Week 3: The Gospel of John December, 2015 Saint Anne Adult Forum.

GOSPEL OVERVIEWWeek 3: The Gospel of JohnDecember, 2015

Saint Anne Adult Forum

CLASS OVERVIEW– THE GOSPELS

• Week #1• Overview & Context• Gospel of Mark

• Week #2• Gospel of

Matthew• Gospel of Luke

• Week #3• Gospel of John• Recap & Reflection

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Life of Jesus (0 – 32 AD)

Oral Tradition, Epistles, Sermons (30 – 70 years)

Mark(66 – 72

AD)

Matthew & Luke

(80’s AD)

John(90’s AD)

RECAP

Mark• First Gospel, written late 60’s or early 70’s• Shortest Gospel• Presents a very human Jesus• Cross is central story, the Passion and Resurrection

of Jesus• Portrays the disciples in an unflattering light• Audience was group of Christ-followers living in

Rome

RECAP

Matthew• Much material organized around a series of

teachings• Presents a more divine, less human Jesus than

Mark• Jesus came to fulfill the Hebrew scriptures, but still

portrays Jewish leaders & people in a negative light• Stressed discipleship, how God wants us to live• Along with Luke, likely written in the 80’s

Luke• Longest book in the New Testament• Much material organized around a journey to

Jerusalem• Sophisticated language & grammar• Worship & prayer; ministry to the disadvantaged

JOHN– AUTHOR, TIMING

Author• Christian tradition attributes

book to the beloved disciple• Significant speculation,

especially given that the disciple was a fisherman prior to taking up his ministry – book displays a well-developed sense of theology

Dating• We likely have a later edition –

3rd, 4th, or even 5th version• Disciple John, if the author,

probably responsible only for the 1st edition

• Consensus is 90’s AD

WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT JOHNEasy answer is “everything”• Over 90% of material has no parallel in the Synoptics• Basic story is consistent, in all respects, with other Gospels• Presents ministry in expanded timeframe (3 year period) but

more localized geography (concentrates on Jerusalem)• Uses figurative speech to recount stories, but contains no

parables

Unique to John• Changing water into wine at

Cana (2:1 - 12)• Encounter with Samaritan

woman at the well (4:1 - 42)• Rescue of adulterous woman

(7:53 - 8:11)• Healing Blind Man (9:1 – 41)• Washing disciples feet (13:1-

20)

Not Found in John• Eating with tax collectors &

sinners• Condemnation of the rich• Words about helping the

poor• Loving one’s neighbor• Disciples to deny

themselves, or to renounce their possessions

MAJOR THEMES - JOHN

Jesus is True Revelation of God• He reveals God to humanity so that people might

know God and be liberated and transformed by that revelation.” (Powell pg 181)

• Jesus tells people what God is like• God loves the world (3:16), God is true (3:33), God answers prayer

(16:23)

• Jesus shows people what God is like• He does this through his deeds and miracles. They are indications

of Jesus’ legitimacy, and show people what God intends for us

• Jesus is what God is like• He not only discloses the truth, he is the truth (14:6)• He alone can say “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”

(14:9)• He is the way, the truth, the life; through him we experience life as

God intends.

MAJOR THEMES - JOHN

Abiding in Christ• Jesus in John’s Gospel is a personal God, and we are

intended to exist in a personal relationship with Him (1:11-12)

• It’s not just about believing in Him (20:24-29), but loving Him (8:42) and abiding in him (6:56)

• Although John supports the traditional concepts of salvation, his main focus “is on the way that Jesus affects quality of life in the here and now. Eternal life is more than just life after death, but a present reality.” (3:36; 5:24) (Powell, p 184)

• If His words abide in us (15:7), and we keep His commandments, especially the one to love one another (15:12), then we may remain in relationship with Jesus and experience His joy. (15:11)

MAJOR THEMES - JOHN

The Role of the Holy Spirit• John’s Gospel emphasizes the Parakletos, the

“Paraclete”• Translated as “Advocate”, Counselor”, or “Helper”,

this is what we’ve come to experience as the Holy Spirit

• Primary role is described as revealing truth and teaching the disciples what they need to know (14:25-26; 16:13)

MAJOR THEMES - JOHN

The World & the Jews• “John’s Gospel portrays the world as an

environment that hates Jesus and his followers.” (Powell, p.186)

• Not intrinsically evil, but didn’t accept Jesus (1:10)

• Disciples are to be in the world, but not of it (17:15-16)

• Increasing sense of separation between Judaism and its offspring• John uses “the Jews” to refer to a group

that doesn’t include Jesus or his followers

• They have lost their status as people of God (8:39-47)

Although passages from John seem to support anti-Semitism,

the overall message is one of “splitting off” from Judaism

MAJOR THEMES - JOHN

Loving One Another• Word “love” occurs more

then 50 times in this Gospel, yet no mention of…

• Loving one’s neighbor (Mark 12:31)

• Or loving one’s enemies (Matt 5:44, Luke 6:27)

• The love mentioned is inwardly focused, towards other believers

• This is “a new commandment…that you love one another just as I have loved you” (13:34)

MAJOR THEMES - JOHN

The “Messianic Secret” is gone

• Jesus proclaims himself to be divine in very explicit terms

• John’s Gospel is the only one of the four to clearly and explicitly identify Jesus as God.

• Jesus was not only with God in the beginning; he was God (1:1), and also presented himself as “God the Son” (1:18)

• And yet He was also fully human, feeling grief (11:33-35), fatigue (4:6), and anguish (12:27)

RECAP - JOHN

• Last Gospel, put into current form in 90’s• Majority of content is unique to John, with no

overlap in the Synoptics but still in synch with them on theology

• Jesus is divine, yet also has a human nature• Emphasized love, yet focused inwardly on the

church• Introduced, and emphasized, the Holy Spirit• Revealed a movement that was less and less a

variant of Judaism, and more a separate religion of its own

SUMMARY – THE POWER OF STORIES

• The Prodigal Son• The Lost Sheep• The Lost Coin• These seemingly simple stories encapsulate a great

deal of theological significance• “Each and every person matters so much to God that

His Son became a human being to seek us.”

Luke 15

SUMMARY - LAST WORDS OF JESUS

• His Father: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

• Criminals on the cross: “Today, you will be with me in Paradise (Luke 23:43)

• Mary and John: “Woman, behold your son!” and “Behold, your mother!” (John 19:26-27)

• His Father: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Mark 15:34, Matt 27:46)

• “I thirst” (John 19:28)• “It is finished” (John 19:30)• “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke

23:46)Each Gospel author chose to emphasize

a different facet of the crucifixion

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

• Revisit the “Why 4 Gospels” question• Why were the Gospels important to the early

church?• “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one

comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)• Many have struggled with the implications of this

statement.• What does it mean to you?

• Think about what each Gospel means to you. How do you reconcile the many different facets of Jesus?