Hello Maarten, thanks for taking the time to respond.
You said:
“The author of the Gospel of John pretends to know the mind (knowledge, emotions) of Jesus, in sentences with the verbs G1492 εἴδω eidō “to see” (6:6.61.64, 13:1.3.11, 18:4, 19:28), or sometimes G1097 γινώσκω ginōskō “to know” (2:24, 5:6a, 6:15, 16:19).”
John doesn’t “pretend” to know the mind of Jesus.
John really does know the mind of Jesus.
It’s the first point of the article: John is Jesus’ best friend.
John was closest to Jesus of all the disciples. Jesus was already in the habit of explaining everything to the disciples. It’s what a good rabbi does: explain even their innermost thoughts and mental struggles, so their disciples know the rabbi inside and out.
We see Jesus do this frequently in the Gospels. He answers every question of the disciples. He shares His own feelings and thoughts with the disciples. Jesus is very open with them.
By itself, that would give us reason to accept what John wrote.
Yet because John is Jesus’ best friend, we have even more reason to trust that John would know Jesus’ innermost thoughts.
What does your best friend know about you that no one else does?
What do you feel safe sharing with your best friend that you don’t share with anyone else?
We have every reason to expect that John will know Jesus’ innermost thoughts more than the other disciples.
And that’s exactly what we find in his Gospel.
You said:
− John 2:24 “ Jesus, however, would not entrust himself to them, since he knew them all”;
− 5:6a “When Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had already been there a long time, he said to him…”;
− 6:6 “He asked this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.”
− 6:15 “Therefore, when Jesus knew that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, …”;
− 6:61a “Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were complaining about this…”;
− 6:64b “… (For Jesus knew from the beginning those who would not believe and the one who would betray him) …”;
− 13:1 “Before the passover festival, Jesus knew that his hour had come…”;
− 13:3 “Jesus knew that the Father had given everything into his hands…”;
− 13:11a “ For he knew who would betray him”;
− 16:19a “Jesus knew they wanted to question him…”;
− 18:4 “Then Jesus, knowing everything that was about to happen to him…”;
− 19:28 “After this, when Jesus knew that everything was now accomplished…”
This is what I’m talking about.
These are exactly the kinds of inner struggles and thoughts you share with your best friend.
John is quite overt about knowing these things. He isn’t trying to hide something.
John was with Jesus from the beginning. He was one of Jesus’ first two disciples, going straight from John the Baptist to Jesus. He saw everything. He knew everything. He was incredibly close to Jesus.
This is the kind of stuff we should expect from the closest person to Jesus.
You said:
“This concerns also the author’s use of the phrase ο μαθητης ον ηγαπα ο ιησους “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23, 19:26, 21:7.20; variant 20:2: τον αλλον μαθη την ον εφιλει ο ιησους). And this phrase also suggests knowledge about the extent of the love of Jesus for the 10 other disciples.”
You’re simply stating the obvious.
If you are someone’s best friend, you know that you’re closer than the other people around you.
John never brags about this. Instead he is remarkably humble, not even using his own name, but only using the title “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”
You said:
“All of this was not based on factual eye witness testimony.”
You haven’t provided any reason to think so.
Rather, you’ve compiled all the examples of things we should expect Jesus’ best friend to know.
Knowing what we know about the friendship between Jesus and John, we should fully expect John’s Gospel to be full of Jesus’ innermost thoughts.
