John 11: 38-44: Essential Elements Of Narrative Genre
The purpose of this paper is to show that the biblical passage contained in John 11:38-44 is a narrative genre and how identifying it as such affects the way the passage is interpreted. A narrative genre is a literary work that tells a story. Narrative genre has structure, which helps readers to interpret the story. Brief examples of narrative genres found in the Bible are given. Next, John 11:38-44 is described. Reasons are given explaining why the passage is considered a narrative genre and how this consideration affects the passage’s interpretation.
Essential Elements of Narrative Genre
A narrative genre is a type of literary work that tells a complete story. Tate defines narrative genre as “a sequence of narrated events.” As a complete story, all narratives have a beginning, a middle, and an end. The way the action, speech, and commentary are arranged defines the structure of narrative genres.
The book of …show more content…
Genesis contains many narrative genres, for it tells many stories that have a beginning, a middle, and an end. For example, Genesis 4:1-16 tells us Eve gave birth to two sons named Cain and Abel. The narrative then tells us that Cain killed Abel, why he killed him, how God discovered the murder, the punishment he imposed on Cain, and what immediately happens to Cain after he is punished. The majority of the book of Tobit is a narrative genre, for Tobit is telling his stories in the first person. In one passage, Tobit says he was taken captive to Nineveh and refuses to eat unclean food. God rewards Tobit for doing this by giving Tobit honor and favor with the man the man he works for. Tobit briefly describes the work he did for Shalmaneser until Shalmaneser’s death. The Acts of the Apostles contains a story about why and how a crippled man who begged for alms at the temple’s Beautiful Gate received his healing.
Example of Genre in Text The book of John contains a narrative story about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. While John 11:38-44 is towards the end of the story, this passage stands alone as a piece narrative genre. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end, making it a complete story. It can be seen as a dramatic narration because it quotes dialogue of characters and it gives context of said dialogue. John 11:38-44 has a dramatic structure, meaning it has an introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and a resolution. This type of structure encourages readers to ask themselves what is happening, why it is happening, and how the story ends and why it ends the way it does.
The story begins by stating “Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.” The story has rising action. Jesus tells Martha to take away the stone but she refuses to do so because Lazarus’ body stinks as a result of having been dead for four days. Jesus reminds Martha he told her she would see the glory of God if she believed. The stone is taken away. Jesus audibly thanks God for hearing him so that the crowd would believe he was sent by God. The story climaxes when Jesus commands Lazarus to leave the tomb. The story falls as Lazarus comes out alive. The story ends when Jesus commands people to remove the binding cloths from Lazarus and to let him go.
Interpretive Implications for Narrative Genre Narrative genre stories have a setting. The story found in John 11:38-44 tells us the location is a tomb that has a stone “lying against it.” This information tells us a dead person is inside the cave and in order to enter or exit it the stone must be moved. The story implies Jesus is in a position of authority by quoting his direct commands. The purpose of the story is to inform the reader that Jesus has the power to raise a dead person back to life.
The conflict of the story is whether Jesus can and will resurrect Lazarus from the dead. According to the book of Matthew, “[…] he [Jesus] did not do many deeds of power there, because of their [the townspeople’s] unbelief.” The information implying Jesus’ potential inability to raise Lazarus from the dead because of the people’s unbelief can be gleaned from John 11:39-42. No one moved the stone when Jesus gave the initial command to do so. This implies the people did not believe a living person would exit the tomb. Martha did not want the stone moved because she did not want to smell Lazarus’ dead body. This implies Martha did not believe Jesus had already resurrected Lazarus. If Jesus had already resurrected Lazarus, he would not have been able to leave the tomb because the stone was blocking his exit. It is possible Lazarus would have walked out of the tomb alive without Jesus commanding him to do so if the people had followed Jesus’ initial command to move the stone. However, the people’s disobedience actually helped Jesus because he ended up ordering Lazarus to come out. This proves Jesus can resurrect a person to become alive again by commanding them to do so. The people could see Lazarus was not already alive and waiting to leave the cave. It is possible Jesus would have given Lazarus the command to rise from the dead before the stone was removed. However, if the events had unfolded in this manner the people could say Lazarus was alive before the command was given. For all they knew, Lazarus was resurrected by some other means and needed someone outside of the cave to move the stone so he could exit.
The story found in John 11:38-44 relates to John 11:1-37. John 11:1-37 tells why and how Lazarus died. When Jesus told Martha that Lazarus would rise again, she thought he was talking about “the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus then tells her he is “the resurrection and the life” and explains what this means. He asks Martha if she believes him concerning this, but she says she believes Jesus is the Messiah and “the Son of God.” The events described in John 11:39-40 shows Martha did not believe Jesus could raise people from the dead.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this paper has shown that the biblical passage contained in John 11:38-44 is a narrative genre.
Like all narrative genres, the passage has a beginning, middle, and end. The passage has a dramatic structure. The structure of the story begins by introducing the setting, then follows with the rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. The introduction and rising action reveal what is happening. Jesus is at a tomb to raise the inhabitant from the dead, but does not do so until the tomb’s opening is unblocked. The rising action also shows why this is happening. The people are showing their unbelief in Jesus’ ability to do this by refusing to unblock the opening. They can see no one alive is inside the tomb once they move the stone. This further proves Jesus’ command to Lazarus caused him to come alive again. The story climaxes with Jesus’ commanding Lazarus to leave the tomb. The falling action reveals Lazarus leaves the tomb alive. Finally, the story concludes with Jesus telling people to remove Lazarus’ bandages and to let him
go.
Essential Elements of Narrative Genre
A narrative genre is a type of literary work that tells a complete story. Tate defines narrative genre as “a sequence of narrated events.” As a complete story, all narratives have a beginning, a middle, and an end. The way the action, speech, and commentary are arranged defines the structure of narrative genres.
The book of …show more content…
Genesis contains many narrative genres, for it tells many stories that have a beginning, a middle, and an end. For example, Genesis 4:1-16 tells us Eve gave birth to two sons named Cain and Abel. The narrative then tells us that Cain killed Abel, why he killed him, how God discovered the murder, the punishment he imposed on Cain, and what immediately happens to Cain after he is punished. The majority of the book of Tobit is a narrative genre, for Tobit is telling his stories in the first person. In one passage, Tobit says he was taken captive to Nineveh and refuses to eat unclean food. God rewards Tobit for doing this by giving Tobit honor and favor with the man the man he works for. Tobit briefly describes the work he did for Shalmaneser until Shalmaneser’s death. The Acts of the Apostles contains a story about why and how a crippled man who begged for alms at the temple’s Beautiful Gate received his healing.
Example of Genre in Text The book of John contains a narrative story about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. While John 11:38-44 is towards the end of the story, this passage stands alone as a piece narrative genre. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end, making it a complete story. It can be seen as a dramatic narration because it quotes dialogue of characters and it gives context of said dialogue. John 11:38-44 has a dramatic structure, meaning it has an introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and a resolution. This type of structure encourages readers to ask themselves what is happening, why it is happening, and how the story ends and why it ends the way it does.
The story begins by stating “Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.” The story has rising action. Jesus tells Martha to take away the stone but she refuses to do so because Lazarus’ body stinks as a result of having been dead for four days. Jesus reminds Martha he told her she would see the glory of God if she believed. The stone is taken away. Jesus audibly thanks God for hearing him so that the crowd would believe he was sent by God. The story climaxes when Jesus commands Lazarus to leave the tomb. The story falls as Lazarus comes out alive. The story ends when Jesus commands people to remove the binding cloths from Lazarus and to let him go.
Interpretive Implications for Narrative Genre Narrative genre stories have a setting. The story found in John 11:38-44 tells us the location is a tomb that has a stone “lying against it.” This information tells us a dead person is inside the cave and in order to enter or exit it the stone must be moved. The story implies Jesus is in a position of authority by quoting his direct commands. The purpose of the story is to inform the reader that Jesus has the power to raise a dead person back to life.
The conflict of the story is whether Jesus can and will resurrect Lazarus from the dead. According to the book of Matthew, “[…] he [Jesus] did not do many deeds of power there, because of their [the townspeople’s] unbelief.” The information implying Jesus’ potential inability to raise Lazarus from the dead because of the people’s unbelief can be gleaned from John 11:39-42. No one moved the stone when Jesus gave the initial command to do so. This implies the people did not believe a living person would exit the tomb. Martha did not want the stone moved because she did not want to smell Lazarus’ dead body. This implies Martha did not believe Jesus had already resurrected Lazarus. If Jesus had already resurrected Lazarus, he would not have been able to leave the tomb because the stone was blocking his exit. It is possible Lazarus would have walked out of the tomb alive without Jesus commanding him to do so if the people had followed Jesus’ initial command to move the stone. However, the people’s disobedience actually helped Jesus because he ended up ordering Lazarus to come out. This proves Jesus can resurrect a person to become alive again by commanding them to do so. The people could see Lazarus was not already alive and waiting to leave the cave. It is possible Jesus would have given Lazarus the command to rise from the dead before the stone was removed. However, if the events had unfolded in this manner the people could say Lazarus was alive before the command was given. For all they knew, Lazarus was resurrected by some other means and needed someone outside of the cave to move the stone so he could exit.
The story found in John 11:38-44 relates to John 11:1-37. John 11:1-37 tells why and how Lazarus died. When Jesus told Martha that Lazarus would rise again, she thought he was talking about “the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus then tells her he is “the resurrection and the life” and explains what this means. He asks Martha if she believes him concerning this, but she says she believes Jesus is the Messiah and “the Son of God.” The events described in John 11:39-40 shows Martha did not believe Jesus could raise people from the dead.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this paper has shown that the biblical passage contained in John 11:38-44 is a narrative genre.
Like all narrative genres, the passage has a beginning, middle, and end. The passage has a dramatic structure. The structure of the story begins by introducing the setting, then follows with the rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. The introduction and rising action reveal what is happening. Jesus is at a tomb to raise the inhabitant from the dead, but does not do so until the tomb’s opening is unblocked. The rising action also shows why this is happening. The people are showing their unbelief in Jesus’ ability to do this by refusing to unblock the opening. They can see no one alive is inside the tomb once they move the stone. This further proves Jesus’ command to Lazarus caused him to come alive again. The story climaxes with Jesus’ commanding Lazarus to leave the tomb. The falling action reveals Lazarus leaves the tomb alive. Finally, the story concludes with Jesus telling people to remove Lazarus’ bandages and to let him
go.