Gospel of John

The Gospel of John also known as The Book of John or simply John  is the fourth book of the New Testament, and the forty-third book of the Bible. It was written by the Apostle John as one of the four gospels and gives selective biographical accounts of Jesus Christ's actions and miracles on Earth from his perspective.

John was written to record some of Jesus signs to verify that he was God Incarnate. The book focuses on Jesus relationship with God the Father and the validity of his claims through the "witnessing" of both the author and miracles.

Author
John is never explicitly identified as the author in his Gospel; however, there are many indicators and slants toward the character of John's person.

Self-Identification
The clearest identification of the author is found at end of the book where special attention is given to "the Disciple Jesus loved" and then the author (using first person) identifies himself with this Apostle. In this passage, special attention is given to the rumor that "the Disciple" (John) would be immortal, because Jesus had said he would not die until "he came" again. The author makes a comment to counteract this, explaining how Jesus had not explicitly said he would have immortality, but that he would see "Jesus return"; a reference to John experiencing revelation of the apocalypse.

Witnessing
The author references himself as witness twice in the Gospel. In the account of Jesus side being pierced during crucifixion, the author verifies this and tells the readers that he was an eyewitness ; so that they would believe that it was true. Jesus died very early in his crucifixion, a rare occurrence during the Roman Era; thus the author (John) personally attested it.

The author references himself as a witness in the account of speculation that he would be immortal. The author identifies himself as the aforementioned disciple, the author of the book and witness of the events herein.

Purpose
The purpose of the Gospel's writing was to document some of Jesus miracles, in order to validate to the readers that Jesus was the Christ. John makes it clear that not every miracle Jesus performed is recorded, but the selected miracles were written so the readers would believe in Jesus Christ and have eternal life. In fact, John remarks that if everything Jesus did was recorded, the "world would not have space" for all of the books that would be needed.

The Apostle John heavily emphasized how the signs (or miracles) of Jesus were the proof for Jesus claims.

Genre
As the other four gospels John is a historical account. Compared to the other three gospels, John is less concerned about a synopsis of Jesus's life and actions, but rather His miracles and teaching that demonstrate His divinity. Not all of the miracles of Jesus are documented because of the large amount (several of these are written in other Gospels, while some are not recorded in the Bible at all).

No other literary genre is included in the Book of John other than the infrequent and indirect quoting of Old Testament prophecies, poetry, and laws (laws were usually referenced in dialogue). Compared to most biblical historical accounts, John's gospel includes heavy amounts of dialogue.The dialogue in itself contains many quotes exchanged between various people. This Gospel also does not include any large portions of Jesus's sermons or prolonged writings of dialogue. The dialogue gives the teachings of Jesus and shows the curiosity of the Disciples, and the refutations of the Jewish leadership such as the Pharisees. Accompanying the dialogue is varied length of pure historical documentation.

Themes
Throughout the Gospel, John presents Jesus as the "Son of God". Jesus went about teaching about his relationship with God and how others could share in that intimacy. To show His authority, and the legitimacy of His ministry, Jesus performed "signs and wonders".

Equality of Son and Father
Beginning with the first chapter, John unequivocally makes it clear: Jesus is God. By the name of the Word (Greek: ὁ Λόγος), the creator of the universe. He was there at the very beginning. Without the Son, there would be no life, for He and the father have possess life as part of their nature. When he faced his enemies, Jesus proclaimed that he had existed before Abraham by using the divine name for himself.

In defending his ministry as the Messiah, Jesus found that his enemies wanted to kill him for claiming he, himself, was God. He pointed to his works as proof of his claims that He and the Father were inseparable.

Testimony of Jesus
As a Gospel, the book of John is a specialized biography of Jesus. As such it testifies both to his works and to his words. The gospel writer, as well as others, testify to his works and significance in history. He Himself testifies to the theological significance of what he said and did.

John the Baptist

John the Apostle

The Son of God

Miracles
See section in Jesus Christ article

The person and work of Jesus Christ are displayed in seven significant miracles, or signs, that John records. Most are unique to this Gospel, but the ones that it has in common help to anchor the apostle's story to history.