The gospel of John not only relates Jesus to all humanity but to the very creation of the cosmos. "In the beginning the Word already was. The Word was in God's presence, and what God was, the Word was." Jesus is the "Word made flesh," the "light that shines in the darkness," the "Father's only Son." But the fourth gospel also uses the title "Rabbi" for Jesus, even more frequently than the gospel of Matthew. The language of the gospel suggests, therefore, that it was written for a community of Greek-speaking, Jewish Christians who believed Greek philosophical notions were helpful in articulating the ultimate significance of Jesus Christ. Jesus is understood as the revelation of God, because he is God's only Son and, therefore, "is nearest to the Father's heart." The gospel of John presents in more memorable language Paul's audacious assertion about Jesus Christ that: "From him and through him and for him all things exist." (Rom. 11:36)

John the Baptist is introduced into the story as a man "sent from God" to be a witness to the light that is not overcome by the darkness. The one who is light came into the world but was not recognized. He came to his own people but they did not accept him. "But to all who did accept him, to those who put their trust in him, he gave the right to become children of God." In Jesus, the gospel tells us, the word of God became flesh. And in the gospel of John, the Baptist witnesses to Jesus as the one he said would come after him, but "ranks ahead" of him. "Before I was born, the Baptist says, "he already was."

Then the author of the gospel of John says that through the word made flesh everyone has received God's grace: "for the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one, the author tells us, "has ever seen God." But "God's only Son" has made God known to us.

As we begin the story of the ministry of Jesus, Pharisees ask John the Baptist if he is the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet. He answers that he is none of these but says, quoting from Isaiah 40:3, as we read in the first three gospels: "I am a voice crying in the wilderness, 'Make straight the way for the Lord.'" Given the very different beginning of the gospel of John, it is striking that like the other New Testament gospels the fourth gospel puts the words of Isaiah on the lips of John the Baptist. This must have been a very strong tradition in the early churches, if all four gospel writers are aware of it and present it. In this gospel the Baptist explains that he baptizes with water, but he does not tell us that the one coming after him will baptize with the Holy Spirit (gospel of Mark) and with fire (gospels of Matthew and Luke). John the Baptist does repeat the saying, however, which appears in all three of the synoptic gospels, that he is "not worthy to unfasten the strap of his sandal." The Baptist humbly admits that he is unworthy even to be the servant of the one who is coming after him.

We do not read that John baptizes Jesus, but John says, "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven like a dove and come to rest on him." This statement is also recorded in the first three New Testament gospels. Then John adds that the one who sent him said, "The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and rest is the one who is to baptize in the Holy Spirit." The gospel of John, like the synoptic gospels, proclaims that the Spirit came to rest on Jesus, and that Jesus has been commissioned to baptize in (the name of) the Holy Spirit.

The fourth gospel relates that the next day the Baptist identifies Jesus as "the Lamb of God . . . who takes away the sin of the world." Then John the Baptist directs two of his disciples to follow Jesus. They call Jesus "Rabbi," and the gospel tells us this means "Teacher." When Jesus accepts these two disciples of John as his followers, one of the two tells his brother, Simon Peter, "We have found the Messiah." The author of the gospel explains that Messiah "is the Hebrew for Christ." Clearly the author expected that some of his Greek-speaking readers might not know Hebrew — not even the Hebrew word for savior, which in Greek is Christ.

When Jesus meets Simon, Jesus looks him over and exclaims that he is to be called (in Aramaic) "Cephas," which the author of the gospel of John tells us means "the Rock" (or Peter in Greek). Jesus then calls Philip to be a disciple, and Philip tells Nathanael that they "have found the man foretold by the prophets." When Philip explains to Nathaniel that "it is Jesus son of Joseph, from Nazareth," Nathanael says scornfully, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" But as he comes to see for himself, and after Jesus speaks to him, as if he knows him, Nathanael says, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God." Then Jesus tells Nathanael that he will see "heaven wide open and God's angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man."

Although a significant piece of the John the Baptist story in the gospel of John is the same as in the first three gospels, the rest of the opening chapter of the gospel is very different. Besides the cosmic vision of the preface, John calls Jesus "the Lamb of God" and directs disciples to follow Jesus. Philip is named among the disciples in the first three gospels, but Nathanael is only mentioned in the gospel of John. Moreover, the conversations between Jesus and Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, and between Philip and Nathanael are unique to this gospel. However, the prophecy at the end of the chapter is the same reference to the Son of Man described in Daniel that is in each of the first three gospels.

Of the four gospel accounts of John the Baptist, the version of the story in the gospel of John is the most different. The fourth gospel reports that Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, is a follower of John the Baptist, but begins to follow Jesus after hearing John's comment about him. Andrew also convinces his brother, Simon (Peter) to follow. In John 3 we read that Jesus and his disciples are baptizing in the same region as John (although the next chapter clarifies that only the disciples of Jesus were actually doing the baptizing). When John's disciples ask him about the effectiveness of the baptism being offered by those following Jesus, the Baptist testifies that Jesus is the Son of God. "Whoever puts his faith in the Son," the Baptist tells his disciples, "has eternal life." All of this detail about John the Baptist is unique to the gospel of John.

It seems unlikely that the authors of the first three gospels would have omitted the identification of Jesus as the Son of God by John the Baptist, if they had been aware of it, as this account says so clearly what is implied in their renditions of the story of the Baptist. Most likely the authors of the gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke did not know this story. Perhaps the author of the fourth gospel attributes these words to the Baptist as a way of adding emphasis to his testimony.

The Aramaic words, the use of the title "Rabbi" for Jesus, and the references to prophecy all imply that the author of this gospel is Jewish. Yet, he must be writing for Jewish Christians who are very much at home in Greek culture, and perhaps also for Greeks who know little about Jewish culture.

At a wedding in Cana, Jesus changes water into wine. The author of the gospel of John identifies this as "the first of the signs which revealed his glory and led his disciples to believe in him." In the gospel of Mark, Jesus says he will not give the people a sign, and in the gospels of Matthew and Luke Jesus refers to the story of Jonah as the only sign he will give. But in the gospel of John, Jesus gives a number of signs to secure the faith of his disciples.

From Cana, Jesus goes to Capernaum "with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples." (We do not find in the gospel of John any stories about Jesus criticizing his family or being abandoned by them, as in the gospels of Mark and Luke. On the contrary, the mother of Jesus and his brothers seem to be supporting his ministry from the very beginning.) At the time of the Jewish Passover, Jesus goes to Jerusalem and drives out the moneychangers from the temple. When "the Jews" challenge Jesus and ask for a sign of his authority, Jesus says "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again." In the gospels of Mark and Matthew, Jesus is accused of saying he will destroy the temple and raise it in three days, but Jesus never says this. The gospel of Luke omits the accusation, but the gospel of John reports that Jesus made such a statement.

In the fourth gospel, however, the author explains that by saying this Jesus is referring to his body and his own death and resurrection, and he reports that the disciples understood and remembered this explanation after his resurrection. The gospel also tells us that in Jerusalem many "put their trust" in Jesus, who seems to know that they will desert him because he holds back from them. What is most striking is that the cleansing of the temple in the gospel of John takes place at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus, rather than at the end as in the first three New Testament gospels. (In fact, in the gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke, Jesus does not even go to Jerusalem during his ministry until the end of his ministry. In contrast, Jesus does most of his teaching in the gospel of John while he is in Jerusalem.)

Those who read the Bible literally must argue that Jesus cleansed the temple twice, but if this were so it would be hard to understand why anyone would have been surprised the second time. It seems more likely that the cleansing of the temple is related in the gospel of John at the beginning of the ministry of Jesus as a way of emphasizing his opposition to "the Jews" who will reject him. In the other three gospels Jesus confronts and criticizes scribes, Sadducees, elders, and Pharisees, but only in the gospel of John do we read that "the Jews" oppose Jesus. Whoever wrote the gospel of John must have believed that "the Jews," who refused to accept freedom from the law through faith in Christ, would be judged harshly for their blindness.

This condemnation is also reflected in the third chapter of the gospel of John by the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus, a Pharisee. Nicodemus, who is said to be a member of the Jewish Council, is unable to understand that "no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born from water and spirit." Jesus mocks him: "You a teacher of Israel and ignorant of such things!" Then Jesus explains that he is the Son of Man, who has come down from heaven to be lifted up again "in order that everyone who has faith may in him have eternal life." This emphasis on faith, in contrast to the commandments of the Jewish law, is consistent with the teachings of Paul. Furthermore, even as Paul fiercely attacks Jewish Christians who oppose him, the gospel of John targets "the Jews" who resist Jesus.

Because the language of the fourth gospel is so different from the language of the first three gospels, it seems obvious that the words of Jesus in the gospel of John express the self-understanding of the Christian community for which the gospel was written. Perhaps this community of Jewish believers was very critical of "the Jews" because its members had been rejected by Jewish leaders who saw Christian teachings as a threat to their heritage. Their fears were, of course, well founded. The tragedy of the New Testament is that its message of good news has been used for centuries to justify Jewish persecution.

With remorse and repentance Christians must acknowledge that the anger expressed by Jesus toward "the Jews" in the gospel of John has for centuries been used to foment anti-Semitism. It is important to note, however, that the scathing attacks on "the Jews" by Jesus in the gospel of John are contradicted by the accounts of Jesus in the other three gospels. Therefore, the condemnation of "the Jews" in the gospel of John cannot be the words of Jesus of Nazareth, a Jewish healer and teacher who was followed by Jewish disciples in Galilee almost two thousand years ago. The Jesus of the gospel of John is speaking for an early Greek-speaking, Jewish Christian community that has defined its good news sharply over against a community of Jews that may have found wisdom in the teachings of Jesus but refused to accept him as the Messiah.

The third chapter of the gospel of John contains a much-quoted text: "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that everyone who has faith in him may not perish but have eternal life." (3:16) Most English translations of the Greek version of this verse use the phrase "whoever believes in him" rather than "who has faith in him." But in the Greek of the New Testament "believes in" means "to have faith." To believe in Jesus is to give your life in following him, not simply to believe certain things about him.

Another way of making this clear is by distinguishing the two nouns, faith and belief. Faith is trust. Belief is holding an idea or an opinion. The word "belief" is rarely if ever used in English translations of the New Testament, because the Greek of the New Testament is clearly about faith not belief. So, whenever we encounter language about believing in God or Christ, we need to remember that this means trust not belief. This is clear in verse 18 of the third chapter of the gospel of John. Here Jesus teaches that no one "who puts his faith in him comes under judgment; but the unbeliever has already been judged because he has not put his trust in God's only Son." Here "unbeliever" means someone who does not trust in Jesus, and is unwilling to follow him.

Chapter 3 ends with a discussion between John the Baptist and his disciples. John clarifies that "Jesus must grow greater" as he becomes less, because the Father has entrusted the Son "with complete authority." Therefore, "Whoever puts his faith in the Son has eternal life." Whoever does not will find that "God's wrath rests upon him."

This final testimony by John the Baptist is unique to the gospel of John. It has the Baptist witness to the good news in words that might have been written by Paul. The gospel of John is all about faith. The noun never appears in the Greek version of the gospel, but the verb for faith is repeated again and again. The conflict between Jesus and Nicodemus reflects the conflict between Paul and the leaders of the church in Jerusalem. Jesus, like Paul, is preaching faith and not the law, and Nicodemus, like James the brother of Jesus, the leader of the church in Jerusalem and the main opponent of Paul, fails to understand and so resists the new teaching.

[ ] 1. The gospel of John draws on _________ to witness to the significance of Jesus Christ.

A. Greek philosophy B. Paul's letter to the Galatians C. 1 and 2 Peter

[ ] 2. Jesus is called "Rabbi" most often in the gospel of ______ .

A. John B. Matthew C. Mark D. Luke

[ ] 3. In the gospel of John, John the Baptist testifies that Jesus is _______ .

A. The Son of Man B. The Lamb of God C. The word of God made flesh

[ ] 4. In the gospel of John, _______ brings Simon (Peter) to Jesus .

A. Nathaniel B. Philip C. Andrew D. Thomas

[ ] 5. The gospel of John relates that _____________ baptizing near John the Baptist.

A. Jesus was B. Jesus and his disciples were C. The disciples were

[ ] 6. In the gospel of John, Jesus gives ________ to verify that he is the Messiah.

A. Only the sign of Jonah B. No signs C. Many signs

[ ] 7. In the gospel of John, the family of Jesus supports him __________ .

A. Throughout his ministry B. Only after his resurrection C. Hardly at all

[ ] 8. In the gospel of John, Jesus does most of his teaching _________ .

A. In Galilee B. In Jerusalem C. In Capernaum

[ ] 9. The gospel of John records that Jesus cleanses the temple of moneychangers _________ .

A. At the beginning of his ministry B. When he last came to Jerusalem C. Just before his arrest

[ ] 10. In the gospel of John the harsh condemnation of "the Jews" refers to ________ .

A. All Jews B. All the Israelites C. The Jews who opposed the author's church

[ ] 11. The Greek word in the New Testament translated as "faith" or "believe in" means _____ .

A. Belief B. Believe that C. Trust

[ ] 12. In the gospel of John, the Baptist says that God has entrusted Jesus with ________ .

A. The keys to the kingdom of heaven B. Inerrant doctrines C. Complete authority

Answers

If you wish, please respond to the following questions in your own words:

"Might recognizing the diversity of the four gospels enable us to accept the diversity among and within the churches?"

"As we see that the gospels were written to address divisive issues within the life of Christian communities, can we acknowledge that their inspiration is limited by the attitudes toward these issues that they express?"

"Can we embrace the witness of the gospel of John and yet repent of the harsh language against 'the Jews' that has been used by Christians to justify anti-Semitism?"

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