The Gospel of John which is also my favorite gospel is written for the gentile Christians who during this time are faced with heavy opposition and persecution for Judaizers, Gnostics, false prophets, other heretics that sought to discredit Jesus as the Messiah. John goes right to the heart of the issue and declares Jesus to be the Son of God and who is in fact God. It has been noted that the Gospel of John is in a class of its own and is meant for every man, woman, and child of every ethnicity.
Unlike the other gospels, Jesus is portrayed as deity; the Word became flesh and dwelled among men. The Synoptics cannot compare with the Gospel of John when it comes to the incarnation. Opposite of Mark’s fast paced account of the events of Jesus;
John as we know today was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. He was also the brother of James, who was also an apostle. John was the son of Zeebee and of Salome. His father was a fisherman while living in Bethsaida in Galilee on the border of the lake Gennesareth. John's mother was one of many women who gave to the maintenance of Jesus Christ. John's parents were very good people, they loved God and his son. It is said that john and his brother James were fishing when Jesus came and chose them. They were soon known as the fishers of men. The John of whom I am talking about is John the Evangelist.
It is also interesting to note that even though John makes it very clear that the author is Jewish, the Gospel is written primarily for a Greek audience. Because of his knowledge of the Old Testament, which he continually quotes, his understanding of Jewish ritual and culture and he knew and understood the prophesy of the coming Messiah, there is no doubt that either John was Jewish himself or he studied Judaism very well. However, the lack of concern for proving the prophecies set down in the Book of Isaiah supports evidence that this was not a testimony to a Jewish audience. Throughout the gospel, Jesus is shown as being both fully God and fully human, a concept that is more synonymous with Greek culture. Also, the very beginning of John states that Jesus was with God
The Gospels of the New Testament are “ancient biographies focused primarily on an individual’s character. Biographers told their audiences about events they thought would present the person’s character effectively.” These biographies focused on the “circumstances of the individual’s birth, what other’s said about him or her, and the person’s own actions and statements.” The Gospels complement one another as they present four different aspects of Jesus’ earthly mission.
It appears that Jesus's baptism had no purpose at all. Jesus was sinless and pure. John the Baptist was surprised to see Jesus come to him. John the Baptist knew he was a sinner, and asked Jesus to baptize him because someone like himself was not worthy to baptize Jesus. "I need to be baptized by you and you come to me?" (Matthew 3:14) Jesus replied that it was to be done because “it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).
John has helped to form a lot of what modern day Christians now believe. I don't know where we would be without the Gospel of John, no matter how different and unique from the Synoptics. John is very different from the Synoptic Gospels. In our text, it actually says, “John differs from the three canonical Gospels so dramatically that they are called Synoptic Gospels ('Seeing alike'), whereas John is unique.” (Works Cited 4).
John the Baptist has the privilege of baptizing Jesus therefore he plays an important role in not only the Gospel of Mark, but in Jesus’ life. John proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:7-8) This baptism was showing that we need to “repent for the forgiveness of our sins.” (Mark 1:4) John is aware of how mighty Jesus is, and knows that he is the coming of God, the man of all creation. John baptized Him in the Jordan, where afterwards Jesus “saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him.” (Mark 1:10) Evidently, Jesus being baptized
John or The Gospel of John is classified as a narrative genre. The Gospel was written between 70 and 100 A.D. (Hindson & Town, 2013; Smith, 2002). The authors is thought to be John, son of Zebedee. There is only one reference to the author “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (21:20-24). The theme of John for Christ’s divine identity is conveyed through the seven metaphors. It tells of Jesus speaking of his Divine identity as the “bread of life” (6:35), “the light of the world” (8:12), “the door of the sheep” (10:7), “the good shepherd” (10:11), “the resurrection and the life” (11:25), “the way, the truth, and the life” (14:6), and “the true vine” (15:1). The gospel was written to express the truth that “you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God” (20:31). The book talks of many events, a few of the major ones would be the feeding of the
The Gospel of John is different from the Synoptic Gospels in part because of the lack of parables. This particular selection is similar to Jesus teaching in parables
Here are the three insights that I discovered when reading our textbook and the book of John. My first insight:
The body of Scripture within John’s Gospel is known as a “spiritual Gospel” has moved countless hearts and had a profound impact bringing many closer to Christ. There is a separation between history and theology. The “spiritual” gospel is taken as nonhistorical, however, through his narrative the evangelist uses eyewitness language to testify to these events making John grounded firmly in actual historical events. For example, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory . . .” With this separation between history and theology, the strong criticisms of John’s historical reliability has moved the book closer to myth and legend.
The Gospel according to John initiates with the beginning of time. Through descriptions of the beginning of time, Jesus is described as the word, the light, and the son. Later in the gospel John the Baptist is sent from God and he is by Levites and priest who he was, John emphasized the fact that he was neither the Messiah nor a prophet, but rather he was sent to announce the coming of The Lord. The next day, Jesus came to John and was baptized. While John baptized Jesus he noticed the Spirit come down on Jesus and remain, therefore concluding that Jesus was the Son of God.
The gospel of John does not follow the same line of the synoptic gospels, some people can say that this is something that runs against the apostle John’s account or we can see the gospel of John as a real complement for the synoptic and for the narrative of the Lord Jesus.
Köstenberger and colleagues agree stating the major motifs of John’s gospel as, “signs, belief, (eternal) life, and the identity of Jesus as Messiah and Son of God.” His desire to correct the false teaching that Jesus not the son of God thus denying his messiahship would inspire John to speak truth in love, something
The gospel of john appeared to contain a mystical undertone to those individuals who grasp the Synoptic Gospels. It holds the mysteries, usually written as illustrations which helps the reader understand whom the creator is. The creator is the Godhead. Jesus, the Son, which is the second person, enlightens man’s understanding of the third person which is the Holy Spirit.
The Gospel of John differs in many key areas to the Synoptics,and I will address some differing lines of thought.