Introduction to John
According to Church tradition and internal evidence, the Gospel of John was written much later in the Apostolic age than the other three Gospels. John was the last apostle to die, and wrote this around 90 AD, after the deaths of Peter and Paul in the 60s, and the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. The tradition says he wrote it from Ephesus.
Tradition also says he wrote this Gospel for the Church. However, he states a very evangelical purpose for it: 20:31 says, "but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name." Since our normal understanding is that letters to the Church are to those who are Believers already, possibly the audience was different, or it was for the Church to use to evangelize others, or the Church assemblies were not presenting the Gospel clearly, so all attendees were not reaching saving faith.
There is some reason to believe this last was the case, and John was correcting an earlier emphasis to clarify the whole truth about Jesus Christ. For example, the gospel of Mark omits all detail of Jesus' origins, and first introduces Him as an adult at His baptism, when He begins his ministry of service. This makes sense for Mark's audience of servants (slaves), but this could be mis-interpreted that Jesus was a man upon whom the Spirit came, then making Him the Son of God. In fact, this was one of the early heresies that the Church later had to clarify by study of the entire Scriptures.
Reading just one Gospel may not give the entire picture about Jesus. Luke (as well as Mark) emphasized the humanity of Jesus as the ideal man. John, an eyewitness to the person, ministry, and resurrection of Jesus, gives a balance to the humanity of Jesus by emphasizing the Deity of Jesus in this Gospel.
John leaves no doubt about the Deity of Jesus. His genealogy makes this clear from the start: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The "Word" as presented in John is Jesus, the Final Word of God.
(Today there are still some of the old heresies around, and as a result some sects distort this verse in their bibles to say "the Word was a god." This translation violates the rules of Greek grammar, which say that two nouns joined only by a verb of being state an equivalence or identity. The original Greek says "the Word was God" which is a statement of identity.)
John's introduction makes it clear that Jesus was always God the Son, created everything that exists, and then became man in order to die for our sins. Scripture makes it clear that Jesus remains forever more the God-man; fully God, yet fully man.
The statements of Jesus' Deity are continuous through John, but we may not recognize them as clearly as the original audience did. For example, Jesus makes seven statements throughout the book that echo the "I AM" statement of YHWH to Moses: "I AM the bread of life," "I AM the light of the world," "I AM the door," "I AM the Good Shepherd," "I AM the resurrection and the life," "I AM the way, the truth, and the life," and "I AM the true vine."
Then as a variation He makes it clearer when He says to the Jews at the Temple, "I and the Father are One." It is clear that the Jews understood His claim as they then tried to stone Him, saying "You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God."
From all this and John's stated purpose we can conclude that belief in the Deity of Jesus is necessary for Salvation. Due to the other Gospels emphasizing the humanity of Jesus, some likely came into the church following Him or His teaching, but saw Him only as a man sent and used by God. Belief in only a man giving his life for you can not bring Salvation. Scriptures proclaim that Salvation is totally a work of God. As God, Jesus had infinite worth, so that His sacrifice was more than enough to offset the sin of the entire world. Therefore, He can promise salvation to all who will believe, but they must believe in Jesus as presented in the totality of God's word, not some other image of a Jesus. And of course, they also must understand that they need a Savior, and trust only in His work, not in any way their own "goodness." As Jesus said, "There is only One who is Good."
John shows us clearly Who is that One.
Post a Comment
Comments for this post have been disabled.
