Scholars have long puzzled over the distinctive themes and sequence of Johns narrative in contrast to the accounts in the Synoptic Gospels. Brian Neil Peterson now offers a remarkable explanation for some of the most unusual features of the Fourth Gospel, including the exalted language of the Johannine prologue; the focus upon Jesus as Word; the imagery of light and darkness, of glory and tabernacling; the roleand rejectionof prophecy; the early placement of Jesus cleansing of the temple and his relation to it; the emphasis on signs confirming Jesus identity; and the prominence of Jesus I Am sayings.
Peterson finds important connections with motifs, themes, and even the macrostructure of the book of Ezekiel at just the points of Johns divergence from the synoptic narrative. His examination of events and sequence in the Fourth Gospel produces a novel understanding of John as steeped in the theology of Ezekieland of the Johannine Christ as the fulfillment of the vision of Ezekiel.