John
Believing in Jesus, the Son Sent from the Father
Central Teaching
God the Father sent the Son into the world to give eternal life to those who believe in him.
Memory Verses
Setting
Early church tradition points to John, the son of Zebedee and one of the Twelve, as the author of this Gospel. John refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (13:23). He was an eyewitness of the life and ministry of Jesus and, along with Peter and James, was part of Jesus’s inner circle.
John writes from Ephesus at a time when the church was facing increasing opposition from Judaism. The phrase “the Jews” occurs more than seventy times in John’s Gospel to describe Jesus’s opponents. Many scholars believe that John is writing in the late first century (from the mid-60s to mid-90s), primarily for Christians who had pulled away from the Jewish synagogue. Along with encouraging them to continue trusting Jesus in the midst of difficult circumstances, he also writes to call others to faith in Christ.
Traditional tomb of Lazarus in Bethany
Message
About 90 percent of John’s Gospel is not found in Matthew, Mark, or Luke. John’s language is plain but his meaning is profound. The church father Augustine is often quoted as saying that “the Gospel of John is deep enough for an elephant to swim and shallow enough for a child not to drown.” While the book of John is often given to children and new converts, scholars continue to wrestle with its theological message.
John states his purpose in 20:31: “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” The Gospel opens by identifying Jesus as the Word who was with God and was God but has now become a human being to bring us life (John 1:1–18). The central section of the Gospel is divided into two books: the Book of Signs (1:19–12:50) features seven miracles that identify Jesus and call people to faith, while the Book of Glory (13:1–20:31) focuses on the last week of Jesus’s life, his glorification. The epilogue (21:1–25) describes Jesus’s appearances to his disciples after the resurrection, his restoration of Peter, and a word about the author of the Gospel.
Outline
A sheepfold made out of stone
Interesting Features
- The Gospel of John includes seven “I am” sayings and at least six (and likely seven) miracles or signs that point to Jesus as the unique Son of God.
- Almost half of this Gospel (13–21) deals with the last week of Jesus’s life—the week of his passion.
- Eternal life is both a present reality and a future hope.
- Many of Jesus’s teachings occur in the form of lengthy conversations (e.g., with Nicodemus in John 3), heated debates (e.g., with Jews in John 7), and private teaching (e.g., his farewell discourse in John 13–17).
Jesus declares, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener” (John 15:1).
Connections
John’s pattern of deep substance in plain words challenges us to avoid both overly technical Christian terminology and superficial, religious foolishness when communicating the story of Jesus. John also calls us to a correct understanding of Jesus Christ as the fully divine and fully human revelation of the Father; he is God incarnate. When we get confused about God, we need to look again at Jesus as revealed in the Gospels. John helps us see that eternal life is defined as knowing God relationally through Jesus Christ, which means that believing in Jesus is much more than intellectual assent (17:3). True belief includes wholehearted discipleship.