Studying the Books of the Bible; John

"When they finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “You know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs”

John 21:15

Welcome back all! This week I want to talk about one of the gospels. One that is different from the rest. John. While Matthew, Mark and Luke are called the synoptic gospels, John is not, because despite being a gospel and writing about the same overall topic and time period, John many differences from the other Gospels. Perhaps because John was very different from the other disciples.

“God loves the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life”

John 3:16

I’ll admit it, before researching for this, I never really thought much about the apostle John. When I thought of the apostles my first thought was always Peter and my second always Judas. I never knew how close John was to Jesus. I should have, I’ve read the gospels enough, but I never really noticed.

“A new command I give you; love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

John 13:34-35

As told in Matthew 2:21-23, John is the son of Zebedee, and him and his brother, James, were a pair of inseparable fishermen. They weren’t the only fishermen, or the only brothers, or the only brothers who were fishermen out of the disciples. Peter and Andrew were also brothers who were fishermen. There was something special about John though. In Matthew 17, John goes with Jesus, his brother James and Peter up a mountain for the famous Transfiguration where they see Elijah and Moses. Only three disciples went on that mountain and John was one of them. Then in Mark 10:37-38, John and his brother ask Jesus if they can sit at his right hand in heaven. Though, as you know, Jesus wouldn’t promise them that, you know Jesus loved John because when he was about to die on the cross he looked to John and asked John specifically to take care of Jesus’ mother (John 19:26-27). Also you may or may not know this fisherman was the author of four other books of the bible as well; 1 John, 2 John, 3 John and Revelation.

“Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”

John 14:23

So, we get it. John was important. How was his gospel so different that it couldn’t be called synoptic though? Glad you asked.

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this; to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

John 15:12-13

The Temptation of Jesus that is found in Matthew 4:1-11,  Mark 1:9-13 and Luke 4:1-13 is no where to be found in John. Same with the Transfiguration. Even though John was there he was the only one not to write about it (Matthew 17:1-13,  Mark 9:1-8, Luke 9:28-36). The Lord’s Supper is missing in John (Matthew 26:26-30, Mark 14:22-26, and Luke 22:7-20). The Sermon on the Mount, so famous in Matthew 5-7 and the Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6:9-13,  are only in Matthew, not in John. Also John doesn’t have any parables or talk about Jesus casting out demons. Why would that be? Why did John decide to not include these important things?

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”

John 17:24

John wanted the focus to be on love. He didn’t want to show Jesus the strong in temptation, or the holy in the transfiguration. Not Jesus the all knowing, who predicted his own death at the last supper, along with predicting that he would be betrayed and that Peter would pretend not to know him. He didn’t want to write about Jesus that teaches at Sermon on the Mount, that teaches with parables or taught us the lord’s prayer. He didn’t want to focus on the miraculous casting out of demons. He wanted to focus on Jesus’ love. He also had stories not in the other gospels. Jesus’ first miracle at a wedding, Jesus and telling the Samaritan Woman about the Living Water, the death and resurrection of Lazarus, were all only in the book of John. All acts of love.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.”

John 15:9

Over time, along with some other fun things, I plan on going through all the books in the New Testament and talking about them. What would you like to know about the books? Do you want to hear more about the history or what’s actually in it? Would you like interpretations of specific stories in them? Whatever you want, I’ll try to incorporate.

Thanks and God Bless!

Jillian