Biblica_1_Layout 1 20/01/12 11:44 Pagina 592 592 ALICIA D. MYERS 8,31-59 respond to Jesus according to these specifications, with the re- sult that they are baffled and offended by his words. Indeed, in spite of Jesus’s instruction in 7,24, it seems nearly — if not completely — impossible for characters within the text to react to Jesus other than by his appearance, especially since his words are so inappropriate in comparison to it. By the guidelines of prosopopoiia mentioned above, Jesus undermines his own credi- bility for these characters with his speeches, and even those re- ported to “believe” are not trusted or can turn against him (2,23-25; 6,60-66; 8,31-59). Indeed, only those given special revelations of Jesus’ identity (such as John the Baptist), or are specifically chosen by God (the Twelve, or the blind man), seem to persevere with their faith in spite of the confusion caused by Jesus’ words. Yet, while Jesus’ words repeatedly fail to persuade characters within the Gospel, they are a key component to the believability of his character for those listening to the Gospel as a whole. This is because the Gospel writer is not concerned to encourage belief in Jesus among those in the past, but rather among those listening to his Gospel in the present (and arguably, the future). As a result, it is the Gospel audi- ence’s determination of the appropriateness of Jesus’ words that mat- ters, not the decision of the characters in the text. The Gospel writer’s focus on his audience leads him to elevate their perspective while downplaying that of other characters within the Gospel. Unable to see Jesus, the audience of John’s Gospel is arguably at a disadvantage in determining his identity. The Gospel writer, however, turns such a disadvantage upside-down by providing his audience with information about Jesus that is unknowable to those with whom Jesus interacts in the text. As is commonly noted by scholars, John’s Gospel includes a number of clues for its audience in the form of narrative asides unavailable to characters within the narrative’s story world 35. Moreover, the Gospel audience benefits it creates “contempt for the profession” lays the “foundations of impudence”, and causes “confidence to outstrip capacity” (Inst. Or. 12.6.2-3 [RUSSELL, LCL]), while those too old lose the dignity they worked so hard to earn. 35 Cf. M.C. TENNEY, “The Footnotes in John’s Gospel”, BSac 117 (1960) 350-364; J.J. O’ROURKE, “Asides in the Gospel of John”, NT 21 (1979) 210- 219; G. VAN BELLE, Les parenthèses dans l’évangile de Jean: Aperçu historique et classification; texte grec de Jean (Studiorum Novi Testamenti Auxilia 11; Leuven 1985); F. NEIRYNCK, “Parentheses in the Fourth Gospel”, ETL 65 (1989) 119-123; CULPEPPER, Anatomy, 17-18.