Blog Series on the Gospels: Part 4
The Gospel of John. John is the most unique of the 4 Gospels.
The Gospel of John is remarkably unique. The other three gospels are called the Synoptic Gospels, literally meaning “seeing together.” While each gospel has its own distinctive perspective, Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell most of the same stories in almost the same order. John, however, is different in a few ways. It covers a different time span than the others and focuses on different themes.
John was written by (surprise!) the apostle John, who says he was “The disciple whom Jesus loved” (13:23). He was in Jesus’ inner circle with Peter and James. Where the other Gospels focus more on an Earthly perspective of Jesus, almost to say, “This Jesus who walked with us is God,” John has more of a heavenly perspective as if to say, “This God who loves us came down to walk with us.” He focuses on theological truths and dialogues more than miracles or parables. Matthew begins with the earthly genealogy of Jesus. Mark and Luke begin with John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus here on earth. John doesn’t begin with the earthly side of Jesus; He begins by declaring that Jesus is God, who has been around forever.
John 1:1-5
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him, all things were made; without him, nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
John focuses less on Jesus’ miracles and more on His heavenly character- that He is Messiah. His purpose was not to make a complete and concise history of what Jesus did on Earth; it was to help people know Jesus. He makes it abundantly clear why he is writing, saying, “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” (John 20:31).
Jesus frequently uses metaphors to talk about his heavenly identity. Because John focuses so much on the deity of God, he records more of these than any other gospel, giving us some beloved pictures of Christ;
“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35).
