Gospels In Conflict: John and Thomas - Part 13

[Guest guest]

Dear All,

 

We concluded Part 12 with the following:

 

(p.60) " Two generations of scholars have devoted hundreds of articles and

monographs to such questions, and have proposed various solutions. Some suggest

that the author was a different John, " John the elder, " a follower of Jesus from

Ephesus, whom Christians in later generations confused with John the apostle;

others say that the disciple John was the witness whose authority stood behind

the gospel but was not its actual author; still others believe that the author

was an anonymous leader of a lesser-known circle of disciples, distinct from

" the twelve. "

 

Furthermore, while the author of this gospel accepts Peter's authority and his

teaching, he also claims that the " beloved disciple " surpasses Peter. So while

John pictures Peter as one of Jesus' first disciples, he does 'not' repeat the

story that Mark, Matthew, and Luke so prominently featured, in which Peter first

recognized Jesus--the story that Mark, and many Christians to this day, take to

mean that Peter was the disciples' leader, and the church's founder. (p.61)

Moreover, Matthew adds that Jesus promised Peter would succeed him as the

founding " rock " upon which the future church would stand [100]--a statement many

later took to mean that Peter stood first in the apostolic succession and was

the spiritual ancestor of all subsequent popes. Matthew's gospel, like Mark's

and Luke's, apparently reflects the view of the so-called Peter Christians--a

group based in Rome. Yet all four gospels that eventually formed the New

Testament either endorsed Peter's leadership--as Matthew, Mark and Luke did--or

at least grudgingly accepted it--as John did. From the mid-second century, this

group, which called themselves catholic (literally, " universal " ), remain the

founders with whom Roman Catholic and most Protestant Christians identify. "

 

Beyond Belief (The Secret Gospel of Thomas), Chapter 2, p. 60-61.

 

Note:

 

[100] Matthew 16:17.

 

Here now, is Part 13.

 

Enjoy,

 

violet

 

 

 

Gospels In Conflict: John and Thomas - Part 13

 

(p.61) But not all first-century Christians agreed that Jesus named Peter as his

primary successor, or identified with that founding group. The gospel we call by

John's name insists, on the contrary, that no one--not even Peter--knew Jesus as

well as " the disciple whom Jesus loved, " [101] the mysterious, unnamed disciple

who is usually assumed to be John himself. Though John acknowledges Peter's

importance by featuring him often in his narrative, he always places him second

to this " disciple, whom Jesus loved, " who, he says, actually witnessed the

events he records. For example, John tells how " the disciple whom Jesus loved "

reclined next to Jesus at the last meal he shared with his disciples and dared

ask him directly--as Peter did not--who would betray him.[102] John adds that

even after Judas, and then Peter, betrayed Jesus and fled, the " disciple whom

Jesus loved " remained with his mother beside his cross as the dying Jesus

entrusted to him his mother's care. John also says that this disciple, who had

seen Roman soldiers hasten the death of other crucified men by breaking their

legs, saw a soldier pierce Jesus' body with a spear. (p.62) Later, when Mary

Magdalene told him that Jesus' body had disappeared from the grave, he and Peter

ran to see what had happened. Luke says that Peter outran all the rest, and was

the first to realize that Jesus had risen; but John says that Peter and the

beloved disciple " both ran, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the

tomb first, " so that 'he' was the first who " saw and believed. " [103] When the

risen Jesus appeared to his disciples by Lake Gennesaret, the " disciple whom

Jesus loved " was the first to recognize him and " said to Peter, 'It is the

Lord!' " [104]

 

Although the author of this gospel may not have been one of " the twelve, " he

does acknowledge Peter's leadership--but with qualifications. John's final

chapter, perhaps added later, tells how Jesus himself ordered Peter to care for

his flock ( " Feed my sheep " ). [105] But John adds that Jesus reserved for his

" beloved disciple " a special, mysterious role that he refused to explain to

Peter. When Peter saw that disciple and asked, " Lord, what about this man? "

Jesus answered only, " If it is my will that he should remain until I come, what

is that to you? Follow me! " [106] Such stories may imply that John's teaching,

including the " farewell discourses " which Jesus addressed to the disciples,

entrusting " the beloved disciple " to write them down, is superior to Peter's.

Such stories suggest rivalry--but not necessarily opposition--between the Peter

Christians and those whom John assumes to be his audience, the so-called

Johannine Christians, who regard " the disciple whom Jesus loved " as their

spiritual mentor.

 

Such stories, and the differences they show among various leaders and groups,

involve more than power struggles: they involve the substance of Christian

faith. As the stories themselves show, at stake is the central question Who is

Jesus, and what is the " gospel " (good news) about him? (p.63) Not surprisingly,

each group characterizes its own patron apostle as the one who best understands

" the gospel. " So, for example, even the " gnostic " Gospel of Mary, like many

other gospels, tells how its primary apostle--in this case, Mary

Magdalene--received direct revelation from " the Lord, " and claims that Jesus

authorized her to teach. [107]

 

What John writes about Peter and " the beloved disciple " suggests that while John

accepted the teaching associated with Peter, and even wrote his own gospel " so

that you might believe that Jesus is the messiah, the son of God, " [108] his own

teaching went further. So, while he agrees with Peter--and Mark--that Jesus is

God's messiah, John goes further, and also insists that Jesus is actually " 'Lord

and God'. " [109]

 

John must have known that this conviction branded him a radical among his fellow

Jews--and even, apparently, among many of Jesus' followers. The scholar Louis

Martyn suggests that John himself, along with those in his circle who shared his

belief, had been accused of blasphemy for " making [Jesus] God " and forcibly

expelled from their home synagogue. [110] In his gospel, John dramatizes this

situation by turning a miracle story of Jesus healing a blind man into a parable

for their own situation. [111] Speaking for himself and his fellow believers,

John protested that their only crime was that God had opened their eyes to the

truth, while the rest of the congregation remained blind. Thus in John's

version, when Jesus met a man born blind, he " spat on the ground, made mud with

the saliva, and spread it on the man's eyes, and said to him, 'Go, and wash in

the pool of Siloam.' Then he went and washed and came back able to see. " [112]

(p.64) But what the man had come to " see " was Jesus' divine power, which others

denied; so, John says, " the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed

Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. " [113] Although the

man's parents--and thus, John implies, an older generation--did not dare to

acknowledge Jesus' power because, he says, they were afraid that " the Jews "

would expel them, the man whose eyes were opened defied the synagogue leaders by

confessing faith in Jesus ( " Lord, I believe " ) and worshiping him. [114]

 

Beyond Belief (The Secret Gospel of Thomas)

Chapter 2, p. 61-64

Elaine Pagels

Vintage Books, New York, U.S.A

ISBN: 0-375-70316-0

 

Notes:

 

[101] This disciple appears, for example, in John 13:23.

 

[102] John 13:24-25.

 

[103] John 19:35.

 

[104] John 20:3-8.

 

[105] John 21:7.

 

[106] John 21:17.

 

[107] For discussion, see the forthcoming edition of the Gospel of Mary by Karen

King; see also the excellent article by Risto Uro, " 'Who will be our leader?'

Authority and Autonomy in the Gospel of Thomas, " in 'Fair Play: Diversity and

Conflicts in Early Christianity: Essays in Honour of Heikki Raisanen' (Leiden

and Boston, 2002), 457-485. See also the very interesting work of Richard

Valantasis, 'Spiritual Guides of the Third Century: A Semiotic Study of the

Guide-Disciple Relationship in Christianity, Neoplatonism, Hermetism, and

Gnosticism' (Minneapolis, 1991).

 

[108] John 20:30-31.

 

[109] John 20:28.

 

[110] Louis Martyn's groundbreaking work, 'History and Theology in the Fourth

Gospel' (Nashville, 1979), suggests that the story told in John 9 is, in effect,

that of John's community. Martyn's influential thesis has been modified by the

critique of other scholars who question especially his assumptions about the

formation and use of the so-called 'birkat ha mininm'; see Asher Finkel,

" Yavneh's Liturgy and Early Christianity, " 'Journal of Ecumenical Studies' 18:2

(1981), 231-250; William Horbury, " The Benediction of the Minim and Early

Jewish-Christian Controversy, " 'Journal of Theological Studies' 33 (1982); Alan

F. Segal, " Ruler of This World: Attitudes About Mediator Figures and the

Importance of Sociology for Self-Definition, " in E.P. Sanders, ed., 'Jewish and

Christian Self-Definition', volume II (Philadelphia, 1980), 245-268; and the

very intriguing recently published article by Daniel Boyarin, " The Gospel of the

Memra: Jewish Binitarianism and the Prologue to John, " 'Harvard Theological

Review' 94:3 (2001), 243 ff.

 

[111] John 1:1-41.

 

[112] John 9:7.

 

[113] John 9:22.

 

[114] John 9:38.