The uniqueness of John's Gospel

There is something that stands apart about the language of John's Gospel. (A similar comment could be made about the Epistles of John and Revelation, also.)

There is a clarity, a sublimity, a simplicity and a directness about the language which John employs, led by the Spirit of God. This goes to show that when the many holy men who spoke as they were moved by the Spirit of God, their personalities and individual characteristics still shone through. (Luke, a physician, gave accurate renditions of factual knowledge about what the Lord Jesus and the Apostles did, for example. Matthew's strong sense of Jewish heritage comes over strikingly. Mark's immediacy in style - 'straightway', 'And...' is evident.)

John writes emphatically about the Son of God, about love, about life, about eternity: themes which will occupy the believer in the Lord Jesus in heaven, and so surely now also, meditating upon John's Gospel brings joy and encouragement?

Blessings.

A very interesting thread, indeed.

[h=3]John 13:30[/h]


30 He then having received the sop went immediately out. And it was night.

It makes me shiver whenever I come across with this verse talking about Judas betrayal. This simple, short and mysterious phrase: "And it was night" bears so much meaning and it puts Judas in opposition with Jesus Christ who is the light of the world (like Saint John says in his first chapter: 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.).

All iniquity and sin is done by night; the night is the appropriate moment for those that have things to hide, the cowards attacked the Light (Jesus Christ) by night. I think that the verse "And it was night", wants to show not only the moment of the day, not only the darkness in Judas heart, but also the vilness and cowardice of Judas and of those that came to arrest Jesus Christ.

simona25:

Paul says to those who loved and trusted the Lord Jesus at Ephesus: 'Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord' (Ephesians 5.8). Later in the chapter he says: 'Awake thou that sleepest, and Christ shall give the light' (Ephesians 5.14).

John 3.19, in the great chapter that speaks of the essential new birth, says: 'And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil'.

This passage, the opening words of John's Gospel, is very deep and sublime, and in some churches it was even the custom for the congregation to stand, when it was read.

Beautiful and true. Darkness (night) associated with sleep (sleep of death, locked mind, eyes wide shut) while the light makes you awake. The literal blinds recognised Jesus Christ, while the pharisees, although had eyes to see, did not see.

Yes. Because the light shows us who we really are. An encounter with Jesus Christ does not leave us indifferent. We either follow Him until death, either ask for His death.

The prostitute has seen who she was, but she didn't hate the light because she dicovered her true self in Jesus Christ; she saw what beautiful woman she was ment to become. Only the humbles can see the light.

The pharisees hated the light because they were autosufficient for themselves and prideful. Pride gets people blind and dishonest. Pharisees considered themselves perfect, but the light doesn't lie. Who can not stand what the light shows, in his crazyness, prefers to kill the light and remain in a confortable death, rather than let the light work their hearts.

John 1:1 is listed as my favorite Bible verse.

It's very similar to Genesis 1.1...

Blessings.

I'm currently reading through John. It's also unique that he takes the time to explain events that took place during the Lord's earthly ministry. Gives the description of an entire event or miracle. Each gospel shares a unique way of understanding the life of Christ.

You're right that each Gospel is unique. The fact that John is so different in some ways from the others gave Matthew, Mark and Luke the name Synoptic, as they are sometimes collectively known.

Blessings.

John is my favorite gospel, clearly drawing the issue of

belief vs. unbelief,
true faith vs. false faith,
kingdom of light vs. kingdom of darkness,
Jesus as the unique Son of God,
the hardened hearts and enmity of the Jewish leadership for their Messiah,
the rejection of their Messiah by the majority and
the reception of their Messiah by a minority only (1:1-19).

Murderous hatred for the Messiah palpitates throughout.
It's such a clear picture of the Satanic forces arrayed against God's Anointed
in the heavenly realms (Eph 6:12), to this day.

John is usually the epistle that is recommended for new Christians to read. The reason is simple: John shows what it means to be loved and love the Savior, Jesus Christ. It is the intimacy that John had with Christ that makes his work so tender and real and open. It shows the reader, if their eyes and heart are open to it, that the truth about being a follower of Christ is that it is relational, not religion. John shows us the relationship with Christ, that it is possible to know Him intimately and to be known intimately in return. Though Christ knows all about us, John shows us that we can enter into a true love relationship with Jesus Christ and that Jesus doesn't presume or demand or press upon us the sins and darkness of our hearts, but rather, lovingly guides, corrects and leads us during our journey of love and holiness.

I love the book of John. I have had many revelations from Christ based on studying that book. Here are some blogs I wrote:

Leap Into The Water | Hephzibah

English 111 Final | Hephzibah

Forgiving From The Heart | Hephzibah

I use to think it was enough | Hephzibah

Thanks, folks, for the contributions! Blessings.

It is as if John had a closer connection to the world of God, the spiritual world, than any of the others had. He was the one who pointed out to us the connection between all of light and understanding to the word. All of the letters he wrote, First, Second, and Third John tells us just how to actually live with God in our life better than any of the other letters.

LOVE.

That's what makes this specific gospel stand out. It's all about LOVE. As a matter of fact we always encourage none believers if they want to know about God they would start by reading the gospel of John. The gospel of LOVE.

Good observation.

Blessings.

Perhaps I should explain what I mean.

John is my favorite gospel, clearly drawing the issue of

belief vs. unbelief (3:18; 36)
true faith vs. false faith (5:46-47),
kingdom of light vs. kingdom of darkness (1:4-9, 3:19-21),
Jesus as the unique Son of God (1:1, 14, 18),
the hardened hearts and enmity of the Jewish leadership for their Messiah (11:49-50),
the rejection of their Messiah by the majority (1:11) and
the reception of their Messiah by a minority only (1:12).

Murderous hatred for the Messiah palpitates throughout (5:18, 7:1, 19, 25, 8:37, 40, 19:6, 15-16).
It's such a clear picture of the Satanic forces arrayed against God's Anointed (8:41, 44)
in the heavenly realms (Eph 6:12), to this day.

The writer describes himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved (13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20, 24).

His knowledge of Jewish life, hostility between Jews and Samaritans, Jewish customs,
geography of Palestine, Cana, and details of an eye witness are indicative of John as the writer.

The early church designated John as the writer, and all other evidence agrees.

I'm going with the early church who were in a position to know the personal disciples of John,

rather than with latter-day novel theories.