NCCS | New Covenant Commentary Series
The New Covenant Commentary Series (NCCS) is designed for ministers and students who require a commentary that interacts with the text and context of each New Testament book and pays specific attention to the impact of the text upon the faith and praxis of contemporary faith communities.
The NCCS has a number of distinguishing features. First, the contributors come from a diverse array of backgrounds in regards to their Christian denominations and countries of origin. Unlike many commentary series that tout themselves as international the NCCS can truly boast of a genuinely international cast of contributors with authors drawn from every continent of the world (except Antarctica) including countries such as the United States, Puerto Rico, Australia, the United Kingdom, Kenya, India, Singapore, and Korea. We intend the NCCS to engage in the task of biblical interpretation and theological reflection from the perspective of the global church. Second, the volumes in this series are not verse-by-verse commentaries, but they focus on larger units of text in order to explicate and interpret the story in the text as opposed to some often atomistic approaches. Third, a further aim of these volumes is to provide an occasion for authors to reflect on how the New Testament impacts the life, faith, ministry, and witness of the New Covenant Community today. This occurs periodically under the heading of “Fusing the Horizons and Forming the Community.” Here authors provide windows into community formation (how the text shapes the mission and character of the believing community) and ministerial formation (how the text shapes the ministry of Christian leaders).
It is our hope that these volumes will represent serious engagements with the New Testament writings, done in the context of faith, in service of the church, and for the glorification of God.
| Series Editors: Michael F. Bird (Crossway College, Queensland, Australia) Craig Keener (Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, KY, USA) | Titles in this series: Romans Craig Keener Ephesians Lynn Cohick Colossians and Philemon Michael F. Bird Revelation Gordon Fee |
| Forthcoming titles: James Pablo Jimenez 1–3 John Sam Ngewa Pastoral Epistles Aída Besançon-Spencer Mark Kim Huat Tan Acts Youngmo Cho and Hyung Dae Park Luke Diane Chen 2 Peter and Jude Andrew Mbuvi | Matthew Scot McKnight 1 Peter Eric Greaux 1–2 Thessalonians David Garland Philippians Linda Belleville Hebrews Tom Thatcher Galatians Brian Vickers 1 Corinthians Bruce Winter 2 Corinthians David deSilva |
John
A New Covenant Commentary
Jey J. Kanagaraj
JOHN
A New Covenant Commentary
New Covenant Commentary Series 4
Copyright © 2013 Jey J. Kanagaraj. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, or stored on any information storage and retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the publishers. For permissions write to Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Avenue, Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.
Cascade Books
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199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3
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isbn 13: 978-1-60608-906-4
eisbn 13: 978-1-62189-868-9
Cataloging-in-Publication data:
Kanagaraj, Jey J.
John : a new covenant commentary / Jey J. Kanagaraj.
xxviii + 264 p. ; 23 cm. Includes bibliographical references and index(es).
New Covenant Commentary Series 4
isbn 13: 978-1-60608-906-4
1. Bible. N.T. John—Commentaries. I. Title. II. Series.
bs2615.53 k33 2012
Manufactured in the U.S.A.
To
Prof. James D.G. Dunn, my doctor-father,
with profound gratitude and fondness
Preface
Volumes have been written on various themes, including ecclesiology, in John’s Gospel. However, some advanced works on the formation, empowerment, and development of the church, God’s new community or the new covenant community, in John are called for in view of the growing threat and persecution to churches today. This would be possible if we study the Gospel with an analytical approach by way of exegesis. This is what I have attempted to do in this commentary, written for the New Covenant Commentary Series. I have argued that the church, God’s new community that consists of those who believe in Jesus as the Christ, was founded and expanded by Jesus globally through the working of the Holy Spirit. I have also detected that the progressing new community has its root at the cross of Christ and is empowered by the Holy Spirit to continue Jesus’ mission in the world. I develop these ideas by emphasizing the believers’ covenant relationship with God in Jesus and by allowing the text to speak for itself through a community to the present community, both social and ecclesiastical. The terms such as “God’s new community,” “Jesus’ community,” “the new covenant community,” “the believing community,” “community of faith,” and “the church” point to the same group.
I have given my own translation in English, wherever necessary, based on the 28th edition of Nestle-Aland’s Greek text. “The Jews” (in quotation marks) denotes the Jewish leaders or those who reject Jesus because of their unbelief. Otherwise it denotes the Judeans or the Jews in general, whether in dispersion or in Palestine. In this study, though brief, the readers, I believe, will not miss the kernel of John’s Gospel in its “new covenant community” perspective. The given outline of the Gospel is based on the proposals of Brown (2010), Lincoln (2006), and Michaels (2010).
I am indeed thankful to Profs. Craig Keener and Michael Bird for entrusting me with the responsibility of writing a commentary on John for the New Covenant Commentary Series and for their useful comments and suggestions to improve all the chapters for better reading. My sincere thanks are due to my doctoral mentor, Prof. James D. G. Dunn, to whom this volume is warmly dedicated, for having given me access to some of his fresh writings on John’s Gospel. I am indebted to Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, whose acceptance and unreserved support for four months enabled me to complete a few chapters in the preliminary stage. I express my gratitude to Langham Partnership in the UK and Ireland for their kindness to sponsor me as a visiting scholar at Wycliffe Hall. My sincere thanks are due to Cascade Books, an imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers, for publishing this work as one in the New Covenant Commentary Series.
Jey J. Kanagaraj
Aruppukottai, TN, India
December 2012
Abbreviations
Periodicals, Reference Works, and Serials
AB Anchor Bible
ABCS Asia Bible Commentary Series
BDAG W. Bauer, F. W. Danker, W. F. Arndt, and F. W. Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000)
BECNT Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament
BJRL Bulletin of John Rylands Library
BNTC Black’s New Testament Commentaries