We have come to the last article in the series on the Gospel of John. In previous articles, we noticed the unique features of the Gospel of John compared to the other three Gospels. We also provided an overview of the content and flow of the book. In this final article, we will look at the major themes or teachings in the Gospel. This is important to do for two reasons. First, as stated above, the Gospel of John differs remarkably from the other gospels, so the focus of John’s teaching is likewise different. It is important to see how it is different and what that means. Second, as we stated in previous articles, the teaching in the Gospel of John is profound in a way that is deeper than what we find in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. But we must say that the teaching in the other Gospels is profound, each in its own way that makes them unique and richly profitable to read and study. So, we will turn our attention to seven major themes in the Gospel of John. All the themes in the Gospel of John are interrelated. John weaves them all together into a beautiful tapestry that is the message of his book.
Read Previous Posts of The Gospel of John – Part One – Part Two – Part Three – Part Four – Part Five
Jesus is the Divine Son of God: John clearly expresses the purpose of his book in 20:30-31. His purpose is that people might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing, they may have life in his name. When John says that Jesus is the Son of God he is not providing us a picture of Jesus as an exalted person who is greater than other humans but less than God. Nor is John saying that Jesus is a son of God in the same way believers in Christ are children of God. No, he is communicating to his readers that Jesus is the unique Son of God who is truly divine as the Father and the Spirit.
This central theme begins with the very first words of the book. We read in the first verse, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Several paragraphs later John tells us, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as the only begotten from the Father” (1:14). Then at the end of the Prologue (1:1-18), we find, “No one has ever seen God, the only begotten God, who is at the Father’s side (in the Father’s heart), he has made him known” (1:18).
Then throughout the whole book, John presents Jesus in his own words as the unique Son sent from the Father for a unique mission of redemption. He knows the Father, loves the Father, and does all the Father has sent him to do. Even the Pharisees recognize Jesus’ claim to be the unique Son of the Father as a claim of equality with God (5:18).
One of the strongest statements of the full and true deity of Jesus is seen in his dialogue with the religious leaders in chapter eight. There Jesus makes the astonishing statement, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (8:58). The very next verse, they pick up stones to stone him knowing full well what he meant. Jesus was claiming to be Yahweh, Jehovah, himself. So, when we get to John’s purpose statement (20:30-31), we know what John is saying. We must believe, have faith, that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. He is also the Son of God, equal to the Father, and sent by him for the plan of salvation.
Faith: John had a large cache of favorite words he often used to communicate his message. We noticed a number of them in the first article. His favorite word was faith. John uses the word some ninety-eight times in his book, but he only uses it in the verb form. He never uses the noun form, which is often used in the New Testament (243 times). John was concerned with the action of faith. John’s message was that people must put their faith in Jesus. Jesus is God’s singular provision for salvation. And faith in the person and work of Jesus is the singular way to receive salvation, which John called eternal life.
Throughout the book of John, Jesus reveals his true identity through his teaching and the miraculous signs he performs. Because of who he is, Jesus challenges people to put their faith in him through which they enter a relationship with God. Jesus warned those he spoke to that if they did not believe in him they would die in their sins (8:24). Faith in Jesus is the most important response to Jesus a person can have.
We do find in John the idea of a spurious or false faith. In chapter eight, Jesus engages in dialogue and debates with some Pharisees. But we read in verse thirty, “As he was saying these things, many believed in him.” In the next two verses (30-31), we read, “So Jesus said to the Jews who have believed in him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” Some believed in Jesus, so he gave them a test to see if they were true disciples. Some recoiled at Jesus’ words, showing they were false disciples who expressed a shallow and false faith. Those with genuine faith will abide or remain in Jesus’ word. They know the truth, and the truth sets them free.
Eternal Life: Jesus spoke to the worshippers gathered at one of the Jewish feasts in Jerusalem. He told them that he had come so that they might have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10). In the very next verse he said that he was the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. The themes of eternal life and the death of the shepherd come together in the idea of salvation. In the Gospel of John, eternal life is the salvation of those who respond with faith in Jesus and his sacrifice. The most famous verse in the Bible (John 3:16) relates this simple but utterly profound truth. By his grace the Father sent the Son to lay down his life for the sheep so that they could have eternal life. But eternal life is more than something a person gets when they die; it is a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).
The notion of eternal life is pervasive throughout the Gospel of John. It is not merely the quantity of life, eternal, but the quality of life, life in an intimate love relationship with God, that John is referring to. One can hardly read a few paragraphs without stumbling over this theme of eternal life (1:4; 3:15-16, 36; 4:14, 36; 5:24, 26, 39-40; 6:27, 33, 35, 40, 47-48, 51, 53-54, 68; 8:12; 10:10, 25, 28; 11:25, 50; 14:6; 17:2-3; 20:31). To have Jesus by faith is to have eternal life, and to have Jesus is everything.
Jesus Fulfills the Jewish Feasts: Many people notice that one of the big differences between the Gospel of John and the other Gospel narratives is the major focus John puts on the Jewish feasts. The annual feasts were held in Jerusalem. Most of Jesus’ ministry was in Galilee, but attending the numerous feasts required Jesus and his disciples to make the trip south to Jerusalem. Many pilgrims from Galilee made the same trip to worship in Jerusalem at the feasts. There were seven feasts commanded by the Lord in Leviticus 23, and there is the feast of Purim celebrated by the Jews from the book of Esther (Esther 9:18-32). But there is another feast mentioned in John 10:22, the Feast of Dedication. This feast celebrated the rededication of the temple in December 164 BC, after its desecration in 167 BC by a Greek king, Antiochus Epiphanes IV.
The feasts we find mentioned in the Gospel of John are Passover (2:13;6:4;22:55), Booths or Tabernacles (7:2), and Dedication (10:22). John presents Jesus in subtle but discernible ways as the fulfillment of these feast days. In the first chapter, we find John the Baptist pointing to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Certainly, he is referring to the Passover lamb offered and eaten at the Passover feast. When Jesus cleanses the Jerusalem temple in chapter two, he refers to himself as the temple, the place where the rituals and ceremonies of the feasts were held. We also notice in chapter seven at the Feast of Booths that Jesus standing up and crying out with a loud voice, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37). This was said in the context of the water-pouring ritual on the last day of the feast. At that same feast, the Feast of Booths, Jesus makes the claim that he is the light of the world (John 8:12). This is significant because of the ceremony of lighting four huge lamps in the temple courts during the feast. The temple courts were lit so that the people rejoiced, dancing around in this dazzling environment. In the midst of this joyful celebration, Jesus made the audacious claim that he was the light of the world (John 8:12). Later, in the winter, Jesus was again in Jerusalem at the Feast of Dedication, which celebrated the purification of the temple when it was defiled in 164 BC. The religious leaders accused Jesus of blasphemy. Jesus replied, “Do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I say, ‘I am the Son of God’?” (John 10:36) This is noteworthy because Jesus earlier said that he was the temple, and he now says that the Father consecrated him. This is the very thing for which they are celebrating the feast. In all these ways, John is showing that Jesus, as Messiah, fulfills the Jewish Feasts.
Jesus’ Miracles are Signs: Jesus was known far and wide as a doer of astonishing miracles. He performed miracles of such magnitude that the people were so amazed that they exclaimed that they had never seen such things. All four Gospels record a multitude of miracles, but the Gospel of John does not call them miracles. John refers to them as signs. He does this because he is using the miracles of Jesus as a way to point to Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God.
Jesus did many miracles, but John only recorded seven of them, thus, we have the seven signs of Jesus. This is a major focus of John in his Gospel. It is one more way John is making it clear who Jesus is. The signs of Jesus revealed his glory, showing that he is truly the Son of God, coequal and coeternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. The signs produce faith in the ones who witness them.
Spiritual Conflict: Spiritual conflict is a theme that emerges in every book of the Bible, and in some books, it is a major theme. It is an undercurrent of the whole biblical story. Here, in the Gospel of John, spiritual conflict rises to that level of prominence. The life of Jesus is the most fertile ground in which it can grow. As Jesus is the fulfillment of all God’s redemptive promises, the opposition to God’s plan will naturally be centered on Jesus. The opposition begins in earnest in chapter five, where Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath. The opposition and conflict with the religious leaders continue throughout the book and culminate in the crucifixion. Most of the conflict in John happens at the feasts in Jerusalem. This was the time when the person and teaching of Jesus came into close contact with the religious leaders. Their hatred of Jesus and their jealousy of him motivated them to oppose him and ultimately kill him.
Jesus warned his disciples that since the world hated and opposed him, it would do the same to them (15:18-25). Spiritual conflict becomes the normal way of life for the follower of Jesus. Those who promote the name of Jesus and spread his teachings will be opposed. In his prayer in chapter seventeen, Jesus prays that the Father will protect his disciples from the evil one (17:9-19).
The Holy Spirit: The ministry of the Holy Spirit occupies a conspicuous presence in the Gospel of John. We find him from the beginning. John the Baptist was told that the one on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit (John 1:33). The Holy Spirit was the identifier of the Messiah, not only at his baptism but throughout his ministry. Later we see Jesus tell Nicodemus that he must be born again to see the kingdom of God, that which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:3, 6). Being born again is a work of the Holy Spirit. Later in chapter three, we see that Jesus is uniquely endowed with the Spirit of God (John 3:34). To the Samaritan woman Jesus met at Jacob’s well, he revealed that those who worship the Father must worship him in Spirit and truth. An important teaching concerning the necessity of the ministry of the Spirit in salvation is John 6:63, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all.” Another important teaching about the Holy Spirit is that the Spirit is a river of living water that flows out of the hearts of those who believe in Jesus (John 7:37-39). We also learn that the Spirit was not given to believers until after Jesus was glorified.
The most extended teaching on the Holy Spirit in the Gospel of John, and perhaps in the entire NT, is found in John chapters fourteen through sixteen. Here we find the promise of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is sent by the Father and the Son to indwell and empower all believers. The Holy Spirit will be the presence of Jesus with them. The Spirit will be another Comforter or Helper, Jesus being the first. He will lead the Apostles and believers into all truth. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth. The indwelling Holy Spirit will empower the believer to live the Christian life and be a faithful witness to Jesus. The messianic age of the Church will be the age of the Holy Spirit. We see how this transpires in the book of Acts. All that Jesus promised concerning the Holy Spirit unfolds in the history of the Church.
Conclusion: The Gospel of John is both theologically and devotionally rich and life-changing. The revelation of God in the life of Jesus is made complete in the book of John. It gives so much more of the life of Jesus we don’t find in the other three gospels. But with John, there is also a spirituality that calls the reader to a deeper love relationship with the Father through the Son by the power of the Spirit. Can believers in Jesus Christ afford to leave the treasures of the Gospel of John undiscovered?