“Bookends to Eternal Life: A literary analysis of the Gospel of John”.
By
Hugh O’Donnell, ND THEO 64103,
The author of the
Fourth Gospel used numerous literary techniques to convey information. One literary technique was A, B, A’ symmetry.
The author of John develops a topic (A), moves to an apparently unrelated,
seemingly misplaced topic (B), and then returns to the original topic in an
enhanced way (A’). Four instances of
this literary devise are present. All four instances are implicit emphasis of
Jesus’ main teaching: Drink and eat Me as the source of Eternal Life…I am
Eucharist.
A literary device
conveys information implicitly, “between the lines”.[1] Literary devises also highlight or emphasize
information. Brian Born[2] lists irony, misunderstanding, multiple
allusions, and symbolism as some of the literary techniques in John’s Gospel
that have been identified by various writers. Father Jerome Neyrey, a Biblical scholar at the
University of Notre Dame, tells his students to look for “bookends” when
reading John’s Gospel[3]. He suggests the appearance of bookends
indicates a relationship between beginning and ending texts. Charles Giblin[4]
describes a similar literary symmetry. He describes four instances of the sequence
“Suggestion, Negative Response and Positive Response” appearing in John.
The main
symmetrical bookend found in John surrounds two of Jesus’ miracles. One miracle appears at the beginning and the
other at the end of the Gospel. Jesus’
first miracle is performed at a wedding in Cana (A). The trailing bookend is performed at the
“Last Supper” in
Interestingly, Jesus’ Eucharistic miracle (A’),
turning wine into Jesus’ blood, performed at the Last Supper, is not treated
explicitly in John’s Gospel like it is in the other three Gospels. Jesus says “this is my blood” in Matthew
26:28, Mark 14:24 and Luke 22:20. The
author of John does not use these words. John instead uses three chapters (14-17) to
describe in great detail the full meaning and weight of Jesus’ Eucharistic Last
Supper. Instead of repeating these well
known words used in the other three Gospels, he gives us a lengthy Discourse
(B) by Jesus on the implications of this Passover meal not given in any of the
other Gospels. Instead of “this is my
blood,” Jesus tells them clearly He is not just physical nourishment (A), He is
the way the Truth and the Life (B)… He is the vine that leads to Eternal Life
(A’) (John 14:6). The author of John, by
not repeating Jesus’ consecrating words like the other three Gospels, perhaps
as another literary technique, adds implicit emphasis to the replacement
meaning of His Passover miracle (A’).
In Luke’s Gospel,
turning wine into blood is not Jesus’ last miracle. Healing the ear of the high priest’s servant
in the
Three additional
instances of A, B, A’ bookend symmetry enhance other significant Eucharistic
texts found in John. In Chapter 3, we
find the first mention of Nicodemus (A).
Numerous chapters later, the author returns to a much changed Nicodemus
in John 19:39. The mention of Nicodemus
for the second time (A’) comes immediately following the Eucharistic “Blood and
Water” paragraph of John 19:31-38 (B).
In this case, the second bookend mentioning of Nicodemus (A’) comes
immediately after the important Eucharistic detail of blood and water flowing
from Jesus’ body adding emphasis to blood and water as the source of Eternal
Life (B). In this case (A’) tells us to
look at the text just before (A’) for the important (B) text that A and A’
prepare us for.
In Chapter 4, the
author of John book ends another Eucharistic text. The story first begins with dialog between
Jesus and a Samaritan woman who comes to accept Jesus (A). Jesus words to this woman are about a new
drink as the source of Eternal Life (John 4:4-26.) The author then changes his focus, right in
the middle of Chapter 4, by addressing
His apostles with Eucharistic words about food and the harvest that leads to
Eternal Life (John 4:27-38). After
telling His apostles about the food of Eternal Life (B), he book ends the
Eucharistic discourse by returning to many other Samaritans in the village who
have come to accept Him (A’) (John 4:39-42).
The fourth bookend
appears in Chapter 6. This bookend again
surrounds the same topic: Jesus as the food and drink of Eternal Life. In John 6:1-14, the author relates the story
of the multiplication of loaves or bread (A).
In John 6:16-24, he changes the subject from multiplying the Bread of
Life to walking on water (B). The
walking on water miracle is then followed by a return to the discourse on the
Bread (A’) of Life (John
Summary
The author of the
Gospel of John intentionally uses the literary device of “bookends” to emphasize
the Eucharistic importance of Jesus’ ministry (B). Jesus
turned bread and wine into his Body and Blood during Passover (A’), three days
before He ended his ministry. The old
understanding of Passover (A) as an important Jewish celebration marking
release from Egyptian slavery to freedom in the Promised Land is replaced with Eucharist
(A’). Jesus’ Holy Thursday meal becomes
the new celebration of His ministry (B) trumping all previous understandings of
Passover. His “Last Supper Discourse” is
now the “Main Meal.” Jesus is now our bread and drink. He is the nourishment that will starve the slavery
of death and feed the freedom of Eternal Life.
The author of John placed the
[1] Culpepper,
R. Alan. Anatomy of the Fourth Gospel: A Study in Literary Design.
[2] Born,
Brian. Literary Features in the Gospel
of John. Directions. Vol
[3] Jerome
H. Neyrey. The Gospel of John Course
Notes. Theo64103. Chapter 2, pg 1.
[4]Giblin, Charles. Suggestion, Negative Response, and Positive Action in St. John's Portrayal of Jesus NTS 26, pg 197-211, 1980.
[5] Brown, Raymond E. The Johannine Sacramentary, Image Books, 1965, Pg 77-107