The so-called “spiritual gospel ” which presents Jesus as the “Stranger from Heaven,” stands apart from the other three. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It has often been called the “spiritual gospel ” because of the way that it portrays Jesus .
For John , major themes include: eternal life, witness, life, Messiah, Jerusalem (Jewish identity), identity itself, and signs. Interestingly, there are zero parable in the gospel of John !
He played a leading role in the early church at Jerusalem. John was the son of Zebedee, a Galilean fisherman, and Salome. John and his brother St. Whether the “disciple whom Jesus loved” (who is never named) mentioned in this Gospel is to be identified with John (also not named) is not clear from the text.
Generally speaking, the synoptics tell us what Jesus said and did; John tells us who Jesus is. The synoptics focus on the signs and sayings of Christ; John emphasizes the identity of Christ. Early church father Clement of Alexandria called John “the spiritual Gospel ” because of its deep insight into Jesus’ divinity.
That being said, they are as follows: (1) Turning water into wine, (2) healing an official’s son, (3) healing at the pool of Bethesda (4) feeding of the five-thousand, (5) walking on water, (6) healing of the man born blind, ( 7 ) raising Lazarus from the dead.
Lesson 1: The Word and Life ( John 1:1-5) He is God and wasn’t created or made by anyone. His role in creation can be seen here as the Word. Vs. 3 speaks to how everything was made by God speaking a word, making a proclamation and calling things that be not as though they were.
The word gospel is derived from the Anglo-Saxon term god-spell, meaning “good story,” a rendering of the Latin evangelium and the Greek euangelion, meaning “good news” or “good telling.” Since the late 18th century the first three have been called the Synoptic Gospels , because the texts, set side by side, show a
Although the Gospel is ostensibly written by St. John the Apostle, “the beloved disciple” of Jesus, there has been considerable discussion of the actual identity of the author.
John the Apostle John , who was both a witness and a teacher, “who reclined upon the bosom of the Lord”, and, being a priest, wore the sacerdotal plate. He fell asleep at Ephesus. Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430 AD) also believed that John was the Beloved Disciple, in his Tractates on the Gospel of John .
His mission was addressed to all ranks and stations of Jewish society. His message was that God’s judgment on the world was imminent and that, to prepare for this judgment, the people should repent their sins, be baptized, and produce appropriate fruits of repentance.
According to the New Testament, John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth were relatives. Some scholars maintain that John belonged to the Essenes, a semi-ascetic Judaic sect who expected a messiah and who practiced ritual baptism . John used baptism as the central symbol or sacrament of his pre-messianic movement.
We remember that water and blood poured from Jesus ‘ wound (John 19:34), while he was crucified. Water is given to us by Our Lord Almighty. Let us remember this, and honor His blessings daily.
On Believing and John’s Gospel John’s gospel uses the word pisteuw, which we translate as “to believe ,” over 100 times .
Matthew, Mark and Luke are called the synoptic gospels because they share many stories (the technical term is pericopes), sometimes even identical wording; finding an explanation for their similarities, and also their differences, is known as the synoptic problem, and most scholars believe that the best solution to the