eyond being in the innermost circle of Jesus' disciples, John was not a particularly significant figure. However, the writing of the Gospel of John around 90 CE changed that. Whether John the Apostle actually wrote the Gospel of John is not clear, as many scholars argue on both sides of the issue, but its mention of the ''beloved disciple'' is usually identified with John the Apostle. Undoubtedly, this title and the disciple being depicted laying his head against Jesus in art, made John a popular figure and legendary disciple. In the Acts of the Apostles and Galatians, John is depicted alongside Peter as performing miracles, preaching the good news of Jesus, and even being a ''pillar'' of the church after Jesus' ascension.
Because of his status,
In the gospel that Luke wrote, he talked about many of the teachings of Jesus and what his mission was, to lead the people to salvation. To
He believed in doing the right thing and he was willing to fight for it. During the witch-hunts that affected us all, John tried with every ounce of strength he had to stop the court from going along with Abigail’s manipulations and lies, and in the process confessed to the court the truth of his lechery to make it known that Abigail was just pretending. He knew that his reputation would be ruined, but he knew that it had to be done to save the innocent people accused of trafficking with the devil. I don’t know how many other people would do the same and be able to risk their own reputations knowing that they would no longer be looked at as a respectable person. Some people doubt whether or not John is in heaven.
Paul one of the least likely to be chosen by God to spread His gospel was visited by God and completely changed. Paul arguably the most influential missionary of Jesus traveled throughout the Mediterranean preaching to nonbelievers. Paul emphasizes a few assumptions, interests, and ideas that he accumulated along his journey. Paul assumes that this loud voice with a blinding light is God.
He had many names in which he was known by such as, Saint John the Apostle, Saint John the Evangelist, and Saint John the Divine. John and his brother, James, were two of Jesus’ first disciples, also called “Boanerges” or “sons of thunder.” John became a disciple at a very young age. He wrote his gospel, three letters while he was in Ephesus and the book of Revelations
Everything there is to know about Jesus and his ministry, can be found in the Scriptures. Even Foster backs this up by saying, “To get the most out of your reading of European and American literatures, knowing something about the Old and New Testaments is essential.” (118) Although, not every author is a Bible scholar; most of them know enough to be able to make a connection. However, if the reader is familiar with the Word, looking for Christ figures might be a simple task.
The Gospel of John is unique amid the synoptic gospels for its outstanding style of presentation of Jesus Christ. The prologue (John 1:1-18) supports the direction for the rest of the Johannine gospel. The novelist uses descriptions to exemplify the motifs in his work, he used the essentials of creation to signify the heavenly presence of God. John does not include these things about Jesus, the birth, baptism, temptation, Gethsemane, and the
John the Baptist treated Jesus like He was a celebrity and he was just a random person walking on the sidewalk. Like famous people today, we want to be like them and follow in their footsteps. That is exactly what John was trying to tell us. When he told everyone to look because the Savior is here, he wanted everyone to want to follow Jesus. If
Unlike the synoptic gospels on Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the Book of John provides an intentionally different view of Jesus' life and ministry. According to John 20:30-31, John wrote his gospel to provide evidence to believers' that Jesus was truly the Messiah. As a result, 93% of the content contained in John's gospel differs from the synoptic gospels (Cole, 2013). Additionally, since the Book of John was written after the each of the synoptic gospels, it is reasonable to assume John was aware of the other gospels and intentionally choose to highlight different aspects of Jesus' life and ministry as evidence that Jesus was the Son of God. Therefore, I am aligned with the scholars that ascert John wrote his gospel to bolster the faith of
God: God is known in John by two ways, “the Father who sent” Jesus (5:37), and as “the Father of the Son” (5:17-23). In the gospel of John writing God, does not become the center of focus. The Jewish people already has strong ties and believes in God, however there was some debate whether the Jewish’s people believes that Jesus was the Messiah and or the Son of God. According to C. S. Lewis he made a statement about Jesus and John wholeheartedly agreed with, Lewis wrote “Jesus is lunatic, liar, or Lord”. The Messiah: John speaking about the Messiah is to prove that Jesus is the Messiah, and the Son of God (20:30-31).
One of the General Epistles that I love the most is the Book of First Peter. First Peter was written around A.D. 63 by the Apostle Peter. The intended audience of this book is Christians of all generations, the same as the rest of the General Epistles. The purpose of this book was to bring encouragement to persecuted Christians. The key themes of this book include persecution, obedience to God, salvation in God, and referring to the believers as living building stones.
The Gospel of John contains some of the most profound truth which is expressed in the simplest way. It is full of imagery and symbolism which though concise and limited bears deep spiritual meaning. In his book, The Interpretation of the fourth Gospel, C. H. Dodd must have been the first to identify the leading ideas and thus separate in form and function the allegories of the Gospel of John from the synoptic parables and connect them with the Old Testament and the Hellenistic-Jewish symbolic tradition. That is to say the author of this Gospel mostly uses common things present in the life and tradition of his listeners and uses them to make the divine understandable. Koester in his book on Symbolism in the Fourth Gospel says that:
Acts does seem to support this. The very beginning of Acts tells about Jesus coming to disciples after his death. Then, it tells about Peter and John’s travels. However, the story seems to be more concerned with Paul as the story progresses. It focuses on his life over most of the book.
Mark whose full name was John Mark an associate with Simon Peter, one of the 12 apostles that followed Jesus throughout His public ministry on earth. Peter was the name given to Simon by Jesus Christ personally. He was very close to Jesus and after the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, Peter was one of the founders of the early church. Although the book was written by Mark, the facts contained in it are thought to be the accounts of Peter during his ministry with Jesus. The consensus among scholars is that the book of Mark was written between 50 and 60 A.D.
To conclude, the Gospel of John is a refined version of the story of Jesus Christ who takes the role of the son of God to the next level compared to the Gospel of
By contrast Paul vehemently declares that his apostleship and message were directly from Jesus Christ (Gal.1:1 &12) Other worthy suggestions include Luke , Barnabas Silas and