Talk:John 20:1-21:25

Verse 20:9

I looked this in a couple commentary books, but I'm still rather perplexed here. Here's one explanation on verse 9:

The observation that the disciples did not know or understand the Scripture is so unexpected after v 8 that some have pronounced it a scribal gloss (so Bultmann, 682). That is needless. The lack of understanding of the Scriptures concerning the Messiah’s redemptive work is beautifully illustrated in the Emmaus story (Luke 24:25–27, 32) and extended to the whole disciple group in Luke 24:44–47. The plural ??????? shows that the ignorance of the Scriptures applied to both disciples; in the context, however, it appears to emphasize the disparity between the faith of the one and the incomprehension of the other.

Schnackenburg observes (3:313) that v 9 almost certainly stood in the Evangelist’s source, for the formula ??? … ????????? “he must rise,” is not found elsewhere in John but is frequent in the synoptic Gospels (note especially the passion predictions, Mark 8:31, etc, and its use in the Lukan resurrection narrative, Luke 24:7, 25–26, 46). In the Lukan passage the death and resurrection is “according to the Scriptures,” plural; “the Scripture” in our passage is likely to have the same import, i.e., the testimony of the entire Scripture, rather than that of a single passage.

[Beasley-Murray, George R.: Word Biblical Commentary  : John. Dallas : Word, Incorporated, 2002 (Word Biblical Commentary 36), S. 373]

I guess I don't really understand this, at least inasmuch as it tries to address Matthew's question. Elsewhere I read that the "they" might refer to Peter and Mary, not to John (or whoever the "beloved disciple" is here). That would make sense to me, but I think this is viewed as a forced reading. There's also some discussion about how this is an amalgamation of stories, but I haven't looked at that discussion very closely.

Might this be sort of an explanation as to why John didn't believe until he saw the body because they didn't know or understand scripture that had prophesied this? --RobertC 17:00, 21 July 2007 (CEST)

Hey Robert, I'm not getting it either. Also not getting your comment in the last paragraph. What do you mean by "until he saw the body" isn't verse 8 talking about before he saw the body? --Matthew Faulconer 07:26, 25 July 2007 (CEST)

Sorry, Matthew, I meant "until he saw the body was missing." Does that make sense? --RobertC 16:13, 25 July 2007 (CEST)

Verse 20:21

Matthew, I'm thinking "something else." It seems to me Jesus is sending his disciples into the world, and that this isn't directly related to the aforementioned peace or the subsequently-mentioned Holy Ghost. --RobertC 16:40, 21 July 2007 (CEST)