Gospel of John

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

This is another quotation from the gospel’s theological prologue, where it becomes clear that John is using “the Word” as a descriptor of Jesus’s divine pre-existence. The depiction of the doctrine of incarnation here—“the Word became flesh”—uses a somewhat coarse, visceral term for embodiment, emphasizing the physical reality of Jesus’s human body. John’s depiction of Jesus, then, helps to establish not only the doctrine of the Trinity (also depicted here in the relation of Father and Son), but also the doctrine of Jesus Christ’s dual nature, as being fully God and fully human at the same time.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

John’s gospel gives us what is perhaps the most widely known verse from the Bible, John 3:16, which is often used as a succinct and eloquent summary of the Christian message. John’s theology of Jesus’s identity is centered on the idea of his mission being one of salvation, motivated by the love of God for all people. The ESV here translates the original Greek in a way that may be unfamiliar to some readers, who will have heard the verse as rendered in older translations which use the phrase “his only begotten Son.” The ESV, as with many other modern translations, has dropped the word “begotten” because current research now indicates that the Greek word in question likely does not indicate the idea of being begotten, but more accurately can be rendered as “one and only Son” or “only unique Son.”

“Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’”

This quote comes from Jesus’s interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well. He introduces the dual symbols of water and thirst, which the gospel frequently comes back to throughout the text. Here, Jesus presents his message as the fulfillment of the deep-running needs and desires of people’s souls, such that it satisfies their spiritual thirst and enables them to obtain the promise of eternal life.

“One of the disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?’ Jesus said, ‘Have the people sit down.’ Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.”

This is from the story of the feeding of the five thousand, a miracle recounted in each of the four biblical gospels. The “five thousand in number” relates only to the men in the crowd, meaning that the crowd size was possibly a great deal larger with women and children included. The depiction of the miracle is told in an understated way, but the enormity of what happened there is evident in the crowd’s later response, when they immediately want to seize Jesus and proclaim him the messianic king.

“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.’”

Jesus speaks these words in the context of his discourse with the crowd after his miracle of feeding the five thousand. This is one of seven major “I Am” sayings in the gospel, in which he uses rhetoric drawn from the personal name of God to express his own identity. Here, it is also tied with the frequent symbolic imagery of thirst, expressing how belief in Jesus satisfies the soul’s deepest longings.

“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”’”

This is another example of Jesus’s public teaching on his own identity, as he speaks out amid the temple crowds gathered for the final day of a religious feast. Jesus’s rhetoric of water not only matches his repeated use of that symbol, but also appears to be drawn from the liturgical readings from that day of the festival, in which a selection from the Old Testament prophesies a coming day in which rivers of living water will flow from Jerusalem (see Zechariah 14:8).

“And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, ‘Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.’ […] Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.’”

Here, we see Jesus answering the Pharisees who have brought him a woman caught in adultery, so that he could render a judgment against her. Whether he condemned her or granted her freedom, it would have gotten her into trouble, either with the Roman authorities or the Jews who expected him to uphold the law of Moses. Jesus evades their trap, however, by directing attention not at the woman’s sin, but at the sins of her accusers. Instead of judgment, he deals with her in a spirit of compassion.

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”

This is another instance of Jesus’s use of “I Am” rhetoric to proclaim his own identity, in this case combining it with the symbology of light and darkness. This is combined with an emphasis on life, by which the Gospel of John customarily means spiritual or eternal life (as opposed to mortal, physical life). In Greek, spiritual life and physical life are indicated by two different words, zoe and bios, respectively, and this verse uses zoe.

“So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed 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.’”

This saying of Jesus is one that has entered into popular culture in many periods of history, particularly the phrase “the truth will set you free.” Here, as elsewhere in the gospel, belief in Jesus is described in terms of abiding—a decision to live daily in a certain place or according to a certain principle. According to this verse, it is this repeated decision to set the foundation of one’s life on Jesus’s teachings that enables one to know the truth.

“Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.’”

This is among the clearest (and potentially most inflammatory) statements Jesus makes about his identity. In one short phrase, he sets his significance above that of Abraham, the patriarch of the whole Jewish people, as well as making a claim to pre-existence, all while applying the personal name of God to himself (see Exodus 3:14), as is made unmistakable by his shift from past to present tense.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

Here we have yet another of Jesus’s “I Am” sayings, and the imagery he uses in this instance is that of a shepherd and sheep. He defines this relationship as one of self-sacrifice, alluding to his own coming death on the cross. The imagery of shepherd and sheep are familiar symbols in ancient Judaism, with connections both to King David and to frequent symbolic use in the Old Testament prophets.

“Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who believes in me shall never die.’”

This interaction between Martha and Jesus comes on the occasion of Jesus’s arrival after her brother Lazarus’s death. Martha misunderstands Jesus at first, believing he is talking about Lazarus’s ultimate destiny, to be raised to life again at the day of judgment at the end of time, but Jesus is speaking of his own power to raise Lazarus then and there. His saying includes another “I Am” statement of his own identity, tied to a promise of eternal life for those who believe in him.

“Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

Jesus points to the events of his passion as the climax not only of his own story, but of the entire history of the world: a judgment day on which Satan (“the ruler of this world”) and his powers will be vanquished. Jesus’s reference to “when I am lifted up” is an allusion to his crucifixion, and specifically to the raising of the cross to display his torment to public view as he dies (see also 3:14-15). Rather than viewing this as a tragedy, however, he views it as the moment of his greatest glory, when his saving mission to all people will go into effect.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

This quotation represents the central theme of Jesus’s final discourse to his disciples—love as the foundational Christian ethic. Love is not only to characterize their relationship with one another, but will become the distinguishing mark by which even outsiders should be able to recognize a follower of Jesus. In Christian liturgical practice, the annual remembrance of the evening before Jesus’s death is called “Maundy Thursday,” in reference to this new commandment (based on the Latin term for commandment, mandatum).

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.’”

This quote contains another of the most widely known sayings of Jesus: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” It gained popular currency as a theological catchphrase in Christian tradition partly due to the alliteration of its main terms in Latin: via, veritas, vita. This quote also reinforces the theme of Jesus’s relation of union with God the Father.

“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

Here, Jesus touches on the relation between himself, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, teaching that the Spirit will be sent out from the Father (and in this passage’s wider context, it is made clear that the Father’s action is undertaken upon the request of the Son). The point of the passage, however, is not to provide a theological flow chart of the Trinity, but to reassure the disciples that they will not be left alone, but will be given peace through Jesus’s work and through the Spirit’s presence.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

This is the last of Jesus’s “I Am” statements in the gospel, and here he draws on familiar Old Testament imagery which depicts God’s people as his vineyard. In Jesus’s portrayal of the imagery, he is the vine to which each disciple is attached as a branch, and from whom the disciples draw their spiritual life. He calls them to abide in him, which means that they should make their relationship with Christ the place from which they live their lives, the spiritual home in which they daily dwell.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

In this restatement of Jesus’s “new commandment,” he draws attention to the sacrificial aspect of love in the Christian life. Just as Jesus is about to demonstrate his love through his sacrifice on the cross, so also the disciples are called to love each other with the same kind of selflessness, humility, and intention to seek one another’s good. This quote illustrates one of the main themes of the Gospel of John, that of love as the foundational Christian ethic.

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

This is part of Jesus’s so-called “high priestly prayer” before his arrest. In this passage, Jesus transitions from a prayer said for his disciples (the “these” referenced in the first line) to a prayer for all future believers. Jesus uses the idea of his own unity with God the Father to express his hopes that his followers will also be united, both to each other and to God, and that this unity will constitute part of his movement’s witness to the world.

“Then Pilate said to him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.’ Pilate said to him, ‘What is truth?’”

In Jesus’s trial before Pontius Pilate, this interchange reflects the tone of their conversation, in which Pilate tries to assess the accusations of treason being brought against Jesus. Jesus evades the question, preferring to speak of truth rather than kingship, as the latter concept was not likely to be understood by Pilate with the meaning Jesus intended. But Pilate is not interested in the topic of truth, replying with the skepticism common in someone who has been exposed to a milieu saturated with many different Greco-Roman philosophies.

“Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and struck him with their hands. […] So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, ‘Behold the man!’”

Before turning Jesus over to be crucified, Pilate has him beaten and mocked by Roman soldiers. His presentation of Jesus to the crowd is a moment depicted in many Christian paintings, usually under the title Ecce Homo—“Behold the Man.” At this point in the story, Pilate is still hopeful that the crowd will be satisfied with Jesus’s punishments and will agree to let him go, but instead they cry out for Jesus to be crucified.

“So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.’”

This quote marks John’s summary of Jesus’s path to the cross and the beginning of the crucifixion narrative. There is a tragic irony in the way Jesus’s identity—the constant theme of the gospel—is again proclaimed, but this time in a mocking sign to be hung above Jesus’s head as he dies.

“Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”

In this passage, which tells the story of one of Jesus’s post-resurrection appearances to his disciples, Jesus enacts the fulfillment of many of the things he promised in his long discourse of John 14-16: the promise of peace, of a commission to undertake, and the sending of the Holy Spirit. This ritual of the Spirit’s dispensation is sometimes referred to by scholars as the “Johannine Pentecost,” which in the New Testament canon represents a foreshadowing of the full experience of the Spirit’s descent at Pentecost, which the disciples will experience in a few weeks’ time (see Acts 2).