The Gospel of John presents Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Messiah, who is equal in essence with the Father (Yahweh) through the wilderness motif. Jesus says in his debate with the religious leaders that the Father gives testimony of the Son (John 5:37), but we never clearly see any explicit statements coming from the Father regarding Christ’s divinity in the book. In fact, the only time the Father speaks directly is in John 12:28, saying He has glorified His own name. So why does Jesus say the Father gives testimony about Jesus? The answer is found in Christ reliving and fulfilling many of the wilderness motifs in the Gospel of John (including the 7 signs [a previous ETS paper]). These wilderness motifs show that Jesus is equal in essence with Yahweh in the wilderness wanderings and the feasts of Israel, thus giving credence to Jesus’s divine identity with Yahweh. For example, Jesus is veiled in human flesh as He tabernacles among us (John 1:14), Jesus is like the true Brazen Serpent lifted up in the wilderness (John 3:14), Jesus is the true manna that comes down out of heaven (John 6:32-35), Jesus is the true Passover Lamb that takes away the sins of the World (John 13:1), and Jesus celebrates and fulfills the feasts in John. Thus, the gospel of John is presenting Jesus as equal to Yahweh in essence and deeds, thus giving testimony about Jesus’ divine nature from the Father through the wilderness motif. When Jesus says, “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father” (John 10:37-28). Also, when Jesus says “I Am” in John 8:58, He is saying that He is equal in essence to Yahweh, the Father, which is made clear when He says “I and the Father are One” (John 10:30, 17:11).
I have surveyed the literature and found evidence to support this thesis and believe that this will contribute greatly to understanding Johannine biblical theology better, particularly the use of the Old Testament in the New. Also, there is some new material here that can contribute to biblical theological methodology as well as Johannine literature in general.