John and Paul

Two apostles – John and Paul – are seen to be closely related in their teaching on the law and grace.

Jesus Christ - His Life and Teaching, Vol. 5: The Lamb of God, by Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev

Scholars have turned to a wide variety of traditions to find something that influenced the theology of John in this fourth gospel. Philo’s Logos, Greek Gnosticism, Hermeticism, and the Jewish tradition as reflected in the Dead Sea Scrolls. This search has run its course. While there are clearly outward similarities in the use of common terms, there is no evidence of ideological dependance.

The only unconditionally and indisputably proven link is that between the Gospel of John and the Old Testament – a link that is already evident in the prologue of this Gospel.

There is also a connection to the writing of the apostle Paul. Many ideas in John’s gospel echo Paul’s theology. “Echo” because Paul’s epistles are among the earliest writings circulating in the early Church, and were likely written before any of the gospel accounts, and certainly before John’s gospel, taken to be the latest written of the four.

Consequently, it is highly probable that the author of the Fourth Gospel was acquainted with the epistles of Paul and the Christological ideas that they develop.

In both John and the first letter to Timothy, we read of God manifest in flesh and we read of His glory. The first verses of Hebrews (assumed by Alfeyev to be written by Paul) carry themes found in John’s prologue – the incarnation of the eternal Son of God, the one through whom the world was created.

Further, from the letter to the Philippians: the ontological equality of the Son and the Father, made in the likeness of man (made flesh). There are further parallels identified in Colossians: all things made by Him, from the beginning, in Him all fullness dwells. Not identically worded, but pointing to the same reality.

Finally, the juxtaposition of grace to the law….

For Paul we are saved by grace through faith not works. Just as in John, grace is contrasted with the law of Moses. Both understand grace through this new revelation – the incarnate Christ. both see the concept of sin as important – missing the mark. Regarding missing the mark, this points to both committing that which is prohibited and not performing that which is required.

Are all of these more complex theological ideas superimposed on the simple message of Jesus? Apparently, this was the opinion of many nineteenth and twentieth century scholars. Here again, the search ended in vain.

Neither Mark nor Luke offered much in the way of theological interpretation of what Jesus said or did. Matthew did some of this, placing it in the context of the Old Testament and the prophecies. Of the four gospel writers, only John gives a holistic theological interpretation of the events he witnessed. At the same time as John, if not before, Paul did the same – not of what he witnessed (in the same sense as the others), but of what he was taught. Further, Paul, a highly educated Pharisee, was able to place this within the context of this tradition as well.

This brings to mind…if John and Paul had not done this, some in the early Church would have. It was something that had to be done, so it seems quite good to have been done by these apostles.

All of this – the gospel message, the letters, etc. – all hinge on the cross. All were written after Christ’s death and resurrection, and, as we know, His death and resurrection were the point. He systematically progressed to His death as the chief goal of His earthly ministry.

Jesus’ death on the cross was by no means the result of a series of coincidental events or a simple misunderstanding. It was the natural result and conclusion of His work and His preaching, which from the outset were of a confrontational nature.

Countless times, from the beginning, He challenged the religious authorities – on their teaching, on their practices, on their hypocrisy. He directed polemics at the Scribes and Pharisees regularly, and it is in the Gospel of John where this conflict is narrated in particular detail. All within an uncompromising framework of the Jewish tradition.

John 1: 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

Conclusion

Both John and Paul demonstrate the grace manifest in Jesus and contrast this to the law of Moses, all the while remaining respectful of the law and the prophets. While Christianity and Judaism took two different paths, it is through John that we see why and how this occurred – through the incompatibility of Jesus’s teaching with that of the Scribes and Pharisees.