Introduction
In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with
God.
(See Important Quotations Explained)
The Fourth Gospel describes the mystery of the identity
of Jesus. The Gospel According to John develops a Christology—an
explanation of Christ’s nature and origin—while leaving out much
of the familiar material that runs through the synoptic Gospels
of Matthew, Mark and Luke, including Jesus’s short aphorisms and
parables, references to Jesus’s background, and proclamations about
the kingdom of God. Whereas Mark’s Gospel brings us the texture
of first-century Palestine with a vivid, concrete, and earthy Jesus, John’s
Gospel is filled with long discourses describing Jesus’s divinity.
John takes us behind Jesus’s ministry, where we get a glimpse of what
it means to believe in Jesus as flesh of the eternal and living God,
as the source of light and life, and for a believer to be a “Son
of God.” Though John’s narrative diverges from the synoptic Gospels, it
is indeed a Gospel, or a telling of good news. It includes the basics of
Jesus’s ministry—his preaching, miracles, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection.
It is likely that John heard the details about these events from
a very early oral source common to all the Gospels, but the freedom
he uses to interpret these events helps us see clearly that all
accounts of Jesus have come to us through the filter of interpretation.
John may have been written a bit later than the synoptic Gospels, likely
around 90 a.d. The
actual author of John’s Gospel was probably an interpreter of John,
who was one of Jesus’s original disciples.
John can be divided thematically into halves, preceded
by a prologue and followed by an epilogue. The prologue is a poetic
introduction that presents the outline of the narrative and the
essence of John’s theology. The first half of the Gospel can be
characterized as a “Book of Signs.” It tells of Jesus’s ministry,
focusing on seven major miracles worked by Jesus and the meaning
and significance of those miracles. The second half of John has
been called the “Book of Glory.” In it, the narrative moves toward
Jesus’s glorification through crucifixion and resurrection. Finally,
the book ends with an epilogue, most likely added to the Gospel
by a later redactor, which tells of Jesus’s appearance to the disciples
after his resurrection.
Summary
The Gospel of John begins with a poetic hymn that tells
the story of Jesus’s origin, mission, and function. John says that
Jesus is the incarnated Word of God, bringing “grace and truth,”
replacing the law given by Moses, and making God known in the world
(1:17). The narrative
opens with John the Baptist identifying himself as the fulfillment
of Isaiah’s prophecy; he will prepare the way for the Lord. Indeed,
when he meets Jesus, John testifies, “He is the Son of God” (1:34).
The next day, hearing John’s testimony, two disciples, including
Andrew, begin to follow Jesus. Andrew brings his brother Simon to
Jesus, who now accumulates several other followers as well. On the
third day after Jesus’s baptism, Jesus and his disciples attend a
wedding at Cana in Galilee, where Jesus works a miracle, transforming
water into wine. As Passover approaches, Jesus travels to Jerusalem,
where he drives the money changers from the temple, charging them
to “stop making my Father’s house a marketplace” (2:16).
A Pharisee named Nicodemus assumes that Jesus has come from God
as a teacher, and Jesus tells him, in solemn, semipoetic lines,
that he has been “born from above” (3:3)
and that God has given “his only Son so that everyone who believes
in him may not perish” (3:16).
Jesus leaves Jerusalem and begins to baptize people in Judea. John
the Baptist has continued his baptizing, and someone informs him
that Jesus too has begun to baptize, assuming that John would be
angry at the competition. The Baptist rejoices at the news, knowing
that Jesus, as the Son of God, is the greater of the two, and that
Jesus is the fulfillment of John’s prophecy.
Jesus travels to Samaria, where he speaks in metaphors
and figures of speech with a Samaritan woman and with his disciples.
They do not always understand his metaphors, and take Jesus literally when
he tells the woman that he has “living water” (4:10)
and when he tells his disciples that “I have food to eat that you
do not know about” (4:32).
Eventually, the woman understands Jesus. Impressed by his knowledge
of her past and by his message, she tells the other Samaritans that
he is the Christ, meaning that he is the Messiah prophesied in Jewish
scriptures. The Samaritans profess belief in him. Returning to Cana
in Galilee, Jesus cures a boy who is at death’s door. In Jerusalem
once again for a festival, Jesus cures a sick man at the pool of
Bethzatha and orders him to pick up his sleeping mat and walk around.
As it is the Sabbath, when observant Jews do not carry objects outdoors,
the Jews become angry with Jesus, and their anger only increases
when Jesus explains that God is his father. Jesus delivers a long
discourse, in which he announces that his words bring eternal life,
and that rejection of Jesus in favor of the traditional laws is
foolish, since Jesus represents the fulfillment of the Old Testament
prophecies.
Returning to Galilee, Jesus is approached by a crowd of
people looking for inspiration. To feed them, he works a miracle,
providing food for 5,000 people
with only five loaves of bread and two fish. Later that evening,
Jesus’s disciples are crossing the Sea of Galilee and are surprised
to find Jesus walking across the water toward them. The next day,
crowds of people come in search of Jesus, and he explains the significance
of the miracle of the loaves: “I am the bread of life / no one can
come to me unless it is granted by the Father” (6:35).
Using the symbol of bread, Jesus explains that belief in him and
in God, his father, will give eternal life. Many of his listeners
disbelieve him, and Jesus teaches that belief in him is a foreordained
gift from God: “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right
judgment” (6:65).
Peter, however, remains with Jesus and professes his faith.
At the Feast of Booths, the Jewish holiday Sukkoth, Jesus
returns to Jerusalem with the pilgrims and begins preaching in the
temple. He urges the people not to hold his previous violation of
the Sabbath against him, saying, “Do not judge by appearances, but
judge with right judgment” (7:24).
Many people wonder whether Jesus is the Christ, or Son of God, and
the authorities want to arrest him but do not dare. The authorities
bring him an adulterous woman and, in an attempt to entrap him,
ask him whether or not she is guilty. Jesus responds, “Let anyone
among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her”
(8:7). A long discourse
ensues, in which Jesus responds to questions and accusations from
the assembled people. Jesus predicts his own death and ascension,
and explains that his authority comes from his origin in God and
his fulfillment of the word of God. He accuses his listeners of
being slaves to sin and, as sinners, of being illegitimate sons
of God. Claiming to precede Abraham and to derive his glory from
God, Jesus finally infuriates the crowd and barely escapes being
stoned.
