Mar. 03. 1994

Kazuhiko Ranmabayashi





THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN:

WHY JOHN'S GOSPEL AND THE OTHER THREE GOSPELS ARE DIFFERENT




OUT LINE

I. Introduction

A. John's Gospel is unique

B. Gospel as the good news as Euaggelion

II. First three Gospels

A. the Synoptic Gospels

B. sources: used for the Synoptic Gospels

C. historical background

D. purpose

III. John's Gospel

A. difference of John's Gospel

B. historical background

C. the author

D. Greek philosophy

E. purposes

F. sources

IV. Conclusion

A. summary

B. my conclusion







THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN:

Why John's gospel and the other three Gospels are different



     "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1) This beginning of John's Gospel impress us as unlike other three Gospels. John's Gospel has a completely different face. In this paper I researched why John's gospel and other three Gospels are different. I believe if I look up their historical background, theological sights, and sources, I can find the answer to the question.

     First four books of the New Testament are called Gospels: the Gospel according to Matthew, the Gospel according to Mark, the Gospel according to Luke, and the Gospel according to John. In Greek these books are called "Euaggelion," which means "the good news." (5:22+) (6:1+)

     First three Gospels: Matthew's Gospel, Mark's Gospel, Luke's Gospel, are called the Synoptic Gospels because these three Gospels are parallels: not exactly but showing the same items of sequence and telling the same stories from a similar view point. There are some reasons why these three Gospels are parallel.

     Actually the authors of Matthew, Mark, and Luke used the same source which is called "Urmarkus" (proto-Mark). Urmarkus could be a Gospel, but it was lost. Matthew and Luke both used another source which is like a book of Jesus's sayings. Gospel's scholar usually call this source "collection of Logia" or "Q," the first letter of the German word "Quelle," means a source. Matthew's and Luke's Gospels are based on the those two sources Urmarkus and Q, moreover each of them had their own sources. Matthew's source is called "M." Luke's source is called "L."
(1:12+) (2:93+) (5:22+) (8:18+)

     About one generation after the death of Jesus, Mark's Gospel was written by John Mark, probably at Rome. At that time the oral traditions of the Passion and the Resurrection had been already fixed. And Urmark (proto-Mark) and Q (collection of Logia) had been completed by whoever tried to keep records of Jesus's missionary works and his sayings. Mark's Gospel does not start from Jesus's birth because at that time Jesus's birth was not important; only his Passion and the Resurrection were important. Mark avoided abstracted writing, so his Gospel is very terse and realistic.
(4:121+) (6:1+) (9:35+)

     Matthew's Gospel was written in Antioch which was one of the Jewish Christian centers. This Gospel's writer must have been a Jewish Christian. According to Jewish thought Jesus of Nazareth from Galilee could not be the Messiah because Galilee, was far from Israel, thought to be a foreign place. However, many Jews who were Christian felt that the birth of Jesus was the coming of the Messiah, therefore, they had to evidence that Jesus is the Messiah. In the Jewish view of Messiah, the Messiah must be in the lineage of the king of the Jews, a descendant of David. For that reason the writer of this Gospel made the table of descent, from Abraham to Joseph, to evidence that Jesus is the Messiah.
(1:3+) (2:148+) (4:186+)

     Most of the scholar believe that the writer of Luke's Gospel was a doctor, not a Jew, and Paul's companion. He lived in Hellenistic world, around Greece, therefore, he was influenced by Hellenism. In the Hellenistic period the writing of periodized historical accounts became common, and simply he used that way of writing. So his Gospel is very historical. Sometimes he is called "a first Christian historian." (Kee 186)
(4:186+)(8:2+)

     In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and life was the light of men. (John 1:1-4)

     This beginning part of John's Gospel is unlike the other three Gospels, and whole part of John's Gospel is also unlike the other three Gospels. The first three Gospels (the Synoptic Gospels) show the missionary works of Jesus: was recorded sayings and deeds of Jesus, but John's Gospel is not. The purpose of the Synoptic Gospels' writers was,"It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order...." (Luke 1:3) But the purpose of John's writer was, "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 21:31)
(3:1+) (5:22+) (7)

     John's Gospel was written about A.D.100. Irenaeus who was the Bishop of Lyon in Gaul, heard from Polycarp, disciple of John , said "John, the disciple of the Lord, who learned on his breast, himself issued this Gospel while dwelling in Ephesus... till the time of Trajan...." (Hunter 1) From time evidence we see that John's Gospel was written in Ephesus about the time, Marcus Ulpius Trajanus was Roman Emperor (A.D.98-117). At that time Ephesus was one of the centers of the Hellenic culture. Also Ephesus was the birth place of Logos philosophy.
(3:1+) (4:213+) (5:22+)

     The original written language of John's Gospel was Greek. This author translated many words from Hebrew and Aramaic to Greek. He must have written this Gospel for Greek readers; however, his use of words, style of writing, knowledge of Palestine and Jewish custom clearly show that he was a Jew, Aramaic speaker, from Palestine. And yet he was well informed in Hellenic cultures, especially philosophy.
(3:2+) (4:213+)

     Since John was living in Ephesus, and he had much of the culture of Hellenism, his Gospel is Greek philosophical. The most typical and well known example is the beginning of his Gospel, "In the beginning was the Word." (John 1:1) In the original text of Greek "the Word" is "Logos," and "in the beginning" is "en arche." Greek natural philosophy is commonly started from searching for the arche (principle) of the universe. This beginning of the Gospel, "In the beginning (en arche) was the Word (Logos)," very typical Hellenistic. However, the following sentences, "and the Word was with God.... All things were made by him," (John 1:3) remind us of the Old Testament's Genesis I, "the Word of God." John used both Greek philosophical Logos and the original Jewish thought of Genesis of the Word of God to try to make the basic ideas of Christ, and to make a new Genesis.
(3:2+) (4:213) (7)

     John did not try to write historically correct facts of Jesus. His purpose of writing the Gospel was to make clear the Christian orthodox dogma. At John's time, Christianity had been growing rapidly, and was organizing, but at the same time, a heresy, Gnosticism was born. John wrote his Gospel for the developing Christian organization, and also against Gnosticism, Baptist, and Judaism. The theological purposes were there.
(3:5+) (4:215+) (9:119+)

     John had not only different purposes from the other Gospel's authors, but also had different sources. His first sources were completed Gospels. He might not have Matthew's Gospel but he surely used Mark and Luke's Gospels to write his Gospel. The second source that John used was his own . This source must be handed down by the person who had contact with Jesus directly. John used these sources, and added theological interpretation to assert that Christ was Jesus who really existed. Because some heresies believed only in a spiritual Christ, but did not believe in a Jesus who had physical body.
(4:217) (9:119+)

     About one generation, or a little more, after the death of Jesus, Christians tried to compile missionary works and sayings of Jesus to leave as records. They wrote Urmark (proto Mark) and Q (collection of Logia). And then Mark's Gospel was written at Rome. A little after that Mark's Gospel was written, Christians who lived in Palestine and the Hellenistic world appealed to keep records which were not only missionary works of Jesus, but also his biography from his birth to death. Therefore, Matthew's and Luke's Gospels were written. The authors who wrote these Gospels used the same sources, and also their purpose of writing the Gospels were basically the same: to compile and to keep the record of Jesus. John's Gospel, however, was written one more generation after the first three Synoptic Gospels were written. And the author of John's Gospel used different sources. Moreover, his purposes of writing the Gospel were not just to keep a record of Jesus. His most important purpose was to preach the orthodox dogmas. To John, writing the Gospel was a way of to describe the orthodox dogmas. For these reasons I wrote that John's Gospel and the other Gospels have different impressions.




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