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Understanding the gospel of john
Essay on the gospel of john
Essay on the gospel of john
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Recommended: Understanding the gospel of john
The gospel of John was recorded after the gospels of Matthew, Luke, and Mark (Jensen p. 175). The advanced nature of John’s gospel verifies that the other three gospels had already been written, and time had elapsed between the other three gospels and John’s gospel (Jensen, p. 178). John’s gospel was written around A.D. 85 with universal application (Jensen, p. 178). Further, John wrote his gospel in Ephesus where he was ministering (Jensen, p. 178).
Even though John was in Ephesus, among Jews, he knew that his message was to be directed to the world at large; as a result, he translated Hebrew and Aramaic words so that the church would understand the meaning of the message with simplicity (Jensen, p. 179). John explained that that his gospel
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are the origin of nearly everything the Christian Church teaches about Jesus. The Gospels, in turn, serve as the scale or test of truth and authenticity of everything the church teaches about Jesus. It is said that the Gospels are the link between Jesus of Nazareth and the people of every age throughout history who have claimed to be his followers. Although the Gospels teach us about Jesus’ life they may not provide concrete evidence that what they speak of is true there are several other sources.
The Gospel of John, the last of the four gospels in the Bible, is a radical departure from the simple style of the synoptic gospels. It is the only one that does not use parables as a way of showing how Jesus taught, and is the only account of several events, including the raising of Lazarus and Jesus turning water into wine. While essentially the gospel is written anonymously, many scholars believe that it was written by the apostle John sometime between the years 85 and 95 CE in Ephesus. The basic story is that of a testimonial of one of the Apostles and his version of Jesus' ministry. It begins by telling of the divine origins of the birth of Jesus, then goes on to prove that He is the Son of God because of the miracles he performs and finally describes Jesus' death and resurrection.
The study of the Gospel of John can be viewed as distinct and separate from the study of any of the previous three synoptic gospels. The Fourth Gospel contains language and conceptions so distinct from the synoptics that scholars are often faced with the question of its historical origins. Originally, scholars believed the main source for the Gospel of John to be Jewish wisdom literature, Philo, the Hermetic books and the Mandaean writings, leading to the idea that John was the most Greek of the Gospels. However, with the discovery of the scrolls, scholars were now faced with source materials, remarkably similar to the concepts and language found in John, illuminating the literature as not only Jewish but Palestinian in origin. The discovery of the manuscripts opened up an entirely new interpretation of the gospel of John and a progressive understanding of its proper place within biblical scripture.
While both the Gospel of Matthew and John tell of the global reordering plan for the world, each does so in a unique way. The Gospel of Matthew is able to show the reordering of the world by focusing on the aspect of Jesus as a teacher and the results of this; while the Gospel of John shows the reordering occurring as God works through Jesus showing signs to the people of who he is, focusing on the belief this brings to people. “But all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God” (John 1:12). Through this verse, we see the reordering in effect, as all who receive him and believe in him have the power to become children of God.
One of the main characteristics of the gospel of Mark is it’s length. Mark is much shorter than Matthew and Luke, but what it lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality. The author of Mark does not slow down the gospel story and makes sure that only important and relevant details are included. When Mark is compared with Matthew and Luke, it becomes obvious to see what Mark has eliminated. The author’s omission of Jesus’ birth, lineage, resurrection, and ascension denote careful planning and purpose in the gospel of Mark.
Mark’s gospel and John’s gospel contain many differences from the beginning, but both end with Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. The gospels of John and Mark represent Jesus as two different people. The disparity is that Mark represents Jesus as a servant while John portrays Jesus as a divine being. However, one must realize the two texts are meant to read by different audiences during different time periods. Each description presents a particular aspect of the life of Historical Jesus.
Based on the text, the Gospel of John was mainly set in Judea and Galilee. The setting of the text is stated throughout John, and it gives context to the type of people that Jesus was preaching to at any particular point in the text. This can also show a purpose as to why the author of John wrote their gospel the way they did. D. A. Carson states in part that traditionally, the purpose of the fourth gospel “revolved around the location of the Johannine community” and had to do with the “trajectories of developing Christianity” (Carson 1987). This would make sense given the fact that the Johannine community was focused on the teachings of Jesus, and thus the Gospel of John would fit nicely into that mold. However, Carson goes on to
Before making some discussions on the gospel we believed to be written by the disciple who loved by Jesus (John 13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7) it is good to see the purpose of this gospel. The purpose of the gospel of John seems summarized in two verses “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, who are not recorded in this book. 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.” (John 20:30-31, NIV).
It is from the differences between the Gospel of John and the Gospel of Matthew that one can understand why the Gospel of John is not included in the Synoptic gospels. While there are many similarities between them, there are also numerous differences as well.
John was one of the first twelve disciples of Jesus and therefore an eye-witness (John 19:35); John brings out the spiritual significance as well as recording the practical aspects of Jesus' works and words. John lived to be older than any of the other writers. It is therefore likely that he was familiar with their accounts and wanted to supplement theirs with additional teaching and miracles by Jesus which had a bearing on the situation towards the end of the first century AD.
The four gospels are detailed accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. Each portrays a unique story and angle of Jesus, who is the savior of the Jews and the world. Apostle Matthew’s writings are to prove to the Jews that Jesus is their Messiah. Mark stressed the humanity of Jesus and also his deity. Luke wanted to show that the gentile Christian in God’s kingdom is based on the teachings of Jesus. John speaks of Jesus as one sent from God to reveal His love and grace to man. The four gospels work together to elaborate on the several key themes; salvation, spreading His word, and the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise.
The New Testament teaches about who Jesus is and what he did on the earth. John wrote the last of the four gospels which recount Jesus’ life and what is to come. The gospel of John is somewhat different from the other three gospels, in that it is more symbolic and less concrete. For example, John expresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb when Matthew, Mark, and Luke do not. This gospel is showing that Christianity is moving away from the long-practiced Jewish traditions. John’s gospel can be laid out into four parts: the prologue or the incarnate word, signs of the Messiah with teachings about life in him, the farewell teaching and the passion narrative, and the epilogue or the roles of Peter and of the disciple whom Jesus loved. The Gospel of John is arguably the most
Talbert, Charles H. Reading John : A Literary and Theological Commentary on the Fourth Gospel and the Johannine Epistles. Macon, Ga: Smyth & Helwys Pub, 2005. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed April 27, 2014).
, Griesbach argued that Luke was second and Mark was third in the writing of the Gospels (KKQ, 165). The Two-Gospel Hypothesis or Theory is support by several factors. Early churches unanimously supports that Matthew’s Gospel was first due to the fact that it’s
The passage from the Gospel of John spanning from 7:53 to 8:11 tells the story of a woman caught in adultery brought in front of Jesus. With an ulterior motive, the scribes and Pharisees that bring the adulteress in front of Jesus demand his verdict on whether she should be stoned to death according to the Law of Moses. The passage in itself has been the center of controversy among scholars and theologians on whether it is authoritative enough to be part of the original manuscripts. Some believe that its literary characteristics make its authority too weak to be regarded as part of the original texts (Harrison, 431). However, the message within the passage itself is hard to ignore or even be considered as something that was made up.