The Jewish Conflict in John

There is real bitterness against Jews in the gospel of John. John mentions “the Jews” over seventy times in his gospel in disparaging ways, which is more than the other three gospels combined. The Jews represent all those who reject Jesus. They become a symbol for all that is evil in the world. There is intriguing evidence in John that the conflict between Jews and Christians had become so bitter that Jews were expelling Christians from the synagogue (9:22).

A good example of this problem comes in John’s account of the Passion Narrative. Read his story of Jesus before Pilate (18:28-19:16). In the story, we see a Pilate that believes Jesus to be innocent, and “the Jews” who want him crucified. I have already pointed out the historical problems with Mark’s account of the Passion Narrative (See the blog under that title.). The same problems apply to John’s story.

To briefly summarize these problems, it is extremely unlikely that Jesus was buried. Victims of crucifixion were left on the cross to be eaten by animals. It was part of the horror of the punishment. Second, trials were not held. The victim was arrested and placed on a cross. The hearing with Pilate in John is fiction. Finally, the Romans killed Jesus. Crucifixion was a Roman punishment. If the Jewish Sanhedrin had wanted to kill Jesus, he would have been stoned. As I explained in the blog relating to Mark’s account, Jesus was crucified by the Romans because he was seen as a political threat.

Despite this history, John places the blame squarely on the Jews. This distortion of history has had important historical consequences. Biblical literalism can present real problems.

James Carroll, in a fascinating book entitled Constantine’s Sword, points out the profound consequences of the anti-Semitism which originates in the gospel of John. He demonstrates how Christian thinkers from Marcion in the second century, to Ambrose, Augustine, Anselm, Thomas Aquinas, and Martin Luther developed theologies that were anti-Semitic and inspired by the gospel of John. These theologies created a climate of opinion which explains the First Crusade of 1096 which was directed against Jews, the Spanish Inquisition in the 15th century which led to the massacre of thousands of Jews, and the holocaust. The point Carroll makes is that Hitler killed the Jews, but the anti-Semitism that originates in John created a climate of opinion that made the holocaust possible. Read Carroll’s book. It is well researched and deeply disturbing.

The anti-Semitism of John also worked to change the religion of Jesus. This unfortunate consequence was aided by the Roman/Jewish War (66-73 CE) which killed 600,000 Jews. Those Jews that survived were exiled throughout the Hellenistic world. The result was that Jewish Christianity was destroyed. The Christian religion was then reconstituted in the Hellenistic world. This fact plus the anti-Semitism of the gospels, especially John, led to a divorce between the new Christian religion and its Jewish origins. The result was that individual salvation became the central focus rather than creating a relationship with God that centers around the practice of ethics and loving your neighbor. See my blog entitled “The Sermon on the Mount” which summarizes the interest of Jesus in the practice of ethics. This practice of ethics became a secondary concern for Hellenistic Christianity, and yet it is in doing this hard work that one finds God. Sadly, many Christians miss this point.

As the two examples above suggest, biblical illiteracy and scriptural literalism have important consequences. These consequences linger today. When Mel Gibson’s movie “The Passion of Christ” was released, an Evangelical church in Denver gleefully proclaimed “The Jews Killed Jesus” on its roadside sign. The Biblical Literacy Project is dedicated to fighting these problems.