The Gospel of John is so different from the Synoptics that most scholars view it as fundamentally not a portrait of the historical Jesus, but a profound meditation on his theological significance. The community that produced this Gospel held a high view of Jesus divinity, and in some respects, viewed him equal to God. John is believed to have taken this view due to visitation by the Paraclete who revealed Jesus’ true nature.

The author of this Gospel is traditionally John, son of Zebedee and brother of James, one of the Twelve. The writer, who does not identify himself, states that his version of Jesus’ life is based on testimony of an unnamed “beloved disciple.” Scholars classify the work as anonymous. It is thought to have been composed from about

Jesus’ second sign is his curing of a nobleman’s dying son in Cana. His third is the healing of a crippled man at the Sheep Pool in Jerusalem, controversial because it occurred on the Sabbath. The fourth miracle is the feeding of the multitudes and the only miracle to occur in all four Gospels. The fifth miracle is when Jesus walks on water. Jesus’ sixth sign, restoring sight to a blind man, illustrates John’s theme that Christ is the light of the world. His gift of sight dispels the darkness that afflicted the man and reflects Jesus’ identity as the Word that originally brought light out of dark chaos at the world’s creation. His seventh and most spectacular miracle was when he rose Lazarus from the dead. Concluding the book of Signs, the narrative of Lazarus’ miraculous resuscitation also functions to connect Jesus’ good works with his arrest and crucifixion. As John puts it, Jesus’ ability to revive a man who has been dead for four days is the act that consolidates Jewish opposition to him and leads directly to his death.

John emphasizes Jesus’ willingness to converse and share with women in his conversation with a Samaritan woman. Ignoring all the social restraints of society in his times, he openly preached to women at the same level as men. When Jesus eagerly converses with a Samaritan woman, not only is she shocked but his disciples are shocked that he would associate with such an immoral woman. Jesus proceeds to tell the woman that he is the living water here to quench humanity’s thirst. John uses this episode to illustrate that Jesus and his message are for women and men, and not only Jews but also Gentiles.

John’s opening hymn to the Word introduces several concepts vital to his portrait of Christ. The phrase “when all things began” recalls the Genesis account when God brought light to a dark universe by his word. With God at the beginning, the Word is an integral part of the Supreme Being. What God was, the Word was. John’s supreme irony is that the very world that the Word created rejects him, preferring spiritual darkness to the light he imparts. Nevertheless, the Word became flesh and walked alongside humans allowing them to witness his true divinity.

Reversing the Synoptic order, John shows Jesus driving moneychan

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