Religion and Theology

The Gospel of John is one of the four gospels in the New Testament which are usually referred to as canonical gospels. The other three gospels include the gospel of Mathew, the gospel of Mark and that of Luke. It is mainly concerned with the life of Jesus Christ and his ministry. It goes into details on his Baptism and his resurrection. Apostle John was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ. He had also initially been a disciple to John the Baptist. He came from a background that was involved in fishing. His father was Zebedee, a fisherman from Lake Genesareth. For a very long time, the writing of the fourth gospel has been credited to Apostle John under the guidance and direction by the Holy Spirit.

In more recent times, critics have expressed the opinion that there is a possibility that this gospel may have been written by some other John who may not necessarily have been John the Disciple. Some of the reasons they cite are that John was a Jew while the author was not they also feel that John, whose roots were in fishing and thus probably semi-illiterate could not have written such kind of work and thus the author must have been a scholar. If we restrict ourselves to spiritual matters, we realize that the author must have had a first hand information on the deeds of Jesus Christ and thus most definitely, His Disciple.

The fourth gospel, commonly referred to as the gospel of John, consists of twenty one chapters. In chapter one, the first eighteen verses are normally referred to as the prologue. They talk about John, establishing His theme. The first part of this gospel begins from John 119-454. This part elaborates on the presentation of the word to Israel. The second part begins from John 5 to John 12. This part portrays how the word was rejected by Israel. The third part is from John 13 to 17. This part explains how the word came to be accepted by His disciples. The fourth part demonstrates how the glory of Jesus Christ is revealed in the course of suffering, passing away and ultimate resurrection, events which led to the saving of humanity. John 20 to 21 is normally referred to as the epilogue and concerned with the reason for the writing of the gospel.

John was able to portray the deepest of thoughts in words that were very simple and easy to understand. The gospel is constructed in such a manner that the plot development, style and expressions are able to stand out. The language in itself goes a long way in simplifying this gospel as it is easy to understand with very limited or no vocabulary that is difficult to understand. The complexity of this gospel comes out in the sense that some of the expressions which are apparently simple in language have meanings that require deeper thought and may be totally different from the meanings that appear from the surface. This is best demonstrated right from the beginning of the gospel which states that, In the beginning was the word, the word was with God and the word was God (John 11-2). This verse in itself is composed of very simple words but it appears to have a deeper meaning than can be perceived at the surface of it. It requires a deeper thought.

John chose to limit the number of episodes in his book but instead, the few episodes that He talks about are very deep in terms of details. John takes advantage of each of these incidents to showcase the teachings of Jesus Christ and some of the responses He received from the people. Highlighting fewer episodes makes the gospel of John relatively simpler than the other gospels but at the same time, going into details into each of these incidences makes the Gospel arguable more complex. In most cases, one incident leads to a long session of dialogue, as Jesus Christ teaches His disciples answers people who oppose Him. This is best demonstrated in chapter three which is mainly about the night Jesus encountered Nicodemus. Also in chapter four, which mainly talks about the woman Jesus Christ met at the well.

John had adopted a literary style that enabled him to introduce something, talk about other things then return to what he had introduced later. This is best demonstrated when we consider the four parts of his gospel and relate them to the prologue. We realize that most of the things he proceeded to write in these parts had earlier been introduced in the prologue. Depending on an individuals way of understanding, this style can either make the gospel complex or work a great deal in simplifying it.

John did not prefer to use many words in the course of his Gospel, instead, he adopted a style of using few words with very deep meanings. Instead of spicing his work with extensive vocabulary, he chose to adopt such simple styles as repetition in addition to wordplay. His Gospel consists of many repeated words such as I, me, I am, faith, love and so on. Such techniques make it easier for the reader to have a better understanding of the message as some of the vocabulary that could be employed would portray a different meaning, at least in the perception of the reader. When some of the words are repeated severally, the reader becomes more familiar and used to them hence bringing out the simplicity of the Gospel of John.

One of the most unique styles that John adopted in his Gospel is applying binary opposition in his literary work. This refers to the mentioning of two contradicting aspects in the same case. His works tends to create a divide between opposing phenomenon like light and darkness, truth against lies and worldly things from heavenly things. He tries to look at the world from a point of view of a child. This really simplifies his Gospel. The complexity arises from the fact that in the process of looking at the world like a small child his intention is to bring out a very big difference and the way God looks at the world. There is only one thing, either light or darkness, righteous or not in the eyes of God. You can only choose one way between the wide and the narrow and there is no other intermediate.

The Gospel of John is centered on answering the question on Who Jesus Christ is right from the beginning to the end. Every bit of his work is concerned on the life of Jesus, the better part being on the week to His death and resurrection. His Gospel focuses on eternity. He expresses the fact that while most of the worldly things are not eternal, God is. Jesus Christ is considered an eschatological being as He is bound to remain forever. The Gospel also speaks of salvation. Jesus has come to save the world and thus portray Gods mercy upon the human race. John clearly states that the main aim of writing this gospel is to enable people believe in Jesus Christ. All these make the work of John easily comprehensible and distinct from the other Gospels.

John had a way of employing rich artistic techniques to convey his information to the people. John had also mastered the art of using irony in his literary work. One of the excellent examples where such a style stands out is when the Jews were discussing where Jesus came from. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know How is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven John 642. The irony lies in the fact that both these two contradicting cases happen to be true.

John also explores a style that creates a sense of misunderstanding or that implies double meaning. Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. John. 219. Jesus Christ was speaking to the Jews. They were surprised how Jesus could rebuild the Herodian Temple in three days while Jesus was talking about his body. Another misunderstanding occurred when Jesus Christ told Nicodemus that he ought to be born again. Nicodemus could not understand since he wondered whether it was possible to return to his mothers womb. Jesus was talking about a spiritual activity and not the physical rebirth.

The Gospel of John can be considered to be the simplest and also the most complex of all the four gospels. This is because the Gospel of John appears to differ from other Synoptic Gospels in quite a variety of ways. John only talked about the Kingdom Of God twice in his gospel while in the other Synoptic Gospels, this concept has been given considerable significance. The Synoptics consist of a number of parables unlike the case of the Gospel of John which does not have any parables but instead has allegories and metaphoric stories. In the context of the Gospel of John, there are four occasions when Jesus visited Jerusalem. Of these occasions, three were to Passover feast. This portrays the meaning that the public ministry of Jesus must have lasted for approximately three years. According to the Synoptic Gospels only one such visit is documented, hinting that the public ministry of Jesus could have lasted for only one year. In the case of the Gospel of John, except for very few cases which took place in Galilee, most of the activities took place in Judea and the city of Jerusalem. Of all these actions, only the occasions when the multitude was fed and when and the crossing of the Sea of Galilee are documented in the Synoptics. John did not talk about any woman accompanying Mary Magdalene to the tomb as is the case with the Synoptics.

It is an undisputed fact that the Gospel of John is rich in literary art and techniques. The sequence and way in which information is presented remains unrivalled. The simplicity in language makes it very simple and easy to read. The sentences are short and clear. The complexity arises when we consider the fact that every time you read it you are more likely to find a sub-surface meaning that you had not thought about the last time you had read it. While this may be perplexing to some people, to some it arouses the desire to read it more and more.