The Gospel of John #1 = An Overview
The Gospel of John #1 = An Overview
There is no question John’s gospel is different from the other 3 Gospels.
We call the other 3 Gospels “The Synoptic Gospels”, because they give a synopsis of Jesus life.
John takes a different approach, he did not write about many events; his gospel is focused around a fewer number of events, with the specific intention that people would read, and “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.”
“And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” Jhn 20:30-31
In this Blog, I will point out unique aspects of John’s gospel, and then in the next I will give a general outline and flow of the contents. I will be painting with broad strokes; for to plumb the depths of this gospel truly is impossible! No Commentary can do it justice, and so I have no false notion that a 2 part Blog of mine can. As John himself says in Jhn 21:25 “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.”
And think, John was just a “simple” Galilean fisherman.
Firstly let us note that John's gospel is chronologically ordered. By noting 3 different Passovers: Jhn 2:13; Jhn 6:4; and Jhn 11:55, he in the one who gives us a clear understanding that Jesus’ ministry was over a 3 ½ year span, John is the only one who tells us that Jesus cleansed the Temple at the start of his ministry: Jhn 2:13-16; the other 3 gospels give us the account of his cleansing it at the end, just after The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem:
Mat 21:12; Mar 11:15; and Luk 19:45.
As a grammatical note, this chronological structure carries to the paragraph and even the sentence level of Hebrew. Hebrew is very sequential in its grammar, following chronological, sequential order even within each sentence. Because Greek has grammatical markers to connect noun, direct object, and indirect object it does not need to order the phrases within a sentence sequentially. That is why Paul’s epistles have many, long convoluted sentences, with many dependent clauses, etc. which do not flow well in English; they flow well in Greek, but not in English.
On the other hand, John, James, Peter, and Jude were Hebrew speakers who wrote Greek words, but followed Hebrew grammatical structure, which gives their writing straightforward, sequentially arranged sentences. Paul was a native Greek speaker, who wrote with Greek grammatical structure, which is why his sentences do not always seem to flow smoothly. I never saw this until I started translating; the difference, at the individual sentence level, between John, James, Peter, and Jude, versus Paul is like night and day!
This makes John's gospel a very smooth flowing, sequentially clear book.
Secondly let us note that most of the content of John's gospel is unique to his gospel alone! While the other gospels start at the physical birth of Jesus, and give his human linage, John goes back to “in the beginning” and tells us of Jesus, the pre-incarnate, eternally existing one, who is the Second Person of the Trinity, eternally generating from the “bosom” of the Father, who is therefor totally equal with the Father, and is the source of light (Gen 1:1-3) and life (Gen 2:7) and of all creation (Col 1:15-17).
Thirdly let us note that John tells us Jesus is God the communicator: The word “Word” in Greek (Jhn 1:1), and the word “Wisdom” in Hebrew (Pro 8) are equivalents; God communicated, and is still communicating to Mankind via his son
(Heb 1:2), who is the second person of the Trinity (Tri-Unity), whose name is Jesus. It is from Jesus “The Word,” Jesus “The Wisdom” whom we learn about God. He is the exclusive revealer of God: “All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.” Luk 10:22
And he is therefore also the exclusive way to God: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Joh 14:6
This is a big point for John, and ties in with the key words which he uses over and over again.
Fourthly let us note the key words of John’s gospel:
Life
Love
Light
Truth
World (Cosmos)
Sent (Jesus being the Sent One of the Father; the exclusive revealer of the Father)
Fifthly let us note these several miscellaneous things:
The “I Am” statements of Jesus are only found in John’s gospel.
The “Verily, Verily” statements of Jesus are only found in John’s gospel; 25 of them!
He is the only one to talk about “living water” and “the water of life;” “living bread” and “the bread of life.”
John wrote more than any other gospel writer about the Holy Spirit: Jhn 3, Jhn 4, Jhn 7, Jhn 14, Jhn 15, and Jhn 16.
He says virtually nothing about Satan and demons. He says nothing about Jesus being tempted by the devil, nor one account of Jesus casting out demons; only mentioning Satan as the father of the Pharisees, and entering into Judas to effect the betrayal.
John mentions himself several times in his gospel, referring to himself as the “disciple whom Jesus loved”.
Only he clearly tells us why he wrote his gospel: “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” Jhn 20:30-31
And if he did not write his gospel specifically for a non-Jewish audience, he certainly expected many non-Jews to be reading it, for he gives the definitions of Hebrew words like “Messiah” and “Rabbi,” and explains aspects of the Jewish Feasts that non-Jews would either not know or understand.
John is the gospel writer who most clearly records that the Old Testament System was ending. Jhn 3:16 “God so loved the world;” God's plan was always world wide: every kindred, tongue, tribe and nation, not just the Jews. “For in thee shall all the nations of the world be blessed,” was first said to Abraham (Gen 12:3, 18:18, and 22:18), then to Isaac (Gen 26:4), and then to Jacob (Gen 28:14).
Jhn 4 records Jesus intentionally going to Samaria to seek out a foreign woman, that he might save her. Jhn 4:4 says, “He must needs go through Samaria,” and in Jhn 4:21 he says, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.” He was explaining that in the Old Testament system was passing away, and that in the gospel God was breaking down the “middle wall of partition” between Jew and Gentile ( Eph 2:14) and seeking any and all who “worship in the Spirit and truth” (Jhn 4:23-24).
Jhn 12:20 and following records some Greeks wanting to speak with Jesus, and him therefore saying, “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified” (Jhn 12:23); Jesus rejoiced as the gospel advanced beyond the Jews and began drawing gentiles.
And John is the only one who give us the account of Peter’s restoration, which considering Peter’s central role in the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem (Act 2 and 3) to Samaria (Act 8:14) and to the Gentiles (Cornelius Act 10), is very important.
His gospel is 21 chapters, but chapters 13 - 20 deal with the last 60 hours of Jesus life. They start with Thursday when they ate the meal, then to the arrest, etc, into Friday and his trial and crucifixion, Saturday when he lay in the tomb, and Sunday when he rose and met for the first time with the disciples.
Lastly, on a general note, most of the events and discourses which John writes about are recorded only by him. And his statement, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.” (Jhn 21:25), shows that the gospel writers, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, were selective in what they included; they simply could not include everything, and so the Holy Spirit guides each one to frame his gospel for a target audience.
In the next Blog I will give a general outline of John's Gospel.
10 September 2024