Riddles of the Fourth Gospel

An Introduction To John

Paul Anderson

• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN:
  9780800604271
• eBook ISBN:
  9781451415551
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religion

Paul Anderson, a leading scholar of the Fourth Gospel, provides an introductory textbook, crafted for a semester course, which leads students through literary, historical, and theological aspects of the Fourth Gospel's most vexing puzzles. Traditional, historical-critical, and literary-critical approaches are deftly introduced and their limitations evaluated; questions of the Gospel's authorship, composition, relationship to the Synoptics, and origins in particular historical experiences are succinctly addressed; and distinctive Johannine perspectives on Jesus, the church, and the world are discussed.

PART 1

Outlining the Johannine Riddles

The cover of this book features an artist’s depiction of the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, a religious expert and a leader among the Jews. He declares what he knows: Jesus could not perform the signs he does unless he were sent from God (John 3:2). And yet he fails to understand what it means to be born “from above.” The ways of the Spirit are like the uncontrollable wind—neither seen nor heard, but its effects are indeed felt (3:8). So it is with the mysterious ways of God, and those who claim to see often get it wrong (9:41). Did Nicodemus come around, though, later in the story? While he came to Jesus “by night” and initially failed to understand, he eventually stood up for Jesus in the face of opposition (7:50–51) and supplied the spices for Jesus’ burial at the end of the story (19:39). Maybe he caught on after all; and, so might readers of the Fourth Gospel who may initially fail to understand its riddles. After all, the Gospel holds out the promise of being guided “into all the truth” (16:12) and holds that the truth is always liberating (8:32).

If you’ve now read John, either again or for the first time, you may wish to list or discuss the sorts of things you noticed. How did it speak to you personally—or did it? How did you feel? What did you think? In responding to these questions you are already becoming an interpreter.

Let’s take these impressions further by raising more specific questions. How might this Gospel have spoken to its first audiences, individually and corporately, and how might they have responded to its message? Was it aimed primarily at Jewish audiences, or might Gentiles have also felt included in its address? What sort of literature is the Fourth Gospel, and does it have a plot? If so, how would one discern it? Or is John primarily a theological treatise upon which a narrative outline has been imposed? If it is historical, on the other hand, why is John so different from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke?

What is the Johannine Gospel’s relation to the three Johannine epistles? Were they written by the same author and in the same setting, or should they be kept apart for purposes of interpretation? Do you note any connections between the Fourth Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, the writings of Paul, the letter to the Hebrews, or the book of Revelation? If any of these questions seem interesting to you, or if you’ve begun to raise a few of your own, you’ve already started to engage the riddles of the Fourth Gospel, and that’s what Part 1 of this book does in greater detail.

In outlining the riddles of the Fourth Gospel, it is important to consider them together, including all three categories instead of only one or two of them. If one looks only at the theological riddles without taking literary and compositional matters into account, the contexts behind theological meanings will be missed. If one works on historical issues alone without appreciating the theological interests of the Gospel writer—often called the Evangelist—and his targeted audience, understanding the reasons for the Gospel of John’s distinctive presentations of Jesus as the Christ will be lost in the analysis. Further, to really appreciate why traditional and critical scholars have approached John in the ways that they have, a basic appreciation of the issues they have sought to address is essential. Only after the theological, historical, and literary riddles of the Fourth Gospel are outlined can they be engaged, addressed, and interpreted meaningfully. So, that is the goal of Part 1.

The four chapters of Part 1 begin with an overview of the Gospel of John, advancing then with a chapter each on John’s theological, historical, and literary riddles. Nicodemus apparently grew in his understanding as a result of his dialogue with Jesus; perhaps the same will happen for thoughtful readers of the Johannine text and their in-depth consideration of its riddles. So, let’s begin with an overview of John’s distinctive presentation of Jesus and his ministry.

1

An Overview of the Fourth Gospel

In posing an overview of the Fourth Gospel, discerning the lay of the land will help. As the most distinctive among the four canonical Gospels, noting John’s particular characteristics helps us focus on its contents in their own right. Therefore, the outline and flow of John’s narrative, its material’s distinctive features, and its intended purpose provides a fitting place to begin.

Outlining John’s Narrative

John’s Gospel may be divided into four unequal parts: a shorter Prologue (1:1–18) and an Epilogue (21:1–25) and, between them, a more substantive “Book of Signs” (chaps. 1–12) and “Book of Glory” (chaps. 13–20). (These terms will be explained below.)

In contrast to the Gospel of Mark, which begins with the ministry of John the Baptist, or to Matthew and Luke, which begin with different wondrous birth narratives, John’s Prologue features a worship hymn to the cosmic Word of God made flesh. Similar to other christological hymns (Phil. 2:5–11; Col. 1:15–20; Heb. 1:1–4), the Prologue of the Fourth Gospel exalts Jesus as the preexistent Logos, who was with God and was God from the beginning of time. God has now spoken through God’s Son Jesus Christ, and the narrative tells how that came about.

The “Book of Signs,” so called because it features the seven signs of Jesus,¹ then leads off with the witness of John the Baptist to Jesus and the calling of four disciples and Nathanael (1:19–51). The next eleven chapters (2–12) feature seven signs of Jesus (see Box 1.2, below), only two of which are also found in the Synoptics. John’s Jesus travels to and from Jerusalem at least four times. His prophetic sign in the Temple is presented at the beginning of his ministry, not at the end (as in the Synoptics), and he becomes involved in long, drawn-out debates with Jerusalem leaders in chapters 5 and 7–10. His culminative sign, the raising of Lazarus from the dead, becomes the occasion for Jewish leaders to seek to put him to death and to do away with Lazarus as well. The pu...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface and Acknowledgements
• Introduction: Navigating a Stream in Which a Child Can Wade and an Elephant Can Swim
• Part 1: Outlining the Johannine Riddles
• Part 2: Addressing the Johannine Riddles
• Part 3: Interpreting the Johannine Riddles
• Conclusion: Navigating the Living Waters of the Gospel of John
• Notes
• Glossary
• Annotated Bibliography
• Bibliographic Apppendix
• Subject Index
• Name Index
• Biblical Index