In my post titled “John's Gospel: Introduction to Literary Structure,” I explained the well accepted fact that John's Gospel consists of two major parts: “The Book of Signs” (John 1-12) and “The Book of Glory” (John 13-21 ). But it is also worth stressing that the Fourth Gospel is not two totally independent books. As Keener states, “The tendency today is to read John's Gospel (or nearly all of it) as a whole, whatever its sources; stylistically and thematically it is a unity.” Culpepper echoes this sentiment and feels that this unity is primarily expressed through:
“thematic development, the spectrum of characters, and the implicit commentary conveyed through irony and symbolism. In other words, the unity of this 'spiritual gospel' is more evident in the subtle elements of its narrative structure than in the obvious ones.”
One example of many that could be offered to demonstrate its unity is the way Nicodemus’ upward spiritual progress can be plotted in the three events of his life that are narrated at the beginning, middle and end of the Gospel story. (R. Brown) Six additional pervasive literary techniques used by John to unify his Gospel involve the close correlation between the narrative’s beginning and conclusion:
1. Thompson notes the use of the word “life” in association with Christ at 1:3-4 and 20:31 as a sort of inclusio (i.e. bracketing bookends) for the whole Gospel and its major theme. An even more significant inclusio is formed from John 1:1,18 and 20:28, both of which equate Jesus with God! Similarly, Jesus' manifestation to others is alluded to in John 1:31 and 21:1,14. Riesner describes a “chain of tradition” beginning with God revealing Himself to Jesus in 1:18 and concluding with Jesus making it known to his Apostles in 21:24.
2. Kostenberger suggests that the three times John the Baptist denies he is the Christ (1:18-27) are paralleled by Peter's three denials in ch.18. It is just as likely that it parallels Peter's three-fold assurance at the end of the Gospel, acting as an inclusio for the whole book.
3. There are several parallels between the two sections, John 11-12 and 20-21, that close the two respective major halves of the Gospel. Aside from one mention in 16:20, all other references to crying appear in chapters 11-12 and 20-21 with three and four respective occurrences. These key passages appear at or near the end of Books I and II, respectively, as do the two specific quotations from the Book of Zechariah. Head wrappings are mentioned in 11:44 and 20:7. The only undisputed dream/visions in John's Gospel appear in the last sections of the two halves (12:27-32; 20:11-13). (J.B.F. Miller) Almost identical predictions of death appear in 12:33 and 21:19. The variously translated verb bastazein is found in 12:6 and 20:15.
4. Near the beginnings of books I and II (chs. 2 and 13, respectively) are sections centered around the theme of cleansing. (Kostenberger) Touching someone's feet is characterized as a menial chore in 1:27 and 13:4-5. Prominent examples of Jesus' use of dual meanings for temple/body are found in 2:19-22 and 13:10-11. Nighttime is associated with both Nicodemus (3:2) and Judas (13:30). Also in these two sections are similar statements about all things being given into Jesus' hands (3:35; 13:3).
5. A number of commentators have pointed out that there are two sequences of six-day events in the life of Jesus recorded here. The first describes the first week of his earthly ministry (1:19-2:11), and the second covers the last week of his life (12:1-19:42). The symbolism of this precise time frame has been felt by some to be related to the six days of creation. That activity was completed by God resting on the seventh day. Using that analogy, the first specifically described six-day period of Jesus ministry is “completed” by his performing the signs of 2:12-11:57 just as the six-day Passion story is “completed” by Jesus’ resurrection appearances in the last two chapters of the Gospel.
6. An alternative way of viewing the whole as a unity is to consider the parallels between the first and last major sections of John’s Gospel. Some of these correspondences are listed below.
Parallel First Section Last Section
Echoes of Gen. 1-2 1:1-4 20:22
“have (eternal) life” 1:4 20:31
One's own home 1:11 20:10
Use of the first person plural 1:14,16 21:24
“bosom” 1:18 21:20
John/Peter questioned three times 1:20-21 21:15-17
Forgiveness of sins 1:29 20:23
Jesus is filled with the Spirit 1:32 20:22
Rare Johannine use of “Holy Spirit” 1:33 20:22
Jesus asks, “Who are you seeking?” 1:38 20:15
Only designations “Simon son of John” 1:42 21:15-17
“Follow me” to the apostles 1:43 21:19,22
Disciples’ negative response to Jesus 1:46 20:25
Nathaniel 1:47 21:2
Rare appearance of angels in this gospel 1:51 20:12
Jesus reveals future fate of an apostle 1:51 21:18-19
Only appearances of word “third” 2:1 21:14,17
“Cana of Galilee” 2:1,11 21:2
Similar rhetorical questions 2:4 21:23
Christ calls a Mary “mother” 2:4 20:15
Christ “manifests” himself 2:11 21:1,14
John's “characteristic asides” 2:11, 21-22 21:19,23
Literal vs. spiritual brothers 2:12 20:17; 21:23
“Sheep” outside of ch. 10 2:14-15 21:16-17
Resurrection predicted and transpires 2:18-22 all
“He was raised from the dead” 2:22 21:14
Only examples of unknown OT quotation 2:22 20:9
Believing by sight 2:23-25 20:29
Those in the dark literally and figuratively 3:2 20:1
Ascending to heaven/the Father 3:13 20:17
Promise of eternal life 3:14-16,36 20:31
First and last of seven uses of “after these” 3:22 21:1
Bridegroom images for Christ 3:28-30 20:1-18
“Manifest” 3 times in each section
In addition, Breck has pointed out the parallels between 1:19-51 and 20:19-21:25 and even attempted to show that together they constitute an example of inverted parallelism. These parallels include Jesus' first and second coming; the respective witnesses of John the Baptist and Thomas; the presence of Nathanael, Peter and two unnamed disciples; and a number of common phrases.
Another particularly interesting set of correspondences involves the dialogue between Jesus and Peter in John 21:15-17. Over the centuries, scholars have puzzled over the “extraordinary variation in the Greek vocabulary” in these few verses with a number of hypotheses propounded regarding the different words employed for love, tend/feed, and the exchange between sheep and lambs. The current thinking among many scholars is that the variations are stylistic in nature and do not connote any real differences in meaning. (Brown, Carson) Structural analysis may perhaps add a little ammunition to such a view. By using “sheep” twice in this verbal exchange and “lamb” once, the following additional parallels are obtained between the first and last sections in the Gospel:
1. “Lamb” only appears in John's Gospel at 1:29-30 and 21:15 (The parallelism is not perfect in that two different Greek words are used – amnos and arnion, respectively.)
2. “Sheep” appears outside of the fifteen instances in ch. 10 only four times in the Gospel, twice each at 2:14-15 and 21:16-17.
In summary, all the many structural techniques used by John to order this Gospel are in service of his stated purpose (see 20:30-31) in composing it. In commenting on these particular verses, O’Day says, “By focusing on the written narration of Jesus’ deeds [and not merely on the deeds themselves], the Fourth Evangelist is asking us to take this narrative seriously.”
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments