Tag: Mark Goodacre

William Wrede’s The Messianic Secret

Part 12: Secrecy in the Gospel of John

I can hardly believe that my last post in this series appeared here a decade ago. Yes, I knew I hadn’t finished, but never underestimate the power of inertia. Oddly enough, a random YouTube video caused me return to Wrede (and the scholars who don’t read him). Apparently, YouTube’s algorithm noticed I was searching for New Testament videos, and it showed me an NT Pod episode from the lovely Mark Goodacre.

Over that past decade, I haven’t exactly abandoned New Testament studies, but I have spent the bulk of my time reading modern history — mostly books about critical eras, like the decades leading up to the Russian Revolution and the American Civil War. This year, if time permits, I would like to write about these “pregnant” periods in history here on Vridar.

The first rule of Wrede Club is: Nobody reads Wrede

The fact that Goodacre published a book about John’s obvious familiarity with the Synoptic Gospels is great news. I especially love the provocative title: The Fourth Synoptic Gospel. Longtime readers of Vridar will know that Neil and I have often written about how and why John rewrote the Synoptics, especially Mark. And here’s a bonus: The book contains a section entitled “The Revelation of the Hidden Messiah.” He’s referring to the Messianic Secret! Hence, we have two of my favorite subjects inside one dust jacket.

So you can imagine my disappointment when I read the following line:

There is, however, something still more fundamental. John shares with the Synoptics the same literary conceit, that the story is one in which Jesus’s identity is hidden, only to be retrospectively understood in the light of the resurrection. Just as Kähler’s “passion narrative with an extended introduction” gets forgotten when it comes to John, so too William Wrede’s Messianic Secret is usually remembered as a study of Mark’s Gospel alone. (Goodacre 2025, p. 38, emphasis mine)

This statement somewhat improves on what he wrote in his earlier article in John’s Transformation of Mark.

There is, however, something still more fundamental. John shares Mark’s basic literary conceit that the story is one in which Jesus’ identity is hidden only to be retrospectively understood after the resurrection. Just as Kähler’s ‘passion narrative with an extended introduction’ gets forgotten when it comes to John, so too William Wrede’s Messianic Secret is all too often focused solely on Mark. (Goodacre 2021, p. 86, emphasis mine)

In his original statement, Goodacre implied that Wrede focused solely on Mark; however, upon further reflection (presumably), he said he’s merely remembered that way. And it’s a false memory. Consider how strange it would be to criticize a book originally entitled Das Messiangeheimnis in den Evanglien (plural) for concentrating “solely on Mark.” Note that the original German text spans about 300 pages, and close to half of those pages focus on the other three canonical Gospels. Wrede’s chapter on the fourth Gospel runs 27 pages, which is not insignificant.

Why am I disappointed? Because that’s it. Wrede wrote a book about the Messianic Secret. Yada-yada-yada.

So, what sorts of insights and conclusions did Wrede come to after analyzing John’s Gospel through the lens of secrecy and “hiddenness”? How did the secrecy motif evolve through Matthew then Luke, and finally to John?  How did Wrede compare John to Mark? Goodacre doesn’t say. As is so common in modern NT Studies, we are given the “that,” but not the “what.” We’re told that Wrede wrote a book about the Messianic Secret, but he stands to the side as a kind of mute witness. Continue reading “Reading Wrede Again for the First Time, Part 12”