Gnostic Notions & John's Gospel

from "The New Testament: A Student's Introduction" by Stephen L. Harris (note: the editing is mine -- Rich).

John's gospel was popular in many Gnostic circles (which may explain its relatively slow acceptance by the church at large). Besides the metaphysical doctrine of Christ's preexistence, John contains many statements expressing classical Gnostic ideas.  Knowing the divine beings -- Father and Son -- is equated with "eternal life" (17: 13).  The assertion that "the spirit alone gives life; the flesh is of no avail" (6: 13) and the emphasis on spiritual rebirth strikingly parallel Gnostic notions.

John's presentation of Jesus' teachings, both public and private, differ so completely from the Synoptic Gospels that many readers may wonder how closely John reflects Jesus' actual words.  If the Galilean prophet consistently spoke in parables and short, proverbial statements -- as Mark, Mathew and Luke insist that he did -- why does John show him delivering only metaphysical discourses about himself? Is John trying to reproduce Jesus' speeches as they were originally uttered, or does he have another purpose?

John gives a clue to his method in a series of farewell speeches that Jesus delivered at the Last Supper (Chs 14-17): a mixture of comforting promises, prayers, and metaphors of a vision between God and believing humanity.  These discourses present Jesus as explaining precisely why he must leave his disciples on earth while he dies and ascended to heaven.  His death is not permanent loss, for he returns to the Father only in order to empower his earthly disciples with the Holy Ghost, which acts as his surrogate among them.

John believes that his community possesses that promised spirit and that it operates in his group exactly as Jesus had foretold.  In John's view, the spirit allows his community to perform several functions that serve the duel purpose of linking members to the human Jesus (now dead) and to the glorified Jesus, whose spirit still lives among them.  The spirit inspires believers to continue Jesus' miraculous work of healing; it answers their prayer for power and knowledge, it provides defense against their opponent's hostile criticism; and -- most important for his preservation of Jesus' teachings -- it enables the "brotherhood" to interpret Jesus' life in its full theological significance  (14: 12-26).

"THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH" a.k.a. "THE COMFORTER"

Speaking as if "the Spirit of Truth" (a.k.a. "The Comforter") were a second self, John's Jesus refers to "the Spirit of Truth" as a divine person who will witness to Christ's identity, revealing him far more fully than is possible during Jesus' human impartation.  One of the Comforter's main purpose is to unveil Jesus true likeness, to paint his portrait in supernal colors.  Thus, John presents Jesus as saying that "He (the Comforter) will glorify me," making Jesus' cosmic meaning known to John's privileged group (16: 12-15).

Directed by the Comforter, John's community not only preserves tradition about Jesus of Nazareth but experiences spirit-directed insights into Jesus' character and nature.  John's task in his gospel is not to record external facts about Jesus' early biography, but to create a portrait of Jesus that duplicates what the Comforter records.  Because the Comforter's function is to define Jesus' glory -- both its heavenly origin and its continuing presence on earth -- John's account must meet the formidable challenge of portraying the real Jesus, delineating both the man and his celestial splendor (compare John's method with Luke's similar implication that Jesus' real story can be told only in terms of his post-resurrection divinity (Luke 24: 25-27, 44-53).

The speeches in John's gospel present a creative assimilation of Jesus' remembered words into highly developed confessions of faith in his divine  and cosmic status.  As they stand in the Gospel, they are probably largely John's creation -- sublime tribute to Jesus' unique role in human redemption.

Many scholars have noted that John's gospel presents Jesus not as a figure of the recent historical past, but as an immortal being who still lives within the community of faith. It promises that Jesus' followers will accomplish "greater things" than the human Jesus (14: 12), John and his church perceive Jesus' continuing presence in their own ministries, thus, in John's gospel, Jesus' speeches and dialog with his opponents manifest a double vision, a two-level drama.  In John's vision of events, the human Jesus of the past and the believers of the present perform this same spirite-directed work.

JESUS' HEALING OF THE BLIND MAN

Chapter 9 offers a good example of John's method.  In recounting Jesus' restoration of sight to a man born blind, John skillfully combines memories of Jesus' healing ministry with the similar miraculous works his old community performs.  The two elements -- Jesus and his later disciples -- can be equated in John's narrative because the same Comforter operates through both parties.  An awareness that John uses a double telling vision, combining historical past and present in telling his stories, will help the reader understand the diverse elements present in this difficult chapter.  Notice that the curative miracle is followed by a series of debates and confrontations between the cured man, his parents, and officials of his synagogue.  The Jewish officials' interrogation of the man reproduces circumstances prevailing not in Jesus' day but in the writer's own time, when Torah authorities cross-examined Jews suspected of regarding Jesus as a Jewish Messiah.  (Do not overlook the reference to the expulsion of Jesus' followers from the synagogue [9: 23,24], a situation that did not develop until well after Jerusalem's destruction in 70 c.e.)

NICODEMUS

The conversation with the Pharisee Nicodemus in chapter 3 reveals a similar conflation (blending) of Jesus' past actions with the Johnine community's ongoing ministry.  Jesus pretended astonishment that one of Israel's most famous teachers does not understand the spirit that motivates Jesus' followers. This echoes the late-first century debate between Jewish authorities and John's group.  Using the first-person plural "we" to signify the whole believing community,

John affirms the spirit's power, while "you" (the disbelievers) refuse to credit the Johnine testimony (3: 9-11).  The reader will also observe that in this dialog Jesus speaks as if he has already returned to heaven (3:13), again reflecting a conviction of the author's community.

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