Dive In: Author's intent

Water pours (pun intended) through the book of John. I’ll illustrate shortly. Diving into a text means that we notice the author’s design, and use those elements to lay open deeper meanings.

The author’s point is key. We cannot look at a text and lay our design on it. Our first step must be to discover the author’s meaning. If we believe in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, then the author’s intent reflects the intent of God as well.

It should not be compromised by the all-to-common “this what the text means to me.”

But let’s go back to John for illustration.

Reading should always be done both with a microscope and a wide-angle lens. If you look at the first four chapters of John (that’s the wide-angle approach), you’ll see water imagery. Notice:

• John the Baptist uses water to baptize many in John 1. We know from Acts that this was referred to as a baptism of repentance.
• In John 2, we have water turned to wine. Large jars that usually held water for ceremonial cleansing were instead filled with water then transformed into wine for drinking.
• Although Jesus, in the latter part of John 2, does not specifically use water, he cleanses the temple in Jerusalem.
• When Jesus counsels Nicodemus, he explains the idea of being born of water and of the spirit. (John 3:5)
• In the latter verses of John 3, our focus returns to John baptizing. He wants nothing of the spotlight, however, taking a dispute about purification (cleansing?) as an opportunity to point to Jesus.
• John 4 is obvious: Jesus meets the woman at a well and discusses living water.
• The healing of the nobleman’s son happens at the end of John 4.. Although water is not obviously a key factor, our author points out to us that this miracle happened at Cana, the same town were water was turned to wine.
• In John 5:1-15, we read about the cripple at the pool of Bethsaida, hoping the water would heal him but instead Jesus did.

I have some thoughts on the author’s intent here but I’d like to hear something of yours. Would you share a comment about something you think the author was trying to communicate? Don’t feel you need a lengthy discussion. We can build an interesting discussion through several insights.

Remember, the idea is to share a thought on what the author may have been trying to communicate. I’m anxious to hear what you notice.