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.
234 MARK JENNINGS
In presenting the image of Jesus preparing a place in the Father’s
house for his followers, John reveals a different understanding. The
real dwelling of God is not of this world, but is spiritual. Those who
follow Jesus, pursuing the mission of revealing him to the world
as he revealed the Father, have the hope of being reunited with him.
The real house of God is for those whom Jesus will take with him
at the end, and so it is eschatological and not of the present age 91.
John goes one step further than Mark to state that, beyond the de-
struction of an earthly temple, beyond suffering and death, Jesus’
followers will dwell together with him and the Father forever in
the afterlife.
4. Assessment and Implications
Having observed the similarities and differences between the
two evangelists, it is now appropriate to assess these similarities
considering the possibility of John’s use of Mark. Once again, we
will speculate concerning what the differences may tell us about
the emphases of the fourth evangelist.
The Parousia is the central theme of Mark 13,24-27 and the climax
of the Markan Olivet Discourse. For Mark, this return is important in
that it ends the suffering of the elect and signals the commencement
of the Kingdom of God. As we noted in commenting on John 13,31-
33, the fourth evangelist uses the same motif of the Parousia to fashion
a narrative which functions within John’s thought and purposes. It is
not the commencement of the Kingdom of God or the cessation of
suffering which is of primary importance here, but the fact that Jesus
and his followers will be reunited once again.
If we assume that John is using Mark, there is a reversal of
thought evident. For Mark it is the Parousia which makes the gath-
ering of the elect significant. Conversely in John it is the reunion
which gives the second coming significance. It is possible that John
has taken the Markan Parousia motif and modified it to bring out
Loader indicates that Mark also proposes the idea of a spiritual temple,
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formed by the community of believers, an uncorrupted house of prayer for
all people (LOADER, Fundamentalism, 46-47). This would mean the church
becomes the spiritual temple, which is still very different from John’s view
of the Father’s house as heaven.
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