Week 3: The Gospel of John December, 2015 Saint Anne Adult Forum

Week #1 Overview & Context Gospel of Mark Week #2 Gospel of Matthew Gospel of Luke Week #3 Gospel of John Recap & Reflection

Life of Jesus (0 – 32 AD) Life of Jesus (0 – 32 AD) Oral Tradition, Epistles, Sermons (30 – 70 years) Mark (66 – 72 AD) Mark (66 – 72 AD) Matthew & Luke (80’s AD) Matthew & Luke (80’s AD) John (90’s AD) John (90’s AD)

Mark First Gospel, written late 60’s or early 70’s Shortest Gospel Presents a very human Jesus Cross is central story, the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Portrays the disciples in an unflattering light Audience was group of Christ-followers living in Rome

Matthew Much material organized around a series of teachings Presents a more divine, less human Jesus than Mark Jesus came to fulfill the Hebrew scriptures, but still portrays Jewish leaders & people in a negative light Stressed discipleship, how God wants us to live Along with Luke, likely written in the 80’s Luke Longest book in the New Testament Much material organized around a journey to Jerusalem Sophisticated language & grammar Worship & prayer; ministry to the disadvantaged

Author Christian tradition attributes book to the beloved disciple Significant speculation, especially given that the disciple was a fisherman prior to taking up his ministry – book displays a well- developed sense of theology Dating We likely have a later edition – 3 rd, 4 th, or even 5 th version Disciple John, if the author, probably responsible only for the 1 st edition Consensus is 90’s AD

Easy answer is “everything” Over 90% of material has no parallel in the Synoptics Basic story is consistent, in all respects, with other Gospels Presents ministry in expanded timeframe (3 year period) but more localized geography (concentrates on Jerusalem) Uses figurative speech to recount stories, but contains no parables Unique to John Changing water into wine at Cana (2:1 - 12) Encounter with Samaritan woman at the well (4:1 - 42) Rescue of adulterous woman (7:53 - 8:11) Healing Blind Man (9:1 – 41) Washing disciples feet (13:1-20) Not Found in John Eating with tax collectors & sinners Condemnation of the rich Words about helping the poor Loving one’s neighbor Disciples to deny themselves, or to renounce their possessions

Jesus is True Revelation of God He reveals God to humanity so that people might know God and be liberated and transformed by that revelation.” (Powell pg 181) Jesus tells people what God is like God loves the world (3:16), God is true (3:33), God answers prayer (16:23) Jesus shows people what God is like He does this through his deeds and miracles. They are indications of Jesus’ legitimacy, and show people what God intends for us Jesus is what God is like He not only discloses the truth, he is the truth (14:6) He alone can say “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” (14:9) He is the way, the truth, the life; through him we experience life as God intends.

Abiding in Christ Jesus in John’s Gospel is a personal God, and we are intended to exist in a personal relationship with Him (1:11-12) It’s not just about believing in Him (20:24-29), but loving Him (8:42) and abiding in him (6:56) Although John supports the traditional concepts of salvation, his main focus “is on the way that Jesus affects quality of life in the here and now. Eternal life is more than just life after death, but a present reality.” (3:36; 5:24) (Powell, p 184) If His words abide in us (15:7), and we keep His commandments, especially the one to love one another (15:12), then we may remain in relationship with Jesus and experience His joy. (15:11)

The Role of the Holy Spirit John’s Gospel emphasizes the Parakletos, the “Paraclete” Translated as “Advocate”, Counselor”, or “Helper”, this is what we’ve come to experience as the Holy Spirit Primary role is described as revealing truth and teaching the disciples what they need to know (14:25-26; 16:13)

The World & the Jews “John’s Gospel portrays the world as an environment that hates Jesus and his followers.” (Powell, p.186) Not intrinsically evil, but didn’t accept Jesus (1:10) Disciples are to be in the world, but not of it (17:15-16) Increasing sense of separation between Judaism and its offspring John uses “the Jews” to refer to a group that doesn’t include Jesus or his followers They have lost their status as people of God (8:39-47) Although passages from John seem to support anti-Semitism, the overall message is one of “splitting off” from Judaism

Loving One Another Word “love” occurs more then 50 times in this Gospel, yet no mention of… Loving one’s neighbor (Mark 12:31) Or loving one’s enemies (Matt 5:44, Luke 6:27) The love mentioned is inwardly focused, towards other believers This is “a new commandment…that you love one another just as I have loved you” (13:34)

The “Messianic Secret” is gone Jesus proclaims himself to be divine in very explicit terms John’s Gospel is the only one of the four to clearly and explicitly identify Jesus as God. Jesus was not only with God in the beginning; he was God (1:1), and also presented himself as “God the Son” (1:18) And yet He was also fully human, feeling grief (11:33-35), fatigue (4:6), and anguish (12:27)

Last Gospel, put into current form in 90’s Majority of content is unique to John, with no overlap in the Synoptics but still in synch with them on theology Jesus is divine, yet also has a human nature Emphasized love, yet focused inwardly on the church Introduced, and emphasized, the Holy Spirit Revealed a movement that was less and less a variant of Judaism, and more a separate religion of its own

The Prodigal Son The Lost Sheep The Lost Coin These seemingly simple stories encapsulate a great deal of theological significance “Each and every person matters so much to God that His Son became a human being to seek us.” Luke 15

His Father: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) Criminals on the cross: “Today, you will be with me in Paradise (Luke 23:43) Mary and John: “Woman, behold your son!” and “Behold, your mother!” (John 19:26-27) His Father: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Mark 15:34, Matt 27:46) “I thirst” (John 19:28) “It is finished” (John 19:30) “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46) Each Gospel author chose to emphasize a different facet of the crucifixion

Revisit the “Why 4 Gospels” question Why were the Gospels important to the early church? “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) Many have struggled with the implications of this statement. What does it mean to you? Think about what each Gospel means to you. How do you reconcile the many different facets of Jesus?