This episode launches a new series in the Gospel of John and lays the groundwork for how we will study it together. We look at who wrote this Gospel, why the early church was so confident about its author, how John’s account differs from Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and what it means to read a Gospel as carefully crafted persuasion rather than a simple timeline of events.
In this week’s episode, we explore:
- The case for the apostle John as the author, including the testimony of early church leaders and John’s own way of referring to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”
- How to sort out the different Johns in the New Testament and why it matters to distinguish John the apostle from John the Baptist and John Mark.
- What it means to be an apostle, why their authority was unique, and how miracles functioned as God’s way of confirming that their message was true.
- Key biographical details about John’s life, family, partnership with Peter and Andrew, and his long ministry from Galilee to Ephesus and finally Patmos.
- Why John’s Gospel is so different from the “synoptic” Gospels, and how his purpose and audience shaped the stories he chose to include.
- The different ways Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell the story of Jesus’ relationship to Jerusalem compared to John’s repeated “back and forth” pattern around the Jewish feasts.
- How to think about the Gospels as theological portraits and apologetic writings that aim to persuade us of Jesus’ significance, not just record bare facts.
- A helpful analogy about biographies and puzzle pieces that shows why we must pay attention both to the small details and to the overall structure of a book.
- Why this series will focus on the “big picture” of John, tracing major themes and author choices so that later detailed study has a strong framework to sit in.
By the end of this episode, you will have a clearer sense of who John is, why his Gospel is trustworthy, and what kind of book you are reading when you open it. You will be better equipped to notice how John arranges his material to make a point, more confident about the differences between the four Gospels, and ready to follow this study with an eye for both the details on the page and the bigger picture of what God is revealing through the life of Jesus.
Series: Gospel of John: Believe and Find Life
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