John, the son of Zebedee, is the author of this Gospel. He and his brother James are called the "Sons of Thunder," most likely for their lively, zealous personalities. Of the 12 disciples, John, James, and Peter formed the inner circle, chosen by Jesus to become his closest companions. They had the exclusive privilege of witnessing and testifying about events in the life of Jesus that no others were invited to see. John was present at the resurrection of Jarius' daughter (Luke 8:51), the transfiguration of Jesus (Mark 9:2), and in Gethsemane (Mark 14:33). John is also the only recorded disciple to be present at the crucifixion of Jesus.
John refers to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." He writes with simplicity in the original Greek, which makes this Gospel a good book for new believers. However, below the surface of John's writing are layers of rich and profound theology.
Circa 85-90 A.D. John wrote the Gospel sometime after 70 A.D. and the destruction of Jerusalem, but prior to his exile on the island of Patmos. It was most likely written from Ephesus. Settings in the book include Bethany, Galilee, Capernaum, Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria.
The predominant theme in the book of John is the revelation of God to man through his living illustration—Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. The opening verses beautifully describe Jesus as the Word. He is God revealed to man—the expression of God—so that we might see him and believe. Through this Gospel we witness the everlasting power and nature of the Creator God, offering eternal life to us through his Son, Jesus Christ. In every chapter, Christ's deity is unveiled. The eight miracles recorded by John reveal his divine power and love. They are signs that inspire us to trust and believe in him.
The Holy Spirit is a theme in John's Gospel as well. We are drawn to faith in Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit; our belief is established through the indwelling, guiding, counseling, comforting presence of the Holy Spirit; and through the power of the Holy Spirit in us, the life of Christ is multiplied to others who believe.
The Gospel of John was written to prove that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. As an eyewitness to the love and power displayed in the miracles of Jesus, John gives us an up-close and personal look at Christ's identity. He shows us that Jesus, though fully God, came in the flesh to distinctly and accurately reveal God, and that Christ is the source of eternal life to all who believe in him.
John's gospel is different from the other three in the New Testament. That fact has been recognized since the early church itself. Already by the year 200, John's gospel was called the spiritual gospel precisely because it told the story of Jesus in symbolic ways that differ sharply at times from the other three. For example, Jesus dies on a different day in John's gospel than in Matthew, Mark and Luke.... Whereas in the three synoptic gospels Jesus actually eats a passover meal before he dies, in John's gospel he doesn't. The last supper is actually eaten before the beginning of passover. So that the sequence of events leading up to the actual crucifixion are very different for John's gospel. And one has to look at it in say, why is the story so different? How do we account for these differences in terms of the way the story-telling developed? And the answer becomes fairly clear when we realize that Jesus has had the last supper a day before so that he's hanging on the cross during the day of preparation before the beginning of Passover.
So here's the scene in John's gospel: on the day leading up to Passover, and Passover will commence at 6 o'clock with the evening meal, on the day leading up to that Passover meal is the day when all the lambs are slaughtered and everyone goes to the temple to get their lamb for the passover meal. In Jerusalem this would have meant thousands of lambs being slaughtered all at one time. And in John's gospel that's the day on which Jesus is crucified. So that quite literally the dramatic scene in John's gospel has Jesus hanging on the cross while the lambs are being slaughtered for passover. John's gospel is forcing us, dramatically at least, through the storytelling mode, to think of Jesus as a passover lamb. Jesus doesn't eat a passover meal, Jesus is the passover meal, at least within the Christian mind in the way that John tells the story.
Now this theme of the Lamb of God, the Passover symbolism, actually is shot through the entirety of John's gospel. From the very first scene of John's gospel when Jesus enters the story for the first time, he does so by coming to John the Baptist to be baptized. And when Jesus enters, John sees him coming and looks and says, "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." So the whole story is now bracketed by this one motif, the Lamb of God. And of course that's the kind of symbolism that would eventually become one of the most profound and dominant in all of Christian theological tradition. Later on we will find just that one image a lamb showing up in all kinds of Christian art from the catacombs to the great mosaics at Ravenna because in just that small little capsule form we have a whole theological tradition wrapped up. It's a theological statement about the significance of the death of Jesus.
The symbolism of John's gospel while it is probably the most evocative of any in the New Testament, is also provocative. The language of John's gospel is intentionally antagonistic at times toward Jewish tradition and toward Jewish sensitivities. The idea of the Passover of course is very Jewish but John tends to turn some of those ideas in a much sharper way against Jewish tradition. At one point in John 6 Jesus says, "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you will have no life in you." But the idea of drinking blood is absolutely abhorrent to Jewish dietary regulations. So the very language and the symbolism that is so rich within John's gospel also has a decidedly political tone to it in terms of the evolving relationship between Jews and Christians. John's gospel is witness to a Christianity that's moving farther and father away from Jewish tradition. And in fact it's seeing Jewish tradition often as actually hostile to the Christian movement.
Introduction
John 1:1-18 the Eternal Word becomes flesh
John 1:19-28 the witness of John the Baptist
John 1:29-34 the Lamb of God
John 1:35-42 the first disciples of Jesus
John 1:43-51 skeptical Nathaniel becomes a disciple
John 2:1-12 Jesus makes water into wine at Cana wedding feast
John 2:13-25 Jesus at Passover cleanses the temple
John 3:1-7 Nicodemus, a secret disciple of Jesus
John 3:7-15 "You must be born anew"
John 3:16-21 God's love and judgment
John 3:22-30 the final witness of John the Baptist
John 3:31-36 the One sent from heaven
John 4:1-42 Jesus offers the Samaritan woman living water
John 4:43-54 Jesus heals son of official at Capernaum
John 5:1-16 Jesus heals lame man at pool of Bethzatha
John 5:17-30 Jesus' first discourse on Father-Son relationship
John 5:31-47 Jesus answers the chages of his opponents
John 6:1-15 Jesus feeds 5000 by multiplying five loaves & two fish
John 6:16-21 Jesus walks on the Sea of Galilee to the disciples' boat
John 6:22-29 the crowds at Galilee seek out Jesus
John 6:30-35 Galileans want a sign from Jesus
John 6:35-40 Jesus offers himself as the "bread of life"
John 6:41-51 Galileans upset with Jesus' teaching on "bread of life"
John 6:52-59 Jesus' radical teaching in Capernaum synagogue
John 6:60-69 Jesus challenges disciples to believe his teaching
John 7:1-30 Jesus' confronted on Feast of Tabernacles
John 7:31-39 Jesus offers "rivers of living water" to those who thirst
John 7:40-53 reactions to Jesus
John 8:1-11 woman caught in adultery
John 8:12-20 Jesus' claim to be "the light of the world"
John 8:21-30 fatal imcomprehension
John 8:31-42 true discipleship, freedom and slavery
John 8:43-50 children of the devil
John 8:51-59 Jesus is greater than Abraham
John 9:1-41 Jesus heals the blind man at Pool of Siloam
John 10:1-10 Jesus' parable of the shepherd and the thieves
John 10:11-21Jesus the Good Shepherd
John 10:22-30 Jesus claims equality with the Father
John 10:31-42 Jesus answers charge of blasphemy
John 11:1-44 Jesus raises Lazarus from the tomb
John 11:45-57 chief priests take counsel to arrest Jesus
John 12:1-11 Mary anoints Jesus at Bethany
John 12:12-19 Jesus enters Jerusalem as Messianic King
John 12:20-26 the coming of Jesus' hour
John 12:27-43 the voice from heaven
John 12:44-50 Jesus came to save the world
John 13:1-17 Jesus washes his disciples feet
John 13:18-20 Jesus foretells his betrayal
John 13:21-30 betrayal and faltering loyalty
John 13:31-38 Jesus' farewell command
John 14:1-20 Jesus' last summer discourse: way to glory
John 14:21-22 last supper discourse: way to fellowship
John 14:23-26 last suppr discourse: way to fellowship
John 14:27-31 last supper discourse: promise of Holy Spirit
John 15:1-8 parable of the vine and branches
John 15:9-11 last supper discourse: abiding in love
John 15:12-17 Jesus' commandment of love
John 15:18-25 Jesus' discour on hatred of the world
John 15:26-16:4 the Counselor will bear witness to Jesus
John 16:5-11 the worl of the Holy Spirit
John 16:12-22 the Spirit of truth
John 16:23-28 direct access to the Father
John 16:29-33 Jesus has overcome the world
John 17:1-11 Jesus' high priestly prayer
John 17:12-19 "may they be consecrated in truth"
John 17:20-26 "may they be perfectly one"
John 18:1-11 Jesus' arrest in the Garden
John 18:12-27 Jesus' trial and Peter's denial
John 18:28-40 Jesus before Pilate
John 19:1-16 Jesus scourged & condemned
John 19:17-22 Jesus bears his cross to Golgatha
John 19:23-27 The gamblers and the women at the cross
John 19:28-30 Jesus dies on the cross
John 19:31-37 Jesus' pierced side
John 19:38-42 Jesus' burial
John 20:1-10 the empty tomb
John 20:11-18 Jesus appears to Mary Magdalen
John 20:19-31 Jesus appears to the disciples
John 21:1-14 Jesus appears at the Sea of Tiberias
John 21:15-19 Jesus commissions Peter to shepherd
John 21:20-25 John bears witness to the gospel
John refers to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." He writes with simplicity in the original Greek, which makes this Gospel a good book for new believers. However, below the surface of John's writing are layers of rich and profound theology.
Circa 85-90 A.D. John wrote the Gospel sometime after 70 A.D. and the destruction of Jerusalem, but prior to his exile on the island of Patmos. It was most likely written from Ephesus. Settings in the book include Bethany, Galilee, Capernaum, Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria.
The predominant theme in the book of John is the revelation of God to man through his living illustration—Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. The opening verses beautifully describe Jesus as the Word. He is God revealed to man—the expression of God—so that we might see him and believe. Through this Gospel we witness the everlasting power and nature of the Creator God, offering eternal life to us through his Son, Jesus Christ. In every chapter, Christ's deity is unveiled. The eight miracles recorded by John reveal his divine power and love. They are signs that inspire us to trust and believe in him.
The Holy Spirit is a theme in John's Gospel as well. We are drawn to faith in Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit; our belief is established through the indwelling, guiding, counseling, comforting presence of the Holy Spirit; and through the power of the Holy Spirit in us, the life of Christ is multiplied to others who believe.
The Gospel of John was written to prove that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. As an eyewitness to the love and power displayed in the miracles of Jesus, John gives us an up-close and personal look at Christ's identity. He shows us that Jesus, though fully God, came in the flesh to distinctly and accurately reveal God, and that Christ is the source of eternal life to all who believe in him.
John's gospel is different from the other three in the New Testament. That fact has been recognized since the early church itself. Already by the year 200, John's gospel was called the spiritual gospel precisely because it told the story of Jesus in symbolic ways that differ sharply at times from the other three. For example, Jesus dies on a different day in John's gospel than in Matthew, Mark and Luke.... Whereas in the three synoptic gospels Jesus actually eats a passover meal before he dies, in John's gospel he doesn't. The last supper is actually eaten before the beginning of passover. So that the sequence of events leading up to the actual crucifixion are very different for John's gospel. And one has to look at it in say, why is the story so different? How do we account for these differences in terms of the way the story-telling developed? And the answer becomes fairly clear when we realize that Jesus has had the last supper a day before so that he's hanging on the cross during the day of preparation before the beginning of Passover.
So here's the scene in John's gospel: on the day leading up to Passover, and Passover will commence at 6 o'clock with the evening meal, on the day leading up to that Passover meal is the day when all the lambs are slaughtered and everyone goes to the temple to get their lamb for the passover meal. In Jerusalem this would have meant thousands of lambs being slaughtered all at one time. And in John's gospel that's the day on which Jesus is crucified. So that quite literally the dramatic scene in John's gospel has Jesus hanging on the cross while the lambs are being slaughtered for passover. John's gospel is forcing us, dramatically at least, through the storytelling mode, to think of Jesus as a passover lamb. Jesus doesn't eat a passover meal, Jesus is the passover meal, at least within the Christian mind in the way that John tells the story.
Now this theme of the Lamb of God, the Passover symbolism, actually is shot through the entirety of John's gospel. From the very first scene of John's gospel when Jesus enters the story for the first time, he does so by coming to John the Baptist to be baptized. And when Jesus enters, John sees him coming and looks and says, "Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." So the whole story is now bracketed by this one motif, the Lamb of God. And of course that's the kind of symbolism that would eventually become one of the most profound and dominant in all of Christian theological tradition. Later on we will find just that one image a lamb showing up in all kinds of Christian art from the catacombs to the great mosaics at Ravenna because in just that small little capsule form we have a whole theological tradition wrapped up. It's a theological statement about the significance of the death of Jesus.
The symbolism of John's gospel while it is probably the most evocative of any in the New Testament, is also provocative. The language of John's gospel is intentionally antagonistic at times toward Jewish tradition and toward Jewish sensitivities. The idea of the Passover of course is very Jewish but John tends to turn some of those ideas in a much sharper way against Jewish tradition. At one point in John 6 Jesus says, "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you will have no life in you." But the idea of drinking blood is absolutely abhorrent to Jewish dietary regulations. So the very language and the symbolism that is so rich within John's gospel also has a decidedly political tone to it in terms of the evolving relationship between Jews and Christians. John's gospel is witness to a Christianity that's moving farther and father away from Jewish tradition. And in fact it's seeing Jewish tradition often as actually hostile to the Christian movement.
Introduction
John 1:1-18 the Eternal Word becomes flesh
John 1:19-28 the witness of John the Baptist
John 1:29-34 the Lamb of God
John 1:35-42 the first disciples of Jesus
John 1:43-51 skeptical Nathaniel becomes a disciple
John 2:1-12 Jesus makes water into wine at Cana wedding feast
John 2:13-25 Jesus at Passover cleanses the temple
John 3:1-7 Nicodemus, a secret disciple of Jesus
John 3:7-15 "You must be born anew"
John 3:16-21 God's love and judgment
John 3:22-30 the final witness of John the Baptist
John 3:31-36 the One sent from heaven
John 4:1-42 Jesus offers the Samaritan woman living water
John 4:43-54 Jesus heals son of official at Capernaum
John 5:1-16 Jesus heals lame man at pool of Bethzatha
John 5:17-30 Jesus' first discourse on Father-Son relationship
John 5:31-47 Jesus answers the chages of his opponents
John 6:1-15 Jesus feeds 5000 by multiplying five loaves & two fish
John 6:16-21 Jesus walks on the Sea of Galilee to the disciples' boat
John 6:22-29 the crowds at Galilee seek out Jesus
John 6:30-35 Galileans want a sign from Jesus
John 6:35-40 Jesus offers himself as the "bread of life"
John 6:41-51 Galileans upset with Jesus' teaching on "bread of life"
John 6:52-59 Jesus' radical teaching in Capernaum synagogue
John 6:60-69 Jesus challenges disciples to believe his teaching
John 7:1-30 Jesus' confronted on Feast of Tabernacles
John 7:31-39 Jesus offers "rivers of living water" to those who thirst
John 7:40-53 reactions to Jesus
John 8:1-11 woman caught in adultery
John 8:12-20 Jesus' claim to be "the light of the world"
John 8:21-30 fatal imcomprehension
John 8:31-42 true discipleship, freedom and slavery
John 8:43-50 children of the devil
John 8:51-59 Jesus is greater than Abraham
John 9:1-41 Jesus heals the blind man at Pool of Siloam
John 10:1-10 Jesus' parable of the shepherd and the thieves
John 10:11-21Jesus the Good Shepherd
John 10:22-30 Jesus claims equality with the Father
John 10:31-42 Jesus answers charge of blasphemy
John 11:1-44 Jesus raises Lazarus from the tomb
John 11:45-57 chief priests take counsel to arrest Jesus
John 12:1-11 Mary anoints Jesus at Bethany
John 12:12-19 Jesus enters Jerusalem as Messianic King
John 12:20-26 the coming of Jesus' hour
John 12:27-43 the voice from heaven
John 12:44-50 Jesus came to save the world
John 13:1-17 Jesus washes his disciples feet
John 13:18-20 Jesus foretells his betrayal
John 13:21-30 betrayal and faltering loyalty
John 13:31-38 Jesus' farewell command
John 14:1-20 Jesus' last summer discourse: way to glory
John 14:21-22 last supper discourse: way to fellowship
John 14:23-26 last suppr discourse: way to fellowship
John 14:27-31 last supper discourse: promise of Holy Spirit
John 15:1-8 parable of the vine and branches
John 15:9-11 last supper discourse: abiding in love
John 15:12-17 Jesus' commandment of love
John 15:18-25 Jesus' discour on hatred of the world
John 15:26-16:4 the Counselor will bear witness to Jesus
John 16:5-11 the worl of the Holy Spirit
John 16:12-22 the Spirit of truth
John 16:23-28 direct access to the Father
John 16:29-33 Jesus has overcome the world
John 17:1-11 Jesus' high priestly prayer
John 17:12-19 "may they be consecrated in truth"
John 17:20-26 "may they be perfectly one"
John 18:1-11 Jesus' arrest in the Garden
John 18:12-27 Jesus' trial and Peter's denial
John 18:28-40 Jesus before Pilate
John 19:1-16 Jesus scourged & condemned
John 19:17-22 Jesus bears his cross to Golgatha
John 19:23-27 The gamblers and the women at the cross
John 19:28-30 Jesus dies on the cross
John 19:31-37 Jesus' pierced side
John 19:38-42 Jesus' burial
John 20:1-10 the empty tomb
John 20:11-18 Jesus appears to Mary Magdalen
John 20:19-31 Jesus appears to the disciples
John 21:1-14 Jesus appears at the Sea of Tiberias
John 21:15-19 Jesus commissions Peter to shepherd
John 21:20-25 John bears witness to the gospel
