The Sword of the Messiah 57 Our findings have implications for how we understand the Fourth Gospel. We have not read the Fourth Gospel as a two-level drama, i.e., John’s retelling of the Jesus-story to match the story of his own community. Scholars who have gone down this route, paved by Martyn and Brown, have often depicted a so-called “Johannine community” that is oppressed or persecuted by post-70 C.E. synagogue Judaism and (hence) inward-looking or “sectarian” (66). Instead, we contended that John’s intended audience was much wider (but it could nevertheless have included a “Johannine community”)(67). Moreover, the schism in the Fourth Gospel is not between an inward-looking Johannine community and synagogue Judaism (as Martyn and his supporters would have it) but between those who accept Jesus’ word and those who reject it, between the new “Israel” and the world at large. Hence, our reading discourages a treatment of the Fourth Gospel as a document from a sectarian community alienated or withdrawn from the world, which might lead to a view that the Fourth Gospel has no interest in reaching out to outsiders and the marginalized (68). Instead, we argued that the Fourth Gospel challenges believers to reach out to the world at large, cross social barriers, witness to the truth, and alleviate oppression (69). South Asia Institute Cornelis BENNEMA of Advanced Christian Studies Bangalore, India (66) J.L. MARTYN, History and Theology in the Fourth Gospel (Louisville 2003); R.E. BROWN, The Community of the Beloved Disciple (London 1979); 3 RENSBERGER, Faith, 25-29; M.W.G. STIBBE, John as Storyteller. Narrative Criticsm and the Fourth Gospel (SNTSMS 73; Cambridge 1992) 56-58, 150; HOWARD-BROOK, Children, 20-24, 49-50. Cf. the extensive list of scholars mentioned by MOTYER, “Jesus”, 72 n. 9; ID., Father, 13 n. 21. (67) Cf. MOTYER, “Jesus”, 87-88; ID., Father, 212-215; R. BAUCKHAM, “The Audience of the Fourth Gospel”, Jesus in Johannine Tradition (eds. R.T. FORTNA – T. THATCHER) (Louisville 2001) 101-111. See also T.S. DOKKA, “Irony and Sectarianism in the Gospel of John”, Readings (eds. J. NISSEN – S. PEDERSEN) 83- 107; T. HÄGERLAND, “John’s Gospel: A Two-Level Drama?”, JSNT 25 (2003) 309-322. (68) So, e.g., RENSBERGER, Faith, 124-130 (but see Motyer’s criticism [“Jesus”, 73-74]); MALINA – ROHRBAUGH, Commentary, 59-61, 237-245. (69) Cf. Motyer’s essay “Jesus”.