Tuesday, November 24, 2020

John's Gospel

The Gospel of John is distinct from the other three synoptic gospels. Luke presents Jesus in His humanity as the Son of Man; John portrays Christ in His divinity as the Son of God. In fact, John is the most topical and theological of the four gospels, and his purpose for writing is made clear:

20:31 But these are written, that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you might have life through His name.

To accomplish this, John selectively recorded seven miracles of Jesus to convince his readers that Jesus is indeed the very Son of God so 'that you might believe'. He included the upper room discourse and the greatest miracle—the resurrection—so 'that believing you might have life through His name.'

It is interesting to note that 'the disciple whom Jesus loved', or as others put it, 'the beloved disciple' who leaned in the bosom of the Master, exhibited two peculiarities in his writings. First, he uses 'the Word' (Logos in Greek) to address Jesus which no other New Testament writers do; and second, 'Love' is always his central theme and emphasis. For someone who had such an intimate and privileged relationship with the Son of God while on earth it is hardly surprising given his personal knowledge and appreciation of Jesus' divine nature, to say of creation: 'The world was made by him.' (1:10), and also of redemption: 'For God so loved the world…' (3:16).

Indeed, diligent students of this gospel can hardly miss the clue John gave when he contrasted Moses with Jesus in the opening chapter, only to affirm it again later by Jesus' very own words to the Jews:

8:58 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.


OUTLINE OF JOHN

1. Incarnation of the Son of God (1:1-18)
        a. Pre-incarnate Origin  (1:1-5)
        b. Prologue (1:6-18)
2. Presentation of the Son of God (1:19-4:54)
        a. John the Baptist (1:19-51)
        b. Miracle 1: Turning Water into Wine (2:1-12)
        c. Encounter with Nicodemus (2:13-3:36)
        d. Encounter with the Samaritan Woman (4:1-42)
        e. Miracle 2: Healing the Nobleman's Son (4:43-54)
3. Opposition to the Son of God (5:1-12:50)
        a. Miracle 3: Healing the Impotent Man (5:1-9)
        b. Rejected by the Jews (5:10-47)
        c. Miracle 4: Feeding the 5000 (6:1-14)
        d. Miracle 5: Walking on Water (6:15-21)
        e. Bread of Life (6:22-71)
        f . Feast of Tabernacles (7:1-8:11)
        g. Light of the World (8:12-59)
        h. Miracle 6: Healing the Man Born Blind (9:1-41)
        i . The Good Shepherd (10:1-21)
        j . Feast of Dedication (10:22-42)
        k. Miracle 7: Raising of Lazarus (11:1-44)
        l . Events at Bethany (11:45-12:11)
        m. Events at Jerusalem (12:12-50)
4. Final Hours of the Son of God (13:1-17:26)
        a. Washing the Disciples' Feet (13:1-20)
        b. The Upper Room Discourse (13:31-14:31)
        c. Gethsemane Discourse (15:1-16:33)
        d. The High Priestly Prayer (17:1-26)
5. Triumph of the Son of God (18:1-21:25)
        a. Arrest and Trials (18:1-19:16)
        b. Crucifixion and Death (19:17-37)
        c. Burial and Resurrection (19:38-20:10)
        d. Appearances (20:11-21:25) 

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