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    John's Gospel

John's Gospel

1. Characteristics

1. The Place of the Old Testament.
   So much emphasis has been placed on Hellenistic influences on John's gospel that the part played by Old testament ideas has not always been fully realized. There is much which bears on Jewish history. The gospel shows that Jesus was a part of that history, and that the Jews, in rejecting Christ, were rejecting the One who belonged to them (1:11). When he came to the Temple, he claimed a rightful authority over it (2:16). He charged his hearers with searching Scripture and yet not recognizing that it testified to him (5:39). He maintained that those who believed Moses would believe him (5:45f), implying that there was a clear continuity between them. As in Matthew the entry into Jerusalem on a donkey is viewed as a fulfillment of Old testament prophecy (12:14), while the unbelief of the Jews is illustrated from Isaiah (12:38-39). John alone records that at the crucifixion Jesus' legs were not broken, as a fulfillment of Scripture, and in this case the inviolability of Scripture is stressed. In John's gospel Jesus many times refers to Old testament figures, particularly Abraham. Appeal to Abrahamic descent forms the theme of the dialogue in chapter 8, reaching its climax in the claim that Abraham saw Christ's day (8:56). Nothing could express more clearly that there was a direct continuity between the Old and the New.

2. Teaching on the Spirit.
   There is more of the Lord's teaching about the Spirit in John's gospel than in any other. In the Nicodemus discourse, the work of the Spirit in regeneration is clearly brought out (chap 3). Jesus insists on the spiritual nature of God (4:24), which requires a spiritual method of worship. This was a definite advance on the limited conception of Judaism. The Spirit of God was promised after the glorification of Jesus (7:39), when he would come as streams of refreshing water on those who believe in Christ. It is in the farewell discourses (14 - 16) that the fullest exposition of the Spirit's work is found. His names, Paraclete and Spirit of Truth, reveal his character, the former meaning Counselor or Advocate or Comforter. 14:16-17 shows him as representative of Christ indwelling the believer. In 14:26 Jesus assures his disciples that the Holy Spirit will teach all things, recalling to their minds what Jesus had said. He will be a witness to Christ, which is to be his main function (15:26; 16:14). He is the one who will convince the world of sin, righteousness and judgment (16:8-11) and who will guide his own people into all truth (16:13). It is evident that on the eve of his death Jesus' thoughts were much concentrated on the Spirit's work, but John's gospel alone focuses attention upon this.

3. Prevalence of Great Themes.
   Unlike the teaching in the synoptics, the teaching in John tends to present abstract themes such as light, life, love, truth, abiding, which recur at intervals throughout the book. Some of these occur in the Prologue (1:1-18) which may be regarded as introductory to the whole, giving some indication of the type of themes to be presented in the following discourses.

4. Comparative Lack of Movement.
   It is often noted that John's record tends to be static, although this is largely due to the amount of discourse material he presents. The proportion of narrative to discourse is much less in this gospel than in the synoptics. John seems not concerned in movements but rather concentrates on their significance. This characteristic of John's Gospel emphasizes the weakness of attempting to regard the book as in any sense biographical. This absorbing interest in discourse material gives a particular coloring to the gospel as a whole.

5. The Portrait of Jesus.
   The title Son of man is less frequent in John than the other gospels, although where it does occur it is significant (eg: 1:51; 3:13-14). More often the title Son of God is used, or else the unqualified "Son". There is much stress on the filial relationship of Jesus to God and its significance for his relationship to believers. More on the inner consciousness of Jesus is revealed in this gospel than in the others and this reaches its climax in chapter 17, where he prays aloud. It is this special portrait of Jesus which is deeply impressive and makes the reader realize that the Person of Christ is beyond comprehension in its depths. Itis easier to trace the messianic idea in John than in the other three gospels. Right from its commencement Christ's Messianic office is recognized by some of his disciples (1:41). At an early stage it is also recognized by the Samaritan woman following a direct claim by Jesus that he is the Messiah (chap 4). Perhaps the most characteristic feature in John's gospel regarding the Person of Christ is the Logos doctrine which serves as an introduction to his gospel. It is evident that the Jesus to be presented in the body of the gospel is first portrayed as not only pre-existent but as possessing the nature of God himself.

2. Authorship

1. Personal allusions in the Gospel.
   In the Prologue of the gospel the author states "We have seen his glory" (1:14) and it is natural to suppose that this is an indication of eyewitnesses among whom the author is himself included. This interpretation is conformed by 1 John 1:1-4 where the first person plural performs a similar function. In 19:35 the author writes, "The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true". The immediate context is the piercing of the Lord's side. The remaining passage is 21:24-25, which states, "This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true".

2. Palestinian Background.

   1. Knowledge of the Jewish Customs.
      Several times in the course of the gospel, the writer displays accurate and detailed knowledge of Jewish life in the period before the fall of Jerusalem. He knows about Jewish ritual scruples, as is palin from 2:6 (purification rites); 7:37; 8:12 (libation and illumination ritual at the feast of Tabernacles), and 18:28; 19:31-42 (pollution regulations regarding the Passover). He mentions several Jewish feasts and is acquainted with specific Jewish doctrines, as for instance, the inferiority of women (4:27), the laws concerning the Sabbath (5:10; 7:21-23; 9:14ff), and the ideas of hereditary sin (9:2).

   2. Knowledge of Jewish History.
      The author possessed detailed knowledge about the time taken to build up the temple up to the time of Jesus' cleansing of it, and as far as can be ascertained, his knowledge appears to be accurate. He is aware of the political attitudes of the Jewish people seen especially in the hatred of Samaritans (4:9). He knows of the Palestinian contempt for Jews of the Dispersion (7:35).

   3. Knowledge of Palestinian Geography.
      The writer has clearly had first-hand acquaintance with Jerusalem. He knows the Hebrew name of a pool near the Sheep gate and knows that it has five porches. This detail was amazingly confirmed by excavations near the temple. He knows the Hebrew name of a paved area outside the Praetorium, another detail confirmed by archaeological discovery near the tower of Antonia. On numerous occasions topographical details are given in this gospel, sometimes in narratives where the synoptic gospels lack them.

3. Various Propositions Regarding Authorship.
   

   1. The Apostle John.
      As has been seen, this is the traditional view, which has much support for it in internal evidence. It may be said that there is no evidence which conclusively disproves it, in spite of much opposition to it. A modification of this view is that the Apostle John was the witness and someone else was the author. A parallel to this solution may be found in the traditional relationship between Pater and Mark in the production of the second gospel. There is no fundamental objection to this approach, but it does involve a rather broad interpretation of what the author means by "writing" in 21:24.

   2. John of Jerusalem.
      The existence of a John of Jerusalem was proposed by H. Delff. In this view the John of the tradition was this Jerusalem John who later became influential among the Asiatic churches. He was trained in rabbinism and was present at the last supper. However, no external evidence of any kind exists for such a person.

   3. Non-Johannine Theories.
      Several hypotheses have been suggested which ignore the name John altogether.

      1. John the Elder.
         A famous statement made by Papias has given rise to a widespread conviction among many scholars that there was another John who has associations with Ephesus and had some connection with the production of the fourth gospel. According to this view, John the elder became mixed up in the tradition with John the apostle. However, if it be granted that an elder John did exist, Papias gives no information regarding his location, nor does he give any hint of his literary ability. In fact, even if this elder's presence can be established within history due to Papias' ambiguous reference, there is no reason to believe that his pen could have produced the fourth gospel. The only tenuous connection is that he happens to possess the same name as that to which the fourth gospel was traditionally ascribed. And if the later Christian church thus mixed up the apostle and the elder, might not Papias have done the same, which in turn destroys the possibility of the existence of such an Elder John?

3. Purpose

1. The Author's Own Statement.
   John says "These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (20:31). It is clear from this statement that the primary aim was to encourage faith. This must mean that the work was designed as an evangelistic instrument.

2. The View that John was Combating Gnosticism.
   This view is naturally closely tied to a near second-century dating for the gospel, when the movements generally classified as Gnosticism were flourishing. The particular form of Gnosticism which John is claimed to be combating is Docetism which maintained that Christ could never have been contaminated by the world which was essentially evil. This meant that Christ did not really become flesh. It may have seemed as if he had, but any contact with matter would have defiled him. Hence, he could not suffer, and it was not he who was nailed to the cross. His purpose was revelatory not redemptive. It is not difficult to see that John's Gospel would be a very useful instrument in combating this kind of error, for he places much stress on the truly human character of the incarnation and passion. He depicts Jesus as being tired and thirsty (4:6-7), as weeping at Lazarus' grave (11:35), as expressing thirst while on the cross (19:28), and possessing a real body from which flows blood (19:34).

4. Dating

Various suggestions have risen regarding the dating of John's Gospel, ranging from before the fall of Jerusalem to as late as the last quarter of the second century. The more extreme theories have since then been rejected and the majority of scholars are inclined to accept a date somewhere between 90 and 110 AD. The earliest certain evidence for the circulation of the gospel is found in the Rylands Papyrus 457, which is recognized as an early second-century manuscript. This is proof of the existence of the gospel at an early date and has, together with the Egerton Papyrus 2, effectively silenced the earlier radical dating of the gospel late in the second century.

5. Outline

In progress

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