The statement of Caiaphas : John 11 : 47-53

Abstract

In the fourth gospel St John deals with the same revealed truth as Matthew, Mark, Luke and Paul. His way of speaking about that truth, however, is different. As Peter F. Ellis rightly puts it, "like waters from the same source, the Johannine, Pauline and Synoptic tradition all come from the same historic Jesus but flow through different lands, pick up different textures and emerge as observably different rivers. The Johannine river flows through ... an almost mystical world, with its own language, its own simbolism and its own theological viewpoint." Many critics agree that the reader who grasps the central concepts of Johannine theology, acquires a feeling for its innate consistency and enjoys a provocative theological experience. The short pericope found in John Chapter 11, vss 47-53, is a good example of a passage which, while purporting to recount an historical incidence, has a profound theological significance. It is for this reason that it has been chosen for detailed study in this work. [...]