The Last Discourse: Jesus and Sensegiving in the Gospel of John

The Last Discourse: Jesus and Sensegiving in the Gospel of John

Elizabeth Kathrina Hunt | 2020

Abstract

The purpose of the study rested in seeking the sensegiving practices Jesus used and expressed in the last discourse to the disciples in John 14-16 and how those practices inform what scholars have proposed about sensegiving in organizational change. John 14-16 includes Jesus’s last words directed toward the disciples before his death and resurrection. As the most extended section of dialogue attributed to Jesus in the New Testament, the text focuses on Jesus‘s verbal attempts to help the disciples make sense of his impending departure. As such, the text provides a significant data set to analyze in terms of rhetorical sensegiving practices by a leader preceeding a substantial change. The analysis supported previous research that has highlighted the role of the leader as a meaning maker and sensemaker, the need to address both cognitive and emotional aspects in sensegiving, and the use of persuasive methods in sensegiving. The sociorhetorical inner-texture analysis of John 14-16 produced two principles, several methods, and several functions related to sensegiving. First, the study provided the principles of attending to relationship and role ambiguity as important components the sensegiving process. Second, the analysis provided a clear picture of the use of persuasive and cognitive methods in managing and guiding affective states during sensegiving. Finally, the analysis provided support for the functions of the last discourse as empowering, advising, consoling, teaching, and critiquing and also provided a link to and expression of these functions as part of the sensegiving process.