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Reclining in the Lap of Jesus: The Gospel of John and Ancient Sexual Practices
Authors
Jeffrey D. Jay
Lecturer of New Testament and Early Christian Literature, The University of Chicago, Divinity School
Abstract
The relationship between Jesus and the disciple “whom he loved” in the Gospel of John should be interpreted as an example of Greek-style educative pederasty. This sexual model explains John 13:23, 25, and 21:20, where the beloved disciple reclines “in the lap” and “on the chest” of Jesus during dinner. This intimate couch-sharing posture is predicated to pederastic and male-male sexual practice in Greek and Roman erotic and sympotic literature. As in the philosophical schools, where pederasty is related to succession in the headship of the schools, the beloved in John is portrayed as the one who is best positioned to mimic and communicate Jesus’ life and teaching to subsequent generations. In embracing the pederastic model this early Christian text joins other non-Christian Greek and Roman texts that avow the value of male-male intimacy for its ability to produce lasting and meaningful bonds. But this potentially exposes Jesus and the beloved to slurs and accusations that some ancient writers direct against this type of relationship for what they take to be its predatory and/or effeminizing nature.
Author Biography
Jeffrey D. Jay, Lecturer of New Testament and Early Christian Literature, The University of Chicago, Divinity School
Jeff Jay (MA, PhD, University of Chicago) is Lecturer of New Testament and Early Christian Literature at the University of Chicago, Divinity School. His teaching and research focus on early Jewish and Christian literature in their original languages and especially in terms of their context in Second Temple Judaism and Greek and Roman literature, religion, and philosophy. His interests also extend to the history of Biblical interpretation, the history of religions, religion and literature, and philosophical hermeneutics. Professor Jay is the author of The Tragic in Mark (HUTh 66; Mohr Siebeck, 2014). He has also published articles in the Journal of Early Christian Studies,Journal for the Study of Judaism, and The Journal of Ancient Judaism. His current writing and research focus on the Gospel of Mark, as well as love, eros, sex, and beauty in Paul and John.
