Overcoming Inner-community Dissensions, Crisis and Conflict Resolution: Beloved Disciple and Peter: A Comparative Analysis; Union and Unity of the Community

The Christian community known to us through the Johannine writings was sect, a part of the larger Christian sectarian movement.¹ This sectarian community has broken with many other Christian communities because of its distinct theological and ecclesiological tendencies. In the Fourth Gospel we also read about the Beloved Disciple and his role in leading the Johannine community and we have also a distinct portrayal of Apostle Peter in this Gospel when we compare it with the Synoptic Gospels. Here we examine the dynamics that existed in the Johannine community and also attempt a comparison between the Beloved Disciple and Peter.

The Johannine community of the nineties of the first century was not in conformity with the mainstream Jewish religiosity as it had a lot of special characteristics, Alan Culpepper calls the community a school.² It was a fellowship of Christian believers under the leadership of the Beloved Disciple. We have already looked into the details with regard to this community in the opening chapter itself. But here we try to reconstruct the Johannine community life in order to look at the community dissensions, crisis and in an attempt to resolve the conflicts.

The community which began in Palestine or its outskirts is believed to have moved away from there to the region of Ephesus as a result of the persecutions rampant there during that period. We have already examined in the first chapter different phases through which the community might have gone through as portrayed by Raymond E. Brown. Phase 1 marked the pre-Gospel era (mid 50s to the late 80s) when the Johannine community originated. By the time the Gospel written the community was already expelled from the synagogues (9:22; 16:2) because of their claims about Jesus. There were controversies between the community and the leaders of the synagogues. Phase 2 marks the situation of the community at the time when the Gospel was written. During this time also the bitterness with the Jews continued. The community is now in a pluralistic world of believers and non-believers. Phase 3 has he scene when the Johannine community itself got divided. It would be around 100 CE and the Johannine epistles were written around this time. There was the struggle between the two groups who were interpreting the gospel in different ways and the secessionists had probably greater success (1 John 4-5). Phase 4 depicts the dissolution of the two Johannine groups after the epistles were written. The secessionists were no longer in communion with the conservative side of the community and probably they moved into Docetism, Gnositicism, Cerinthianism or Montanism. The secessionists had difference of opinion with the author of Fourth Gospel with Christology, ethics, eschatology and pneumatology.

The Fourth Gospel deals with the relationship of love and unity between Jesus and the Father. This relationship gives the foundation for the relationship of mutual love and unity among the disciples. The disciples’ love for one another and their unity with one another will be the foundation for their representation of Jesus in the world (13:35; 17:21, 23). The Gospel emphasizes that the disciples were first loved by Jesus (13:1-3). It is his love in them which is to be the ground and model for their love to one another (13:34-35). This love should be followed by works (14:12), going (16:16), witnessing (15:27) and the proclamation of a message (17:20; 20:23).

1. Beloved Disciple and Peter: A Comparative Analysis

The Beloved Disciple emerges as the disciple whom Jesus loved and who was closest to Jesus. He reclined on the chest of Jesus at the Last Supper (13:23). Jesus handed over his mother to him just before his death on the cross (19:27). This disciple reached the empty tomb first (20:4), and he was the first to believe in the resurrected Jesus (20:8) even without seeing the Risen Jesus. He could also recognize Jesus first at the miraculous catch of fish at Lake Tiberius (21:7). It is very difficult to arrive at a conclusion on the identity of the Beloved Disciple. Various names such as Lazarus (11:5), John Mark (Acts 12:12), Paul (Galatians 2:20), and Matthias (Acts 1:23, 26) have been proposed. Even Apostle and Apostle Peter’s names are by some. Raymond E. Brown thinks that this person must an actual figure and he or she must have played an important role in the origins of this Gospel as well as within the Johannine community. The writer might have thought that his readers very well knew who the “beloved” was and therefore it was not a primary concern for him to name him specifically.³

In the Fourth Gospel the name of Simon Peter is frequently mentioned more than other disciple, but a careful reading of the Fourth Gospel rightly supports the fact that the portrayal of Peter is divergent from the synoptic writers. There are not many passages dealing with the acts of Peter in the Fourth Gospel. Peter’s calling (1:40-42), his confession (6:67-49), washing the feet (13:6-11), events during the arrest of Jesus (18:10-11), his denial of Jesus (18:17-18, 25-27), and the scene at the tomb (20:1-8) delineate Peter’s character in the Fourth Gospel. The imageries such as Cephas, shepherd, fisherman and Satan portray something of Peter. But the last chapter of the Gospel which is regarded to be a later addition gives special significance to Peter. The redactor does not fail to mention the Beloved Disciple in that chapter also alongside Peter. Anyway John 21 written purposefully to bring Peter to the forefront. Only in the last chapter of the Gospel do we see his position heightened and elevated in the Fourth Gospel.⁴ The consistent characterization of Peter in relation to the Beloved Disciple appears to point to the Gospel’s coherent perspective, which would have remained incomplete had the final chapter not been included.⁵

Like any human community, each community would always like to stand out above the other communities. Johannine community also probably had such a frame of mind. Hence they could be seen as drawing the Beloved Disciple as superior.

In the Fourth Gospel, the Beloved Disciple is depicted several times as having greater access to knowledge when compared with Peter. In John 13:24, Peter asks the Beloved Disciple to ask Jesus who he means. In 18: 15-16, the other disciple provides Peter access to the high priest’s courtyard. In 20:4, he outruns Peter and reaches the tomb first and in verse 8, we read that both went into the tomb, but it is the other disciple who “believes” without seeing the resurrected Jesus. In 21:7, the Beloved Disciple identifies “the Lord” on the beach to Peter. Finally in 21:18-21, the Beloved Disciple as the narrator is clearly pointing to Peter’s future; but Peter asks about the Beloved Disciple, Jesus turns away his question: “What is that to you?”

The enigmatic figure of the Beloved Disciple occurs perhaps seven times in the Gospel of John — all during the last phase of Jesus’ ministry. In most of them he is closely identified with Peter. This leads us to conclude that the evangelist wanted to convey a particular understanding of the relationship between Peter and the Beloved Disciple.

Basic to most approaches is the assumption that the Beloved Disciple (Johannine Christianity) is heralded as superior by means of the relative portrayal of Peter (Apostolic Christianity) within the Gospel of John. Snyder speaks of the strong “anti-Petrinism” of the Gospel of John and even goes as far as to state the figure of the Beloved Disciple as more authoritative than the other disciples, especially those later designated as apostles, is absolutely necessary to the structure of the Gospel of John.

In the Fourth Gospel the author gives a hint that there might have been a rift between the believers of the Petrine tradition and the Johannine community (tradition).⁶ The relationship has been variably described as one of rivalry, as that of assuming the same basic functions in their respective communities, as that of differentiated roles or as essentially unrelated.⁷ Moreton argues that the figure of the Beloved Disciple is basically a device, intended to correct a growing reverence for Peter, while Brown suggests that the Beloved Disciple’s portrayal in the Fourth Gospel seeks to counteract the dominance of the “twelve” in the developing church.⁸

Many see both assuming the same basic function in their communities. Bultmann has the view that the Beloved Disciple is a representative of the gentile community and Peter of the Jewish community. William Watty views this as corrective to a developing Petrine tradition. Some see relationship as differentiated roles. Patrick Wartin views that each has a distinctive function to perform, Beloved Disciple had prophetic ministry and Peter followed pastoral ministry and hence rivalry was not in terms of differentiation but in terms of differentiation of function.

Some scholars deny this rivalry. Cullmann asserts that the Fourth Gospel “nowhere attempts to deny directly the special role of Peter within the group of disciples. It only has the tendency to lessen this role, in so far as it seeks to show that beside the unique position of Peter there is the somewhat different role of the “Beloved Disciple.”⁹ The two disciples and the callings they represent have different complementary roles within the messianic community’s mission. The Beloved Disciple’s role is that of bearing faithful witness to Jesus, while Peter’s role is one of loving, faithful shepherding of the flock of Jesus.

There were several inner tensions among communities in the early church. The Johannine community has schism. With regard to Peter and the Beloved Disciple, the author portrays a rivalry between them. Peter is subordinated to the Beloved Disciple pointing to the insight and intimacy of the Beloved Disciple with Jesus. The Johannine community soon became part of the Catholic (universal) Church. Pre-existence of Jesus was more or less agreed by the church all over.

2. Knowing and Believing as Means of Appropriating Life

The words “knowing” and “believing” are words that are almost interchangeable in John’s Gospel. The last lines of John 17:8 put in parallelism the knowledge that Jesus came forth from the Father and the belief that Jesus was sent by the Father.¹⁰ When we compare 14:7 and 14:10 the similarities between the two verbs “to know” and “to believe” could be noted and understood: some synonymy is explicit. We may say that “to believe” is frequently used for the intuitive knowledge that Jesus has of the Father and of the things of God. However, the distinction breaks down in the case of the use of “to know”. But we have to say that John tends to use one verb in one way and the other verb in another way on many other occasions. Hence it is really a question of emphasis and not of sharp distinction. Anyhow knowing and believing Jesus is a means of appropriating life (17:8; 20:30-31).

Source:

Abraham Philip, Jesus Tradition in the Johannine Writings, pp. 139–141.

Footnotes

1. Raymond E. Brown, The Community of the Beloved Disciple (New York: Paulist Press, 1979), 15.
2. Abraham Philip, History and theology of the Gospel According to St. John (Tiruvalla: CSS, 2018), 25.
3. John A. T. Robinson, The Priority of John (Oate park: Mayerstone books, 1987), 98.
4. John W. Pryor, John: Evangelist of Covenant People…, 46; Andreas J. Kostenberger, The Mission of Jesus and the Disciples…, 155.
5. Andras J. Kostenberger, The Mission of Jesus and the Disciples (Grand Rapids: W. B. Eerdmans publishing Company, 1998), 155.
6. Oscar Cullmann, The Johannine Circle, 58.
7. R. H. Strachen, Fourth Gospel: Its Significance and Environment (London: SCM Press, 1941), 155.
8. Andreas J. Kostenberger, The Missions of Jesus & His Disciples…, 156.
9. John W. Pryor, John: Evangelist of Covenant People (Illinois: IVR, 1992), 27.
10. Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John…, 513.

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