John: Creation's Messiah

Sources: Paul J. Achtemeier et al., Introducing the New Testament: Its Literature and Theology (Eerdmans, 2001); David Wenham and Steve Walton, Exploring the New Testament: A Guide to the Gospels and Acts (IVP, 2001).

I. A Distinctive Gospel, but Not 'Another Gospel'

John's narrative structure compares (so Bauckham) to Mark's:
Prologue (1:1-18, cf. Mark 1:1)
Beginning (1:19-51, cf. Mark 1:2-20)
"Book of Signs" (2-12):

Signs and growing conflict (2:1-12:36, cf. Mark 1:21-14:9).
Summary (12:37-50) [cf. Mark 14:10-11?].

"Book of Glory" (13-20):

The upper room (13:1-17:26, cf. Mark 14:12-42): direct apostolic teaching.
The passion (18:1-19:42, cf. Mark 14:43-15:47): the Son lifted up.
Resurrection (20:1-31, cf. Mark's original ending, 16:1-8, and extended synoptic endings): recognition.

Epilogue (21:1-25) [cf. Mark's longer ending, 16:19-20?].

Differences with the synoptics stand out against the commonalities (see Achtemeier et al., 197-200):

Synoptics	John
From Jesus' baptism by John on to his final days in Jerusalem, Jesus
... speaks parables and sayings	... speaks discourses
... stressing the Kingdom of God.	... stressing his coming and identity (with 'I am' claims and 'the Father/the Son' language) and its consequences ('life', 'light'/'darkness', 'witness', 'truth', 'the world').
As he teaches crowds, calls twelve disciples, heals, and debates opponents, especially Pharisees, Jesus
... calls for repentance	... calls for belief
... with mighty works, wonders, exorcisms that attest to lordship	... with signs (repeating only the feeding of the 5,000 and walking on water) that 'the ruler of this world is cast out' (12:31)
... which evoke audiences' awe, praise, perplexity, and rejection	... which are often misunderstood, yet evoke trust among witnesses and mistrust among 'the Jews' (because of later disciples' expulsion from the synagogue? see 9:22)
... climaxing in the Temple disturbance.	... climaxing in the raising of Lazarus (11:38-54).
Jesus is arrested, tried, crucified, buried, and rises again and appears to his disciples.
The story moves to Jerusalem	The story centers in Judea
... and is structured by travels	... and is structured by Jewish holy days (e.g., Jesus is crucified as the Passover lambs are sacrificed), and therefore lasts three years
... whose tensions resolve at the resurrection	... with foreshadowing and anticipation throughout (e.g., his preexistence, disciples' confessions, Temple cleansing, uplifting glorification, 'it is finished', ascension, Spirit's outpouring, return, perfect tenses)
... in fairly typical literary styles.	... in a consistently polarized, dualistic, and Hellenistic Jewish apocalyptic style whose simple prose and events have deeper significance that the unbelieving fail to discern (sometimes ironically: 3:2, 5:7, 9:29, 11:50).

II. Major Themes in The Fourth Gospel
1. Revelation of Jesus' incarnate identity and the challenge to recognize him.

A parable: Eleusis, a game of concealed rules.
Readers are (with Jesus) in on the double-meanings the characters aren’t.

2. Intensifying, contrasting responses of belief and unbelief.

In John's narrative theology, characters personify types.
12:37-43 (#303) on Isa 6, climaxing/summarizing the book of signs.

3. Christ's decisive and glorious crucifixion.
4. Eternal life for those who remain and are transformed, with judgment upon those who do not believe (3:9-19).

Is John an independent tradition from a different community (or circle of eyewitnesses),

or a free-standing response to other gospels (so 3:24's dependency)?
Or a tribute? Kirk Franklin's tribute to Earth, Wind, & Fire's "September" (compare lyrics)
turns an ordinary love story into a setting for the Christ story, like the first sign at Cana (John 2:1-11).
Where do John's unusual insights come from? (Cf. Bob Beamon's 1968 long jump.)
If written from and for Ephesus, and if the Beloved Disciple (and probable author) is John of Zebedee (cf. John Mark, Lazarus, Thomas), then this was produced within the apostolic mainstream.

III. Prologue and Beginning: Highlights
Introduction (1:1-18): the identity and mission of God in Jesus Christ, as witnessed.

Cf. Wisdom 7:21-8:1 (of natural and moral knowledge); Sirach 24:3-22, for both resemblances and revolutions.

Overture (1:19-34): John testifies, opponents question, disciples do both yet follow.

IV. Book of Signs: Highlights
1. Water to wine at Cana (2:1-11).

Clearing the temple (2:13-22, #25), early in Jesus' ministry. John loves spoilers that rush the sequence.

2. Healing of official's son at Cana (4:46-54 #85 not a centurion, son not servant).
3. Healing of paralytic at Jerusalem (5:1-15);

stresses unity with the Father; judgment on unbelieving witnesses.

4. Feeding the five thousand (now at Passover!) across from Galilee (6:6-16)

as a jumping off point to a discourse (#146).
Sacramental (6:53) or Zwinglian (6:63)? Quakers seem particularly Johannine.

5. Walking on water on the Sea of Galilee toward Capernaum (6:16-21);

6:66-7:16: Mass desertion and foreshadowing of betrayal: the apostles' ambiguous confession was the demon's in Mark. Jesus keeps his own festival of booths, demonstrating belief versus religion.
7:24: Like Isa 11:2-3 and Rev's lamb with seven eyes, he judges not with the eyes but righteousness/justice/Spirit.
8:25: More evidence John's Greek is clever, not simplistic (and that these exchanges didn't happen in Aramaic).

Text of 7:53-8:11 on woman taken in adultery.

Not in earliest texts; in some later texts it's in John 7, John 21, Luke 21, or Luke 24.

8:31ff: evidence of sloppy editing, or shallow belief? The latter makes for rewarding reading.

Likewise with similarly critiqued 11:2 and 14:31.

6. Healing the blind man at Jerusalem (9:1-7) and resulting exchanges;

the good shepherd; divided opinions; the son of God is in the Father; failures to arrest Jesus.
Cf. Matthew’s threefold presence: #179, #181, and of course the Prologue.

7. Raising of Lazarus (11:1-45) at Bethany;

This, not the (earlier) temple clearing, animates the plot to murder Jesus.
Anointing at Bethany cf. Matt/Mark #306 leads in to Book of Glory.

'Signs' in each Gospel do different things.

Among other things, John's signs display glory's incommensurability with sin.

Jesus rebukes, then grants. Conflicts escalate. Divine confirmation intensifies, polarizing.

V. Book of Glory: Highlights
Here, in private, is where the direct teaching (but not secret teaching, so 1-3 John) of the disciples happens.
No last supper narrative! Instead, footwashing, teaching, and prayer (13:1-17:26).

Judas at Last Supper (not a seder) #310-312, in contrast to Mary anointing Jesus at Bethany. 13:30: “Now it was night”—like storms in films.
14:31 "rise, let us go" long before 18:1: cf. Mark 14:42.
Jesus will send 'the Paraclete' (14:26) to judge the world (16:8) and teach the disciples (16:18). John's pneumatology is far more developed.
John’s ‘realized eschatology’ stresses the new-creation 'green line,' like Col/Eph, rather than Mark’s old-creation 'red line' like 1-2 Thess.
John is ecclesial but not churchy; it’s why we stress personal relationship.

In the garden, on trial, and on the cross, Jesus ...

conquers (18:1-16): the ruler of this world cast out (12:31? Jesus slaughtered with lambs (19:29-36).
dismisses his disciples rather than being deserted (18:7-8, cf. Mark 14:34-52, #331),
judges his judges, for the power over his life is his (cf. 10:18),
reigns (18:33-19:30; cf. 2:18 the seventh sign?),
and is already glorified ("lifted up", 3:14) on the cross (12:31-33, 13:31, 17:1-5 in earlier chart)—a theologia crucis like Paul's, cf. 1 Cor 1:18-2:5.

Jesus' resurrection appearances are recognition scenes (20:16, cf. 10:3-5).

Jesus seems to ascend and return in the middle of the narrative (20:17, 27). Has he already come to take us to himself (ch 14:3)?
Disciples face the same challenge as ever to believe (20:27):
first the beloved disciple (20:1-10), then Mary Magdalene (20:11-18), the disciples (20:19-23), and Thomas (20:24-29).

Summary: Triumphant glory in the midst of incomprehension (cf. 1:5's light and darkness).

Epilogue
Have the disciples failed to follow Jesus in the next scene (21:3)?

Jesus appears and restores Peter to his former calling (21:15-18).
Finally he charges the disciples again to 'follow me' (21:19, 21, cf. 1:43).

So that we will too? Cf. 20:31.