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The Gospel of John

INTRODUCTION

- Authorship of the Gospel of John

o All reasonable evidence points to the Apostle John.

1. The disciple whom Jesus loved has always been associated with the Apostle John.

John 13:23 . 23 One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was lying close to the breast of Jesus; RSV

John 19:26 26 When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, Woman, behold, your son! 27 Then he said to the disciple, Behold, your mother! RSV

John 20:2 2 So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him. RSV

John 21:7 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, It is the Lord! When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his clothes, for he was stripped for work, and sprang into the sea. RSV

John 21:20 20 Peter turned and saw following them the disciple whom Jesus loved, who had lain close to his breast at the supper and had said, Lord, who is it that is going to betray you? RSV

John 21:24 24 This is the disciple who is bearing witness to these things, and who has written these things; and we know that his testimony is true. RSV

2. The witness . William Barclay says the Fourth Gospel has a kind of character whom we might call the witness. As the Fourth Gospel tells of the spear thrust into the side of Jesus and the issue of the water and the blood, there comes the comment:

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He who saw it has borne witness his testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth that you also may believe (19:35). At the end of the gospel come the statement that it was the beloved disciple who testified of these things and we know his testimony is true (21:24).

3. Early writers .. such as Irenaeus and Tertullian say that John wrote this Gospel.

- JOHNS SPECIAL KNOWLEDGE . Again, William Barclay writes:

One thing is certain if John differs from the other three gospels, it is not because of ignorance and lack of information. The plain fact is that, if he omits much that they tell us, he also tells us much that they do not mention. John alone tells of the marriage feast at Cana of Galilee (2:1-11); of the coming of Nicodemus to Jesus (3:1-15); of the woman of Samaria (4); of the raising of Lazarus (11); of the way in which Jesus washed his disciples feet (13:1-17); of Jesuss wonderful teaching about the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, which is scattered through chapters 14 to 17. It is only in John that some of the disciples really come alive. It is in John alone that Thomas speaks (11:16; 14:5; 20:24-29); that Andrew becomes a real personality (1:40, 41; 6:8, 9; 12:22); that we get a glimpse of the character of Philip (6:5-7; 14:8, 9); that we hear the carping protest of Judas at the anointing at Bethany (12:4,5). And the strange thing is that these little extra touches are intensely revealing. Johns pictures of Thomas and Andrew and Philip are like little cameos or vignettes in which the character of each man is etched in a way we cannot forget.

Further, again and again John has little extra details which read like the memories of one who was there. The loaves which the lad brought to Jesus were barley loaves (6:9); when Jesus came to the disciples as they crossed the lake in the storm they had rowed between three and four miles (6:19); there were six stone waterpots at Cana of Galilee (2:6); it is only John who tells of the four soldiers gambling for the seamless robe as Jesus died (19:23); he knows the exact weight of the myrrh and aloes which were used to anoint the dead body of Jesus (19:39); he remembers how the perfume of the ointment filled the house at the anointing at Bethany (12:3). Many of these things are such apparently unimportant details that they are inexplicable unless they are the memories of a man who was there.

However much John may differ from the other three gospels, that difference is not to be explained by ignorance but rather by the fact that he had more knowledge or better sources or a more vivid memory than the others.

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Further, evidence of the specialized information of the writer of the Fourth Gospel in his detailed knowledge of Palestine and of Jerusalem. He knows how long it took to build the Temple (2:20); that the Jews and the Samaritans had a permanent quarrel (4:9); the low Jewish view of women (4:9); the way in which the Jews regard the Sabbath (5:10; 7:21-23; 9:14). His knowledge of the geography of Palestine is intimate. He knows of two Bethanys, one of which is beyond Jordan (1:28; 12:1); he knows that Bethsaida was the home of some of the disciples (1:44; 12:21); that Cana is in Galilee (2:1; 4:46; 21:1); that Sychar is near Shechem (4:5). He has what one might call a street by street knowledge of Jerusalem. He knows that sheepgate and the pool near it (5:2); the pool of Siloam (9:7); Solomons Porch (10:23; the brook Kidron (18:1; the payment which is called Gabbatha (19:13); Golgotha, which is like a skull (19:17). It must be remembered that Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70 and that John did not write until A.D. 100 or thereby; and yet from his memory he knows Jerusalem like the back of his hand.

- DATE OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN There are two primary views of dating the Gospel of John.

o The first and most traditional view . dates the writing toward the end of the first century. A.D. 85 to 98. This would place the writing close to the end of Johns life.

Those holding this view normally place the site of the writing at Ephesus.

External history of the times coupled with speculations as to why John wrote the Gospel adds most of the reasoning behind accepting this timeframe in the latter part of the first century.

They also hold that John most likely dictated the writing or even possibly just gave his approval to that being recorded by those who recalled his past teaching of the life of Christ.

The reason for this speculation was because of his advanced age (90 to 100 years old.)

o The second and more recent view suggests that the Gospel was written as early as 50 A.D. but no later than 70 A.D. Internal evidence in the Gospel itself is the

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most convincing reason for accepting these earlier dates of writing.

Interestingly .. Burton Coffman outlines the dating of the Gospel early in the writing of his commentary on John as being between approximately 80 to 98 A.D. but later adds this note (pg. 12.)

Note: Regarding Date of This Gospel

Further years of study and research have confirmed and hardened the impression in our hearts when this commentary was first written, that the actual date of this gospel is much earlier than is generally supposed. The epic work of John A.T. Robinson in Redating the New Testament (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1977) is one of the most significant works of this century with regard to the date of the New Testament, all of which we believe to be correct. Much of Johns Gospel, especially that of the great discourse chapters 13-18, was likely to have been written down very shortly after the events, perhaps in a matter of days or weeks. In fact, Robinson made this section of John to be the first of the NT Chronologically, with some portions of his Gospel being added later at the time of its publication, but still prior to 70 A.D.

I believe the earlier dating seems most likely to be correct . primarily based on internal evidence in the Gospel of John itself as well as other overall New Testament internal evidence.

Most of the later dating .. seems to be based on quite a bit of historical speculation.

o Consequently.. to me, the case for the later dating is rather unconvincing but scattered data for this traditional view is both abundant and persistent.

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- WHY WRITTEN

o This is clearly stated in the book itself:

John 20:30-31 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. RSV

- GENUINENESS

o The New Testament Commentary by William Hendriksen starts off with this comment

The Gospel according to John is the most amazing book that was ever written. Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. This may well be the attitude of anyone who steps upon the threshold of the study of this book; for it its testimony is true, the faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God has received glorious confirmation. The reason for this will become clear immediately.

Hendriksen goes on to say . The author of the Fourth Gospel is represented as one who belongs to the same race, stock, and family as does his hero. He is introduced as a contemporary and eye-witness (21:24; cf. 1 John 1:1-4). He belongs not only to the wide circle of the Masters followers, but according to tradition he is one of the twelve, and within that group of twelve he is one of the three (Mark 5:37); 9:2; 14:33). But even if one should object to these references to the Synoptics and should wish to confine himself to the testimony of the Fourth Gospel itself, he would have to grant that the author is here regarded as one of the two earliest disciples (1:35, 40). This conclusion naturally follows, unless one should adopt the improbable view that the unnamed disciple in 21:24 is someone else that the unnamed disciple in 1:35, 40. And of these two he is the one who represents himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved (13:23).