WHO WROTE:  John.

 

 

WHAT TIME PERIOD IS COVERED:  27 A.D. -- 31 A.D.

 

 

WHEN WRITTEN:  The Book of John was written about 90-100 A.D.  John’s fatherly tone comes out when he quotes our Lord when He calls aged individuals as “little children,” John 13:33.  This implies it was written in his old age; perhaps in 90 A.D., or that he follows his Lord’s normal address (see Mat. 19:14 as an example).

 

 

INTRODUCTION:  John gives us the reason he wrote this Book:  John 20:30-31:  “[30] And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book: [31] But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His Name.”  What is interesting is that most writers would put this phrase at the beginning of their writings.  But John wants to make sure you read what he has written before you search elsewhere.

 

John did not feal the need to go over what was already written by the Synoptic Gospels.  Therefore, he does not record any of the parables or give us any additional parables that others may have missed.  John wanted to be straight forward and not use allegories.

 

His audience is very Jewish in design and in its conceptions.  Even though John is very Jewish, he does not focus upon the Messianic role of Jesus in the classical sense.  In fact, John, by his own admission in Chapter 20, does his best to present to the world Jesus as, “The Son of God.”  Therefore, John focuses upon the Deity of Christ, whereas Luke as example, focuses more upon the humanity of Christ and His miracles.  According to Matthew 9:29-30; 20:34; Mark 1:29-31; 5:30; 9:25-27; Luke 7:14-15; 8:45; 13:13, Jesus’ normal method for healing is the “touch.”  By contrast, in the Book of John, we find Jesus deploying His spoken Word, just as when He created the world (Gen. 1:3 & 6 & 9 & 11 & 14 & 20 & 29), as the normal means for healing (see John 2:7; 4:46-50; 5:8; 11:43).  

 

It is acknowledged that the Book of John is very different from the other three Gospels; with the other three Gospels referred to as the “Synoptic Gospels.”  That’s just another way of saying that there is a lot of commonalities between the other three Gospels; while the Book of John carries a very different flavor to It; focusing more upon the Divinity of Christ more than the others.

 

John also focuses upon Christ’s power and authority when he points out one of our Lord’s key phrases of “Verily, verily,” which he uses 24 times, noting the supremacy behind that statement.

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Arguably there are actually Twenty-Nine “I Am” statements in the Book of John:

“I Am the bread of life,” 6:35 & 48 & 51;

“I Am from Him,” 7:29;

“I Am the light of the world,” 8:12 & 24 & 9:5; 

“I Am One that bear witness of Myself,” 8:18;

“I Am He,” 8:28; 9:9; 13:19 (Note, tied to Taster and Lord in 13:13);

“Before Abraham was, I Am,” 8:58;

“I Am the door,” 10:7 & 9;

“I Am the Good Shepherd,” 10:11 & 14;

“I Am the Son of God,” 10:36;

“I Am the resurrection, and the life,” 11:25;

“I Am come a light into the world,” 12:46;

“I Am,” 13:13 (Note, tied to Master and Lord);

“I Am the way, the truth, and the life,” 14:6;

“I Am in the Father,” 14:10 & 11;

“I Am in My Father,” 14:20;

“I Am the true vine,” 15:1;

“I Am the vine,” 15:5;

“I Am He,” 18:5 & 6 & 8.

 

John’s Gospel has justly been described as having two parts: “The Book of the Signs,” and, “The Book of the Passion,” since John spends an almost equal amount of time on each.  The design of John in writing this Gospel is stated by himself in John 20:31.  In an interesting statement found in Acts 13:5, we note that the Church was happy to have such an “eye witness” present with them.

 

A Church “tradition” describes the apostle John as an old man living in Ephesus.  Because of his feeble condition, his followers had to carry him to Church.  As they met together, his only spoken words were, “Little children, love one another.”  His followers tired of hearing John repeat the same thing all the time asked him, “Master, why do you always say this?”  “It is the Lord’s Command,” he replied.  “And if this alone be done, it is enough!”  Whether true or not, this story captures the essence of this “son of thunder,” Mark 3:17, who was eventually transformed into a son of love and grace.

 

Rarely are we given a direct answer to a direct question.  In Matthew 19:16; Mark 10:19; Luke 10:25; 18:18, a direct question is given, with a direct answer in Matthew 19:17; Mark 10:19; Luke 10:26 & 28; 18:20.  Therefore, when we have one from our Lord we should sit up and take notice.  Here in the Book of John we have one (John 6:28) with its direct answer (John 6:29).  That the Commandments were already understood and that they needed to be kept (see John 14:15 & 15:14), this is another requirement straight from the mouth of our Lord.

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Something to keep in mind when reading this Book.  In the Gospel of John, when you read the phrase, “the Jews,” it is almost always referring to the Jewish leaders and not necessarily to the Jewish people in general.  The Greek verb “pisteuo,” meaning “believe,” appears 98 times in the Gospel of John; compared to 241 total times in the entire New Testament.