Understanding the Gospel of John
In 2025, we kicked off a sermon series at GBC from the Gospel of John.
Many – Christians and non-Christians alike – know of the Gospel of John because of the famous verse in John 3:16. In 2022, World Vision looked at internet searches and found out that John 3:16 is the world’s most popular verse.
By now, we have already heard preaching from the first 2 chapters of this book, and we will continue to work our way through the first half of the book up through to April. To help us understand the book better, this article sheds a little more light on the Gospel author, its context, purpose and structure.
Who wrote this book and when?
John, one of Jesus’ 12 apostles, should not be confused with John the Baptist, the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth, the forerunner of the Messiah and biological cousin of Jesus. John the apostle was the son of Zebedee and brother of James (Matt 10:2, Mark 3:17, Luke 6:14, Acts 1:13), a fisherman by trade, who was called by Jesus to follow Him (Matt 4:21-22, Mark 1:19-20).
Scholars date John’s Gospel to be written between A.D. 70 and 100. John, the author, makes reference to specific places and uses terms that date its writing at points of time in history. For instance, the ESV Study Bible notes that the “Sea of Tiberias” referred to in John 6:1 and John 21:1 was “widely used for the Sea of Galilee only toward the end of the first century”. Peter’s martyrdom referred to in John 21:19 likely took place between A.D. 64 and 66. The testimony of the early church also suggests that John was written probably after A.D. 70.
Why was it written?
The Gospel of John, like the other 3 Gospels – Matthew, Mark and Luke – are eyewitness accounts that record for us what Jesus did, said and how others responded to Him. John 20:30–31 makes his purpose and intention plain: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” Reading John is fodder for our faith, that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
To do this, John draws heavily from material from the Old Testament. James Hamilton, writing in the Expository Commentary, explained that John borrows from the Old Testament in his writing to “present Jesus as the culmination, fulfillment, resolution, and realization of everything anticipated in the Law and the Prophets”. Hamilton explains that “John’s Gospel and the OT must be read in light of each other, each expositing and informing the other”. Thus, reading John is to read how the apostle interprets and understands the Old Testament in the light of Jesus Christ.
How is it organized?
John’s Gospel is structured to serve John’s christological and theological purposes - to help us know Christ and to know God. As Pastor Eugene mentioned in his introductory sermon, the Gospel of John comprises: an opening prologue, then 2 main sections: the Book of Signs (Jn 1:19-12:50) and the Book of Glory (Jn 13:1-20:31), and closes with an epilogue.
From February to April, we will study John 1-12 and what some call The Book of Signs. The key question here is: who is Jesus? John continually refers to the “signs” of Jesus: His miraculous acts that point to His divine identity. Bible scholar Andreas Kostenberger explains that “the Book of Signs narrates seven messianic signs of Jesus, performed to elicit faith among the Jews”. After each sign is performed, Jesus teaches us something about Himself.
The seven great signs in this section that show and prove Jesus’ messianic identity are:
Turning water into wine at the wedding at Cana (Jn 2:1–11)
Healing an official’s son (Jn 4:46–54)
Healing the sick man at the pool of Bethsada (Jn 5:1–15)
Feeding the 5000 (Jn 6:5–13)
Walking on water (Jn 6:16–21)
Healing a man born blind (John 9:1–7)
Raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1–44).
However, despite all these signs, John 12:37-43 tells us Israel rejected Jesus - His own people rejected Him.
From John 13 onwards, the narrative shifts in The Book of Glory, which we will hear preached later this year. The question of this section is: how is Jesus glorified? The answer to this question is found in His crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. Chapters 14-17, sometimes referred to as the “Farewell Discourse” contains Jesus’ final teachings to His disciples before His crucifixion at the Last Supper. Jesus instructs His disciples about what is to come, the promised Holy Spirit and how suffering will become their pathway into glory.
How do we know Jesus better?
Who is Jesus? How is glorified? John’s use of symbolism also help us answer these questions is evocative ways. We learn who Jesus is and how He is glorified through His seven “I Am” statements. Echoing the Old Testament language of God’s divine self-disclosure from Exodus 3:14, He uses the “I Am” formula to describe “different aspects of what Jesus came to be and to do for humankind” (New Bible Commentary). Look at how John tells us who Jesus is and how He is glorified in these seven statements:
I am the bread of life (Jn 6:35, 48, 51)
I am the light of the world (Jn 8:12; 9:5)
I am the door of the sheep (Jn 10:7, 9)
I am the good shepherd (Jn 10:11, 14)
I am the resurrection and the life (Jn 11:25)
I am the way, the truth, and the life (Jn 14:6)
I am the true vine (Jn 15:1)
As we make our way through John’s Gospel over the next few months, would you pray that GBC would together, see and believe that Jesus is God’s glorious Son, and that each of us would receive Him by faith?
John would have each of us trust this amazing promise: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:12–14).
Bibliography
Crossway Bibles. 2008. ESV Study Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Bibles.
Duguid, Iain M, James M Hamilton, Jay Sklar, and Brian J Vickers. 2019. ESV Expository Commentary: Vol. IX. John - Acts. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway.
Guthrie, Donald, J A Motyer, D J Wiseman, and Alan M Stibbs. 1991. The New Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.
Köstenberger, Andreas. n.d. “John | Commentary | Andreas Köstenberger | TGCBC.” The Gospel Coalition. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/commentary/john/.