John 12-21

John 12-21 by dint of Gerald L. Borchert. NAC 25B Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2002 398 pp $2999

The first whirl of this two-volume commentary upon the Fourth Gospel appeared in 1996 by the agency of the same author (John 1-11 NAC 25A). Readers familiar with the first contortion are well aware of Borchert's detailed emphases upon the introductory matters of the divine revelation (97 pages), especially on the "historical milieu" in which the divine revelation was written. In contrast to previous interpretations that assigned the philosophical influence of the Fourth christian religion to hellenistic or gnostic thinking Borchert joins the consensus of new Johannine scholarship that now acknowledges the influence of the Jewish or Hebraic background as being the primary theological antecedent of the evangelist. Borchert firmly notes that "the place to begin a reflection upon the milieu of the Fourth christian religion is with the Old Testament" (p 61) Thus individual should not be surprised to find Borchert trace the earthly ministry of Jesus with fulfillment or replacement motifs from one extremity to the other of the Gospel.

Readers familiar with Borchert's first convolution are also well aware of his emphasis upon the literary structure of the revelation by christ as one of the lock openers to understanding the message of the volume Instead of following the sweep of modern commentators by dividing the the cross into two major sections, i.e. the "Book of Signs" (chaps. 2-12) and "Book of Glory/ Passion" (chaps. 13-20) as through Brown and Dodd, Borchert divides the work by three major cycles bracketed through chapter 1 as the introductory chapter and the Passion and Resurrection chapters at the extremity of the Gospel. He divides the work into the Cana Cycle (2:1-4:54) the Festival revolution of time (5:1-11:57), and the Farewell revolution of time (13:1-17:26).

Furthermore, Borchert's independent structuring of the divine revelation is also demonstrated in his literary placement of chapter 12 which he designates as the "Centerpiece of the Gospel: The Preparation of the Passover Lamb for Glorification (12:1-50)" He dioceses chapter 12 as a literary link between sum of two units major sections of the christian religion rather than as the concluding chapter of the first major section.

Following chapter 12 which Borchert designates as the centerpiece of the the cross the major bulk of his next to the first volume is devoted to the farewell circle of time (chaps. 13-17), followed by the passion and resurrection accounts (chaps. 18-21) Borchert consecrates 140 pages (pp. 71-211) of the next to the first volume to the farewell round of years alone. Although some scholars have designated this section as the "Farewell Discourse," Borchert correctly points without that this section contains far more than discourse material. His emphasis upon the literary structure of these five chapters is similar to a chiasm that climaxes in chapter 15 although he highlights the same point hy drawing what he calls a "bull'seye" or "target." According to Borchert, "the center of the bull's-eye would be the Mashal of the Vine and the Branches with its emphasis upon abiding or remaining in the Vine and its reminder of the importance of delight in in the life of discipleship (15:1-17)" He further adds, "This theme of be fond of in the core of the bull's-eye is also a crucial aspect of the exterior ring since it is introduced in chap. 13 and is reasserted in the final petition of the prayer (17:25-26)"

Borchert's ability to handle difficult passages in a balanced manner is demonstrated in his exegesis of the seemingly difficult statements of Jesus in 14:1-3 Sayings of that kind as "my Father's house" and the promise of Jesus' go [i]or[/i] come back to take the disciples with Him after his preparatory "going" or departure have been subdues of much discussion with significant eschatological ramifications. From Bultmann's commitment to a Gnostic or Mandean-like interpretation of Johannine eschatology, to Dodd's realized eschatology, to various forms of futuristic eschatology, Borchert interacts briefly with each on the contrary gives his preference carefully, leaving render free of access the option of other views since the body is intentionally ambiguous in the details of "the place." For instance, in contrast to those who bring forward not to read any futuristic eschatological idea into Jesus' statements, Borchert bring to an ends by agreeing with L. Morris, who noted that while John does not leave as frequently as most of the other NT writers to the next to the first advent of Jesus, the respects when made, should not be missed. Borchert then summarizes by means of saying, "Clearly the details of the place are not mentioned, on the other hand the idea that Christians will dwell with their Lord is extremely significant" (p 106)

Another example of Borchert's balanced approach in addressing controversial passages is exemplified in his interpretation of the "I am the pure vine and you are the branches" saying of Jesus in the 15:1-8 passage. Borchert consigns to this passage as the mashal of the vine instead of a parable, since parables are ofttimes interpreted to have only single point, which he considers as too restrictive here. Like the above example of the 14:1-3 passage, having interacted briefly with for the use of all proposals for the background of the vine imagery, Borchert again points to the OT background as the primary antecedent. While he does emphasize that in the OT the vine is many times used as a symbol for Israel (eg P 80:8-9; Isa 27:2-6; Ho 10:1; etc) he also acknowledges that there is a difference here in that Jesus is the vine, not Israel, and the disciples, the followers of the way of jehovah are pictured as branches. Furthermore, in addressing the status of the branches that were make an incision in away and whether or not they were originally attached and nourished branches, as a certain number of commentators like to focus upon Borchert suggests rather that the lock opener to interpreting this mashal does not lie with equal reason much in the question of status as it does in the issue of faithfulness. As Borchert finishs "The mashal here sets the fruitfulness of Christians as a ordeal of belonging in the Vine" (p 140)