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by Ellis Hein (Author)
Through The Lens is a journey of surprises through the book of John. The lens is not that of the microscope but of a filter that reveals things unseen.
It was not an accident that John juxtaposed many of his narratives against the backdrop of the Jewish festivals--Passover, Tabernacles, Dedication. You can read John, disregarding the backdrop, or you can use the backdrop as an additional layer of meaning. In this book, the backdrop is brought to the forefront to serve as a lens for examining the text. Since the majority of incidents take place at Passover, that serves as an overall filter when no other is mentioned.
Life is John's predominant theme, a synonym for salvation. The modern church's theology has its conception of how this is achieved. Reading John through the lens of particularly the Passover does not support that theology.
Other themes seem to be subsets of the major theme of life. They include sight (the flame burning in the temple), hearing and food (the shepherd leads the sheep who hear his voice to eat the bread of life), permanent dwelling, and true worship
