The Gospel of John: Overview | Whiteboard Bible Study
Summary
TLDRThe Gospel of John, the fourth book of the New Testament, presents a unique perspective on Jesus' life and teachings. Unlike the synoptic gospels, John's narrative includes distinctive content and is the last to be written. It's divided into the Book of Signs, showcasing Jesus' miracles, and the Book of Glory, highlighting his love for disciples and divine glorification. The Gospel aims to inspire belief in Jesus, even amidst skepticism, and concludes with an epilogue emphasizing the ongoing mission to care for Jesus' followers.
Takeaways
- 📖 The Gospel of John is the fourth book of the New Testament and the last of the gospels in the Bible.
- 👤 Although traditionally attributed to John the son of Zebedee, the author is anonymous and refers to himself as 'the disciple Jesus loved'.
- 📜 The Gospel of John is distinct from the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), containing unique content not found elsewhere in the New Testament.
- 🔑 The purpose of the Gospel, as stated in the text, is to present 'signs' or miracles to encourage belief in Jesus.
- 📚 The book is divided into two main sections: the Book of Signs (chapters 2-12) and the Book of Glory (chapters 13-20), with a prologue and epilogue.
- 🌟 The prologue (John 1) establishes Jesus as divine, referring to him as 'the Word', and introduces the theme of Jesus calling his disciples.
- 💧 The Book of Signs includes seven miracles, such as turning water into wine and raising Lazarus from the dead, to demonstrate Jesus' divine power.
- 📢 Jesus delivers significant teachings throughout the Gospel, including his role as the Good Shepherd and the importance of love among his followers.
- 🕊️ The Book of Glory focuses on Jesus' love for his disciples, his teachings on mutual love, and the promise of the Holy Spirit.
- 🙏 The Gospel concludes with the resurrection of Jesus, the doubt of Thomas, and the call to belief, emphasizing the ongoing struggle to believe in Jesus' divinity.
Q & A
What is the Gospel of John's position in the New Testament?
-The Gospel of John is the fourth book of the New Testament and the last gospel in the Bible.
Who is traditionally believed to have written the Gospel of John?
-The author is traditionally believed to be John, the son of Zebedee, one of Jesus's twelve disciples, although the book itself does not explicitly state this.
Why was the Gospel of John written according to the script?
-The Gospel of John was written so that readers would believe in Jesus, as stated near the end of the book where the author mentions telling the story of Jesus' miracles for this purpose.
How does the content of the Gospel of John differ from the other three Gospels?
-The Gospel of John contains unique content not found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and it was likely the last gospel written.
What are the two main sections of the Gospel of John?
-The Gospel of John is divided into the 'Book of Signs' (chapters 2 through 12) and the 'Book of Glory' (chapters 13 through 20), with a prologue (chapter 1) and an epilogue (chapter 21).
What is the significance of the prologue in the Gospel of John?
-The prologue establishes Jesus as divine, referring to him as the Word of God, and sets the stage for the miracles and teachings that follow.
How many miracles are recorded in the 'Book of Signs' and what is their purpose?
-There are seven miracles recorded in the 'Book of Signs', and their purpose is to demonstrate Jesus' divine nature and to encourage belief in him.
What is the main focus of the 'Book of Glory'?
-The 'Book of Glory' focuses on Jesus' love for his disciples, his teachings, and the glorification of God's name through his actions, culminating in his crucifixion and resurrection.
Why does the Gospel of John include the story of Doubting Thomas?
-The story of Doubting Thomas is included to show that belief in Jesus can be challenging, and it emphasizes the author's purpose of writing the gospel to help readers decide whether to believe in Jesus.
What is the final message of the Gospel of John as described in the epilogue?
-The epilogue concludes with Jesus instructing his disciples to continue his work, particularly Peter, to feed and care for his followers, highlighting the ongoing mission of the disciples and the believers.
Outlines
📜 Introduction to the Gospel of John
The Gospel of John is the fourth book of the New Testament and the last gospel in the Bible. It is divided into two main sections: the Old Testament, which focuses on the relationship between God and the Jewish people, and the New Testament, which centers on Jesus and his followers' actions and teachings. The author of the Gospel of John is traditionally considered to be John the son of Zebedee, one of Jesus's twelve disciples. The Gospel's purpose, as stated in the book itself, is to present the miraculous 'signs' performed by Jesus to encourage belief in him. Unlike the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke), John contains unique content and was likely written last. The structure of John is divided into a prologue (chapter 1), an epilogue (chapter 21), and two main sections: the 'Book of Signs' (chapters 2-12) and the 'Book of Glory' (chapters 13-20). The prologue introduces Jesus as the divine 'Word' and sets the stage for the miracles and teachings that follow.
🕊 The Structure and Themes of the Gospel of John
The Gospel of John is further explored through its two main sections, each with distinct themes and narratives. The 'Book of Signs' (chapters 2-12) presents seven miracles performed by Jesus, including turning water into wine, healing the sick, feeding the 5,000, walking on water, and raising Lazarus from the dead. These miracles are intended to demonstrate Jesus's divine nature and to inspire belief in him. Accompanying these miracles are significant teachings, such as Jesus's discourse on being the Good Shepherd. Despite these miracles, the Jewish leaders often respond with misunderstanding and hostility. The 'Book of Glory' (chapters 13-20) focuses on Jesus's final days, his love for his disciples, and the Father's glorification through Jesus's actions. This section includes Jesus's comforting words to his disciples, new teachings, the promise of the Holy Spirit, and the high priestly prayer in John 17. It culminates in Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection, the ultimate miracle that overcomes death. The epilogue (chapter 21) sees Jesus interacting with his disciples post-resurrection, reaffirming his love and commissioning Peter to care for his followers. The Gospel concludes with the author's purpose for writing: to provide a record of Jesus's acts and teachings to encourage belief in him, even for those who have not witnessed his miracles firsthand.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Gospel of John
💡Old Testament
💡New Testament
💡Disciple Jesus loved
💡Book of Signs
💡Book of Glory
💡Prologue
💡Epilogue
💡Miracles
💡Belief
Highlights
The Gospel of John is the fourth book of the New Testament and the last gospel in the Bible.
The Gospel of John is divided into two large sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament.
The author of the Gospel of John is traditionally considered to be John, the son of Zebedee.
The Gospel of John is written to show signs and miracles of Jesus so that readers will believe in him.
The content of the Gospel of John is unique and not found in the other gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
The Gospel of John was likely the last gospel written.
The book is divided into a prologue, an epilogue, and two main sections known as the book of signs and the book of glory.
The prologue establishes Jesus as divine, referring to him as 'the Word'.
The book of signs includes seven miracles performed by Jesus to demonstrate his divinity.
Despite the miracles, the Jewish people did not believe in Jesus, which is a significant point in the narrative.
The book of glory focuses on Jesus' relationship with his disciples and God's glorification through his actions.
Jesus' love for his disciples is a central theme in the book of glory.
The high priestly prayer in John 17 is a powerful moment where Jesus prays for his disciples and future believers.
The Gospel of John ends with Jesus' resurrection and the instruction to his disciples to continue his work.
Doubting Thomas' story is used to illustrate the ongoing struggle to believe in Jesus even after his resurrection.
The Gospel of John poses the question to its readers: do you believe in Jesus?
The author acknowledges that there is much more that could be written about Jesus, but the world couldn't contain the volumes.
Transcripts
the Gospel of John is the fourth book of
the New Testament and the last gospel in
the Bible now if you're familiar with
the Bible then you know that it falls
into two large sections there's the Old
Testament which primarily looks at the
relationship between God and the Jewish
people and then there's the New
Testament which focuses on Jesus and
what his followers did and said after
him John tells the story of Jesus but
how does John tell that story and why
does John choose to tell the story that
he does well that's what we're going to
look at when we examine the story and
structure of John but before we do that
let's get a look at the book as a whole
beginning with who wrote it now while
the Gospel of John is named John nowhere
in the book does it say that a person
named John wrote this gospel in fact the
author only refers to himself as the
disciple Jesus loved now for a long time
church leaders have associated this
person with John the son of Zebedee and
this was one of the leading disciples in
jesus's group of twelve so although
there are other theories as to who may
have written John we'll get into that in
a different video for now let's just say
the author of the Gospel of John is John
since that's what Christians have been
saying for almost 2,000 years now what's
more important than who wrote it is why
it was written and were told that toward
the end of the book the author says that
he is telling the story of all these
signs or these miracles that Jesus
performed so that the reader will
believe in Jesus now some interesting
notes to keep in mind are that while the
Gospels of Matthew and Mark and Luke
generally track with each other and
cover roughly the same events John
doesn't do this a lot of the content
that you're gonna see in the Gospel of
John is unique it's not going to be
found anywhere else in the New Testament
and also John was probably the last
gospel written so keep that in mind as
we look at the story and structure of
the Gospel of John let's jump into that
John falls
to two very large sections with two
smaller sections as bookends we have the
prologue which is chapter 1 and then an
epilogue which is chapter 21 that's that
last chapter and then the bulk of the
book of John falls into two big groups
that Christians have called the book of
signs which is chapters 2 through 12 and
then the book of glory which is chapters
13 through 20 let's start with the
prologue the prologue begins with in the
beginning which is a throwback to the
very first words of the whole Bible in
Genesis but it goes on to say that in
the beginning was the word which is a
name that John uses for Jesus he's
saying that Jesus is God he establishes
Jesus as a divine being right from the
get-go
and then in this prologue we see God
sending Jesus and Jesus beginning to
call his disciples and from there were
drawn right into this book of signs now
remember the whole reason that the
Gospel of John was written was to show
us signs so that we the readers would
believe in Jesus so we want to pay
attention to these signs John lays out
seven miracles in the book of signs we
see Jesus turning water into wine he
heals several people we see him feeding
5,000 people walking on the water and it
all culminates with Jesus miraculously
raising his friend Lazarus from the dead
now while we're seeing these miracles
take place we also see Jesus giving some
very important teachings such as when he
talks about how he is the Good Shepherd
who lays down his life for the Sheep we
also see the Jewish leaders responding
usually with misunderstanding and
sometimes some anger to the teachings of
Jesus until finally even though Jesus
has worked such powerful miracles even
raising someone from the dead we get to
the end of the book of signs and the
Jewish people still don't believe in
Jesus now this is very important because
remember john has pulled together these
miracles so that
people reading this gospel will believe
in Jesus but these miracles didn't
convince the Jewish people to do that so
remember that as we look at the rest of
this book because that's going to be
really important to us since the Jewish
people don't believe in Jesus he
withdraws and spends the rest of this
book focusing on his relationship with
his disciples in the book of glory now
the book of glory is called this because
in this section we see Jesus
demonstrating his love for the disciples
and also God the Father glorifying his
name through the actions of Jesus it's a
very very beautiful part of the Bible it
opens with John saying that Jesus hour
had come and he loved his disciples to
the end it's very very beautifully
written and we see Jesus comforting his
disciples passing on new teachings to
love one another he promises to send the
Holy Spirit after him after he has died
and risen again and then he prays for
them in John 17 it's known as the high
priestly prayer where Jesus prays on not
only the disciples of his times behalf
but also on behalf of Christians who
come after the disciples very very
powerful and then finally like the Good
Shepherd Jesus dies for his followers
it's very beautiful very surprising not
the way people would have expected a
king to act in the first century but
plot-twists
Jesus rises from the dead this is the
greatest miracle of all he has defeated
death and we have an empty tomb but
similarly to how the book of signs ended
with a resurrection from the dead and
the people didn't believe him we meet a
character that you've probably heard of
doubting thomas one of jesus' followers
still struggles to believe in Jesus
after he rises from the dead and it's at
that point that John tells us exactly
why he wrote this gospel he wrote this
gospel because he knows that we're going
to struggle to believe in Jesus
long after we're not seeing him so he's
written all this down so that we need to
make a choice and we can choose whether
or not we're going to believe in Jesus
and have life in him this brings us to
the epilogue and in the epilogue we see
Jesus visiting seven disciples including
Peter who famously denied Jesus right
before he died and also Thomas who is no
longer doubting Jesus feeds the
disciples and then he tells Peter
because you love me continue to feed my
disciples keep taking care of my
followers and this is where the book of
John ends John says that there's so much
that could be written about Jesus but
the world probably wouldn't even hold
all the books that it would take to
record what he did so that's what the
book of John is about it's a very poetic
and very artistic and very compelling
book of the Bible that pulls together
the acts of Jesus the teachings of Jesus
and poses us with the question do you
believe in him that's what the book of
John is all about if you want to see
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watching and I hope this was helpful
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