The Authenticity of John 12.24

Abstract

A review of the evidence for the authenticity of Jn. 12.24 reveals that by its vocabulary, form, style and content it fits naturally into the ministry of the historical Jesus and at the same time is unlikely to have been composed by the author of the Fourth Gospel himself. The fact that the combination of motifs present in the saying is unparalleled in any extant contemporary Jewish, pagan or Christian literature lends credence to the view that he did not draw it from any other source than the body of traditional sayings of Jesus with which he was familiar. If so, then this verse gives further support to the view that Jesus’ discourses in the Fourth Gospel are not pure Johannine creations, as some have thought, but contain sayings which go back to the historical Jesus himself.