I wrap up the series on development theories of the Gospels with a discussion of John's use of the phrase "the Jews." Some of these uses are undeniably "negative," in the sense that the phrase is used to refer to a group of people that is negatively portrayed in the story. Does this mean that John is portraying the Jewish people as a whole negatively? Does this mean that he is advocating hatred of his own people? I argue that it does not mean this, based upon the variety of different kinds of uses to which John puts the phrase.

The most important use of the phrase may be its use by Jesus in John 4:22, where he is speaking to the woman at the well.