Johannine Discourses
Marsh pp 66-71
What are they?
You will have noticed by now that the teaching of Jesus is presented in a distinctive fashion in John. Whereas in the Synoptics, Jesus’ teaching consists of parables of various kinds, together with sayings, examples and illustrations from life, often ranging over several topics in a short space of time, the majority of Jesus teaching in John is much more focussed on one topic, with aspects of Jesus’ work and, especially, his identity, being developed in detail over substantial passages.
They can take several forms. They can read as a dialogue with one person, (Nicodemus Ch 3) or a dispute with a crow, called a conflict discourse by S Smalley (I am the light of the world Ch 8). These often contain an element of misunderstanding on the part of the people conversing with Jesus (Whom Bultmann ‘interlocutors’), which is corrected by His response. However, there are also monologues, such as Ch 3 vs 16-21, where the evangelist suddenly interjects his own comments on the conversation Jesus has just had with Nicodemus. The Farewell discourses at the Last Supper are mainly monologue.
Are they historical?
Stylistically, it’s clear that there is a profound unity within the Gospel, and the discourses bear a powerful literary similarity to the Johannine epistles, suggesting that the wording of the discourses is the result of the evangelist’s choice of expression rather than the recording of what Jesus actually said. Humanly speaking, it seems unlikely that people could have remembered word for word what Jesus said at such length (pax Lindsay, Rebekah et al). Also, the ‘voice’ of Jesus does not seem to be the same as that of the Synoptic Jesus – just compare ‘I am the Bread of Life’ with, say, the Beatitudes.
Many Scholars, like Barrett, Marsh and Bultmann, and even a conservative like Carson have suggested that in John’s Gospel we have material that has been woven into sermons for use in worship. Carson suggestss that we may " … think of the material in John’s Gospel as first of all sermonic." possibly to explain the meaning of baptism, or the Eucharist, or for use in converting unbelievers, (probably Jews), or polemic against the local synagogue.
However, even if the way in which Jesus’ teaching is presented in John is the device of the evangelist, that does not mean that the content of Jesus’ teaching is the work of the evangelist. Likewise, although the discourse material is developed more fully over certain themes than synoptic teaching material, nevertheless, the synoptics contain account of miracles with teaching attached (eg the healing of the demonised boy in Mk 9), and the synoptics all contain teaching, sometimes in substantial monologue form, eg the Sermon on the Mount. We should not be surprised at this. After all, they are all Gospels – books which focus on Jesus the Messiah, and what He means for the Church and the World. His life, ministry, teaching, death and resurrection are the main points of this literary genre.
The purpose of the teaching in John and the Synoptics shows similarities too. Themes such as the relationship of Israel to God, the requirements that God places on people who are truly his, and the desire of God to people the Kingdom of Heaven are all common themes. BUT we can notice that the Synoptics have much more to say about moral and ethical behaviour in respect of other people, and about society in general than John does. Thus, in the Synoptics, we can discover how Kingdom people should treat those in need, those who offend them, what their priorities should be in terms of money, material possessions and even family. Furthermore there is, especially in Luke, a great deal said about the need for repentance and forgiveness from God, and the place of Jesus in the scheme of salvation.
What is distinctive about John’s teaching material is the way in which it focusses on Christology – answering questions about Jesus. Who is He – ie what is the NATURE of Jesus? (Carson would argue that this is the main focus of the entire Gospel) Where has He come from? Why has He come? How should people respond to Him? Jesus (Both those who met Him in the flesh AND those who meet Him through the pages of the Gospel). - in other word the PURPOSE of Jesus. These are the questions you should be attempting to address whenever you are dealing with any of the set discourses, be they ‘I AM’ discourses or not.
Other aspects of the discourses you might comment on are: the Jewish background; the hellenistic background; how 4th Gospel themes are developed; possible significance for the Johannine community/wider Early Church.
The discourses you would be expected to have prepared for this section are:
The 7 ‘I AM’ discourses +
Nicodemus (Ch 3 vs 1-21);
The Samaritan Woman (Ch 4 vs 1-42)
The Discourse after the healing of the Crippled Man (Ch 5 v 19-47) (which will be dealt with in the Eschatology/judgement section
The Tabernacles Discourse (Ch 7 1-39)
The ‘Arrival of the Hour’ discourse (Ch 12 v 20-50);
The Final Discourse (Ch 16 v 5-33) (Which will be dealt with under the Holy Spirit/Paraclete Section)