Biblica_1:Layout 1 21-11-2011 12:59 Pagina 383 383 JOHN 5,31-47 AND THE TEACHING OF JESUS IN THE SYNOPTICS pressed by a negated form of pisteu,w/pi,stoj) is present in the Syn- optics as well. For example, in Matt 17,17 par. (cf. also Luke 22,67), we find some similarity in both content and wording [1/1-level of closeness]: “O unbelieving [apistoj] and perverse generation (…)”. ; At first, Matt 21,32 par. seems to be an even closer conceptual par- allel. Yet here the unbelief is centered on John the Baptist. John 5,37c and 38a specify the ignorance of Jesus’ hearers: “You have never heard his voice or seen his form, and you do not have his word abiding in you”. This is to say that the Jews are unable to hear God’s voice in Jesus so that they might see God, the Father, in him and have God’s word point them to his truth. These signs of igno- rance toward the divine revelation in the Son are also part of Jesus’ teaching in the Synoptics. In more general terms, the motif of “see- ing” (although not always expressed by a form of o`ra,w) and “hear- ing” (avkou,w) followed by a negative reaction is quite common in the first three Gospels (cf. especially Matt 13,14-15 par. [1/1–level of closeness], also Matt 8,43; [11,9; 12,38-40]; Mark 5,16-17; Luke 12,54-56): “seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not lis- ten, nor do they understand”. The reason for such ignorance is like- wise summarized in Matt 11,27c par.: “no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him”. That God’s word does not continually dwell and remain in them is conceptually close to Jesus’ illustration in the parable of the sower in Mark 4,15-16 par. [1/2-level of closeness; semantic overlap with the noun to.n lo,gon and a form of e;cw] 20. The Jewish commitment to diligent study of the Scriptures is as- sumed both in John and the Synoptics. Yet, Jesus argues in John 5,39 that mere engagement with God’s word does not necessarily lead to eternal life. At the core, what is needed is the awareness that the Scriptures actually point to Jesus as the goal of redemptive history: “it is they that testify on my behalf ”. This theme will be taken up later in the discourse. Suffice it to say here that the Syn- optic Jesus is likewise quite outspoken about the importance of un- derstanding that the Scriptures are oriented toward him. As similarities, R. Brown suggested Jesus’ teaching in the temple in Mark 12,35-37 par 21, while C. Blomberg pointed to the fulfillment- 20 BLOMBERG, Historical Reliability, 117. 21 BROWN, John (i-xii), 228.