Thanks for this whole discussion, I've never noticed the overall Festival plot in John's gospel before and this is fascinating. Especially thinking about some commentators who will say John's Gospel is "unsacramental" because it lacks a Last Supper narrative and doesn't narrate Jesus' baptism to the same extent as the synoptics. This outline on the 3 Passovers is a strong and clarifying pushback to that!
Just to follow up on your first section, I've heard the same about the Gospel of John and missionary work. I remember one book that basically promised "if you read through the Gospel of John with non-Christians, they *will* become Christian." I've always found this surprising too!
I could have focused exclusively on the 3 Passovers because I think they are most significant, and talked about the others elsewhere, but I think seeing this pattern of Jesus both observing the feasts and stating how he fulfills them makes sense when you see the bigger picture.
I'm not familiar with those who say John's Gospel is "unsacramental," but I'm guessing they are Baptists and/or are unfamiliar with how the early church received this Gospel, especially the eastern church. To me, the notion these commentators have is akin to how Gnostics/Docetics were drawn to John's Gospel in spite of how deeply embodied it presents Jesus. I would say John's Gospel is richly sacramental and the presentation of Jesus as the paschal lamb is what institutes the Eucharist here. But I think my sacramental reading also requires a level of sensitivity to how John is reading the canon and drawing from themes of creation and eschatology.
Thanks for this whole discussion, I've never noticed the overall Festival plot in John's gospel before and this is fascinating. Especially thinking about some commentators who will say John's Gospel is "unsacramental" because it lacks a Last Supper narrative and doesn't narrate Jesus' baptism to the same extent as the synoptics. This outline on the 3 Passovers is a strong and clarifying pushback to that!
Just to follow up on your first section, I've heard the same about the Gospel of John and missionary work. I remember one book that basically promised "if you read through the Gospel of John with non-Christians, they *will* become Christian." I've always found this surprising too!
I could have focused exclusively on the 3 Passovers because I think they are most significant, and talked about the others elsewhere, but I think seeing this pattern of Jesus both observing the feasts and stating how he fulfills them makes sense when you see the bigger picture.
I'm not familiar with those who say John's Gospel is "unsacramental," but I'm guessing they are Baptists and/or are unfamiliar with how the early church received this Gospel, especially the eastern church. To me, the notion these commentators have is akin to how Gnostics/Docetics were drawn to John's Gospel in spite of how deeply embodied it presents Jesus. I would say John's Gospel is richly sacramental and the presentation of Jesus as the paschal lamb is what institutes the Eucharist here. But I think my sacramental reading also requires a level of sensitivity to how John is reading the canon and drawing from themes of creation and eschatology.
Amen!