Introductory Issues#

Authorship#

Written in a simple style, the last of the Gospels exhibits a theological profundity beyond that of the Synoptics. Early church tradition favors that the Apostle John wrote this Gospel toward the close of the first century in Ephesus, a city of Asia Minor. Especially important is the testimony of Irenaeus, a disciple of Polycarp, who was in turn a disciple of the Apostle John himself — a direct line of tradition with only one link between Irenaeus and John.

Rylands Fragment of John#

In the past some scholars insisted that the Fourth Gospel was not written until the mid-second century and therefore long after the Apostle John had died. But discovery of the Rylands Fragment of John forced abandonment of that view.

This papyrus fragment dates from about A.D. 135 and requires several previous decades for the writing, copying, and circulation of John as far as the Egyptian hinterland, where the fragment was discovered. Other early papyri containing the text of John support this implication of the Rylands Fragment.

Many scholars are still unconvinced that the Apostle John wrote the Fourth Gospel. Some suggest that a disciple of the Apostle John, perhaps the Elder John mentioned very early by Papias, wrote it and was later confused with the apostle of the same name. But closer inspection of Papias’s statement shows that he probably used the term elder in an apostolic sense, and so his statement becomes a primary witness for authorship by the Apostle John himself.

Eyewitness#

The writer of the Fourth Gospel claims to have been an eyewitness of Jesus’ ministry (1:14; compare 19:35; 21:24-25) and as such exhibits a Semitic style of writing (seen especially in parallel statements) and an accurate knowledge of Jewish customs (for example, the customs of water-pouring and illumination by candelabra during the Festival of Tabernacles, presupposed in 7:37-39; 8:12) and of Palestinian topography as it was before the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in A.D. 70 (for example, the pool with five porches near the Sheep Gate [5:2] and the paved area outside the praetorium [19:13], both in Jerusalem).

Some scholars therefore date the Fourth Gospel three decades or so earlier than the closing years of the first century.

In addition, details such as one would expect from an eyewitness, yet incidental to the story appear everywhere — numbers (six water jars [2:6], three or four miles [6:19], one hundred yards [21:8], 153 fish [21:11]), names (Nathanael [1:45-51], Nicodemus [3:1-21; 7:50; 19:39], Lazarus [11:1-44; 12:9-11], Malchus [18:10], and others), plus many similarly vivid touches. These traits substantiate both the early tradition of apostolic authorship and its corollary that the Gospel represents trustworthy historical tradition.

The Beloved Disciple#

The author writes as “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” not out of egotism (he never identifies himself by name), but to emphasize that the contents of the Gospel merit belief since they come from the man in whom Jesus confided. Still further, the beloved disciple repeatedly appears in close association with Peter (13:23-24; 20:2-10; 21:2, 7, 20-24).

The synoptists tell us that James and John, the sons of Zebedee, worked at fishing with Peter and with him formed an inner circle among the Twelve. Since James died as a martyr long before the time of writing (Acts 12:1-5) and since Peter appears as a different person from the beloved disciple, only John is left to be the beloved disciple and author of the Fourth Gospel. The anonymity of the beloved disciple can hardly be explained unless he himself wrote the Gospel, and the process of elimination identifies him with John the apostle.

John’s Relation to the Synoptics#

Supplementation of the Synoptics#

John supplements the Synoptics and possibly reworks them at a number of points, though many think he did not know them.

• The Synoptics emphasize the Galilean ministry of Jesus, his parables, and the theme of God’s kingdom.

• John emphasizes Jesus’ Judean ministry, omits the parables and—for the most part—the kingdom, and substitutes long discourses and the theme of eternal life.

• The Synoptics mention only the last Passover, when Jesus died.

• John locates three Passovers, probably four, during Jesus’ ministry, so that it lasted at least more than two years and probably from three to three and a half years.

John also supplements the Synoptics by making clear that Jesus’ public ministry lasted considerably longer than a reading of the Synoptics alone would indicate.

Jesus’ Speech in John#

With the partial exception of Matthew, the Fourth Gospel contains more extended discourses by Jesus than the Synoptics do. The discourses tend to curtail narrative. Questions and objections from the audiences often punctuate these discourses, and John regularly reports Jesus as speaking in a style different in many respects from what the Synoptists report. The differences may stem partly from John’s way of translating into Greek the teaching that Jesus originally spoke in Aramaic, and perhaps occasionally in Hebrew, and partly from John’s habit of elaborative paraphrasing, with the result that the vocabulary, style, and theological concerns of the evangelist often appear in his record of Jesus’ teaching.

The vocabulary and style of John himself are recognizable from those parts of the Fourth Gospel where Jesus is not speaking and from 1-3 John. In the Synoptics, translation is apparently more literal and elaborative paraphrasing less extensive. Often, loose translation and elaborative paraphrasing can communicate the intended meaning of a speaker and the larger implications of what he said even more effectively than direct quotation does, so that John’s procedure is not at all illegitimate.

On the other hand, we must not overestimate the degree of Johannine elaboration or looseness in translation, for the two famous parallel passages in Matthew 11:25-27 and Luke 10:21-22 favor that Jesus could and did speak in the style represented by the Fourth Gospel. Prominent in those passages are the Father-Son relationship and emphasis on divine revelation, knowledge, and election—all typical of John’s Gospel. It is also possible that he preserves the more formal aspects of Jesus’ teaching, such as sermons in synagogues and disputes with Jewish theologians.

Johannines Theology#

Style#

Throughout the Fourth Gospel, many important theological themes appear and reappear in different combinations and often crop up in 1-3 John and Revelation as well. John expounds these themes by skillfully alternating narratives and discourses, so that the words of Jesus bring out the inner meaning of his works. Thus, much of the action becomes symbolic.

For example, Jesus’ washing the disciples’ feet represents cleansing from sin.

There is also frequent irony, such as that which tinges his question, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” (10:32). And just as the works of Jesus bear a symbolic meaning, so also his words often carry multiple meanings.

“Born again [or anew]” also means “born from above” (3:3-7), and the reference to Jesus’ being “lifted up” alludes not only to his crucifixion as such, but also to his crucifixion as an exaltation, a glorification (12:20-36, especially verse 32).

Themes#

The theological themes in John begin under the category of revelation. Jesus is the revelatory Word (logos) of God. As such he reveals the truth, which is more than veracity. It is the reality of God’s own person and character, to which Jesus bears witness, as do also the Father himself, the Spirit, Scripture, and others. The light of this revelation illumines those who believe and drives back the darkness of evil.

The repulsion of darkness is the judgment of the world. Not that Jesus came to condemn the world, but he did come to discriminate between those who belong to the light and those who belong to the darkness. The darklings stand already self-condemned by their unbelief. The world, human society dominated by Satan, opposes the light and thereby becomes the object of God’s wrath. This fact makes it all the more remarkable that God “loved the world” (3:16). His love came through Jesus Christ and continues to manifest itself through the love of Jesus’ disciples for one another.

To demonstrate God’s love, Jesus descended from the Father and worked toward his “hour”, the time of his suffering and death on behalf of the world. For revealing the Father’s glory in this way, the Father in turn glorified the Son with heavenly exaltation.

By God’s election and their own believing (John lets stand the antinomy between divine and human choices) some people experience birth from above by the Holy Spirit, so that they come to know God through Jesus Christ. But though election and believing characterize only some, universality characterizes the invitation. Those who do accept the invitation receive eternal life (qualitatively divine as well as quantitatively everlasting), an abiding place in Christ, and the Paraclete, or Holy Spirit in his roles as Comforter, Counselor, and Prosecutor.

Purposes of Writing#

Preeminently, John writes to engender believing:

“Therefore Jesus performed in the presence of his disciples many other signs, too, that are not written in this book. But these have been written that you may believe that the Christ, the Son of God, is Jesus, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30-31).

Jesus’ Deity and Humanity#

Christological in content, this believing highlights the deity of Jesus as the unique and preexistent Son of God who in obedience to his Father became a real human being to die sacrificially for the salvation of other human beings. Such an emphasis went against the denial of his humanity and death by Gnostics, early Christian heretics who thought anything material or physical to be inherently evil.

Thus, not only does the deity of Jesus receive emphasis (beginning with “the Word was God” [1:1] and many times throughout the Gospel); so also his humanity: “the Word became flesh” (1:14), grew tired and thirsty (4:6-7; 19:28), wept (11:35), and physically died and rose again (19:30-42; 20:12, 17, 20, 27-28).

“I AM…”#

Jesus himself demands this christological belief by making a series of “I am …” claims in the Fourth Gospel:

• “I am the bread of life” (6:35, 48; compare 6:41, 51)
• “I am the light of the world” (8:12)
• “I am the gate” (10:7, 9)
• “I am the good shepherd” (10:11, 14)
• “I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25)
• “I am the way and the truth and the life” (14:6)
• “I am the true vineyard” (15:1, 5)

In addition, there are “I am” claims not followed by a complement. These suggest the claim to be the “I AM/YAHWEH” of the Old Testament (4:25-26; 8:24, 28, 58; 13:19; compare 6:20; 7:34, 36; 14:3; 17:24; Exodus 3:14).

Realized Eschatology#

When people believe, they receive eternal life immediately - hence C. H. Dodd’s phrase “realized eschatology,” though “inaugurated eschatology” would be better, since 5:25-29 refers to resurrection and judgment yet to come, and 21:22 to Jesus’ return.

Full enjoyment awaits in the future, but every believer savors a foretaste in the present. With this emphasis John seeks to evangelize unbelievers with the gospel or to establish Christians in their faith.

It is disputed whether John wrote for unbelievers, believers, or both

Anti-Baptist Polemic?#

The correction of a cult that had grown up around the figure of John the Baptist provides a possible subsidiary purpose behind the writing of the Fourth Gospel (compare the present-day Mandeans in Iraq, who look back to the Baptist as their object of veneration). Acts 19:1-7 reveals the presence of Baptists in Ephesus some decades earlier, during the time of Paul; and according to early tradition, John the apostle wrote his Gospel in Ephesus.

Moreover, John takes great pains to show that

• Jesus surpassed the Baptist.

• The Baptist had to decrease and Jesus increase.

• Through his disciples Jesus baptized more followers than the Baptist did.

• The Baptist testified on Jesus’ behalf.

• Jesus had testimony even greater than what the Baptist gave him (1:15-37; 3:25-30; 4:1-2; 5:33-40).

The matter hangs in doubt, however, because these phenomena may reflect instead the Apostle John’s own experience of conversion from the Baptist to Jesus.

Anti-Jewish Polemic?#

Some have thought that John wrote his Gospel as a polemic against Jews, who toward the end of the first century had incorporated into the liturgy of their synagogue services a Benediction against Heretics to root out all Jewish Christians who might still be participating in those services. This benediction could have occasioned the Fourth Gospel as an encouragement to Jewish Christians to endure ostracism from the synagogue without hiding their Christian identity or recanting their Christian profession (compare 9:22 and 16:2, which mention the expulsion of Jesus’ disciples from synagogues).

But although “the Jews” appear in a bad light throughout John, “the world” appears in an equally bad light—and for the same reason: unbelief (see, e.g., 15:18-19). Furthermore, there is no suppression of Jesus’ Jewishness; and the Dead Sea Scrolls have shown that the religious vocabulary of John’s Gospel is characteristic of first-century Judaism.

Materials#

Theories of literary sources behind the Fourth Gospel stumble against the unity of style that pervades the entire book. Theories of disarrangement solve some problems of interpretation only to create others; and with one minor exception they lack manuscript evidence.

John 1:11-12 summarizes three lines of material included in the Fourth Gospel:

1. “His own did not receive him” — the dark backdrop of the Gospel consists in repeated rejections of Jesus by the Jews

2. “But as many as received him” — as bright exceptions a number of individuals did receive Jesus through personal encounter with him

3. “To them he gave authority to become children of God” — John details a number of miracles performed by Jesus but calls them “signs” and “works” because of their value in symbolizing the transformation that took place in those who received Jesus.

All three lines converge in the story of his death and resurrection:

1. “Those who were his own did not receive him” — crucifixion at the hands of the Jews

2. “but as many as received him” — the three Marys and the beloved disciple standing beside the cross

3. “to them he gave authority to become children of God” — transformation through the power of Jesus’ resurrection.

Summary#

Evidence points to authorship of the Fourth Gospel by the Apostle John, probably in Ephesus toward the end of the first century. To a large extent John’s Gospel contains material not in the Synoptics and therefore supplements them, with special emphasis on Jesus’ ministry in Judea and on its profound theological meaning.

Prominent among the themes that make up this meaning is Jesus as the preexistent divine Word who became a human being so as to speak the words of God, reveal the glory of God’s grace and truth, separate the children of light from the children of darkness, judge the world of unbelievers, and provide eternal life through the gift of the Holy Spirit to all who believe and abide in Jesus.

After a prologue that presents Jesus as the Word, John arranges his material in alternating blocks of narrative concerning Jesus’ signs and works and discourses whose words interpret the salvific significance of those signs and works.