Commentary on John , livre ebook

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© 2012 by Baker Publishing Group
Published by Baker Books
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Ebook short created 2019
Previously published in The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary edited by Gary M. Burge and Andrew E. Hill in 2012
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ISBN 978-1-4934-2466-5
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Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Abbreviations
Introduction
Commentary

1. The Prologue (1:1–18)
2. The Book of Signs (1:19–12:50)
A. The Testimony of John the Baptist (1:19–51)
B. Jesus and the Institutions of Judaism (2:1–4:54)
C. Jesus and the Festivals of Judaism (5:1–10:42)
D. Foreshadowing Death and Resurrection (11:1–12:50)
3. The Book of Glory (13:1–20:31)
A. The Passover Meal (13:1–30)
B. The Farewell Discourse (13:31–17:26)
C. The Passion (18:1–19:42)
D. The Resurrection (20:1–29)
E. Conclusion (20:30–31)
4. Epilogue (21:1–25)
A. The Miracle of 153 Fish (21:1–14)
B. Jesus and Peter (21:15–23)
C. Appendix (21:24–25)
Time Lines
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Abbreviations ANET Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament . Edited by J. B. Pritchard. 3rd ed. Princeton, 1969 BDAG Bauer, W., F. W. Danker, W. F. Arndt, and F. W. Gingrich. Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Chicago, 1999 ca. circa (about, approximately) cf. compare chap(s). chapter(s) COS The Context of Scripture . Edited by W. W. Hallo. 3 vols. Leiden, 1997– e.g. for example ESV English Standard Version HALOT Koehler, L., W. Baumgartner, and J. J. Stamm. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. Translated and edited under the supervision of M. E. J. Richardson. 5 vols. Leiden, 1994–2000 HCSB Holman Christian Standard Bible i.e. that is KJV King James Version NASB New American Standard Bible NEB New English Bible NET New English Translation NIV New International Version (2011 edition) NIV 1984 New International Version (1984 edition) NJB New Jerusalem Bible NJPS The Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures: The New JPS Translation according to the Traditional Hebrew Text NKJV New King James Version NLT New Living Translation NRSV New Revised Standard Version RSV Revised Standard Version TDOT Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament . Edited by G. J. Botterweck and H. Ringgren. Translated by J. T. Willis, G. W. Bromiley, and D. E. Green. 8 vols. Grand Rapids, 1974– TNIV Today’s New International Version
John
Gary M. Burge
Introduction
Few books of the Bible have influenced the life and thought of the Christian church as has the Fourth Gospel. Its readers have always noted its profundity and literary energy. Here Christians have discovered a portrait of Christ that has been deeply satisfying. We are intrigued to witness how John joins intimacy of expression with penetrating insight. Scholars have poured so much energy into unraveling the Gospel’s many enigmas that the flood of academic articles and books shows no sign of abating. Yet the Gospel seems to evade our grasp and as a result has become an inexhaustible subject of interest.
Until the eighteenth century, the Fourth Gospel was held to be the most accurate and valuable Gospel. But the rise of biblical criticism eclipsed John’s prominence. Critics noted its differences from the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke). Lengthy discourses replaced parables and pithy sayings. John’s language and theology seemed to indicate that here the story of Jesus had been refashioned for the Greek world. The result: the Fourth Gospel could no longer be viewed as contributing reliably to the history of Jesus’s life. Critics looked on its early apostolic origin with grave doubt.

Today scholars hold a variety of opinions concerning this Gospel. They are constantly weighing textual, grammatical, historical, and theological issues. And there are few “agreed” results. This alone should caution us when yet another interpretative theory is ushered into view. But at least one trend can be charted in this mass of literature. Since the 1950s a fresh appreciation for John has become almost universal. While John does diverge from the Synoptic Gospels, its independent narratives are still to be valued. For instance, only John records Jesus’s dialogue with Nicodemus, but this single witness in no way implies that the incident never happened. More importantly, John’s cultural orientation is now viewed as heavily dependent on the Palestinian Judaism of Jesus’s day. In other words, John’s thought world does not have to be Greek. For example, important Jewish scrolls discovered near Israel’s Dead Sea (Qumran) have proved that Judaism in Jesus’s day was using language similar to that of the Fourth Gospel. Even archaeological finds have substantiated some of the specific narratives of the Gospel that formerly had weathered heavy criticism (e.g., the pool with five porticoes in 5:2).
This “new look” has reopened a number of old questions. If John’s frame of reference is Jewish, then the Gospel’s date may be early. And if it is early, it may have originated with the circle of apostles—even John the son of Zebedee. Now the possibility of apostolic authority behind the Gospel is a legitimate defensible alternative. Johannine study has indeed come full circle.
Above all, this new outlook on John demands that the interpreter seriously employ the Old Testament and all available Jewish materials. No longer will it suffice to interpret, for example, the miracle at Cana (2:1–11) in terms of the Hellenistic god Dionysus of Thrace, who also supposedly changed water into wine. On the contrary, John’s primary reference is to Jesus’s messianic announcement (using Old Testament and Synoptic imagery). This will be the approach used in this commentary. The message of the Fourth Gospel is clothed with allusions and metaphors that spring from first-century Judaism. Granted, this Judaism was complex and well acquainted with Greek influences, but still, the Gospel’s text is elucidated best when seen as firmly rooted in the Old Testament and Palestinian Judaism.

An icon of John from a larger piece entitled Christ and Twelve Apostles (Antalya, Turkey, nineteenth century AD) [ Copyright © Baker Photo Archive. Courtesy of the Antalya Museum, Turkey. ]
Authorship
The Fourth Gospel provides no explicit internal evidence concerning its author. “John” is nowhere identified as such. But this silence is not unusual and is a feature found in the Synoptics as well. The Fourth Gospel may, however, provide us with clues concealed in the enigmatic figure of the “beloved disciple” (NIV “the disciple whom Jesus loved”). This title occurs five times in John (13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20). John 21:24 describes the beloved disciple as the one “who testifies to these things and who wrote them down.” Therefore the origin of the Gospel must in some way be connected to this person. The Gospel of John may be a record of his eyewitness account of Jesus’s life.
But who is this disciple? First, some have suggested that he is an idealized literary figure: the ideal Christian disciple. To a degree this is true (he is faithful and intimate in his knowledge of Jesus). But this hardly excludes the possibility of a genuine historical person. Second, Lazarus has sometimes been nominated. Lazarus is the only male figure said t