Philipp F. Bartholomä, «John 5,31-47 and the Teaching of Jesus in the Synoptics. A Comparative Approach.» filologia-neotestamentaria page 390

Philipp F. Bartholomä, «John 5,31-47 and the Teaching of Jesus in the Synoptics. A Comparative Approach.»

Within Johannine scholarship, the assumed differences between Jesus’ teaching in John and in the Synoptics have frequently led to a negative judgment about Johannine authenticity. This article proposes a comparative approach that distinguishes between different levels of similarity in wording and content and applies it to John 5,31-47. What we find in this discourse section corresponds conceptually to a significant degree with the picture offered in the Synoptics, though couched in a very different idiom. Thus, the comparative evidence does not preclude us from accepting this particular part of Johannine speech material as an authentic representation of the actual content of Jesus’words.

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Biblica_1:Layout 1 21-11-2011 12:59 Pagina 390 390 PHILIPP F. BARTHOLOMÃ„ evidence. Having established the methodological necessity for a dis- tinction between wording and content, our study has shown that while semantically the Jesus of John 5,31-47 does not stand in close prox- imity to the Synoptic Jesus, conceptually only two proposition of this discourse (John 5,33a.45a) have no parallel in Matthew, Mark, or Luke (i.e., a [0/0-level of closeness]). Further, none of these Johan- nine words significantly add to or even contradict the theology of the Synoptic Jesus. Not only are there no significant dissimilarities or contradictions in content, but the main propositions of this discourse section resemble conceptually (some to a lesser, some to a greater degree) the teaching of Jesus as represented elsewhere in the canon- ical Gospels. While the motif of the Father testifying to Jesus is not absent in the Synoptics (John 5,31-32.36.37b par., Luke 11,20 par.; Matt 11,4-5 par. [0/1-level of closeness]), the reference to the Baptist as another important witness to his ministry is completely in line with Jesusâ€™ synoptic teaching (John 5,33b-35 par., Matt 11,7-11 par. [0/2- level of closeness]; cf. also Mark 11,30-33). Other key themes of Jo- hannine thought likewise resemble the Synoptic Gospels, such as the Father sending the Son (John 5,37a.38b.[36] par., Matt 10,40; Luke 10,16 [0/2-level of closeness]), the lack of belief and refusal to come to Jesus (John 5,38b.40.43 par.; Matt 17,17 par.; 21,32 par.; 23,37 par.; Luke 15,28 [1/1- and 1/2-levels of closeness]), the charge against his hearers for not seeking the glory of God (John 5,44 par.; Matt 6,1- 2.5.16; 23,5-7 [0/2-level of closeness]), as well as the allegation of not having the word and the love of God in them (John 5,38a.42 par.; Mark 4,16-17; Luke 11,42 [1/2-level of closeness]). Finally, the tes- timony of Scripture about Jesus is obviously a prominent theme in Johnâ€™s synoptic counterparts as well (John 5,39.45b-47 par.; Luke 24,44; Matt 5,17; Luke 16,31 [1/2- and 0/2-levels of closeness]). A few years before Dodd, W.F. Albright, commenting on the re- lationship between the Fourth Gospel and the Synoptics, argued that â€œthere is no fundamental difference in teaching between John and the Synoptics, (â€¦) [and] there is absolutely nothing to show that any of Jesusâ€™ teachings have been distorted of falsified, or that a vital new element has been added to themâ€ 37. In regard to the Johannine dis- course section examined in this article, our findings have proved his 37 W.F. ALBRIGHT, â€œRecent Discoveries in Palestine and The Gospel of Johnâ€, The Background of the NT and Its Eschatology (eds. W.D. DAVIES â€“ D. DAUBE) (Cambridge 1956) 170-171.