Mark Jennings, «The Fourth Gospel’s Reversal of Mark in John 13,31‒14,3», Vol. 94 (2013) 210-236
I argue that the author/s of the Fourth Gospel knew Mark, based on the reversal of certain Markan themes found in John. No attempt is made here to suggest the kind of literary dependence which is the basis of the Synoptic problem. Rather, my thesis is that the author/s of John may have used Mark from memory, writing deliberately to reverse the apocalyptic tendencies found in the Second Gospel. Isolated incidents of this possible reversal demonstrate little, but this paper proposes that the cumulative force of many such reversals supports the thesis of John's possible knowledge of Mark.
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THE FOURTH GOSPEL’S REVERSAL OF MARK IN JOHN 13,31‒14,3
4. Summary
The common motifs of glory and the Son of Man, coupled with
a clear correlation in the context of a farewell discourse, may con-
stitute evidence of a connection here between Mark and John. The
emphatic and almost enigmatic nature of Jesus’ words in John
13,31-33 suggests that John is aware of Mark or of a similar tradi-
tion, and writes deliberately to reverse this. This reversal in thought,
placed alongside the apparent reversal in order between the two
passages, suggests that John may have known Mark and written
deliberately to reverse the Markan emphasis.
II. John 13,33-38: A new commandment,
and the prediction of Peter’s denial
This is a critical verse in the discourse, as elements from this
saying are expanded throughout the Final Discourse 26. For John,
the motif of discipleship is expressed in the analogy of “followingâ€
Jesus, or doing what Jesus did: making the Father known. Jesus is
about to commence the final stage of this journey, which will see
him complete this mission and return to the Father through his
death and resurrection. Reference is made here to earlier points in
the narrative where Jesus said to the Jews: “You will seek me…
and where I am going you cannot come†(7,34; 8,21). Like the
Jews, Jesus’ disciples cannot understand the true significance of
who Jesus is and where he is going 27.
However, Jesus does not tell his disciples that they will never
find him or follow him (which is exactly what he tells “the Jewsâ€).
The disciples cannot follow Jesus on this “way†(14,6) now, but
they will participate in the mission of Jesus. The children 28 will
find him as they obediently “follow†Jesus on the “way†of reveal-
allel of motif, rather than Johannine dependence on Mark or 1 Thessalonians
(G.R. BEASLEY-MURRAY, Jesus and the Future [London 1956] 237-238).
LOADER, Christology, 59; SCHNACKENBURG, John, III, 52-53.
26
MOLONEY, Glory not Dishonor, 25.
27
The use of τεκνία here is appropriate, since what follows is a farewell
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discourse, which is often set in the context of a dying father instructing his
children (BROWN, John, 611).
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