162 Karl Olav Sandnes Since the prologue prefigures the story to be told in the Gospel, this text should be seen as providing an epistemological perspective on the entire story, and echoing that like is known by like as well. The verb katalambavnw also occurs in John 12,35 (24). Once again this verb appears in a text where light and darkness are contrasted (cf. v. 46). The immediate implication is here the struggle between darkness and light that forms an ideological framework for Jesus’ ministry. Nonetheless, a cognitive aspect is involved. When darkness seizes power, there is no comprehension, neither of whither Jesus departs nor of the nature of his ministry. The cognitive aspect is emphasized by the citation of Isa 6,10 in the immediate context (12,40). Furthermore, John 12,35 echoes the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus in John 3. It is embedded in a context where Jesus’ claim from 3,14 to be lifted up, is debated (12,34- 36) (25). The second part of 12,35 also recalls the dialogue in chap. 3; walking in darkness implies inability to know Jesus’ whither: oujk oi\den pou' uJpavgei. This is almost a verbatim rendering of Jesus’ words about the wind or Spirit in 3,8b. Thus, epistemology and Christology are here combined in a way which brings to mind how Jesus addressed the necessity of being born a[nwqen. 3. The Whence and Whither of Jesus The introduction suggested that the whence and whither of the Spirit were progressively elucidated in the story until they became a cipher for the identity of Jesus (26). It is now time to demonstrate this. The meaning of John 3,8b is based on three constitutive elements: oujk oi\da" povqen e[rcetai kai; pou' uJpavgei We will now trace how these three elements are elucidated in John’s story. Failure to know or understand “whence and whither” does not consistently carry theological implications. There are certainly instances where they appear without any claim of conveying anything beyond the simple story-line (27). But very often these three (24) In John’s Gospel lambavnw also sometimes takes on a cognitive meaning; see e.g. 3,11.27.32; 14,17. (25) The lifting up of the Son of Man occurs also in 8,28, but the statement in 3,14 is the first appearance of this in the Gospel and is also verbally closer to 12,34. (26) This is pointed out also by NICHOLSON, Death as Departure, 53-55. (27) E.g. John 1,48; 4,16; 6,27; 9,11; 11,31.44; 18,8; 21,3. It may be difficult to ascertain if a second level of meaning is at hand; e.g. John 11,8, cf. 7,3. The