Luis Sánchez Navarro, «Estructura testimonial del Evangelio de Juan», Vol. 86 (2005) 511-528
Following the Prologue (John 1,1-18), the Gospel of John is demarcated by an
inclusio which extends from 1,19 ("And this is the witness of John") to 21,24
("This is the disciple who bears witness"). This Gospel contains a multiple
witness to Jesus as Messiah and as Son of God (cf. 20,31), organized around two
main characters: John (1,19 -> 10,42) and the beloved disciple (13,1 -> 21,25). In
the central unit (11, -> 12,50), which serves as a link between the two sections,
the Father intervenes by rising up Lazarus (11,41-44) and makes His own voice
heard from heaven (12,28); through these events the Father bears the supreme
witness to Jesus. In this way, the Gospel appears as a testimonial triptych with a
christological purpose.
54 Cornelis Bennema
also for their spiritual liberation. Jesus’ word of rebuke in 18,11 aimed
to liberate Peter from militant activism (60). In his dialogue with Pilate
in 18,33–19,11, Jesus implicitly offers political liberation from
oppressive rules such as Rome since his non-violent kingdom is not
“from this worldâ€. However, although Jesus’ kingdom is not from this
world — its source is not “from below†— yet it exists and operates in
this world, and the demand for an exclusive allegiance to Jesus and
his rule will inevitably clash with loyalties to regimes and ideologies
“from this world†(61).
At whom is Jesus’ “sword†aimed, i.e., who are the recipients of
Jesus’ teaching, and for which purpose? Jesus’ teaching is not merely
for the Jewish nation but for the world at large (8,26; 18,20). This is
not surprising if one remembers that Jesus’ entire mission was geared
towards the world (1,9; 3,16-17; 10,16; 11,51-52; 12,47; 16,28;
17,18), and that everyone is in need of spiritual liberation. Moreover,
Jesus’ interaction with so-called “outsidersâ€, such as the Samaritans,
“the Greeks†in 12,20-23 and Pilate, also reveals that his liberating
mission goes beyond Israel’s physical and ethnic borders (cf. 10,16).
In fact, the purpose of Jesus’ “sword†is to sift the world and to
constitute a new “Israelâ€, a new community that is liberated from
spiritual oppression and that demonstrates an exclusive allegiance to
Jesus and his kingdom.
3. The Transference of the Messiah’s Sword to the Disciples
After his departure, Jesus will send to his disciples the Spirit-
Paraclete to continue his mission in this world. As “the Spirit of truthâ€,
the Paraclete will mediate the liberating truth present in Jesus’ words
to the disciples to inform and empower their liberating witness to the
world (14,26; 15,26-27; 16,12-15). Moreover, connecting 16,8-11
with 16,12-15, the Paraclete will convict the world of sin,
righteousness and judgment in order to liberate the world precisely
through the disciples’ witness because the world cannot see or know
the Paraclete (14,17). People who are confronted with the disciples’
Paraclete-imbued witness of truth are in fact confronted with Jesus’
Spirit-imbued word itself and hence this witness is expected to have
the same liberating effects. That is, the correlated witness of the
(60) Cf. HOWARD-BROOK, Children, 378.
(61) Cf. RENSBERGER, Faith, 96-100, 116-118; HOWARD-BROOK, Children,
399-400; HENGEL, “Kingdomâ€, 340-341, 355.