요한복음의 그룹 등장인물

The Group Characters in the Gospel of John: The Jews, the Crowd, and the Disciples

This is a characterization study of the three group characters in the Gospel of John: the Jews, the crowd, and the disciples. Focusing mainly on their response to Jesus and relationship with Jesus and each other, this study traces their characterization. The examination of the characters shows that although the degree of the negativeness or positiveness was varied among the characters, all of them were divided in their response to Jesus. Some were positive, others were negative, and the others were neutral. "The Jews" as a term in the Gospel of John is an umbrella term that includes the Pharisees, the high priests, the authorities, the Judeans, and the Jewish people in general. Most of the Jews are described negatively. They are main opponents of Jesus, acting against him. The relationship between Jesus and the Jews are generally negative, often exchanging fierce criticism each other. Thus the Jews eventually crucify Jesus. However, it is also described that there are many Jews who believed in Jesus(John 11:45; 12:11). Thus, careful examination shows that their response to Jesus is divided. While positive side is much stronger, the divided response is also found among the crowd. Although their recognition of Jesus' messianic identity is somewhat limited to this-worldly aspect, many of them believe Jesus as the messiah(6:14; 7:31; 12:13). At the same time, some of the crowd deny Jesus'messianic identity, thinking Jesus deceives people(7:12) and trying to arrest him(7:30) like the Jews. The most positive group character among the three is the disciples. They recognize Jesus'identity from early in the narrative(1:41, 45, 49). They are first believers and close friends of Jesus, mutually being in positive relationship with Jesus. However, their faith and practice of discipleship reveal some degree of deficiency. Moreover, many of the disciples desert Jesus permanently upon his discourse about the bread from heaven, complaining, "This teaching is so difficult; who can accept it?"(6:60, 66). After observing the characterization of the characters that can be summarized as divided response, the study seeks the reason of the characterization in the Johannine community's situation. The community was in serious conflict with the synagogue, being threatened to be expelled from the synagogue because of their faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God. According to the two-level reading method, the narrative reflects the Johannine community's situation and the fourth evangelist's strategy to cope with the situation. Through the characterization of divided response, while admitting the negative situation and response from various people, the fourth evangelist tries to gain people as many as possible through the presentation of Jesus as inviting the hesitating crowd and even the most hostile Jews to faith rather than pronouncing judgment(10:38). As the purpose statement of the Gospel shows, "These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and that through believing you may have life in his name"(20:31). "Indeed, God did not send the son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him"(3:17).