John’s use of the synoptic gospels and Jesus’ farewell prayer (Jn 17)

Abstract

Since the very early days of Christianity, the distinctive nature of John’s gospel has been recognised. During the era of critical biblical studies, great attention has been given to the question of how it is connected to the other three canonical gospels. Is it a completely independent gospel, providing a second viewpoint of the historical Jesus?

I shall begin this essay by briefly reviewing the different ways in which the John - synoptic relationship has been viewed over recent decades. This question is closely linked to the more general one of how John uses all his sources. In this light, I shall look at two recent works addressing this question, North (2020) and Boyarin (2001) which attempt to discern the interpretive strategies utilised by John in making use of his sources.

These insights will then be applied to a specific text in John, the Farewell Prayer (John 17). There have been suggestions that this is linked to the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13, Luke 11:2-4), despite clear differences in form, length and vocabulary, but no consensus on the nature of this connection. I shall argue that there is indeed a connection, and that the same interpretative strategies and characteristic theological thinking are also present in the relationship between these texts.