:14–16).

Maria K. M.

(Notice)

A new article has been posted on the blog, The Wind of Patmos. It is a translation of an article I submitted to and was published in the Japanese internet magazine, Catholic Ai.

 2026/07/27

258. The Gospel of John and the Priesthood of the New Covenant: Chapter 5 of the Gospel of John

From Chapter 5 onwards, the Gospel of John depicts how Jesus—who was born as the "enmity God has placed" (cf. Lk 2:34–35)—begins to confront "human information" in earnest. The Gospel of John contains a far greater number of instances of the term "Jews," compared to the other Gospels. A deep sense of regret must have accompanied the Gospel writer's fervent affection for his fellow countrymen towards those who would not accept Jesus nor believe in his name. This was because he realised that the underlying current of the priesthood of the New Covenant, running through the Gospel of John, served to fulfil the Old Covenant priesthood—whose source lies in the story of Genesis—and to bring God’s plan to fruition. From the very beginning of Chapter 1, the Gospel of John sets out these thoughts in a manner reminiscent of Genesis (cf. Jn 1:1–18).

In Genesis, after God expelled humankind from the Garden of Eden and barred the way to the Tree of Life, He left the "enmity God has placed" to work within the depths of the human heart to safeguard their "human knowledge." At the same time, He sought out those who were pleasing in His eyes and entrusted them with a mission, guiding the people to maintain their relationship with Him. Thus, the people who came together as one nation have upheld the name of God, the priesthood and the Law given to them in the time of Moses. Even after the era of David and Solomon, and despite enduring the hardships of Exile, they continued to uphold these things to the very end. Just as the construction of the Second Temple continued even after the birth of Jesus, so too was there a single-minded devotion of the people to the Temple. However, when the Son, who bore the will of God the Father, appeared on earth as Jesus, their minds were no longer aligned with God's will.

Chapter 5 of the Gospel of John records the incident in which Jesus first healed a sick man at the Pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath. It states that, as a result of this incident, "And this was why the Jews persecuted Jesus " (Jn 5:16). Jesus replied to them, "My Father is working still, and I am working" (5:17). Then the Gospel states: "This was why the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath but also called God his Father, making himself equal with God" (5:18). This shows that their attitude shifted from "the Jews persecuted Jesus" to "the Jews sought all the more to kill him," and draws attention to the fact that the turning point lay in the fact that He "called God his Father, making himself equal with God." As we have examined many times in this blog, a structural problem lies hidden here.

This incident illustrates that, for the Jews of that time, Jesus' declaration that God was his Father came as a great shock. They were well aware of the history in which, despite God's promise to David concerning his son Solomon—"I will be his father, and he shall be my son" (2 Sam 7:14)—this promise was not fulfilled because Solomon turned away from God (cf. 1 Kgs 11:1–10). The Gospel of John continues, "Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you’" (Jn 5:19), and records the words with which Jesus spoke in strong terms about the relationship between the Father and the Son right through to the end of chapter 5. This is because they had such a problem that Jesus could not help but bear witness to.

From a young age, the Jewish people were raised in an environment where they learnt the Psalms by ear and memorised the Old Testament. Within this context, the idea of likening God and Israel to a bridegroom and bride, or husband and wife, had already emerged and developed as far back as the time of Solomon. Later, the tradition of reading the Song of Songs as an expression of the love between God and Israel also became entrenched. This must surely have been a desperate measure for a people who were unable to establish a parent-child relationship with God. However, applying the image of marriage—bridegroom and bride, husband and wife—to the relationship between God and His people carried great risk. This is because the notion of being on an equal footing with God would secretly take root there. Even under a patriarchal system, on the day of the wedding, the bride was congratulated alongside the bridegroom and could feel that she was in an equal relationship with him. In this way, understanding the relationship with God as analogous to a marriage between a man and a woman becomes a motive for those presiding over worship, whilst worshipping God, to divert the people's gaze—which ought to be directed towards God—towards themselves (cf. Mat 23:1–39). They become ensnared by the illusion that they are equal to God.

In this way, we can see that the sentiments of the Jews recorded in the Gospels—"because he ... called God his Father, making himself equal with God"—were imbued with a twofold anger. One was anger at being confronted with their own reality—that they failed to enter into a relationship between father and son with God, and had not been recognised as children of God; the other was anger that the fictional world in which God loved them as His equals—within the mystery of marriage, where God’s love for His people is likened to the love of a bridegroom for his bride or a husband for his wife—had been shattered. These emotions were so intense that they drove them to the point of wanting to kill Jesus. From the Psalms and the texts of the Old Testament with which they were so familiar, they had developed a theology coloured by a kind of nuptial mysticism. As a result, the Old Covenant priesthood, which had continued since the time of Moses, had gradually changed its nature through the eras of David and Solomon. And by the time Jesus began his public ministry, it had become something incapable of connecting with the priesthood of the New Covenant.

I believe that John the Evangelist, who, despite chanting the Psalms and being well-versed in the Old Testament just like his fellow Jews, had come to understand the priesthood of the New Covenant, imbued the term "Jews" with his sense of regret towards them. That sentiment must also have been shared by Jesus, who brought about the priesthood of the New Covenant to fulfil the priesthood foreshadowed in Adam (cf. Gen 3:19) and to realise the hope given to David (cf. 2 Sam 7:14). It was undoubtedly also a sense of regret felt by Jesus, who came as a descendant of David and received the same education as the Israelites. John first realised that these problems, into which the Jewish people—among whom he himself was born and raised—had become entangled, were utterly incompatible with the priesthood of the New Covenant brought by Jesus. They had become so fundamentally distinct that one might even describe them as an "Old Covenant-dominated mindset" and a "New Covenant-inspired mindset."

Maria K. M.

 2026/07/20

257. The Gospel of John and the Priesthood of the New Covenant: The Reality of God

Human beings were created to subdue the earth, to rule over every living creature, and to worship God in spirit and in truth. They are to celebrate the day sanctified by God with Him for all eternity, and to gather round His table. To this end, God endowed humankind with the spontaneity of the flesh—accompanied by power, wealth and authority—so that they might manifest "our image" (cf. Blog No. 252) and created humankind such that this spontaneity is connected to "God's spontaneity (the breath of life)"—which manifests "our likeness" through "human knowledge" and via "the Word (the Tree of Life)"—as a normal state of affairs. Human beings can collaborate with the Holy Spirit and, through this collaboration, manifest the resemblance to God only when they are in this normal state. For human beings—who possess a physical body born alone and destined to die alone in order to manifest the form of the one true God—the Holy Spirit, with whom they cooperate to manifest the resemblance to the Triune God, has been their one and only neighbour from the very beginning of their existence; and, if properly trained, human beings can live in cooperation with the Holy Spirit throughout their lives. 

What the "man" in Genesis experienced in collaboration with the Holy Spirit whilst he was alone has been passed down to us believers today. The description, "The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it" (Gen 2:15), reminds us that, by working in collaboration with the Holy Spirit, we too till and keep our own memories. The words, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die" (2:16-17), mean that if we indiscriminately absorb "human information" and turn it into our own "human knowledge," we will certainly die. The words "you shall die" signify that we will lose our original human state and become unable to partake in the supreme happiness of working in partnership with the Holy Spirit. 

The account that "whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name" (Gen 2:19) is precisely the experience of a person working in cooperation with the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, the fact that, amongst the creatures to which he gave names, "for the man there was not found a helper fit for him" (2:20) indicates that there will be an encounter with one who has been trained to work in cooperation with the Holy Spirit in the same way, as a helper suitable for him. Without this understanding, we too may harbour hostility towards God, just as Adam did when God said to him, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" (3:11) because in this case we would be those who are unable to grasp the true meaning of the fact that the words, "in the day that you eat of it you shall die," did not come true for us. 

The Lord God said, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel" (Gen 3:15), thereby ensuring that the "enmity God has placed" would take effect before "hostility towards God" arose. That is because preventing "hostility towards God" in this way serves as a powerful means of curbing sin. Even if "hostility towards God" overcomes the "enmity God has placed" and is directed towards one’s neighbour, the effect of the "enmity God has placed" can still bring the person back to God. Furthermore, this word of God determined that the Son would become human and be sent to earth. "He shall bruise your head" refers to Jesus exposing, in a way that people could understand, the fact that the entities known as devils and Satan are "human information." “You shall bruise his heel” refers to how, by "human information," the course of Jesus' steps of ministry was halted in the following manner and directed towards the fulfilment of salvation on the cross. 

"Jesus answered them, 'Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?'" (Jn 6:70) ⇒ "And during supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him" (13:2) ⇒ "Then after the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, 'What you are going to do, do quickly.'" (13:27). 

Consequently, Adam’s hostility towards God was directed towards his neighbour, his wife. He himself named her "Eve." By calling her by that name, he placed his wife under his dominion. Human beings cannot dominate their neighbour. All created beings possess a spontaneity that originates from God. Therefore, in their conduct, they possess the freedom to obey God. Every human being was created as one endowed with a physical body possessing power, wealth and authority, and as one capable of cooperating with the Holy Spirit. Adam debased the spontaneity of such a neighbour to obey God, subjugated her to his control, and thereby blasphemed the Holy Spirit, who is the true neighbour. 

"He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life" (Gen 3:24). Jesus was sent to earth also to save those who had blasphemed against the Holy Spirit, and to reveal the tree of life.

 Maria K. M.