Lifted up and glorified: Isaiah's servant language in the Gospel of John

Abstract

This project explores John’s portrait of Jesus in the Gospel of John and argues that John presents Jesus as the Servant of the Lord from Isaiah primarily through his allusions to the Servant passages. The Servant is not the predominant Christological title in John, but it is an important aspect of Johannine Christology. Chapter 1 surveys various works on John’s use of the Old Testament in general, and John’s use of Isaiah specifically. While Isaiah is a major emphasis in John, there have only been two other monographs on John’s use of Isaiah. Furthermore, other works have noted a few allusions to the Isaianic Servant, but no other works have systematically studied the Isaianic Servant in the Gospel of John. Chapter 2 proposes several criteria necessary to identitying allusions to the Isaianic Servant, with allusions classified as clear, probable, and possible.

Chapter 3 contains an exegetical discussion of the relevant Servant passages in Isaiah, along with a discussion of the literary context of each Servant song. There is an excursus on the Second Temple Literature, which indicates there is no evidence of a Suffering Messiah in that period.

Chapter 4 analyzes two quotations to Isaiah and other clear allusions to the Servant songs in Isaiah. This chapter, along with subsequent chapters, explores the meaning and significance of each allusion for the literary context of John. Chapter 5 identifies probable allusions to the Servant, including the Greeks coming to see Jesus, light and darkness, and Jesus obeying the will of God. Chapter 6 analyzes possible allusions, which have some overlap with the Servant songs, but lack the criterion of uniqueness that would assist an interpreter in connecting John to Isaiah. Chapter 7 discusses the theme of the Isaianic New Exodus and the Servant’s role in initiating this new exodus. John’s description of Jesus utilizes the same characteristics of the Servant to portray Jesus as the Servant in Isaiah. Chapter 8 summarizes the previous chapters and analyzes the implications of the study along with areas for further research.