Greater than Caesar: Christology and Empire in the Fourth Gospel

by Tom Thatcher

Recent scholarship has shown that the peculiar history of a particular community of believers gave the Fourth Gospel its distinctive shape. Now Tom Thatcher argues that we must take account not just of tensions arising within the synagogue or between factions of believers in Christ but also attend to the Johannine portrayal of figures representing Roman rule in order to understand the Gospel's origin and message.

Greater than Caesar examines the Fourth Gospel's characterizations of Jesus' opponents and its depictions of Jesus' authority and power in his confrontations with agents of imperial power, including Pilate and Jewish authorities. Thatcher argues that the Gospel is a thorough repudiation of the Roman Empire's claims on human allegiance. The one who speaks from the "dying machine" of the cross shows that he is in fact "greater than Caesar."

172 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2009

Reviews

[Audra Spiven · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Greater Than Caesar, Tom Thatcher argues rather compellingly that the Gospel of John is not only a response to empire but, in fact, a declaration of direct opposition to it. Says Thatcher, “John’s thinking about Christ and his thinking about empire are not to be found in different chapters and verses of his book, but are rather completely intertwined and interdependent: Christ is always present when John thinks of Rome, and Rome is always present when John thinks of Christ” (5). In light of this supposition, Thatcher then proceeds to carefully examine the ways that the Fourth Gospel does its part to act as a subversive “little tradition” in contrast to the “great tradition” of Rome and a “countermemory” that reinterprets the public/imperial narrative of the life and death of a political dissenter—namely, Jesus.

Thatcher’s proposal is persuasive and convincing from the very beginning. His preface chapter on Judas is an effective hook into the rest of the book. Thatcher asserts that “nothing Judas does can threaten Jesus’s mission. Quite the contrary, his satanic act will ironically lead to Jesus’s ‘glorification’ (13:2–3, 27, 31–32)” (xvi). In a further exploration of the garden and arrest scene (where Thatcher points out that Jesus was not actually arrested), he again drives home the idea that “Judas could only fulfill his evil intention on Jesus’s terms” (xvii). Since Judas and his actions have posed a theological puzzle—perhaps even a dilemma—for many Christians over the years, Thatcher’s simple but clear analysis of Judas’s role in Jesus’s ultimate victory helpfully answers some troubling and persistent questions.

In the rest of the book, Thatcher lays out a case for John’s high Christology by claiming that the Fourth Evangelist’s conception of Jesus is a “negative” one, which simply means that John would rather discuss and present Jesus in terms of what he is not (or, as Thatcher argues, what he exceeds), than of what he is. Essentially, Thatcher says, John’s Christology boils down to one simple rule: “[John] consistently argues that Jesus is greater than everything else,” which means that “John presents Jesus in comparative, rather than absolute, terms” (8, 9). Thatcher’s thesis is easy enough to follow throughout the book, and he uses straightforward, plain language so that even burgeoning theology students won’t get lost or bored.

Some of the most compelling material in this book is probably what Thatcher would consider to be intro or explicatory content, where he details the definitions of and offers examples for the terms on which many of his arguments hinge: little/great tradition, countermemory, and profanation. More than once in Thatcher’s explanations of the apparently deferential but actually subversive actions of oppressed people, Americans especially may be reminded of the long, storied, and unequal power dynamic between white Americans and black Americans. This connection makes complete sense, since the cycles of history tend to repeat themselves and since oppression only comes in so many forms. Especially striking in relation to this parallel was the line “In Rome’s view, insolent people have no respect for the customs that maintain order and always clamor for innovations that threaten the common peace” (49). There are certainly a number of white Americans who are all too ready to pin the badge of “threatening the common peace” on the black American community at large—and for merely having the audacity to desire better, more equal, fairer lives for themselves.

Overall, I found Greater Than Caesar to be insightful, persuasive, and digestible. Thatcher’s arguments are well reasoned and adequately supported, and the relatively short length of this book makes it an ideal text for anyone looking for a thoughtful discussion about Jesus, the Gospel of John, and their response to or interactions with empire.

[Andy Hickman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting read. e.g.

During his trial he spoke of truth and how his kingship is “not of this world” and that ultimate authority is “from above” (19:11). Jesus carried his own cross and his kingship is symbolically alluded to (19:1-3). It is worth noting the views of Tom Thatcher who proposes that John's Christology is a specific response to Roman domination and that his Gospel was written to provide the early church with a reinterpreted view of Caesar's powers: rejected and subverted by Christ's superiority. (p5)

The Cross especially tells the story of Jesus' greatness. The Cross as a torture machine was “a scripted index of Roman imperial power” invented and intended to absolutely denigrate and shame. But the message of the Roman crucifix was completely inverted by Christ. John skillfully gives his audience insight into how Jesus subjugated the Roman ambition by spinning the narrative events of the crucifixion on the basis of two uniquely distinct literary motifs: the power of Jesus' predictive words and the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. (p92, 98). Evidence of Christ's resurrection, departure (7:33; 8:21; 14:2; etc), ascension (6:62) and Parousia-return dramatically reinforce his undeniable superiority.

Thatcher, Tom. Greater Than Caesar: Christology and Empire in the Fourth Gospel. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Fortress, 2009.