Introducing the Gospel of John

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Introducing the Gospel of John

Typically known as the Fourth Gospel, the Gospel of John is not synoptic. It does not fit neatly alongside Mark, Matthew and Luke, sharing a common picture of Jesus and his ministry. Instead it offers a more developed portrait of both Jesus and the early Christian community, reflecting the way in which the Church had grown since the death of Jesus and the writing of the Synoptic Gospels.

It is a later gospel — conceivably written towards the end of the first century, maybe even later, long after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE and after the parting of the ways between those Jews who had accepted Jesus as Messiah and those who had not. The Fourth Gospel helps those who had been expelled from the synagogue to justify the decision they had made, offering them the hope of a realised eschatology (the things of the end available in the present) and membership of a community founded on reliable testimony to the person of Jesus.

The Fourth Gospel begins with the famous Prologue (1:1–18), the Christmas Day gospel reading, which presents the incarnation of God as the word made flesh, and introduces many of the gospel’s key themes. Some of the important events — notably the cleaning of the Temple (2:13ff) and the Last Supper (13:1ff) — are in chronologically different places to the Synoptics, and this is no accident. Rather, it clearly reveals the evangelist’s careful theological approach and shows how Jesus challenges and replaces the great themes of Judaism’s covenant relationship with God.

Signs

The author of the Fourth Gospel uses the word semeia or ‘signs’ to describe the miracles of Jesus. This is different from the word dunameis or ‘act of power/mighty work’, which is the term used in the Synoptic Gospels. It would seem that the author’s reason for doing this is to emphasise that it is not so much the actual event which is important, but instead the meaning or significance behind it. In this sense, the ‘sign’ points beyond itself to highlight a spiritual truth.

Moreover, when Jesus himself speaks of the miracles, he uses the word erga (‘works’). This term is used in the Old Testament to mean God’s works, particularly creation and God’s saving power with his people. Thus, in the Fourth Gospel Jesus links God’s work in the past with his own in the present: God’s power continues in him. This is highlighted in 5:36: ‘For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me.’

‘I am’

Closely allied with the signs are the ‘I am’ sayings. Jesus uses the phrase ‘I am’ (Greek ego eimi) 26 times in the gospel. It seems to be a phrase used deliberately and possessing great significance, which echoes the divine word of self-revelation from God himself: ‘God said to Moses, “I am who I am”’ (Exodus 3:14). Similar uses occur in Deuteronomy 32:39 and Isaiah 43:10 to show the different perspectives of God — for example, as healer (Exodus 15:26) and the bringer of salvation (Psalm 35:3). Although Jesus uses the form ‘I am’ without predicates — for example, ‘Then you will know that I am’ — the seven predicated ‘I am’ sayings in the gospel are key Christological sayings which express many elements of his person.

Women

A distinctive feature of the Fourth Gospel and its teaching on discipleship in particular is its presentation of women. C. K. Barrett (1975) argues that ‘John intended to bind the church to apostolic witness, but in other respects leave it free’. Thus, he can give women disciples a position comparable with that of the Twelve, and he chooses five female characters to present this important development: Jesus’ mother (unnamed), the Samaritan Woman, Martha and Mary (the sisters of Lazarus), and Mary Magdalene. Alongside these key figures, the evangelist introduces the character of the Beloved Disciple, an otherwise nameless symbol of the ideal disciple, traditionally identified as John the Apostle, son of Zebedee, but who certainly need not necessarily be so. Whatever his identity, he is clearly highly regarded as a reliable authority by the authors and sources of the Fourth Gospel (21:24).

Jesus’ last 48 hours

The Fourth Gospel also tackles the last 48 hours of Jesus’ life differently. The symbolism of sharing of the Passover meal is replaced by Jesus washing the disciples’ feet and the Farewell Discourses in which Jesus prepares the disciples for the coming of the Paraclete (the Holy Spirit) and for the life of discipleship ahead. The catalyst for the death of Jesus is the raising of Lazarus, rather than the cleaning of the Temple, and events take place 24 hours earlier than is suggested by the Synoptic Gospels. The tension between the Jewish authorities and the rule of Rome is clearly conveyed by the psychological pressure which Pilate faces to condemn Jesus to death, but at all times Jesus remains in control of his destiny, carrying his own cross and facing down Pilate with an inscrutable exchange of questions and answers.

The Resurrection

The Resurrection is sometimes thought to be an anticlimax after the triumph of the cross, but the Fourth Gospel includes some unusual elements: the appearance to Mary Magdalene and Jesus’ commission to her to tell the male disciples of his resurrection; the appearance to the sceptical Thomas; the epilogue featuring the miraculous catch of fish and the commissioning of Peter. The ending of the gospel is possibly the most well-crafted of them all, and although scholars deem it unlikely to have been an original part of the gospel, it sums up the mystical character of the gospel, removed as it is from the quotidian:

‘Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them was written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.’

21:25