Farewell

A widely scoffed bit of writing is the section of the Gospel according to John that scholars commonly call “the farewell discourse.” Starting in chapter 13 and going all the way through chapter 17, the evangelist quotes a long speech (well, it isn’t entirely a speech, is it, there are sections where the disciples ask questions or make comments and Jesus responds) that Jesus gives to his disciples as his way of telling them that he is leaving. He will be going to the Father. They don’t need to grieve; he will not leave them alone and desolate, even will continue to be with them himself. As they need guidance on how to live after he is gone, he gives them a “New Commandment,” love one another. The discourse moves through the Last Supper, he concludes by praying to the Father for his disciples, and off they go out across the valley to the garden.

Basically, the scoffing is set in a question. How does the evangelist know what Jesus said so precisely as to quote him verbatim at such great length? Especially, seeing that the writing of this gospel dates toward the very end of the first century A.D. and possibly into the first decade or two of the second century! The answer is simply that this is John’s gospel, John’s story about Jesus. If someone wants to hold that God himself dictated it to John (or whoever the anonymous writer of this gospel may have been), fine, maybe better, because that makes it actually God’s story, doesn’t it. I’m okay with that notion as long as we are clear that it’s an assertion, a human point of view, not dogma. 

The farewell discourse as a literary article, device or style is not uncommon in ancient writing. On his deathbed, Jacob/Israel blesses his sons and the two sons of Joseph. Moses makes a farewell speech. Joshua gave a farewell speech. So does the prophet Samuel. And old King David. Nobody goes back into the Old Testament to say, “Hey! How does the deuteronomist, or whoever, writing maybe hundreds of years later, know what these people said so well as to quote them verbatim and it becomes literal, inerrant Scripture, the word of God?” But, it’s the storyteller’s tale, told, repeated, established and sanctified in our salvation history as the tribes of Israel gather round the campfires on dark evenings in the wilderness. A story gets told, it becomes sacred to them. Nobody jumps up at the campfire gathering and challenges the storyteller, “How do you know what he said?” This is the story. It's our story. Listen. You may learn something. Your life may be changed in some way. If you attend carefully, you may even hear the Voice of God, the Word of the Lord. Even speaking to you personally.

TW+