{"id":2369,"date":"2015-03-08T10:00:42","date_gmt":"2015-03-08T14:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/?p=2369"},"modified":"2015-03-06T11:06:18","modified_gmt":"2015-03-06T16:06:18","slug":"gaining-a-deeper-understanding-of-the-new-testament-20150308","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/?p=2369","title":{"rendered":"Gaining a Deeper Understanding of the New Testament — 20150308"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Gospel<\/a>The next book in the chronologically ordered New Testament is the Gospel of John. While John\u2019s Gospel is different from the synoptic gospels, its language has shaped Christian understandings of Jesus and his significance perhaps even more than the first three gospels. Its language is both familiar and beloved by many Christians.<\/p>\n

Consider these things in John\u2019s Gospel:<\/p>\n

Jesus is the Word of God become flesh \u2014 the Word that was in the beginning with God and was God. The language is not only familiar, but also the basis of the Christian doctrine of the\u00a0\u00a0 Incarnation.<\/p>\n

Probably the best-known verse in the New Testament is John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life. It is often quoted as a summary of the Christian message and even shows up behind the goal posts at professional football games.<\/p>\n

John\u2019s well-known stories include the wedding feast at Cana where Jesus changed water into wine; Nicodemus and the teaching on being born again; the Samaritan woman at the well; Lazarus and resurrection; Jesus\u2019 appearance to Mary Magdalene near the empty tomb and his showing of his wounds to doubting Thomas.<\/p>\n

John\u2019s series of I AM statements presents familiar metaphors for Jesus: the Bread of Life; the Light of the World; the Good Shepherd; the Gate or the Door; the Resurrection and the Life; the Way and the Truth; the Life; the True Vine; and also simply I AM. Because John presents these as statements of Jesus, Christians for centuries have taken it for granted that Jesus said these things about Himself.<\/p>\n

None of the above is found in the synoptic gospels. Moreover, there are other differences. In the synoptics Jesus frequently teaches with parables. In john, He does not. Instead, He often speaks in extended and complex discourses. One is five chapters long. In the synoptics, Jesus is an exorcist. In John, there are no exorcisms. In the synoptics, Jesus\u2019 public activity is mostly in Galilee. Only his final journey to Jerusalem takes him south to Judea. In John, Jesus has several periods of public activity in Judea and Jerusalem. In the synoptics, there is one Passover; in John, three. And, perhaps most strikingly, in the synoptics Jesus\u2019 divine identity and status are not part of his teaching. In John they are.<\/p>\n

Again, we must always remember that all of the gospels were written for different reasons and even different\u00a0\u00a0 audiences. They are not history, although based on history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The next book in the chronologically ordered New Testament is the Gospel of John. While John\u2019s Gospel is different from the synoptic gospels, its language has shaped Christian understandings of Jesus and his significance perhaps even more than the first … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-look-at-the-new-testament","category-gospel-of-john"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2369"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2370,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2369\/revisions\/2370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stmichaelarchangel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}