Richard Burridge: John Overview

These Study Sheets:

  1. Are not a substitute for, nor even a digest of, the book
  2. Are a series of observations from the book less likely to be familiar to students
  3. Are to be read sequentially with John's Gospel because ideas are only cited at their first instance. Consequently, comments become progressively shorter and some Sections go without comment.

The object of John is to show that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (John 20:30-31; 21:25).

It is split into five parts:

There is a great deal of debate about who wrote the Gospel but a better way of understanding the issue is to think of its being written with John's authority. It was written largely independently of the other three Gospels (except for 6.1-25) It seems to have gone through a number of editions before the form in which we have it and it is the result of years of theological reflection. Whether John, the Letters of John and Revelation have a common author is a separate, complex topic.

It has a limited vocabulary with the frequent use of:

look, see, witness, know, believe, have faith, world, glory, abide, remain, hour send

And characteristic pairings:

light and darkness; truth and falsehood; life and death; above and below; love and hate; Father and Son.

Key Statistics:

Term

Frequency

Notes

Amen Amen/Truly Truly

25

 

Believe

100

> x 3 Synoptics

Bread

24

 

Father, The (as God)

110

> x 2 Synoptics

Hour

25

 

I am (ego eimi)

35

Not Synoptic

Jesus (as the Son)

50

 

Jews, the

70

> x 5 Synoptics

Life

 

> x 2 Synoptics

Light

 

> x 2 Synoptics

Send

60

> x 2 Synoptics

Testify (aka ‘witness’)

35

 

True/Truly

50

> x 3 Synoptics

Water

27

 

Witness/Bear witness (aka testify)

35

 

World

80

> x 5 Synoptics

Like many ancient texts it has a placid surface but works at many levels. Jesus' conversations begin with natural things - birth (3.3); water (4.7); bread (6.25); sight (9.1) - but he soon goes beyond these to deeper realities to "true bread" or the "true vine".

John narrates several miracles but calls them "signs" which "reveal his glory" (2.11). There are many, he says, but John chooses seven:

Some analysts include the great catch of fish in the Epilogue (21.1-11) and remove 6.16-21 as it does not seem to signify anything.

Taken from:

Burridge, Richard: John: The People's Bible Commentary, The Bible Reading Fellowship, revised 2008, ISBN 978 1 84101 570 5. (commission earned)

KC VII/08

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