Octave of St. John the Evangelist (3 Jan)
by the Revd Dr Robert Wilson PhD (Cantab), Old Roman Apostolate UK
Today marks the Octave of the great feast of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist. Last week we discussed how St. John’s Gospel is not simply a theological treatise, but also holds the key to understanding the chronological development of Jesus’ ministry and shows a close acquaintance with the topography of Palestine. Today we will take this further and examine how St. John’s Gospel also holds the key to understanding the other three Gospels theologically.
All of the Gospels are aiming to show what is really going on in what takes place in the development of Jesus’ ministry, but St. John goes further than the others in penetrating beneath the surface. Thus, in the other three Gospels it is made clear that Jesus’ miracles are not simply wonderful deeds, but the fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah about the eyes of the blind being opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. The Kingdom of God, future in its fullness, is now being inaugurated through Jesus’ words and mighty works. But St. John penetrates even further by showing that the miracles are not only signs of how the kingdom of God is being inaugurated on earth. They are also signs which reveal the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Thus, after the miracle of the changing of water into wine it is said that this was the first of Jesus’ signs. He thus revealed his glory and his disciples put their faith in him (John 2). In the other Gospels it is made clear that the Feeding of the Five Thousand is a sign in the present of the future messianic banquet at the end of history. St. John penetrates even further in showing how it points not only to the messianic banquet inaugurated in Jesus’ ministry, but also to Jesus himself as the giver of the bread of life (John 6).
In the other Gospels it is made clear how Jesus used parables to describe how the Kingdom of God was being inaugurated during his ministry. It is sometimes inaccurately said that St. John’s Gospel has no parables, though in fact it does have parables such as the Parable of the Good Shepherd (John 10) and the True Vine (John 15). However, what is already implicit in the other Gospels is now made explicit. Jesus had come to save the lost sheep of the house of Israel because he was himself the Good Shepherd. The parables are not simply about the inauguration of the Kingdom of God. They also speak of the nature of Christ himself as the true king of Israel, even though most did not recognise him in the days of his earthly life.
In the other Gospels it is made clear that the central focus of Jesus’ message is that the time is fulfilled and that the Kingdom of God, future in its fullness, is now being inaugurated in history. People are called to repent and believe the good news. How people respond to Jesus’ proclamation will determine whether they are saved or condemned on the last day. In St. John’s Gospel this is made even more explicit by it being made clear that judgment is not just what will happen on the last day, but is happening already. As people pass judgment on Jesus’ claims they are passing judgment on themselves.
It is sometimes said that, whereas in the other Gospels Jesus is clearly shown as the friend of social outcasts who teaches about turning the other cheek and going the second mile, in St. John’s Gospel Jesus’ love is restricted to his disciples. In fact this theme is also present in St. John’s Gospel, where Jesus befriends the adulterous Samaritan woman (John 4) and heals the paralysed man by the pool of Bethesda (John 5). However, it is true to state that the love of Jesus for his disciples is more prominent in this Gospel than in the other gospels. But what St. John is doing, here as elsewhere, is making clear not only the breadth of Jesus’ love but also the depth of his love. “A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you. By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”
In the other Gospels it is made clear that Jesus was marked out among men by his unique authority. He is declared to be Son of God at his birth and at his baptism, this claim is tested in his temptations, confirmed again at his transfiguration and above all at his resurrection. However, while this unique claim is always implicit it is rarely made explicit. Occasionally the veil is lifted as when Jesus declares that all things have been delivered to him by his Father and no one knows the Father save the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal to him. In other words, he alone truly knows the Father and consequently true knowledge of God is only through him. In St. John’s Gospel this implicit claim is made explicit. It is emphasised again and again that Jesus makes no claims for himself in his own right, but everything for what God is doing through him. He can do nothing on his own authority, but in everything what he has been taught by the Father. There is no need to look beyond him. For to have seen him is to have seen the Father. He and the Father are one. That is why he gives a peace that the world cannot give. That is the secret of his authority. The Son is everything that the Father is, except he is the Son and not the Father. They are utterly identified, but not identical. He is the Word made flesh, the only begotten Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. No man has ever seen God, but the only begotten Son has made him known.
R. G. Collingwood defined history as the “inside of the event”, in other words the purpose of historical writing is to make clear what is really going on in what takes place. St. John’s Gospel, as the testimony of one who saw the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ in the days of his earthly life, is therefore the supreme example of an historical writing. It makes clear the inside of the event. The disciples had not fully understood Jesus in the days of his earthly life, but after he was risen from the dead and through the inspiration of the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, they came to understand what had really been going on in what had happened. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had said. We today, we have not seen but have believed, can join with those who first ratified the Gospel in St. John’s presence. “This is the disciple who testifies to these things and has written these things, and we know that his witness is true.”
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