Dr. Potana's Teaching

1. The Gospel of John

2. JOHN AND THE SYNOPTICS
The Gospel of John (the “Fourth Gospel”) is not one of
the Synoptic Gospels. It is generally dissimilar in its
contents, arrangement, and structure. All three Synoptic
Gospels move from Jesus’ Galilee ministry to his
journey to Jerusalem to his ministry in Jerusalem.

3. JOHN AND THE SYNOPTICS
The turning point in all three Synoptic Gospels is the
confession of Peter, after which Jesus proclaims his
intent to journey to Jerusalem (compare Mk 8:27-33).

4. By contrast, the Gospel of John discusses Jesus’
frequent movement between Galilee and Jerusalem (2:1,
12-13; 4:3-4, 46; 5:1; 6:1; 6:17; 7:1, 2, 14; 10:22, 40;
12:1), since Jesus takes several trips to Jerusalem to
celebrate various feasts.
The literary turning point of John is the raising of
Lazarus and the resultant opposition among the Jewish
leaders. The Synoptics include a “cleansing of the
temple” during Jesus’ passion week, while John includes
one early in the narrative (John 2:13-22).

5. The Synoptic Gospels include the temptation of Jesus,
parables, exorcisms, the transfiguration, the trial before
the Sanhedrin, and the institution of the Lord’s Supper.
The Gospel of John contains none of these.
The Gospel of John contains the marriage in Cana, the
account of Nicodemus, the account of the Samaritan
woman at the well, the raising of Lazarus, the washing
of the disciples’ feet, the “Farewell Discourses,” and the
account of “Doubting Thomas.” The Synoptic Gospels
contain none of these.

6. The Gospel of John includes seven “I Am” assertions
not found in the Synoptics (I am the Bread of Life;
Light; Door; Good Shepherd; Resurrection and the Life;
Way, Truth, and Life; True Vine). The first eleven
chapters of John are also arranged around seven “signs”
(miracles attesting to Jesus’ true identity). Many of
these seven “signs” are peculiar to John. The only
miracle to be found in all four Gospels is the feeding of
the 5000.

7. One senses a definite turning point in the Gospel
of John after the raising of Lazarus. Early in the
Gospel, the Jesus’ “hour” “has/had not yet come”
(2:4; 7:30); in chapter 12 His hour “has come”
(12:23); and by chapter 13 it “had come” (13:1).

8. The greatest sign, of course, is Jesus’ resurrection.
Jesus also performs the post-resurrection miracle
of the supernatural catch of fish (Jn 21:1-14).
The miracle of walking on water is found in Matt
14:22-33; Mark 6:45-52; and Jn 6:16-21, but not
Luke.

9. Author
The question of authorship is tied to the identity of the
“beloved disciple” within the Gospel of John (Jn 21:20,
24). This “beloved disciple” leaned upon Jesus at the
Last Supper (13:32), was present at the crucifixion
(19:26), and raced with Peter to the empty tomb (20:2).

10. The “classic” argument for the authorship of John uses a
series of concentric circles to pinpoint the authorship:
the author was a Jew, who was familiar with Palestine,
who was an eyewitness of events, who was one of the
twelve apostles, and one of Jesus’ closest associates,
who was John the son of Zebedee. John the Son of
Zebedee was from a wealthy family from Galilee (Mk
1:20; 15:40-41; 16:1; Lk 5:10).

11. Along with Peter and James, he formed part of the
“inner circle” of Jesus’ apostles. These three, for
example, were the only disciples to experience Jesus’
transfiguration (Matt 17:1).
As a final note, it is interesting that the Gospel of John
simply refers to “John the Baptist” as John, without the
normal distinction of “the Baptist” attached.

12. “The simplest explanation is that John the son of
Zebedee is the one person who would not feel it
necessary to distinguish the other John from himself.”
Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian agree with this
attribution of the Gospel of John to the son of Zebedee.
D. A. Carson and Douglas Moo, Introduction to the New Testament, 2nd ed. (Grand
Rapids: Zondervan, 2005), 237.

13. Provenance: Irenaeus states that the Gospel of John was
written from Ephesus.
Date: Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria inform us that
John wrote the last of the four Gospel authors. The Rylands
papyrus fragment P52 (found in Egypt) contains portions of
John 18 and has been dated to circa A.D. 130. This external
evidence proves that the composition and circulation of
John must have been accomplished prior to this point. Most
conservative scholars date the composition to the 80s or
90s.

14. Audience: The immediate audience was probably located
around Ephesus within Asia Minor, but John probably had a
wider intention as well. The evangelist states his purpose in
John 20:31: “But these are written that you may believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you
may have life in His name.”
Theme: “Jesus Christ the Son of God and God the Son”

15. Emphases:
1. An emphasis on believing. The Gospel of John
always uses the verb “believe” (pisteuō) and never
the noun “faith” (pistis). “Believe” is found 98 times
in John, including the purpose statement in John
20:31 (“but these are written that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that
believing; you may have life in His name”).

16. 2. An emphasis on love. “Love” is found 36 times
in the Synoptic Gospels combined but 57 times
in John alone. The only real ethical imperative
is found in John 13:34: the “new
commandment” to love one another. As the
Father loved the Son, and the Son loved the
disciples, so the disciples were to love one
another.

17. 3. An emphasis on dualistic contrasts. The
Gospel of John contrasts light and darkness,
truth and lies, flesh and Spirit, etc. For an
introduction to these dualistic contrasts, read
John 3:18-31 and 8:42-44.

18. 4. An emphasis on misunderstandings. The Jews
misunderstood what Jesus meant by “destroying the temple”
(2:19-21), Nicodemus misunderstood what Jesus meant by
being “born again” (3:3-5), the Samaritan woman
misunderstood what Jesus meant by “living water” (4:13-14;
cf. 7:37-39), the disciples misunderstood what Jesus meant
by stating that Lazarus was “sleeping” (11:11-12), and Peter
misunderstood Jesus’ intent in washing the disciples’ feet
(13:6-10). Throughout the narrative, Jesus speaks “from
above” while his listeners tend to think “from below.”

19. 5. Emphasis on Jesus as God. The Word that became incarnate
was with God and was God (Jn 1:1, 14). Thomas correctly calls
Jesus “my Lord and my God” (20:27-28). The Jewish leaders
wanted to stone Jesus after he proclaimed, “Most assuredly, I
say to you, before Abraham was, I AM” (8:58-59). They
accused Him of blasphemy and tried to stone Him again after he
proclaimed, “I and My Father are one” (10:30-33).
6. John emphasizes “high Christology.” “Low Christology”
describes Jesus Christ in terms that could be true of other great
humans (“prophet,” “rabbi,” “teacher,” etc.). “High
Christology” describes Jesus Christ in terms that point to His
divinity (“God,” “Lord,” the “I Am,” etc.).