John's Use of Ezekiel: Understanding the Unique Perspective of the Fourth Gospel

by Brian Neil Peterson

Scholars have long puzzled over the distinctive themes and sequence of John’s narrative in contrast to the accounts in the Synoptic Gospels. Brian Neil Peterson now offers a remarkable explanation for some of the most unusual features of the Fourth Gospel, including the exalted language of the Johannine prologue; the focus upon Jesus as Word; the imagery of light and darkness, of glory and “tabernacling”; the role—and rejection—of prophecy; the early placement of Jesus’ “cleansing” of the temple and his relation to it; the emphasis on “signs” confirming Jesus’ identity; and the prominence of Jesus’ “I Am” sayings. Peterson finds important connections with motifs, themes, and even the macrostructure of the book of Ezekiel at just the points of John’s divergence from the synoptic narrative. His examination of events and sequence in the Fourth Gospel produces a novel understanding of John as steeped in the theology of Ezekiel—and of the Johannine Christ as the fulfillment of the vision of Ezekiel.

289 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2015

Reviews

[Christopher Gow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting. I was super skeptical at first, but Peterson reminds us that John's Gospel is strange when compared to the others (light/dark imagery, soaring prologue, odd chronology, no parables/exorcisms, I AM statements, scant ethical discourse, no transfiguration, resurrection of Lazarus, breathing the spirit on the disciples). Why do we think John shaped his Gospel so differently?
Peterson explains these elements by claiming that John (the author) is looking at Ezekiel and writing his gospel to tell the true story of Jesus in terms prophesied by Ezekiel.

He might be a little bit right (in the sense that there are lots of parallels), but I think he's mostly wrong (when he argues that the timelines/structures of the books are the same).

Either way, some of his points are pretty illuminating (e.g. "I Am" in John being an echo of "Then you will know that I am YHWH" in Ezekiel. "I Am the Good Shepherd" being a reference to Ezekiel rather than other prophets). Interesting, if you are into this sort of thing.

[Pat Reeder · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are connections between Ezekiel and John but some of these alleged literary allusions are tentative at best. Many of them could be explained in a variety of other ways even if some tenuous link connects some strand in John to Ezekiel.