Symbolism and Christology in the gospel of John: The context and the construction of the depiction of Jesus

In this study, the depiction of Jesus in the Gospel of John was discussed. The text of the Gospel of John was handled with a diachronic reading strategy, and a research framework was determined along with the questions of historical and literary critical methods. While the historical, social, and theological conditions of the evangelist and his community were read as the context of the depiction of the gospel. The construction of this depiction was illustrated through the symbolic elements of the gospel narrative and its Christological titles. In this framework, it was revealed that the evangelist was not interested in a purely historical narrative of Jesus, but added a second narrative layer to the gospel by interpreting Jesus' words and actions with a hermeneutic effort. This layer, dominated by symbolic language, constructs the depiction of Jesus on the one hand and reflects the state of the Johannine community on the other hand. Johannine symbolism has enabled the evangelist to construct the depiction of Jesus in his memory through a narrative, by taking the historical-social conditions of his community into account. So, John's depiction of Jesus was revealed as a result of a study focusing on the historical and textual contexts of the symbolic elements of the narrative and main titles attributed to Jesus in the fourth gospel. It was exemplified with examples that the evangelist is not limited to traditional Christological descriptions, and uses the language of deification discourses that were current at the time the gospel was compiled. In this respect, it was pointed out that there is a base for interaction between the Christological model of the evangelist and the savior figures, which are familiar to the cultures surrounded by the Hellenistic atmosphere, and their narratives. It was concluded that the Christological model of the evangelist, which focuses on Jesus' divinity instead of his messianic emphasis, produces a discursive deification by prioritizing protology, i.e., the pre-existence of Jesus, rather than eschatology.