The Gospel of John: Background and Characteristics

Early church fathers all pointed out that the Gospel of John was written by the Apostle John in Ephesus late in his life, as a supplement to the other three Gospels. It was likely composed in the 80s or 90s AD. At that time, many Jewish Christians living in the Gentile world were facing challenges from heretical teachings and persecution from Judaism. The purpose of this book was to help them understand Jesus correctly: “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30-31). It was also intended to encourage Jewish Christians to bravely face the increasing persecution from Jewish synagogues in the late first century, just as Jesus did.

The Gospel of Matthew shares about 45% of its content with Mark and about 65% with Luke. For this reason, these three Gospels are called the Synoptic Gospels, meaning they can be read side-by-side. However, only 8% of the content in the Synoptic Gospels appears in the Gospel of John. Compared to the Synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of John has many unique characteristics:

1）John reveals Jesus as God. The original readers were more mature Christians, presumed to have read at least one of the Synoptic Gospels. Therefore, John starts directly from “the beginning,” without needing to mention Jesus’ birth or genealogy, because He is “without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life” (Hebrews 7:3).

2）John emphasizes Jesus’ message of eternal life and resurrection, while the Synoptic Gospels emphasize Jesus’ proclamation of the kingdom of God.

3）John does not record Jesus’ baptism, temptation, exorcisms, Transfiguration, or the institution of the Lord’s Supper.

4）The Synoptic Gospels emphasize a future eschatology, while John emphasizes a realized eschatology—that those who believe in Jesus already have eternal life (John 3:36; 4:14; 5:24; 6:47, 54), have already passed from death to life (John 5:24), have already received the Holy Spirit promised by God (John 7:39; 14:16-18, 26; 16:13), and are no longer condemned and have escaped God’s judgment (John 3:18; 5:24).

5）Many important episodes in John are unique, such as the conversation with Nicodemus, the dialogue with the Samaritan woman, the raising of Lazarus, and Jesus’ farewell discourse to His disciples in chapters 13 through 17.

6）Compared to the Synoptic Gospels, John is the most intensely Jewish. For example, he uses Old Testament scriptures and allusions (John 10/Ezekiel 34; John 3:14/Numbers 21:9), mentions Jewish festivals and their symbolism (Feast of Tabernacles/John 7; Feast of Dedication/John 10:22-39), and employs the rabbinic style of debate when Jesus dialogues with the Jews (John 5:31-47).

7）Compared to the Synoptic Gospels, John mentions the term “the Jews” more frequently. The “Jews” mentioned in John as opposing Jesus often refer to the people living in Judea, contrasting them with Samaritans and Galileans, rather than the Jewish people as a whole. The Gospel of John mentions “Jews” 71 times in 67 verses. Of these, 3 verses speak of Jews who believed in Jesus, 29 describe Jews in a neutral manner, 4 describe Jewish leaders neutrally, 8 describe Jews as hostile to Jesus, and 23 describe Jewish leaders as hostile to Jesus. The term “Jews” has many different uses in the Gospel of John, and the negative verses about Jews mostly refer to the Jewish religious leaders who were hostile to Jesus.

The Gospel of John does not hide the fact that Jesus was also a Jew. Jesus’ first disciples were all Jewish, and Jesus repeatedly emphasized that “salvation is from the Jews.” The Apostle John never implied that all Jews were against Jesus, so we should not, therefore, view all Jews as enemies of Jesus or promote anti-Jewish sentiment.

Edited and compiled based on the Chinese Union Version of the Bible and a comprehensive biblical interpretation.