The Writings of John. A Survey of the Gospel, Epistles, and Apocalypse

629 Pages·2016·17.64 MB·English

by  C. Marvin Pate

THE WRITINGS
of JOHN
A Survey of the Gospel, Epistles, and Apocalypse

C. MARVIN PATE
CONTENTS

Cover
Title Page
List of Abbreviations
Exctrabiblical Writings
Introduction
PART 1 The Gospel of John
CHAPTER 1 Introduction to the Gospel of John
CHAPTER 2 The Prologue of John JOHN 1:1 – 18
CHAPTER 3 The Witnesses of John to Jesus JOHN 1:19 – 51
CHAPTER 4 The Miracle at Cana and the Cleansing of the Temple JOHN 2
CHAPTER 5 “Born form Above” JOHN 3
CHAPTER 6 The Woman at the Well and the Nobleman’s Son JOHN 4
CHAPTER 7 The Healing of the Paralytic on the Sabbath JOHN 5
CHAPTER 8 Jesus the Bread of Life JOHN 6
CHAPTER 9 Jesus and the Feast of Tabernacles Part 1 JOHN 7:1 – 52
CHAPTER 10 Jesus and the Feast of Tabernacles (Part 2) JOHN 7:53 – 8:59
CHAPTER 11 Jesus the light of the world Heals a Blind Man JOHN 9
CHAPTER 12 Jesus’ Discourses at the Feasts of Tabernacles and Dedication
JOHN 10
CHAPTER 13 The Raising of Lazarus JOHN 11
CHAPTER 14 The Anointing of Jesus, His Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem,
and His Discourses on the Last Hour JOHN 12
CHAPTER 15 The Last Supper JOHN 13
CHAPTER 16 Predictions about Jesus’ Departure and the Spirit’s Arrival
JOHN 14
CHAPTER 17 The Vine, the Branches, and the World JOHN 15:1 – 16:4A
CHAPTER 18 Summary of the last Discourse JOHN 16:4B – 33
CHAPTER 19 Jesus’ Farewell Prayer JOHN 17
CHAPTER 20 The Passion of Christ JOHN 18:1 – 27
CHAPTER 21 Jesus before Pilate JOHN 18:28 – 19:16A
CHAPTER 22 The Crucifixion of Christ JOHN 19:16B – 42
CHAPTER 23 The Resurrection of Jesus Chirst JOHN 20
CHAPTER 24 The Epilogue JOHN 21
PART 2 The Epistles of John
CHAPTER 25 Introduction to the Epistles of John
CHAPTER 26 Prologue 1 JOHN 1:1 – 4
CHAPTER 27 Three Claims and Three Counterclaims 1 JOHN 1:5 – 2:2
CHAPTER 28 Three More Claims and Counterclaims 1 JOHN 2:3 – 11
CHAPTER 29 Assurances and Admonitions 1 JOHN 2:12 – 17
CHAPTER 30 The Antichrist Is Here! 1 JOHN 2:18 – 28
CHAPTER 31 Children of God Versus Children of the Devil 1 JOHN 2:29 –
3:10
CHAPTER 32 Loving One Another 1 JOHN 3:11 – 24
CHAPTER 33 Testing the EndTime Spirits 1 JOHN 4:1 – 6
CHAPTER 34 Love in Motion 1 JOHN 4:7 – 5:4A
CHAPTER 35 Faith Is the Victory 1 JOHN 5:4B – 12
CHAPTER 36 Conclusion 1 JOHN 5:13 – 21
CHAPTER 37 Walk in truth and love 2 JOHN
CHAPTER 38 House Churches in Conflict 3 JOHN
PART 3 Revelation
CHAPTER 39 Introduction to Resolution
CHAPTER 40 The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ REVELATION 1
CHAPTER 41 The Seven Churches of Asia minor REVELATION 2
CHAPTER 42 The Churches of Asin Minor REVELATION 3
CHAPTER 43 The Throne of God and Christ REVELATION 4 – 5
CHAPTER 44 The Seal Judgments REVELATION 6
CHAPTER 45 The 144,000 REVELATION 7
CHAPTER 46 The Trumpet Judgments REVELATION 8 – 9
CHAPTER 47 The Little Scroll REVELATION 10
CHAPTER 48 The temple,the Two Witnesses, and the Blowing of the Seventh
Trumpet REVELATION 11
CHAPTER 49 The Woman, the Dragon, and the Child REVELATION 12
CHAPTER 50 The Two Beasts REVELATION 13
CHAPTER 51 The Return of the 144,000 REVELATION 14
CHAPTER 52 The Seven Bowl Judgmtents REVELATION 15 – 16
CHAPTER 53 The Harlot and the Beast REVELATION 17
CHAPTER 54 The Fall of Babylon/Rome REVELATION 18
CHAPTER 55 The Parousia of Christ REVELATION 19
CHAPTER 56 The millennium REVELATION 20
CHAPTER 57 The New Jerusalem REVELATION 21 – 22
Conclusion
Glossary
Copyright
About the Publisher
Share Your Thoughts
List of Abbreviations

AnBib
alecta biblica
An
Ant. J ewish Antiquities
AUSS Andrews University Seminary Studies
CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly
CD Cairo Genizah copy of the Damascus Document
HTR Harvard Theological Review
ICC International Critical Commentary
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament
JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
JSOTSup Journal for the Study of the Old Testament: Supplement Series
J.W. J ewish War
LCL Loeb Classical Library
LXX S eptuagint
Neot Ne otestamentica
NICNT New International Commentary on the New Testament
NIGTC New International Greek Testament Commentary
NovTSupNovum Testamentum Supplements
NTS New Testament Studies
SBLDS Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series
SNTSMSSociety for New Testament Studies Monograph Series
Hermann L. Strack and Paul Billerbeck, Kommentar zum Neuen
STB
Testament aus Talmud und Midrash
TOTP The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha
TV Teologia y vida
WBC Word Biblical Commentary
WUNT Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament
WUNT Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament
Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der
ZNW
älteren Kirche
For the abbreviations of the Dead Sea Scrolls, see the list of Extrabiblical
Writings.
Exctrabiblical Writings

DEAD SEA SCROLLS FROM QUMRAN
Thanksgiving Hymns 1Q H
Isaiah, copies a and b 1QIsaa‘b
War Scroll 1QM
Commentary on Habakkuk 1Q pHab
Rule of the Community 1Q S
Rule of the Congregation 1Q Sa
Florilegium 4QFlor
Eschatological Midrashim 4QMidrEschat
Miqsat Ma’aseh Ha-Torah 4Q MMT
Prayer of Nabonidus 4Q PrNab
Pseudo-Daniel 4QpsDan ara‘b‘c
Songs of the Sabbath 4Q ŠirŠabba-h
Testimonia 4QTest
Geniza Damascus Document 6Q D
Melchizedek Text 11 QMelch
Psalms Scroll 11QPsa
Temple Scroll 11QTa,b

OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA
1 Esdras
2 Esdras Tobit Judith
The Additions to the Book of Esther Wisdom of Solomon
Ecclesiasticus, or the Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach Baruch
Letter of Jeremiah
Prayer of Azariah
Song of the Three Young Men
Susanna
Bel and the Dragon Prayer of Manasseh
1 Maccabees
2 Maccabees Psalm 151

OLD TESTAMENT PSEUDEPIGRAPHA
This list includes the most significant works and is not exhaustive.
2 Baruch
1 Enoch
4 Ezra (= 2 Esdras 3 – 14)
Book of Jubilees
Letter of Aristeas
Life of Adam and Eve
Psalms of Solomon
Sibylline Oracles
Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs
3 Maccabees
4 Maccabees
Ascension of Isaiah

NEW TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA
This list includes well-known apocrypha apart from Nag Hammadi.
I. Gospels and Related Forms
A. Narrative Gospels and Acts
1. Gospel of the Hebrews
2. Gospel of Peter
3. Infancy Gospel of Thomas
4. Protevangelium of James
5. Acts of Paul (and Thecla)
II. Letters
A. Correspondence between Paul and Seneca
B. Paul’s Letter to the Laodiceans
III. L iturgical Materials
A. Odes of Solomon
Introduction

Welcome to the wonderful world of the writings of the apostle John! As we
will soon see, evidence strongly indicates that John, the beloved disciple of Jesus
Christ, wrote the fourth gospel, the epistles of John, and Revelation—books
scholars label the “Johannine literature.” Many interpreters of the Bible regard
these works of John as the apex of divine revelation, and for good reason. The
Christology (doctrine of Christ) of the Johannine literature is more exalted than
that of any other biblical author. For John, Jesus Christ is God from eternity past
(John 1:1 – 18), yet he is fully human in the present (so 1, 2, and 3 John). For the
Beloved Disciple, Jesus is both the Lamb of Calvary (John 1:29, 36; 19) and the
conquering Lion-Lamb of history (Rev. 6). Little wonder then that the later
church councils drew heavily on John’s portrait of Jesus to craft their
christological creeds, confessions that set in place the parameters of orthodoxy.
John’s eschatology is breathtaking, catapulting the blessings of the end times
back into the present: the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, the new birth, eternal
life, and much, much more. John’s soteriology (the doctrine of salvation)
complements the preceding “realized eschatology” and is based on the
substitutionary death of Christ on the cross. Such salvation is received by simple
but genuine faith (John 20:30 – 31). Finally, we might also mention John’s
ecclesiology, his doctrine of the church. For the Beloved Disciple, the followers
of Jesus are both united with the story of Israel in the Old Testament and with
the Trinity in the New Testament and beyond. Indeed, the spiritual union of the
Christian with the triune God and his people is a Johannine teaching rivaled in
the Bible only by Paul’s “inChrist” mysticism. And on and on it goes with the
magnificent themes John’s literature addresses, themes this textbook will discuss
in some depth.
Introducing the work of any biblical author is a bit of a juggling act, balancing
general, commonly accepted statements on the one hand with specific, analytical
comments on the other hand. To emphasize only the former of these runs the risk
of saying little more than nothing, while overemphasizing the latter will restrict
the message of the biblical author to ivory-tower theologians. In this textbook, I
have tried to strike the balance between the general and the technical by offering