Chapter 5 Johannine Christology and Prophetic Traditions: The Case of Isaiah
In: Reading the Gospel of John’s Christology as Jewish MessianismSearch for other papers by Catrin H. Williams in
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Abstract
It has long been recognized that the influence of several Isaianic themes and motifs can be detected in the presentation of Jesus in the Gospel of John. What is less often examined is how these various Isaianic strands may have been linked together by the evangelist. Are various elements associated with ‘the Lord’ and ‘the Servant’ in the prophecies of Isaiah simply left to stand side by side in John’s Gospel or are they underpinned by a more complex pattern or configuration? The purpose of this essay is to investigate how intratextual links (such as glory, light, and name) that can be identified within the prophecies of Isaiah, particularly in the Septuagint version, could have served as important resources for some of the most distinctive features of John’s christological portrait of Jesus. The essay also engages in a comparative analysis of the theme of “seeing the exalted one,” as filtered through an Isaianic lens, in both the Gospel of John and the Parables of Enoch.