The Prologue to the Fourth Gospel introduces one to a world of thought in which the idea of pre-existence seems especially at home. Most scholars have recognized the presence of the idea in the gospel of John, but recently Ernst Kaesemann has made pre-existence the key which unlocks the entire Johannine Christology.

He has argued that the climax to the gospel is the prayer of Jesus in chapter 17, presented as a conscious counterpart to the Prologue. In the Prologue the Logos is portrayed as coming from eternity into time while in the prayer his return to eternity takes place. The Johannine Christology therefore takes the form of a ‘journey’ of the pre-existent Christ, from pre-existence through time back to eternity.

Kaesemann characterizes the Christology of John as a ‘naive docetism’ in which Christ never is really incarnated, but remains a divine being in human disguise. Furthermore, he sees no real place for the passion narrative in the gospel. The climax of the presentation is reached in chapter 17, with the return of the Logos to eternity, and the passion narrative (chapters 18–20) is merely an appendage for the sake of convention.

We have certain serious reservations about Kaesemann's characterization of John's Christology as a ‘docetism’, as we shall show in the course of the discussion. At this point it seems appropriate to state our views on the place of the Passion narrative in the gospel.