Gospel of John Seams and Sources

The Gospel of John: Evidence of Seams and Sources
Although the John was written independently of the Synoptic Gospels, this does not mean that his gospel
was written without influence from pre-existing sources (written and/or oral: likely both). And as we have
seen, these sources likely all had their origin in the ministry and events of Jesus life (“Tradition”) resulting in
a familiar but not “parallel” (synoptic) account in John.
We will consider the following three sections of the gospel of John and consider evidence of seams and
sources in his account:
1. Chapters 4-7: the Feeding of the Multitude and Walking on Water
2. 7:53-8:11: The Woman Caught in Adultery
3. The Passion Narrative

Typical Reading (4-7) geography
1. Starts in “Cana” 4:26
2. Goes to Capernaum 4:54
3. Jesus goes “up” to Jerusalem 5:1
4. Jesus travels to “other side of Galilee” 6:1
5. Jesus travels to Capernaum 6:24
6. Jesus “goes about” the Galilee 7:1
Critical Issues:
1. 6:1: Jesus reportedly goes to the "other side
of the Sea of Galilee," though according to
chapter 5, Jesus was nowhere near the Sea of
Galilee.
2. Rather at the end of chapter 5, he is in Judea
in Jerusalem, arguing with "the Jews" about
his authority and the truth of his message.
3. 7:1: Jesus travels around in Galilee because
"the Jews" in Judea want to kill
him. According to chapter 6, he was in
Galilee already, not in Judea.
4. The “festival Of the Jews” referenced in
chapter 6 appears the be the same festival
referenced in chapter 5 (Passover). However,
in chapter 6 is it “near” and in chapter 5 it is
being celebrated: this chronology is out of
order.
5. Chapter 5 ends with the Jews trying to kill
Jesus, this is not picked up again until chapter
7.
1
4
2,5
3
6

Alternative Reading (4,6,5,7) geography
1. Starts in “Cana” 4:26
2. Goes to Capernaum 4:54
3. Jesus travels to “other side of Galilee” 6:1
4. Jesus travels to Capernaum 6:24
5. Jesus goes “up” (against the river) to
Jerusalem 5:1
6. Jesus “goes about” the Galilee 7:1
Timeline and Geographical Agreement:
1. Jesus starts on one side of the Sea of Galilee
in chapter 4 and travels to the other in
chapter 6.
2. Jesus travels back across the Sea of Galilee
in chapter 6 to Capernaum.
3. The “Festival of the Jews” (likely Passover) is
noted to be near in Chapter 6 and then
celebrated in Chapter 5. This also prompts
the journey to Jerusalem.
NOTE: Our earliest manuscripts of John
uses the definite article “the” in chapter 6
and chapter 5in reference to the “festival.”
4. Chapter 5 ends with the Jews trying to kill
Jesus and is immediately picked up again as
a theme in chapter 7.
Critical Issues:
1. Not one single ancient manuscript of John has
the chapters arranged in this order.
1
3
2,4
5
6

“Re-stitching” the Narrative
46 Then he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose
son lay ill in Capernaum…54 Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.
John 4:26, 54
1 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias… 4 Now the Passover, the
festival of the Jews, was near… 22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw that there had
been only one boat there. They also saw that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had
gone away alone. 23 Then some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord
had given thanks. 24 So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the
boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. 59 He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at
Capernaum… 66 Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. 67 So Jesus asked
the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words
of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus answered them, “Did I not
choose you, the twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.” 71 He was speaking of Judas son of Simon Iscariot, for he, though one of
the twelve, was going to betray him. John 6:1, 4, 22-23, 59, 66-71
1 After this there was a/(the) festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem… 16 Therefore the Jews started
persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still
working, and I also am working.” 18 For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only
breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God... 45 Do not think that I
will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 If you believed Moses, you
would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47 But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”
John 5:1, 16-18, 45-46
1 After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an
opportunity to kill him… John 7:1

A comparison of the four feeding accounts reveals a common story:
• Jesus travels across the Sea of Galilee.
• Jesus is met there by a great multitude, numbering (at least) five thousand.
• The need to feed the crowd emerges.
• Only five loaves and two fish are available.
• A command is given for the people to sit.
• Jesus takes the bread and offers a blessing/gives thanks.
• The food is distributed.
• All the people eat until their hunger is satisfied.
• Twelve baskets of leftovers are collected.
While the Gospel of John and the Synoptic gospels do not provide a “parallel” version of Jesus’ ministry and life, there are
some striking similarities which suggest although John and the synoptics were working from independent sources, (at least
some of) these sources share the same base tradition. One of these similarities is the report of the feeding event in John
chapter 6 and the ”Feeding of the 5,000/4,000” pericope as recorded in the synoptics.
The Feeding of the Multitude

There are, however, some notable differences/unique details that are only reported by John.
Unique and Notable Differences/Details only in John:
• The crowds follow Jesus because they saw the signs that he was doing.
• John speaks of Jesus and his disciples going up the mountain, which is different to but not necessarily
in conflict with the synoptics’ deserted place
• Reference is made to the nearness of the Passover, which is the second of three Passovers mentioned
by John.
• In the Synoptic versions, it is disciples who express concern to feed the crowd, but in John it is Jesus
who raises the problem.
• Whereas the synoptics speak generally of Jesus’ disciples, John refers specifically to Philip.
• Only John attributes the fives loaves and two fish to a boy.
• John specifies that the loaves are barley loaves.
NOTE: This seems to echo 2 Kings 4.42: in the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament (known
as the Septuagint), the loaves multiplied by Elisha are specifically barley loaves.
• In John’s account, Jesus gives a command for the leftovers to be gathered up. A reason is also supplied:
so that nothing may be lost
• In John’s Gospel, the feeding of the five thousand is connected to the discourse on the bread on life
(6.22-59), which follows after the walking on the water. The sermon is addressed to you who ate your
fill of the loaves (v. 26) and brings out the significance of the miracle. It points to the food that endures
for eternal life (v. 27).
The Feeding of the Multitude

A comparison of the four Walking on Water accounts reveals a common story:
• Jesus’ disciples get into a boat (without Jesus) and sail off across the sea.
• A storm arises.
• The disciples see Jesus walking on the water and fear grips them.
• Jesus says, “It is I” and tells them not to be afraid.
• Jesus gets into the boat/the disciples want Jesus to get into the boat.
• The danger passes.
We see a similar shared “tradition” in the story of Jesus walking on water as it is reported in the Gospel of John and the
synoptics:
Walking on Water
Unique and Notable Differences/Details only in John:
• John statement’s that it was now dark (v. 17) may have symbolic overtones. In John’s Gospel,
Jesus brings light into the darkness (cf. 8.12; 12.35, 46). The absence of Jesus is thus the
absence of light.
• John mentions the fear of the disciples but does not – in contrast to Mark and Matthew -
relate it to the impression that they are seeing a ghost.
• Jesus’ words, It is I, literally, “I am”, have special significance in John.
• John does not indicate that that the wind ceases; rather, he focuses on the boat’s speedy
arrival at the shore

The Woman Caught in Adultery
We have some clear examples of redaction that have happened in the texts (i.e. Jesus sweating blood in Luke and the
“longer” Markan ending, both of which are not part of our earliest and most reliable manuscripts). This is also true of the
“Woman Caught in Adultery” pericope in John.
53 Then each of them went home, 8 1 while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the
morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began
to teach them. 3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in
adultery; and making her stand before all of them, 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was
caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone
such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They said this to test him, so that they might have some
charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 When
they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you
who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once again he bent down and
wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the
elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus straightened up
and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one,
sir.”And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin
again.”
John 7:53 – 8:11

The Woman Caught in Adultery
There is ample evidence to suggest that this pericope is a later edit to the gospel of John:
1. Most of the ancient authorities either omit 7:53-8:11 or insert it with variations of text
after John 7:52 or at the end of John’s Gospel or after Luke 21:38.
2. The story interrupts the text between John 7:53 and 8:12: the inclusion of these verses
breaks the flow of John’s narrative. Reading from John 7:52 to John 8:12 establishes a
linear fllowing narrative:
7:45 Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them,
“Why did you not arrest him?” 46 The police answered, “Never has anyone spoken like
this!” 47 Then the Pharisees replied, “Surely you have not been deceived too, have
you? 48 Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd,
which does not know the law—they are accursed.” 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus
before, and who was one of them, asked, 51 “Our law does not judge people without first
giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?” 52 They replied, “Surely you
are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from
Galilee… 8:12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows
me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” 13 Then the Pharisees said to
him, “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.” 14 Jesus answered,
“Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come
from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going…
John 7:45-52, 8:12ff
3. The vocabulary used in the story of the adulterous woman is different from what is found
in the rest of the Gospel of John. For example, John never refers to “the scribes”
anywhere in his book—except in John 8:3. There are thirteen other words in this short
section that are found nowhere else in John’s Gospel.
Christ and the woman taken in
adultery, drawing by Rembrandt

The Passion: Where the Traditions Agree
The Passion: Where the Traditions Disagree/Diverge in John
In a similar to our previous two examples of the Feeding of the Multitude and Walking on Water pericopes, the Gospel of
John shares some striking similarities with the synoptics in his account of the Passion of Jesus. However, there are also some
very notable differences. Again, we see a similar, but nor “parallel” account of Jesus Passion in John w=hen compared to the
synoptic. Nevertheless, rather lengthy passion account and the striking similarities between the Synoptics and John suggest
the existence of a “Passion” source. Like in the case of the theoretical Q source, we have unearthed examples of such
gospels, most notably the Gospel of Peter.

The Passion: Where the Traditions Agree
The Passion: Where the Traditions Disagree/Diverge in John

Over and above the striking
similarities and differences
between the Passion Narratives
of the Synoptics in comparison to
John, there is one irreconcilable
difference (from a modern
historical perspective) between
the synoptics’ timeline of Jesus’
Passion and that of John’s: John
has the supper occur before the
Passover Feast and Jesus’
crucifixion a day before.
Why might this be? Recall the
following:
1. Ancient Biographies (a form
the gospels clearly fall into)
emphasize character and
historical perspective over
chronological accuracy.
2. The Gospel of John is
theologically portraying Jesus
as the “Lamb of God:” The
(ultimate) Passover Lamb
who establishes a new
Covenant with God and
humanity and overcomes
humanities’ estrangement
from God.
The Passion: Two Dates for the Crucifixion

• “John differs from the Synoptic Gospels also in the date which he gives for the crucifixion:
• According to Mark the last supper was a Passover meal; that is, it was eaten in the early
hours of Nisan 15; the arrest and trial took place in the same night and in the course of the
next (solar) day Jesus was crucified. All these events took place on Nisan 15. “
• -According to John the crucifixion happened on Nisan 14, the day before the Passover; the
last supper must have been eaten the preceding evening. Thus the events are set a day
earlier than in Mark, and the last supper is no longer the Paschal meal; Jesus died at the time
when the Passover sacrifices were being killed in the Temple. Here again is a real
contradiction; it seems impossible to reconcile the dates.”
– C. K. Barrett, President of the Society for New Testament Studies (1973)
However, if we read the gospels as Ancient Biographies with clear theological agenda and we
understand John’s theological perspective, this chronological discrepancy is not of much
concern. Rather, noting it and analyzing it helps us to better understand the 4th gospel writer’s
unique perspective and the theological claim he wished to assert about the significance of Jesus’
death and subsequent resurrection.
The Passion: Two Dates for the Crucifixion

The Cleansing of the Temple
Similarities
John agrees with the Synoptics on several basic elements:
1. Jesus arrives in Jerusalem during the time of the Passover.
2. Jesus enters the temple’s outer courtyard and begins to make a scene.
3. There is similar vocabulary in both versions, including the words for “tables” [τράπεζα (trapeza)] and “money changers”
[κολλυβιστῶν (kollybistōn)].
4. Jewish scripture is quoted by Jesus to justify his actions.
5. In the Johannine and Markan versions, Jesus is wholly successful.
a. John says he drove them “all” [πάντας (pantas)] out.
b. Mark claims that nobody could carry a vessel through the temple.
c. Both authors concur that for a period of time, just before Passover, Jesus single-handedly blocked all temple
trade.
Differences
1. The Gospel of Mark indicates that it was in the last week of his life that Jesus “cleansed the Temple” by overturning the
tables of the money changers and saying, “This is to be a house of prayer…but you have made it a den of thieves”
(Mark 11), whereas according to John this happened at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry (John 2).
2. In John’s version we have not just birds and money changers, but large, domesticated animals: sheep and oxen.
3. The synoptics use a different quotation from the Old Testament to describe the reason for the temple cleansing. While
the synoptics quote Jesus saying “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations ‘? But
you have made it a robbers’ den” (Mk.11:17, Mt.21:13, Lk.19:46), John on the other hand, justifies Jesus’ action in
different way. We read in John 2:17: “His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume
me.”
4. In John, Jesus uses a whip to drive the money changers out of the temple.

The Cleansing of the Temple
Kairological Arrangement of Events in John
As we have seen, the gospel writers, writing in the form of Ancient
Biographies, were not necessarily overly concerned with the chronology of
events but rather with conveying the substance of their perspective on Jesus’
life. Why, then, might have John moved the Temple Cleansing pericope to
beginning of his gospel?
John not seems to kairologically order his gospel by theme (e.g., seven signs,
seven-day opening, seven-day account of the passion, chiasm in the “I am”
statements etc.). Furthermore, John says that the Word became flesh and
“tented” or “tabernacle” among us (1:14), which can be seen as fulfilling an
Old Testament promise that God’s glory would again return to His temple
(e.g., Malachi 3:1).
Moreover, John reinterprets the meaning of Passover by revealing Jesus as
the quintessential Passover lamb (John 1:29, 36). As such, it could be logically
concluded that John might introduce his account of Christ’s temple cleansing
early in his gospel narrative to pit Jesus against the ritualized Passover lamb.
While such a notion does not set well with a fundamentalist reading of
literature, it accords well with a nuanced and highly sophisticated reckoning
of time particular to the ancients (i.e. a kairological interpretation, which
reckons time not in terms of our familiar chronological ordering but in terms
of a quality of purpose in which an event is said to occur at “just the right
time”) In other words, even if there was only one historical temple cleansing,
one might logically assume that John communicates it kairologically as
opposed to chronologically.

Gospel of John Seams and Sources

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Gospel of John Seams and Sources

Similar to Gospel of John Seams and Sources (20)

More from Erich Eiermann

More from Erich Eiermann (11)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Gospel of John Seams and Sources