FROM DR. RON: Introduction to the Gospel of John

Dr. Ron Fay is a former Trumbull Quizzer from back in the days when Coach Mark and Coach Matt were competing. In the days since then, his love of the Bible has lead him to a PhD in New Testament Greek with a specialty in the works of the apostle John. He is now the Chair of the Johannine Literature Study Group for the Evangelical Theological Society, and a pastor at Cornerstone Community Church.

We start off our new series "FROM DR. RON" with his introduction to this year's book.

The Gospel of John is one of the simplest yet profound works in the New Testament. John weaves together stories from the life of Jesus in order to create a beautiful tapestry of theological depth. Using words like light, darkness, water, hour, and truth, John builds upon each section of his gospel until the significance of each passage can only be understood in light of the rest of the book.

John begins “in the beginning,” making an intentional parallel to Genesis. As the Spirit hovered over the unformed world so did Jesus enter into a darkened world, unformed spiritually. He was sent as the light of the world, and so darkness ran from him and did not and could not understand him. He was sent to his enemies in order to make them more than friends, to make them family, children of God.

John’s purpose in writing is to answer two questions: 1) who is Jesus? 2) why should I care? The answer to Jesus’ identity is more spectacular than the other Gospels in many respects due to the theological richness of John’s language and his use of the Old Testament as a comparison to Jesus. Everything done in the Old Testament Jesus does even better. He is the better Moses (the lifted up language, the feeding of the 5000), he is a better Elijah (raises the widow’s son), and instead of holding onto someone’s authority he comes in his own Name. As the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) tend to focus on Jesus’ followers when Jesus goes off alone, John supplements them by following Jesus instead.

In terms of the book itself, John breaks into two main parts. The Book of Signs contains chapters 1:19- end of chapter12, and the Book of Glory, containing 13-20. 1:1-18 is the introduction and chapter 21 is the conclusion or postscript. The Book of Signs is called that because it contains the seven signs John uses to show who Jesus is. The Book of Glory is called that because it contains Jesus’ teaching about himself and his final glorification through death and resurrection.

As you read through John, look at the repeated words. Keep a list of them as you go in order to see the themes John interweaves in his story. John truly is a master of his craft in illuminating the person of Jesus, using the Old Testament, describing memorable scenes, and answering the two questions.

Who is Jesus? God incarnate, the sacrificial lamb, the one who died and rose again.

Why should I care? Because he did this in order that you might repent, believe, and become an adopted child of God.