John: Another point of view

I thought I'd write about reading the Gospel of John before I leave town for a few days.

I love all the Gospels. Each has its own unique characteristics. What I like best about John is the way it presents "the rest of the story." You probably know that Matthew, Mark and Luke are called the "Synoptic Gospels" because they have more or less the same viewpoint and seem to draw on common sources (whatever those sources may be!). Scholars believe John was written a number of decades afterwards. It almost seems like John read the Synoptics then said, "I have some important comments to add."

There are some significant differences in John, compared to the Synoptics. For example, John describes at least two and maybe three trips to Jerusalem for Passover. He doesn't really describe the Last Supper, with the bread and the wine, although he has a lengthy "Upper Room Discourse." John is the only Gospel to tell the story of the raising of Lazarus.  That sort of thing.

Although the language (in Greek) is pretty easy to read (compared to, say, Luke-Acts), the Gospel of John is quite sophisticated literarily. For example, there are interesting nuances like Jesus' words to Nathanel in 1:50 "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that..." that are echoed in His words to Thomas in 20:29, "Because you have seen me you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." There are all sorts of interesting plays on words, double meanings, and such.

John's Gospel always feels a little more "polemical" than the other Synoptics. Jesus seems to spend more time arguing with other theologians, and there are also passages (which could be the narrator, John, rather than Jesus speaking) that are also quite theological in tone.

Years ago, I was reading about the so-called Gnostic Gospels, books written about the same time as John that were the beginnings of Gnosticism, a heresy with some similarities to Christianity. Although I've forgotten most of what I was reading back then, I remember being struck that quite a bit of John seemed to be aimed directly at those early Gnostics.

I suppose this is another illustration of the fact that the more you dig into and study the Gospels, or any Bible book for that matter, the more fascinating it becomes.

There are so many passages in John that I love. Whenever I get to John 11:25, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies. And whoever lives and believes in me will never die," I hear the exquisite musical setting of this from John Rutter's Requiem.

I am also extremely fond of John 15:1-17, the part about the vine and the branches. "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." It inspires me to do what I can to remain in Christ, which is primarily accomplished through prayer.

Neighbor, how long has it been since you read the Gospel of John? Well, that's too long.