Dialogue with Father James Martin-- Part Ten<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" Q.\u00a0 It has always struck me that the only fully adequate confessions of Christ\u2019s being part of the divine identity in the 4th Gospel are the one in\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dialogue with Father James Martin-- Part Ten\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" Q.\u00a0 It has always struck me that the only fully adequate confessions of Christ\u2019s being part of the divine identity in the 4th Gospel are the one in\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=59681\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bible and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-26T05:31:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-02T17:36:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2023\/09\/51MSjabvF3L.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ben Witherington\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ben Witherington\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=59681\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=59681\",\"name\":\"Dialogue with Father James Martin-- Part Ten\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-26T05:31:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-02T17:36:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b\"},\"description\":\" Q.\u00a0 It has always struck me that the only fully adequate confessions of Christ\u2019s being part of the divine identity in the 4th Gospel are the one in\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=59681#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=59681\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=59681#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dialogue with Father James Martin– Part Ten\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/\",\"name\":\"The Bible and Culture\",\"description\":\"A One-Stop Shop for All Things Biblical and Christian\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b\",\"name\":\"Ben Witherington\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ben Witherington\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/author\/benw333\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dialogue with Father James Martin-- Part Ten","description":" Q.\u00a0 It has always struck me that the only fully adequate confessions of Christ\u2019s being part of the divine identity in the 4th Gospel are the one in","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dialogue with Father James Martin-- Part Ten","og_description":" Q.\u00a0 It has always struck me that the only fully adequate confessions of Christ\u2019s being part of the divine identity in the 4th Gospel are the one in","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=59681","og_site_name":"The Bible and Culture","article_published_time":"2023-09-26T05:31:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-09-02T17:36:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":333,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2023\/09\/51MSjabvF3L.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ben Witherington","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ben Witherington","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=59681","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=59681","name":"Dialogue with Father James Martin-- Part Ten","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-09-26T05:31:56+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-02T17:36:33+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b"},"description":" Q.\u00a0 It has always struck me that the only fully adequate confessions of Christ\u2019s being part of the divine identity in the 4th Gospel are the one in","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=59681#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=59681"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=59681#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dialogue with Father James Martin– Part Ten"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/","name":"The Bible and Culture","description":"A One-Stop Shop for All Things Biblical and Christian","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b","name":"Ben Witherington","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Ben Witherington"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/author\/benw333\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":59681,"date":"2023-09-26T01:31:56","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T05:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=59681"},"modified":"2023-09-02T13:36:33","modified_gmt":"2023-09-02T17:36:33","slug":"dialogue-with-father-james-martin-part-ten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/09\/26\/dialogue-with-father-james-martin-part-ten\/","title":{"rendered":"Dialogue with Father James Martin– Part Ten"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Q.\u00a0 It has always struck me that the only fully adequate confessions of Christ\u2019s being part of the divine identity in the 4^{th<\/sup> Gospel are the one in the prologue in John 1, and the confession of Thomas \u2018my Lord and my God\u2019 after Jesus has written. All these other confessions like Martha\u2019s, \u2018I believe you are the Messiah\u2026.\u2019 are true but inadequate.\u00a0 Jesus doesn\u2019t merely cause resurrection and life, he is the resurrection and life, and Martha doesn\u2019t understand that.\u00a0 So I would say we have both a crescendo of confessions climaxing with Thomas, just as we have a crescendo of signs, a sort of can you top this, with the healing of a man born blind in John 9 (something never recorded in the OT) and the raising of Lazarus, being the two most stupendous miracles.\u00a0 When you have reflected on the progression of these things in the Gospels, with the ministry miracles climaxing in John 11, what have you made of this deliberate patterning?<\/p>\n}

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A. Your comment reminds me of something that my eighth-grade English teacher once said to me.\u00a0 I asked a question about a motif in a Thomas Hardy novel and said, \u201cDo you think that Hardy intended that?\u201d And she said, \u201cIf you noticed it, he intended it!\u201d\u00a0 So my sense is that this is a deliberate pattern in John where the signs get greater and greater and people\u2019s understanding of who Jesus is gets greater and greater.\u00a0 In a sense, it mirrors the story of the blind man, who gradually \u201csees\u201d while those around him don\u2019t.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also, it\u2019s notable that when someone says in John, \u201cI know\u2026\u201d or \u201cI see\u2026\u201d they often don\u2019t know and don\u2019t see, or at least don\u2019t know or see fully. Some scholars say that Martha\u2019s profession, \u201cI believe that you are the Messiah,\u201d is her great confession of faith, on par with Peter\u2019s confession of Jesus at Caesarea Philippi as \u201cthe Messiah, the Son of God.\u201d\u00a0 But Jesus is much more than she believes.\u00a0 He is much more than Jewish ideas of the Messiah.\u00a0 And he is not just someone who gives life, he is, as you say, life itself.\u00a0 In this way, Martha is all of us: believing but not fully getting it.\u00a0 Though ultimately, she will, and ultimately we will.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"