BACKGROUND NOTES ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO John
Author
Since the time of the the early Church Fathers the Apostle John was accepted as author of the fourth Gospel. He is not identified by name, but chapter 21:20-24 refers to him as "the disciple whom Jesus loved", who "testifies to these things and wrote them down". Verse 21, probably written by the elders at Ephesus, declares that "his testimony is true".
From his writing style and thorough knowledge of the Old Testament it is clear that he was a Jew; his knowledge of the topography of Palestine and specifically Jerusalem and the Temple, as well as his knowledge of political and religious conditions, shows that he was a citizen of Palestine; from the Gospel itself it is clear that he was an eyewitness of the events he describes, and one of the twelve disciples.
John and his (probably) elder brother James was the sons of Zebedee, a prosperous fisherman, involved in both catching and retailing of fish. According to tradition his mother was Salome, a sister of the virgin Mary, which would mean that Jesus and John were cousins. Before following Jesus, John was a disciple of John the Baptist, who pointed him to "the Lamb of God". He seems to have had good connections in Jerusalem, even into the high priest's environment.
Together with Peter and his brother James, he formed the inner circle of Jesus' disciples, but John seems to have been the closest to Jesus.
Why was it written?
According to John he wrote his Gospel "in order that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and in order that you may continue to have life in his name" (William Hendriksen's literal translation). It was written for people who already believed in Jesus, to encourage them to continue in their faith.
Church tradition consistently states that John wrote his Gospel in response to requests from the church in Ephesus, where he lived and ministered for a long time. John was one of the last remaining eyewitnesses of the life and ministry of Jesus, and the Ephesian church insisted that he wrote down his recollections for them.
How and when was it written?
The oldest manuscript fragment of the Gospel of John (the Rylands Library Papyrus P52), which is also the oldest New Testament fragment in existence, was dated to AD 97. The fragment was discovered in Alexandria in Egypt, and even if it was a first-generation copy it must have taken some time to get from Ephesus to Alexandria. Most scholars put the date of writing at around AD 90.
John writes about events he had personal knowledge of, and seems to deliberately exclude a lot of material already known from the Synoptic Gospels. His goal was not to "correct" the other Evangelists, but rather to supplement their narrative based on his memories of Jesus' life on earth. As the disciple closest to Jesus he gives us great insight beyond the actions of Jesus, showing the deeper intention of His heart. An old man at the time of writing, John had become so much like his best Friend that it is sometimes difficult to identify the break between direct speech from Jesus, and John's words.
The traditional view is that John first wrote his Gospel, then his three letters, and lastly the book of Revelation, but this cannot be proved or disproved with any certainty.
First audience and destination:
The church at Ephesus was the first to read this Gospel, but it is clear that John had a wider audience in mind. He writes for believers, both Jews and Greeks — he links Jesus to concepts from Greek philosophy, but also endeavours to show that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah.
By John's own admission his Gospel was intended for believers, to encourage them to continue in the faith; but since the earliest days it was also a very effective tool for the Church to introduce unbelivers to Jesus.
Literary style:
· Language: The three Synoptic Gospels use very similar language, with identical wording in places. John's language, even in English translations, is totally different. Where the Synoptics seem to use shared (public) resources, John's Gospel is a totally independent work based on his personal experience of Jesus.
· Disputes: John predominantly records the teaching of Jesus, but it is not in the form of parables (as in the Synoptics), but lengthy discourses. It seems that Jesus considered parables and short stories appropriate in dealing with the more rural people of Galilee, and used non-parabolic discourses and arguments when dealing with the Jewish religious leaders in Judea, and in His last teachings in the Upper Room.
Special themes:
· Deity: John wrote his Gospel "in order that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God", and his most important theme is exactly that : The deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. The prologue states it in philosophical terms, the miracles of Jesus are "signs" pointing to it, and His teachings emphasizes it.
· Glory: John used the same word as that used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to describe the shekinah glory of God revealed in the tabernacle, and applied it to Jesus.
· "Logos": The word translated "the Word" in chapter 1 comes from Greek philosophy. It was developed by Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 535 – 475 BC), who used it for a principle of order and knowledge, the reason or purpose behind what took place. Another philosopher, Philo of Alexandria (c. 25 BC – 50 AD) held that the Logos was not an "it" but a person (almost like wisdom is personified in Proverbs).
John realized that Jesus was the ultimate reason why everything happened, and combined both thoughts — there is an organizing principle, a "why", at the root of everything: A person, Jesus, the living Word of God, and He is the reason why everything exists.
According to John this Logos is personal, eternal, fully human, and fully God.
· Life: John mentions "life" 34 times, often contrasting it with death. This life that Jesus gives is "abundant life", to be experienced here and now, but it is also everlasting.
· Holy Spirit: He is prominent in John's writing, much more than in the Synoptics. John links the Spirit to truth, new birth, life, living water, worship, and emphasizes His role as the new "Comforter".
Special features
· With a few exceptions, John's Gospel describes the ministry of the Lord Jesus in Judea, whereas the Synoptic Gospel give more attention to His Galilean ministry.
· The Gospel is far more exact than the Synoptics in indicating the exact time and place of events described. (On the basis of the great feasts described by John the length of Christ's ministry can be determined.)
· John retains the general framework of the Synoptic Gospels, but he omits much of their material, and adds a lot of new material (in chapter 20:30 he writes that Jesus "performed many other signs...which are not recorded in this book" — he selected what suited his purpose):
··Miracles: Five of the seven miracles in John are unique to him.
··Individuals: One-to-one dialogues are more prominent — the Samaritan woman, Nicodemus, John the Baptist (all his words in John's Gospel are from private conversations).
··Three series of seven:
···Seven witnesses: John the Baptist, Nathanael,Peter, Martha, Thomas, John, Jesus himself.
···Seven miracles: Water into wine, healing the nobleman's son, man healed at the pool of Bethesda, feeding the 5,000, walking on water, giving sight to the man born blind, raising Lazarus from the dead after four days in the grave.
···Seven "I Am" words of Jesus: bread of heaven, light of the world, the door, the good shepherd, the way the truth and the life, the true vine, the resurrection and the life.
· Lengthy discourses instead of parables. (See above, Literary Style)
· In the Synoptics the main theme is the kingdom of the King, in John it is the King of the kingdom himself, his Person and undoubted deity.
General structure:
Prologue and introduction — Chapter 1
The public ministry of Jesus — Chapters 2–12
The private ministry of Jesus — Chapters 13–17
His death and resurrection — Chapters 18–20
Epilogue — Chapter 21 <
