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The Gospel According to Saint John, also known as the Gospel of John, or John's Gospel, is the last of the four New Testament gospels. It is believed to have been inspired by Luke's Gospel, with some material taken direct from Mark, so could not have been written before the early years of the second century. It is somewhat gnostic in tone, compared with the other gospels. Some scholars believe that it was originally written in a community with gnostic tendencies but that it was altered after the split in this community, identified in 1 John, to make it more acceptable to the Church that was by then becoming the dominant Christian sect.

The Cambridge Ancient History (XI The Imperial Peace A.D. 70-192) says, "The Gospel of John is not intended to be read as a biography, it is a mystical and theological interpretation of the life and teachings of Christ. The author draws material from Mark and Luke; doubtless also from independent tradition, neither the extent nor historical value of such tradition would seem great."

Themes

There are three themes unique to John's Gospel and not found in the Synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke).

Divinity and pre-existence of Jesus

The Synoptic gospel authors did not fully equate Jesus with God. According to Mark, Jesus had some extraordinary powers and God called him his son, but Mark did not believe him to be one with God. For example: (Mark 6:5) And he (Jesus) could there do no mighty work. (Mark 10:18) Why call me good. There is none good but God.

John's Gospel, from the very first verse, says that Jesus was with God in the beginning, and equates him to God. Among the gospels, this is unique to John's Gospel.

The divinity of Jesus is undoubtedly the major theme of John's Gospel.

Comparison of the 'disciple whom Jesus loved' with Peter

Although John accepted Peter as leader, he frequently has the 'disciple whom Jesus loved' surpass Peter, as if wishing to undermine Peter. The 'disciple whom Jesus loved' is anonymous throughout the Gospel, but tradition holds that it was the disciple John.

Some examples where the 'disciple whom Jesus loved' was made to surpass Peter, being either more favoured, more trustworthy, faster or more perceptive:

  • This disciple reclined next to Jesus at the last supper. Peter dared not ask Jesus who would betray him, but this disciple did.
  • Even after Peter betrayed Jesus and fled, this disciple remained with his mother at the cross. Jesus entrusted him with the care of his mother.
  • He and Peter ran to the grave, but this disciple arrived first, so he was the first who "saw and believed".
  • When the risen Jesus appeared by Sea of Tiberius, this disciple was the first to recognise him, saying to Peter, "It is the Lord". Also at this appearance, Jesus said that this disciple shall not die.

Even the title the author used, the 'disciple whom Jesus loved', implies greater favour than that given to Peter. It may be that the author of John's Gospel was keen to eliminate any risk of the early Christians worshipping Peter, rather than just Jesus. Even by keeping the special disciple deliberately anonymous, he could have been avoiding the risk of creating a cult around that disciple.

On the other hand, Jesus symbolically took away from Simon Peter the name 'Peter' that he had previously given him, when he asked whether Peter loved him, each time theatrically calling Peter "Simon, son of Jonah". The Greek language has different words for different types of love, including agape (unconditional love) and philia (brotherly love). In John's Gospel, Jesus implied that the other disciples gave him unconditional love when he asked Peter, "Do you love (agape) me more than these (the other disciples)?" Each time, Peter answered that he loved Jesus, but each time he was only able to offer brotherly love (philia).

Critical portrait of Thomas

Elaine Pagels sees a principal objective to refute the beliefs of the Thomas Christians. Only John presents a challenging and critical portrait of the disciple he calls "Thomas, the one called Didymus". Of all the disciples, Thomas was made to show doubt at different times. And, in John's Gospel, Thomas did not receive the Holy Spirit when all the other disciples received it from the risen Jesus. So, once again, John can be seen as opposing a cult around one of the disciples.

Structure and elaboration

The author of John's Gospel was not concerned to copy the structure of Luke's Gospel carefull, as long as he did not directly contradict that gospel. He transposed the Cleansing of the Temple, wherein he overturned the tables of the moneychanger, from the end of the gospel to the very beginning. He moved a scene in which Jesus told the fishermen to cast their nets on the other side, from a period before the crucifixion to the very last appearance after the resurrection.

The miracles that John described were more impressive than those of the earlier synoptic gospels. Whereas Luke has Jesus talk in a parable of the hypothetical resurrection of Lazarus, John has Jesus really raise him from the dead.

Origen (Commentary on John), in defending John's Gospel, said "Although he does not always tell the truth literally, he always tells it spiritually."

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