Studying John's Gospel

In 2007 the Bible Study Group studied St John's Gospel. A summary of the sessions is given below.

19th February: Origin and Contents

We started by examining what is special about John’s Gospel. The Gospels according to Matthew, Mark and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels because they give a synopsis or common outline of the story of Jesus. St John’s Gospel is a gospel with a difference. Clement of Alexandria referred to it as the Spiritual Gospel. The differences include:

It doesn’t start at Bethlehem or at the River Jordan, but in eternity.
John tells the story of Jesus mission differently, recording a preliminary ministry in Judea before the Galilean one began and an extended one in Jerusalem when the Galilean one was over.
The omission of the temptations, the transfiguration and the institution of the Lord’s Supper.
There are other stories included which do not appear in the synoptic gospels: how Jesus talked with Nicodemus, with the Samaritan woman by Jacob’s Well, the healing of the cripple at Bethesda, the raising of Lazarus, the washing of the disciples feet in the upper room and the resurrection appearance to Mary Magdalene.
He dates the crucifixion a day earlier than the first three evangelists.
His account of Jesus’ teaching differs in both manner and matter.
Miracles are referred to as signs.
Parables are fewer.
Discourses are longer and more significant.
The main thrust of Jesus’ good news is eternal life through him for us rather than the coming of God’s reign in his own mission.

Why are there these differences?

John possessed a great deal of older and independent information about Jesus.
John aims to tell the story in greater depth and so reveal its ultimate meaning.

Where was the gospel written?
Tradition going back to the 2 nd century says the Gospel was written in Ephesus and links it with John the apostle. Both Justin Martyr and Polycartes refer to John living there.

When was the gospel written?
There are at least two papyrus fragments which either contain the text of the gospel itself or reminiscences of it. Both are dated in the first half of the 2 nd century, possibly as early as AD 130. While some suggest that this gospel dates to before the fall of Jerusalem the majority of scholars accept a date between AD 90 and AD 110.

By whom was the gospel written?
The early church had little doubt that it was John, the son of Zebedee, and Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons wrote John the disciple of the Lord, who also leaned upon his breast, himself issued the Gospel while living in Ephesus. As a boy Iranaeus had heard his friend Polycarp tell of his conversations with John the disciple of the Lord. From the gospel itself we can tell:

The background of the gospel is Jewish.
The writer’s Greek is that of a person whose mother-tongue was Aramaic.
He knew the geography of Palestine at first hand.
He possessed ancient tradition about Jesus going back to AD 40-60.
The gospel claims to preserve eye-witness testimony: 19,34f, 21.24.
Other than in 21.2 where there is mention of Sons of Zebedee there is no specific mention of John in this gospel. There are references to the beloved disciple (13.23, 19.26, 20.2ff, 21.7, 20) and it is suggested that this is the way the apostle John refers to himself without mentioning his name. In the concluding chapter we read: Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; … This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and had written them, and we know that his testimony is true. 21 20, 24.

The main propositions regarding authorship are:

The apostle John. He is thought to have been the youngest of the apostles and to be the only one who died a natural death. Some find it surprising that such a profound gospel should have been written by a Galilean fisherman and, if it was written about AD 100, when he was elderly. This has led to the suggestion that John was the witness and someone else the author.
John of Jerusalem - someone who had access to the high priest’s house (as did the other disciple of 18.15) and later became influential among the Asiatic churches. However there is no external evidence of this.
Non-Johannine theories – that the gospel was written by someone else, or a group of people, and later ascribed to John to give it authority.
John the Elder – another John who was also associated with Ephesus. However there is little evidence to back this up.

Why was the gospel written?

The author gives his reason as:But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. John 21.31.
Clement of Alexandria wrote: Last of all John perceiving that the bodily (or external) facts had been set forth in the (other) Gospels, at the instance of his disciples and with the inspiration of the Spirit composed a spiritual Gospel.
It has been suggested that John wrote his gospel to supersede the synoptic gospels. However this view has not found much support.
There is a theory that his gospel was written as a criticism of unbelieving Jews. There is much hostility in the gospel to Jews and not just to the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees. If this theory is true it would only be a subsidiary reason for writing the gospel.
Some suggest it was written to combat heresy, for example the doctrine of the Gnostics who believed that Jesus was a purely spiritual being.
There are other theories that it was written for the Greek non-Christian world of the time, to correct a Baptist cult etc.

The range of these suggestions provoked some discussion on how important were the various opinions on authorship etc. It was felt that the value of the gospel lies in the wonder of it and what it means to us now.

The Contents of the Gospel

The Coming of the Word of God in Christ – Chapter 1
His Revelation to the World – Chapter 2-12
His Revelation to the Disciples – Chapters 13-17
The Conflict of Light with Darkness – Chapter 18-19
The Dawn – Chapter 20
The Final Commission – Chapter 21

We finished by reading chapter 1.1-14 and noting how many of the nouns in the passage come up when we are talking about our faith eg life, darkness, life, witness. The beginning echoes the beginning of the Old Testament and emphases that Jesus always has been and always will be eternal with the father.

19th March: The Spiritual Gospel

Clement of Alexandria, who died before AD 216, told of the tradition that the Apostle John, filled with the Holy Ghost, had written a spiritual Gospel and we studied John’s gospel from this point of view and compared it with the synoptic gospels.

The purpose of the gospels

Matthew: To show that Jesus is the fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecies - ‘An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah’ (Matthew 1.1)

Mark: To record ‘the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God’ (Mark 1.1)

Luke: To write an orderly account of the ‘the events that have been fulfilled among us’. (Luke 1.1)

John: ‘So that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name’ (John 20.31)

John’s aim and purpose

John’s gospel is believed to be the last gospel written and the Apostle John must have been at least 70 years old when he wrote it. Immediately after the crucifixion the disciples expected Christ’s second coming to be very soon but by the time John’s gospel was written it was realised this was not so. Also by then Christians had suffered great persecution. John was not so much telling the story of Christ’s life but interpreting the events in Christ’s life in the light of greater understanding. John’s aim was

to tell the story of Jesus in depth and so reveal its ultimate meaning
to enable people to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and so to have life in his name.
to illustrate that the whole creation is a revelation of the thought, or purpose of God.
to tell how the Word of God became flesh
to tell the story in a way which would appeal to anyone who might declare an interest in Christianity. Such people were asking such questions as:

What place did Jesus have in the saving ways of the Almighty?
What was the chief blessing which his gospel offered believers?
How did Jesus, who had been crucified nearly 50 years earlier remain a living and vital force in the world?

John says that:

Jesus is the saving purpose of God expressed in a human life.
the blessing which the gospel offers is eternal life.
Jesus, before his departure to the Father, promised the Holy Spirit.

John’s supreme role is as an interpreter of the meaning of Christ’s coming.

As John was writing nearly half a century after the events of Christ’s earthly life he was able to see more clearly what had been going on in Galilee and Judea. He had therefore the gift of hindsight and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
John saw the whole story of Jesus as an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.
John Calvin described John’s gospel as the key which unlocks the secrets of the earlier gospels.
John brings out the eternal dimensions of the story of Jesus
John’s Gospel is the ‘Gospel of Life’ – its key word is life or eternal life .
He uses new vocabulary to describe Jesus: word, light, life, truth

We thought about John’s use of the word logos or word in John 1.1-5 and studied 5 definitions of the meaning of logos.

any articulated thought
any logical and meaningful utterance
that which gave order and shape to the process of thinking
the means by which God communicated with people and brought them into obedience with his law
the expression of God’s relationship with the whole created universe

We felt the fifth definition was the nearest in meaning to John’s use of the word but that the first three helped us to understand the last two definitions.

The Spiritual Gospel

John’s Gospel was given the title the spiritual gospel as early as AD 200. It earned this name since it tells the story of Jesus in a symbolic way which is sometimes a t odds with the information in the synoptic gospels eg:

In John’s gospel Jesus doesn’t eat the Passover meal before he dies.
In this gospel Jesus dies on a different day

John’s gospel draws our attention to Jesus in a special way and challenges us to make a personal response to him.
This gospel presents Jesus in a more imaginative way, often through the use of symbols.
John uses anecdotes about Jesus to develop profound reflections about him, such as:

-Feeding of the 5,000: A meditation on Jesus as the bread of life - John 6.4-15

-Healing of the Blind Man: A reflection on Jesus as the light of the world - John 9.1-21

-Raising of Lazarus: A celebration of spiritual resurrection and new life - John 11.1-45

Feeding of the 5,000

We finished by comparing the story of the feeding of the 5,000 in the four gospels John 6.4-15, Matthew 14.13-2, Mark 6.30-44 and Luke 9.10-17 and noted the points at which John added material not in the synoptic gospels.

the Passover was near – the importance of the Passover in John’s Gospel will be considered in a later session
Jesus tested Philip – Jesus was testing and training his disciples
Andrew brought the boy who had the loaves and fishes – the disciples made a small if inadequate response to Jesus’ question
nothing may be lost - nothing of what he said or did should be lost even a little fragment
the people began to say “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.” – John talks of signs not miracles and this was a sign that allowed people to begin to recognise who Jesus is.
Jesus realised they were about to take him by force to make him king – the people wanted their own way and were not listening to Jesus.
Jesus withdrew – when people came after Jesus, he could respond by withdrawing from them rather than teaching them if their attitude was wrong.

16th April: Signs

We began by considering ordinary signs in the present day, such as road signs or logos. Signs are usually physical and point to something we may not be able to see; they are a perceptible indication that there is more than is immediately evident; not everyone may be able to interpret some signs.

In John’s gospel the word signs is used rather than the word miracles. John chooses seven signs out of the many Jesus performed (John 12.37) to illustrate how Jesus revealed his glory. John wrote these signs in his gospel so that people might come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, and through believing might have life in his name (John 12.37).

The stories John uses are about ordinary people who meet Jesus. Something happens to them on the human level but something is also happening on the level of the spirit in eternity and these signs reveal something about Jesus to us. We then discussed these seven signs under the headings in the table below.

	Who is the story about?	What is the setting?	What happens on the human level?	What happens on the spiritual level?	What do we learn about Jesus?
Sign 1: The Marriage at Cana. John 2.1-11	Jesus, Mary, servants, chief steward.	A wedding at Cana of Galilee.	A problem presented and splendidly solved.	The new wine/teaching was added to the old.	He revealed his glory at the start of his ministry.
Sign 2: The Nobleman's Son. John 4.46-54	Jesus, the nobleman and his son.	Cana in Galilee	Jesus spoke and the boy recovered.	The nobleman's family saw a sign and believed.	He has power over life and death.
Sign 3: The Man at the Pool of Bethesda. John 5.1-14	Jesus, the paralytic, the Jews	The pool of Bethesda, the temple.	The man was asked if he desired healing, was healed and then warned.	The man obeyed Jesus and was healed spiritually as well as physically.	He asked the man if he chose to be healed before he healed him.
Sign 4: The Feeding of the 5,000. John 6.1-14	Jesus, the boy, the disciples, the crowd.	The east shore of the Sea of Galilee.	The hungry were fed and there was more left over than Jesus was given.	The Eucharist was foreshadowed in the breaking of bread.	He was recognized as a prophet by some of the Jews
Sign 5: Jesus Walking on the Lake. John 6.15-21	Jesus, the disciples	A boat and the Sea of Galilee	Jesus walked on the water in a storm and the disciples were terrified.	Jesus calmed the disciples' fears.	He has power over the forces of nature.
Sign 6: The Healing of the Man Born Blind. John 9.1-7	Jesus, the blind man, the disciples.	On the road near to the pool of Siloam.	Jesus put mud on the man's eyes, the man washed it off and could see.	The man obeyed Jesus and God's works were revealed in him.	He brings light to the world.
Sign 7: The Resurrection of Lazarus. John 11.17-27 and 38-44	Jesus, Lazarus, Martha, the crowd	The Tomb at Bethany.	Jesus prayed and called to Lazarus to come forth.	Martha had faith and saw her brother rise from the dead.	He is the resurrection and the life.

21st May: Bread

There are only three passages in John’s gospel which mention bread: Chapter 6 which begins with the Feeding of the 5,000, the Last Supper 13.13-30 and one of the resurrection appearances 21.9-13. We discussed the first of these which includes the great discourse on Jesus as the Bread of Life which occurs after the feeding of the 5,000.

The feeding of the 5,000 John 6.4-15

In John’s gospel the feeding of the 5,000 is the third sign and the following are significant points in the story.

John says it took place just before the Passover, thus linking it with the great Jewish feast celebrating God’s redemption of Israel from Egypt.
Jesus tests Philip by asking where they are to get bread for the people to eat.
The Greek word, chortos, used for grass in verse 10 means literally a feeding place or fodder.
Jesus distributed as much bread and fish as the people wanted, illustrating God’s generosity.
The barley loaves would have been small (about 3 being eaten at a meal) but after everyone was satisfied the fragments filled twelve baskets.
Jesus was feeding people as Moses had fed Israel in the wilderness and this made the Jews wonder if he was another Moses and others suggested he was the Messiah.
It prefigures the Eucharist. There is no account of Jesus breaking bread at the Last Supper in John’s gospel but here, on a mountain, he does those actions which are still repeated today.
The teaching which follows later in the chapter underlines the true significance of the Eucharist and what God is giving us as we received the bread which is broken.

The Bread of LifeJohn 6.22-59

The next day the crowd find Jesus and the gospel records a long conversation between Jesus and the people who had eaten the bread.

Jesus accuses them of coming to find him because he had satisfied their physical hunger. The same Greek word chortos is used as in verse 10, implying that Jesus is accusing them of being concerned only about filling their stomach with food, as do cattle.
Jesus offers them a choice between perishable food and spiritual food.
Having aroused them so they ask what they must do to be doing the work of God, Jesus talks about the need to believe in him.
The people respond by asking for a sign like the gift of manna in the wilderness. They say that if Jesus were to similarly arrange a miraculous supply of bread, they would believe him, but that was not Jesus’ way; believing in Jesus did not depend on happening to witness a miracle.
Jesus points out the Moses did not give the people the true bread from heaven which gives life to the world. The crowd ask for this bread and Jesus replies that he himself is the bread of life, given by God. This is the climax of the chapter and points to the Eucharist. In the synoptic gospels teaching on the Eucharist is placed in the Last Supper but the teaching is the same.

18th June: I AM

The phrase “I am” occurs 45 times in John’s Gospel, including the times other people quoted Jesus words.

In these verses Jesus is probably making divine claims, since in the Hebrew Bible the meaning of God’s name (YHWH) is closely related to “I am” and is the name Moses was told to use. Exodus 3.14. We only had time consider a few of the places where the phrase “I am” occurs.

The meeting with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well John 4:26

In this meeting Jesus breaks two of the conventions of his day; he talks to a woman and she was a Samaritan, the strict Jews of the day would not have spoke to either a woman or a Samaritan. The woman recognising him as a prophet, speaks of what she knows about the Messiah, to which Jesus replies “I am he.” This the first time John records Jesus saying who he is and it is to someone regarded as an outcast by strict Jews.

The argument with the Pharisees John 8.12 – 59

Many of the “I AM” passages occur during Jesus’ arguments with the Pharisees, when Jesus is deliberately challenging their beliefs in order to show who he really is.

I am the light of the world - verse 12

I am from above - verse 23

When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am he - verse 28

I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me - verse 42

Very truly I tell you, before Abraham was, I am - verse 58

John’s use of the “I am” passages The disciples were learning about Jesus all the time he was with them and John uses the “I am” passages to underline different aspects of Jesus; each passage says something about Jesus. Different concepts link to each passage and we discussed the ones that came to our minds.

I am the bread of life/living bread/come from heaven	6.35, 41, 48, 51	This links with God feeding Israel with manna in the wilderness
I am the true vine	15.1,5	The vine was sometimes used as a symbol for Israel
	These two passages can be seen as symbolic of the bread and wine at the Eucharist.
I am the light of the world	8.12	Jesus enables us to see the truth. Compare 1. Luke 2.32 when Simeon describes Jesus as a light for revelation to the Gentiles 2. Paul vision of a light on the road to Damascus. 3. John 1.4 which speaks of the light of all people
In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus said I am he.	18.5	Did Jesus mean more than I am the one you have come to arrest?
I am the door I am the good shepherd	10.7, 9 10.11, 14	Sheep were kept safe at night in a walled enclosure and in the morning the shepherd led those that belonged to him through the door and protected them through the day.
I am the resurrection and the life	11.25	Jesus says this to Martha after Lazarus has died and before he raises him to life. Here he is making a two-fold promise of resurrection and of life
I am the way, the truth and the life	14.6	To Thomas’s literal request Jesus gives a spiritual answer. Jesus is the way to God; he is the truth and the life referred to in John 1.

16th July: Love

We began by thinking about what we meant by love and most of what we said illustrated the results of love – caring for others, putting others first. There are five Greek words translated by love; the two that are used in the New Testament are 1) Apage love that shows itself through helping others 2) Philia social love, affection of friends.

The additional words for love in classical Greek are 1) Eros sexual love 2) Storge family affection 3) Philadelphia love between brothers and sisters.

We then considered love under three heading God’s love, our love for God and love between people.

God’s Love

God’s character has been likened to a many-faceted diamond in that we can only see/start to comprehend a few of the facets at a time. Love is one of these facets; God is also spirit, light, creator and much more. We considered the evidence for God’s love in our own lives; how things that had not seemed good when they happened had been turn into a blessing. One member had a long illness as a young man but this allowed him to change the direction of his career to what he really wanted to do.

God’s love to all people is summed up in Jesus Christ John 3.16

God loves us because he is love 1 John 4.16
In the process of revealing his love to us he has given us a glimpse into his inmost personal being John 3.35, 5.20
God is eternally love prior to, and independent of, his love for us. 1 John 4.8,16
Love within the triune life of God from all eternity
The Father’s love for the Son John 3.35, 5.20
The Son’s love for the father John 14.31
Love of the Holy Spirit for the Father and the Son John 16.13-15

Our love for God

In John 15.9-10 we are told abide in Jesus’ love and to do this by keeping his commandments. We show our love for God by our prayers and quiet times, by worship, by accepting his word and trying to follow it, by the allocation of our time and resources, by caring for other people.

This led to a discussion of forgiveness and the problems of the suffering in the world. There is no easy answer to suffering; whatever one says about it, someone can always find a counter example to make that explanation seem false. For example:

We bring it on ourselves - but what about newborn babies?
Is it punishment - but God is love?
Is it to discipline us - but often people’s bad behaviour is explained by what they suffered?

We can not see the whole picture, as God does, and God is concerned not only with our life on earth but also our life in eternity. It can be difficult to forgive but we are told to do this Mark 11.25. People in Africa, who have seen their families killed by rebels, talk of how they had to fight in prayer so they could forgive the people who did it.

Love between People

Christian love is the imitation of divine love John 13.34. 15.12
Love is the badge by which Christ’s disciples may be recognised John 13.35
Love is the sign that they are God’s children 1 John 4.7
Love is a sign that they are passed from death to life John 5.24.

We ended with a discussion on some of the problems of trying to follow this teaching; of our uncertainty of how to reveal God’s love in difficult circumstances for example to people with dementia; of the importance of being prepared to take risks; of how we needed to be careful not to start feeling self-righteous.

However we can note the words of St Paul: When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ--if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8.15-17

17th September: Prayer

John writes about a change of consciousness in ourselves. This is what the Father wants to give us. He sends his son so that we might be given a new mind and a new heart. Self-consciousness in human beings is ego-centric; self-consciousness in Jesus is centred on ‘the Father who sent me’. Self-consciousness in Jesus is prayer and for Jesus prayer is a conversation with God. We considered the 5 passages in John where Jesus’ prayers are reported and one passage where Jesus speaks of prayer.

John 11.41-42 Jesus prayed before the raising of Lazarus. He thanked God for having heard him, saying that he was praying aloud so the crowd might believe. In the synoptic gospels Jesus is often reported as going to a quiet place to pray but this was a prayer amidst grief and activity. Here he was praying aloud so the crowd could see that his actions were a direct result of his relationship with God. We wondered why Jesus wept. Was it sympathy with Lazarus’ sisters, or grief at the unbelief of those around him or was it that this situation in some way touched upon Jesus’ own future death and resurrection?

John 12.27-28 Jesus prayed when he was talking about his own death. This was a prayer at a time of great testing and turmoil. God is heard to answer Jesus in this passage and this reminded us that prayer is a two way process and that we should leave time during our prayers to hear God’s answer. We were also reminded of how you can pray in any place. It is nice to have a quiet and private place for prayer but it is not necessary.

John 16.23-27 In this passage Jesus talked to his disciples of his future death and resurrection; he warns them of the pain to come and promises them that they will see him again and rejoice. He also said “if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.” and we discussed what that this meant, making the following points.

Things are taken very literally in the present day but language was used less pedantically in Jesus’ day.
No loving parent would give a child everything demanded without any concern for the consequences.
God does answer our prayer but the answer may not be yes; sometimes we simply become content with a no.
Our time scale is different to God’s.
The answer does not necessarily come in the way we want or expect

John chapter 17 This is the great high priestly prayer that Jesus made before he went out to meet his betrayer. It can be divided into 3 parts.

1-8 the example of love between Father and son
9-19 a prayer for the disciples
20-26 a prayer for all who will believe and trust in Jesus through years to come

John does not include the Lord’s Prayer in his gospel and we discussed the similarities between it and the prayer in chapter 17. The Lord’s Prayer begins with praise for God and submission to His will and has a parallel in the first part of chapter 17. It then goes on pray for the followers, though in simpler and more immediate terms than in chapter 17. It has been suggested that chapter 17 is a development of the Lord’s Prayer and gives us a model to help us develop our prayer life.

John 19.28 On the cross when Jesus said “I am thirsty”. Was this a physical fact and/or a prayer of spiritual thirst? Jesus had a thirst to do the will of God and a yearning for the souls of people.

John 19.30 The prayer of accomplishment. When Jesus said “It is finished” the Greek word meant it is achieved or completed. It is a prayer of thanks and achievement.

15th October: Arrest, Trial and Crucifixion

The People Involved We began by considering how the main characters involved are portrayed in John ch 18 & 19.

Judas brought solders to Jesus and betrayed him. Various motives have been proposed for Judas’s action; including the suggestion that he was trying to force Jesus into showing clearly that he was the Messiah. However John’s gospel simply states that Satan entered him (13.27) and that Jesus said It is to fulfil the scripture. ‘The one who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ (John 13.18, Psalm 41.9).

Caiaphas advised the Jews that it was better to have one person die for the people (18.14). It is likely had he feared that Jesus’ presence would lead to a Jewish uprising and would be ruthlessly suppressed by the Romans but he expressed the greater truth that Jesus was sacrificing himself to allow all mankind to be saved.

Pilate recognised that Jesus was innocent and tried to avoid sentencing him but when pressed he gave way in order to prevent a disturbance in the city and to avoid an accusation that he was not a friend of Caesar. Jesus told Pilate that the greater sin lay with those who handed him over (19.11). Pilate was also responsible for the inscription on the cross Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, written in three languages so everyone could understand it and he refused to alter it (19.19-23)

The soldiers were brought to arrest Jesus, took him to Annas, to Pilate and to be crucified. They flogged him, mocked him, fixed him to the cross and divided his clothes among themselves. They were obeying orders and following their own customs, not thinking about the situation.

Peter attempted to prevent the arrest and cut off the high priest’s slave’s ear (18.10), he followed Jesus to find out what would happen next but then denied that he knew Jesus. He was probably afraid of being arrested himself and it has been suggested that this was partly because he would not then be able to help Jesus. In any case he completely misunderstood the situation.

In John’s gospel the thieves on the cross are only mentioned as two others crucified on either side of Jesus and as having their legs broken to hasten their death (19.18 & 32).

John tells of four people near the cross, Mary, the mother of Jesus, her sister, Mary Magdalene and the disciple whom Jesus loved. This is the only gospel which record Jesus committing his mother to the disciple’s care (19.26).

Joseph of Arimathea is recorded in all four gospels as having asked Pilate for Jesus’ body and placing it in an unused tomb. John says he was a secret disciple and that he was helped by Nicodemus who brought spices to anoint the body.

The Passion from John’s Perspective We ended by considering the unique perspective that John’s gospel gives of the Passion and noted the following points.

Jesus is not a victim but lays down his life for others of his own accord. 10.17.18
He is the Passover Lamb. John dates the crucifixion a day differently to the other evangelists. He has Jesus dying on the cross while the lambs are slaughtered for the Passover. 13.1.
Jesus is aware of all that is to happen to him. 16.4, 16.16, 17.1
No one, not even Pilate holds power over him. 19.8-11.
He is aware of his own destiny because he is the Word made flesh, God come to dwell in our midst. 1.14
Jesus gives Judas permission to betray him. 13.27-30
It reflects the conflict between the power of darkness and the power of light. Jesus was the light that came into the world. 1.1-9, 3.19-21
Jesus is the world’s light 8.12 but the sad reality is that many people prefer to walk in darkness rather than light. Judas accomplishes the betrayal by cover of darkness 13.30 and when Jesus’ enemies come to arrest him in the garden it is at night.
John sees sacramental significance in Jesus’ death. Out of Jesus’ side comes blood and water – two symbols of the sacramental life of the church. 19.34
At the foot of the cross are two historic figures – his mother and the beloved disciple. They are not named – their significance is beyond history. 19.26-27

19th November: Resurrection

During this session we tried to image what the people taking part in the post-resurrection incidents would have felt; we assumed that the beloved disciple was John.

John 20.1-10: The visits to the tomb

Mary arrived as soon as possible after the Sabbath while it was still dark. She found the stone had been moved but did not go in. She could have seen from the entrance that the tomb was empty and must have been shocked and distressed as she ran to tell Peter and John. John reached the tomb first. He did not go straight in but saw the linen wrappings lying there and the head cloth rolled up by itself; it would have been a sight he never forgot. Peter, typically, rushed straight into the tomb as soon as he arrived so John followed him in. John was the first to believe, probably in a simple way; it is possible that John was so close to Jesus that he had some understanding that helped him begin to grasp how the death and resurrection of Christ fulfilled the scriptures. The two disciples then went home, presumably to think about what had happened and what they had seen.

John 20.11-18: Jesus appears to Mary

Mary stayed at the tomb weeping. She saw the angels who asked why she was weeping, then Jesus appeared and asked the same question. We wondered why Mary did not recognise Jesus. Perhaps it was still rather dark and her eyes were full of tears, she was not expecting to see him and his appearance may have been changed by all he had suffered. Jesus gave Mary the first message for his disciples, referring to them as his brothers and she did as he said.

John 20.19-29: Jesus’ first appearances to the disciples

Two appearances of Jesus are described in this passage; in neither do the doors hinder him, there were no physical constraints on him. Jesus uses the phrase Peace be with you twice during his first appearance; it would not be surprising if the disciples were very troubled by his sudden appearance. Jesus breathed on them saying ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’. The breath of God is used for God’s life giving force, in Genesis 2.7 God breaths life into man.

We pondered on the contrast between v17 where Jesus tells Mary not to hold him and v27 when he told Thomas to touch his wounds. Was Mary clinging to Jesus and trying to keep the remembered Jesus in the flesh, rather than letting go of his physical presence and discovering that he was still with her? Thomas was told to touch and be convinced; the wounds were the signs of Jesus’ victory he was told to touch the victory. Thomas came through his doubts to utter what some have described as the profoundest declaration of faith in all the gospels, “My Lord and my God”.

John 21.1-14: The great catch of fish

John records that this was the third appearance of Jesus to his disciples

We wondered why Peter wanted to go fishing. Perhaps he wanted to earn some money or get some food; perhaps he wanted the reassurance of doing something familiar. Again Jesus was not recognised at first; their minds were on other things and in the early morning light it would be difficult to see 100 yards away. This incident has similarities to the one in Luke chapter 5, placed at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. It has been suggested that it is the same tradition used in a different way but this is something we will never know. Several of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen so similar incidents involving fishing could have occurred more than once.

We finished by noting that John said in 20.31 and 21.25 that he had not tried to write down everything that happened, there were too much for this to be possible, but he had written enough so people could believe. He did not record the parables or the miracles, but just seven of what he described as ‘signs’. As his gospel was the last to be written, he would probably have known what was already recorded in the other three gospels.