The Strong Possibility That Lazar Wrote the Fourth Gospel

[gregglaser]

The Apostle John wrote the 4th Gospel, as well as the Apostolic Letter of John, both of them are very similar in wording.

People like to speculate about many things, but, it has always been known who wrote that Gospel and that Letter.

Thank you for your comment, Chuck.  History is on your side.

I do have some new insights though in this post that you may find interesting.

I like to read the fourth gospel with my daughter to help her practice Aramaic.  I’ve found the grammar and conjugations are so consistent, they’re great for study. 

It would be fun to do an Aramaic word study on the epistles of John to test whether they carry the same grammar as the fourth gospel.   I don’t know the answer, but it would be fun to explore and gain new insights.

The early writers of Christian history tell us (in a nutshell) that a disciple named John, who walked with Yahshua, wrote the fourth gospel, and that he lived in Ephesus later in his life.  

There has been debate throughout the centuries whether that is John of Zebedee.  For example, R. Alan Culpepper recently wrote an interesting summary in The Gospel and Letters of John: Interpreting Biblical Texts Series (2011):

“John’s popularity among the Gnostics (along with its differences from the Synoptics) may explain, in part at least, why it was slow in being accepted by the church…  those closest to John and to Ephesus during the early part of the second century are silent regarding John.  Irenaeus is the first writer to connect John with Ephesus.  Irenaeus also said that Papias had heard John (Adv. Haer. 5.33.4, cited by Eusebius Eccl. Hist. 3.39.1), but Papias himself, as we have seen, made no claims to having heard the apostle. His information was secondhand at best.  The claims of apostolic authorship surface at just the time the Gospel was beginning to be cited by orthodox Christians, and in all likelihood the argument that it was written by the apostle John was important in securing its acceptance by the church. ”

I think it's interesting to consider that Lazar may have lived in Ephesus after Jerusalem and been called John because...

The grammar of John 19:26-27 contains a key clue that the name/title of the beloved disciple was purposefully absent because that name was in some form of transition.  First, notice the grammar in John 19:26 as Yahshua calls his mother Maryam “woman”:

ܘܐܡܪ ܠܐܡܗ ܐܢܬܬܐ ܗܐ ܒܪܟܝ

“And he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold your son’”

And then, notice how the very next line in John 19:27 uses the exact same grammar, but conspicuously without stating a name/title for the beloved disciple:

ܘܐܡܪ ܠܬܠܡܝܕܐ ܗܘ ܗܐ ܐܡܟ

“And he said to that disciple, ‘Behold your mother’”

Scholars of ancient Judaism have written at length about grown men receiving a new name, and many consider it to be the last step of a man’s transformation after a life-changing event.   See e.g., Grey, M., Becoming as a Little Child: Elements of Ritual Rebirth in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity, Studia Antiqua, Vol 1, No 1, Fall 2001, pp. 71-72.

So the absence of a name/title in John 19:27 is circumstantial evidence that (1) the beloved disciple had just undergone a major life transformation, and (2) he was without a new name. 

According to scholar Grey, the four steps are as follows: (1) Washing, (2) Anointing, (3) Coddling, and (4) Naming.  Applying these to Lazar is interesting:

(1)    Washing – Lazar was raised from the dead in John 11, and then Yahshua washed his feet in John 13
(2)    Anointing – Maryam anointed Yahshua’s feet in John 12;  I think feet symbolize Lazar in the body of the Messiah
(3)    Coddling  - Lazar’s name means “coddling” in Hebrew; Lazar may be the young man who loses his robe in Mark 14:51
(4)    Naming – Lazar was given the new name “the disciple whom Yahshua loved/befriended,” and he may have also been given the name ܝܘܚܢܢ (“John”)

Regarding the reference in John 19:26 toܐܢܬܬܐ  (“woman”), that is a matriarchal title that Yahshua also used in John 2:4 and 4:21.  The title carries extensive duties and sometimes complex inheritance rules in Judaism, including for widows.  Incidentally, the word ܐܪܡܠܬܐ (“widow”) is not utilized in the fourth gospel.

In first century Israel, a woman could not usually inherit property.  Only a daughter could inherit from her father if there were no son (Numbers 27: 1-11; 36:1-9).  A girl depended on her dad first, then she married and depended on her husband.  Then when she became a widow (like Yahshua’s mother Maryam) she depended on her eldest son (or on her father again if she had no son).  In the Book of Ruth, for example, we see this with Naomi. 

Ultimately, we’re invited to appreciate the fourth gospel (written by the disciple whom Yahshua ܪܚܡ (“loved/befriended”)) with respect for women and ܪܚܡ (“the womb”).  

There has been a lot of interesting discussion regarding which women were present at the cross, and what was the exact relationship of the (half) brothers & sisters of the Messiah. And then there are also Jewish rules to consider regarding adoption and stewardship between eldest son and mother.  For example, consider the ancient Jewish tablets featuring adoption language that is strikingly similar to the language in John 19:27:

• By the adoptee, with the words, “You are my father, and you are my mother.”
  

• By the adopter, with the words, “You are my son.”
  

So the key for Lazar is heirship.  That was the meaning of Lazar resting on Yahshua's chest after the last supper.  As I cited in my paper, scholars have explained that connection from the Genesis 15 & 24 story of Abraham and his servant Alazar.