Authorship: Don Love is Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at Liberty University & Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. He studied The Gospel of John and Biblical Theology under Andreas Köstenberger and continues to publish and teach within these interest areas.
Thesis Statement: Internal and external evidence demonstrates that John was written to mitigate the growing Roman appropriation of Jewish prophetic messianic expectation to the Flavian Ceasars.
Overview of Argumentation: Josephus, Tacitus, and Suetonius all refer to an ancient and well-established belief held all over the Orient that it was fated that men coming from Judea would rule the world. Josephus explains that this expectation was the basis of the Jewish rebellion precipitating the temple’s destruction. Tacitus and Suetonius recount that the Romans were convinced that the ancient priestly scriptures of the Jews found fulfillment in the Flavians who destroyed the Temple. For, in the Roman mind, when Vespasian gathered his sons in triumphal parade out of Judea carrying the temple articles, they also laid claim to the Jewish prophesy that men coming out of Judea would rule the world. And with this, the Flavian Caesars effectively supplanted all Jewish messianic hopefuls, including Jesus. Yet not all abandoned faith; according to Tacitus, there remained a remnant who foolishly continued to hope in a Jewish world ruler coming out of Judea.
This paper contends that internal and external evidence demonstrates that John was written to mitigate the growing Roman appropriation of Jewish prophetic messianic expectations to the Flavian Ceasars. John and the followers of Christ were among these hopefuls, continuing to declare that “the Messiah is Jesus!” and that His gospel served both as an apologetic and an evangelistic writing to stem the tide of Flavian Messianism. It traces internal and external evidence, demonstrating that Roman discussions of their reappropriation of Jewish prophetic fulfillment from Jesus to the Flavian Dynasty may be instrumental in rediscovering, not only the occasion and purpose of John’s Gospel, but features of John’s Gospel such as: 1) his frequent use of “the Jews;” 2) the phrase “out of Judea;” 3) temple replacement motifs; 4) antiimperialist titles and language.
Contribution to the Field: This paper builds on D.A. Carson’s and Andreas Köstenberger’s seminal articles concerning the Fourth Gospel’s purpose statement, its occasion, and the nature of its signs to suggest that John’s post-temple purpose may be to give a sustained apologetic for Jesus as the Messiah, in opposition to the Caesars of the Flavian Dynasty. Such a shift would certainly have: 1) caused many Christians, and would-be Christians, to reconsider their position on Jesus as the Messiah; 2) hindered any future evangelistic work; and 3) necessitated the occasion of the Fourth Gospel. If accepted, this proposal could help elucidate the authorial intent of the Gospel as a whole, bringing nuance and meaning to many motifs and themes throughout.