The Use of the Jewish Scriptures in the Johannine Passion Narrative

This book examines the use of Israel’s Scriptures in the Fourth Gospel’s account of Jesus’ death. It pays particular attention to John’s concept of scriptural fulfilment, and particularly the accompanying “perfection” of Scripture in this regard; for John, the status of the Jewish Scriptures is enhanced by Christ’s Passion.

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How do Israel’s Scriptures inform the account of Jesus’s cruciform death in the Gospel of John? What does it mean for John’s portrayal of Jesus’s death to be “according to the Scriptures”? The Use of the Jewish Scriptures in the Johannine Passion Narrative: That the Scripture May Be Perfected argues that they are the focal element of the Johannine portrayal, and without them, John’s Passion Narrative simply makes no sense. Whether through the evangelist’s appeal to the fulfilment of Scripture (with such fulfilment accompanying the very moment of Jesus’ death) or whether through allusions to the narratives of Creation or Passover, Israel’s Scriptures provide the Passion Narrative’s veritable heartbeat. The book also considers the impact of John’s scriptural usage on the very concept of Scripture itself, contending that Scripture is brought to perfection by Jesus’ actions, and to a new standing or status in this regard. David M. Allen examines how the use of Scripture in the Passion account impacts the Fourth Gospel’s own self-understanding, arguing that its capacity to pronounce on Scripture’s fulfilment attests the Gospel’s own self-avowed, scriptural credentials.