How to Read the Gospel of John from a Liberation Theology Perspective

I have been working intensively on the Gospel of John since 2020. In this post, you will find a list of my posts on the question of whether the Fourth Gospel is profoundly anti-Jewish despite its Jewish character. I don’t think so: As a Jew, the evangelist John argues with Jews who think differently about whether Jesus is the Messiah …

Christ and Caesar

A Political Interpretation of the Gospel of John, Critically Recounted.

According to Lance Byron Richey, Jesus as the Son of God in John’s Gospel is set against all political-theological claims of Roman Imperial Ideology. Unfortunately, Richey does not conceive of Jesus’ Messianic kingship from the Jewish Torah as the process of liberating Israel and overcoming the Roman world order.

Doing Justice to Caiaphas the High Priest

Caiaphas plays an important role in the Christian passion story as the high priest who hands Jesus over to the Roman governor Pilate for crucifixion. Adele Reinhartz analyzes how his character has been portrayed through the centuries, mostly as the abhorrent distorted image of a Jew. I ask whether Ton Veerkamp’s interpretation of the Gospel of John does him justice.

Otherworldly Word or Overcoming the World Order?

Review of the book “The Word in the World. The Cosmological Tale in the Fourth Gospel” by Adele Reinhartz.

Reinhartz’ reading of John’s Gospel corresponds to its Gentile Christian, otherworldly understanding, common since the 2nd century. But was not John firmly rooted in the Scriptures of the Jews and proclaiming a Messiah who overcomes the Roman world order through solidarity?

Solidarity against the World Order

A Political Reading of the Gospel of John about Yeshua Messiah of all Israel.

The English translation of Ton Veerkamp’s interpretation is here combined with a colometrical English translation of the Gospel of John also based on publications by Ton Veerkamp and on the “Complete Jewish Bible” (Copyright Dr. David H. Stern. Used with Permission from Messianic Jewish Publishers,