Reading the Gospels Together Passion Predictions – Part 2 As we turn to John’s gospel it may at first appear that John does not share the perspective of the synoptic writers. John does not use any of their words. John is unaware of Mark’s tight construction and skillful method of highlighting Jesus’ words about his death. But as we read closer we discover that John has his own way of telling his readers that Jesus was well aware of his impending death in Jerusalem and that his death would lead to his return above to his Father – John’s way of talking about resurrection at this point in his narrative. One of the ways in which John alerts his readers regarding the certainty of the coming death of Jesus is by his use of the “hour” which is coming. We are not going to look at all those references but they are sprinkled throughout John’s gospel. By the time John’s readers have reached the moment just prior to John’s “Passion Narrative” they are well aware that Jesus’ “hour” has now arrived and that “hour” is marked by his death. But John has other ways in which Jesus speaks of and thus predicts his coming death and resurrection. In the story of Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus we noted that it is sometimes difficult to determine when the words spoken are to be understood as the words of Jesus and when they have morphed into the words of the narrator about Jesus. Clearly by the time we have come to John 3:16 it is the narrator providing his interpretation of what Jesus has just said to Nicodemus. But, just prior to that, we read that just as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness so must Jesus be lifted up. An argument could be made either way about whether these words are to be understood as the words of Jesus or words about Jesus. In the end it really matters little what we decide about that, but it is important that we note that this is the first mention of Jesus being lifted up like the serpent which is a theme that will be repeated later in John’s gospel and clearly there it is Jesus who is speaking. When Jesus arrives in Jerusalem for the Feast of Booths he soon entering into debate with the religious leaders he finds there – this is part of what we have noted as the “Jerusalem Controversy.” During the debate Jesus tells the religious leaders that he will be with them only a little while longer and then he will return to the one who sent him. John has filled this scene with a great deal of ambiguity and irony. Typical of much of John’s gospel, the religious leaders do not understand and as a consequence they wonder if Jesus plans to go to the Jews spread across the Roman Empire which, of course, is exactly what does happen as Christianity spread around the world. The unwitting response of the religious leaders is ironic. John does not have Jesus say clearly that he is going to die and in the process of dying return to the Father (resurrection). But readers of John’s gospel understand that that is what Jesus means. So, in his own ambiguous and ironic way John wants his readers to know that Jesus spoke of his coming death and resurrection. Just a little later in John’s gospel and still during the growing and bitter debate with the religious leaders, John tells of a second time when Jesus tells the religious leaders that he is going away and they will not be able to follow him. Again the telling of the story is ambiguous and ironic. The religious leaders do not understand and when they wonder whether Jesus is considering killing himself – they speak more than they know. Jesus will indeed die – he will lay down his life – and his death will be like the serpent lifted up in the wilderness and when Jesus is “lifted up” they will realize that he is “I am” – God active in what has happened. The religious readers cannot understand but John’s readers do! And it becomes clear that John wants his readers to know that Jesus has again spoken of his coming death and resurrection. When the bitter debate between Jesus and the religious leaders has run its course John tells his readers that Jesus speaks of himself as the good shepherd. And in that conversation, likely meant mostly for the followers of Jesus and John’s readers, Jesus speaks more clearly about his coming death. Jesus tells those who will hear that as the good shepherd he will lay down his life for the sheep. John makes it clear that Jesus is the one who is really in charge of what is happening – no one takes his life from him but it is Jesus who lays down his life and has the power to take it up again (resurrection). It is clear the John wants his readers to know that Jesus has spoken of his death and resurrection prior to their actual occurrence. And finally at the close of the public ministry of Jesus John tells his readers that Jesus spoke of his coming death. The “hour” has now come! Like a seed put into the ground, Jesus will die. And John returns once more to his theme of Jesus being lifted up in the same way as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness. In the lifting up of Jesus (crucifixion) he will draw all people to himself. There is one more related passage that we should consider in John’s gospel that connects with the “passion predictions” in the synoptic gospels. We noted how the first passion prediction in Mark is connected with Peter’s correct confession that Jesus is the Messiah. Even though Peter goes on to reveal his complete misunderstanding of what it means for Jesus to be the Messiah, his confession is none the less absolutely right – Jesus is the Messiah. John does not tell the same story but we might notice that at a crucial time in the revealing of Jesus’ identity it is Peter who makes the right confession once again. During the story of the multiplication of the loaves and its aftermath, Jesus had confronted those who hear with the need to eat his flesh and drink his blood in order to truly know who he is (Holy Communion) and come to have life in him. And in the process many had left Jesus. So when he asks the Twelve, of whom Peter is the leader, if they too want to go away, Peter responds with the positive confession – “You have the words of life, to whom shall we go?” The words are not the same but the confession is.