The Gospel of John and the Johannine Letters

The Gospel and letters of John together make up a significant portion of the New Testament. The Gospel presents an account of the life of Jesus, whereas the letters provide insights into the nature and challenges of the early church. Both continue to nourish and sustain the life of the Church.

Authorship

John’s Gospel is most often attributed to the “Beloved Disciple.” The Gospel suggests that this disciple knew Jesus well and was an eyewitness even to His death and the empty tomb (John 13:23; 19:35; 20:4–5). A circle around this disciple could have then affirmed and circulated his account (John 21:24).

Ancient tradition identifies this disciple as John, son of Zebedee. Fitting this identification, the sons of Zebedee were Jesus’ most intimate disciples who were not individually named in the Gospel (though they appear once together in John 21:2). The Beloved Disciple holds a place of special honor in John 13:23, and options for who occupied this position appear limited (though some suggest Lazarus or Thomas). Besides John, Jesus’ inner circle in the other first-century Gospels included only James, who was martyred early (Acts 12:2), and Peter, whom John’s Gospel distinguishes from the Beloved Disciple (John 13:24; 20:4–6).

While the most common author suggested is John, more than one John serves as a candidate for authorship. The fourth-century church historian Eusebius suggests two potential authors: John the apostle (the son of Zebedee) and John the Elder. Differing significantly from the earlier Synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of John itself took time to gain wide acceptance, which may suggest John the Elder as its author. However, the son of Zebedee, by contrast, is clearly close to Jesus and this gives him probable status as the Beloved Disciple.

Even if the Beloved Disciple was not the author but merely the primary source, a school of disciples around the Beloved Disciple could have developed and finished the Gospel over time.

However, the Gospel as a whole most likely comes from the Beloved Disciple, an eyewitness. Although the author framed the Gospel in his own words—a common practice of the first-century—it reflects real information about Jesus. More important for the author is the Spirit’s work of inspiration of true testimony for Jesus (John 15:26–27).

For the Johannine Letters (1–3 John), it seems that 1 John alludes to John’s Gospel in its opening text and that the author of the Johannine Letters is also the author of the Gospel. The styles are very close, and the differences seem no more than what would be expected for documents addressing different settings. It could also be that a later editor of the Gospel authored one or more of the letters. It is also possible that the author or authors of the letters were familiar with, but did not necessarily write, the earlier Gospel. Until the 20th century, however, most readers assumed that the common style and content did indeed suggest the same author for the Gospel and letters.

Types of Writings

The Gospels can be classified as ancient biographies. At that time, most biographies about figures (within a generation or two of the author) included substantial historical information about the person. A range of biographies existed, some exhibiting greater flexibility in putting their material in their own words. Most interpreters agree that John used greater flexibility in this process than the other Gospel writers. However, this feature of his Gospel does not mean that he lacked historical information.

While John did not try to tell Jesus’ story the same way the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke did, points of overlap show that John, like the authors of the Synoptics, depended on some prior information. Hence, while John often provides different information than the Synoptics, his narratives resemble them. The greatest differences appear in the speeches, which overlap with certain ideas in the Synoptics but offer a greater elaboration of Jesus’ identity (compare Matt 11:27; John 5:19–20).

Although 2 John and 3 John resemble typical ancient letters, 1 John seems more like a homily (or brief sermon). If a letter, it may be what is sometimes called a letter essay, a letter addressing a particular topic.

Context and Background

Ancient tradition suggests that John wrote his Gospel in the final decade of the first century, when Domitian was emperor. Although the earliest form of John’s Gospel (probably oral accounts in John’s preaching) may have circulated in Judaea, very early tradition places the final form in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), around Ephesus.

Familiarity with the ancient Jewish setting of John’s Gospel helps in understanding its themes and content. Contrasts between light and darkness and between God and the world throughout the Gospel resemble similar contrasts in the Dead Sea Scrolls. (John’s circle, however, was not isolated like the wilderness community of the Scrolls.)

Because John undoubtedly sought to emphasize the points most significant to his audience, it is possible to compare his emphasis with our understanding of the first-century world. It could be that John wrote to encourage Jewish believers in Jesus who had been expelled from their synagogues (see John 9:22; 12:42; 16:2). Ancient rabbis and Christians both attest to this conflict, and it probably affected certain cities in Asia Minor (see Rev 2:9; 3:8–9). John wrote after the temple’s destruction in ad 70, which may explain his special interest in worship in the Spirit that transcends earthly temples (John 4:20–24).

There are a variety of Jewish symbols and allusions in the Gospel. With these, John may be encouraging his audience that following Jesus affirms their heritage. Jesus fulfills traditional elements of biblical festivals. On the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, priests in Jerusalem read texts about rivers of water from Jerusalem (Ezek 47:1–12; Zech 14:8). On the last day of that festival, Jesus promises rivers of living water (John 7:2, 37–39). Jesus uses water from the Pool of Siloam, also used for a special ritual at that festival, to heal a man born blind (John 9:7).

If John’s audience was expelled from their synagogues, their critics may have challenged their Jewish identity; John’s Gospel affirms the identity of Jesus’ followers as, like Israel, His “flock” or “sheep” (Ezek 34:11–12; John 10:3–4). Critics may have challenged the faithfulness of Jesus’ followers to the Law, God’s Word; John responds that Jesus Himself is the Word, the embodiment of God’s revelation. While God revealed His glory in giving the Law, no one could endure seeing the full revelation of His glory (Exod 33:19–20; 34:6); in Jesus, however, God fully reveals His grace and truth (John 1:14–18).

The Johannine Letters draw on much of the vocabulary of John’s Gospel, but they address different issues. First John and 2 John address a situation in which certain people have turned away from recognizing Jesus as the Christ. While this may refer to believers who abandoned Christianity because of pressure from the synagogues, it could be that these separatists were followers of a false teaching that claimed Jesus was not fully human (1 John 4:1–3; 2 John 7). John emphasizes that the Spirit honors the real Jesus to whom he was bearing witness (John 14:26; 16:13–15; 1 John 4:1–3). Third John probably addresses a power struggle in a local church.

Theological Significance

Of John’s many emphases, the most prominent surround Jesus’s identity. John frames the prologue of his Gospel by emphasizing both Jesus’ deity and His intimacy with the Father (John 1:1, 18). John sees Jesus as God, yet distinct from the Father. Jesus is called the king of Israel and God’s holy one—but Thomas offers the Gospel’s climactic confession: “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28; compare 1:29, 49; 6:69). John immediately offers his climactic message: He writes so that his audience can have faith, even though they do not see as Thomas did. Jesus also reveals His identity in this Gospel with various “I am” statements. He calls Himself the Bread of Life, the Good Shepherd, and the Vine (John 6:35, 48; 10:11, 14; 15:1). Ultimately, Jesus claims that before Abraham was born, “I am” (John 8:58). Here He echoes earlier biblical language for God. This may also be implied in His claim, “It is I,” when walking on the waves in John 6:20 (see Mark 6:50). Literally, Jesus says, “I am.” This theme of Jesus’ deity carries throughout the rest of the book, although not to the exclusion of His humanity (1:14). Jesus also becomes weary (John 4:6) and thirsty (John 19:28). He fully embraced our condition, even dying for us, to reveal God’s love.

Another prominent theme in John is the Spirit, whom God sends through Jesus (John 3:34; 14:16, 26; 15:26). The Spirit reveals Jesus so people can know Him and be in relationship with Him (John 16:13–15). “Knowing” God in this way is a major theme in Johannine literature (John 10:14–15; 17:3; 1 John 4:7–8). The Spirit also comes to purify and transform, as Jesus says to Nicodemus (John 3:5). Using the motif of water, the Gospel highlights a living relationship with God over merely human traditions and rituals. Jesus’ baptism in the Spirit is greater than John’s baptism in water; Jesus is greater than ritual water, the water of Samaria’s sacred well, a healing pool, and the sacred water of Siloam (John 1:33; 2:6; 4:12–14; 5:7–9; 9:7). The true water of the Spirit effects what mere ritual water cannot (John 7:37–39). Jesus emphasizes that the Spirit comes to reveal and honor Him (John 14:26; 16:13–15) so that subsequent generations of disciples may also know Him personally. This Spirit will teach the real Jesus made known through John’s witness. The Spirit works through Jesus’ followers to continue making Jesus known (John 15:26–27; 16:7–11; 20:21–23).

Those who believe in Jesus have eternal life, also an important theme for John. In Jewish usage, “eternal life” meant the life of the world to come, but in Jesus, this life starts in the present (John 1:12–13; 3:3–6; compare John 8:44). John does not treat all faith equally; faith must persevere to the end to be saving faith (John 2:23–25; 8:30–32). Faith must also have the right object. When Thomas confesses Jesus as Lord and God, Jesus praises him for believing the truth, yet offers even higher praise for those who recognize this without seeing Him (John 20:28–29).

The Gospel also teaches us a lot about love. Jesus’ highest command is to love one another as He loved us (John 13:34–35). He loved by serving and, ultimately, by laying down His life for us. From the preaching of John the Baptist to the sending of the disciples, the theme of witness is also important. Jesus’ followers are not the light; yet they have the privilege of bearing witness to the one who is the light (John 1:8–9).

First John develops several of these themes in the Fourth Gospel, referring back to Jesus’ coming as the Word of life in our human nature (1 John 1:1) and to the Spirit’s anointing associated with that message (1 John 4:2–6). It apparently addresses a situation in which false teachers have proclaimed a conflicting message about Jesus (1 John 4:2–3). Some have abandoned the community of believers and stopped loving them; John seems to portray departure from adequate belief in Jesus and from loving fellow believers as a sin leading to death (1 John 2:18–19; 5:16–17). By contrast, John reassures the believers who continue to follow Jesus and to love one another. Second John may address a similar issue, and 3 John addresses proper relationships among believers. The letters illustrate that whoever embraces God’s love—of which the Fourth Gospel speaks so eloquently—must also love fellow believers, following Jesus’ example of self-sacrifice (John 13:14–15, 34–35; 1 John 2:7–11).

Craig S. Keener

Further Reading

John, Gospel of CLBD

John, Letters of CLBD

Textual Criticism of the New Testament CLBD

The Formation of the New Testament

How to Study the Bible

Biblical Theology