Besides the differences in synopsis, The Gospel of John as a significantly different discourse when talking about Jesus. Also his claims are much more grand than any other of the Gospels. His prologue asserts that Jesus, was always the Son of God, even before his arrival on Earth. He is also the word and the light, and with all of these things together, without explicitly saying it, John refers to Jesus as the Logos. This eternal Jesus becomes the sole mediator between the divine and the earthly world. This discourse is why scholars refer to The Gospel of John as “high Christology”, because he is more divine here than any other gospel. However it is important to note that John makes the distinction that even though Jesus is Logos, he is still subordinate to God; which will help develop the tradition of the holy trinity.
Later, John attributes Jesus to saying very divine things. Unlike in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus here elaborates his own divine role. These are referred to as the “I am” passages, which all include quotes of Jesus making declarations about himself. the first, in John 6:35, Jesus compares himself to the bread of life, in which through him their lives will be fulfilled. One of the most quoted John Verses is 8:12, in which Jesus claims he is the Light of the world, and again whoever finds him (the light) will not wander in darkness. Then, Jesus uses another incredibly similar analogy, begging he question why are these statements so evenly spread apart? In 10:7 Jesus compares himself to a gate for sheep, once again being the middle man to salvation, and without him there will be none. In John 14:6, Jesus doesn’t use an analogy to explain his divinity, but finally blatantly says that he is the way in life, and anyone that knows him will also know God. This is interesting how many times he had to say the same thing, and eventually say upright and obvious. because then John 15 starts off with the same message of high Christology, but once again Jesus uses an equivalent analogy, of him being the vine, and God being the vine grower. Meaning God has set in place the opportunity to flourish spiritually, but you must go through Jesus.
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Team 2 Question 1
The gospel writers were biblical scholars, so it is not surprising that the gospels use inclusio or “sandwiching” a key story within a larger parable. Jesus’ miracles in Mark 8:22-26 and 10:46-52 both have meaning and purpose but also function in the larger context. Both of these miracles involve Jesus curing a man of blindness and served to improve the disciples’ understanding of whom Jesus was. The surrounding text also has important meaning though, because this is where peter misunderstands who Jesus is. The healing of the blind man at Bethsadia, came immediately after the boat scene in which Jesus chastises the disciples for lack of understanding. The miracle serves as a set-up for peters dialogue with Jesus. It is clear that peter has some inclination to whom Jesus really is, however his rebuke that Jesus shouldn’t have to die, shows his understanding is incomplete (8:29). It is clarified further in Jesus miracle in 10:46-52, where a blind beggar called him son of David. This is the root of everyone’s misunderstanding, because they see Jesus as a Jewish prophet or messiah, not Son of God or Son of Man. It is presumed that because of the prevalence of past prophets, the people of this time expected him to be similar. the two miracles involving curing blindness, and their position in the text can be taken as symbolism for the disciples, or specifically peters, blindness. Past prophets such as Elijah or David did not show benevolence and divine power towards all.
Jesus’ benevolence is the key shift he’s trying to convey about the people of God and the kingdom. Political Judaism exclusionary foundations and maintained them through rules and rituals. However through these passages (9:33-37; 9:38-41; 9:42-48; 10:13-16; 10:17-31; 10:41-45) Jesus keeps reminding everyone that through belief in him all will be welcomed. But Jesus seems to be hammering this idea in them, because everyone at the time, including his disciples were heard headed. In 10:17-31, a man asked Jesus if he follows all of the commandments his whole life does that make him good? When Jesus obviously responds no one is good except God, he further asks what more he could do. Jesus has to specify to give all his possessions to the poor, and that money is directly in the way of the people entering the kingdom of heaven (10:23). He is so adamant about this because the conevntional norm was wealth acquisition was unequivocally good and had nothing to do with entering the kingdom of heaven because most of their prophets and role models were kings.
Team 1, Question 1
The story of Judas is in all four gospels, however the story changes between each of them. However all these stories have the same key plot points essential to the Crucifixion story. But these plot points are expanded upon and narrativized to create a coherent and interesting story. These additions, which were probably added because of the fluid nature of oral tradition, we can call “nodes”.
In the gospel of Mark Judas is portrayed to “give up” Jesus, which is inherently different than intentionally betraying him. Mark still notes the reward Judas received; White claims Judas did this with no expectation of reward, and possibly did so to pressure Jesus into making a messianic claim.
Matthew expands upon this original story, by directly quoting Judas demanding compensation if he turns in Jesus. The addition seems to only serve for dramatic purposes, so presumably this was a node of oral tradition. Although Matthew portrayed Judas as malicious, he still humanized him. Judas was a greedy friend, but not a source of evil.
Luke furthers this villainization by adding Satan to the story. Judas becomes possessed by the evil spirit in order to capture Jesus. This addition makes for an incredibly compelling story, but contradicts the savior claims made by John. Because, if the Crucifixion and resurrection were essential for Jesus’s ascension into a messianic figure, then Judas’s role was unavoidable.
The Gospel of John depicts an incredibly detailed narrative of the last supper and Judas story. His Gospel is particularly interesting because his use of non-linear story telling. He interrupts his narrative story to explain what Judas will spend the blood money on, and how he will be accidentally killed (in a gruesome way). This addition or “node” is similar to the ones in Luke and Matthew in their discursive frames. Adding dialogue to increase drama and credibility, villainization of Jesus’ betrayer to confirm his benevolence, and tangent stories to exemplify Judas’ maliciousness, all are indicative of oral story telling, which was the foundation for christian belief, before the Gospels were even written.