The Implied Ethics of the Fourth Gospel: A Reinterpretation of the Decalogue

Abstract

Despite the lack of explicit and detailed ethical teachings in the Fourth Gospel, it seems that the Jewish ethics embodied in the Decalogue undergird John’s presentation of the Gospel. The words ‘keep my commandments’, used by Jesus in the Fourth Gospel, give us the key for understanding the implied ethics of the Fourth Gospel. An analysis of John’s Gospel shows that its author reflects the Decalogue in various parts of the Gospel. We have evidence that John reinterprets the commandments positively and redemptively by focussing on Jesus as the one who fulfils the commandments and who enables those who believe in him to fulfil them. Such an interpretation of Yahweh’s commandments, which can be identified as Jesus’ commandments in the Gospel, cannot simply be dismissed as accidental but rather reflects a conscious reinterpretation of the Law.

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