Some Helpful Guidelines When Studying John's Gospel

Unique Aspects of John's Gospel.

We briefly looked at some of the special features of the first 3 gospels of the New Testament. The first 3 gospels include the signs and the sayings of Jesus. 

Now we will look at some unique parts of John's gospel. 

In a general sense, the first 3 gospels tell us what Jesus said and did but John's gospel is distinctly different. John was used of God to tell us who Jesus Christ is. 

Also, remember that the Apostle John witnessed the life, teachings and miracles of Christ that the other gospel writers witnessed. 

However, John chose to be very selective in the material that he recorded for us so that we would not miss his main focus of showing who Christ is.

John uses the phrase "son of God" in reference to Jesus Christ 10 times, more than any other gospel. This is a key to knowing what John is telling us about Christ. 

There are no Parables in John's Gospel.

John 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 

Matthew tells us about 15 parables of Christ. Mark uses 9 and Luke has 35. A parable using everyday, common things to illustrate a heavenly truth.  

Jesus speaks with all of heaven's authority in John's gospel. He speaks boldly and directly. There is no need for a teaching tool like a parable to help the people understand what He is saying. 

His words are Spirit inspired, made luminous by heaven's glory and full of life. Christ is the singular source of all truth and John shows us the power and beauty of His words. 

Only 7 Miracles of Jesus recorded in John's Gospel.

John 21:25  And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. 

Matthew recorded 22 miracles, Mark contains 20 and Luke's gospel has 21 recorded miracles. 

All the gospel writers make sure to tell us that there were many more instances of miracles done by Jesus during His earthly ministry. 

Only one miracle is found in all 4 gospels, and that is the feeding of the 5,000 (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-19 & John 6:1-14). 

John records 7 miracles and 6 of them aren't found in the other gospels. (You could say 8 miracles if you include the resurrection of Christ recorded in all 4 gospels). 

John knew all of the miracles of Christ because he witnessed them all first hand.

John makes sure that we know this fact by concluding his gospel with the text noted above. There were so many things that Jesus did that all the books in the world could not contain the full accounting. 

Therefore, John was careful to select the specific miracles in his gospel in order to show us something we must know about Jesus Christ.

Here are the 6 unique miracles recorded by John that are not found in the other gospels. 

Changing water into wine: John 2: 1-11

This shows Jesus as God manifest in the flesh, using the power of God as Creator.

Healing the Nobleman’s Son: John 4: 43-54

Only God can completely heal someone by speaking a word.

Healing the Man at the Pool of Bethesda: John 5: 1-15

Walking on the Water: John 6: 16-21

Healing the Man Born Blind: John 9: 1-12

Raising Lazarus from the Dead: John 11: 1-46

There are 7 "I Am" statements John records to connect Christ & Jehovah. 

John 6:35  And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 

There are 7 of these powerful declarations where Jesus uses the Divine Name "I Am" which is Jehovah in the Old Testament. 

Christ asserted His deity each time He used the term "I Am" and John wants to make sure we see this. 

Exodus 3:14  And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. 

"I AM" in this verse is the name Jehovah. When Jesus says "I Am the Bread of Life or "I am the way, the truth and the life" He is telling us that the Old Testament Jehovah has come as the prophets promised. 

John's gospel was written that we might believe on Jesus Christ. 

John 19:35  And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.

John 20:31  But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.

John's primary concern in writing his gospel is to show us Jesus Christ is God in the flesh so that people are led to believe on Him for salvation. 

John is concerned with communicating unchangeable truth, so that the readers know who Christ is and what He has done for them. 

The word "believe" in its various forms is used more in John's gospel than the other 3 gospels combined. 

The word means to be fully persuaded that something is true. It means to put your full confidence and trust in Christ. 

Since the word "believe" is a verb, it must have an object and the object of our believing is the Lord Jesus Christ. 

John wants us to "know" the truth about Christ. 

John 7:17  If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself. 

John uses the word "know" 71 times, more than the other 3 gospels combined. This word means to come to know, to gain a full understanding of the truth and the certainty of what one is seeking to know.  

It is a verb and it means we must "know" Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It means to know Christ at the heart level.

John wants us to know the truth contained in his gospel. He wants our faith to be bolstered and our souls to be anchored to God's Son. 

Thoughts to Ponder...

We are going carefully through John's gospel, so that we do not miss out on the beautiful Christ exalting truth that God has for us. 

We have already discovered some very unique aspects of John's gospel that show the Spirit guided motivation for writing it. 

We are being taught what we must know and believe of a certainty and without doubt. 

We can praise God for the unique truth communicated in John's gospel because we live in times when the scholars and theologians routinely attack or dismiss the deity of Christ. 

May the Lord find us faithful disciples of Christ equipped with seeing eyes and hearing ears along with willing hearts.

Bob