An Overview of the Gospel of John

The Gospel of John (Overview)

The gospel of John was of course was penned by John who was one of the sons of Zebedee. Likely penned while John was in Ephesus about the year 90 A.D. This makes it the last of the gospels written.

Its central theme is stated near the end of the Book in Joh 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.”

The deity of Christ is asserted in this gospel, in a series of “I Am” claims sprinkled throughout the Book. These “I Am” declarations, identify Jesus with the “I Am” (Yahweh) of the Old Testament.

This gospel contains no parables, but many personal interviews, (Nicodemus the classic example in Jn 3:1-21)

This gospel contains seven miracles or signs which point us to Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the Living God! Five of these miracles are not recorded elsewhere in Scripture. The miracles include:

Turning water into wine.

The healing of the nobleman’s son.

The healing of the paralytic.

The feeding of the multitude.

The walking on water.

The giving of sight to a blind man.

The raising of Lazarus from the dead.

John also emphasizes the human nature of Jesus. In this gospel we will learn that Jesus hungered, He was thirsty, He was weary, He experienced pain and death. These facts were included to thwart the false teaching of the Gnostics who denied  the human nature of Jesus.

It’s important to note that this gospel does not always move along in a direct timeline, it is more thematic. Some have likened it to a spiral theme that rises higher and higher, growing wider and wider, but always hovering over the same area, and that area is marked out for us in the first couple of verses in the Book. It never leaves the central theme of the Book, always coming back to and touching the cross, where the love of God for mankind is clearly evidenced!

Probably the most quoted passage in Scripture is found in this Book in chapter three, verse sixteen.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

In the days ahead as we go through this Book, my prayer is that the truth of Jn 3:16 will settle deep within your heart, and you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that believing you will have eternal life.