Harris, Stephen L. “Chapter 10: John’s Portrait of Jesus:
Divine Wisdom Made Flesh.” The New Testament: A Student’s Introduction.
Stephen Harris begins his chapter on the Gospel according to John with a brief history of who the author of John was and what his purpose was in writing the gospel. For instance, he states that although John, son of Zebedee, has traditionally been viewed as the gospel’s author, the writer, who does not identify himself, states that his version of Jesus’ life is based on the testimony of an unnamed “Beloved Disciple.” Furthermore, he adds the gospel was most likely composed between about 90 and 100 CE for a community influenced by a uniquely high Christology, including the belief in Christ’s pre-human existence as Cosmic Wisdom. After the introduction, Harris then compares John’s Gospel to the Synoptics, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. For example, John contains no record of Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist, instead of parables and brief aphorisms Jesus delivers long, philosophical speeches, usually about his own nature, the expectations of Jesus’ Second Coming are minimized; and Jesus only gives one new commandment—to love. Additionally, the chronology and order of events between the Synoptics and the Fourth Gospel is radically different. After explaining these differences, Harris then discusses John’s purpose and message as well as the Gospel’s relation to Gnostic ideas. Finally, he lays out the organization of John’s Gospel, highlighting important facts about the Prologue (hymn to the Logos), the Book of Signs (the seven miracles of Jesus), the Book of Glory (Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection to Peter and the Beloved Disciple), and the Epilogue (Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances in Galilee and parting words to Peter and the Beloved Disciple).
Throughout the chapter, Harris’s key idea or thesis is that, for John and his community, “Jesus is the human form of God’s celestial Word, the cosmic expression of divine Wisdom by which God created the universe. As the Word incarnate (made flesh), Jesus reveals otherwise unknowable truths about God’s being and purpose.”[1] John uses high Christology to inspire faith in Jesus’ divinity. Rather than portraying Jesus as a humble carpenter-prophet, John’s Jesus is a divine hero whose supernatural glory is present in everything he says and does. Furthermore, John emphasizes that the risen Christ is eternally present to his community in the invisible form of a surrogate, the Paraclete, which inspires and guides believers.
In order to understand John’s Gospel and Harris’ interpretation of it, it is important to know some key terms. They include:
Logos: a Greek term meaning both “word” and “reason,” used by Greek philosophers to denote the rational principle that creates and informs the universe. To John, it is the infinite wisdom of God personified. Translated as “Word,” John uses Logos denote the states of Jesus’ preexistence in heaven before he came to earth.
Paraclete: a Greek term meaning “an advocate,” used to denote the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of John as well as to denote the abiding spiritual presence of the risen Jesus. It is variously translated as “Comforter,” “Helper,” “Advocate,” or “Spirit of Truth.”
Incarnation: the Christian doctrine that the pre-human Son of God became flesh in the man Jesus of Nazareth—a concept based largely on the Logos hymn that opens John’s gospel.
Realized Eschatology: a belief that events usually associated with the eschaton (“end of the age”), such as divine judgment and resurrection to eternal life, are even now realized or fulfilled by Jesus’ spiritual presence among his followers.
Gnosticism: a widespread and diverse movement in early Christianity. Followers believed that salvation is gained through a special knowledge (gnosis) revealed through a spiritual savior and is the property of an elite few who have been initiated into its mysteries. In its various forms, Gnosticism became a major heresy in the early church.
Docetism: the belief, commonly associated with Gnostic Christianity, that Jesus was pure spirit and only appeared to be physically human; from the Greek verb meaning “to seem.”
High Christology: the study of Christ which emphasizes the “high” or divine qualities of Jesus; the kind of Christology favored by John.
Philo Judaeus:
the most influential philosopher of Hellenistic Judaism. Philo was a Greek-educated Jew living in
Signs Gospel: a hypothetical early Christian document describing seven of Jesus’ miraculous acts; according to one theory, it forms the principal narrative source for John’s Gospel.
Annas: a former High Priest before whom Jesus was brought to trial (John 18:13). Annas was father-in-law to Caiaphas, then the reigning High Priest.
Transubstantiation: the doctrine holding that the bread and wine of the Eucharist are transformed into the body and blood of Jesus, although their appearances remain the same.
Trinity: the post-New Testament doctrine that God exists as three divine Persons in One—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
To support his key theme that John’s Gospel presents Jesus as divine Wisdom made flesh, Harris uses various images, illustrations, and Scripture passages. One important illustration is figure 10.1 found on page 233. It is a diagram which attempts to explain John’s concept of the Incarnation, by which the Word became flesh. It features the Word (Logos) descending to earth whereby it takes on humanity in the Incarnation of Jesus. Following Jesus’ death and resurrection, Jesus ascends into heaven whereby at the same time the Holy Spirit descends to earth to be present among John’s community. To John, Jesus’ crucifixion is not a humiliating ordeal as Mark suggests, but a glorification that frees him to return to heaven. Another image is found on page 220 at the bottom right hand of the page. It features a risen Jesus showing his wounds to his followers. The skeptical Thomas is bowing before him. A picture such as this shows John’s emphasis on believing that Jesus is truly risen. It inspires people to have faith even though they cannot see Jesus. The chapter which this picture is taken from (John 20:24–29) also stresses the importance of Christians believing in the eternally present Christ which is among them in the form of the Paraclete.
Besides these images, Harris also brings up different Scripture passages which suggest John’s community believed Jesus is the human form of God’s celestial Word. Not surprisingly, he mentions John’s prologue: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this light was the light of the human race” (John 1:1–4). According to Harris, “The phrase ‘when all things began’ recalls the Genesis creation account when God’s word of command—‘Let there be light’—illuminated a previously dark universe. In John’s view, the pre-human Christ is the creative Word (divine Wisdom, cosmic Reason) whom God uses to bring heaven and earth into existence.” [2] To show John’s relation of the concept of divine Wisdom in the Hebrew Bible, Harris also includes some quotations from Proverbs and Ecclesiasticus. For instance, Proverbs 8:22 states, “The Lord created me the beginning of his works, before all else that he made, long ago. Alone, I was fashioned in times long past, at the beginning, long before earth itself.” Also, equating Wisdom with God’s verbal command to create light, the writer of Ecclesiasticus represents Wisdom saying: “I am the word which was spoken by the Most High…before time began he created me, and I shall remain for ever.”
In reading John’s Gospel, it is important to remember that John views Jesus with a high Christology. This would was especially important as the early Christian Church developed its doctrine of who exactly Jesus was. As Harris states:
Although John’s Gospel may have originated on the fringes of the Christian community, it eventually provided mainstream Christianity with concepts crucial to its theological development. Doctrines of Christ’s prehuman existence as God’s eternal Word (the Logos), his descent from heaven, his incarnation as the man Jesus, his apparent equality with God, and his continuing presence among believers in the form of the Paraclete, the Spirit of Truth—all absent from the Synoptic Gospels—profoundly influenced the church’s later declaration that Jesus and God are one. [3]
Harris later explains that more than any single book in the New Testament, John’s Gospel gives the theological foundations for later interpretations of Christ’s nature. Post-New Testament theologians would eventually see Jesus as the Second Person of the Trinity, co-equal consubstantial, and coeternal with the Father. Also, Harris explains, “Only John portrays the advent of the Paraclete as if ‘he’ were Jesus’ double (15:26-27), fulfilling believers’ desire for a continuing presence.” [4]
Describing John’s Gospel, Harris brings up a number of interesting points along the way. One is that John differs significantly in the chronology and order of events of Jesus’ life and ministry. Interestingly, many historians believe John’s account that Jesus’ final meal with his disciples took place the evening before Passover and the Crucifixion on Nisan 14 is more accurate than the traditional Synoptic belief that the Last Supper was a Passover celebration. Harris states, “Many historians believe that John’s chronology is the more accurate, for it is improbable that Jesus’ arrest, trial, and execution took place on Nisan 15, the most sacred time of the Passover observance.” [5] Another interesting point to note from Harris’ chapter is that Jesus accomplishes everything for the Messiah’s success in one single earthly coming. This is because Jesus’ imminent return is realized among his disciples in the form of the Paraclete. A third unique point in John is that although he sometimes appears to use Gnostic terms, John defends his view of Jesus’ nature against Gnostic influences. He insists on Jesus’ humanity (1:14), even having the resurrected Jesus display his fleshly wounds. According to Harris, “To show that Jesus was a mortal man who truly died, John eliminates from his Passion story Mark’s tradition that Simon of Cyrene carried Jesus’ cross (lest the reader think that Simon may have been substituted for Jesus at the Crucifixion.” [6]
Of the concepts mentioned in Harris’ chapter on Jesus’ Gospel, the most important is the one already mentioned, that Jesus is portrayed as divine Wisdom made flesh, not the carpenter-prophet who speaks in parables and aphorisms in the Synoptics. John stresses Jesus’ divinity, emphasizing seven signs by which he reveals himself to his followers. Explains Harris, “One church leader, Clement of Alexandria, states what became the official view of John’s origin. Clement (c. 200 CE) recognized the salient differences between the Synoptics and John and noted that after the other Evangelists had preserved the ‘facts of history’ John then wrote ‘a spiritual Gospel.’” [7] As John presents it, his “spiritualized” Jesus is ever present among the community of Christian believers in the guise of the Paraclete, which will watch over and guide them. Later Jesus and the Paraclete would be defined as the second and third members of the Trinity respectively.
Harris does a fine job of explaining the issues and points brought up in the chapter, not leaving many things unclear. However, one thing I wish he would have mentioned is why John chose the word Greek Logos instead of Sophia for his Prologue. It is probably due to the fact that Logos is a masculine word and Jesus was a man while on earth, but I would have liked to hear more about this in the chapter. Also, I wish Harris would have better explained the importance of allegory in John’s Gospel. Margaret Nutting Ralph, in her book And God Said What?: An Introduction to Biblical Literacy Forms, stresses the great importance the literary form of allegory plays in the Fourth Gospel. Ralph explains that underlying Jesus’ seven signs is the spiritual journey of the contemporary Christian from baptism to resurrection. I would have liked to hear Harris talk more about the spiritual journey Christians are supposed to experience when reading John’s Gospel.
Reading through the chapter, I did not see many problems or discrepancies between how Harris interprets biblical passages and how I interpret them. My past religious education in high school explained much of John’s Gospel the same way as Harris. The only thing I found as challenging to my interpretation is Harris’ assertion that “the Beloved Disciple is invariably presented in competition with Peter, who may represent the larger apostolic church from which the disciple’s exclusive group is somewhat distanced.” [8] Although the Beloved Disciple outruns Peter to the empty tomb on Easter morning, “he bent down and saw the burial clothes there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial clothes there (John 20:5–6). In my opinion, a passage such as this shows that, although the Johannine community very much revered the Believed Disciple, they saw Peter as having more authority. While the Beloved Disciple could have entered the tomb first, he instead waited for Peter and then followed him in. Even though Peter is presented as questioning Jesus about the Beloved Disciple (John 21:20–23), I still believe that John’s Christian community viewed Peter as being a primary leader, and one to be respected, within the Church.
Overall, the three most important contributions of Harris’ chapter are: (1) Jesus was the divine Word made flesh. To John, he is the infinite Wisdom of God personified. (2) John’s Gospel was the last one written and profoundly “spiritualizes” Jesus. The risen Jesus is eternally present in the Paraclete, which continues to inspire and lead the community. (3) John’s Gospel was crucial in the formulation of early Christian doctrines and profoundly influenced the church’s later declaration that Jesus and the Father are one. In reviewing Harris’ conclusions about the intention of the evangelist John in writing his Gospel, I did not find any limitations or errors in Harris’ facts or method of research.