Overview of the New Testament – Part 2
The Writings of John: The Gospel of John
A. Authorship
1. As far back as it can be determined, the author is John, the son of Zebedee, one of the twelve apostles. He would have been:
a. a Palestinian Jew
b. an eyewitness
c. the disciple whom Jesus loved
d. the son of Zebedee
2. That he was a Jew is clear from the intricate knowledge he had of the Jewish law and legal interpretations discussed in John. His phrase “the Jews”, probably refers to “unbelieving Jews”, not Nazarenes, or Jewish Christians.
3. That he was an eyewitness is testified in 21:24
4. That he was from Palestine can be supported by recent discoveries of the Qumran community just north-west of the Dead Sea. This community had a very similar world view as the gospel writer.
a. They see the universe in contrasts: light/dark, good/evil, truth/lies
b. The gospel writer takes these to the level of eternal truth, not simple abstractions: Jesus is the truth and the light—the incarnation of the divine eternal Word of God.
c. The writer wants to take us beyond just a physical time and place to “eternal truth” embodied in Jesus. It is more than just a statement about a historical Jesus. The Gospel of John is about eternal truth.
5. The earliest fragment of New Testament writings come from the gospel of John (John 18)
a. Early collection of all the gospels was beginning of the third century, probably the property of the Greek speaking church in Egypt
b. Most of the time, the gospels circulated “together”, not separately.
6. Gospel quoted by second century Christian writers as early as 120 CE. Already writers were expounding upon the symbolism contained in this gospel. For example
a. John 1:9 “The true light coming into the world”, being a commentary on “let there be light” (Genesis 1:3)
b. Commentary on Jesus becoming ‘flesh”.
Overview of the New Testament – Part 2
Gospel of John: Part 1, page 2
B. Understanding the Gentile / Jewish conflict in the early church
1. National, cultural, and religious tensions in First Century: Romans and the Jewish people: destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.
2. Intense conflict between Jewish Sanhedrin and Nazarenes (Jewish Christians). The Sanhedrin, was reconstructed after the 70 CE with Roman permission and was composed principally of the doctors of Jewish law. These did not accept Christ, and enacted the following against Jewish Christians:
a. Reworded the blessings recited in the synagogues to make it impossible for Nazarenes to take part in synagogue worship
b. Enacted bans on Nazarenes to keep them out of the synagogue.
3. In the Gospel of John, written probably late in the first century, we have a poignant reflection of this conflict
a. Story of the man born blind in John chapter 9: reference to being “put out of the synagogue” (9:22)
b. Reference to the ministry of Jesus where there is mention of leaders being afraid to put their faith in Christ for fear of being “put out of the synagogue” (12:42/43).
c. Frequent references to Jewish leaders being spiritually “blind” or “not understanding” (Nicodemus, John 3, Leaders in John 8, for example).
C. Roman persecution of Christians
1. During the latter first century, persecution was intense
2. During times of persecution and wars, writings of that period were often couched in figurative language (or was “coded”) to protect the writer and recipients. For example Rome was referred to figuratively as Babylon (see for example I Peter 5:13).
3. Those who were the “insiders” had the “key” so to speak, of the code and were able to understand the meaning, whereas an outsider could not, as easily.
D. The Gospel was Written so that people might believe and have life (John 20:31). Why was this particularly necessary at this point in time? Key: The Gnostic problem developing in the first century
1. Gnostic type ideas:
a. One was spiritual through “special knowledge”, and this did not require any behavioral change or manifestation
b. Good / evil, flesh / spirit, could not “co-exist” together
2. The gospel and the letters of John were written to address this emerging ideology.
Overview of the New Testament – Part 2
Gospel of John: Part 1, page 3
a. Jesus did come in the flesh. He was both human and divine. Jesus was fully divine.
b. Real faith and love demonstrate themselves in deeds. Love is action, not simply talk or philosophy.
c. False teaching centers in the denial that Jesus did not come in the flesh, and that he was not the Son of God.
3. The Gospel of John makes key points through its composition and special linguistic features
a. Does not use the same chronology as the synoptic gospels
b. Emphasizes personal contact and interaction with Jesus
c. Heavy use of imagery and symbols to convey key points
d. Shows the interaction of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit
1. Logos or (Word): that which embodies all that can be said or asserted about something. In John, the equation of Christ as the full divine incarnation of God
2. The Logos:
a. was God
b. was with God in the beginning
c. through him all things were made
d. without him nothing was made that has been made
e. in him was life (zoe, spiritual life)
f. that life was the light of men
g. the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness didn’t understand it
h. the light was in the world, but not recognized
i. to all those who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
j. children born of God
k. the Word became flesh and lived for a while among us
Overview of the New Testament – Part 2
Gospel of John: Part 1, page 4
1. “I AM” (Yahweh, from Exodus 3:14 – the Hebrew name for God)
a. Meaning is “I am who I am, I will be who I will be”
b. Timeless statement of the existence of the divine
c. Holy name for God, not fully written out or spoken by Jewish people.
- designated as the Jewish “tetragramaton” (four letters) YHWH
- to be spoken as “Adonai”
- In English Bibles often denoted as LORD (in all small caps)
2. “I AM” statements of Jesus portray his divinity as Yahweh.
a. This is to clearly make the link between YHWH as recorded in the Old Testament scriptures and the person of Jesus Christ. That the Word did become flesh.
b. The I AM statements of Jesus are descriptive of the divine nature and character.
c. Jesus came to “show us the father”. “If you have seen me, you have seen the father” (John 14:9-11)
3. Seven statements of Jesus:
a. I AM the bread of life (John 6:35)
b. I AM the light of the world (John 8:12)
c. I AM the good shepherd (John 10:14)
d. I AM the gate (John 10:11)
e. I AM the resurrection (John 11:25)
f. I AM the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6)
g. I AM the true vine (John 15:1)