11/24/2023 0 Comments Online bible study book johnThe author’s purpose is clearly expressed in what must have been the original ending of the gospel at the end of Jn 20: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of disciples that are not written in this book. The whole gospel of John is a progressive revelation of the glory of God’s only Son, who comes to reveal the Father and then returns in glory to the Father. Lazarus is presented as a token of the real life that Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life, who will now ironically be put to death because of his gift of life to Lazarus, will give to all who believe in him once he has been raised from the dead.Īfter the account of the seven signs, the “hour” of Jesus arrives, and the author passes from sign to reality, as he moves into the discourses in the upper room that interpret the meaning of the passion, death, and resurrection narratives that follow. And finally, the seventh sign, the raising of Lazarus in chap. This is interpreted by a narrative of controversy between the Pharisees and the young man who had been given his sight by Jesus, ending with a discussion of spiritual blindness and spelling out the symbolic meaning of the cure. This is a narrative illustration of the theme of conflict in the preceding two chapters it proclaims the triumph of light over darkness, as Jesus is presented as the Light of the world. After a series of dialogues reflecting Jesus’ debates with the Jewish authorities at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jn 7 8, the sixth sign is presented in Jn 9, the sign of the young man born blind. The multiplication of the loaves is interpreted for the reader by the discourse that follows, where the bread of life is used first as a figure for the revelation of God in Jesus and then for the Eucharist. These signs are connected much as the manna and the crossing of the Red Sea are in the Passover narrative and symbolize a new exodus. Jn 6 contains two signs, the multiplication of loaves and the walking on the waters of the Sea of Galilee. In the preceding chapter, to the woman at the well in Samaria Jesus had offered living water springing up to eternal life, a symbol of the revelation that Jesus brings here Jesus’ life-giving word replaces the water of the pool that failed to bring life. 5, continues the theme of water offering newness of life. The third sign, the cure of the paralytic at the pool with five porticoes in chap. The same theme is further developed by other signs, probably for a total of seven. The second sign, the cure of the royal official’s son ( Jn 4:46– 54) simply by the word of Jesus at a distance, signifies the power of Jesus’ life-giving word. The first sign is the transformation of water into wine at Cana ( Jn 2:1– 11) this represents the replacement of the Jewish ceremonial washings and symbolizes the entire creative and transforming work of Jesus. The author is primarily interested in the significance of these deeds, and so interprets them for the reader by various reflections, narratives, and discourses. The gospel narrative contains a series of “signs”-the gospel’s word for the wondrous deeds of Jesus. The rest of the first chapter forms the introduction to the gospel proper and consists of the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus (there is no baptism of Jesus in this gospel-John simply points him out as the Lamb of God), followed by stories of the call of the first disciples, in which various titles predicated of Jesus in the early church are presented. The prologue proclaims Jesus as the preexistent and incarnate Word of God who has revealed the Father to us. The Gospel of John begins with a magnificent prologue, which states many of the major themes and motifs of the gospel, much as an overture does for a musical work. It was probably written in the 90s of the first century. To a much greater degree, it is the product of a developed theological reflection and grows out of a different circle and tradition. It does not follow the same order or reproduce the same stories as the synoptic gospels. The Gospel according to John is quite different in character from the three synoptic gospels.
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