John's world

Why the book of John? At John’s writing, there were already three gospels, the synoptics (Matthew, Mark and Luke). Why John?

First, we need to understand that each of the gospels was written to a specific audience. For example, Matthew, with its many references to the prophets and Jewish customs, was written largely to a Jewish audience.

John was written to an audience wrestling with unbelief, pummeled by society’s philosophies that were, at best, diluting the gospel message.

Gnostics were in search of knowledge (the word “gnosis” means secret knowledge). Irenaeus, an early church father (he was martyred in 155 AD), wrote that John refuted Gnosticism. Scholars today assert, however, that the Gnostic movement didn’t really have strength until the second century – Irenaeus’ time. However, the aroma of that viewpoint wafted into the church even in the first century. Influence was already beginning.

Early Gnostic teachings celebrated all that is spiritual and condemned all that is physical. That was at the core of their “secret knowledge” and obviously Gnostic thinking would deny God coming to earth as a man.

They toyed with such ideas as Jesus being a spirit who looked like a man but they denied Jesus as fully God and fully man.

John wrote to a broad audience – Jew and Gentile – but especially to those swaying in the wind of cultural philosophies.

The opening paragraph of John (v. 1-5) describes Jesus in a way that would have resonated with those early philosophies, using familiar terms (light/dark, Word/Logos) in a new way.

John’s ultimate goal was to present Jesus as truly God – as described in this opening of his book – and as truly human, as seen through the stories of his life.

He was the light of the world, God who became man to banish the darkness. This was the talk of philosophers and John chose his approach and word choices intentionally to refute false values.

John can be read, not just as another narrative of Jesus’ life, but as a brilliant literary work intended to defend Jesus’ incarnation. Yes, Jesus was God but he was also man – vital for belief in his redeeming work.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.

John 1:14 (NRSV)