John

In the first three Gospels the Lord Jesus is presented as King, Servant, and the perfect Man. The incidents, words, and works are selected, in each Gospel, which support their emphasis. Matthew, Mark, and Luke present the Lord on the side of His perfect humanity. That is the reason for their being what is called "Synoptic" (same view) and for the marked difference between them and the fourth Gospel in which the presentation is on the side of His Deity (no genealogy, birth, temptation, agony in Gethsemane). The four Gospels do not contradict but compliment each other as together they present one portrait of our Lord. There is no need to try and harmonize them or separate the first three from the fourth. It seems obvious to me why John would be so distinct since he emphasizes Christ as God. Of course, Christ is seen as King, Servant, Man, and God in all four Gospels. 

 

Writer: John was the son of Zebedee, a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee, and was the younger brother of James. The brothers worked with their father until Christ called them to follow Him. They were two of the twelve apostles that Christ chose on earth and sent to Israel with the gospel of the kingdom (Matt. 19:28). Peter, James, and John are sometimes referred to as the “inner circle” because Christ seemed to set them apart from the twelve. He is known as the beloved disciple because in his Gospel he referred to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. He never refers to himself by name, perhaps because he was writing to glorify Christ. 

Although the Gospel of John seems more compatible with Paul’s epistles than the other three Gospels there is nothing in the scripture to suggest that John became an apostle to the Gentiles or the Body of Christ (Gal. 2:9). He wrote his epistles after his Gospel (much he says in his epistles is based on what he wrote in his Gospel) and there is doctrine in his epistles does not match doctrine in Paul’s epistles (1 Jn. 2:24). The Gospel of John is a record of the earthly ministry of Christ and so irregardless of when it was written we know it does not reveal the mysteries that Christ later revealed through Paul from heaven. Things that are similar are not the SAME. It is easier to read Pauline doctrine into John than the other Gospels because of the emphasis on believing but we must be careful not to anticipate revelation. 

When: Most commentaries say that John wrote his five books (Gospel, epistles, Revelation) in the 90’s AD but that is tradition and cannot be proven from the scripture. For example, most think he was exiled on the Isle of Patmos in 95 AD but he said that the Lord sent him there to receive the book of Revelation (1:9). We KNOW from internal evidence that he wrote his Gospel before 70 AD (Jn. 5:2, note that it says "there IS", that pool would not have been there after 70 AD because that is when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem). 

Theme: The Gospel according to John presents Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God (10:22-33). There is a clear emphasis on the deity of Christ throughout the book (something in every chapter, 1:1, 14). The apostle John calls Christ the Word seven times (1:1, 14; 1 Jn. 1:1; 5:7; Rev. 19:13). Christ is the Word because He reveals and declares the invisible God to man (1:18). John plainly stated why he wrote the book (John 20:30-31). Many think that John is written primarily to the Gentiles but SIGNS are for the Jews (1 Cor. 1:22). Luke was actually the Gospel written for the Gentiles which makes sense because he was a co-laborer with the apostle to the Gentiles. The profession of faith required to enter the kingdom is to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (Matt. 16:16-19; Jn. 1:49; 6:69; 11:27; Acts 8:35-37). That is NOT a sufficient profession to be saved in this age! Yes, we need to know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, but specifically that He died for our sins, was buried, and rose again for our justification. Also, the gospel of the kingdom requires works to prove faith (Mk. 16:15-16; 1 Jn. 2:4; 5:13). 

  

Key words: believe (101 times) and world (80 times) - The kingdom program of Israel has a world-wide scope (Ps. 22:27-28). Repentance is emphasized in the other Gospel records (not mentioned in John) but believing is emphasized in John. That is not contradictory but complimentary because those who truly believed on Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God also repented. The Gospel of John does not reveal the gosepl of the grace of God (5:28-29; 15:1-10). That was was revealed through Paul (Gal. 1:11-12).

Outline:

1) Prologue (1:1-14)

2) Witness of John the Baptist (1:15-34)

3) Public Ministry of Christ (1:35-12:50)

4) Private Ministry of Christ to His Own (13-17)

5) Sacrifice of Christ (18:1-19:42)

6) Manifestation of Christ in Resurrection (20) 

7) Epilogue (21) 

The Gospel according to John is marked by sevens which is fitting because seven is God's number of perfection. The most familiar are the seven “I am” statements of Christ ("I am the bread of life" etc. Ex. 3:14; Jn. 8:58) and the seven signs. Christ did many public signs but God inspired John to record seven (21:25). There was an eighth miracle after His resurrection but that was just for His disciples. 

1) Water into wine (2:1-11) 

2) Healing of noblemans son (4:46-54)

3) Healing of the paralytic man (5:1-9)

4) Feeding of the 5000 (6:1-14) – recorded in all 4 gospels 

5) Calming the storm (6:15-21) 

6) Healing the blind man (9:1-7)

7) Raising Lazarus (11:38-45)