The Good News According to John differs from the Synoptics (Mark, Matthew, and Luke) in style and content in several ways. John omits a large amount of material found in the Synoptic Gospels, like the temptation of Jesus, Jesus’ transfiguration, and the institution of the Lord’s Supper. The sermon on the mount and the Lord’s prayer are also not found in John.

Symbolism in John is very important. We do not see proverbs and parables, as in the Synoptics, but symbolic discourses. Jesus’ miracles, as reported in John, are designed to provide symbolic insight into Jesus’ identity and his relationship to the Father. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is clearly the Wisdom of God, the source of eternal life, and still continually living within the community of faith.

Jesus speaks metaphorically throughout the Gospel of John to illustrate spiritual realities. Metaphors are found in nearly every chapter of the Gospel of John, that can at first confuse readers who interpret them literally, such as in the “Bread of Life” discourse in John 6, which we will look at in a few minutes.

Scholars like Pheme Perkins (born1945), professor of theology at Boston College, and a nationally recognized expert on the Greco-Roman cultural setting of early Christianity, emphasize that the author of the Gospel of John presumed that much of the narrative about Jesus and its people and places was already well known to the John’s audience. They would have been familiar with the various titles for Jesus, with Baptism, Eucharist, and the Spirit. They were already Christians, entering the second century of Christian life and experience.

The Gospel of John then is a call to the followers of the Risen Lord to re-examine their lives. That challenge of course rings true, today, for all of us.

Jesus’ public ministry, in John, appears to extend over a period of at least three years. During that time, he went, several times, from Galilee to Jerusalem. The Synoptics, on the other hand, have Jesus making only one journey to Jerusalem: the final one. And most of his public ministry took place within just one year.

The author of John uses a “post-resurrection” point of view, looking back on the Jesus events and emphasizing the inability of the apostles to understand what was happening at the time the events occurred. See for instance John 12:12-16: “The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So, they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’ And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion. Behold your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!’ His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.”

The Gospel of John opens with a profound prologue, John 1:1-18, stating, “In the beginning was the Word (Logos)” which is reminiscent of Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” The prologue was most likely an elaboration of an early Christian hymn. In the prologue, Jesus is identified as the Greek word Logos, a complex Greek term meaning “word,” “reason,” or “principle,” which often represents divine wisdom, as the organizing principle behind creation. Many scholars suggest that the prologue was added after the Gospel of John had been completed.

Who wrote the Gospel of John? The old understanding, from the second century, was that the author was John the Apostle, the son of Zebedee, a prosperous Galilean fisherman. Most contemporary scholars are not of this opinion.

Scholars, such as the American priest and biblical scholar Raymond E. Brown (1928 – 1998), believed that the original author of an oral tradition, that evolved into the Gospel of John, was a companion of Jesus, the “Beloved Disciple,” who formed a community, most probably in Ephesus. An 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 textual composition date of between 90 and 110 CE.

We do not know who the “Beloved Disciple” was. There is quite a variety of scholarly opinions. Some say a truly unknown disciple, or the Apostle John, or James the brother of Jesus, or even Mary the Magdalene. My old friend the theologian Leonard Swidler (1929-2026), who died on March 23rd, proposed that Mary the Magdalene was the “Beloved Disciple” and the primary author of the Gospel of John. He believed she wrote a “proto-gospel” which served as the foundational source for the Gospel of John.

The Johannine community was very engaged in the “church–synagogue” debate and defined itself primarily in contrast to the Hebrew tradition. The last version of the Gospel of John was composed after the crisis created by the expulsion of Christians from the synagogue. The Gospel’s criticism of the Judaean religious authorities and their supporters in Jerusalem is strong. Over the centuries, some have incorrectly used this Gospel of John’s criticism as an excuse for anti-Semitism. As I have mentioned in earlier posts, it is unfortunate that English New Testament translators have so often used the words “Jew” and “Jews,” when “Judaean” and “Judaeans” would have been more correct and less problematic.

 

Re-reading the Gospel of John, four points really strike me: (1) the problem of authoritarian leaders, (2) Jesus’ abiding presence in the community of faith; (3) humanity taking on divinity, and (4) the courageous and confident Jesus, who is a genuine spiritual hero and inspiration.

 

• Authoritarian Leaders: Why did the Judaean hierarchy conspire to crucify Jesus? Why did so many ordinary people collude in their decision? Was the High Priest Caiaphas any different from contemporary national leaders in his simple judgment that “If we let him [i.e. Jesus] go on speaking in this way, everybody will believe in him… It is better to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” (John 11:48-50) Today, political leaders – and some religious leaders — know so very well the power of demonizing specific people and certain groups, as a way of achieving a semblance of social or institutional unity: students demonstrating against guns and in support of trans students, “radical” feminists, Mexicans, migrants, LGBTQ+ people, and opponents of “Christian nationalism.”
• Jesus’ presence in the community of faith. John 13:1-4 is a turning point in the Gospel of John. Jesus’s “hour” had come “for him to pass from this world to the Father… He had come from God and was returning to God.” The occasion is in John chapter 13’s observations about the Last Supper. Unlike the Synoptics, the Gospel of John has no institution of Eucharist. But Jesus washes his disciples’ feet. “I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.”  I think we forget that people’s feet back then were really dirty! Washing feet was not a pleasant task. Reading this scripture, I think we forget as well what Jesus also said: “Whoever welcomes the one I send, welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.” (John 13:20) The Gospel of John does not mention the institution of Eucharistic bread and wine because the author wanted to emphasize that Jesus is present in the Community of Faith. Jesus promises that his Spirit (the Advocate) will be with them. (John 14:15-16, 15:26, 16:15) For centuries, in my Roman Catholic tradition, people have argued about Jesus’s “Real Presence.” The Gospel of John is very clear. The early Followers of the Way of Jesus celebrated gathering together, with exultation, and sincere hearts, and shared their meals, and the rite, they called the breaking of the bread, which came to mean celebrating the Lord’s Supper. (See for instance: Acts 2:42, 46; 20:7; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, 21; 11:25-26). The breaking and sharing of the bread reminded them of the presence of Jesus the Christ. After all, Jesus wanted us to remember him, every time we ate and drank – a reminder of the Christ within each of us and in the community.
• In John 6:53–58, we do have the Jesus metaphorical text: “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.” Of course, Jesus could never have meant for anyone to eat his physical flesh, let alone drink his blood. He would only utter it symbolically. He meant for us to incorporate not only his virtues, his teachings, but his very self. He wants us to be truly one with him and the Father, and for both of them to dwell in us.
• Humanity taking on Divinity: In Mark, Matthew, and Luke the stress was on Divinity taking on humanity. That is true in John as well, of course. In John, however, we see another emphasis: humanity taking on Divinity. God is truly with us: in the very heart of our being. That is worth meditating about. 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.
• A Courageous and Confident Jesus: The Johannine account of the crucifixion does not stress Jesus as 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) The Jesus who stands before Pilate and later walks to his crucifixion is strong. 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 Synoptic Gospels, Jesus’ crucifixion occurs on the day of preparation of 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).

Contemporary scholars suggest that the Gospel of John ended originally 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 “Doubting” Thomas (John 20.24–29). The last two verses contain what many scholars think may have been the Gospel’s 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)

Many scholars consider John chapter 21 to be a later addition to the Gospel. It not only contains resurrection appearances in Galilee, but it also emphasizes the authority of the Beloved Disciple, who likely died a normal death in contrast to Peter’s martyrdom (see John 21.15–23). Quite possibly, this appendix reflects a controversy among the second or third generation of believers, some of whom may have considered the Beloved Disciple inferior to Peter. Chapter 21 reinforces the Beloved Disciple’s role as THE authorized witness of the Jesus tradition for the Johannine community.

For us today, the courageous and confident Jesus is our hope and our inspiration. Across two thousand years he is saying that we too, in our contemporary world of war, conflict, and social & political unrest, can and must be courageous and confident as we work together and move forward. 

As Jesus says in this week’s Gospel: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” – (John 14:27)

Jack

 

P.S. Next week some thoughts about contemporary U.S. Christian nationalism.