John’s Gospel as “Apocalyptic” Gospel

This chapter summarizes the conclusions of the previous two chapters and notes that the Gospel of John contains core elements of the Semeia 14 “master-paradigm” of an apocalypse. Even though the Gospel contains similar elements of form, content, and function, it is not an apocalypse. The manner of revelation (i.e., an otherworldly mediator disclosing heavenly revelation to a human recipient) draws attention to John’s similarity to Jewish apocalypses, but ironically, these form elements contain striking differences. For example, John has visual revelation, yet lacks visions, and John’s otherworldly mediator is also a human, is one with God, and is the content of the revelation. The Gospel has multiple human recipients even though the beloved disciple is the privileged recipient of revelation. Although John does not participate in the genre of apocalypse, it is a gospel that is shaped by the genre of apocalypse. It is a gospel with an apocalyptic mode.