Whence and Whither A Narrative Perspective on Birth a[nwqen 167 likeness is voiced: “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also” (v. 19). The question of “knowing the truth” (v. 32) echoes 18,37, witnessing to the principle which according to 8,47 is foundational: oJ w]n ejk tou' Qeou', ta; rJhvmata tou' Qeou' ajkouvei: dia; tou'to uJmei'" oujk ajkouvete, oti ejk tou' Qeou' oujk [ estev. The following contrasts appear: j A. Pharisees/the Jews B. Jesus Walk in darkness He is the light Judge according to flesh Judges no one or makes true judgment They are from below He is from above They are earthbound/from this world He is not earthbound/not from this world The Devil is their Father He is from God A less visible, but still present contrast is also at work. Believers are contrasted with the Pharisees and likened to Jesus. We have seen that John 8,12 speaks of the follower of Jesus who has the light, thus paving the way for applying the Christological pattern to believers generally (24, 30-31 cf. v. 46) (37). According to 8,44, the Jews were children of the Devil since they did not have truth in them; the believers, however, will know the truth (28,32). Since what one understands is solely dependent upon what is within — so runs the theory of vision — this contrast to the Pharisees and likeness with Jesus follows naturally. It can easily be inferred that the believers have God as their Father, and this is actually spelled out in v. 47. The immediate context indicates that “hearing God’s word” here applies to the believers. The Christological pattern is made relevant to the believers. The pattern is not worked out fully, but the contrasts to A and the similarities with B (38) are sufficient to be worth noting; particularly so since the points of convergence are identical with the fundamental points in the logic of chap. 8: followers/believers both (1) have the light and (2) are from God. Jesus is the one person who is from above, but the believers participate in his identity a[nw while still being kavtw. This paradoxical truth is crucial in chap. 17 where a distinction is made between being in the world and belonging to the world (17,13-14.16), also voiced in 8,23. Like Jesus, the believers do not belong to the world, but unlike (37) According to John 8,28 knowledge of Jesus’ identity will come when the Son of Man is lifted up (cf. 3,14). This corresponds to the narrative aside in 7,39. (38) V. 52 and v. 55 also juxtapose Jesus and the believers in a way worth noticing.