The Gospel According to John differs from the Synoptic Gospels of Mark, Matthew, and Luke in style and content in several ways.

John’s Gospel omits a large amount of material found in the Synoptic Gospels, like the temptation of Jesus, Jesus’ transfiguration, and the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper. The sermon on the mount and the Lord’s prayer are also not found in the Gospel of John, and we do not see proverbs and parables but symbolic discourses.

Jesus’ miracles, considered “signs” in the Gospel of John, are designed to provide insight into Jesus’ identity and his relationship to God the Father. Jesus is clearly the Wisdom of God, the source of eternal life, and most importantly still living within the community of faith.

Seven and Perfection: The author of the Gospel of John was no stranger to the Hebrew tradition and symbolism. The author understood the use of the number seven throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. In biblical numerology, 7 symbolizes completion or perfection. In Genesis, God created the world in 6 days and rested on the 7^th: the sabbath.

This “system of seven” is used three times in the Gospel of John. In addition to Jesus’ seven miracle “signs,” there are seven major discourses given by Jesus, and seven “I am” claims. The goal of the Gospel’s author was to lead believers to the realization that Jesus was the perfect fulfillment of the Hebrew law and the prophets. 

In the Gospel of John, the Greek word “semeion” (σέμειον), better translated as “sign” but also as “miracle,” is used to describe the acts performed by Jesus, emphasizing their symbolic meaning and pointing towards his identity and mission. The “signs” point to Jesus as the giver of life. They stress that all hopes and aspirations for the fullness of life are met in Jesus.

The seven miracle “signs” are: (1) Turning Water into Wine (John 2:1-12), (2) Healing the Nobleman’s Son (John 4:46-54), (3) Healing the Man at the Pool (John 5:1-11), (4) Feeding of the 5,000 (John 6:1-15), (5) Walking on Water (John 6:16-21), (6) Healing a Man Born Blind (John 9:1-12), and (7) Raising Lazarus (John 11).

Jesus’ Ministry in John: In the Gospel of John, Jesus’ public ministry appears to extend over a period of at least three years. During that time, he went, several times, from Galilee to Jerusalem in Judaea. The Synoptics, on the other hand, have Jesus making only one journey to Jerusalem, where he was crucified. Most of his ministry in the Synoptics took place within just one year and it was primarily in Galilee.

The Gospel of John uses a “post-resurrection” point of view. The author looks back on the Jesus events — after Jesus’ death and resurrection — and emphasizes the inability of the apostles to understand the things that were happening at the time they occurred. See for instance: John 2:17-22, where there are obvious references to the Resurrection, “He was speaking of the sanctuary that was his body, and after he rose from the dead his disciples remembered.” See John 12:16-17: “At the time his disciples did not understand this but later, after Jesus had been glorified, they remembered….” And John 20:9: “Until this moment they had failed to understand the teaching of scripture, that he must rise from the dead.” Perhaps we do not always clearly see and understand?

Prologue: The prologue in John’s Gospel Gospel, that begins with: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. (John 1:1-18) is most likely an elaboration of an early Christian hymn. Interestingly, the rest of John’s Gospel does not speak of Jesus as the pre-existent, creative Word. Scholars believe the prologue was added as an introduction after the rest of the Gospel had already been written.

The Gospel of John’s Authorship and Locality: The old tradition was that the Gospel’s author was the Apostle John, son of Zebedee. Most contemporary scholars are not of this opinion. In fact, Scholars began debating the authorship of John since already in the third century. Contemporary biblical scholars, such as the Catholic priest and scholar Raymond E. Brown (1928 – 1998), have proposed that the original author of an oral tradition that evolved into the Gospel of John, was a companion of Jesus, the Beloved Disciple. The Beloved Disciple formed a community, most probably in Ephesus, which today is an ancient city in Turkey’s Central Aegean region, near the modern-day Selçuk. Scholars call this “the Johannine community.”

The oral tradition of eye-witness recollections of the Beloved Disciple evolved and began being written down around 90 CE. The final redaction occurred ten to twenty years later, giving us a composition date of between 90 and 110 CE.

Biblical scholars are really uncertain who the Beloved Disciple was. There is quite a variety of opinions: a truly unknown disciple, the Apostle John, Jesus’ brother James, or even Jesus’ close friend Mary the Magdalene. Raymond Brown has likened the quest to identify the author of the Fourth Gospel to a good detective story. While the idea that Mary the Magdalene wrote the Fourth Gospel is a popular and intriguing theory, most biblical scholars today do not attribute the authorship to her.

The Johannine Community: Mostly Gentile Christians: The final version of the Gospel of John was composed after the crisis created by the expulsion of Christians from the synagogue. A parting of the ways between Hebrew and Christian believers had occurred. The early Christians no longer went to the synagogue for the basic reason that more Christians were Gentile converts and the distinction between Hebrew and Christian belief had become clearer. John 9:22 describes how “the Hebrew people had agreed that if anyone confessed Jesus as the Christ or Messiah that person was to be excluded from the synagogue.”

Turning Point: John 13:1-4 is a turning point in this Gospel. Jesus’s “hour” had come “for him to pass from this world to the Father.”

A key moment is in John 13:1-5: “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God. He got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.” People wore sandals in the days of Jesus, with wooden soles and fastened with straps of leather, which allowed their feet to get dirty. But they did not wear sandals indoors. They removed them upon entering the house and washed their feet.

Then, in John 13:12-15, Jesus stresses: “‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them. ‘You call me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.’”

Jesus Real Presence: For centuries, in my Roman Catholic tradition, people have developed various explanations about Jesus’ “Real Presence” in the Eucharistic bread and wine. In the Gospel of John there is no mention of Jesus instituting the Eucharist. Nevertheless, the Gospel is very clear about Jesus’ abiding presence. The primary “Real Presence” of Jesus is in the community. Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches (John 15). The branches cannot survive without the vine. But the vine cannot survive without the branches. (And a contemporary observation: the branches cannot survive without the support of other branches.)

Humanity Taking on Divinity:  In Mark, Matthew, and Luke the stress was on Divinity taking on humanity. In John, however, we see another emphasis: humanity taking on Divinity. God is truly with us: in the very heart of our being.

Some of the old images of God may no longer speak to contemporary people. But God has not abandoned us. We should not abandon God. We simply need to reflect on better ways of conceptualizing and speaking about our experience of the Divine.

Crucifixion: The account of the crucifixion in John does not stress Jesus as the one who suffers, as we saw for example in Mark 15.25–39. In the Fourth Gospel, Jesus is the one who is exalted: “lifted up” in his moment of glorification.

In John 13 to John 16, Jesus prepares his disciples for his imminent departure followed by his “high priestly prayer” in John 17. Here we see a very strong and confident Jesus. “I have glorified you on earth and finished the work you gave me to do. Now, Father, it is time to glorify me…” (John 17:4-5)

Final Chapters: The final chapters in the Gospel of John contain the accounts of Jesus’s trial, crucifixion, and resurrection. The Jesus who stands before Pilate is strong. Note that, on the way to Golgotha, Jesus carries his own cross. He does not need the help of a Simon of Cyrene as we saw in Mark, Matthew, and Luke. Also in John, unlike the other three gospels, Jesus’ crucifixion occurs on the day of preparation for the Passover (John 19:14) rather than on the Passover holiday itself. Here Jesus prepares himself for the departure to the Father and seems to be in complete control of his destiny, even to the extent of commending his mother to the Beloved Disciple (John 19:26–27).

Conclusion: The Gospel concludes with the discovery of the empty tomb by the women and other disciples (John 20:1–10), Jesus’s appearance to them (John 20:11–18), and the narrative of the “Doubting” Thomas (John 20.24–29).

The last two verses contain what many scholars think was most likely the Gospel’s original ending: “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30-31)

 

Appendix: Chapter 21 is stylistically very different from the main body of the Gospel. Raymond Brown, and others, have suggested it was a later addition to John. It is now known as the Johannine Appendix. It not only contains resurrection appearances in Galilee, but it also emphasizes the authority of the Beloved Disciple. Recall that, in John 18:15-27, Peter had denied knowing Jesus three times. Now, in John 21:15, Jesus in a way reinstates Peter. But when Peter questions Jesus about the Beloved Disciple, Jesus, perhaps a bit annoyed, responds: “If I want that one to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”

This appendix quite possibly reflects a controversy among some in the Johannine community who may have considered the Beloved Disciple inferior to Peter. But chapter 21 reinforces the Beloved Disciple’s role as the authorized witness of the Jesus tradition for the Johannine community. In John 21:24 we read about the Beloved Disciple: “This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that the testimony is true.”

 

I titled today’s reflection “Courageous and Confident.” That is how I perceive Jesus in the Gospel of John. With courage and confidence, Jesus spoke out against the hypocrisy of the self-centered arrogant. In conflicts with his contemporary religious leaders he stressed that religiosity is not faith.

 

 

Happy Easter my friends!

The great gift of Easter is hope. May we remain courageous and confident, and hopeful, in difficult times.

Jack

Dr. John A. Dick – Historical Theologian

P.S. I will be away from Another Voice for a couple weeks of “Easter Vacation.”