The Choice We Have

The Choice We Have: Key Teachings, Words, I Am Statements and Signs in the Gospel of John

Introduction

Some time ago a former pastor friend shared that he had always dreaded delving into and speaking on the Gospel of John. When he eventually did, he found it a mind-expanding and challenging ‘book.’ I had found that surprising as John had been my favourite ‘gospel.’ That might well have had to do with the fact that, as a child, I was learning to read in an environment of a limited availability of books. Then I received one of those little red book Gospels of John put out by the Gideons, so first became more familiar with those stories. Perhaps I also intuitively responded to the greater detail of the stories it contains as well as the organization.

Discovery House (possibly more familiar to some as the source of the long-standing ‘‘Our Daily Bread” devotionals) has recently been publishing small volumes on the books of the Bible in their  “Journey Through—-”  series. Having just concluded leading a bible study in Mark over a 2-year period with the aid of the volume on Mark, I turned again to John’s gospel and acquired the volume put out for its study. It is written by David Cook, longtime principal of a bible college in Sydney, Australia. 

John versus the Other Gospels

Anyone who has read the Gospel of John will have readily recognized that it is quite different from the gospels according to Matthew, Mark and Luke. The reader might also be quite aware that the similarities in these gospels have led them to be called the synoptic gospels. Here, Mark is generally given precedence and it is his opening statement that has led to the gospels named after him and the other three to be so called. Gospel means ‘good news’ in Greek, and Mark opens his book with the statement that what he is writing is “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

That gospel according to John, however, stands in a place by itself. In some ways, it seems less historical. The other three seem to flow along in a linear sense which at least gives them the impression of being chronological, ‘historical.’ Then again, some would say there is a considerable attempt at chronology of the accounts John gives us, as they are frequently framed around the important Jewish festivals that took place in Jerusalem and Jesus’ attendance at them. On the other hand, John says nothing about Jesus' life until his entry into ministry, which event is built around his encounter with someone who is in fact a relative, known by the name of John the Baptist. Whereas Matthew and Luke give fairly extensive accounts of Jesus’ historical entry into the world, beginning with his birth and placing him in genealogies, John begins with a vastly more far – reaching introduction that sounds more Greek abstract and philosophical than the Aramaic/Hebrew thought of the other three gospels. There is also one detail in John’s narrative of the Passion Week accounts that troubles some. The timing in John is different. The other gospels write of the Last Supper as being the Passover meal, occurring on the Day of Preparation, the day before Passover. The, Jesus would be crucified on Passover. John writes of it as occurring on the evening before the Day of Preparation. The synoptics’ overall accounts of these days seem to be more accurate. This leads some to believe John placed it otherwise to emphasize the symbolism of Jesus’  (the Lamb of God) sacrificial death as occurring on the Day of Preparation at the time when lambs for Passover were being killed in the temple. John is always more about different layers of meaning, which is one of the ways in which this gospel has a richness all its own.

Author

The traditional view of authorship is that this gospel is written by Jesus’ disciple John, son of Zebedee and brother of Andrew, all fishermen from the Sea of Galilee. He never names himself as the author but there are several references to the ‘beloved disciple,’ especially the one where this person was sitting next to Jesus at The Last Supper. He was asked by Peter to ask Jesus whom he was talking about when he spoke of one of them betraying him. We know from all accounts that Peter and John were close, part of Jesus’ inner circle. This same John is also commonly held to be the writer of the three letters from John and Revelation.

Another view is that this gospel was written by another John, who ostensibly served the Church in Ephesus and area. There is an ancient church ruin in his name there. To avoid conflict in that setting might be why the Spirit did not permit Paul and his companions further ministry in this area on Paul’s Second Missionary Journey, as recorded in Acts 16. This left him free to obey a vision calling him to “come over to Macedonia to help us.”  This could still be John the Apostle though, as Jesus’ mother Mary is also memorialized with an early church in Ephesus and John was instructed at the cross to take Mary under his wing. Therefore, if he was living here, Mary could have been too.

Indeed, as recorded at the end of John’s Gospel, when Peter asks Jesus about the future of the ‘beloved disciple’ after Jesus had just intimated Peter would die on a cross, Jesus leaves it open that the beloved disciple might live a long life. We know John seems to have outlived his contemporaries and appears to have died in exile on the isle of Patmos, off the southeast corner of what was then the Roman Empire province of Asia Minor, now Turkiye.

Time

The timing of the writing of this gospel is generally believed to fall into the 8^th to 10^th decades of the first century CE.

Place

See the above comments about Ephesus. If John’s last days of service were in Ephesus and vicinity, this gospel could have been written here, or perhaps also on the isle of Patmos, where Revelation was written.

The Uniqueness of John

The Signs

John gives us fewer accounts of the miracles and exorcisms that are recorded in the other gospels. However, there are two miracles in John that are not recorded elsewhere, that of turning water into wine, said to be the first sign, and the most significant story of the raising of Lazarus, very shortly before Jesus’ own resurrection. Furthermore, when John describes these miracles, the accounts are extensive. He also refers to Jesus' miracles as signs when he presents them. They have special significance, they point to some truth.  As such, he records only seven signs, or eight if you count the miraculous fish catch at the sea of Galilee after Jesus resurrection. Most see this simply as Jesus seeing a school of fish from the shore that his disciples couldn’t see from their position on the water and directing them to cast their nets there.

The seven signs from Jesus’ ministry in John are:

1. Turning water into wine at Cana in Galilee - ch. 2
2. The remote healing of the Capernaum royal official’s son - ch. 4
3. The healing of the cripple at the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem - ch. 5
4. The feeding of the 5000 in the Decapolis region east of the Sea of Galilee - ch. 6
5. Walking on the water of the sea of Galilee - ch. 6
6. Healing in Jerusalem of the man born blind - ch. 9 An interesting note in the NIV states that of all the miracles recorded as being done by Jesus in his three-year ministry, restoring sight is the most common.
7. The raising of Lazarus from the tomb in Bethany - ch. 11

The I Am Statements

When Moses is accosted by God at the burning bush in Midian, as described in Exodus, and when  he succeeded in getting God to reveal himself to him at Mt. Sinai, God says his name is “I Am.” No past, no present and no future, simply eternal. Jesus aroused the rage of the religious leaders when he referred to himself in this way in John 8:55. They wanted to stone him for blasphemy on the spot but he slipped away. On similar occasions towards the end of his ministry, John states that it was not yet Jesus’ time, meaning to enter into the events of Passion Week as we know it.

On seven other occasions Jesus talks of himself as “I am the…” These are:

1. I Am the Bread of Life - John 6:35
2. I Am the Light of the world - John 8:12, 9:5
3. I Am the gate of the sheepfold - John 10:7, 9
4. I Am the Good Shepherd - John 10:11, 14
5. I Am the Resurrection - John 11:25
6. I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life - John 14:6
7. I Am the True Vine - John 15:1, 5

Key Words

One could also point out some significant differences in word appearances and emphases. 

Father - The NIV states ‘Father’ appears 122 times in this gospel.  Strong’s Concordance lists 114 times. It is based on the Authorized (King James) Version.  In any case, it I more often by far than in the other gospels. Matthew has the second most appearances of ‘Father’ at 43. 

Love - appears in John 22 times versus 10 times in the runner up Matthew. According to the NIV it appears 6 times in chs. 1-12 and 31 times in chs. 13-21. 

The differences referred to in the preceding paragraphs show how original languages can be translated differently in different versions.

Unity - actually, expressions like “they may be one” (17:11, 21, 22-3).

Key Teachings

John has much more recorded teaching of Jesus than the other gospels. To be sure, Matthew has three chapters commonly known as the sermon on the mount, of which Luke has portions. However, besides more extensive conversations such as those of Jesus with the Pharisee Nicodemus in chapter 3 and the Samaritan woman at Jacob's Well in Sychar in Samaria in chapter 4, John has some 4 1/2 chapters of Jesus’ teaching prior to his fateful journey to the garden of Gethsemane. This was quickly followed by his arrest, trial, crucifixion and resurrection. Since these teachings ostensibly take place when Jesus is celebrating his last Passover meal on earth with his disciples, they are sometimes referred to as the discourses of the last supper or the Farewell Discourses.

If one pays attention as one reads through the gospel, particularly the chapters that are written about Jesus' encounters with the Jews and their leaders in Jerusalem, besides the discourses referred to above, one will see how often Jesus repeats some key points of his teaching, particularly in those last supper discourses. Some of those truths are highlighted below.

1. Jesus is from the beginning, eternal (John 1:1-2).
2. It is through Jesus that creation came to be (1:3,10). This is not something we learn from the Old Testament.
3. Jesus is one with God, as he often said, “I am in the Father and he in me” (14:10, 20, 17:21, 23). Therefore, if you know Jesus, you know the Father.
4. Jesus was sent by God into the world on a mission and he obeyed the will of the Father in this. The sheer frequency with which John records Jesus speaking to this fact tells us how much Jesus wanted to get this truth across. (3:34, 4:34, 5:23-4, 30, 36-8, 6:38-9, 44, 57, 7:16, 18, 28-9, 7:33, 8:16, 18, 26, 29, 42, 9:4, 10:35, 11:42, 12:44-5, 49, 13:20, 15:21, 16:5, 17:3, 8, 21, 23, 25, 20:21).
5. Jesus only spoke the words the Father gave him to speak (3:34, 14: 17, 24, 26).
6. Jesus only did the works his Father gave him to do (5:36, 6:38-9, 14:10).
7. Jesus is the The Way to the Father, to God (14:6).
8. On completion of his mission he was going to return to the Father (14:28, 16:5).
9. Jesus’ followers are given to him by God in return for Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross (17;2, 6, 9).
10. Jesus will do whatever we ask in his name, it being understood that this refers to things to which the father may be glorified in the sun. In that case, if you ask Jesus for anything, he promises to do it (14:13-14, 15:7-8, 16). From the context of these verses it appears clear though that this refers to requests related to carrying on Jesus' mission, thus bringing glory to the Father by bearing much fruit.
11. Jesus is one with those who believe in him. Again, he says, “I am in you and you are in me,” adding that since he is in God, we are also in union with God.Jesus made known to us his unity with the Father so that we would come to complete unity with him and fellow believers, showing the world Jesus (and the Father) are united in their sending and loving us (John 17:21-23). 
12. When Jesus was going to return to the Father, he said the Father would send their spirit, known variously as The Comforter, Advocate, Counselor and Spirit of Truth (14:16, 17, 26). In 16:7-11 we are given another side of the spirit, one who judges. Today we identify this as the Holy Spirit, the third person with God the Father and Jesus the Son of the Holy Trinitarian godhead. The Spirit would also help the Apostles remember and understand more fully Jesus’ teachings so they could be thus truthfully shared with others. Whereas the world cannot accept the Spirit because it neither sees nor knows him, we will know him because he will dwell in us. 
13. Jesus made God known to us in human personal form so that by believing in him God’s love could be in us as a witness to the world by the deeds we do and attitude we exhibit because of this love (13;35). If we love Jesus, we will fulfil this by keeping his commands (12:45, 14:15, 21, 23, 15:16), which he summarized as love your neighbour as yourself. Conversely, our obedience to this will prove our love for Jesus/God.
14. Because I live, you will live. I will come and take you to be with me (14:2-3, 18, 28). Then you will know I am in the Father, in you and you in me.
15. The Father will love those who love me and I will love and reveal myself to them (14:21).
16. Jesus will give us peace, so we should not be troubled or afraid (14:18, 19, 27-8).

Purpose

Ultimately, the author of this gospel states clearly that he has selected certain signs - teachings and miracles - “so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name"(John 20: 30–31 NRSV). Jesus himself, in 10:38 and 4:11, actually appeals to his hearers to believe in him on the basis of his works (signs, miracles, actions) if nothing else. It is up to each one of us as to wether we accept John’s testimony and believe or not. Let’s not allow our pride, humanity’s basic sin, get in the way. Not believing is a choice that brings on our own heads eternal separation from our Creator and all that we only taste of as good in this life. Believing gives us an abundant life here (John 10:10) and an even more unimaginably wonderful eternal life in the ‘new’ world God is preparing for those who believe. This is really, of course, this world recreated good as in the beginning, to which Christ will return and where God will come and establish his presence forever (John, writing in Revelation 21:1-5, 10, 24-27, 22;1-6). 

The Bible also tells us in Jesus’ own words, “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only son of God" (John 3:17-18, see also II Peter 3:9 “It is not the will of God that any should perish”). The choice is ours. 

Bibliography

Barclay, William, The Gospel of John, vols 1-2, Edinburgh: St. Andrew Press, 1956

Cook, David, Journey Through John, Grand Rapids, MI: Our Daily Bread Publishing, 2020