Target year level: Year Six

Scripture text

John 1:35-51

Introduction

John’s gospel is often called ‘the fourth gospel’ to distinguish it from the synoptic gospels: Matthew, Mark and Luke. Authorship is traditionally attributed to John ‘the beloved disciple’, but the final version of the text was probably the work of several editors. The other texts in the Christian Scriptures which are attributed to John - the three letters and the book of Revelation - are unlikely to have been written by the author of the fourth gospel. The gospel was probably written in the last decade of the first century CE – later than the other gospels.

The gospel of John is commonly divided into four parts: 1. Prologue (1:1-18); 2. Book of Signs (1:19-12:50); 3. Book of Glory (13:1-20:31); and 4. Epilogue (21:1-25). The language of the gospel is sophisticated, but many of the symbols used are drawn from everyday life, for example, life, light, bread, water, shepherd, door and way.

There are considerable differences between John and the synoptic gospels. There are no infancy or baptism narratives and there is no mention of the institution of the Eucharist in John’s account of the Last Supper. Further, in the synoptics the true identity of Jesus as Messiah is revealed to the disciples over time and only fully disclosed towards the end of the narratives; but in John, the disciples know that Jesus is the Messiah from the outset. Also, the Kingdom is not the central focus of Jesus’ teaching in John as it is in the synoptics. Rather it is Jesus himself who is the focus. This is evident from the mystical prologue in which Jesus is identified as pre-existent and the incarnate Word of God. Here we can see the framework of an incarnational Christology emerging.

In the second part of the gospel - the Book of Signs - John gives evidence about the true identity of Jesus in the form of signs, which are seen and heard. The verbs ‘see’ and ‘hear’ are strongly associated with ‘believe’ for John.

The central theme of John’s theology is life, and Jesus is the source of life. It is Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Man, who draws together heaven and earth in order that believers may share in the life of God and in the glory that comes with eternal life.

For more information about the Gospel of John see the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE), Introduction to John.

World behind the text

Not much is known of the Johannine community but it is thought to have been situated in Ephesus (Seljuk in modern Turkey). In Early Christian times, Ephesus was the fourth largest sea port in the Roman Empire. It was a prosperous city and an influential centre of Christianity for many centuries after the Gospel of John was written.

It is not likely that the membership of the Johannine community was actually Jewish: it was probably a mixed group of those with Jewish and those with Gentile heritage. There may have been tensions between the two groups: the former favouring the humanity of Jesus and the latter his divinity. Some scholars think that the book may have been written to resolve these tensions.

John’s gospel is notable for its sympathetic portrayal of women, who play prominent and significant roles as disciples and witnesses in the text. This is particularly evident in the case of the Samaritan woman who had an extraordinary and revelatory conversation with Jesus (4:4-42) and in the story of the women who were the first witnesses to the resurrection (20:11-18). These instances indicate a mutual relationship in discipleship and ministry between women and men, which may have existed in the Johannine community.

World of the text

This passage has three scenes. The first scene marks the ‘passing of the baton,’ so to speak, from John to Jesus. Andrew and Peter were John’s disciples, so when they begin to follow Jesus it is clear that the focus of the narrative moves from John to Jesus. Scenes two and three are about the call to discipleship: Andrew and Peter, then Philip and Nathanael.

In these three scenes, many of the characteristics of John’s writing are evident . Jesus is identified as: Lamb of God; Rabbi; Messiah; Son of God; King of Israel; and Son of Man. Jesus is the one of whom the prophets spoke, but he is greater than what the prophets imagined; Jesus is the one who fulfils Jacob’s evocative dream of the heavenly ladder on which angels ascend and descend (Gen 28:11-12). Jesus himself is the ladder, that is, the one who bridges the gap between earth and heaven: the fulfilment of the covenant, the Messiah.

John is making the point that the fulfilment of God’s covenant with the world is no longer a far-off dream, but a reality here and now embodied in the believing community.

World in front of the text

Discipleship is about witness in this passage: ‘come and see’ is mentioned twice. One way to understand this demand is to ‘pay attention’ to what is all around us at every moment, that is, the presence of God in our everyday lives.

In John’s gospel, Jesus shifts the focus of sight from earthly to heavenly – promising that the disciples would see great things, that is, they would witness the direct link between earthly and heavenly realities in the person of Jesus.

For us this means paying attention to the details of daily life in order to see behind the ordinary to the extraordinary, that is, to catch a glimpse of God at work in the ebb and flow of everyday life: in the joys and sorrows, and in all the events, things and people that shape our daily schedule. Then we know that heaven is not ‘up there’ or ‘far away,’ but here and now for those who will ‘come and see.’ 

Further reading

Sacra Pagina, The Gospel of John, by Francis J Moloney

The Theology of the Gospel of John, by D. Moody Smith

Flesh and Glory: Symbol, Gender and Theology in the Gospel of John, by Dorothy Lee

Wikimedia Commons:

The Gospel of John (2003 movie) – 3 hrs