The Gospel of John

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Literary Seams in John:  The Texts

Quotations from Bart Ehrman, The New Testament:
A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings,
(Oxford, 1997), pp. 143-4.

Problem 1

In chapter 2,

Jesus performs his 'first sign' (2:11)
in Cana of Galilee
by changing the water into wine.

In chapter 4,

he does his 'second sign' (4:54)
after returning to Galilee from Judea,
healing the Capernaum official's son.

The problem emerges when you read what happens
between the first and second signs, for

In 2:23,

while Jesus was in Jerusalem
many people believed in him 'because
they saw the signs that he was doing.'

So in the actual order in the text of the gospel . . .

2:11 Jesus did this,
the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee,
and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

2:23 When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival,
many believed in his name because
they saw the signs that he was doing.

4:54 Now
this was the second sign that Jesus did
after coming from Judea to Galilee.

Problem 2

In John 2:23, Jesus is in Jerusalem, the capital of Judea.
While there, he engages in a discussion with Nicodemus
that lasts until 3:21.
The next verse 3:22 says,
"After this Jesus and his disciples went into the land of Judea."
But they are already in the land of Judea, in fact, in its capital.

2:23 When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival,
many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing.
2:24 But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people
2:25 and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone.

The Famous "Born Again" Passage (that really isn't) Follows:

3:1 Now there was
a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews.
3:2 He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi,
we know that you are a teacher who has come from God;
for no one can do these signs that you do
apart from the presence of God."
3:3 Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you,
no one can see the kingdom of God
without being born from above."
3:4 Nicodemus said to him,
"How can anyone be born after having grown old?
Can one enter a second time
into the mother's womb and be born?"
3:5 Jesus answered,
"Very truly, I tell you,
no one can enter the kingdom of God
without being born of water and Spirit.
3:6 What is born of the flesh is flesh,
and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.
3:7 Do not be astonished that I said to you,
'You must be born from above.'
3:8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it,
but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.
So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
3:9 Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?"
3:10 Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel,
and yet you do not understand these things?
3:11 "Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know
and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony.
3:12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe,
how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
3:13 No one has ascended into heaven except
the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

The Famous "God so Loved the World" Passage Follows:

3:14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
3:15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
3:16 "For God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him
may not perish but may have eternal life.
3:17 "Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved through him.
3:18 Those who believe in him are not condemned;
but those who do not believe are condemned already,
because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
3:19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world,
and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.
3:20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light,
so that their deeds may not be exposed.
3:21 But those who do what is true come to the light,
so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God."

3:22 After this
Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean Land,*
and he spent some time there with them and baptized.

*"Some modern translations have gotten around this problem
by mistranslating verse 22 to say that they went into the 'countryside of Judea,'
but this is not the meaning of the Greek word for 'land.'" Ehrman, p. 144.

Problem 3

In John 5:1, Jesus goes to Jerusalem,
where he spends the entire chapter healing and teaching.
The author's comment after his discourse is somewhat puzzling:
"After this, Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee" (6:1).
How could he go to the other side of the sea
if he is not already on one of its sides.
In fact, he is nowhere near the Sea of Galilee;
he is in Jerusalem of Judea.

4:54 Now this was the second sign that Jesus did
after coming from Judea to Galilee.
5:1 After this there was a festival of the Jews,
and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Jesus Violates the Sabbath by Healing the Paralytic on the Sabbath

5:2 Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. 5:3 In these lay many invalids--blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5:5 One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 5:6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" 5:7 The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me." 5:8 Jesus said to him, "Stand up, take your mat and walk." 5:9 At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a sabbath. 5:10 So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, "It is the sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat." 5:11 But he answered them, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Take up your mat and walk.'" 5:12 They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, 'Take it up and walk'?" 5:13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there. 5:14 Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you."

The Jews  seek to Kill Jesus for Healing on the Sabbath
but also for Making himself Equal to God

5:15 The man went away and told the Jews
that it was Jesus who had made him well.
5:16 Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus,
because he was doing such things on the sabbath.
5:17 But Jesus answered them, "My Father is still working, and I also am working."
5:18 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.

To this is attached a Discourse of Jesus in which
he really makes himself Equal to God

5:19 Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. 5:20 The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished. 5:21 Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. 5:22 The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, 5:23 so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 5:24 Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life. 5:25 "Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 5:26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; 5:27 and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 5:28 Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 5:29 and will come out--those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. 5:30 "I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me. 5:31 "If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 5:32 There is another who testifies on my behalf, and I know that his testimony to me is true. 5:33 You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth. 5:34 Not that I accept such human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 5:35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 5:36 But I have a testimony greater than John's. The works that the Father has given me to complete, the very works that I am doing, testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. 5:37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen his form, 5:38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, because you do not believe him whom he has sent. 5:39 "You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf. 5:40 Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. 5:41 I do not accept glory from human beings. 5:42 But I know that you do not have the love of God in you. 5:43 I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. 5:44 How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? 5:45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 5:46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 5:47 But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?"

6:1 After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee,
also called the Sea of Tiberias.

Problem 4

"At Jesus' last meal with his disciples, Peter asks,
'Lord, where are you going?' (13:36).
A few verses later, Thomas says to Jesus, (why Peter and Thomas again?)
'Lord, we do not know where you are going' (14:5).
Oddly enough, several minutes later, Jesus states,
'But now I am going to him who sent me;
yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' (16:5)!"

*Note the similarities between the material in chapters 14 and 16, a significant redundancy in John:
"These passages may derive from different sources.
Chapters 14 and 16 are remarkably alike in their key themes.
Jesus is leaving the world but the disciples should not grieve
because the Holy Spirit will come in his stead;
the disciples will be hated by the world, but
will be instructed and encouraged by the Spirit.

Problem 5

"At the end of chapter 14,
after delivering a speech of nearly a chapter and a half,
Jesus says to his disciples, 
'I will no longer talk much with you . . .
Rise, let us be on our way' (14:30-31).
the reader might expect them to get up and go,
but instead Jesus launches into another discourse: 15:1.
That goes on for all of chapter 15, all of chapter 16,
and leads into the prayer that takes up all of chapter 17.
Jesus and his disciples do not leave until 18:1.
Why would Jesus say, 'Rise, let us go,'
and then not leave for three chapters?"

14:30 I will no longer talk much with you,
for the ruler of this world is coming.
He has no power over me;
14:31 but I do as the Father has commanded me,
so that the world may know that I love the Father.
Rise, let us be on our way.
15:1 "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. 15:2 He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. 15:3 You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. 15:4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. 15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 15:6 Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 15:7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 15:8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. 15:9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 15:10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 15:11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. 15:12 "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 15:13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. 15:14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15:15 I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 15:16 You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 15:17 I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another. 15:18 "If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. 15:19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world--therefore the world hates you. 15:20 Remember the word that I said to you, 'Servants are not greater than their master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. 15:21 But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. 15:22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 15:23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 15:24 If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not have sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 15:25 It was to fulfill the word that is written in their law, 'They hated me without a cause.' 15:26 "When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. 15:27 You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning. 16:1 "I have said these things to you to keep you from stumbling. 16:2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God. 16:3 And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me. 16:4 But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them. "I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 16:5 But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' 16:6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 16:8 And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 16:9 about sin, because they do not believe in me; 16:10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; 16:11 about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. 16:12 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 16:13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 16:14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 16:15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 16:16 "A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me." 16:17 Then some of his disciples said to one another, "What does he mean by saying to us, 'A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me'; and 'Because I am going to the Father'?" 16:18 They said, "What does he mean by this 'a little while'? We do not know what he is talking about." 16:19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, "Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, 'A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me'? 16:20 Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. 16:21 When a woman is in labor, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world. 16:22 So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. 16:23 On that day you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 16:24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. 16:25 "I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but will tell you plainly of the Father. 16:26 On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; 16:27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 16:28 I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father." 16:29 His disciples said, "Yes, now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure of speech! 16:30 Now we know that you know all things, and do not need to have anyone question you; by this we believe that you came from God." 16:31 Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe? 16:32 The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. 16:33 I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!" 17:1 After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 17:2 since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 17:4 I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 17:5 So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. 17:6 "I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 17:7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; 17:8 for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 17:9 I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 17:10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. 17:11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 17:12 While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. 17:13 But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. 17:14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17:15 I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. 17:16 They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17:17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 17:18 As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth. 17:20 "I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 17:21 that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 17:22 The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 17:23 I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 17:24 Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 17:25 "Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. 17:26 I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them."
18:1 After Jesus had spoken these words,
he went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley
to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered.

The Solution: Source Theory

Source theory can solve these problems.
The author seems to have had two different accounts (A and B)
of what happened at Jesus' last meal with his disciples.
Account A told the stories that are now located in chapters 13, 14, and 18;
Account B told the stories found in chapters 15, 16, and 17 (see figure below).

If the author of the Fourth gospel inserted account B into account A,
between what is now the end of chapter 14 and the beginning of chapter 18,
this would explain all the problems we have discussed:

• There is repetition between chapters 14 and 16
  because the author used two accounts of the same event and joined them together.
• Jesus states that 'no one asks me, Where are you going?'
  because in account B (chs. 15-17) no one had asked him where he was going;
  the questions of Peter and Thomas were originally found in the other account (A).
• In account A Jesus had said, 'Arise, let us go,'
  and he and his disciples immediately got up and went.
  In the final version of John they do not get up and go for three chapters
  because account B was interposed between two verses (14:31 and 18:1)
  that stood together in account A."

So what was the original source of such widely know bible stories?

Appendix

John Versus Peter

The Ending of John