Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 84:2 (Fall 2022)
Article: Jesus Is Greater Than The Patriarchs: Comparative Christology In The Fourth Gospel
Author: Steven Jo

Jesus Is Greater Than The Patriarchs:
Comparative Christology In The Fourth Gospel

Steven Jo

This dissertation explores the Fourth Gospel’s christological use of Israel’s patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Its main contention is that Israel’s patriarchs in the Fourth Gospel function as comparative characters for the purpose of highlighting aspects of Jesus’ unique identity as God’s Son. Thus this dissertation first examines the relevant OT passages in their original context (Gen 18:1–15; 22:1–19; 28:10–22; 29:1–30) and the development of these passages in Second Temple Jewish Literature. This examination demonstrates a consistent pattern among Second Temple Jewish writers either elaborating the OT patriarchal traditions by adding greater significance, or elevating the patriarchs to exemplary or eschatological status. With this pattern in view, the dissertation studies passages in the Fourth Gospel wherein Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are explicitly recalled or implicitly alluded to (John 1:14, 18; 1:51; 4:1–42; 8:12–59). The work observes that the evocation of the patriarchs takes place in the context of comparison (often with the use of the comparative adjective μείζων) with christological purposes. The Fourth Gospel’s presentation of Jesus as one greater than the patriarchs may have communal or ecclesiological implications for those who believe in Jesus. Israel is being reconstituted under God’s unique Son Jesus; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are no longer the arbiters of divine paternity. Through a study of the patriarch in the Fourth Gospel, this dissertation proposes a new christological model: Comparative Christology.