Narrative Analysis of John 18:28 - 19:16a Part II (Rhetoric)
Yesterday we began our look at this narrative in the Gospel of John with part one of our analysis. We looked briefly at the structure and any textual issues of importance in this section. Today we begin our focus on the rhetorical elements of the narrative: namely, theme, repetition, motif, type scenes, figures of speech, figures of thought, and carnivalesque. Tomorrow we will look at the largest of the rhetorical elements in this narrative, irony.
Rhetoric
Theme, Repetition, Motif, and Type Scenes
In the context of its value system, the narrative presents ideas through a recurring pattern of repetition and motifs. These ideas are known as themes.1 In the Gospel of John the major theme is the kingship of Jesus, his authority and royal status.2 Paul Duke notes that “Jesus is called king no less than eleven times in the Johannine Passion account.”3 Seven of those eleven take place in this pericope where the words king or kingdom are used a total of twelve times. Duke also finds that the entire pericope is a type scene:
The hypothesis of Josef Blank is appealing. He maintains that John presents the trial in the form of ‘an ironic and bizarre distortion’ of a ‘King’s Epiphany.’ The presentation of a king to his people should include first a proclamation of kingship, as has been provided by Pilate, and then the enthroning and investiture, which the soldiers brutally conduct. Two other elements, the king’s grand appearance before his people and their unified acclamation of his sovereignty, are given lurid portrayals in what follows.4
Additionally, Brown states that the core of the second interrogation of Jesus by Pilate is Jesus’ statement on authority and power.5 Certainly the evangelist meant for the reader to understanding something about the kingship and authority of Jesus. In fact, since the evangelist is probably writing to at least some Jewish readers dispersed throughout the Roman Empire, he wants them to understand the nature of Jesus’ messianic reign –the essence of Jesus’ kingship –so that Jesus’ claims will be understood and believed.6 While the Jewish leaders understood that Jesus claimed to be Messiah, the Son of God, in their unbelief and rejection they twisted this claim in order to gain the death penalty by the Roman government. Brown sees in this a connection between the theme of kingship and the theme of suffering.7 Somehow, Jesus’ kingship is demonstrated and fulfilled in his suffering on the cross. Since the Messiah was the promised king of Israel, the Jews used the political meaning of the kingship to bring charges against Jesus before Pilate that led to his suffering.8 However, Jesus makes it clear that his kingship is not of this world, and in this way his authority as a sovereign is not derived from any earthly thing.9
Closely related to the first theme is a second theme in this pericope, the idea of judge and judgment.10 However, judgment in the Fourth Gospel is not as it appears to be. On the surface Pilate is the judge and the Jews are accusers, but the evangelist presents “a trial motif in which the apparent judge and accusers are in fact judged and condemned by the One thought to be on trial.”11 Jesus turns each question of Pilate on its head and becomes the interrogator himself.12 Indeed, Brown points out that “from the first words of Jesus it is the prefect who is on trial!”13 Pilate mocks the Jews and tells them several times (another Johannine motif) to take him away and judge him themselves.14 The Jews try to force Pilate to condemn Jesus, but instead he proclaims him innocent three times. Yet in the end he is condemned, but ironically this condemnation brings judgment to those who have judged him wrongly.15Schnackenburg has said it well, “Jesus immediately pronounces his judgment also, concerning those who sit in judgment on him. Now they are placed before God’s tribunal, and the one accused by them becomes their judge.”16 The roles of judge and accused have been switched, with Jesus being the one who makes the sovereign decisions.17 In this way we find the themes of judge and king are related.
Another smaller theme of this pericope is the idea of truth which is tied into the larger theme of truth found in the entire Fourth Gospel.18 Jesus is in truth the king and righteous judge, yet he is in the seat of a common criminal. Pilate asks for truth, but misses the truth that stand before him. While the truth is stated over and over again, it remains a mystery to everyone in the scene but Jesus. The motifs of recognition of and response to Jesus, shouting out of Jews, and Levitical uncleanness are also found in this section.19
The various motifs and type scenes tie into the themes of the Gospel which are used by the evangelist to relate his point of view: Jesus is king, judge and God demonstrated unexpectedly through his humiliation on the cross.
Figures of Speech and Thought
The evangelist uses parallelism in several instances to demonstrate his point of view. Carson notes that there is parallelism in John 18:36 and 37 that “suggests [Jesus’] kingdom is the kingdom of truth; or, more precisely put, the exercise of his saving kingship is virtually indistinguishable from his testifying to the truth.”20 The evangelist demonstrates something about the nature of Jesus kingship, it is one of truth. He uses parallel scenes of Jesus being brought out (John 19:4ff and John 19:13ff) to intensify the “abysmal humiliation of the Jews through the answer they give [see John 19:15].”21 Pilate’s shuttling back and forth is a metaphor that “portrays the human predicament in which one must choose between Jesus and the world.”22 This figure of thought demonstrates that the reader also has a choice to make between Jesus and the world.
The use of double entendre and misunderstanding is common in the Gospel of John. In this pericope the evangelist uses it to show Pilate’s confusion over the true nature of Jesus’ kingdom.23 Jesus’ words to Pilate in 19:11 have a double meaning, yet Jesus is speaking “less of Caesar above Pilate than the God above both Caesar and Pilate.”24 The double-meaning in John 19:13 is unusual, coming from an unclear grammatical structure.
The ambiguous phrase allows for serious possibilities. On the one hand, Pilate does sit on the tribunal seat, thus preserving the solemnity of the occasion (the historical situation). On the other, the reader is allowed to imagine that Jesus –as the real judge in this situation –sits on the tribunal (the theological situation). Thus, the primary sense is intransitive; while a secondary, theological sense proceeds from a transitive interpretation.25
The evangelist uses this double meaning to illustrate his theological point of view that Jesus is indeed the true judge.
The evangelist employees these figures of speech and thought to express his point of view that Jesus is the true judge reigning over a kingdom of truth.
Carnivalesque
The mocking of Jesus is a scene of carnivalesque that “highlights the upside down, inside out, top to bottom, inverted world of carnival.”26 The scene, as has been demonstrated during the discussion of type scenes (see above), is a distortion of the presentation of a king to his people.27 The soldiers are brutal and relentless in their scourging and mocking of Jesus. Brown notes that they were “probably copying practices frequently seen on stage and in the Roman circuses….”28 This mock-king that is ultimately presented by Pilate is, nonetheless, the true king who alone bears witness to the truth.29 The evangelist’s use of the rhetorical element of carnivalesque ironically highlights the true nature and authority of Jesus. Since this world is upside down and inside out, we find that what is done in mockery is in actuality the truth. While the presentation of Jesus as king was mockery to both the Romans and the Jews, it was in fact the true presentation of a king to his people. The evangelist points out that Jesus chose this way to be glorified, to demonstrate his love for his people.
1 Resseguie 2005, 46.
2 Beasley-Murray, George R. John. Word Biblical Commentary. Edited by Glenn W. Barker David A Hubbard. Vol. 36. Waco, TX: Word Books, 1999, 327, 342; Carson 1991, 587; Moloney 1998, 493; Schnackenburg 1990, 247 are all in agreement that the idea of kingship and authority is the dominant theme. Brown (1970, 889-890) describes the theme as a “kingship motif” yet, undoubtedly, he still views the motif of kingship as dominant throughout this pericope.
3 Duke 1985, 129.
4 Ibid., 132.
5 Brown 1970, 892.
6 Carson 1991, 593.
7 Brown 1970, 863.
8 Carson 1991, 592.
9 John 18:36-37; 19:11 [NASB]
10 Beasley-Murray 1999, 342 argues that the two themes of Jesus as King and Jesus as Judge come together in the theological intention of the passage.
11 Duke 1985, 127. Brown 1970, 863 also notes the motif of “Jesus as the true judge who puts his adversaries on trial.”
12 Carson 1991, 593.
13 Brown 1970, 868.
14 Bernhard 1929, 617; Schnackenburg 1990, 258. Schnackenburg goes so far as to claim that this particular motif is the most important Johannine motif.
15 Both Duke (1985, 131) and Schnackenburg (1990, 251) note the repetition of the innocence of Jesus.
16 Schnackenburg 1990, 261. Brown 1970, 894 notes that the Jew’ have judged themselves when they uttered the fateful words that they have no king other than Caesar.
17 Ibid., 260.
18 Bernhard 1929, 612 notes that “[t]ruth is one of the keywords of the Fourth Gospel…”
19 Brown 1970, 864 notes that Pilate is not a personification of the state, but rather a representation of a recognition and response to Jesus “that is neither faith nor rejection.” Bultmann 1971, 649 notes that the threats and shouts of the Jews is a motif of influence upon Pilate’s decision. Ridderbos, Herman N. The Gospel According to John. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997, 598 notes that the cries of the Jews is “simply an emotional demonstration of resistance to Pilate’s attempts to release Jesus.” Schnackenburg 1990, 252 points out that it is possible that John considers the accusations in v. 30 and 31 to be a “cry.” Schnackenburg 1990, 244 notes the motif of levitical uncleanness is of concern to the Evangelist.
20 Carson 1991, 595.
21 Bultmann 1971, 650. Their cry to crucify this innocent man is itself their humiliation.
22 Duke 1985, 127.
23 Brown 1970, 869 notes that for Pilate kingdom is a political entity, but for Jesus it is much more.
24 Duke 1985, 133-134. He also notes that “[e]ven Pilate could not fail to fathom this double entendre…” (his italics)
25 Resseguie 2001, 57. Duke 1985, 135 agrees that it is possible the author left this grammar deliberately ambiguous to allow for the suggestive possibility that Jesus sat.
26 Resseguie 2005, 75.
27 Duke 1985, 132.
28 Brown 1970, 888.
29 Schnackenburg 1990, 257.
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