Jesus: The Word of God

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1)

Tradition – John (the Apostle)  John the Apostle (beginning with Irenaeus in AD 180)  “The Beloved Disciple” in the Gospel of John  Traditionally considered the same author of the 3 Epistles of John and the Book of Revelation  John considered to have written gospel towards the end of his life at Ephesus Modern Scholarship  May be confused with another John, a Church elder, or a disciple of John.  May be written in stages and edited by several people

 Most likely written sometime between AD  Likely written for Jewish-Christians who were expelled from synagogues after the Roman Revolt The Roberts Papyrus (c. AD ) The oldest fragment of any New Testament text. John 18:31-33 on one side and 18:37-38 on the other.

 Contact with Synoptic Gospels likely  May have shared some traditions with Mark’s Gospel, and was likely aware of some traditions from Luke.  Did not rely heavily on them  Independent oral traditions preserved in the churches that contribute to its creation  Collection of miracles – Signs Source  Version of the Passion and Resurrection Narratives

 Written “so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God” (20:31)  Christology “from above”  Conflicts (e.g. light vs. darkness, truth vs. untruth)  “Who is Jesus?”  Jesus as Cosmic Redeemer  Scholars tend to agree on two purposes in the writing of John: 1. To combat false ideas about Jesus’ divinity or humanity 2. To oppose followers of John the Baptist who believed he was the Messiah

 Contains 3 (possibly 4) trips to Jerusalem, unlike Synoptics.  Structure:  Prologue (1:1-18)  Book of Signs (1:19 – 12:50)  Book of Glory (13:1 – 20:31)  Epilogue (21)

 New Characters – Nicodemus, Lazarus, etc.  Some differences in events  More interested in chronology  Longer discourses and conversations, each thematically related to an episode of Jesus’ life  More poetic and metaphorical  More explicitly theological – Evangelist includes His own explanations  Jesus as Logos vs. Messianic Secret