Re-reading the Gospel of St John, as one does, I could not
help being again struck by the odd tone of this work and its differences from
the 3 so-called Synoptic Gospels, based on St Mark and on the mysterious source
known to biblical scholars as “Q”. Of course all Gospels are odd to our minds
as they are works of theology, not of history and certainly not of biography. They
are written to assure existing Christians and impress potential converts in 1st
or 2nd century Palestine and the Near East. Factual and
historic accuracy is often doubtful. St John’s Gospel has a distinctive flavour
and is apparently written in a much more educated Greek than that of the three
others.
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| St John from The Book of Kells |
Very little is known of St John the Evangelist, who wrote
the Gospel and 3 rather unimportant epistles, probably in about 110 AD in the
city of Ephesus. He is distinct from the John, son of Zebedee, who was one of
the Disciples and he is not St John the Divine, based in Patmos, who wrote the
apocalyptic Book of Revelation. There is no evidence that our John had even
heard of the other 3 evangelists and of course he was not an eye-witness of any
of the alleged events in his narrative.
His Gospel can be divided into 4 sections. In the first, the
Prologue, he sets out his doctrine of the Word (Logos). I, and no doubt my readers, will remember the bulk of this
chapter being read at school Carol Services:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God
etc, etc. The lesson would be intoned by the headmaster (too tricky to be
entrusted to a boy) and the head would end this rigmarole with magisterial
solemnity. The congregation would be none the wiser as the Logos is a complex, alien, possibly Gnostic and controversial theological
concept and the sonorities of the Authorised Version merely cloud the
surrounding issues.
The second section is the Book of Signs, mainly an account
of miracles performed by Jesus, in part a recruiting call for new converts. The
miracles (called Signs by John) include walking on water, turning water into
wine at Cana, curing the paralysed man at the Pool of Bethesda, feeding the
5,000, giving sight to a blind man and finally the raising of Lazarus, which tipped the Jewish priesthood into plotting the death of Jesus (not the
cleansing of the Temple, as in the 3 Synoptics).
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| The Raising of Lazarus by Duccio |
The Book of Signs also carries a persistent dialogue between
Jesus and “The Jews” (whom John treats with some hostility) but he probably meant
the Jewish priestly authorities, as the majority of early Christians were Jews
too. The dialogue is all about who sent Jesus, his precise relation to the
Jewish God, about him being the door of the sheepfold, about him being the
light of the world and other provocations like “I am the bread that came down
from Heaven”. Jesus reportedly spoke in riddles and the tensions between
Judaism and the Christians were a major feature in 1st and 2nd
century Palestine. Famous metaphorical analogies are cited with Jesus asserting
that he is the bread of life, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life,
the way and the truth and the life, and the true vine.
The third section is known as the Book of Glory and speeds
us through the entry into Jerusalem, the last supper (with Jesus washing the
disciples’ feet, but no mention of sharing bread and wine), the betrayal in the
garden by Judas, the trial before Pilate, the scourging, the denial by Peter,
the vengeful calls of the Jewish leaders, the crucifixion and the resurrection.
The section ends with Jesus’ appearances to the disciples, including to once
doubting Thomas who proclaims “My Lord and my God”.
Finally there is a peculiar Epilogue in chapter 21,
recounting the miracle of the draught of fishes, and a conversation between
Jesus and Peter foretelling the latter’s martyrdom. It is believed to be a
later addition and not by John’s hand.
The Gospel of John is notable for some omissions – no
nativity narrative, no presentation at the Temple, no parables and no sermon on
the mount. Mary, mother of Jesus is not named and the death of Jesus is not
linked to the Pauline notion of atonement. Jesus refers to the coming
appearance of the Holy Spirit, good Trinitarian stuff, but says that “My Father
is greater than I”. These vexed matters I leave to the vast army of theological
writers to explain.
Yet there is no doubt that John’s Gospel was highly
influential and inspired many Christians. I write as a sceptic, wholly devoid
of religious faith, and perhaps I have already written enough. I am not
oblivious to the dictum of Carlyle who declared:
“Scepticism writing about Belief may have great gifts: but
it is really ultra vires there. It is
Blindness laying down the Laws of Optics.”
For better or for worse, I am simply not on the same
wave-length as the Evangelist.
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| The traditional eagle symbol of St John |
SMD
22.07.16
Text Copyright © Sidney Donald 2016
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